Meeting up with MS5 was eye-opening. They were still human, but the strangest one Ace had ever met outside of Colourlize Me! where paint, glitter, and color saturation was measured in metric tonnes. She first noticed shoulder-length, pastel hair in rings of different colors, their head the center point rippling outwards. Following that led to what looked like paint dripping down their face, throat, shoulders, and over the rest of their body. Blue. Not the light blue of summer skies immortalized, nor the dark blue of deep oceans, but a fairly even shade; the hue a child would pick to draw a teardrop, a river, or rain.

The second thing she noticed was a beak. It was short, tiny, and a light orange that surprisingly worked well with the blue.

“Horns, huh?” MS5 bobbed their head. “Nice. Always said you were a stubborn old goat. I got stuck doing my bird impression.”

“If I remember correctly, you called me a stubborn jackass and I don’t feel any long, furry ears.” Ace looked over her friend with a more critical eye. “Looks like I can’t make fun of your eagle-beak now. No ears?”

“Thankfully that damned mutation didn’t impact my hearing.” MS5 let out a small cluck. “I’ll also acknowledge that I’m very glad I don’t need glasses right now.”

They drew up close and hugged as well as they could with Ace’s quarterstaff, baggage from both of them, and the weird feeling Ace got from MS5’s skin. It reminded her of frogs and toads, but, somehow, at the same time, not. She didn’t say anything, just pulled away first and rubbed the inside of her arms, pretending she was cold. The environment around her helped out by sending a brisk wind to wrap around them.

“Haven’t seen you for a while,” Ace said, “in game or out.”

“Been busy.” A pause. “Thinking of getting out of the business, actually.”

Jinn repressed a sigh. Of course. Except for her, nice people never stayed.

“And do what?”

MS5, or as Jinn knew her, Marie, started walking, heading back in the direction that she’d come up from. Jinn fell in step beside her, grinning as her friend’s brown cloak billowed in the wind; she’d gone full healer, but instead of scrounging up an old nurse or doctor uniform, she’d apparently decided to dress like a hedgewitch.

Marie shrugged at the question, adjusting their backpack at the same time.

“Don’t know. Just starting to get burnt out I guess. Feeling that I level up all the time, climbing higher and higher, and then I go back to real life with nothing.”

Jinn didn’t know how to answer that. Sure, there were the trite sayings that people always had about music, books, videos, and games; the experiences would stay with you, and those were what you could always have as memories. On the other hand, when a person was a professional game tester with so many different experiences, how many times could “feeling good about hitting a goal” help a person grow?

“Anyhow, you didn’t come out to listen to me whine.” Marie would have smiled at that remark, but the beak removed the possibility. “In fact, now that I’m thinking about it, what do you want?”

“Me?” Jinn’s voice went high in surprise, but Marie wasn’t fooled. They stopped walking, putting hands on their hips and giving a look.

“Yes, you. You normally only accept my in-game meetings if you need something. Should I bring up Lucky Bullets? Or Darkest, Nameless Sea?”

Jinn sighed.

“Fine, fine. I’ve done everything I can, but there’s one last goal eluding me.”

“Really? You actually did those?” Marie laughed, bright and bubbly. “I got to half, took my weapon, and ignored the rest.”

At the mention of weapons Jinn checked over her friend again, but didn’t see anything.

“It’s in my bag.”

“The point of a weapon, MS5,” said Jinn, deliberately using their game name as a reminder that the testing period wasn’t over yet, “is keeping it within easy reach to protect yourself.”

MS5 shook their head, eyes narrowed.

“No, the point is to frighten people away, hurt them enough to make them flee, or kill them so they don’t hurt anyone else again.” Tension grew between them. “I know what I’m doing by keeping it in my bag.” They turned and eyed Ace’s quarterstaff. “Besides, mine fits.”

Jinn opened her mouth to protest, then sighed. She rubbed the back of her head and took a small break for some water, passing the bottle over to MS5.

“Fine. Returning to the topic, the goal I need to finish is this one.” Ace brought up her stats.

Goals: 1 listed, 49/50 achieved

Twisted Imagination - Have more than ten mutations in total, including one that affects the brain

“How many do you have?”

“Mutations?” Ace groaned. “Five in total, and that’s starting with three. One of the few points that got a downvote from me. Players need to know how to get them, otherwise it’s just being bored waiting.”

MS5 checked behind them, then started walking backwards on the road, beak open in what looked to be silent laughter.

“What if I told you I’d figured it out?” They whirled around and struck a pose, one hand on a hip shifted into the air, the other running down their flowing rainbow hair. “That I didn’t become this fabulous by accident.”

Ace frowned.

“I’d say you’re lying. No one knows how to create mutations, I’ve checked with every NPC and all the testers that have passed through.”

