There were two folding tables and chairs set up inside the canvas tent we entered a half hour later. The air inside had a slight breeze from two openings, one on each side, but was warmer than outside. There was a faint smell of coffee that had gone cold and a table to one side with a forgotten pot. The five of us spent the next stretch going over and over the dungeon details…the rooms, the monsters, the loot. I gave them a hard two-hour limit for questions.

  We had to remind them, very firmly, that what we pulled from the dungeon was ours. No, they couldn’t “borrow” it to run experiments. For the spawn drops, I would’ve allowed them to take one example, but what I told them was simple: get out there, kill your own spawns, and level up like we did. That became the refrain for most of the two hours.

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [Can we end this? I got to go to work. I couldn’t get off all my shift. Don’t know if I can make it on time as is.]

  That, combined with the buzzing of my alarm, finally ended it.

  “Look,” I said, standing. “We can revisit this later. Right now, one of us has a job to get to. A paying job. The rest of us work for a living too. We lost a day’s wages doing this…for you, for Eddington, for everyone. We’re done for today.”

  I stood up.

  “We can’t stop now! We still have questions that need answering,” one of the professors shouted.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shadow slip behind me and VANISH.

  “Professor, or whoever you are…been long enough I forgot your name. You’ve got a choice. We’re leaving either way. You can shut up and sit down, or you can die.”

  “Die! Are you threatening me? How dare….”

  “I’m not threatening you,” I told him. “She is. You can die now or later…she doesn’t care. And neither do I. Stupidity gets people killed faster than anything. Stopping it now might save lives later. Goodbye.”

  As we turned to leave, I heard his strangled voice. “I’ll sit. I’ll sit. Don’t kill me.”

  [Urako Sarutobi:] [PARTY] [Thanks. Wasn’t gonna hurt him none. Jest scratched him a little when he moved.]

  [Ingrid:] [PARTY] [I saw. Hit him with a little HEALing before I left. He was shaking his socks off. Lost his shoes before that.]

  We laughed, leaving the bystanders even more confused. I power-unlocked the van, the side doors slid back, and back hatch opened, and we piled in. A minute later, the doors slammed shut, engine turned over, and we pulled onto the road back towards town.

  Shadow changed in the back, the rustle of fabric and soft click of seat buckles filling the van. I couldn’t help thinking about her situation…about all of ours. Bhaarrt and Ingrid at least had each other. Shadow…not so much. And money. Always money.

  The accident settlement had paid off my house and bought my van outright. Some investment income from the rest padded the edges. Not rich, but enough to survive without my job. Bhaarrt and Ingrid could scrape by, maybe. Shadow…probably not. Maybe her parents helped with college, but I doubted it covered much else.

  When the sounds from the back quieted, I spoke. “That professor got me thinking. That and Shadow needing to head to work. We’ve all been taking time off our regular jobs to do this. Thank you, seriously. All of you For a group that mostly didn’t even know each other before, we’ve held together pretty damn well. Been through a lot…and I think the worst is still coming.”

  “Will,” Shadow cut in. “Y’all talk too much. Get to the point.” Everyone else agreed.

  The van filled with laughter. Even I had to grin.

  “Fine. I don’t know how you’re all doing with jobs and money…and I don’t want details…but I’ve been wondering if we should get paid for this. For our knowledge, for risking our necks. Government work, maybe. If everything collapses, money won’t mean much, but for now…none of us can afford to keep this up forever.”

  I shut my mouth and waited.

  Blaze answered first. “I already work for the government. And I’m still here to help you.” That got another laugh. “They made me the local Resident…it means I’ve got some say over other agents who come sniffing around. Mostly, they want me to help Matt train new agents on using the Game for law enforcement. That means all the areas where it’s too easy to break laws while we’re trying to enforce them.”

  “And?” I asked her.

  “And I’ll talk to Matt. Rumor is he’s getting pulled onto a presidential committee for the Game. He’d be the agency rep, maybe more. They’re talking about reallocating foreign aid money back into the U.S. Could be huge. But I don’t know if the agency would fund us directly.”

