Vernie avoided me as much as possible the following day. I also refused to look at her, at least when I thought she’d notice. It felt weird to be decorated in all the safe luxury a good set of armor could afford, though, especially when it was given to you by the person you were having a cold war with. She was still trustworthy, of course; I was just tired of being treated like someone who needed to be carefully handled and manipulated. Therefore, I could not apologize at first, even if I felt somewhat guilty.
Nora sat beside me, disrupting my imaginary isolation barrier as I ate my breakfast in sullen silence. “A reply to my earlier request,” she said cryptically as she handed me her open journal.
I glanced down, and sure enough, another sheet of papyrus was shoved between two pages. The top contained the default confidentiality header, so I quickly skipped down to the meat of the memo.
***
> From: Clare Mercure (Human Resources)
>
> To: Eleanora Beatrice Perez and Rachel Emily Smith
>
> RE: Nora’s Request/NAUGHT Advertisement
>
> Thank you for confirming receipt of my first letter via ‘prayer request’.
>
> The following attachment is in response to Nora’s ‘informational inquiry’ regarding NAUGHT. Please note that Human Resources is in no position to grant “limitless, god-like powers to be used without consequence” to anyone and does not condone the use of such reckless powers by its employees, clients, volunteers, or customers.
>
> ATTACHMENT: NAUGHT Advertisement
>
> NAUGHT: Not a Universal God Hand Tool
>
> NAUGHT is nothing on its own, but in the hands of content creators with working knowledge of The Rules*, it has the potential to do anything.
>
> NAUGHT-certified content creators use NAUGHT to bring their stories to life.
>
> See our customer success stories available on DivinitEpub.
>
> Interested in becoming a NAUGHT-certified content creator?
>
> Please contact Client Services at Cooperative Universal Publishing.
>
> Together, we can adopt and adapt best practices throughout our shared realities.
>
> Cooperative Universal Publishing
>
> Connecting your world to ours.
>
> *The Rules are subject to change without notice. CUP strives to index and document these ever-changing rules in real time for the optimal NAUGHT experience.
The address for the North American headquarters was intentionally blurred out at the bottom of the document. I reread the document several times, scowling harder and harder on each pass. “What does this mean?”
“Yes, well…” Nora scratched her head. “They named NAUGHT… something it’s not.”
I bristled at that one. “You did that on purpose!”
“No, I think they did.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
“They? You mean CUP?”
“Yes. Or the creator of the tool. I think it is a cautionary tale.”
“Eh?” I asked as intelligently as I could.
“NAUGHT is nothing on its own,” Nora pointed to the advertisement. “This next line makes me think it’s a powerful tool in the hands of someone who knows what they’re doing, but it isn’t everything.” That was the God-hand part.
“How does this help us?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Nora admitted. “But we asked and got an answer, at least. We still need to find NAUGHT, even if it can’t do everything, because we need it to do something.” More nonsense. Great!
I reread the advertisement. “The Rules… Didn’t President Abrams say something about ‘The Rules?’”
“He said he didn’t know all of them when he was younger. But this says they’re ever-changing,” Nora replied.
“It’d be nice to know what they have to say right now,” I mumbled speculatively.
“We should ask for a copy,” Nora agreed. “I thought he was talking about publishing rules, but now… I’m not so sure.”
“It would count as an informational inquiry, right?” I sighed. “Oh… but maybe it’s only for content creators.”
“We won’t know until we ask,” Nora shrugged. “Worst she can do is say no.” And admonish us for even asking in HR-speak. But that still didn’t have any real bite here. What was she going to do, summon us to her office?
After breakfast, Aleph insisted on another sword lesson. I sighed, realizing he wasn’t going to let me just coast. The second lesson was more of the first, though he told me often to stop moving my hand past the hilt as I transitioned grips. He even showed me the ox position (or, as Nora clarified, Ochs stance), where you hold the sword in both hands, keeping it level with your head while sort of standing next to it. It was indeed a way to transition into a pommel strike, though again, there was no way I would connect with him. He did fix my feet more this time, just as he told me to control my swings better. If I heard “it’s not an ax” one more time…
I caught Vernie glancing at me now and then during the sword lesson, but Aleph was ensuring I didn’t have enough time to get distracted.
Nora watched the whole thing, though she was gracious enough not to comment too much on my flailing. “You’re getting the hang of it!”
“I’ll believe that when he says that,” I grumbled.
We broke camp a little while later. Vernie took point before I could issue orders to head out, making me realize that today would be a very long day. Nora hung back with the rest of the group, though she still played with the knife she had been given. Tetora’s determined but sickly gaze was fixed on the landscape in front of us, and I gave up trying to talk to him about how he was feeling after a few dismissed attempts. Aleph once again carried the bulk of our supplies without a single note of dissent.
The rocky foothills were just as sunny and dry as the wastes, though most dirt surfaces were covered with a curly brown moss, which may have helped keep down the overall level of particulate dust. As we continued deeper, I noticed a foul odor reminiscent of leaking sewage.
“What is making that awful smell?” I asked the party as we took another brief rest in the late morning.
Vernie shot me a withering look. “We’re in malodorous mustelid territory. Don’t even remember that much, huh?” It wasn’t worth responding to her, even if the words out of her mouth made no sense.
Nora jumped up from the boulder she was sitting on. “Will we get to see one?!”
“Probably not,” Vernie answered. “They rarely come out in the daytime.”
“Rats,” she sighed, sitting back down.
“No, more like giant, stinky mongooses that walk on two feet,” Vernie corrected, wiping some sweat off her brow with a trembling hand. Had I upset her that badly? N…no. It’s just warm out, and I’m not feeling guilty!
“Let’s get moving,” Tetora snapped, chafing at our slow pace. “We’re wasting time.”
The smell worsened the farther we moved in, and I knew there was no way I would eat anytime soon. Vernie still led the way, but she now stuck closer to the rest of us, her eyes darting back and forth as a slight frown settled on her features. A wave of severe stench hit at one point, causing me to dry heave.
“Incoming!” Vernie shouted in alarm as she pulled back to the bottom of the hill we were about to climb, stepping directly in front of me. I glanced over her left shoulder and saw at least three dozen furry and filthy creatures standing about four feet high, with sharp claws and pointed snouts filled with jagged teeth. Some of them were even holding rocks in their clawed paws. They all had meerkat-like features, their angry, ringed eyes appearing as if their eyeshadow had melted from sorrowful tears.
One of them let out a belligerent squawk, and they launched themselves straight at us.