Chapter 7

  I woke with my heart racing, the echo of that wrong laughter still ringing in my ears. For a moment, I couldn't tell if I was awake or still trapped in the nightmare, that creature with its blank face and too-wide grin, always just out of sight, always getting closer.

  Byte stirred beside me, his sensors flickering as he detected my elevated heart rate. He made a soft, concerned beep.

  "I'm okay, buddy," I whispered, though I wasn't sure that was true. "Just a dream."

  But it hadn't felt like a dream. It had felt like a memory. Or a warning.

  I pushed aside my blanket and stepped out into the morning air, trying to shake off the unease. The smaller sun had just crested the treeline, throwing long copper shadows between the shelters while the sky above still held the deep purple of pre-dawn. Dew clung to everything, but it wasn't clear like Earth dew. It had a faint opalescent sheen, catching the alien light and scattering tiny rainbows across the moss-covered paths.

  That's when I heard it, not the creature's laughter, but something almost as unsettling. Raised voices, sharp with anger and hurt.

  "You're not Dad, Corwin! You can't tell me what to do all the time!" Jackie's voice cut through the morning calm, tight with frustration.

  "I'm not trying to be Dad. I'm just trying to keep us safe until we find Mom!" Corwin's reply was edged with desperation, the weight of his role as reluctant guardian evident in every word.

  I paused, not wanting to intrude but unable to ignore the raw emotion in their exchange. Through a gap between shelters, I could see them: Corwin with his hands spread in a pleading gesture, Jackie with her arms crossed defensively.

  "Well, you're not doing a great job of it, are you?" Jackie's voice was cold now, distant. "Just leave me alone!"

  "Jackie, it's not just about you! We have to..."

  "I don't need you to protect me, Corwin! I can take care of myself!"

  The silence that followed was heavy, thick with all the things neither of them was saying. Then Corwin's voice, softer, tinged with regret: "I'm sorry, Jackie. I didn't mean... Please, just come back. We need to stick together."

  But Jackie was already walking away, her figure receding into the morning mist that clung to the edges of camp. "Jackie, please!" Corwin called after her, his voice a mixture of command and plea that echoed briefly before being swallowed by the forest.

  I watched Corwin stand there, shoulders slumped, staring at where his sister had disappeared. The look on his face was one I recognized: the fear of losing someone you're responsible for, the guilt of pushing them away when you were only trying to keep them safe.

  With a sigh, I made my way toward the central fire where Susan was stirring a large pot. Beside her stood a woman I vaguely recognized, Mrs. Alcott, someone had called her. She looked more ghost than person, her eyes sunken and red-rimmed, her hands trembling as Susan offered her a bowl of porridge.

  "Morning, Susan," I said quietly.

  "Good morning, love." Susan's smile was warm but her eyes were shadowed with concern as Mrs. Alcott refused the food with a weak shake of her head. "Just trying to make sure everyone gets something to eat, but some folks are harder to persuade."

  I nodded, feeling helpless. "Is there anything I can do?"

  Susan gave a small sigh. "Just keep an eye out, dear. Everyone's dealing with this change differently."

  As I moved away from the fire, movement at the edge of camp caught my eye. A flash of fabric, a familiar silhouette: Jackie, wearing the shadow cloak we'd found yesterday. She moved with determined purpose toward the treeline.

  "Jackie!" I called out, but she either didn't hear me or chose not to acknowledge me.

  I broke into a jog, cutting between shelters to intercept her. But Jackie was fast, and the moment she reached the trees, she activated the cloak. Her form flickered like a dying flame, then vanished entirely into the shadows of the forest.

  I pushed into the treeline after her, scanning the undergrowth. Nothing. The cloak did its job too well. Within thirty seconds, I'd lost any trace of which direction she'd gone.

  A knot of worry tightened in my stomach. The youngest person in camp, alone in a forest where we'd encountered a laughing creature two nights ago. I needed to find John.

