.ex took the day off. She had tried to get the store closed for the day, but Noobkitty disagreed and stated she’d take a day off in 19 days. She didn’t tell .ex not to take the day off, though, in fact, she told her to enjoy it, assuring her that days off were important to prevent burnout… even as she herself was now on her fourth day without sleep.

  It was just so strange. .ex knew the world was ending, but why did things like view counts matter? They had to stop a dragon, so why did that involve some kind of board where people voted on what food Noobkitty would cook next?

  She went to the side of the shop where there was a small stable that held one animal. A yak, her yak. She offered the yak an apple. She couldn’t remember anything about him, and she felt bad because that lack of memory had turned into neglect.

  Do yaks even like apples? When did she get this yak? How long had she had him? What was his name?

  The beast took the apple from her hand and chewed it contently. He nuzzled her. She produced another apple from her inventory and tried to remember what yak maintenance involved. Something about hay… checking his hooves… did he need water? Animals need water in general, so that had to be the case here.

  She looked into the yak’s eyes, they were dull, but there was a spark there, a recognition. For the first time, .ex realized something awful, something that filled her with guilt. The yak had lost his memory too. But unlike .ex, who had Noobkitty and the others, this yak had been left all alone in this stable to deal with knowing nothing and having lost everything.

  She hugged the yak. He made a huff noise. His saving grace was that he was a simple creature.

  She opened the stable up and said, “Let’s go for a walk.”

  And so they did. At first, she walked beside the yak, but soon he nudged her until she got on his back. A small crowd started to form, gawking at the rabbit girl on the yak. They walked until the crowd got too big, and then they headed to Gristle and Beers. She took the yak to the bar’s stable, where a few horses and one very large cat all rested. There was fresh water and hay for the yak, and he stood ruminating, enjoying the slightly calmer environment.

  “I’ll be back in a bit,” she reassured him, still unsure what to call him or do with him.

  Grizzlebeard, a dwarf, in fact the only dwarf in the world, was at the bar. A few customers were about, but he was cleaning a mug. It was already clean, but it was what players “expected to see,” so he did it.

  Grizzlebeard was the only other self-aware non-player .ex knew, and the one who had shown Noobkitty how to keep .ex from being deleted.

  She hopped onto a bar stool and adjusted so her tail was comfortable.

  “Purple grapes and fizzy water,” .ex asked.

  Grizzlebeard nodded and smiled. “One red wine seltzer for the bunny.”

  A glass appeared in front of her, red, fizzing, with an orange wheel and floating chilled berries.

  “I’m surprised you’re out of your store. Isn’t that kitty of yours demanding you stay open till this whole dragon issue is resolved?”

  “Yeah, but… she hasn’t been sleeping. She puts me to bed, which I appreciate, I do, but then goes off and continues to work. Isn’t that bad for her?”

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  Grizzlebeard nodded and stroked his dwarven beard. “I’ve seen players not sleep, or what they call log out, for a week or so before. Especially the ones called downloads, like your girl is. They get a bit… loopy, but their health is fine.”

  “She just keeps talking about things like engagement and view counts, and… I don’t know how to help,” .ex confessed. “I want to help. If she’s really going to save this world, shouldn’t I be helping?”

  She downed her drink, and it refilled itself.

  “You are,” Grizzlebeard said, looking sympathetic. “We don’t know all that’s at play here. She comes from some world they call Prime, or I’ve heard some call it ‘meat sack space.’ You and I know more than most in our world, that we are subject to this world, that there are other worlds. You help your girl by managing the shop, by listening to her, by giving her a warm bed to share, and by being you. I’m sure if you asked her, she’d tell you that you help.”

  .ex sipped her drink this time and nodded. “She has and does. It’s confusing, but evidently me just being a beastkin helps. Me being energetic helps. Me being something called ‘real’ helps. It’s just… I feel I need to do more.”

  A message appeared in the party chat, but she ignored it.

  “Just be you. That’s enough,” Grizzlebeard said, touching her hand reassuringly.

  “But… who am I? Did you know I have a yak? Like, why a yak? Where did I get the yak from? What did I name the yak? So much of my memory is just gone. So how am I supposed to be me when I don’t know why I was?”

  “That’s the rub, isn’t it? All you can do is gather what you have and be the person you are with what you find. You are you now, and your yak is the same. Is the yak self-awakened like we are?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t speak yak. I kind of hope not, otherwise he had to deal with losing everything like I did.”

  She downed her drink. It refilled again.

  “How about you sit here, relax, and we can come up with names for your yak,” Grizzlebeard offered.

  She nodded and sipped her drink. “That would be nice. I don’t even know what the yak’s gender is.”

  Grizzlebeard put down the mug he was polishing, stepped down, and went to the stables. After a minute, he returned.

  “Male. And as far as I can tell, the world doesn’t do any gender silliness with animals, so a male name would be appropriate.”

  She nodded, watching her glass refill again. It was weird how it only did it when placed on the counter. “Male yak names. Got it…”

  She noticed her party chat was chiming more, but she ignored it.

  “Yakky, Yonkers, Fuzzlord?”

  Grizzlebeard stood with her at his bar. “Gruffalo, Morgan, Harry?”

  She drank and laughed. “Korby? Muchalo, Spew, Cud?”

  “Carpet? Franky, Hugallo?”

  They went back and forth for a while. Eventually, her eyes bleary, she finally opened up her party chat.

  Fizzypop: .ex, what are you doing? Your view count is going up.

  Noobkitty: Leave her alone, Fizzypop, she’s taking the day off. Turn off the feed watching her.

  Fizzypop: But Kitty!

  Fizzypop: I’m turning it back on, she’s in a bar, and players are watching her using their own game recorders.

  Noobkitty: Respect her time off, please.

  Fizzypop: Polls are being made, voting on yak names!

  Noobkitty: Let her name her yak in peace.

  Fizzypop: .ex, how do you feel about the name GYOAT?

  Noobkitty: She’s not naming her yak GYOAT.

  .ex laughed and almost fell off her chair. “GYOAT!”

  Grizzlebeard looked at her, a bit confused. “Gyoat?”

  .ex pulled up her user interface, pulled up her yak’s information screen, and, where there was glitched text for the name, she rewrote it as GYOAT, giggling like a madwoman.

  “Grimmblade will pay my tab. I’m going to go ride my GYOAT!”

  She stumbled toward the door that led to the stable.

  “Be safe, bunny girl,” Grizzlebeard said with a laugh as she walked off.

  As she slowly rode, she pulled up her new messages.

  Fizzypop: Good choice, it means Greatest Yak Of All Time.

  Noobkitty: Did she seriously name her yak GYOAT?

  She patted her yak. He huffed as he walked forward with her on his back.

  “You really are the Greatest Yak Of All Time. Thank you for staying with me. I’ll get better about taking care of you.”

  She lay on top of him, tempted to nap as he walked, but she started to hear people. Some young players came up and petted him as he walked, simply saying “GYOAT” with a laugh before walking off.

  At Noob Noms, GYOAT took them back to the small stable. .ex slid off into the straw. GYOAT laid down in the hay, and .ex snuggled up to him and let herself fall asleep. She couldn’t be sure, but she swore she heard some music playing as she dozed off on her oh-so-cozy yak.