“So, what’s your plan for today?” Terra asked, leaning against my arm as we walked through the streets of the meeting space. “You don’t have any upcoming trades to worry about, and you already have the information that you need.”
Ryone was leaning against my other arm, a playful smile on her lips. Of the three, these two were by far the more physical in their affections, so Irena didn’t seem bothered by letting the two of them ‘monopolize’ me like this.
I thought about the question for a moment. It was true that we didn’t have any dire business that we needed to take care of in this meeting specifically. Aside from the general goal of earning more points, which was a constant need for any Keeper, this was more of a ‘calm before the storm’.
“Did you all make sure that everything was prepared?” I asked, glancing at the three, who nodded their heads.
“Everything that can be set up, has been.” Irena said in a confident tone.
“In that case… let’s just enjoy ourselves. Depending on how things go, we might be pretty busy for a while after we get back. Is there anything that any of you would like to do?” I looked between the three of them, wanting to make sure that they all had the option to contribute activities.
“There is… one thing that I would like to do.” Irena said after a moment, a pensive expression on her face. “I believe that Terra would be quite fond of this as well.”
“Oh? What about me?” Ryone grinned, curious now. “It’s rare for you to take the initiative, so what do you have in mind?”
“I would… like to go fishing.” Irena spoke up, and the rest of us looked at her in surprise. “Some of my incarnations have been quite fond of fishing, but I’ve never taken the chance to assume direct control of them during it, as it was one of their ways of relaxing. I did not want to take that from them, just to satisfy my own curiosity. So, if possible, I would like it if the four of us could go fishing together.”
Terra’s eyes practically lit up at that, a bit of drool escaping the corner of her mouth. “Ooh, I like the sound of that! And, I know just the place to do it! We can even cook the fish that we catch.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, before turning to look at Ryone. “Well? What are your thoughts on the idea?”
Ryone gave that same, playful grin. “I don’t have any problems with fishing. Most of my incarnations have lived in coastal villages, so I’ve gone out and fished a few times myself. Granted, I would usually use magic to expedite the process, but manual fishing has its own charms.”
I nodded my head, turning to Terra next. “Alright, then. Lead the way.” As soon as I said that, I felt my arm being dragged. Ryone let out a light laugh, running to keep up while Irena followed at a casual pace, never more than a few steps behind us.
Terra took us out of the city and into the forest, reminding me of when Irena and I had first found the special spring of the meeting area. Perhaps, more natural activities were meant to appear in the forest, as opposed to the games that would appear in the city.
Honestly, I had thought that Terra would lead us to a simulation game, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Instead, we kept moving deeper and deeper into the forest, until the trees gave way to a wide clearing. Within this clearing, I could see a wooden pier, stretching out over a softly flowing river. “This isn’t related to the spring, is it?” I asked curiously, but Terra shook her head.
“Oh no, nothing that special. This is just a fishing location! So! Let me explain the rules, before we get started! Everyone is able to choose their own fishing method, and it can be anything you want. You could go spearfishing, cast your rod over the water, use magic or even explosives. Everything you need will be provided for you upon request, right down to the type of bait you want to use.”
“If you want to, you can summon a boat or other craft to take you deeper over the water, too! Once you have everything you need, the system will create fish based on the chosen fishing methods, and everything will happen naturally. So… how are we doing this?!” Clearly, Terra was ecstatic at the prospect of catching fish, even moreso than the one who suggested the activity.
“I’d like to just take a boat out and use a normal rod.” I said, feeling a small weight falling into my hand. Looking down, a metal fishing rod had appeared, my hand naturally wrapped around it.
“I would like the same.” Irena nodded her head, with Terra following suit. Ryone looked at the three of us holding fishing roads, smirking.
“Well, I can’t exactly be the odd one out, can I? Manual fishing it is.” When we all decided that, Terra began to walk towards the end of the pier, where a small boat had suddenly appeared. There was more than enough room for the four of us to sit comfortably, and store any fish that we happened to catch.
Lena blinked, suddenly finding herself standing within a crowd of people. The forest that she had been in moments ago vanished, as did the entity that had made itself look like Terra. There were more questions that she wanted to ask, but she felt as if she might have struck a nerve mentioning the energy that she had sensed.
Probably better to not think about it. She thought to herself, before hearing someone calling out to her. Looking off to the side, Lena saw Lifre running over with a bright smile.
“Did you already finish up your other business?” She asked in an excited tone, causing Lena to chuckle and nod.
“That’s right. It ended a lot faster than I had thought. Sorry for not being able to come join you right away. You said that there were some games that you wanted to show me?”
