Problem- I don’t know where my personal quarters are. My first guess was off the Throne Room somewhere, but it wasn’t. Nor was it on its own floor, which seemed like a reasonable next guess. Wasn’t pinned to a notice board, nor did some item randomly appear in my inventory that might be a key. I knew it had to be in the Tower somewhere, as the announcement said it was unlocked. But, despite the limited size of the Tower, I wasn’t able to find it.

“Rache!” She was doing donuts in the killing field. She would do it indefinitely if you let her- it was an idle animation.

“Yes boss?”

“If I ask you to find something in the Tower, would it take an order?”

There was a moment’s pause. You could practically hear the hamster running furiously in his wheel, trying to power the Casio-watch-tier processor One Stars had to work with.

“In the Tower?”

“Yep. Finding a room in the Tower.”

“Reckon that don’t need an order, Boss.”

“Fantastic. Find the Tower Master’s Quarters. Right now. Please and thank you.”

She went racing off. Was it next to the Summons’ dorms? I didn’t see any when I was looking around with Versai.

“Found it, Boss.” I jumped. I swear she had been gone for barely a minute.

“Great! Thank you! I think I’m going to have you wear a bell. Ah, where is it?”

She led me to the Map Room. Which remained beautiful and impossible. Just two short flights of stairs down from the Throne Room, but the ceiling was higher up than I could throw a rock. Once more, the illusion of a moonless night was perfect. Alien stars twinkled above, as the desert sands surrounded the immensely long table marking out the limits of our world.

The area around the Tower that we had managed to explore was so, so small. Yet the map was so vast. I could see mighty mountains rising at the far western edge of the table. They would take tens, maybe even hundreds, of units of order-time to reach. What were they for? What was any of this for?

Rache didn’t care. Didn’t even glance at the table. She led me straight past the mountains, around a sand dune, then gave me a half smile.

“Got yourself a nice little watering hole, Boss. Anything else you need?”

“No, thank you.” I’m not quite sure how I sounded. It was a house. An actual, free standing, house. On one floor, in a Tower, behind a sand dune.

How did it look? Not like a king's house, for one thing. Or a Tower Master’s, for another.

There was a low wall, boxing in a small house with a little courtyard. If the wall was a perfect square, the house took up almost all the top and left side, while the bottom and right side were left mostly empty. There was a big clay something-or-other sitting in the corner of the empty space. It looked sort of like a bee hive, or maybe an upside down tea cup with no handles and three holes in it.

The house itself was simple looking. It was one story tall, made from smooth white earth. Didn’t look like concrete, but it might have been plastered-over brick or stone. A flight of steps ran from the bottom left corner of the square up onto the flat roof. There was an awning up there, ready to shade me from a sun that would never rise and rain that would never fall.

I pushed open the wooden gate and walked into the courtyard. There were short trees growing in the courtyard. I didn’t recognize the species. Nor did I know the names of the flowers in the clay baskets hanging off the roof. They were greens and purples that seemed to glow under the stars. Maybe one day I would find out what they were called.

Two wooden doors connected the house and the yard. I pushed open one, and walked into the most expensively decorated not-much I have ever seen. Low wooden tables, a few shelves, one or two chairs tucked out of the way. Rugs woven from reeds. It should have felt like poverty. Instead, it reeked of money.

The wood. My god. The wood. Some rare thing, hand rubbed with oil and shimmering gold in the light of oil lamps. I could faintly smell cedar and something else, something slightly sweet and slightly musky. The shelves glimmered and highlighted the rolled scrolls, the beautifully painted vases, and drew a brilliant line under the murals and wall hanging.

I drifted through this achingly beautiful place, almost bouncing from wall to wall. The bedroom took up half the house. The bed was strangely designed- the head was raised slightly above the feet. There was a footboard, a vital necessity I suspect. The headboard was covered with carvings of animals, inlaid with mother of pearl and silver wire. It was all just so beautiful.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

There were two chairs and a dresser, a small table to put things on, and that was it for the bedroom. Huge space, but mostly empty space. Like all that emptiness made you focus on the beautiful furniture.

There was a tub, but no bathroom. It was just set to one side of the bedroom. Not even a fireplace, or water source. Just a big white tub, made of something that felt somewhat like marble and somewhat like bone. Maybe there was a well around back or something. I’d look.

No soaps or shampoos. No towels. The mattress had linens and a thin blanket, but inexplicably, no pillows. I went over to the scrolls. I figured they would be like the books at Sebastian’s place- pure props. I damn near dropped one when it unrolled. I didn’t recognize the language, but the artwork was… beautiful. I don’t know, it was flat, 2-D, the colors popped, and even if everyones’ face looked kinda samey and weird, well, that was just normal for me.