“All the testers, huh?” MS5 shook their head. “I notice that you’ve failed to ask me.”

Ace rolled her eyes, giving a finger.

“Fine, how’d you do it? Glitch?”

“Nope.” MS5 laughed. “Luck. It happened when I was checking out the cause of an illness on the coast, in a small fishing community named White Cove.”

Ace opened her map, but her memory wasn’t playing tricks on her; she had a grand total of zero coastal discoveries. Most places dotting the paper were fom smaller places in the Briny area, or at least right outside it. Now MS5 rolled her eyes.

“It’s close enough that you should have found it. I almost broke my leg too, when—”

“Oh, well, now I really want to go,” interrupted Ace, smiling and ignoring the glare she got. “Breaking a leg sounds like fun.”

“As I was about to say, it’ll be easier with two people. You can help me keep watch, and make sure no one’s following us.”

Ace opened her mouth to chase that thought, but MS5 tapped their right temple and their stats appeared. “Look in awe! And falling into that hole is how I got all of these!”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

MS5’s CORPSE: Level 6 (400/700 experience points needed to level up)

Current XP Status:

15C, 16O

* Charisma IV - 76/100

* Opportunities IV - 74/100

* Reflexes I - 45/100

* Perception VI - 81/100

* Passive skill: 2% chance to see hidden enemies in known places

* Endurance I - 97/100

* Strength I - 27/100

8 Physical Mutations in Play: Gray Eyes, Elemental Blood (Fire), Beak, Rubbery Skin, Rainbow Hair, Palette Shift (Blue), Diffused Organs, Material Resonance

3 Spiritual Mutations in Play: Inspiration, Manipulation, Meditation

2 Mental Mutations in Play: Thought Projection, Paranoia

Ah… maybe she wouldn’t ask about them being followed.

“As you can see,” came the boast, “I went for the baker’s dozen of mutations.”

“That’s…” Ace rubbed her eyes, then blinked several times for good measure. “How the FUCK did you manage that?! I’ve only been able to get two more!”

MS5 laughed, tapping the stats away and starting to walk again… after looking around and checking each direction.

“I told you, I stumbled onto the secret.”

Ace could feel her eyes widen. “This’ll let me finish all fifty of my goals.”

“Yes, yes, you’ve said that already.”

“No, really MS5!” She raced after her friend, blood thrumming at being given her permanent palace in OMR. “Please, please tell me we’re close enough to wherever this happened!”

“Well, I could tell you you’re lucky.” They eyed Ace. “And yes, you are. Good thing I wasn’t able to talk you into heading back to that ranger station.”

The thought of dealing again with Romeo was enough to make her shudder.

“Trust me, there’s nothing up there worth seeing.” Ace shrugged. “Maybe the dead body I found in the cave?”

MS5 stopped and just stared at her.

“You have problems. I doubt the most interesting thing up there was a dead body.”

A corpse, Romeo, a tower that was a bitch to enter, and a swamp that was as welcoming as arsenic poisoning.

“Interesting is subjective.”

They continued, Ace letting MS5 take the lead, and after passing a tall tree dripping moss, they swung off the path.

“White Cove is along the coast, and getting down there is easy,” MS5 said, stepping over a fallen tree. They looked back, scanning the horizon. “It’s harder to come back up though, since there’s a cave system to go through and the locals burn every map they can think of.”

A good way to keep a place hidden for retreat and blitz attacks. Ace found herself nodding along with the decision.

“Well, after helping them recover and heal from some type of pox, I was supposed to get out through the caves, but I fell down a hole, and it took the villager leading me out a bit of time to find help. In the hours they had to leave me there, I kept getting notifications of mutation after mutation.” They stopped. “I wonder if there’s a limitation?”

“Probably,” Ace nodded, “but we’re not going to find it in the time we’ve got left.”

“True. Same reason the skill rankings don’t do much for the moment, unless a tester focuses on one of them and hits level 5 in it.”

A bird nearby chirruped, darting into a bush. Several other birds took to wing and flew off into the blue sky, heading away from grey clouds on the horizon. Ace tilted her head to the sun and took a deep breath—she loved being by the sea.

“Spend a few hours in the pit like I did, and you’ll get your mutations.”

“Hopefully something that affects the mind too, since that’s part of the goal.” Ace turned to MS5. “Thanks.”

“Glad to help.” Mirth shone in their eyes. “That’s why I’m always support, right?”

The ground went from trees and grass to rocks and caves, with one arched opening appearing in front of them. In that time Ace explained how Briny Breeze now had more than enough water and food for the population, which allowed her to sell it at high prices to the other places she’d learned of.

MS5 clucked their tongue.

“There are better ways to make money in game than by selling water and food to desperate people. A player needs to find a market and corner it so that the rich people, NPCs and players alike, happily pay you.”

