“It wouldn’t take too long!” Admin 6 snapped. “Send a message to every soul in the dungeon saying ‘what race would you like to be forever’, add a one-minute timeout, auto-tally the answers, and done! We’ve now spent longer arguing about this than it will take to do!”

“They’ll just choose human or whatever they’ve spent the last few years as,” Admin 2 said.

“Then at least they’ll have chosen it,” 6 said. “And you can ignore it! All I want is for us to ask!”

“It can’t hurt to ask,” Admin 5 shrugged.

“We have asked,” 4 pointed out. “First question the players got this cycle-”

6 cut him off. “Sure, leave a decision that will affect thousands up to sixty people. That’s totally fair.”

“In the interest of ending this argument and getting on with our jobs,” 1 said loudly, “let’s send the questionnaire out. As has been said, it can’t hurt.”

There was some grumbling as everyone sat down and formed the message. 6 summoned an iced coffee and took a long drink, trying to calm his nerves.

He really wasn’t meant to be a full Admin, deciding the fates of hundreds of people. He couldn’t wait to be out. To be down on the world. To be with Emmy.

The results came in from his dungeon. Neko was first, with kobold just ahead of yeti. Admin 6 smiled, noticing those were the races he’d put in charge of the amusement park.

He selected neko and kobold for his races, then sent it to Admin 1. After a few minutes, after everyone had received and read through their responses, Admin 1 put a list up on the wall.

Elves, Dragons

Hobgoblins, Orcs

Elves, Changelings

Fairies, Treants

Fairies, Nekos

Nekos, Kobolds

“So,” 1 said, turning to look at the group. “Any arguments here?”

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

They all agreed it was a decent list. Admin 6 wondered if it reflected what answers they’d all received, but decided to not ask.

1 nodded. “Good. First, do we mind the size disparity in our races? We’ve been building things to human standard, but dragons are, well, dragons, and fairies are on average half as small as humans.”

“We aren’t asking everyone their opinions,” 3 said, leaning back to glare at 6.

“Make them all closer in size,” 5 said, interrupting the glare match. “Use changelings as a base and go up or down a small percent from there.”

“Agreed,” Admins 2 and 4 said together.

They spent a few seconds deciding what the difference should be, 6 mostly not hearing as he glared at his screen.

“Next,” Admin 1 said, making a note of the decision. “Elves, fairies and nekos are duplicates. How do we want to differentiate them?”

“Elves have fairly standard subraces,” Admin 3 said. “I’ll take wood elves; you can choose any other.”

1 nodded, making a note.

“Wing shape for fairies and ear shape for nekos?” 5 suggested.

“Wing shape?” 4 asked.

“Ear shape?” 6 asked at the same time.

“Yeah,” she said. “Rounded and pointed. Or fairies could go with butterfly wings and dragonfly wings. That’d be a bit more distinctive.”

4 thought it over, bringing up pictures of insects. “As long as the wings are at least partially translucent, I’ll take butterfly.”

5 smiled, then turned to Admin 6. “Serval cats have very rounded ears, while caracals have pointed ears with long ear tufts. They’re very different.”

“You know a lot about cat ear shapes,” 6 decided.

“Yes, and?”

Admin 6 smirked, wondering which Emmy would prefer.

Admin 3 scooted his chair back to face 6 better. “We’ll even ask someone who it will affect directly. Which would you like to have, 6?”

Everyone froze.

Admin 6 stared blankly at him, realizing he’d have to change himself to neko next cycle. He had to decide on a magic type, too. And on a place to live.

He’d been vaguely aware of this, everyone had been, but he’d never thought of it in such blatant terms. He’d been making choices based on what he thought Emmy would like, not what he’d live with.

It wasn’t a secret, but mentioning it, even thinking about it, felt taboo.

“Bad form,” Admin 1 muttered, shaking his head at 3.

6 drained his coffee. He knew what being neko felt like, and the movement gave him a sensation of phantom ears. “I, umm, I’d prefer pointed ears. And if there’s a difference in tail length, I want the longer one.”

Admin 5 frowned at him, worried, then turned to 1. “Does that work?”

“It does,” 1 said, writing it down. “Next thing. Should we keep strictly to our races, or ask the Director for permission to make a few people races not our own?”

Admin 6 barely heard the discussion around him. Things were being decided, but he couldn’t focus. He had to go through everything and make sure he could survive there.

He needed to make sure coffee was available.

He needed to decide what he’d do for a living.

He needed… Emmy.

Calvin needed Emmy.