by Tao Wong
The ancient army truck that had been maintained by the school for decades rumbled up the narrow track toward the kitchen area. Its wooden bed bulged with yet another load of salvaged propane tanks, boxes of supplies, and a massive iron stove from the old dining hall. Everyone believed Chef Richards must be a true genius to have managed cooking for sixty-three people over an adobe fire pit, with only the puny, game-room snack stove for backup.
I headed along the track between the shelters, knowing Rachel would be checking in with her brother at our watch post. A Level 18 Air Mage, she’d been assigned to the party guarding the foraging team for the day. Tae Song had promised to join us once he finished emptying his inventory into storage.
“Any news?” Rachel was already in the tower gazing out over the shadowed soccer field, now a torn-up graveyard. Nobody else wanted the post for that reason, so our little group had claimed the responsibility. This section of the wall came with more privacy than the rest.
Rachel’s younger brother had already loaned her his Mana Rifle, a much-appreciated Perk he’d chosen to go with his Sharp Shooter Class. I glanced down at the hammocks we’d hung between the support posts and saw John already asleep, his face pale with exhaustion. He’d been keeping watch on his own since dawn in spite of missing half his sleep schedule the night before.
I found it ironic that the System counted him as an adult already. The teachers still refused to treat me as one, even though I’d turned nineteen a week ago. According to Sumay, the System used the local age of adulthood to calculate, and the Quechua considered their children grown at fifteen.
“They’re planning a joint river run tomorrow,” I told Rachel as I clambered up the ladder and slumped in the corner. “Both of the fighting parties desperately want to bathe, and the rain barrels by the kitchen are nearly empty again.”
“But no plans to search for more survivors or find a Shop?” Rachel shook her head.
I scrubbed my face, irritated by the gritty feel of the ever-present dust. “Mr. Sanders hopes the adults will come to an agreement tonight. I know he wants to believe they’ll send us out because we won’t survive much longer without System resources. Still, even his perpetual optimism can’t help but acknowledge that at least half of them still imagine God will Rapture us all into Heaven at any moment.”
Tae Song scrambled up the ladder and yanked himself onto the platform with one arm, clutching a fabric bundle in his other hand. “Chef sent along some snacks since we missed lunch and dinner. Cold meat as usual, but Doña Maria’s new mud oven has dried enough to bake the first batch of marraquetas, and we’re her guinea pigs.”
“Bread!” We tore open the bundle and shared the still-warm rolls, even waking John long enough to stuff his face with the treat.
I breathed in the steam as I tore off a bite. For just a moment, I remembered how it felt to be safe and happy. “Now all I need is a Guaraná.”
Rachel sighed. “Too bad we finished the last of the soda weeks ago.”
I wrapped the remainder of my roll in its napkin and regretfully returned it to the pile of food. My old favorites still tasted just as good, even now that I wasn’t human. Sumay had mentioned this was a System effect, associating my new body’s experiences to a memory matrix my mind could comprehend.
Still, the necessary internal organs no longer existed. I’d have to reach at least Master Class to fully replicate a human body. For now, to fake the process of eating solids, I had to use Minor Morph and create a pocket in my torso for anything my body couldn’t absorb. Most fluids were easy to integrate, but solids led to debuffs to my Health whenever I had to store them until I could manually eject the residue.
“You’re not going to eat any?” Tae Song shook his finger at me. “Just because a Polymorph can survive on fluids doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to enjoy a treat with the rest of us. Eat the bread, okay? Let’s just enjoy it together.” He shoved the roll back into my hand as I continued to hesitate. “I promise we’ll eat the meat without you.”
I had to laugh at his long-suffering tone as I reclaimed my portion. I might feel a little uncomfortable later on, but with each bite I felt more human than I had since the System changed my body.
Tae Song
Brilliant and familiar, the stars gazed down at me as I stood watch. Among them existed alien cultures and a myriad of worlds, similar to my favorite books and daydreams.