  On my way back through camp, I passed Andru, Stephan, and Billy near what would eventually be a well, their efforts at digging interspersed with what looked like a mock sword fight using shovels.

  "Did you guys see Jackie run by here?" I called out.

  The three men exchanged glances and shook their heads. Billy grinned, hoisting his shovel over his shoulder. "Haven't seen her, but I'll strike gold down here any day now!" He winked and resumed digging with exaggerated enthusiasm. Stephan immediately challenged him to a duel instead, their shovels clashing with exaggerated flourishes.

  "These two would rather practice than dig, it seems," Andru said with a smirk, though his voice carried a note of exhaustion. "It's first thing in the morning and I'm already running low on mana."

  I watched their antics for a moment, the normalcy of it almost jarring after everything. "Keep up the good work, guys. And if any of you see Jackie, let John or me know right away, okay?"

  They agreed, and I continued searching for John and Elara, the worry about Jackie growing with each passing minute.

  I found them near a makeshift table scattered with maps and various scraps of paper, receipts, old grocery lists, candy wrappers pressed into service as notepaper. John looked particularly stressed, his brow furrowed as a young woman rattled off numbers.

  "We've got about forty residents now, John," she said, consulting her notes. "We've had two other small groups find us since yesterday, about fifteen people total. But we've got eighteen complaining about food and water shortages, twenty-four unhappy with sanitary or living conditions, and five who refuse to help with anything. Some of those overlap, of course, plenty of people are unhappy about more than one thing. Oh, and Mrs. Alcott still isn't eating. Susan's very worried."

  John pinched the bridge of his nose. "We need structured shifts for water and food distribution, more sanitary facilities... but where do we get the resources?"

  Elara, arms crossed, let out a frustrated sigh. "What do they want us to do about it, John? Magically produce supplies out of thin air?"

  "I know it's tough, but we have to manage these complaints before they turn into bigger problems." John glanced up at her, his expression weary. "Maybe there's something in the caches we haven't found yet."

  I approached, an idea forming. "Maybe I can help with some of this. Byte's been making this sound lately that reminds me of a phone ringing, and it got me thinking. I might be able to rig up our cellphones to communicate again. At least locally. If we could do that, we could coordinate better, send scouting teams out farther, maybe even make contact with other groups. Find people's families."

  John's face brightened slightly. "That could give people hope. And hope can be a powerful motivator."

  I pulled out some of the techvine fibers and crystals I'd collected. "I found these in the woods. If there are more out there, we could really make progress on the tech front."

  John was starting to organize his thoughts when I remembered Jackie. "I hate to add more stress, but I heard Jackie and Corwin fighting this morning. And I just saw Jackie head into the forest alone. She was wearing that shadow cloak from the cache, the one that turns you invisible. I tried to follow her into the trees but she vanished."

  John's expression grew somber. "I hadn't heard about their fight. She's the youngest here, and after what we saw the other night..." He didn't finish, but we both knew he meant the creature. "I'll talk to Corwin. Elara, can you help look for her?"

  "I'll help too," I said. "We can't let her stay out there alone."

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, I'd gathered a small search team. Tom, a wiry man who claimed to have tracking experience. Jenna, sharp-eyed and capable. Felix, because we might need healing. And Darren, who Tom had recruited despite my silent objections.

  Darren swaggered at the front of our group, his axe slung over his shoulder. "Don't worry, with me leading the way, those woods won't know what hit 'em."

  Felix rolled his eyes. I tried to stifle a sigh.

  "Seriously, I've chopped more wood than all of you combined," Darren continued, his voice echoing against the trees. "If anything out there thinks it can scare me, it's got another thing coming."

  Being nice to this guy is going to be harder than the wood he boasts about chopping, I thought, forcing a smile. "We're glad to have everyone. Thank you."

  Jenna fell into step beside me as we headed for the treeline. She was quiet, observant, her eyes sweeping the terrain ahead like someone who'd actually thought about tactics before.

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  "We should spread out once we hit the trees," she said. "Not too far, but enough that we're not all bunched up if something's waiting."

