Thinking for a moment, I told her, “Give them to the captain. He can use them as Exhibit A for what magic can do as protection. We’ll let him explain what happened in his own way. And thank you for thinking of them.”

  “Can’t say as I likes litterin’,” she replied, holding out her hand to the captain.

  He took the bullets almost automatically. If anything, he looked less happy than before. A quick check of his stats showed his game name was Wild Bill Hitchcock…Holy Paladin class. A holy warrior with protection spells, holy magic offense, and a skill with guns. Of course he did.

  “Hmmm. Holy Paladin. If we end up dealing with undead or necromancers, you’ll be very useful,” I said, catching him off guard. “Do I call you by your game name or something else? Bill Hitchcock, maybe? Or whatever’s on the name badge you’re not wearing?”

  His face flushed crimson as he barely reined in his temper. “How the…did you know that?”

  “REVEAL STATS. It’s a spell or ability anyone can take. I grabbed it early. It lets me read your basic stats. I can see more if I invest more levels into it. Or should we just keep calling you captain?” His reaction surprised me more than I expected.

  He took a few deep breaths, turned away with a scowl, and then, turning his head back towards us, said tightly, “Follow me.”

  Nodding to the rest of the party, we trailed after him across the pavement then grass. As we reached the end of the building, I scrolled through the system menu and finally spotted the option for party formation. Wish I’d searched for this earlier.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I told the others, “I found out how to make a game party. Say yes to my invite. We’ll all get experience as long as we’re grouped.”

  Starting with Bhaarrt, then Ingrid, and finally Shadow. One by one, their names, levels, and health bars appeared in a UI overlay off to the side. I knew they could now see mine, too.

  “Fuck. You is legit level six!” Shadow exclaimed. “Damn.”

  “I wasn’t lying to you. This is one way to prove it without REVEAL STATS. I’ll use that spell again if I need to. Five’s the party limit.” I grinned widely. Time to spring the surprise.

  Mentally tapping the option on the party menu, I sent the message.

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Welcome to party chat.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [We can speak silently to other party members. Just don’t overload it during a fight.]

  [Bartholomew Ironshaper:] [PARTY] [Bhaarrt like!]

  [Bartholomew Ironshaper:] [PARTY] [You can send to one or everyone. cool.]

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [this gonna be fun]

  [Ingrid:] [PARTY] [Yeah. it is. If Daryll tries something stupid that’ll get him killed, I can chew him out privately.]

  Ingrid’s laughter came softly from behind me.

  When we reached the end of the building, the captain nodded to a deputy sheriff standing guard. The deputy opened the door for us. I’d been inside this building several times since the county offices moved out of the old courthouse, but this office wing was unfamiliar.

  Fluorescent lights buzzed softly overhead. Dull green plastic signs, marking off rooms and departments in white block letters, and beige-painted walls lined the hallway.

  Past another secured checkpoint, we entered a more familiar space. It was the lobby outside the combined City of Eddington and Chandler County Council chambers. Raised voices leaked through the closed doors. A uniformed police officer stood stiffly beside them.

  “How many officers do they have in the field with this many in here?” I pondered their priorities.

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Shadow. go stealth when we enter. I’ll tell you when to appear.]

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [nuther show for the bosses?]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Yup. Find somewhere people will see you when you make your, ;) appearance.]

  The captain’s word got us inside. The council chamber wasn’t the war room I’d hoped for…just a few scattered folding tables and clusters of chairs where people sat, stood and argued.

  Council members, department heads, and other local officials stood or sat scattered around the room. There was no pattern I could see. Most of them were all talking at the same time to each other.

  Looking around, I spotted both Police Chief Brown and County Sheriff Harper standing together on the other side of the room. I’ve known both of them over the years for various reasons. Mostly by being at the same place at the same time with them.

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  The far wall had a desk long enough to hold either council or both of them together if they held a joint meeting. Each seat had a microphone sticking out of the desk.

  Vertical strips of light wood against a dark background covered the back wall behind the desk. Large seals of both the City of Eddington and Chandler County were centered behind it. US and state flag at the ends of the wall. Spartan, but tasteful, compared to some I’d seen pictures of over the years.

  “Wait here,” the captain told us, and we did.

  He strode over to talk to the sheriff and police chief. I could just see him open his hand and show them the bullets. I wished I could hear what they were saying, but that quickly stopped mattering.

  An aide at a side table, who’d been working on a laptop, suddenly yelled out, “Mayor! Email from the governor’s office. They forwarded it from the Federal Office of Emergency Management. This thing is worldwide. The President’s giving a speech in thirty minutes. They say to find people who play role-playing games and know how to use the weapons…”

  He hesitated, then read the next part like it tasted bad. “It says the weapons in the game. They’re comparing it to a game. I’ll forward and print copies.”

  [Bartholomew Ironshaper:] [PARTY] [Looks like you don’t need to convince them anymore.]

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [Don’t bet on it. Maybe they just need less convincing.]

  Shadow directly messaged me.

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [William of Brinsford] [want me to show?]

  Scanning the room, I didn’t see her. I’d caught a faint shimmer moving along the edge of the chamber earlier…like heat rising off of asphalt. On the PARTY MAP, her dot showed her atop the council’s long desk, midway beneath the city and county seals. Another advantage of being in a party.

  [William of Brinsford:] [Urako Sarutobi] [Wait a bit. Need their attention first.]

