I had a lot to think about. I lay in my bed with my hands behind my head as I stared at the ceiling. The morning sun was just beginning to breach my window, and the sounds of early risers were already flooding the streets below with the sounds I was rapidly growing accustomed to. Horses clopping, people murmuring, boxes hitting backs of wagons, whistles of policemen directing traffic - all sounds that should be filling me with a reassurance that all was well.

All was most definitely NOT well.

A clock tower in the distance gonged five times. It sounded like Big Ben to me. Five bells.

*'face, is that clock giving accurate time?* I asked.

[Chronological Query: The clock tower approximately 1 mile from here has a deviation of approximately 34 seconds early. However this is accounted for due to the fact that the sound must travel across the entire town and some accounting for the distance from the tower to the outer reaches of town has been made]

*So, are they accounting for the speed of sound?* I continued, curious despite my bad mood.

[Affirmative: AEGIS]

"So, Aegis. What are you going to do? You have a 'date' with your friend Clarissa in less than an hour." Archive asked as it lay on the table next to my bed.

I picked up the book and stared into the creepy looking eye.

"I don't know. Every time I think I have a tiny handle on things, something happens to turn my world upside down."

"Ah you mean the mysterious woman from the lobby? What was her name? Sylviana? And the magical entity she was talking to? It sounds like you are attracting the attention of the Mages Guild. If you want my advice, Aegis, you should leave right now and head to the Castle. As the late Kendranen Mir said to you, you must begin learning magic if you want to find the answers you seek. You do not want to cross paths with the Mages in your current state."

"My current state? You mean one armed?" The book blinked slowly.

"Come on, Aegis, my boy. The memory engrams of this Mr. Patterson remembered you being sharper than that. You have zero knowledge of magic, you have no idea of what you are capable of, and very powerful people in more than one Guild would kill or worse to get access to you. Your life is literally ..."

The book paused for effect.

"In danger."

[Attention: Opinion -- this interface must agree with the opinions of the magical artifact. ]

*Wow Interface. It's not often you offer your own opinion. I hear you both.*

~I agree with the dumb book Artie and 'face!~ Bright popped up into my awareness.

In my mind's eye she was wearing pants and a loose white t-shirt. Her normally wide shock of curly hair was pulled up into a bandanna. There were smudges of oil and dirt on her face. She looked like a car mechanic.

She gestured with a strange looking tool that appeared to be a cross between an over-sized screwdriver and a wrench.

~You should get out of there and head to the castle right away!~

She winked at me conspiratorially. Man she looked cute like that. I shook my head. What was I thinking? She wasn't even a real person.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

~I'm working on something special for you! Something Kenny asked me to get ready for you when we finally met. ~

"Oh? What is it?" My curiosity further stirred. Anything created by Bright would probably be amazing ... and dangerous.

She replied in a singsong voice. ~I'm not gonna tell ya! You'll have to come here and see for yourself, Shieldy!~

Shield. I was the Shield. My awareness pulsed for a moment. And my resolve solidified. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"I'll be there soon. I'm just going to talk to Clarissa. Try to get some answers. And then I'll head to the Castle. I promise."

Bright let out her bottom lip in a huge pout. Oh man.

~We're just thinking about your safety, 'gis. Be careful. I don't trust 'rissa. You know she's in the Thieves Guild right?~

Her eyebrow rose as she asked me the question. She was so expressive, so mercurial.

"I'll be safe, everyone. I promise. I have a plan." I answered and stood up.

"Where can I put you safely, Archive? I may need a hand free ..."

[Query Response: you may use your Inventory. It is a magical construct which allows you to store items in a small pocket dimension. ]

I hit the palm of my hand to my forehead. An inventory? Come on world! What's next, are you going to tell me about experience points and skill levels?

I sighed. I was NEVER going to figure this place out.

"Okayyy. How do I use it?" I asked Interface.

[Query Response: simply say "Invoke Inventory. Add." as you look at the magical construct.]

I looked at the odd book. Here goes...

"Invoke Inventory. Add."

I felt an odd pulling within me. I was learning this was how it felt when my Mana was being used. The book shrank rapidly till it disappeared with an odd "pop" sound. Must be the air collapsing on the space where the book had been.

I panicked for a brief moment.

"Um, how do I get him back?" I asked Interface nervously.

[Query Response: simply say "Invoke Inventory. View" and choose which item you wish to draw out. Be cautious, however. If you draw out an item larger than the space you are currently within, you may experience damage as the item is restored to full size.]

"Hmm. Explosive inventory ... perfect." I was wasting time. I needed to get downstairs and put my plan into action. But this was important.

"Invoke Inventory. View" I said dramatically.

Suddenly - like some sort of technicolor hologram - a window appeared before me. I could see a grid of sorts, with all sorts of interesting looking items. Where had THESE come from? There were ... weapons in here? And books. LOTS of books. I unconsciously swiped my hand in the air, like I had seen in one of those movies where the character was moving through some hologram of items. It worked! The window stayed in place, but the items slid to the left. There were all kinds of amazing things in here. But something was odd. Every item, except for Archive, which had a friendly little bit of text above it reading "ARCHIVE", was covered with a padlock symbol.

"Why is everything ... locked?" I asked.

** I can answer that, my boy. Because right now it's too dangerous for you to use. Kendranen Mir set up things so that you can learn about yourself safely, and not ... destroy reality or kill everyone in this town if you made a mistake. ** Archive answered.

His voice sounded like it was muffled slightly, like it was in a box or under my bed. There was a hint of sarcasm that felt like Mr. Patterson was coming through a bit TOO much.

"Oh. Well I wouldn't want to ... destroy reality or something." I shuddered.

"So how do I do ... wait. Invoke Inventory. Dismiss!" The colorful hologram shrank rapidly and disappeared. I smiled inwardly, proud of my cleverness.

The mental image of Bright zoomed in and bopped me on the head with her mental wrench-thing. I flinched but there was no real contact. Good thing!

~Aegis, silly! It doesn't really matter what you say. It's about how you focus your thoughts. You could have said "Goblin Bottoms!" and it would still work for you.~ she smirked.

"Oh," I said, deflated.

I was beginning to realize that this world, real or not, worked on a set of rules. And if I did not begin to get a handle on learning these rules, I probably was going to die. Or get someone ELSE killed. I took another breath.

"OK everyone. Enough waiting around. Let's start getting some answers. First off, Interface, can you make me look like that villager woman from last night ..."