Today's Earth date: October 10, 1991

I feel like a mini horse at a petting zoo. Every day.

No matter what, there is someone I have to meet, someone who wants to see what the Chosen Paladin can do. People touch and poke me. They talk about me as if I'm not standing right there.

Horcus says that's likely a result of limited memory. Not every NPC we meet can have a complex backstory and intricate personality. Most of them are just filler, so treat them as such.

That's helped, actually.

-The Journal of Laszlo the Paladin

***

Returning to the Amethyst estate late in the evening, Wayne was surprised to find Fergus was still awake. The scholar reclined on one of the couches, reading a book.

"Hope you've been having a lovely good time while the rest of us are destroying ourselves," Fergus said. "I can't say I particularly enjoy this much exercise."

Wayne ran up the stairs without replying.

"Really?" Fergus yelled after him.

He returned with Pages of Power 3 and 39 and sat on a chair near Fergus, pulling the coffee table close.

"You're not going to ask how murder training is progressing?" Fergus asked. "Oh, you secured a new page!"

"Yes, and went up a level to get new slots."

Fergus sat up to watch Wayne circle the Four Score peripheral with ink. Wayne smiled, feeling the success notification. Next, he circled the word processor, Professional Write & Professional File, on page 40. He again felt the success notification.

Holding his breath, he saw a new menu item that read "Players." He clicked it, and it opened a set of menus that looked like a party management screen from an RPG. It was covered in glitches and errors like the rest of Wayne's System, but he could clearly read Player 1, Player 2, Player 3, and Player 4.

He mentally clicked Player 1 and felt the short burst of a failed system action.

"Shake my hand," Wayne said.

Confused and a bit reluctant, Fergus took Wayne's hand. Wayne clicked Player 1 at the same time.

Fergus jumped backward with a surprised squeal and stepped away as if to run. Then he stopped, blinked, and rubbed his eyes.

"Is anything different?" Wayne asked.

Starting to shake, Fergus whispered, yes. "Is this… Is this… a Diary window?"

"What do you see?"

A message that says, "'Wayne has invited you to his party' with 'Accept' and 'Decline' beneath it."

"If you're up for it, try–" Wayne stopped, feeling a success notification. He opened the system to see that Fergus had accepted the invitation, his name appearing above the Player 1 window.

Fergus slowly sat in a chair, his gaze unfocused. Wayne took that to mean Fergus could see the system now.

"How… This…" Fergus stammered.

"I don't know how it works. What do you see in your system–Diary–menus?"

"It's asking me to pick a 'Profession.'"

Fergus read the options to Wayne: Fighter, Barbarian, Lark, Paladin, Ranger, Thief, Illusionist, Alchemist, Wizard, Druid, Cleric.

"Which one appeals to you?"

"Wizard, obviously."

Fergus bounced in his seat. "Now I can see a menu with two options: Stats and Spells."

He read Wayne his stats:

Hero: Fergus the Wizard

Level: 1

HP: 25

STR: 1

AGI: 6

VIT: 1

LCK: 10

"I resent the one point in strength," Fergus grumbled, jokingly. "I also have the spells Light and Flame."

The headlamp light shone from Fergus forehead. He giggled and flipped it on and off several times.

"I always wanted to use magic but never had the knack for it," Fergus said, repeating a thought Wayne had heard from his friend dozens of times before.

Light was an Ultima III spell… Wayne went back to the Players menu and clicked on Fergus' name. He could see Fergus' stats as clearly as he could see his own, and there was a new menu option below it that read:

Current: Ultima III: Exodus

Clicking on it, he had the option to change it to Phantasy Star II. He did, and asked Fergus if anything changed. Fergus didn't see anything different, but Wayne put it back on Ultima III for now. He wanted to understand how all this worked before he did something that could affect Fergus. None of Wayne's other unlocked games appeared as options, only those two.

