Tanya awoke a while later to the smell of beans. She remembered staggering over to the sofa, Mrs Eceer beside her. She'd curled up in a ball with her head on the arm. The last image in her head was Mrs Eceer's eyes closed, head leaning over the back of the sofa as their conversation of not much drifted into sleep.

Tanya stretched, and her neck protested the strange position she'd slept in. Ishita lay on the tattoo parlour's chair before her, still in a similar pose, but her chest moved in and out with each breath. She was alive. Light slipped through the gaps in the barricade, it was daytime. The half-filled tealights dotting every surface were strange in the daylight—out of place. She yawned.

What time is it?

It is 11:46 am, using your time keeping system known as Greenwich Mean Time.

Not eight hours, but not too bad.

Assistant was on her wrist again, and she ran her thumb over it, remembering their last conversation. The night before, she hadn't noticed it much, not after it helped her with the design tweaks. Had it unsummoned itself or simply stayed out of their way until she slept? The memory wouldn't come. Still too blank from the day, she felt no bitterness—or much of anything at all. It was that clarity of a deep sleep that she usually utilised with new designs, sat on this very sofa, but legs crossed with her sketchbook on the back so she could stare out the window at the people passing by. The blanket over the sofa had shifted slightly, and Tanya saw the edge of a black stain and overflowing stuffing. She tugged the blanket back again.

Mrs Eceer appeared at the doorway with a spring in her step and a small boy in tow.

"We made beans again!" Fahad said.

Mrs Eceer raised a finger to her lips and raised an eyebrow, looking very intentionally towards Ishita's sleeping body.

"Oh yeah," he whispered. He put a finger to his lips and crossed his arms as if convincing himself to stay quiet. He shout-whispered, "We made beans!"

Tanya smiled. She remembered copying that pose back in primary school whenever the teacher had decided there was too much chatter.

"Wow, is there some for me?" Tanya asked Fahad.

"There's enough for everyone but mum," Fahad said. "Mrs Eceer said that she should sleep. So she can have her beans later." He flashed a nervous look at his mother's sleeping body.

Tanya knew that feeling. There was nothing quite like seeing a parent in the hospital. The tattoo parlour may not have all the machines and tubes that haunted Tanya as a kid when her father was dying, but having her skin turn a completely different colour and her arm be missing more than made up for it. Tanya frowned, looking at her. She'd changed further since her last death—her cheeks gaunter, jawline sharper, skin grayer and eyes even deeper set into her face.

Tanya turned back to Fahad. "Just wait until you see your mum's tattoo. It gives her more Vitality and has dramatic henna all over it."

"Cool," he breathed. "Is it like Assistant?"

"It's more like a tool," Tanya said. She stood and ushered Fahad with her into the kitchen so they could talk properly. Mrs Eceer was doing the last of the plating up.

Plates.

Tanya remembered the image of peering through the doorway at the pots outside.

Rain.

She almost licked her lips at the thought of getting to eat off a plate—with cutlery.

"So it doesn't move then?" Fahad asked.

"No, it's more like the arm of the man you talked about—except magic."

"Bodhi," Fahad grinned. "Bodhi's arm was wicked, all metal and cool. He could even move his fingers. He said not all prosthetics could do that." He stumbled over the word prosthetics slightly.

"Well, your mum's should definitely be able to move. When it levels up, it might even be able to move better than Bodhi's."

"Awesome," Fahad breathed.

Mrs Eccer put bowls down in front of both of them—cold beans with toast sticking out the side. She could have made it as a sandwich like last time, but it was obvious why she didn't; gleaming out of the side were Tanya's mismatched metal cutlery.

"Thanks!" Fahad said, shovelling the first bite into his mouth at the same time.

"Thanks," Tanya said, lifting hers and grasping the fork with a huge grin.

Mrs Eceer huffed. "I tried to find matching cutlery."

"Oh, you won't find any in there," Tanya said through a mouthful. "Got 'em at a car boot sale—all from different sets."

Mrs Eceer sat beside them and began eating at a more polite pace.

Fahad's eyes kept flicking to the chair beside him, the one where Ishita had sat when they all ate together. Tanya was trying to think of something to say to comfort him when Fahad said, "Can Assistant come out?" He stared at the tattoo on Tanya's arm.

Tanya considered it for a second. She placed her fork down on the edge of her bowl with a clink. She wasn't sure how awkward things were between them, but she doubted he'd hold it against a little boy with a sick mother.

"Sure," Tanya said. She looked down at her arm, and Assistant wriggled and gripped its way out. That would never get less creepy or less cool.

Assistant looked around the room in bewilderment. Tanya supposed that made sense. If she woke up each day in a completely different space, not knowing how much time had passed, she'd probably feel pretty bewildered too. Assistant paused towards Tanya, and it felt like a knowing look. Instead of indicating anything at all, Assistant turned towards Fahad and waved. It ran across the table to get closer to him, even with its new floating Ability, seeming content to do its old scuttle.