When Lena asked that, Lifre’s eyes lit up, before quickly shaking her head. “The maze can wait. I found games that offer the tickets!” Lena’s eyes widened slightly as Lifre led her towards a set of stairs, heading downwards.
“I wasn’t gone that long… how did you already find these?” Lena couldn’t help but ask, Lifre giggling excitedly.
“I always take a look around, and see what interesting games I can find! That’s the basic rule of having fun here! And I think these games might be right up your alley. They just appeared like a minute or two before I ran into you, too!”
Lena couldn’t help but arch a brow at that. A game suited for her, appearing at this timing with one of the Keeper’s desired tickets? Part of her felt as if this was a message for her from the mysterious entity, or perhaps a test.
Lifre pulled Lena along, until they stopped before a pair of platforms that appeared next to each other. One game had a title banner above it reading ‘Keeper Defense Protocol’, while the other had the title ‘Capture the Keeper’. The first game had the defense ticket as its highest prize, while the second had the attack ticket. “Do you know anything about these games?” Lena asked cautiously, and Lifre nodded her head.
“Yeah! I saw them the last time I was here, and tried them out. Admittedly, I didn’t get to the higher levels. They’re really hard. Both of these games can be played either multiplayer or solo, but you only get the rewards for solo play! So, in Capture the Keeper, you appear in a large city. You are an ‘assassin’, whereas everyone else is either a ‘guard’ or the ‘Keeper’. You need to get in and tag the Keeper while keeping your own identity concealed. If any of the guards identify you as the assassin, they can eliminate you.”
“I had a bit of luck with this game, since it was all about finding ways past people to get to the target, but the guards become really smart at higher levels.”
“Keeper Defense Protocol is even harder, though! In that game, you basically have to create a defense plan for the Keeper. You are given a set number of assets, and you have to make as comprehensive of a defense as you can with these assets. You don’t know how the opponents will come in, or what types of enemies you will face. It’s all about preparing for the unknown. I only made it past the first few levels, before they started throwing weird monsters at me that I didn’t know how to plan around with the assets given!”
Lena furrowed her brow at this explanation, but nodded her head. It was easy enough to tell what was happening. For some reason, the entity that she had met was paying special attention to her. She knew that it could read her thoughts, so any kind of complicated reverse psychology tricks wouldn’t work here. If she went for the defense game to try to trick the entity, it would see right through her.
Still, the defense game was what she went for, without hesitation. Lifre seemed surprised, but didn’t try to stop her. Lena wasn’t trying to play any complicated mind games with the entity. She knew that she would probably have an easier time in the Capture the Keeper game, as it played to her strengths of infiltration. However, the upcoming battle was a defensive battle, so Lena wanted to practice as much as she could in that regard.
More importantly, the defense ticket was far more valuable than the attack ticket, at least in her mind. Only this ticket could prevent the Keeper’s death in a dire situation, after all.
Lena’s body disappeared as soon as she stepped onto the platform, appearing in a dark room. Hovering before her was a screen, prompting her to select whether she wanted to play single player or in a party. Naturally, she chose to play alone.
For the first level, she was given a long list of assets, including units, weapons, and even entire buildings. With each asset, she could customize various rules, such as what conditions would allow the asset to come into play. These conditiions could be as vague or as specific as she wanted, such as using a firearm only on the summer solstice, if a man with blue skin and seven arms ran through the streets singing the national anthem while covered in ice cream toppings.
…Okay, so Lena deleted that condition after setting it, just testing the limits of her freedom. At the end of this asset list was none other than the Keeper. To Lena’s annoyance, the Keeper did not have any abilities of its own attached to it. This game was about keeping the Keeper out of harm, as opposed to helping him win a battle.
Regardless, she began to set up a patrol of armed guards, operating in shifts with an emergency alarm. When the guards were leaving their positions, it was their job to check any of the long-range sniper locations that she identified, reporting in whether they found anything out of the ordinary or not.
Lifre had warned her of the unpredictable nature of the attacks, so she tried to base her plans around what the game had given her. There were no energy weapons, so she was expecting a tangible for… and she couldn’t have been more right. She watched from above as an army of thousands of insectoid monsters began to swarm the area.
Following her instructions, the soldiers took up their weapons, mowing down what foes they could. When the outer perimeter was breached, they pulled back into the building, trying to use the terrain to their advantage.
Lena could see some of the bugs chewing through the materials of the building, but thankfully they were all slain before reaching the final bunker where she had placed the Keeper. Though, this ‘first level’ had shown her just how difficult the game would be going forward. Honestly, we should get Chelsea in on this game! This is the type of thing she lives for! Lena thought to herself, but resolved to try to clear the game herself first.
