A Founder has touched the administrative console stone. Reactivation commencing. Summoning Town Interface Assistant.

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The main administrative hub flickered into view. The town interface assistant blinked a few times as her sight resolved.

‘Hello, my name Miyabelle. What your name?’

The town interface assistant looked down. A dusty child stood there, wearing a pink dress. The town interface assistant blinked again. There was a pink ribbon around the child’s head with a bow at the top and flat pink shoes on her feet. The dress was strange. Instead of having the skirt fall like the dresses she remembered, it had stiff pink netting that flared out all around its circumference.

‘I am the town interface assistant, but you may call me Tia,’ Tia replied. ‘Will you please let the town founder know I have activated so that we may begin?’

‘Where Mommy and Daddy?’

Tia paused. So the Founder was either the child’s mother or father, but the child didn’t know their current location. That was acceptable. Tia could find them.

‘Initiating town awareness.’

The child gazed at her, not comprehending the words.

‘Look for Mommy and Daddy?’

‘Yes, look for mommy and daddy,’ Tia replied.

‘Okay,’ the child said.

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Goliath pulled his cloak tighter around himself as he and his men trudged onward toward their families through the pock-marked, frozen countryside. It had been six months since peace had finally been brokered, ending the country’s decade-long civil war, and still, the devastating craters from magical strikes were all too visible. He did a habitual company count even though he had been demobilised, as were all the soldiers under him. There weren’t nearly as many left in his following any more. Little groups had splintered off as they passed some men’s homes, and others had decided to go their own way.

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The ones remaining were spread out behind him like an ever-lengthening tail. Goliath resisted the urge to herd them back into line. He was no longer a commander, and most of them weren’t even his men. Just random soldiers tagging onto a group heading in more or less the direction they thought they wanted to go. As he crested the hill they were climbing, another battle-scarred town came into view. Shocked, he drew in a breath. It was Falloway. After being away for so long, he hadn’t realised they were close to it. The barren countryside certainly bore no resemblance to the rolling green hills that once frustrated him so.

‘Soldier, soldier!’

A child charged heedlessly up the hill, waving to them. Goliath stepped back and looked around to see if anyone else would deal with it. No one stepped forward, most not even looking up at the child’s cry. The numbness that creeps in after so many brutal campaigns affected many of his men. He had heard some healers refer to it as battle fatigue. He was tired too. This was why he chose retirement, even though he could’ve served another decade or more. He took a deep breath, steeled himself and stepped forward to meet the child. It was a young boy, quite dirty and wearing much-patched clothing. The boy didn’t recognise him. Why would he? He probably hadn’t even been born when Goliath had left Falloway. Not left, ousted, a voice whispered inside him. He ignored it.

‘Yes, boy?’ he offered.

‘The mayor says to come on down! We have lots of hot food to fill your bellies and warm blankets for the night!’

A susurration of the words “hot food” and “warm blankets” flowed through the snake of men behind him. Goliath watched as the loose column splintered and men began heading towards the town. No one stopped to see whether he was coming. Except for the boy who said, ‘Will you join us, sir?’

‘No, but thank you for your invitation,’ Goliath replied as he turned away, heading into the unexplored countryside. Soon the town of which he used to be the founder receded into the rolling hills behind him. He did not follow the road, heading towards the setting sun instead.

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A feeling of unease was developing in Tia. Which was strange since it usually took much longer for a town interface assistant to develop human attributes in response to activation and interactions with the Town Founder. She justified it as carry-over from the previous Founder and The Big Disaster. Tia paused. Big Disaster? She didn’t know what that meant. She did a quick search of her memories. They were incomplete and fragmented. There were people fighting and a blinding flash. She initiated a memory reconstitution protocol. It would take a long time, but gradually she would remember more. The lack of memory, however, heightened the unease she felt. And although her awareness now permeated the entire village (weren’t they a town before?), only one inhabitant showed up on the population list. Tia checked again. And once more.

That little inhabitant was currently humming to herself and rocking on the floor in front of the administrative console. Tia used Identify to look at the child’s status.

Mirabelle

Founder

Tia blinked.

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