Fahad giggled. "You look like a tarantula."

Assistant made a fist and pumped downward in a strong, excited 'YES!' motion. Fahad giggled more.

"Wanna play after my food?" Fahad asked.

Assistant tapped once.

"That means yes," Tanya clarified.

Fahad raised an eyebrow at her. "Obviously?"

Mrs Eceer and Tanya shared an amused look.

As Fahad finished his beans, he leapt away from the table so fast it shuddered from side to side, and Mrs Eceer had to steady the bowl. "Careful," she said.

"Sorry," Fahad said, but he was already running towards the corner of the room, where he shuffled under the large table blocking the door with Assistant in his hands. It was a small kitchen, but the makeshift den gave them a bit of privacy, and soon, Tanya could only hear the hum of hushed whispers and muffled giggles beneath the table.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Anything from Ishita?" Tanya said, shifting closer and keeping her voice low.

"She woke up briefly a few hours ago. I helped her drink some water, and then she was out again."

Tanya nodded. "Good sign."

"Good sign," Mrs Ecceer echoed.

Tanya grinned. "How's babysitting been going?"

Mrs Eceer wrinkled her nose. "I've never been very good with children, but he's a good one." She looked towards the table, and Tanya's eyes followed. Two little red sneakers were sticking out of the side. There was another muffled giggle.

"He is," Tanya said.

They both sat in a comfortable silence. Tanya stared into space, sipping her water bit by bit as if it was a morning cup of coffee. Coffee was high up on her list of things she missed in the apocalypse—along with hot beans. She wondered if there was any way of cooking things without huge amounts of smoke or using their limited electricity.

Time passed. The clouds came and went across the sunlight. Tanya was thankful for that little decorative window above the door. She'd thought it was ugly when she first moved in—too small to be useful and very out of style with the modern door beneath it. In a world where any glass larger than a big dog needed to be boarded, she appreciated the tiny window's occasional winter sun on her face a lot. She drank her water and then replaced it, slowly waking up to the day. It had been a long time since she'd started the day without a coffee and even longer since she'd started it not on her phone. It was equal parts lovely and boring.

Eventually, she was too awake to stay satisfied with just the coming and going of the sun, and she followed Mrs Eceer's suit, opening her interface. With spectacles on the end of her nose and her hilarious habit of leaning back to just see through the bottom of the lenses, Mrs Eceer could never hide when she was digging around her Interface. Tanya didn't even really know what she was up to on it, but it was near constant—then it hit her.

Holy shit—we made a pact.

Tanya couldn't sit still, she bit her lip to hide her shit eating grin and opened the Interface. She had a bunch of notifications from last night too, but the curiosity of Mrs Eceer's mysterious class was way too enticing, so she went over to Mrs Eceer's first.

* * *

Information

Name: Petunia Eceer

Number: 576,876

Class: Bunker Wizard

Level: 5

Attributes

Strength: 13/13

Dexterity: 8/8

Vitality: 9/9

Concentration: 26/27

Will: 20/23

Abilities

Barriers Level 4 You gain the ability to create magical barriers. The strength and nature of these barriers depend on your Concentration, and your Intent at the time of creation. Stronger barriers will require channeling time, deep understanding, or rare catalysts.

Barrier Geometry Level 6 Mathematics is the true magic behind all fortifications. You instinctively calculate angles of pressure, load-bearing weaknesses, and optimal reinforcement points. Your barriers, traps, and constructs gain structural bonuses based on geometric efficiency. This can be done to some success in real time.

Barrier concepts may be explored in the Barrier Codex

Traps Level 3 You can imbue objects with latent triggers, causing them to activate when specific conditions are met. Traps can be physical, magical, or hybrid in nature. The complexity and deadliness of a trap depends on your Wits, Intent, and available materials.

Blueprints for traps created may be saved in the Trapwork Ledger.

Insight Level 1 Previously Find Breach (4) and Trapping Insight (3) With a glance, you see not what things are, but what they could become. Environmental objects glow with potential trap uses, weak points in defenses flag up, enemies' actions can be seen moments before they strike. In special cases this ability may reveal flaws in your plans/projects/designs.

Environmental cues and inspirations will appear in the Tactical Overlay.

Achievements

Worthy You were deemed worthy of The System's care. You have been given a class and access to The Interface.

Unique Circumstances

The circumstances that showed you as Worthy were Unique. You have been given a Unique Class.

Bunkering Down You were supposed to break. You didn't. When the world turned to chaos outside, you built your own fortress within. Achievement Boon: Temporary defense boosts last 10% longer when under siege or surrounded.

Walls Have Teeth

A barrier is meant to hold the world at bay — but you taught it to bite back. Creating barriers inside your enemies, you turned defense into the stocks for execution. Achievement Boon: Whilst in an enemy, your barriers will be charged using their Vitality rather than your own Concentration.

