Igor was on his way to scold the new girl for playing the claw machine when she was meant to be manning the register. He was fully aware there were no customers in the store— and hadn't been for most of the day— but this was hardly the first time he'd had to reprimand Angie for wandering off. He didn't have high hopes for her long-term prospects with the store; he just hoped to leave before he had to cover any of her shifts.

He was distracted mid-step by an image suddenly filling his vision. It was as if a bunch of eye floaters had gotten together to mock him for his gaming addiction

Name: Igor Occupation: Assistant Manager Class: Empath Level: 3 HP: 15 AC: +0 Stamina: 20 Spirit: 15 Physical Stats:

Strength:8

Dexterity:12

Constitution:14 Mental Stats:

Intelligence:10

Wisdom:16

Charisma:10

Trauma:30 Abilities/Skills:

Heart-rate monitor [HUD] Reputation(11/30):

[Yours][Theirs]

Leo: [2/10][3/10]

Angie:[4/10][6/10]

Phoebe:[5/10][8/10] ->Reward: Second Wind (Expend Spirit to:[self] return to the fight | [others]: inspire (requires a party or reputation >= 5)

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Immediately, he was annoyed to see an '8' in strength. He often helped put away crates of milk that came on the truck. It seemed to Igor that he should have a 10 if that was average strength. Like many men, he was overestimating himself. He also couldn't fathom what use he'd have for a heart monitor in the corner of his vision. He wondered if this random delusion was an appropriate reason to take a sick day and decided his boss wouldn't think so. All the more reason to turn in his notice, he told himself as he watched his heart rate speed up for some unknown reason.

Before he could question his sheet further, two sounds reached Igor's ears almost simultaneously. He understandably, if arguably incorrectly, chose to believe they were unrelated.

The first sound— first only because it was closer, not because it was more important— was the sound of a toilet flushing. It wasn't a sound the assistant manager would typically pay attention to, except that it was immediately followed by a muffled scream from the opposite end of the store. Igor's head snapped toward the back of the store, but he hesitated to investigate on his own.

"Hey, Igor, Ginger, you fuckers deaf? somebody just screamed, come on!" Leo said as he came running out of the bathroom. He hit the claw-down button while hurrying past them toward the break room.

"That asshole, I nearly had it that time! I'll punch him in the dick!" Angie said, chasing after the stock boy.

Igor was torn between correcting his workers on their language and asking Leo if he'd washed his hands; Igor was pretty sure he hadn't. Then he realized he was still staring at his accelerating heartbeat—which was up over 112 bpm— and decided he might as well go running after his employees.

Luckily for Igor, that choice had the bonus effect of dismissing his character sheet. Of course, out of sight wasn't out of mind, especially since, down in the bottom left of his vision, a blinking cartoon heart displayed his beats per minute and emanated small ripples in a way that would undoubtedly get annoying. It sped up as he ran, and only later would he wonder if it had less to do with the running and more to do with what he was running toward.

Leo, Angie, and Igor raced, almost single file, down the freezer aisle.

"Oh shit, I could go for an Eggo," Angie yelled as she ran. "Is there a toaster in the break room?"

Another scream kept either Leo or Igor from responding and brought Angie's mind back to the matter at hand, which, on the whole, worked out well for Phoebe.

Though an instinctual reaction of not moving a muscle might work on some predators, Phoebe's monster was not fooled. The claws had ripped away the lower portions of the door, and Phoebe half expected it to announce 'Here's Johnny!' any moment. The sight of the green fur-less rat's pitch-black eyes peering through the hole had finally been enough to drag a series of screams from Phoebe's normally quiet lips.

Leo and Igor rounded the corner and pulled up short as they saw the mastiff-sized rodent. "Oh shit," Leo said.

"Move, dick wad," Angie said, running past them both without so much as a moment's hesitation. If you scoured the whole of the produce aisle, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better mace than the metal sign advertising a sale on pizza pockets.

Angie rushed the monster, half dragging the sign's heavy base across the floor behind her.

Just as the creature registered the sounds of movement behind it, Angie leveraged the sign over her shoulder, bringing it down on the rat's face with a crunch, completely disregarding the mess that it would make.

"Fuck yeah!" Angie shouted, throwing her fists up in victory. "Eat it!"