  She paused. "I’ll ask. That didn’t answer your question, did it?”

  “Nope. Sure didn’t,” I told her.

  She shrugged. “If they’ll let me, I’ll take it. Higher pay as Resident, but that’ll drop when this is over. Depends on the budget…and what strings come with it.”

  Ingrid spoke next. “Will, Daryll and I talked. Extra money would help. My job’s safe for now. A paramedic Healer who can REVIVE patients is too valuable…but layoffs are coming. The hospital might close once the police can stop criminals from escaping. Ninety percent of our patients are criminals now anyway. We’re basically just an ER service.”

  “As for Bhaarrt…he’s got some work, but blacksmithing doesn’t exactly pay the bills these days. Welding’s not as good for him anymore. The faires? It’s been extra money we’ve been saving to start a family. We’d take the deal…depending on the work and pay. I just gotta keep that big lunk from dying too often.”

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  That line got the laughter she wanted. It broke some of the tension.

  “Will?” Shadow asked quietly.

  “Yeah?”

  “Would that mean people would know who I am?”

  “Probably. They’re not going to pay you in cash under the table. Someone’s bound to know who you are already. They’re just keeping quiet. And your fans? They’ll figure it out eventually. Your secret identity won’t last forever.”

  “Yeah. I can use more money. I got a scholarship and my parents pay for most of the rest of my college, but I live with my cousin to save on rent. She knows I’m Shadow, but she won’t tell no one. She’s family.”

  “But I…I killed people. Monsters are one thing. Cutting off a guy’s arm…he’s still alive, but my parents finding out? That’d kill them.”

  Blaze looked back. “He’s alive. He didn’t have magic. He was threatening to kill hostages. I doubt any prosecutor touches it. Local police and FBI won’t arrest you. That was clearly in defense of other people.”

  “Threatening to kill someone? That depends. Maybe. But the local police won’t arrest you. They might ask politely for you to come with them to talk about it. They might ask me to do it, and I’ll tell them we’re working on it. That’s as far as it will go. Anybody else, have them talk to me.”

  Ingrid added softly, “Kanisha…when I hit Level 10, I get REGENERATION. That man will get his arm back eventually.”

  Shadow sniffed. “I just want a normal life. I love being Shadow. I love helping, saving people…like those kids. But someday, I want a family too. Family’s important.”

  “They are. They should be,” I told her.

  She asked the question I’d been circling myself. “What do we do? Who do we become if we keep this up?”

  “We do what good people should do. Help others. Sometimes ourselves too. But…what do you want to do? Not Shadow. You.”

  “I don’t know. Never had to make a choice like this before.”

  We rode in silence for a while, road noise filling the space. Then the thought that had been scratching at me for days stood up in my head and waved at me.

  “OK. No answer…but another question. You’re a business major, right? Took a couple intro classes?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I heard you said your goal was to run your family restaurant and expand it.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then think about this…you’re already running a business.”

  “What you talkin’ about? I ain’t running no business,” She insisted.

  “Yes, you are. Your business is Shadow. Blaze’s business is Blaze. Bhaarrt’s is being the big ogre. Ingrid’s the Valkyrie Healer. We’re brands…like influencers. You’re sitting on a product. Your alter ego.”

  Groans and chuckles rolled through the van.

  “Kanisha, you want to run a business? Treat this like one. You can make enough off of licensing Shadow to pay for school, maybe expand the restaurant.”

  “Think of all the movie stars who are only known under their stage name. John Wayne, who was so famous, they named an airport after him. His real name was Marion. Marion Morrison if I remember correctly.”

  “He’s right,” Bhaarrt added from the back of the van. “It’s one of those common trivia questions.”

  “Look,” I told her. “He made lots of money being John Wayne. Almost nothing as Marion Morrison. You can make lots of money as Shadow. Not as much as Kanisha.”

