“They said we would be like superheroes. That those voices we heard in our heads give everyone abilities when we turn 12. The adults already have them, but they’re crud because they weren’t ready. They said they’re going to try and help us unlock the best ones! Apparently, the voice said kids are the future,” Rhett beamed.

“I can be a superhero?” John mumbled.

“Yeah, all of us! They asked me questions and said they’d decide based on my answers which type of power might be best. I-“ Rhett said, interrupted as another adult entered the room.

“Claire, please join us down the hall,” the man announced as another kid joined their group.

Claire jumped out of her seat, looking back and forth between the man and her friends as they urged her to hear the good news.

She was going to be a superhero!

Others rushed over to Trevor’s body while I walked away and sat on one of the benches to check my messages.

Quest Updated!

Dungeon duty: Defeat four dungeons to unlock next target.

Dungeon runs completed: 1

Dungeons remaining: 3

Calculating Rewards…

Rewards:

System Credits: 20

Internal Energy: 15 (30)

Rat Meat x 2

Notice: Internal Energy halved due to related quest.

Pretty standard rewards, I thought, dismissing both windows. I’ll get Chen to sell the rat meat since neither of us like the taste. There are more than enough other options now; the city leaders had finally gotten their shit together. No more scavenging from house to house looking for cans.

I’d expected more credits, but I guess I really didn’t help much in the beginning. To some, they were valuable, but the System hadn’t given many ways to use them, so most just held onto them or used them to trade for other System rewards. The markets were a bit of a mess, where some clearly abstained from using system credits, while others didn’t take anything but the credits.

The Integrated Energy was typical; I earned less because I’d get more when I completed the quest anyways. And though this dungeon was predictable, safe, that also gave us less rewards overall.

Oh well, I’ll get more when I do the next dungeon by myself. I should probably say bye to Chen at least before I get going.

“What are you doing?” I heard someone say while I mused over the dungeon rewards.

I looked up to see Brett standing in front of me and glaring down. His hands were clenched, and it looked like he was ready to throw a punch as he waited for me to answer.

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Fuck. That.

I really wasn’t in the mood to deal with Brett right now. Five hours was more than enough, and I had another dungeon to get to.

“Not now Brett, leave me alone,” I said, moving to walk past him.

He grabbed my arm, “Not now?”

“Let go of my arm, Brett,” I said. A dagger appeared in my right hand.

I felt his hand shaking. He didn’t let go.

If I feel even the slightest bit of heat, this dagger is going right into his throat.

Others were watching us now, but I didn’t care. I hadn’t done anything wrong.

Brett was the one being a dick.

“What’s going on?” Chen ran up beside us.

“She let him die. She let Trevor die in there,” Brett said, not letting go.

“I am no one’s babysitter. He ran off and none of us could find him.”

“You were supposed to be our insurance policy. And here you are sitting around like his death meant nothing!”

There’s that insurance policy bullshit again…

“You can’t put that on me. You started with the exact same Skill I did,” doing my best to keep my anger in check as I glared at Brett, “and news flash, I just met the guy. He died today and someone else will die next week. Why do I care if another guy who I didn’t know dies? Now let go of me or I’m taking your hand off for you.”

“Claire, that’s enough,” Chen said.

“Tell him to let go of me then!” I shrieked, exhausted and angry at the whole situation.

“Brett, let go of Claire,” Chen said, and grabbed hold of his arm. “It wasn’t her fault that Trevor died. We all looked for him, but he obviously ran off without us. We were careless at the end. We were rushing since our time was almost up.”

Chen turned away from me and looked at Brett.

A moment passed and I gripped my dagger tighter.

For a moment I wondered if Chen would need to find a new regular for her delves… but eventually he let go.

I gave Chen a final glance, then stalked off towards the exit.

The room had a few others in it, but most were standing around where Trevor had fallen.

“You were supposed to protect us,” I heard Brett mumble as I reached the exit.

I almost turned back to yell at him again but decided against it. I’d dealt with enough for the day.

Besides, my Skills were never meant to protect anyone.

*****

Five hours later and for some reason the leeching protesters were still outside. I ran as soon as I got out of the dungeon and that seemed to dissuade any of them from stopping me as they blathered on like idiots.

I started jogging towards one of my favourite dungeons on the south side of the city near the water as I contemplated how Brett had reacted. How angry he was, but how sad he looked.

Chen’s sad eyes as she told him to let go.

Chen understood why I couldn’t care, right? I’d never told her what happened, about the quest, but she knew I had more important things to worry about then one more dead guy. I’d never even met him before today. Why was Trevor any different?

I reached the street nearest to the dungeon…but then I kept running.

And at this point I wasn’t even paying attention to where I was going as Brett, Trevor, and Chen each took up space in my thoughts.

Thinking of them got me thinking about others though. And then my mind went to darker places as I kept running through the streets, trying to distract my mind enough to stop.

Just stop.

But the thoughts didn’t stop and inevitably I was thinking about Rhett and John. At that point, Brett, Trevor, and Chen didn’t matter much anymore as I thought about my two best friends.

So, I ran faster, willing their faces to leave me alone. To stop haunting me.

I just wanted to run.

Far away.

So, I kept running through the city until my heart pounded and my lungs hurt.

And then I kept going.

I kept going until it was dark and the thought of going into any dungeon was no longer on my mind.

I kept running until Trevor’s body didn’t show up when I closed my eyes anymore.

I kept running until Brett’s face didn’t make me want to scream.

I kept running until Rhett and John’s smiling faces stopped popping into my head.

I kept running until Mom’s….

I stopped running.

I never felt lost in this city. I’d roamed aimlessly enough times that most places were familiar in one way or another. I felt myself coming out of my daze. I’d run in circles for hours and had a long way to go if I planned to find my way back to Chen’s tonight.

Mom’s face stuck in my head as I started my walk back to Chen’s. She’d taught me to be kind, but I always wondered how she would’ve handled this whole new world if she had my Skills.

No, the System wouldn’t have given her any of the same Skills. She was genuinely caring and thoughtful. Not like me. She would’ve gotten something boring like ‘Cleaning’ or something ethereal like ‘Angelic embrace’.

Part of me was happy she didn’t need to deal with the world like it was now. The death. The corruption. She was too good for it all.

That’s why I needed to keep Brett at arm’s length. Why Chen couldn’t know everything about me. Why Trevor’s dead body couldn’t be more than a passing thought. They couldn’t see the old Claire. The Claire my mom had raised. The one she’d saved. The kind Claire.

Kind Claire couldn’t complete the quest.

Kind Claire couldn’t look at Trevor’s chewed on body without blinking.

Kind Claire couldn’t kill the people on her list.

Kind Claire couldn’t avenge her friends.

Kind Claire would never make it in this new world.

Kind Claire died when she got thrown away like trash.