The time that I spent with the brownies of Region Eleven would turn out to be one of the pillars of my future domain. My activity there didn’t really have any direct or proximate impact on the adventures that would follow, but I can’t underestimate the ultimate impact of the time that I spent with them. What I learned was invaluable. The forty-five or so minutes that I spent “negotiating” with the brownies at the start of the tutorial had to rank among the best investments that I ever made, which, I am happy to report, is not a low bar.

In the circumference of the circle the beginning and the end are common. - Heraclitus of Ephesus

***

With my urgent objectives in town met, I said some quick general goodbyes to the fifty or so brownies that had congregated in the magic artificer shop during my conversation with their clan leader Galan. I also told Galan that I would be back in about a week to hammer out any necessary details and get things moving. I needed to make it back in time for dinner to catch up with my friends and also because I was getting pretty hungry. I was really hoping that they didn’t wait for me to start cooking.

As I hustled through the side streets toward the main thoroughfare and our hotel, I was taken at how gamelike some aspects of life under the Unified System really were. Like clockwork the safe zone had essentially been given an upgrade to level one, but there were clearly multiple additional upgrades possible. Only about half the buildings had been occupied and those that did have new inhabitants certainly didn’t look fully utilized.

When I made it back to the hotel that I had been staying in with my friends, I was greeted by the smell of some kind of stew. I had no doubt that it was another of Karen’s canned good concoctions. Karen did good work and it smelled amazing, but our menu options, and I am guessing, nutrition were suffering a bit from a lack of any real access to fresh ingredients. It was this lack that I was planning to address while giving my friends and by extension our instructors a ready made explanation for the time that I was planning to spend outside the safezone in the coming months.

I had respected the prohibition on leaving the safe zone before the official start of the tutorial that the team had shared with me from their quests. I did this because I didn’t really turn up any solid information on what would happen if I left and tried to reenter before the tutorial started. I was up for some adventure, but not up for getting trapped outside without the means to survive on my own. Now that the risk of being unable to reenter was largely mitigated, I was ready to get to work, well I would be ready to get to work soon. Now, I was ready to eat.

The appearance of the instructors had answered many questions for me and my friends, but it had likely raised just as many. As we shared the meal that Karen and Jim had prepared for everyone, my friends engaged in an animated discussion of their thoughts about our instructors as well as their plans to train and progress. The elven Ranger Elen had basically told me that my ideas sucked and that I was a couple of levels below human garbage. I mean I am paraphrasing, but not that much. It made things a little awkward at first as Sarah and Kelly gave me the side eye a few times as Lando and Karl explained their imminent ascendance to the ranks of the superhuman between their respective Warrior and Fighter classes.

I did my best to jump in as soon as I could and, without a scrap of self pity or even my trademark dry humor, explained that I was going to focus on support functions for the team. I let them know that I had made some inquiries in town and I had an internship lined up and an immediate game plan to focus on obtaining fresh, nutritious food for the team. I think that the fact that I had a plan, a good attitude and a serious demeanor, helped people get comfortable with the idea that I was just fine despite apparently having a top end potential of being their servant in the future according to our instructors. The conversation quickly reignited from there and everyone was pretty merry as we finished our meal and relaxed together for a few minutes after dinner.

As things were winding down, I invited Queakers and Sarah to connect with me in my room for the conversation that I mentioned to them earlier that afternoon. Sarah and Queakers were obviously very different, but I cared about both of them and I wanted to ensure that they would look out for each other while I was “walking my own path” so to speak. The minute that I closed the door to my room, Sarah burst out, “Where are you going, Harris? I know you and I know that you aren’t planning to become the group’s porter, especially based on the advice of that stuck-up Elen.”

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Queakers jumped with her magic slate, “Yes. None of the instructors are trustworthy and you should ignore them. Eldrin can be useful to me and I will bide my time until he outlives that usefulness, but Elen has a debt to pay and I will never forget this debt.” Sarah and I were both a little taken aback because Queakers was a little scary, though the fact that she said it well getting a belly rub from me on my bed with a big smile and her tongue hanging out took a little bit of the edge off.

“I think that we can just turn the other cheek on this one guys. I don’t really care what Elen says and I do have a plan, but you are right. I need a little freedom to find my own way. I recognize that I am being a bit selfish, but I am asking you each to look out for each other without me.” Among the group, these were the two that I was most worried about, but also the two that had the most potential in this weird new world based on what I had seen.

Sarah gave me a pointed look that screamed “I never needed you to look out for me, but I think that she understood that I was more worried about Queakers. The transformation that Queakers was experiencing would have been completely unbelievable just a few weeks ago and she needed the freedom to explore in her own way. Sarah was probably a better partner for this than me, but I did believe that Sarah could also benefit from Queakers watching her back. Queakers still looked like a regular bichon frise and was likely to be underestimated as her mental capacity rapidly expanded. This would give her an advantage in some circumstances, but could also encourage others to try to take advantage of the situation. I already knew that Sarah would look out for Queakers, but I wanted the peace of mind of asking explicitly and I wanted them to understand my feelings.

Queakers responded, “Yes. We will grow strong together and we will lead the pack. When do you leave?” I was thinking that Queakers was getting to be awfully stoic, but when I let her know that I was leaving that night she let out a little growling yelp. She was the best girl and she was being tough.

I was a little verklempt at that point and just nodded when Sarah said, “Good luck. Don’t worry about anything and don’t be a stranger.”

After I talked with Queakers and Sarah I honestly wondered if my plan was likely to be effective or even made any sense. I felt like I was just sort of ruining things and hurting people that I cared about to go my own way. I felt like I needed to be a success just to justify my decision not to go along with the status quo presented by the Unified System and the instructors, but in the end I was just trying to do my best and as long as I was honest about it, I didn’t see how that could really be wrong.

My conversation with Jim and Karen was to some degree less emotional, but for all that I wasn’t going far, it felt like we were really heading in different directions. I let them know that I would be moving out that night for the foreseeable future. I didn’t think that there would be options to add others to the party, but I let them know that I understood if it made sense to replace me and that they should do whatever they felt would keep everyone safe.

I also let Jim and Karen know that after a while I would stop by occasionally, but that I would start working immediately on improving our provisions. I asked them to tell the others for me and let them know to share with everyone that if they were looking for me they could likely reach me at the magic artificers and that they could ask for Galan if it was an emergency, as he could probably find me if needed. Of course, Galan was probably much better equipped than me to deal with an emergency at this point anyway, so even if they didn’t find me it was probably going to be a win. I gave them each a hug and got a firm handshake from Jim before I walked out into the late evening street with just my pack and rifles.

Kelly was waiting in the shadows under the eaves for me and gently grabbed my arm as I headed out toward my new apartment above the bookstore. This could have been a classic anime confession scene if there was anything between Kelly and me, but there wasn’t. The ties that bound Kelly and me were our mutual friends in Karen, Jim and Sarah and a mutual respect for the fact that we were both independent. We had known each other a long time and I appreciated the sentiment behind her words when she said, “I understand what you are doing and I appreciate it. Don’t die trying to make a point.”

I looked directly, deeply even, into her eyes and gave her a nod before I walked on. If she really understood what I was doing I don’t think that she, or any of them would have exactly appreciated it, though in the end they would all have me to thank for it a couple of times over.