Chapter 32:

When Alice woke up, she was alone in the tent, with light streaming through the thin fabric. She stretched and blinked, feeling surprisingly comfortable despite having slept on hard, flat ground. She heard the soft voices of Elaine and Titus talking and the crackle of food wrappers as they prepared breakfast.

Alice put her shoes on inside the tent to keep her feet clean, then unzipped the entrance enough to climb out. She found Titus sitting off to the side while Elaine operated the stove. The smell of fresh eggs and bacon wafted through the air. Titus watched hungrily, and the conversation paused as Alice appeared.

"Good morning, Alice," Elaine said.

Titus grunted a greeting, and Alice gave him a half-wave as she climbed out of the tent. She stood up and walked over to them.

"It smells good," she said.

Elaine shook her head. "No, this is terrible. I don't have any of my normal spices. But I wouldn't subject you to Titus's cooking."

Titus frowned as Alice raised an eyebrow. His cooking hadn't been bad—nothing special, but acceptable. "She never lets me cook when we're in the same spot," Titus grumbled. "She thinks I can't feed myself."

"And you have yet to prove me wrong," Elaine said.

"You've never given me a chance," Titus shot back.

They continued quipping as Elaine tended to breakfast, surprisingly managing to cook three different things in the pan at the same time with very little effort, each item attended to perfectly with the right instruments at the perfect time. Alice got the feeling she was watching a true master at her craft. But she had some thoughts she had slept on last night.

"Um," Alice said, catching everyone's attention. "What's the plan?"

She was really asking Elaine what her plan was, but felt that was a little awkward to say.

"Well, you mentioned that you found 17 other people. Can you still track them?" Elaine asked.

Alice nodded. "Do you know if there are still 17?" the woman asked, trying to keep her tone nonchalant though there was a hint of concern.

Alice was a bit surprised but nodded. "I can still check, but I haven't been monitoring it. If you want, I can set it up on your phone so that you can find them."

Elaine brightened at the idea and pulled out a smartphone, handing it to Alice. "Please. The password is 1128."

Titus suppressed a chuckle, and Elaine shot him a glare. Alice didn't ask what that was about and just unlocked the phone. It wasn't difficult to set up, though it would have been faster with a keyboard. It took her about 20 minutes to lock on to the coordinates of each of the ones she isolated. She saved them on her phone and just transferred them over, setting up some basic software to track one at a time.

While she was focused on that, Elaine served food, setting a plate on Alice's knee when she didn't want to break her concentration to take it. Then she went over to Titus, and they began murmuring to each other. Alice couldn't hear them and felt it might have been in a different language. However, she was so focused on her task that it didn't bother her.

When she finally finished, she put down the phone and dug into the food. The simple corn tortillas, eggs, and bacon, though not as seasoned as Elaine would have liked, made excellent little burritos. Alice wolfed them down in record time. After she finished the first one and was working on the second, she called Elaine over.

"Here," she said, talking through a mouthful of breakfast food. She showed Elaine how to select one target at a time.

"Oh. Thank you," Elaine said, taking her phone and then surprising Alice with an extremely tight embrace. Alice wheezed slightly at the crushing grip, but a second later, Elaine let go.

"Titus," Elaine said, "We should probably head out if we're going to find these people."

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Alice felt a brief flash of panic until she read the exasperation in Titus's emotions that he didn't let show on his face. Apparently, Elaine had been trying to get him to come help her. That soured Alice on the woman significantly.

"It'll take three of us quite a while to reach the next one," Elaine said, looking at Alice as if she was invited too.

Titus shook his head. "I told you, Elaine, we have our own mission."

"But what could be more important than this?" Elaine held up her phone.

"We have a chance, a slim chance, to perhaps remove or lessen the impact of the System. No matter what, we need to at least try."

"How good of a chance is it, really? Is it something you're willing to let one of them die over?"

Alice winced at the low blow and guilt trip. Titus felt that pang of guilt heavily but didn't let it show one bit on his face.

"What could be more important than saving the world?" he asked.

"I don't know... family!" Elaine exclaimed as she threw up her hands dramatically.

Alice was confused. Were they family? Elaine said Titus thought of her as a little sister, and she thought of him as a little brother. But was that literal family?

"They're all competent," Titus said. "I do not believe any of them, even the ones I don't particularly like, are in any real danger. They have survived this far. Besides, half of them will try to kill me if I show up with you."

"I'm sure they're over that," Elaine waved dismissively.

Titus shook his head. "I wouldn't be so sure. Not everyone is as forgiving as you, and I certainly haven't forgiven all of them."

"But you don't wish them actual harm."

Alice felt a clear bit of uncertainty from Titus. Maybe he did, but he wasn't sure himself.

Titus shrugged. "I'm going with Alice. Besides, I don't think she'd come with us even if I went with you. And right now, she needs me more than you do."

Elaine threw up her hands in exasperation. "Titus… Sometimes—" she said with a few false starts, "I just— I can't believe you.”

She took a deep breath before putting on a rather convincing smile and turning to Alice.

“Well, it was lovely meeting you, Alice," Elaine said. "I can't thank you enough for everything you've done."

And just as quickly as Elaine had come into their camp like a whirlwind, she left, her bike roaring off into the distance.

Alice and Titus sat there, not talking as they watched the plume of dust fade into the distance. Now that Elaine was gone, Alice had questions. Lots and lots of questions. But she wasn't exactly sure how to broach the topic. Titus didn't seem to be in a very talkative mood, but she gritted her teeth. She hated awkward conversations, but they needed to talk.

"Titus," Alice said.

Titus looked up at her and shook his head. "Let's pack up. We can talk on the road."

"Titus," Alice repeated in a warning tone. They would not be able to talk in the ATV, and he well knew that.

He sighed and got up. "Well, I'm going to start packing up."

"What were you talking about while I was setting up the tracking for her?" Alice asked. It was a smaller thing, but maybe it would be a good way to ease into the conversation about how the hell Titus was some sort of ancient, powerful, magical being.

Judging by the irritation that flared through the bond, Titus didn't appreciate the topic. "Sorry," he said, evidently recognizing the look on her face. "That wasn't directed at you."

"You and Elaine really are like siblings."

Titus winced. "I wouldn't call us siblings."

Alice also got the impression that Elaine had downplayed some of their previous relations quite significantly. She ignored that for now. "Okay, but what were you guys talking about?"

Titus went quiet for a second, and she could feel the conflict within him. Eventually, he heaved a big sigh. "She was trying to get me to tell you everything."

"Like what?"

"She wanted to let you in on the secret. I was going to anyway, but I don't want her to know that you know. Not yet, at least. Anyways, right now, she thinks you might be one of us. I know you're not because I know why you're left behind, but she doesn't."

"One of you?" Alice asked, knowing what Titus meant but not understanding the defining feature of this group of enigmatic 20—or now 19—that was left behind from the tutorial.

"Yes. She wanted to let you in, and she doesn't really think we should end the System. This is our opportunity to not have to hide the same way we have been for so long."

Alice frowned. "So, as part of my [Pact Bond] skill, I get pieces of your power. I thought it meant just being able to draw through mana, but when I got the class, I got a perk.

"I also got a perk related to my class," Titus remarked.

"[Relentless], right," Alice confirmed. "Yeah, well, I think the perk might not have been just being able to draw through your power or whatever. I think I actually get some of your traits."

Titus frowned.

"Yeah," Alice said. "Um, does my [Agelessness] perk have to do with anything?"

Titus pursed his lips. "Well. This might be easier to explain than I thought."