"Wayne…" Fergus said with tears in his eyes. "I can't believe this. All those years dreaming of this… Thank you."

The two hugged.

"I don't know how I'm going to get any sleep tonight," Fergus said, blinking his Light spell on and off again. "Ah, who cares. The blasted Fighters' Guild can deal with a tired wizard."

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While Fergus continued to savor the novelty, Wayne searched his menus to see what he got from the word processing software. He found the word "Documents" under his Display menu, and toggling it to On added a word processor to his HUD. The interface had all the glamor of DOS software: simple blocky characters and a handful of harsh colors, the most a PC could handle at that point in time.

Wayne found that he could type on the document with his mind, and he could have multiple documents. Only one could be open at a time, but that was fine. As lame as it sounded, he loved the idea of his notes and observations always being available via his HUD. It wasn't like having perfect recall, but it was the closest Wayne would ever get.

When he looked under Christmas List and found his two new additions, they had [1/1] written next to them where everything else he unlocked started with [1/6]. Not being able to upgrade Four Score or Professional Write was a small bummer, but he was completely content with what he'd received.

"You won't need a carriage to go to training tomorrow," Wayne said, remembering one more thing he wanted to share with Fergus. "I can give you a ride."

***

With his fingers hooked into the natural armor of the giant insect, Fergus cackled with glee from Lord Amethyst's estate to Cuan, pausing only to breathe or woop.

The old scholar was startled by the monster at first, but seeing Wayne climb up unharmed was enough for Fergus. Soon, they crawled down the dirt road with the speed of a galloping horse.

As they neared the west gate, Wayne heard shouting and saw dots he assumed were people running back and forth across the top of the wall. The large wooden doors of the city entrance began to close. Before they shut completely ten armored soldiers with spears ran out and moved into formation to block the road.

Wayne's stomach sank. "I'm sorry about this, Fergus."

"Huh? For what?" Fergus looked ahead and saw the soldiers. "Ah, sorry for getting us arrested."

What was a fun novelty for the two scholars looked like a giant monster attack to anyone minding Cuan's walls. Seeing a bug that size charging toward your city would be startling for just about anyone in any world, Wayne imagined.

Wayne commanded the insect to stop and waited for Fergus to climb down before he dismissed it.

As soon as the insect disappeared, the spearmen ran forward and surrounded Wayne and Fergus, who both held their hands up long before spearpoints were shoved into their faces.

"This is a misunderstanding," Wayne said as someone grabbed his arms from behind and bound his hands. "That was a bit of magic fun. Didn't mean to frighten anyone, and I'm very sorry for that."

Someone he couldn't see told him to shut up, so he did and let the guards take him to a cell.

***

Somewhere beneath a guard station, Wayne and Fergus sat on a stone floor in the dark. Their cell was damp with mold and smelled of urine.

"This is a plot twist I didn't expect," Fergus said.

Wayne apologized again. Fergus told him not to. He was on the back of the insect too and hadn't considered this outcome either.

"While we've got time, we should give our steed a name," Fergus suggested. "How about Lawson?"

"You're not serious."

"It's a good name."

Wayne shook his head. "I was thinking something like Bandit or Outlaw, in light of recent events."

"Outlawson it is."

"That's dumb as hell, but I like it," Wayne said. "Our bug's name is officially Outlawson."

"Think he could break us out?" Fergus asked. When Wayne finished laughing, Fergus changed the subject. "The new hires seem to be getting along, by the way. They don't talk much, but they look like a team during drills."

"That's great news."

The pair passed the time by discussing their future plans. If Four Score could add Armond, Hector, and Margo to the party, providing them abilities like it did for Fergus, Wayne would feel a lot better about bringing them into a dungeon. Though they all said they were comfortable with the risk, Wayne didn't want anyone to get seriously hurt or die.

Which seemed highly probable, given their party makeup.

Fergus pointed out that though he liked them, the three hires were still strangers. Everyone knew the system was powerful, so what would prevent any of them from getting their system activated and then splitting town?

