I watched as the other Volunteer stood his ground as the shambling, wet humanoid approached, lured by the delectable cucumber laying in the grass between them. Then to my surprise the Volunteer gave a deep, polite bow.

The kappa stopped in place. Then I watched as it returned the gesture, bowing low. As it did, I noticed some of the water in the bowl-shaped depression in its head spill out. The kappa hissed. Its body and limbs jerked awkwardly.

In a swift movement, the Volunteer drew his 6-inch blade and made a quick slit across the creature’s throat. It grabbed at its neck with its webbed claws, falling to the ground as it desperately tried to hold the spurting blood in place.

“Quick! Get over here!”

He was calling me. I left my observation spot behind the bamboo and hurried to the Volunteer’s side. He laid the incapacitated creature on the back of its shell and seized one of its kicking legs.

“Grab the other noga and help me pull it away from the pond!”

I did, gripping a leg that was simultaneously nodular and slimy. The creature smelled awful. Pungent. Like befouled mud and stagnant lake water. Together, we easily slid the wet kappa back behind the bamboo thicket.

“Best to do it here in case any others are spying from the water.”

Red blood gurgled from the creature’s open throat and its flat eyes rolled back in its head. The jerking movements continued, but the creature seemed to have almost no strength left in it.

My companion stabbed his blade hard into the creature’s soft-shelled belly, cutting down the center of the plate towards the groin. All the while the creature writhed and gurgled pitifully. Then the Volunteer pierced the creature’s side, cutting around the perimeter of the shell. I could tell he had done this many times before.

I watched with mounting disgust as the Volunteer peeled the soft shell of the stomach away, revealing a mass of pulpy organs and elongated arms oddly attached in the center of its torso. The creature smelled worse on the inside than the outside. I tried not to inhale.

Blood sticking to both of his hands, the Volunteer carefully wiped his brow with the back of sleeve and stood up, shaking viscera from his blade. He shook his head.

“Nope. Not here.”

As the creature’s life force finally drained away, it began to shudder and glow. A scant few motes of light rose up from the disintegrating corpse, shining bright even in the daylight. My nameless companion scrutinized the floating objects and shrugged apathetically.

“Take ‘em.”

▶ But I didn’t do anything.

“That’s okay. I don’t need ‘em.”

I reached out and received into myself the following:

[1 Crystal obtained]

[Common Data Card Fragments obtained - Kappa - 2/10]

“We’ll give it a minute, then try one of the other ponds.”

▶ The same thing?

“Until I find what I’m looking for. I brought extra cucumbers just in case.”

▶ Don’t the kappas catch on to what you’re doing?

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“They are very predictable creatures. If you bow, they are obliged to bow back. The water in their sara–that is the source of their strength. If it spills, they are significantly weakened. Now if another kappa sees me attacking its kin all bets are off. But odin at a raz these veshches are pushovers if you know what to do.”

▶ Cucumbers and compulsory bowing. Not very sporting, is it?

The man glared up at me and that was the end of the conversation. After a sufficient amount of time passed, the knife-wielding Volunteer was at it again. He selected a different pond, approaching from another angle, but all the subsequent steps were the same. Bait, bowing, and butchering.

I didn’t ask why he bothered cutting open the creatures as he did. If there was some special material they dropped, wouldn’t they do so upon death? Why slice them apart in the midst of their death throes? After three or four of the kappas met a similar fate, I actually began to feel sorry for the disgusting creatures.

By that time, we had split the meager Crystals, my total share being five, and I had saved up eight out of ten data card fragments. I could tell my companion was growing impatient, but on the next kill he found what he was searching for.

Cutting away and removing the shell protecting the kappa’s belly, the Volunteer plunged his hand into the very center of the slimy guts and triumphantly pulled out a hard, round ball, vaguely shaped like a small onion. The kappa let out a final shriek of indignity before shuffling off this coil, netting me a ninth card fragment in the process.

[Alert! Account storage almost full.]

Not now. I was more curious about this elusive object that had warranted so much violent turtle-man processing.

▶ All this work for a… whatever that thing is?

His former impatience melted away by his success, my companion relaxed and even broke a smile. He hadn’t even had to use one of his many poison-dipped throwing knives. I silently wondered how long this would have taken had he not ingested that lucky tea.

“It’s a shirikodama, innit? Smot it up some raz.”

Shirikodama. Got it. Not really. I made a mental note as he carefully added the bizarre prize to his inventory.

▶ Since you know so much about kappas, what does a completed data card get you?

“Pretty underwhelming. You can forge it into a very specific lomtcik of armor. A helm. Basically your own version of a kappa’s sara. When the bowl on top is full of water, it grants a hefty strength and resistance bonus. Very impractical though. I knew a Volunteer who transmuted it into a beer peeting shlem. Had the same effect, but made him look like a total gloopy nazz.”

▶ Transmuted it into what?

“You know, the shlapas that hold beer cans on your gulliver. Like this?”

He pantomimed holding two objects on either side of his head for illustration.

It seemed the more he spoke, the less I understood. But I think I got the picture of a novelty beer drinking hat. I vaguely remembered the Export and Transmute options at the Data Forge, the latter function allowing you to ‘transform the cosmetic appearance of an item, weapon, or armor.’ It did seem worthless to have to balance a bowl of water on your head, unless one was gifted with preternatural balance or found some other loophole or workaround.

I didn’t have a complete data card either way, but I could always try to sell, trade, or recycle it if I couldn’t find a good use.

“You helped me. Raz to return the favor. Wanna take a gander at this hedge maze?”

I nodded. He dematerialized his hunting knife and we walked beyond the ponds. The splashing koi fish were now safe at least, although I kept a watchful eye so as not to be set upon by any vengeful kappas. Soon we crossed over the wide lawn and approached the walled-off garden. A park within a park.

Up close, the stone walls were much taller than I had realized. The green hedges beyond the ornate archway were thick, impenetrable to the eye. A plate affixed to the stone wall at the entrance simply read: Grand Central Park Hedge Maze. We slipped past the caution tape and stood in the entrance.

The hedge walls loomed taller than me, and certainly taller than my companion. The dense greenery cast the maze in permanent shade, despite the bright daylight conditions outside. It was quiet, save for a gentle breeze rustling against stiff leaves. You could hardly see into the maze before the pathways turned off at ninety degree angles.

The Volunteer tapped me on the arm. I looked down and saw him holding up a small ceramic container for me to take.

▶ More poison?

“No. Put it on your plot. Trust me.”

Put it on? I cautiously accepted the container and turned it over in my hand. It wasn’t ceramic after all but some sort of hardened leather. I could feel the weight of liquid inside, and the top was stopped with a cork. I highlighted the item and concentrated on it.

[Shadowfoot Ointment]