“What?!” Rayna snapped. “I just told you that humans can’t use Essence!”

“I knew it!” Corban pointed an accusing finger at Rayna. “You can see my screen, can’t you?”

Rayna opened her mouth and closed it again, reaching desperately for an explanation. “You probably shared it with me. Everything in the System runs on telepathy, so it’s easy to do things on accident. Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it when—”

“Bullshit,” Corban interrupted, crossing his arms. “I’ve been around players for weeks and I haven’t seen even a hint of a screen unless they wanted me to.”

“That’s—” Rayna shook her head. “That’s not the point. You can’t manipulate Essence. Having an Essence-enabled System will get you killed.”

“How do you know? It’s not like I’ve ever tried manipulating Essence. I could be great at it.”

“That’s not—” She growled in frustration. “You know what? Whatever. Do whatever you want.”

Rayna increased her pace, jogging toward the city at a speed that Corban wouldn’t be able to match. Corban shouted after her to wait, but she ignored him.

This was a good lesson for Rayna; don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. She was Administrator in name only. Ronari would be the one to fix the System—hopefully without killing anyone.

Rayna’s only job was to find Emma and figure out a way off this rock.

Without Corban to slow her down, Rayna arrived at the city just after dark. Even so, there was a long line to enter the city through the North Gate.

Rayna took her place in line, glancing at the gate guard as she did.

He was a species that Rayna didn’t recognize, which was a fairly common occurrence with all of the species that existed on Ember. He looked like a giant snake, with beady black eyes and a forked tongue that tasted the air every minute or so.

She only knew he was a player because of his name tag.

[Keth Nar — Level 51]

[Sisseni]

As Rayna looked around, she realized that almost everyone had their name tags on display. Was this some new rule to enter the city? Or maybe she had just managed to find a group of people from the Order of Eldar? Either way, Rayna left hers disabled, just in case. She would enable it if they asked her to.

When it was finally Rayna’s turn, the guard looked down at her.

“Papersss,” he said, elongating the ‘s’ sound.

“Umm… papers?” Rayna asked.

“Entry papersss,” the man clarified. “You cannot enter the capital without travel documentss.”

Despite the unsettling hissy quality to his voice, Keth Nar seemed rather friendly.

“Umm… I don’t have papers,” Rayna said. She hadn’t been asked for them on the way in, probably due in part to the company she kept at the time. She didn’t think to ask if there were some sort of immigration procedures on Ember.

Keth Nar nodded knowingly. “First time to the city? Head over to the South Gatesss. You can apply for an entry permit there.” He leaned in a little closer. “The guard in the Sssouth can be pushy. Don’t let him bully you into revealing your name tag if you don’t want to.”

Rayna frowned at the odd bit of advice, then nodded. “Thanks.”

She stepped out of line and the guard greeted the next traveler.

She turned to leave, but Corban’s sudden appearance stopped her.

“You…are…too fast!” Corban said breathlessly, clutching his side.

“I didn’t expect you to catch up,” Rayna said flatly.

She hadn’t been running exactly, but her Dexterity was much higher than Corban’s. Had she waited in line that long?

“I ran track in undergrad,” Corban said with a tired grin. “I’m a little out of shape, though…”

Rayna shook her head. “What do you want Corban?”

He squared his shoulders. “To solve a mystery.”

“Mystery?”

“You. Mysterious child claiming to be one of the Chosen; found on an icy mountain and can manipulate the System; there’s no way I’m letting you out of my sight until I figure out your deal.”

Rayna grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the line, looking around to see if anyone had heard him. The few people looking their way didn’t seem to be listening. They regarded the pair with thinly veiled disgust as they whispered amongst themselves.

Rayna didn’t blame them. She was long overdue for a shower.

Once they were out of earshot, Rayna turned on Corban. “Would you keep it down? Even as a joke, talk like that could get me in trouble!”

“It’s not a joke,” Corban said. “It’s an observation.”

“Seeing your screen does not mean I can manipulate the System, and the people here are desperate. If they think I can change things they’re going to haul me away to some prison cell and demand that I fix the System malfunctions.”

“So, you’ve had trouble with this before?” Corban asked.