“Like what?” asked Ace, kicking a rock. It ricocheted off the stone wall and clattered into the darkness. “And we’ve got something to work as a torch, right?”

“Like this.” MS5 fingered her healer’s cloak and ignored the second question. “That mutation you saw earlier, Material Resonance? It allows me to make cloth that complements the wearer’s highest skill. Mine’s Perception, since I need to be able to observe symptoms and make healing mixtures.”

“What does it actually do though? You know, in terms of numbers.” She looked around to see if anything would be good to use.

“Gives a bonus of +2. Which, for me, when paired with mutations Meditation and Inspiration plants I can use to make pastes and medicine with are highlighted.”

“...you’re right, that sounds absolutely amazing.” Ace bent to grab a branch from the ground. “I’m envious.”

“Thought you might say that.” MS5 swung their backpack to the front and pulled out a wad of cloth. “Here. Try it on. I made several.”

“And you just... carry them around,” said Ace, not surprised. She’d been on the receiving end of Marie’s kindness for years, and if they were really leaving then the game testing world would be poorer for it. “Sweet. Thanks!” She shrugged on the long vest, noting that it was open in such a way that the shoulders of most people would fit, and the buttons had braided cords to loop around them, which allowed for even more give in the outfit. Again, classic Marie, always thinking two steps ahead when it came to others. And now Ace had a bonus of +2 to her Opportunities.

The coat was long, had several pockets, each of them made with plastic for a little bit of water resistance. Ace wished she’d had this when those water raiders had attacked Briny Breeze at the end of the first week.

“You say you’re envious of me, but honestly, I’m jealous of you,” said MS5, standing back up and passing a piece of cloth over to Ace. She sniffed; it had been treated with something, and was currently stiff. Wrapping it around the wood took a little more effort than it should have, but eventually it was tied off. Ace took out one of her few working lighters, and soon there was a fire flickering.

“Now I wish I’d done what instead of focusing on breaking the money system.”

“We each have our strengths. Besides, it’s not like you can’t continue dominating with that mutation.”

“If I continue playing,” Marie reminded her.

“If you don’t, sell your account to someone. Tester accounts can score some nice credits.” Mostly because testers were also magpies and would usually hold on to accounts until they died rather than sell them, which made them a very rare commodity.

“Something to think of.”

Stepping from the day’s sunlight into the cave’s darkness, Ace felt her excitement growing. This would be her crowning achievement, finishing off that damned list of objectives, and if she was the only tester who had pulled it off then it could even go on her resume.

“I’ll come in with you,” MS5 said, her voice trembling as they stepped next to Ace. “But, um, the hole’s all yours. I don’t need any more mutations, and with my luck the next one I’ll get will be worse than any I’ve already received.”

Ace handed them the torch, immediately regretting that decision when MS5 took the lead and left her in semi-darkness.

“Fair enough.” Her voice bounced off the walls. “I’ll finish what I need, climb out, and we can celebrate in a nearby field or something. Drink ‘til we’re sick.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

A quick curse split the air as Ace tripped over something.

“Sorry, was that a stalactite? Or a stalagmite? I forget which is which.”

“Dammit MS5, warn me next time. Or shine some light in front of me.”

“I’ll try to remember,” came the demure reply, along with a quick flash of brightness before the torch moved further away. Ace was sure there was a laugh hidden behind it.

Their footsteps echoed. Left, right, then another right, and then fingers wrapped around her wrist, holding her back.

“Here’s the hole I was talking about,” they said, moving away and sitting down on a nearby rock. “I’m not going back in. I can’t, and I won’t. This cave is worrisome enough, there’s an itching between my shoulder blades, as if something bad’s going to happen.”

Ace bit her tongue. Her friend knew what their mutations were, and if they were still willing to go into enclosed quarters, then she could repay that kindness by being silent.

“Fair.” She hesitated, then handed over her quarterstaff and her bags. “Here. Have a beer or something while I wait. I’ll come up as soon as I finish my goal.”

“Oooh, fruity beer? And cherry flavored!” MS5 nodded, stabbing the torch into a crack on the wall before kneeling down to open the bags. “Take your time.”

Ace walked over to where darkness turned the floor blacker. It didn’t look like a hole. It honestly looked like someone had spilled ink over the floor.

“Don’t fall in!” cautioned MS5, “It’s a little too deep of a drop than you’d want. I put a couple of rocks where I climbed out, and the holds I made should still be there.”

It took several minutes, and there were a few seconds of hanging when she thought she’d fall, but finally, Ace’s feet found the first crevice, then the next, and she made it to the bottom without incident. Nothing was different about the place. No gas, no smells, nothing to show that anything about the area was special. It was cold, of course, and slightly damp, but that was about it.

She settled herself against the stone wall and began counting under her breath to see how long it’d take a new mutation to appear.