Rolled in a blanket on the platform beside me, Tae Song sobbed in the grip of a nightmare. He almost never slept in the shelters, saying he couldn’t relax with everyone crowding together. I debated whether to wake him. These days, being awake wasn’t much of a relief.
He jumped and reached for my arm. “Adrian? You’re still alive?”
“Yes.”
With a sigh of relief, he pulled himself up to keep watch beside me. I had Morphed my eyes to register the ultraviolet spectrum when night fell, and he had a Night Vision Spell. Even without a moon, his skin glowed to my eyes, revealing his oval face and straight nose as he glared out at the field. It might be better to ignore the glimmering traces of tears on his cheeks for now.
Together, we watched the mutated cockroaches feasting below. They’d attack any other creature attempting to sneak into their feeding grounds, giving us a chance to wake everyone up and get in position.
“I still can’t believe we’re using giant cockroaches as guards,” he grumbled.
“Better them than us.”
“True.” He slumped against the wall and drew his swords. He’d once mentioned that holding them reminded him of the years he’d spent training with his father. “You can sleep if you want. I’m going to be awake anyway, and it’s only an hour or so till dawn.”
“I won’t need to hibernate for another two days.” It felt like my words would create an impassable wall between us as I spoke. “I’m too alien, aren’t I? I wonder whether it’s hard for everyone to be around me now.”
“Hmm… Everyone changed. So what if your race is different? You’re still you.” His voice softened. “I feel like you becoming a Polymorph is a promise, in a way.”
That was unexpected. I turned to face him, wondering whether I should ask what he meant.
Sumay floated higher. “Talk to him. I’ll keep watch.”
Noticing my hesitation, Tae Song shifted to face me. “You mentioned you don’t have a gender now, right?” His narrow eyes seemed to pierce the darkness.
“Well, yes. It’s part of being a Polymorph.” This felt dangerous, like I was standing on the edge of exposing my greatest flaw. Even if Tae Song had always been more accepting of my oddities than anyone I’d ever met, I wasn’t sure he’d accept this.
He lowered his voice until even my enhanced hearing could scarcely pick up the words. “It’s like, if the universe actually has whole races without gender affecting their relationships, maybe there’s a place where I’d fit in too.”
“But everyone loves you already!” I couldn’t understand how he could believe he didn’t fit in when everyone had always admired him. That someone so popular chose to hang out with me had always felt like a rare error in judgement on his part.
“They’d reject me if they knew the truth.” He curled in on himself, clutching his swords as if they were his lifeline. “I’m not normal.”
I hesitated, unable to see his expression. His straight, black hair had grown long enough to hide his face. It didn’t seem that long ago that the teachers had the energy to enforce rules on acceptable hairstyles.
There was a rush of motion below as the cockroaches encountered an invader. We tensed, but the creature was overtaken by the mob. I shivered. Without my toxins to cull their numbers below the control limits of Abuelo’s Herder Class, even these low-Level swarms could wipe out the Fort within days.
The silence between Tae Song and I grew heavier as I reviewed our conversation.
“Tell him your secret, and maybe he’ll feel safe enough to tell you his.” Sumay sounded fed up with my hesitation.
“He’s already accepted your physical changes. If you can’t trust him now, then you might as well admit you think he’s a liar for saying he values your friendship.”
Calling Tae Song a liar grated on me as she knew it would. “Ugh… fine!”
He jumped, since I’d accidentally spoken out loud.
Below us, the ropes of Rachel’s hammock creaked. “Attack?”
I sighed. “No, it’s nothing. Sorry. Sumay said something weird… Never mind.”
“Okay then.”
We listened as she settled back into sleep. Eventually, her breathing evened out as we stared over the wall.
“I… don’t want you to hate me.” I leaned in, keeping my voice low. “But can I tell you something I’ve never told anyone?”
Tae Song nudged my arm with his elbow. “I can’t ever imagine hating you, Adrian. It’s impossible.”