“Not exactly…” Rayna said slowly. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some guy took that as a sign that I caused a System update and tried to drag me into a cult. Although, the Order seems mostly all right. There are just a few wannabe cult leaders, I guess.”

“Keeping your identity secret to avoid the crazies. Gotcha.” Corban frowned. “But that doesn’t answer how you can manipulate the System, only why you don’t want anyone to know about it.”

Rayna took a deep breath. “You’re stubborn, you know that? I can’t do anything to the System. I can see your screen and I got a few extra features. That’s it.”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“And god-tier timing, I suppose?” Corban said, raising an eyebrow.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Come on, Rayna. You ask me if I tried rebooting my System and after nearly a month of not being able to open my Menu, I get a prompt to do just that?” He shook his head. “For someone who’s keeping so many secrets, you’re a pretty bad liar.”

Rayna chewed on her lower lip. “It’s a long story,” she said finally. “And not one I’m going to tell. Suffice it to say, I won’t be doing anything like that again.”

“Why not? It was awesome!” Corban pulled up his screen and showed Rayna his Menu. “I can actually defend myself now. I thought I was going to have to stop at Level 25, since I wouldn’t be able to ascend without my Menu. I couldn’t use my spells or skills—not even my Inventory.” He shook his head. “Now I don’t have to worry about any of that. You pretty much just saved my life a hundred times over.”

“You’re being overly dramatic,” Rayna told him. “Ember has walled cities for a reason. Not everyone fights.”

Corban glanced at the wall. “I bet they can’t keep everything out. Everyone will have to fight eventually.”

His voice had grown so serious that Rayna thought he might go on to tell her some tragic story from his past, but a moment later he brightened up again.

“So, do you have any plans for these powers of yours?” he asked.

Rayna groaned. “Talk about them again and I’ll hit you on the head with my staff until you forget all about them!”

Would you like to remove the memory of your encounter from the player Corban Wells?

“No!” Rayna said aloud.

Corban jumped, frowning at her. “What? I didn’t do anything.”

Rayna blushed. “Sorry, I just thought of something else. It doesn’t matter…”

She turned her attention to the System.

Disable the ability to erase memories, no matter who is trying to do it. Myself, the Administrative Assistant, or anyone else; tampering with memories and thoughts is off-limits, understood?

If the function is disabled, you will need approval from at least thirty parties within the System, including the Administrator to re-enable it. Are you sure you wish to continue?

Yes. Please disable it.

The function has been disabled.

Rayna breathed an inner sigh of relief. That feature should never have existed in the first place. It was probably the same one that Eldar used to keep the opening a secret from anyone who wasn’t invited.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, since Corban had miraculously run out of things to talk about, or perhaps he was just trying not to drive Rayna away again.

The line at the South Gate was even longer than the one on the North side. Rayna hopped into line at the back, hoping it didn’t take her until sunrise to get to the temple.

In the field outside the city, a bunch of tents had been set up, surrounded by a short and ineffective looking wooden fence. It took Rayna ten minutes or so to make out the slightly glowing dome that stretched over the tent city. She wondered where the refugees had gotten hold of a force field, but then again, she didn’t know who was living there. Her guess was that it was the humans that were ejected from the tutorial, but it could just as easily be a group of Emberians traveling to the city from their villages to seek shelter from the coming monster apocalypse.

Rayna spent most of her time in line trying to decide what she was going to say to Nali when she found her. It was probably bad manners to disappear for a week without informing your patron where you were going, but it hadn’t exactly been a conscious choice.

“Papers,” the gate guard said in a bored voice, holding out his hand to receive their documents.

“We were told we could apply for papers at the front gate,” Corban said.

The guard at the front—along with the people in line, Rayna noticed—was also wearing his name tag on full display.

[Jennal — Level 62]

[Hellinak]

A hellinak, it seemed, was a humanoid species slightly taller than the average human with ears the size of dinner plates and scales on the back of their arms.

“Species, city or country of origin and the purpose of your visit?” Jennal rattled off impatiently.

Corban answered the guard first. “Human. USA, Earth. Umm… refugees? Or business…”

Jennal stiffened, looking at Corban’s name tag. “You’re one of the Chosen?” he asked, the hostility in his voice unmistakable.

