“But that’s the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned. I don’t want to know what people are talking about. I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can’t read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can’t even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.”

~Bill Bryson

POV - TAD

And my whole existence had become a litany of interesting guesses. And the thing about guesses was that you still needed some context. Some framework in which to even make a guess, let alone an informed decision. I was ignorant of most everything. Luckily the streets were quiet, even if the cross traffic was potentially more aggressive.

But I was thrust into a position of responsibility as well. Positions even. Auntiehood. Sovereignanity. Even as an Exemplarample. These were hefty terms. Full of weight and gravitas. And wild guesses, random directions and lackadaisical whimsyism would be a rather careless way to comport myself.

To be honest, I had been making an effort. After all this was my life I was talking about. There was no way I would base my life, my future, on such frivolity as whimsical guesses. Well, mostly that was true.

But most fortuitously I had my [Intuition] and [Perception] to fall back on. And on the other hand, taking myself too seriously would absolutely paralyse me. Of this I had no doubt. I couldn’t control what others would or would not do, say or not say. I could not control how they might respond. But I could control myself. And while I still had just a rudimentary sense of how the System worked and my tiny, miniscule, place within it, it filled me with a childlike wonder.

There was magic. There were other Species. Aliens. Elves and Orcs. Dwarfs and who knows what else. Blue skinned people like Cass back at the Bank way back there where things felt so much more ordered and established. Back there I was just one amongst millions. Billions even. And the path laid out, though unclear, was one that had been trodden before by countless feet. Well, that was hyperbole. I was willing to bet the System could tell me exactly how many feet had trod that path. And I was also willing to bet I knew how many feet had already trod my path.

A big fat zero. Yes, there were just my two feet treading this path. Hmmmm. I joined the [Twins] who were also considering my feet. Oh. ~Hullo there.~ I hadn’t heard them arrive. They had joined my self conversation. And they emoted with me.

~New, exciting.~ That was Scrabble.

~Challenges overcome, more await.~ And Dozer was indomitable as ever.

“How did you get on with the [Matriarch]? Are you happy with progress? Do you want me to join in now?”

Yes, I had given them agency. Responsibility and authority.

It was bizarre. They were only three seasons old. They still missed their Mum.

I had hesitated in letting them lead the discussions. But they also knew their own culture. And kits and pups had to grow up fast. They were ready. This Plane was not a level playing field. It was a vicious and unforgiving one. At Level 6, they were exactly the [Threat] to the [Matriarch] that she had feared [Ssrah] would be.

And perhaps their youth worked against them. But perhaps it was a strength as well. They were unrestricted in their Systemview. They had seen the mould that the Ottos had carved out for themselves over generations. And in a few short days they had seen and experienced me breaking that mould over and over, and then, over again.

Firstly I’d levelled them up. I had abused the Shop. And I knew, without a shadow of doubt, that had they not been [Monsters], this loophole would have been closed off long, long ago. The System wanted [Participants] to rise on their own merits. Not be powerlevelled. But the kiddos weren’t [Participants]. And [Monsters] were not monitored like [Participants]. And they had none of the other resources to call on that we [Participants] had. No, I was well within System parameters and guidelines. Not that I really knew them anyway. I refused to feel even slightly guilty. Mostly. The [Twins] had already known [Clams] were the way to go. I had just facilitated it.

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Then we had killed that [Clam Warrior]. This was legendary. These were undefeatable on the main. There were tales of whole groups of Ottos, hundreds of [Warriors] overcoming a single [Clam Patroller]. And this was a valiant feat, swarming it and tag teaming it into exhaustion, and carrying it out of the water where they could beat on its shell for days and days, maybe even over a week, before breaking through. And if it died from suffocation before they broke through them the food was spoiled. And while the XP was great it was spread with many and they would still be hungry.