  I nodded. Smart thinking.

  Darren, predictably, had opinions. "Stupid kid," he muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Runs off into a forest full of monsters because she had a fight with her brother. Real genius."

  "She's scared and sixteen," I said flatly. "Maybe save the commentary for after we find her."

  He held up his hands in mock surrender but didn't push it further.

  Tom crouched at the edge of the treeline, his fingers brushing the soil. "Here," he said, pointing to a faint impression in the damp earth. "Small boot, moving fast. And see these?" He indicated a scuff mark on a root, a broken twig at waist height. "She went northeast, maybe thirty minutes ago. Not trying to hide her trail."

  I activated Data Integration to supplement his work. Where Tom read physical signs, my skill revealed what his eyes couldn't: residual mana traces from the shadow cloak, a faint thermal signature still dissipating in the morning air. The two methods confirmed each other perfectly.

  "You're right," I said. "I'm picking up traces of the cloak's magic heading the same direction. She dropped the invisibility about fifty meters in."

  We pressed deeper into the forest, following the traces. After about ten minutes, we found Corwin, frantic and wild-eyed, searching the underbrush.

  "Corwin!" I called out. "We're tracking her. Tom and I found her trail, she hasn't been gone long."

  He turned to me, his face a mask of guilt and fear. "I shouldn't have snapped at her. I just... I just looked away for a moment and when I looked back, she was gone."

  "It's okay," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We're all on edge. Stay with us. We'll find her."

  The forest seemed to close in around us as we moved deeper, the twin suns' light dimming as the canopy thickened overhead. The air grew heavier, carrying the wet mineral tang of alien soil and something floral that burned faintly in the back of my throat. In the deep shade, bioluminescent fungi dotted the tree trunks in clusters of pale green, like tiny lanterns marking a path no one had walked in centuries. My Data Integration showed the trail clearly, Jackie had been running at first, then slowed, then... stopped somewhere nearby.

  "We're close," I whispered.

  That's when we heard it. A scream, sharp, piercing, filled with terror.

  Corwin bolted toward the sound, and we all raced after him. We burst into a small clearing, and the scene that greeted us made my blood run cold.

  Jackie was backed against a tree, her face pale with terror. The shadow cloak hung deactivated around her shoulders, she must have dropped it in panic.

  Opposite her stood something that made my mind stutter. A hulking humanoid figure, easily seven feet tall, with dark orange skin and long tusks jutting from its lower jaw. It wore leather breeches and a tunic, and carried an axe at its hip, simple but well-made, similar to Darren's.

  The creature was just... standing there. Watching Jackie. Its posture was tense, uncertain. Almost... afraid?

  My Data Integration activated automatically:

  Orc

  Level: 5 Status: Startled, Defensive

  "Jackie, don't move!" Corwin's voice shattered the moment as he inserted himself between his sister and the orc.

  The orc stepped back, its hand moving to its axe, but defensively, like it thought we were the threat.

  I pulled my energy sword and activated it, the white glow and hum filling the clearing. The orc's eyes widened, its grip tightening on its weapon.

  It's scared, I realized. It's as scared as we are.

  "Wait..." I started to say, but before I could finish, Darren burst through the foliage behind us.

  "Out of the way!" he bellowed, not waiting for a response. His axe was already raised, already swinging in a wild arc aimed at the orc.

  But the orc wasn't where Darren thought it was. And Corwin had moved, pulling Jackie further back.

  Everything happened too fast.

  The axe whistled through the air. The orc jerked aside. And Corwin...

  The blade caught him just above the elbow.

  For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then Corwin screamed, and blood sprayed across the clearing, painting the leaves and Jackie's face in arterial red.

  The orc flinched from the sound, stumbling backward until its back hit a tree. Its axe came up, not to attack, but clutched to its chest like a shield. It made a sound, guttural, panicked, words in a language none of us understood.

  "Holy shit," Darren breathed, his axe dripping with Corwin's blood, his face draining of color.