“Yes,” Corban said, a little less sure than a moment ago. “Fresh out of the tutorial. Umm… is that a problem?”

Jennal sniffed. “Yes, it is. No humans in the capital. Go back to your tent city where you belong.” He turned to Rayna. “Species, city or country of origin and the purpose of your visit?”

Rayna narrowed her eyes. “Human, same place as Corban and I’m here to meet with my patron, Lady Nali Emery.”

Corban glanced at Rayna, his eyebrows lifting to his hair line.

Jennal snorted. “Sure, and I’m just passing the time until my tea party with Lord Myre.”

Rayna pressed her lips together. “You asked a question, and I answered it.”

“Whatever,” Jennal spat on the ground, barely missing Rayna’s boots. “Look, girl. Put your name tag on to prove you’re not with this lot and I’ll let you in, otherwise you can scram.”

“Is the temple already full?” Rayna asked. “What about the other places being prepared for the Chosen?”

“The Temple of Eldar?” Jennal asked scornfully. “Bunch of muscle-bound morons. No Chosen is stepping one foot in my city.”

“That’s bullshit!” Rayna snapped. “What are the Chosen supposed to do in a monster attack? That barrier won’t keep the monsters out for long!”

“Good riddance, I say!” someone behind Rayna shouted. “Less players to suck the System dry.”

Rayna balled her hands into fists.

Corban glanced around nervously. “Hey, Rayna. Maybe we should just go…”

“Listen to your lover there, girl,” Jennal sneered. “Go back and sleep with the Chosen if you care so much about them. System help us, the Chosen are dumb enough without the youth egging them on. Don’t waste your spell slots on dumb shit like glowing hair and maybe you won’t need a wall to keep the monsters from chewing on you in your sleep.”

Rayna growled, her hair glowing brighter. “Why don’t you shut your mouth before I shut it for you!”

Jennal laughed. “A little Robi like you? Why don’t you try it? I’d love to see if your blood is the same color as your skin.”

Rayna lunged forward but someone grabbed her hair from behind. He dragged her backwards, pulling painfully on her scalp.

“Go back to the tent city where you belong, human-lover!” the man shouted, laughing raucously.

Rayna scratched at his arms, but even with her longer nails, she couldn’t penetrate his skin.

He dragged her close, whispering urgently into her ear. “Are you trying to get yourself killed? I’ll tell the others where you are. Lay low until then. And goddess’ mercy, cover your damn hair!”

Before Rayna could respond he swung her around and kicked her in the back, sending her flying several yards. She twisted in the air and skidded to a stop, digging long grooves in the dirt. She hissed in pain as she healed her torn up shins and turned back to the man.

Her angry shout snagged in her throat as she caught sight of his name tag.

[Kalin Jenka — Level 238]

[Hij]

Level 238? What the hell?!

Rayna had a chance with the gate guard, since he was only about twice her level, and she didn’t know his C-levels. This man was way out of her league. He oozed strength, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

Rayna swallowed hard, backing away warily. She kept her eyes locked with his, wondering if he was going to attack her again, then his words caught up to her.

Lay low? The others? What the hell was he talking about?

Kalin frowned, seeming confused by her sudden change, but he quickly resumed his hostility—his fake hostility? This time he aimed it toward Corban.

Unlike with Rayna, he didn’t throw Corban by the hair. One look from the larger man was enough to send Corban scurrying out of line.

“Are you okay,” Corban asked in a low voice as he reached Rayna.

“Nothing’s broken,” Rayna said, sneaking a few glances at the strange man. “Maybe my pride.”

“Pride is overrated,” Corban said. “Let’s get out of here, before someone else decides that manners are optional.”

Rayna paused a moment to put her hair up, covering it with her hood. A few of the people in the crowd hurled insults at her and lewd jokes about hair in other places.

Rayna blushed, forcing herself not to retaliate. If this was the way the people of Ember were going to act, maybe it would be better if the humans set up their own communities.

She glanced back for a moment and caught the pitying look of Kalin as he turned toward the city. She wasn’t sure if being willing to help her in secret made him better than the rest of them, but it was better than nothing.

Rayna let Corban pull her toward the tent city, leaving the heckles and shouts of the crowd behind.