Riding a liberated bicycle and decked out in stolen clothes from an H&M lacking any employees to thwart his theft, Sebastian let his mind wander as he played a game of Hot and Cold with the System messages to locate the nearest World Store outpost.

He had two cards he couldn’t use until he found said outpost, and wasn’t sure how much help they’d be when he did. At least he knew that his Death Is Not the End ability would save him from death. Though the idea of dying again seemed alien, when it had such a short while ago seemed perfectly natural. Like some impossible thing in a dream.

The ability definitely did something to his psyche, he was sure of that now. It was like he turned into a different person when he was under its influence. Which made him even more reluctant to use it.

He got the feeling that was a sacrifice he was going to have to make. He’d made his choice, and now death was no longer the end for him. There was no escaping this new world, only facing it. Fighting it.

And Sebastian would fight. No matter how he felt about dying.

His thoughts turned to his most recent fight, and what he’d learned from eavesdropping on the group between deaths.

They had called themselves Vassals. Scions and Vassals, and from what he gathered, the Vassals worked for, or were subordinate to, the Scions.

He had managed to kill three of the Vassals, going by the System messages and the title he’d earned. They were even a higher rank than him. Though it had cost him a few deaths. And they were new to their powers. Everyone was, but Sebastian’s resurrection ability didn’t exactly take practice.

Which made him wonder how he would fare against a Scion. He wasn't sure how their power compared to Vassals.

He imagined that the Vassals were weaker, considering they appeared to be subordinate to a Scion. But by how much? How much stronger was a Scion? Twice as strong? Ten times? More?

And if, unlike Vassals, Scions were controlled by the System, then they’d be experts at using any powers they possessed.

While he could come back from death, he worried that even if he wasn’t caught during the card’s hundred-second cooldown, that there might be some other way to counter his resurrection ability.

He just didn’t know enough, and didn’t know how to find out more. He’d asked the System, but on that matter, it was not forthcoming.

He really missed Anubis, and wished he could ask him what to do.

As he had this thought, something Anubis had said returned to him: “if you see a communication crystal, you should purchase it if you can.”

Would that allow them to communicate?

Sebastian didn't know, but he hoped. In any case, he would need to find a World Store first.

He wasn't yet sure if he wanted to sell the Sovereign of Gelandar card he’d gotten, but didn't know what other option he had. It wasn’t any good to him at the moment, and he wasn’t sure of another method to earn orbs. Which he needed to purchase a deck initiator.

He biked around for another minute when, somewhat to his surprise, he discovered another aberration before discovering the World Store, which was just a mile away according to the System’s messages.

Luckily he spotted this one before running into it, so was able to slow down and push through gently.

Either he was getting used to them, or this one wasn't as disorienting as the previous ones had been.

He did learn a bit of new information: he couldn't bring a bike with him inside. He’d been holding onto it when he pushed into the aberration, but when he arrived in the room—this time on his feet, thankfully—the bike wasn't with him.

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His pilfered clothes and backpack were however, and he wondered about that.

He expected to find another statue awaiting his arrival, but instead he found a monster. A real one this time.

He stared at it for a long moment, surprised.

It stared back at him, blankly.

“A giant rat?” Giant might have been pushing it, but it was at least the size of a cat or a small dog, and there was definitely something off about its face.

He wondered what he was supposed to do.

It didn't seem aggressive. It felt wrong to just attack it.

“Hey. Are you an enemy?”

The rat didn’t answer. It continued staring at him, its giant whiskers twitching.

It looked horrific, but didn't seem in a hurry to attack.

Now more secure in the knowledge that he could come back to life if he died, he decided to take a risk and see what happened if he touched it like with the statues.

He still didn’t want to die, but sometimes you had to take risks.

He approached slowly, holding his hand out.

The rat continued to stare at him the whole time.

As his fingers finally came into contact with the creature, he realized he wasn't sure if he would come back to life inside an anomaly zone.

Anomaly was in its name, after all. Maybe it behaved differently than other places.

A little late for caution now, he chastised himself.

The rat let out a squeaking high-pitched sound, clawed Sebastian’s hand, then turned into a black blob with giant eyes before dissolving to smoke and shadow and vanishing all before Sebastian had time to cry out in surprise.

He stared at the spot the rat had been, no card left behind. Then he examined his injury. The wound wasn't bad, the creature hadn't even drawn blood. He was only a little worried about infection. It would suck to suffer through death by infection, but dying itself wouldn’t matter.

He looked around. Now what was he supposed to do? The room had nothing else of note.

Maybe there was something hidden?

Before he could explore more, the room around him began to shift, collapse in on itself, the walls dissolving to mist.

Not wanting to test out just how much his ability would save him from, he hurriedly exited the anomaly zone.

He landed on top of his bike, twisted his ankle, and fell to the ground.

When he got back up again, he could tell he’d hurt it, maybe even sprained it.

It was a testament to how much he’d changed in such a short time that, even not under the psyche-altering effect of his ability, he briefly entertained the idea of killing himself to get a nice fresh body without the ankle injury and possible infection from the rat scratch, not to mention the ringing ears.

In front of him, the aberration disappeared, and he wondered what that had been about.

There hadn’t been a card there. Had the rat gotten in and eaten the card, like normal rats were wont to do with food? And what had it turned into just before disappearing?

Sebastian had no idea, and wished he could ask Anubis.

If he got a communication crystal, maybe he could.

Or maybe the System knew.

What was that rat? he mentally asked.

All available information has been dispensed.

He grunted. “What information? You haven’t told me anything.”

Putting the strange mystery aside for now, he continued on his quest to find a World Store outpost.

Even if he decided not to sell his Sovereign of Gelandar card, he could at least get a feel for what the store had to offer.

Riding the bike actually made his ankle feel better rather than worse, so maybe he hadn’t sprained it.

“World Store,” he said blandly. He could have asked mentally, but speaking aloud for this was somehow easier.

The nearest World Store is within 4,126 feet of your current position.

A few seconds later he asked again, and the distance had increased, so he turned around.

The method was tedious, but at least there was no traffic to get in the way, what with all the machines being dead. There weren’t many people outside anymore either, apparently starting to obey the emergency warning to stay inside and lock their doors.

He wondered again what the government was doing in response to all this. He hadn’t seen police or military anywhere. Perhaps back in America they were out in force, but here the streets were basically empty. Though with communications down and all vehicles and technology disabled, coordinating would be difficult. Not impossible though, they must have contingencies. Things that didn’t rely on electronics.

Less than a minute later he reached the World Store.

There was indeed a sign out front, labeled world store outpost.

Coincidentally, this World Store location was now where the police station used to be.

He left his bike on the ground outside—if someone took it, he’d just steal another—and somewhat hesitantly headed inside.

And found he wasn't the only person here.