“Uh… well. The genderless thing? I chose to change race because of it, whatever it is everyone else seems to know that makes them one or the other. My body just… it felt like puppet strings forcing me to be something I wasn’t. I hated it.” My voice trailed off, and I dropped my forehead onto my hands where they rested on the wall. “In spite of everything, it’s such a relief to just be myself now. I can change the parts that bothered me before.”
After setting his sword across his knees, he flung his right arm over my shoulder and patted the back of my head as if I were a puppy. “That’s all? I thought you were going to tell me you killed someone or something.”
“Not yet,” I mumbled, thinking of Watson. “I hope I never have to either.”
He chuckled. “It’s strange to live in a world where that answer feels reassuring instead of creepy.”
Forget trying to say things right. I had to get things out there one way or another. “I wanted you to know I trust you, in case you ever want to talk about your… thing. I can’t imagine hating you either.”
Raptor
A chilling shriek disrupted our conversation as a larger predator charged into the mass of cockroaches. The creature tore into them, clearly too powerful for them to take down.
“It looks like a velociraptor!” I yanked on the cord strung over Fort Tin, attached to a small bell by Mr. Sanders’s bed, alerting our party back in the shelters.
“This had better not turn out like Jurassic Park.” Tae Song leaned over the platform edge to wake Rachel and John.
We’d have to move outside to fight it off since neither the maze nor the walls were enough to handle a direct assault from something this powerful.
“It’s crushing the cockroaches! Too dangerous. I’m going to lure it the long way toward the northern pit trap.” I Morphed my fingers to increase adherence and began to climb down the wall.
“Be careful!” Tae Song leaned over the edge. “We’ll be ready.”
Cher’s face appeared beside his, and I knew the rest of our party was close behind. Joachim would wake and buff them with Night Vision, and they’d run to the trap the short way. The cockroaches gave up the fight and scuttled back into hiding as I reached the edge of the maze. I hoped I could be irritating enough to distract the raptor from the Fort.
Half an hour later, I flattened myself behind a ledge to flash Minor Morph and repair the most recent hole the raptor had nipped in my shoulder. All the running and hiding reminded me of the early days when I’d been on my own. I glanced at my stats, noting the usual warning notification.
HP 75/490 MP 67/500
Warning! Mass at 5% below optimal range. 6% debuff to Health and Stamina.
Sumay swooped up the gully toward our destination. “Run!”
At least I had backup waiting. Even with Speed Boost for emergencies and my high endurance, the creature was far too close on my trail. Thankfully, its desire to make a meal of me blinded it to the party in hiding around the massive pit we’d dug a few days earlier. Dawn brightened the sky as I sprinted across a rigged slackline with the raptor nipping at my heels, the edges of my vision flashing with debuffs to Health, Strength, and more from losing too much mass to its attacks.
Its shriek of anger Stunned everyone but me when the twig-and-dirt cover over the pit collapsed, dropping it six yards onto sharpened stakes. I had coated them with blood thinner to increase their damage. I spent an anxious ten seconds waiting while everyone recovered, trying to think of what I could do to help fight it off. The raptor scrabbled at the wall, creating pockets in the earth so it could pull itself off the stakes. Just before it reached the top, a series of stuns interspersed with rifle fire blasted it back down, where Joe entangled it with a Vine Trap.
Tae Song and Mr. Sanders strained to swing a concrete platform into position, its base layered with jagged rebar spikes. The ramshackle tripod and pulleys creaked until someone released the catch and the platform dropped into the hole with a crash. Even this still wasn’t enough to kill the raging raptor, which continued to struggle, its convulsions powerful enough to crack the concrete. Cher started to chain Smite every time it finished cooldown, hoping to drive the spikes in deeper before the lid crumbled completely. When it finally broke apart, the rebar remained embedded in the raptor’s muscles, inhibiting its attempts to free itself.