That was a reasonable concern, so Wayne tried an experiment. He kicked Fergus from the party.

"Why'd you do that?!" Fergus yelled.

"It'll be fine. What does your system say now?"

"Can't open it."

"And your spells?"

"All I feel is the start of a headache."

Wayne added Fergus to the party again, and the old scholar slumped, relieved that his lifechanging gift had not been permanently undone. When they discussed the logic of how the party system worked, Wayne explained controllers to Fergus, saying that "plugging his controller in" gave him access. If Wayne unplugged it, the access went away. That wouldn't prevent a party member from doing something awful with their power, but Wayne could take those powers away at least.

"So if none of them reveal themselves to be complete assholes, we give them access?" Fergus asked.

"I think so. If party progression is anything like what the system does for Heroes, that will be safest for everyone, and I can carry all of you through some grinding to level you up more quickly."

"Carry?"

"I do all of the work in a dangerous situation to earn the rest of the party experience."

"Ah. That would work?"

Wayne shrugged. "I hope so. Won't know for sure until we try."

A door they couldn't see unlocked and opened, sending a ray of torchlight through the cells. A man in a blue silk shirt with gold embroidery and a tall white collar looked down at the scholars. Two well-armed guards stood behind him, each holding a torch in their left hands, keeping their right hands on the hilts of their swords.

"Wayne and Fergus the scholars?" I presume.

"You presume correctly," Fergus answered.

The man nodded to one of the guards behind him, and the man stepped forward with a keyring.

"I had heard the Zero Hero was visiting Cuan. When I was told we had two prisoners, one claiming to be the Zero Hero and both scholars, I was certain my men had lost all sense."

Introducing himself as Governor Dunton, he led Wayne and Fergus to the surface and commandeered a guard lunchroom for privacy.

"We apologize for the disturbance, sir," Fergus said. "It was never our intention to frighten anyone."

"Where is the monster now?"

"It's more spell than monster," Wayne said. "I can summon and dismiss it, so I can assure you it's not out there somewhere. Your men can confirm that, I believe."

The Governor expressed the usual surprise when he learned Wayne had any form of system access. His system being broken on arrival was well known across the kingdom.

"We had a vampire adder get loose on the southside a few days ago. A few months before that, a child brought a pet slime to school, lost it, and we had an outbreak in the sewers. My men are a bit on edge."

"I understand how a giant insect would make that worse."

"What brings you to Cuan?" the Governor asked.

"Research and a bit of freelance work," Fergus answered. "In addition to our own curiosities, we have contracts with Miss Kryss and Lord Blackwell."

"You work for Miss Kryss and Lord Blackwell? My, you are a well-connected lot. All of this work is in Cuan?"

"The Underway Mountains, actually," Wayne answered. "We're getting a party together to head to Asplugha and work from there."

The Governor tilted his head at the mention of Asplugha. "Might I ask a favor of you?"

Wayne and Fergus said sure.

"My son is in Asplugha as part of Miss Kryss' expedition. I have not heard from him in some time, and finding men willing to make the journey is difficult right now, on account of the ratman infestation."

"We would be honored to deliver a message on behalf of the Governor of Cuan," Fergus said quickly. "Our party is not ready yet, however, so it may be some time until we depart."

"Sending a message late is better than never sending it all," he answered. "I understand the importance of planning and preparation very well."

The Governor requested that Wayne and Fergus not charge the city on their bug again, but he would inform the guard of its existence so the scholars could continue using it as a mount. He gave Wayne a writ of permission for the insect to show to any guard who might be skeptical of their claim. The Governor assumed they would have at least one more incident like this with a creature like that around.

Returning to the city streets as upstanding citizens again, Fergus mused about how interesting his life had become as of late. On their way to the Fighters' Guild to check on the others, Fergus puzzled over how to hook a wagon up to Outlawson.

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