No handy translation guides anywhere, naturally.

I sat on the ground next to one of the low tables. There were little rugs around it, clearly for sitting on. I took out the furniture packs that I had looted. They were things like tables, wall art, some potted plants, chairs, barstools, that kind of thing.

Not a single damn thing fit. None of it. With the possible exception of the potted plants, everything else would clash horribly.

I had a little scout around. There was, in fact, no well. No water source at all. Maybe it unlocked later. The summons got a fountain. It wasn’t impossible. Theirs even had little fish in it. The first animals in the whole damn game other than the monsters.

Probably golem fish haunted by the ghosts of actual fish. Because the devs gonna dev. “Put real fish in the game? Are you insane? Do you know what that would cost? I’m not made of fish! Now go summon up a few thousand mutilated souls, daddy wants to play dress up with his favoritest dollies.”

I walked out of the house again, and looked around the courtyard. The trees worked perfectly with the desert environment. The whole thing worked perfectly. It wasn’t a king’s house, but it clearly had belonged to some influential person. People didn’t read much in the past, right? Maybe the house belonged to a priest or something.

I poked at the upside-down teacup looking thing. There was a round hole at the top with a lip on it, a semi-circle shaped hole on the front, and another, smaller semicircle hole at ground level. It was squeaky clean inside, with not so much as blown sand within.

I stepped back and tried to think what it could be. All that came to mind was ‘outdoor woodfired pizza oven’ but that was obviously ridiculous. Maybe one of the summons would know.

It was restful. Not just peaceful, but restful. I didn’t see any functions pop up as I moved around the space. Right now, it seemed purely decorative. It wasn’t like anywhere I had ever lived before. It wasn’t familiar. It wasn’t particularly comfortable.

I wouldn’t change a thing about it… with the exception of my body pillows. They would look wrong in that space, totally wrong. But that bed looked awfully cold and lonely. Having someone to hug while I pretended to sleep would be really nice. It was beautiful. But very lonely.

I went through the various loot. Maria got a little nurse cap, and I had one for Pammy already, so on they went. The two had a cute little animation when they saw each other. They both did a big “Yay!” then hugged and giggled. That was about it. Now they could do it with hats.

Rache got a new costume, though I noticed this card had neither a metallic border or a heartbreaking backstory. It also had comparatively trash stat bonuses. On the other hand, “Desperado” costume Rache was just *mwah*, chef’s kiss with the red scarf hanging around her black leather biker/Fetish Ball costume. The +7 Attack, +5 Vision was just a tasty mochi on top.

Was there a Vision stat on her character sheet before she got the costume? No. Was there one after? Also no. Explanation? No. Sick cowboy boots and a nasty looking tooled leather sword belt for her saber? Yes.

Done deal, Rache is ready to ride.

I was jammed up on the furniture orders for a moment. Usually, games present the dorms as being utterly terrible, to encourage you to decorate. Getting them pre-decorated really nicely kind of took some of the fun out of it. I’d just have to see what could be done. I stuck a bunch of potted plants in the Throne Room. They weren’t in the most aesthetic locations, but I was tired at looking at the holes where my floor should be.

The resource packs were an… interesting strategic challenge. No barbed wire, unfortunately, though there was concrete, iron stock, rebar, metal fasteners, and the like. The question was, do I use it at all during the day?

It was a surprisingly agonizing choice. On the one hand, no, obviously I should use my post-wave free time to do everything possible within the summons’ range of the Tower, and use order time to have them explore, raid the dungeon, and rest up in the dorm. On the other hand, it would mean going into a wave knowing I deliberately had not done everything I could to get through the wave without anyone dying.

Moe comes from the Japanese word moeru, which means to burn, or to get excited about something (ie “fired up” about it.) “My heart burns for you, darling Cecilia.” Except, Japan being Japan and otakus being otakus, moe doesn’t mean just that. It means to develop those strong feelings for something that is real, but not tangible.

Yes, I say real. Your favorite character may be too pure for the corrupt 3-D world, but that doesn’t make them any less real. You have seen them. You heard them talk. They live in your mind as truly as the cashier at the convenience store, or that kid you remember from sixth grade. Except you actually care about them. Because they are real, and your feelings are real, and all of a sudden, you have a connection to another person that feels rewarding.

You aren’t alone.

No general or king ever won a long war without a single casualty. Still, I aimed to do just that. So. Balancing everything, what is the best choice? What is the best chance to get all of us out alive? Me, and my beloved poseable figurines.