For just three people, three beings, to defeat a [Clam] in its own environment was simply unheard of. This had caught the [Matriarch]’s eye more than I had known. She had discounted my claim as some clever trick at first. Until she had seen the pile of [ClamSteaks] we had left. This had really roused her interest in me as more than just mobile [TadSteaks], of which I was really quite thankful.

And finally, I had unlocked their hidden Stats. This was completely revolutionary. And the [Matriarch] was completely flummoxed. She knew something had changed. Something massive. She could see it right before her very eyes in speaking with the [Twins]. I confounded her. I had moved myself firmly from the ~Tasty Looking Prey~ descriptor to that of ~Interesting~Intriguing~Indispensable Repository of Potential.~

I didn’t know how I felt being described as a [Repository]. I suppose it was significantly better than a [Suppository], but I still felt somewhat exploitabled. ExploiTad'd. And I liked the [Indispensable] part. It is always nice to be needed. But I was more than just a resource. Yes, the negotiations were just warming up.

It was time to light a fire. Under someone else’s suppository. This could get a little messy.

We made our way back down to the centre of the street where the [Matriarch] was waiting.

~Greetings honoured [Matriarch]~ I was indeed pleased to see her. And I was pleased I had done some growing of my own too. I had a plan. A route somewhat vaguely mapped out. I had moved beyond a guess and now knew how I could improve myself. My confidence was most well timed.

~Greetings honoured [Claimant].~

Oh. A new [Name]. Hmmm. I wasn’t a petitioner in some legal argument. But I was making a claim I suppose. Yes, I was [Sovereign]. And more importantly I was claiming this gave me dominion over the whole Plane. Including, most specifically the Otto Sapiens. This was a good first step. I graciously accepted her designation. I had asserted my position. It had been acknowledged. This was acceptable.

We moved into the next step of the dance.

~Respectful; enquiry.~ “We would appreciate the honour of your name [Matriarch].” Ahh. Our formal royal diction was influencing our pronouns again. It did add some gravitas I suppose. We supposed. We suppositorised. A twinkle entered my emotes. Hmmm. We needed to stay focused. This was the formal stuff. It wouldn’t do to give the impression we were laughing at her. No. We were laughing at ourselves. Keeping it real. The [Matriarch] was bemused as she tried to keep up with our somewhat whimsical thoughts.

~Sophrona~self controlled~ruthless wisdom~dedicated leader~

Yes. That fitted well. In fact that resonated with our own mother. She too was ruthless. We forcibly refocused. This was not the time to reminisce.

And before we could acknowledge Soph’s moniker a cylinder of blue light formed right next to the System Shop, stretching up to the heavens.

It brightened and then with a flash disappeared, leaving a stranger standing there.

She was tall. Muscular. Dangerous. With arresting blue eyes and steel blue stripes entwining around her body, highlighting some very interesting curves.

She looked at her hand. And opened and closed it slowly. Her four fingers were tipped with short curved claws. Even as I watched they flexed out. They were webbed to the second joint while her thumb was not. She was amazed. She was standing on two feet. Feet with prehensile toes. Hmmm. What's a toe thumb called? I had no idea but she had one.

And she had a tail. And not a dinky little one either.

My [Observation] was interrupted. Dozer and Scrabble threw themselves towards her, almost delirious with joy. Ssrah started back in surprise as she beheld her hulking babies racing to her. The emotes of amazement intensified.

And then she shimmered. Her limbs shortened, her tail grew as she dropped to the ground and raced to meet her kits.

She was back. They were a whirling ball of joy.

I frowned. I had got the timing all wrong. I had thought we had more time.

Poos.

Still I was glad Ssrah was back. Very glad indeed.

And she had been well and truly uplifted.

A [Shapechanger].

A [Were-Otto]!

The [Matriarch] was totally thunderstruck.

She looked at me with some accusation.

I shrugged. What could I say?

Ummm. Yes, I was sort of responsible for this too.

Sorry?

But I wasn’t. Sorry that was. No, this was fantastic.

I went over to greet Ssrah too.

Umm. And perhaps buy her some clothes.