The road, as such, was barely paved, but at least packed down and sloped enough to prevent the day’s persistent rain from pooling all over the place. There were still a few puddles and an occasional rock that would make a carriage ride unpleasant. Overall, the road was passable but just. The road angled up as the forest around them became rocky. Occasionally the river and the road closed together but then separated again.

After walking for a while, the forest shifted from mostly deciduous to a good mix of deciduous and conifers. Perhaps further up the path, they would filter out completely. Alastair commented that he hadn’t noticed this supposed mountain when they were in the city, but perhaps it was just focused on the newness of the environment.

“It’s possible I noticed it when I climbed that roof the other day, but it’s been raining so much that I don’t expect the draw distance allows it to be seen. Maybe that’s by design or a limitation of the immersion.”

The two came across a crossroads. A small sign marked further up the mountain to Bacton Keep, while another marked back the way they came to West Shilgrave. The third said, simply, “Farms.”

Alastair said, “That farmer mentioned there were several cats at the farms. Want to see if that’s true?”

“Sure. I can’t imagine arriving at a Keep unannounced and recently released from prison as a way to make friends on this island.”

“What do you think we were in prison for, anyway?”

“Probably just stealing a loaf of bread.” {There is a joke, or more reasonably an anecdote, about a person who has only seen two movies: Les Misérables and Aladdin. As they watch a third movie they ask “When does a character steal the bread?”}

“Nah. It’s gotta be more than that.”

In the distance, a little back up the path they had just come from, came a scream followed by yells of “It’s a monster! Monsters at the keep!”

Flor and Alastair gave each other a look. Finally, Flor asked, “Should we investigate? It might lead to something of a resolution?”

“I…it’s late. We already have one experiment in the works. Fighting monsters in the middle of the night doesn’t sound fun.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Me either. Let’s hurry and maybe we can make the farm. Looks like we still have a bit over an hour before midnight.”

They stepped up their pace due to a gentle downslope and the well-maintained path used to transport food from the farms to the keep. They both remained silent for a while, considering the yells that they had heard behind them.

Finally, Flor said, “I’ve been thinking more about our situation. Like, the current situation.”

“How so?”

“Well, if there is a cut scene that late at night, chances are that there isn’t a circumstance in which we’re not roused from our room and sent on the search party. Unless we earn enough money each day to stay in an alternate lodging. For now, earning money has been to work for a pittance or to be given a pittance. I don’t see a way to earn a significant chunk quickly enough in the city that we’ll overcome this issue.”

Alastair stayed silent on the topic. Flor continued, “So what do we do when we wake on that boat tomorrow? Part of me wonders if, now that we have the daemon, we could log out properly? So, that’s what I want to do if we wake up on the boat. I want to pull the plug.”

“You’ll have to skip the boat cut scene first.”

“And if we log out, will we be in Holst’s Solar Explorer or will we be in reality? We can’t know, but it has got to be better than this just repeating forever.”

“Okay. How about we skip the cut scene, go eat our slop, get a room (with or without shenanigans, your call), and then log out together from there?”

“I think even before that. I’ll find you and then we’ll go together.”

“Okay. We’ll do that instead. It’s easier going down than up. I have no idea how far these farms are, but unless they show up in the next few minutes, I don’t think we’ll see them on this trip.”

“It’s peaceful out here, if nothing else. Maybe even a bit spooky. If we weren’t together, this would be awful.”

“Same. But expand that thought to everything, and you’re a bit closer to right.” Alastair checked the clock. “Two minutes. Might as well stop here?”

Flor closed the distance and wrapped her arms around him. “I love you, Alastair. There is no one else I’d rather be in this situation with than you.”

“I love you, Flor. We’ll get out of it together. See you soon.” The world faded to black again.

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Alastair woke in a boat making its way toward an island.

Skip cut scene? Yes/No?

Yes.

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Alastair wakes up on a pier in the city. Let’s skip this tutorial, also.

Start Tutorial? Yes/No?

No. He completes the Sudoku.

Puzzle complete.

Attempt puzzle again? Yes/No?

No. Manacles to the ground.

Your rage increased by 1.

Alastair sees Flor and walks toward her. “Ready to log out?”

Flor stares at him blankly. She says, “Who are you?”