As I y on my couch, doing my best to fall asleep after another frustratingly long day of admin work, a shadow fell over me. I could see it, even through my eyelids, slowly swaying bad forth, occasionally blog the overhead light as it stood over me.

  “Issi…” I started

  “Yes? Hello! Are you awake already, Evie?” the little girl replied. I opened my eyes and found the tot leaning over the back of the couch, watg me.

  “Issi, I’ve only been home for like half an hour. I haven’t had a ce to fall asleep yet,” I grumbled.

  “Good! When I heard you were home, I wao py, but Jaold me not to wake you, so I was being very quiet while I waited,” the tot decred proudly. I slowly sat up and stared at her as she stood there, smiling.

  I narrowed my eyes. “How did you get up there anyways?”

  “I’m standing on a chair. I brought it all the way over from the table myself so I could che you!” Issi replied before turning away and hopping down. I heard a muffled thump followed by frenzied footsteps as she hurried around to the front of the couch.

  “Are you done pying gover yet? It seems like you’re always out of the house, and since Jane and Jeni are busy with their school things, I don’t have ao py with,” the girl asked as she slid around the er of the sofa and stared me in the face.

  “What about Eddie? Isn’t he around?”

  “He’s a butt! Every time I ask him to py, he just wants to read his books to me. It’s b!” Issi moaned.

  “Well, I’m sorry that I haven’t been around tely,” I said, gently patting her on the head, “but what I’m doing is important. And, to be ho, I don’t really want to be doing it either.”

  Issi looked at me strangely. “Then why are you doing it?”

  “Being an adult means that sometimes you have to be responsible and do things you don’t want to,” I grumbled.

  “Bleh! I’m never going to grow up,” Issi decred before skipping a few feet away and turning towards me again, a bright smile on her face. “So, since you’re awake and not w, we py for a little while?”

  “I guess, for a little while anyways. It’s not like I have to be up in like another five or six hours.” I mumbled that st part under my breath as I lurched to my feet. “Haven’t you beeing kids your own age in school? Why don’t you py with them?”

  “They either o go home and work or are afraid of the bears that follow me around,” Issi stuck her lip out in an adorable pout. “’t you ask them to stop following me when I go out?”

  “Absolutely not! They’re there for your prote,” I immediately replied. “Maybe I pull back the security one day, when the area’s a little safer, but that won’t be anytime soon. I’m sorry your friends are afraid of the bots, but you’re not going out without them.”

  The little girl looked crestfallen, but I ignored her pleading eyes and stayed strong. “So, what did you want to py today?”

  “Chessers,” Issi decred, before putting on her best serious face. Out of the er of my eye, I saw Sir Froggington step out of the hallway, a small tower of interlog, stag trays in his hands. The girl hurried to the table, sitting dead ter on the far side, while she waited.

  I slowly followed, sitting opposite of her, waiting as the frog carefully unstacked the trays and pced them between us, one by one. Eae was filled with dozens of different little figures. Some had samurai, others army men, and a couple still had antithesis. I just stared at them bnkly.

  “I was kind of expeg chess pieces,” I said quietly. “And where’s the board?”

  “Boards are b! Each piece moves a certain distance, and there are rulers in each box!” Issi decred as she grabbed the tray, which seemed to tain a dozen or so bear figures, along with a tiny version of me. “You have to choose ooo!”

  Sir Froggington slipped up o me and pced a chip down oable o me. “You might want this. I sidered printing the rules out, but they ged so much that I figured having a dynamic version was better.”

  “You’re not fillih fidence,” I muttered under my breath as I slipped the chip into the socket on my neck. Pulling up the file, I found a nearly inprehensible text dot taining different rules for nearly every piece. Just scrolling through the dot was giving me a headache.

  Isabelle leaned forward and tapped the table in front of the other trays. “You o choose one! I reeher Sharron and Nora, or the Squirrels. They’re my favorites.”

  Iing the trays further, I found that oray did in fact tain small versions of Sharron and Nora, along with a handful of other samurai. The sed tray that Issi had poio tained Angeline, along with about a hundred squirrels. I decided to take the smaller tray.

  Following Issi’s example, I pulled the figures out of the box ahem out in a rough line in front of me. When I picked up the Humboldt piece, I brought it up close to my face so I could look at the details. The little figure was light but was extremely detailed.

  “Where did you get these from?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Mr. Froggington made them in the garage maes,” Issi replied without looking up.

  I shot a suspicious look at the robotic frog, who stepped away from me. “With Nyx’s permission, of course.”

  Isabelle dug into aray and pulled out a couple of tiny model buildings and cars, then scattered them around the table before sitting down and staring at me expetly.

  “Now what?” I asked.

  “Now, we fight!” Issi decred, pulling out a ruler and moving her pieces around.

  “Nyx…”

  I’ve reviewed the rules and walk you through it. It’s fasating. Somehow your younger sibling has mao transform chess into a pseudo miniature wargame.

  “I have no idea what that is,” I whispered under my breath.

  That’s not surprising; most of them disappeared after the incursions began. Turns out, tiny pstic toys weren’t priority cargo in the early days, and many panies couldn’t survive with local sales. It’s a very hing these days.

  You are definitely going to lose, by the way.

  “Rude, I spend a rge part of my days bears around. I have some knowledge of tactics,” I hissed.

  Oh, it’s not that. Isabelle has no idea how to bahings, and both you and Bob are practically invincible. Sharron and Nora are also extremely overpowered pared to the other units, just not as much.

  “I see… I don’t know if I should be pleased or annoyed.”

  You should start moving your units. Isabelle is waiting for you. I’ll dispy the movement and other relevant stats above each piece as you py to make things easier for you.

  I gnced up at Issi, who had pleted her movement and was staring at me expetly. I smiled at her nervously and looked down at the pieces.

  Are you ready?

  “Not even a little bit,” I whined, looking at the array of numbers in front of me.

  Good, the’s begin.

  I think I melted my brain trying to it around all the strange rules and stats, and before I fully grasped it all, Issi had pletely overrun most of my forces. I was down to just Shannon and Nora, trying to figure a way out, when I heard a voice from behind me.

  “Issi, did you wake Evelyn up to py yame? I asked you not to do that,” Jane sighed from the hallway.

  “I didn’t wake her up! She was already awake,” Isabelle replied happily.

  “Yet she pyed aire round of Chessers with you? How long did she sleep?”

  “I haven’t yet,” I groaned. “I got sucked in figuring I could py with Issi for a little while, then still get a det sleep. I didn’t realize it would take so long.”

  Jane sighed. “Go to bed already! I know you like to spend time with the kids, but you need your sleep or you’re not going to be able to fun tomorrow.”

  “But the game isn’t over yet,” I whined.

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake! You have like three hours until you have to leave. If it’s that important to you, take a picture a up again ter,” Jane said as she strode past me, heading for the kit.

  I felt a small hand pat me on the head, and when I turned, Isabelle was there. “Don’t worry, Evie, y more ter. Take care of yourself!”

  I stared at her bnkly. “I’m supposed to be the adult here,” I whined, “not you.”

  “Then start ag like it, bed!” Jane called from the kit. I pouted but did as I was told. Tomorrow was another day after all, and I vowed that the ime Issi and I pyed, I would win.