  Jackie shrieked, dropping to her knees beside her brother. Felix shoved past Darren, his staff already glowing green as he activated emergency healing.

  "Watch the creature!" Tom barked, stepping forward with his spear leveled, putting himself between the orc and the wounded. Jenna flanked wide, cutting off the gap between two trees.

  The orc's eyes darted between them: the spear, the sword in my hand, the screaming girl, the blood. Its chest heaved. It shifted its weight, searching for an escape route that didn't exist.

  It's cornered, I realized. It's terrified.

  "Wait," I started to say. "Everyone just..."

  The orc lunged. Not at us, but toward a gap in the trees, its axe sweeping in a desperate arc to clear a path.

  I fired Electric Surge before I'd made a conscious decision to do it. The bolt struck the orc in the chest and its body seized, muscles locking. It crashed forward, axe tumbling from spasming fingers. Tom's spear caught it as it fell, a reflexive thrust he couldn't have stopped if he'd tried.

  The orc hit the ground. Its legs twitched once. Then it was still.

  Silence. Just the sound of Corwin's ragged breathing and Jackie's sobs.

  I stared at the orc's face, frozen in an expression that wasn't rage or malice. Just fear. The same expression I'd seen in the mirror every morning since arriving in this world.

  It was running. It was just trying to get away.

  A notification appeared in my vision:

  Alert: Initiate Defeated

  Congratulations, you have successfully defeated a Level 5 Orc, an initiate from the planet Axeyous in the Milky Way Galaxy.

  Rewards:

  - All gold, items and points accumulated by the defeated initiate are now transferred to you - +200 Points - +1000 Credits

  Items Received:

  - 15 Gold Coins - Orc Family Totem: A small carved wooden figure depicting two adult orcs standing with their hands resting protectively on the shoulders of a smaller figure between them. The craftsmanship was rough but careful, each groove cut with obvious love. - Territory Map (Partial)

  Level Up!

  Level 6 Technomancer

  New Achievement: First Kill

  New Skill Selection Available

  The words hit me like a physical blow.

  Initiate from the planet Axeyous.

  That creature, that orc, had been another person pulled into this tutorial. Another sapient being, probably as confused and scared as we were. Cornered and frightened, trying to run, and I'd killed it with a reflex I couldn't take back.

  I looked at Tom. He was staring at his spear, at the blood on the tip, his face ashen. We'd both done it. Neither of us had meant to.

  The rewards, the points, the credits, the level, tasted like ash.

  I turned back to the others. Darren stood exactly where he'd been, staring at the blood on his axe, at Corwin's body, at the chaos he'd started. I was replaying the moment in my mind, and something didn't sit right.

  He'd called Corwin by name earlier. He knew where Corwin was. He'd seen him move. And yet his swing had gone wide, missing the orc by a foot but catching Corwin with what the system would probably call "gruesome precision."

  Was it an accident?

  I looked at Darren. His face was etched with horror, his hands shaking. He looked genuinely devastated.

  But Darren was also the locksmith who'd dangled my keys out of reach. The guy who'd mocked me at every opportunity. The one I'd fantasized about feeding to an Enchantboar on more than one occasion.

  Would he really do something like this on purpose?

  I didn't know. And that not-knowing felt dangerous.

  Felix was working frantically over Corwin, his healing magic washing over the stump in waves of green light. The blood flow was slowing, but the arm was gone. Severed cleanly just above the elbow. The limb lay in the dirt several feet away, already gray and lifeless. Felix glanced at it once, then shook his head. A small, final gesture. Too much damage, too much time.

  "I can stabilize him," Felix said, his voice tight with concentration. "Keep him alive. But I can't reattach it, not here, not in these conditions." He wiped sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, leaving a streak of blood. "Healing magic can close the wound, but it can't fight infection from the dirt and debris already inside. I'd need clean conditions, time, and more mana than I've got."