By the time the sun rose, everyone had a chance to get in on the battle while the creature nearly managed to escape the trap multiple times. We won in the end, but various team members lost an arm, a few hands, and half a foot in the process, reducing our fighting force for the time needed to regrow their limbs. Combat Healer Joachim would have his work cut out for him when we got home.
A Quest update alerted me that I had received XP for warning of an invader before it breached our defenses, more for leading it away from Fort Tin, and a bonus for participating in a winning battle against a monster more than thirty Levels above my current party’s average. I had finally reached Level 21, but it still wouldn’t be enough power to protect everyone.
I couldn’t help but wonder how much longer we could survive on too little sleep while fighting attackers like this. Sumay nodded in silent agreement with my thoughts as we watched Mr. Sanders climb down to settle for the basic loot. The body was too shredded and poisoned to retrieve much else. I helped poison it further, and we left the remains for scavengers before heading back to Fort Tin, hoping to arrive in time for breakfast.
On the way back, a mutated bush snatched at us with its branches. Thankfully, its last meal had damaged it enough that the fight was over quickly. Absorbing its Mana-rich remains boosted my mass enough to eliminate the worst debuffs.
Watson
Everyone’s schedules shifted due to the injuries in our party, and the bustle that had arisen after our return finally died down. Chef Richards hovered over his stove, cheerfully whistling as he flipped pancakes for the second breakfast shift. I curled into a sunlit alcove beside the tin screen used to separate the dining area from storage, waiting out the cooldown so I could Morph.
The kids were playing Monsters and Magic between the tables while their primary guardian, Miss Angela, helped with peeling and chopping cacti for lunch. One waved two sticks in the air, jumping from one shelter roof to another and pretending to be Tae Song. A screaming match broke out over who got to be Cher until I intervened, suggesting they could both choose the Holy Warrior Class. Nobody wanted to be me.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to be myself either. My torso had been warped into a lumpy mass by the cumulative effect of using Minor Morph to flash-heal on the run. I’d borrowed Tae Song’s jean jacket to cover the worst of it, but I still felt alien and ugly. I could shift into Polymorph form anytime, but nobody would recognize me. Even though my stats and Skills were better in my new body, visibly showing myself as alien didn’t feel safe. Since Morphic Disguise wouldn’t allow me to repair my human form until four in the afternoon, I’d just have to wait.
Behind the screen, I heard Watson’s voice drawing near. As usual, I tuned in, listening for something that might give me leverage to expose him. “We need to move these b
oxes to the side to make room for the next load of salvage.”
I relaxed slightly. Even I had to admit his organizational skills were a big help these days, and this conversation wasn’t worth my time. I almost tuned out until a familiar voice responded.
“I’ll handle it.” Tae Song’s presence was a bit of a surprise. I had assumed he’d been sent back to guard duty so John could finally get some sleep.
Something clattered and the screen jolted. “You’ve been avoiding me, Tae.” Watson’s voice sounded muffled all of a sudden.
What? I jolted to my feet, then dashed around the end of the screen and arrived to see Watson cornering Tae Song against a stack of boxes. “What do you think you’re doing?” I wanted to scream, but my throat had been warped too, so I could only speak just above a whisper.
Watson jerked back, stumbling dramatically. “I just tripped, so don’t… Oh, it’s you.” He gave up on his terrible attempt at acting, and his eyes narrowed. He seemed to be calculating his chances of persuading me nothing was going on.
A notification flashed in the corner of my eye.
“He’s using a Mental Healing Skill on you. It’s meant to help people forget traumatic memories from what I can tell,” Sumay reported. “Your race is immune, but that is insidious!”
Tae Song brushed past him and hurried toward me, his face tense with repressed emotion. “Let’s just go.”
I glared at Watson, whose face had already begun to smooth back into his usual mask. He must have realized from my expression that his Spell hadn’t dealt with the situation because his brow furrowed and another notification flashed.
Unity failed: (Congratulations!) You have not been persuaded that everyone should overlook minor differences in opinion (such as the right of teachers to sexually assault their students) in order to work together.