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [William of Brinsford] [gotcha. I chill. this fun.]

  Looking very carefully, I spotted her faint outline stretched across the polished surface of the table. She was lounging there, probably scanning the room.

  “Should I go straight to the mayor or let the captain do it?” I pondered.

  It didn’t matter. The captain took that choice away.

  “You. Mage. Over here,” he said, pointing at me. Ingrid and Bhaarrt followed behind. Bhaarrt got enough notice that conversations he walked past stopped. Then started up again louder and faster.

  Shrugging, I walked over. The buzz about the federal message still held most of the room's attention.

  “Chief Brown, Sheriff Harper. It’s been a while. Captain. You ready for our help now? Looks like the feds are. They say you need us.” From the way the captain glowered at me, he clearly wasn’t ready…but he didn’t have a choice anymore.

  “Bannister. What are you up to this time…and why’re you dressed that way?” Sheriff Harper asked. “Ain’t that the same getup you had on when your group showed us what all you do?”

  “Yes, Sheriff. It is. The game recognizes it as body armor. It’s not much, but every bit helps. You remember trying sword work at the demo?”

  “Not much. Just that we couldn’t hit you till you let us.”

  “I had to let you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t know what a good hit felt like. And it wouldn’t have been fun.”

  He laughed. “No. It wasn’t. Captain Hitchcock says you let Torres shoot at someone and it didn’t go through?”

  “No, Sheriff. He shot at my shield, and there was a third of it left. Torres didn’t bring it down.”

  “Hitchcock also said you threatened to kill Sergeant Torres. That true?” Chief Brown asked. “Never figured you for that kind of guy. Not before.”

  “I said I could’ve killed him. Don’t know how strong his armor is, but I’m level six. My mana bolt does 50 points per hit…before armor. One every five seconds. His vest might be good for 20 armor, maybe he has 50 health if he’s lucky. After two, three hits, he’s taking real damage. Two more and he’s dead. Let’s be generous and say five shots. Add five seconds to put up a second shield before the first drops. I’ve got about 140 health. You do the math.”

  All three stared at me. Hitchcock looked furious. Chief Brown seemed worried. Sheriff Harper laughed.

  “I already know you know how to use those weapons,” he said. “Captain says you want to form vigilante groups to go fight people and pretend monsters. That true?”

  Shaking my head again, I told him. “Not exactly. We’re forming groups, or parties, in game terms. Five people max. You can check the rules yourself. A balanced party has a Tank to soak damage.” I pointed at Bhaarrt. “A Healer to patch us up,” I added, gesturing towards Ingrid. And the other three to deal damage and handle extras. We’re still looking for a fifth.”

  Sheriff Harper looked around. “Fifth? I only see three of you.”

  “Did Hitchcock tell you about our fourth?”

  “Only that you put a woman’s life in danger by having her stand behind your shield.”

  Turning towards Hitchcock, I gave him a slow smile, then turned back. “Sheriff, I’d double-check anything he tells you. He tends to leave parts out. Our fourth’s on the front desk,” I said, pointing toward the front of the room.

  [William of Brinsford:] [PARTY] [It’s showtime Shadow. Time to make your grand entrance. Come here, please.]

  Bhaarrt and Ingrid turned to follow my gaze. So did the sheriff and police chief.

  Maybe I shouldn’t have left it all up to her…but I gave her full credit for what she did.

  Shadow rose, no, she eeled up from her position like liquid shadow. Sliding sideways, she avoided a microphone. Then jumped and dove forward, flipping over two arguing council members without them even noticing until it was over.

  She landed light and low, rolled smoothly, and rose to her feet like it was all choreographed. She slipped between people as needed, heading our way.

  [Ingrid:] [PARTY] [Wow!]

  [Bartholomew Ironshaper:] [PARTY] [Bravo. You go, girl! That move was right out of the movies.]

  Everyone who saw her froze. Silence rippled across the room. Then, like a snapped tension wire, the volume exploded…people arguing, shouting, speculating.

  Taking off my hat, I bowed low to her. “Well done. And a grand entrance it was,” I said, slipping a bit of brogue into my voice.

  Then I gestured toward the two lawmen. “Chief Brown, Sheriff Harper…I’d like to introduce our party. The one you just watched is Shadow, our ‘now you see her, now you don’t’ Ninja. Next to me is Bhaarrt, in steel plate and gray skin, our half-ogre Tank. And beside him light blue, his lovely and not-so-demure wife, Ingrid…our paramedic Healer.”

  “The good thing about having a ninja on your side? You don’t see them unless they want to be seen. When they’re not on your side? That’s a problem. A skilled ninja can go completely invisible and silent.”

  Pausing for emphasis, I added, “Which is why you didn’t notice her until she wanted you to. Just about any class can be male, female, non-human, or whatever else. Get used to it. You’re going to be seeing more of it. A lot more of it.”

  Chapter title updated.

  Welcome to a few of the people in charge of Eddington. You'll be meeting the Sheriff and Police Chief frequently throughout the next few chapters. Like many small towns, both have been in their job for years. They care about the city and county. And Will has met both of them in the past. Stay tuned, things are about to get interesting and take an odd turn you never expected. And you get to meet the fifth member of their party in the next chapter.

  Musical Interlude

  Titanic: The Animated Movie - It's PARTY TIME