  Jackie was sobbing, clutching her brother's remaining hand. Corwin's face was ashen, his eyes closed, his breathing shallow but steady as Felix's magic did its work.

  Tom stepped forward, his voice rough. "We need to get him back to camp. Now."

  We carefully lifted Corwin, making a makeshift stretcher from our cloaks. The journey back was silent except for Jackie's quiet crying and Felix's muttered incantations as he maintained the healing spell.

  Darren walked at the back of our group, his axe hanging loose at his side, his face blank with shock.

  I kept glancing back at him, trying to read his expression, trying to figure out if what I'd seen was an accident or something worse. But my mind kept drifting back to the orc. To its face.

  It had people who cared about it. A family.

  The family totem sat in my inventory like a stone in my chest.

  My mind was racing. If there were orcs in the tutorial, what else was out there? How many other species had been pulled into this? Were we supposed to fight them? Kill them for points like some kind of cosmic battle royale?

  The guide had said this was about "initiation," about "survival of the fittest." But I'd thought that meant surviving the environment, the monsters, the challenges.

  Not each other.

  Not people.

  "Maura?" Felix's voice cut through my thoughts. "You okay?"

  "Yeah," I lied. "I'm fine."

  But I wasn't fine. None of this was fine.

  We emerged from the forest to find John already waiting at the camp's edge, arms crossed, his expression tight. A scout had spotted us coming through the trees and run ahead with the news. One look at Corwin on the makeshift stretcher and John started barking orders, clear a shelter, get water, someone find more healing supplies.

  As they carried Corwin away, Jackie following close behind still sobbing, I stood at the edge of the commotion and watched Darren.

  He hadn't moved since we got back. He just stood there, staring at his hands, at the blood on his axe, at the crowd gathering around Corwin.

  Felix appeared at my elbow. "That was bad," he said quietly.

  "Yeah."

  "Do you think..." He hesitated. "Do you think it was an accident?"

  So I wasn't the only one wondering.

  "I don't know," I admitted. "He looked shocked. Genuinely horrified. But..."

  "But he's been antagonistic toward you since the beginning," Felix finished. "And now Corwin, who's been reliable and helpful, is maimed. Convenient for anyone who wanted to create chaos."

  "Or it was just a terrible accident by someone who has no business swinging an axe in close combat," I countered, but even I didn't sound convinced.

  Felix looked at me, his expression serious. "Just... be careful around him, okay? Whether it was an accident or not, he's dangerous."

  I nodded slowly, watching as Darren finally moved, walking toward his shelter with his shoulders hunched, looking like a man carrying a weight he couldn't put down.

  Accident or not, I thought, everything just got a lot more complicated.

  John found me as the sun was setting, his face grim. "Corwin's stable. Felix thinks he'll survive, but the arm is gone. Nothing we can do about that here."

  "And Jackie?"

  "She's with him. Won't leave his side." John scrubbed a hand over his face. "This is bad, Maura. Really bad. Not just because of Corwin, but because now everyone's scared. There are orcs out there. Other species. And apparently we get rewarded for killing them."

  "You got the notification too?"

  "Everyone who was there did. Tom, Jenna, even Darren." His voice was flat. "The system is encouraging us to hunt each other. That's what this tutorial really is."

  The words hung between us, heavy and terrible.

  "What do we do?" I asked.

  "I don't know," John admitted. "But we need to figure it out fast, because if word spreads about the rewards for killing other initiates..."

  He didn't need to finish. I could imagine it myself, desperation turning to violence, camps turning on each other, the tutorial becoming exactly what the system seemed designed to make it: a bloodbath.

  "Get some rest," John finally said. "Tomorrow we'll figure out what to do about all of this."

  But as I lay in my shelter that night, Byte curled up beside me, I couldn't sleep. My mind kept replaying the day, the orc's frightened eyes, Darren's swing, Corwin's scream, that terrible notification announcing my "victory."

  And underneath it all, a new question:

  If the system rewarded killing other initiates, how long before someone decided our camp was worth the points?