The Enemy of My Enemy

They were your enemy—kind of—but in the heat of the moment, you risked your life to save them anyway. Now, like it or not, your powers just seem to work better together.

Achievement Boon: Whilst allies, your powers have a 25% Synergy Bonus whilst directly helping the other.

* * *

Holy shit.

Tanya didn't know where to start. Not only was Mrs Eceer already Level 5, but she had an Ability that combined two other Abilities—she didn't even know that was a thing. Not only that, she had 3 different weird overlay things like Tanya's 'Design Phase' thing. She noticed hers didn't have the line about an overlay yet, even though that's what it was.

Mine must not be fully developed yet then…

She thought about having three of them. One had been enough to zone her out for hours and make her feel like she was dying. Could Mrs Eceer open multiple of them at once? That sounded like a whole new thing to get used to. Had she really trained all three up to being full overlay-things?

Tanya supposed her Tattoo Menu was another similar thing. She wondered what Mrs Eceer's were like. Were they more like her Tattoo Menu or the weird design overlay?

Which to start with…

She'd seen the most of Mrs Eceer's barriers, so she focused on that one. It opened. Her head was filled with a high-pitched ringing—although ear-splitting screeching might be a better description for it. It was so loud and so high that it filled her head. Shapes and words swum past her eyes until she felt like the ground had disappeared from under her. She was weightless. She grunted and flailed, desperately trying to back out of whatever she started. It was dismissed as soon as she remembered how to, but she could still feel the ghost of the pain she felt, but the ringing was completely gone. She panted, still reeling.

It was all in my head, right?

She touched her ear, checking they weren't bleeding. They weren't.

Fahad and Assistant leaned out from under the table. Fahad looked concerned.

Mrs Eceer looked over "I wondered when you'd try that."

Tanya felt rage boiling in her chest. "Why didn't you warn me?"

"Then you'd have braced for it. I wanted to see if your Concentration was high enough on its own," Mrs Eceer said, as calmly as what she'd decided on for dinner.

Tanya clenched her knuckles. "Not cool—not fuckin' cool!"

Fahad's bottom lip began to tremble. Assistant crawled onto his lap and held his knee.

"It's okay," Tanya said to him, trying to hide the anger in her voice. "Mrs Eceer just played a mean prank on me, that's all." She spat the words 'mean prank' out without meaning to.

Shit, so much for makin' him feel better.

She attempted an 'I'm alright' smile, but his eyebrows were still knitted together.

Mrs Eceer pursed her lips together. "Now I know it's between 11 and 27 Concentration." Her voice softened. "I first opened it when mine was 7, and I didn't know how to close it. If I can work out when the baseline is, I can hopefully share it to avoid others' pain."

Tanya's face softened slightly. "Only 7… But that's barely higher than mine. You were a teacher. You…" She didn't want to say the word—

Dementia.

"It was still early enough stages." Mrs Eceer said, looking down. She cleared her throat and looked up, tossing her head slightly and blinking away her watery eyes. "It came back quickly, faster than I believe others' Attributes grow."

Fahad looked between them. Assistant stood there, unmoving.

"It really is alright," Tanya said. All of the anger had drained away.

"Okay," came his little voice, and he disappeared back under the table with Assistant in tow.

Tanya sighed.

"Any questions?" Mrs Eceer asked. Her tone was clipped, but when Tanya looked over to her, she realised it was probably coming from a place of guilt.

"How do your things work—the ledger and overlay and stuff?" Tanya settled on.

"The Trapwork Ledger is the weakest," Mrs Eceer began. "It's a menu I can save and organise designs in."

So more like Tattoo menu.

Mrs Eceer lifted her hands, flicking through her interfaces as she spoke. "Insight is a strange one. It seems to highlight things for me, but it works quite differently to how the Abilities used to, so I'm still working it out." She glanced over at Tanya. "And then you experienced some of the Barrier Codex. It isn't so much of a log, so much as a notepad of sorts. I can save information in there and it's like writing on paper. I can write non-barrier things in there, but it doesn't like it—they often go missing or drain my Concentration.

Tanya slow whistled. "No wonder you knew what I was going through with my new design thing. How long does it take to be listed in the Ability?"

Mrs Eceer shrugged one shoulder. "Depends. I believe it's when it deems it to be a wealth of information. For me that's generally when I can experience it without negative side effects."

"Huh," Tanya said. She looked forward again, staring into space and puzzling through all this new information. She remembered the combination Ability. "Wait—how did you combine two Abilities."

"You get it at level 5." Mrs Eceer said, not even looking up.

Tanya's breath caught in her throat. She grabbed Mrs Eceer's shoulder, and she turned around with a confused "Hm?"

"You're telling me I get to combine two Abilities into a super-Ability?"

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