  Her voice was small. “My parents would just die if they knew. And…I’ve been different all my life. Too smart, too small, too into stuff no one else cared about. I hid behind the Ninja mask so people wouldn’t see me. And most who found out…laughed. Don’t want to be famous. You know that.”

  “You were learning Parkour,” I reminded her. “Not just running, but dodging. Then learning to fight.” I said. “Learning Japanese and getting Ninja clothes. You wanted to be someone else. Someone you read about. Someone who could fight back, or hide.”

  I glanced in the rearview. She was nodding.

  “Well…congratulations. You became what you wanted. A fighter. A protector. Other people fear you. Not us. Not your friends. You call; we come. Nothing stops Bhaarrt from getting to you.”

  “Not a fucking thing!” Bhaarrt boomed from the back. “You call, we’re there. Sally’d kick my ass if I didn’t. Will and Blaze too. Ain’t nothing stopping us.”

  Then I heard Ingrid say, “Here,” and the sound of someone blowing their nose. Several times.

  We drove in silence again, ten long minutes. A silence I wasn’t going to break.

  “Edge of town,” I said at last. “Drop you at the same spot, or somewhere else?”

  “Restaurant. West End. You know it?”

  “Been there. Bet the food’s better if you’re cooking.”

  “Damn right. Don’t come in behind me though. I know you. You’d do that.”

  We laughed as I pulled into the small parking lot. She hopped out and headed for the kitchen door.

  “Tell us if you need a ride later. One of us will come.”

  “Thanks. All of you. You’re the best!” She rushed inside.

  “Hey,” Bhaarrt said, holding up a small duffel. “She forgot her bag.”

  Ingrid shook her head. “I don’t think she did.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because, you big ogre, that’s her way of saying she’ll let us know when she wants a ride or the bag. She’s taking more control of her life.”

  ***

  I dropped Bhaarrt and Ingrid at their truck. On the way, we batted around the idea of monetizing our Game personas. The only decision we settled on was that I’d call a lawyer.

  That left just Blaze and me for the ride home. The night outside was cool for May, the kind of spring air that hinted at storms tomorrow.

  “I’m worried about Shadow,” Blaze said at last. “Feels like she’s been through a lot. Bad things. She wants to change that. But her first reaction…is usually the blade. If she puts it to the wrong throat at the wrong time…I might have to act as an agent, not a friend.”

  “She hasn’t crossed the line yet. Not that I’ve seen. But yeah…she almost did with Vaneski. Almost with that professor tonight. Next time, she might not hesitate.”

  “I know I shouldn’t pry, but I’ve been on a few cases with, well, with some pretty bad scenes that left kids fucked up for life” She added.

  “I think that’s true of most law officers everywhere. We’ve been lucky. So far, the only humans we’ve had to kill were trying to kill us first. Maybe that makes it easier.”

  “A little. Things happen so fast sometimes; you just don’t have time to think. You react.”

  “Are you worried that your first reaction is to hit it with a FIRE BOLT?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe?” Blaze answered. We have training in risk assessment. That’s a real risk for all of us.”

  “So, what do we do about it?” I asked, after making a turn to take us towards home.”

  “Ingrid’s working on it.” Blaze told me. “We’ve been talking about these kinds of risks. For us too. Now that she’s using her spear and has that helmet, she may do more fighting.”

  “I saw her getting into stabbing Goblins in the dungeon. If she wasn’t a Healer, she’d be a Shield Maiden, out there fighting on the front line.” I told her. She laughed.

  “Yep. Too late to dual class. But as a Valkyrie Healer, she’s close. She just heals more than fights.”

  “You’re studying the Game too. Good. I need to do more.” I slowed to a stop as we pulled into the driveway. “Home. Who’s cooking?”

  “You, unless you want to risk my special tomorrow,” Blaze teased.

  “Deal. Let’s get out of gear. I’ll call the lawyer first, maybe catch him before he leaves the office.”

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