I turn into the driveway of my house and two things happen simultaneously. One, a notification from the Game:

  Now entering the Safehouse!

  Two, gasps come from Beaker and Savannah, sitting in the car with me.

  “Everything okay?” I ask, cautious. What sort of trouble is the Game about to get me into?

  “Yeah,” Beaker says from beside me, in the passenger seat. He looks down at his arms. “Just this weird tingling sensation.”

  “Me too,” Savannah says from the backseat.

  “Noted,” I say, but I offer no explanations. This is the first time non-Party Members have approached the Safehouse. Clearly, there is a physical element to the magical boundary. I wonder if that’s why it gave me the notification, too. It’s never done that before. “Thank you for agreeing to come here,” I say, parking and turning off the car. Eventually I have to figure out how to manually open and close the garage—especially once it starts to snow—but for now, I leave the Volvo on the driveway.

  “As long as you don’t light us on fire,” Savannah says, but there’s a joking quality to her words. Considering how little work it was to convince them to come to my house, I can’t help but think they were hoping for this exact scenario.

  “You’ll have to ask that of our fire-wielder,” I say, as cryptically as I can. But I throw a grin at her over my shoulder as I unbuckle my seatbelt.

  There’s just a hint of curious confusion on her face.

  “Come in, come in,” I say, and I exit the car.

  Ryder’s already bounding down the driveway, calling my name. He stops short, his big smile dropping, when he realizes I’m not alone. I go to him, instead, pulling him into a hug. It’s been a few hours since I last saw him, and that feels like too long. He puts his arms around my waist, but he doesn’t really hug me back. He’s staring over my shoulder.

  I sigh. Time to get it over with. “Ryder,” I say, spinning to stand at his side, keeping one of my arms slung over his shoulder. “This is Beaker and Savannah.”

  They lift their hands in small waves.

  “I think they’re going to be our new partners.”

  ***

  “No. No, absolutely not, no, nononono,” Ryder says, pacing around the kitchen a little while later. After they’re introduced to Nancy, I leave Savannah and Beaker in the living room and bring my Party into Nancy’s room. I tell them what magic Savannah and Beaker have. I tell them I want to make the Safehouse into a Safecommunity, and I want them to be our first residents.

  “Ryder, this is how we eat. This is how we survive.” I point in the direction of the living room. “With our inventories and Savannah’s Abilities, we don’t go hungry. With Beaker’s, we can make better weapons, better shields, better fences, even!” He crosses his arms across his bony chest. “Bringing in other people makes our lives easier.”

  “It’s just more people to have to protect,” he volleys. “More people to have to fight for Rank Tokens.”

  “Actually,” I say, drawing the word out. “Something else I learned today. Magic surges are attracted to large groups of people.”

  “What?” Nancy asks, speaking for the first time since I got home.

  I look at her with a nod. “Remember that little girl’s magic core? I think the magic surges are drawn to them, and put a lot of people—and a lot of magic cores—in one place…” I bring my hands together and then apart, wiggling my fingers as a sort of jazz-hand. “Magic eruption.”

  “But the animals don’t have magic cores,” Nancy says.

  “Right,” I say, nodding at her again. “They’re attracted to the magic surges. The surges look for the humans who it can power, the animals track down the magic so they can steal it.”

  “It’s a… plausible theory,” Nancy says.

  “Still a theory,” Ryder says, his arms still crossed and his face still set in a frown. “There’s no way to prove it.”

  “There were two surges in the… almost three hours that I was there.”

  Ryder’s frown almost disappears. But he forces it back on his face.

  “And these weren’t surges like we’re used to. There was no headache notification, or light purple haze that slowly moves and drifts and darkens until it finds a spot and settles. They just showed up, fully formed and locked in place. Right over where the crowd was.”

  Nancy hums. “That’s pretty close to proof.”

  I shrug. “It is and it’s not. I don’t understand the science of it all.” I frown. “Well, not science. I could be wrong.”

  Ryder harrumphs.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  “But I’m not wrong that we need to bring more people into the fold. We can’t do this entirely on our own. And I have no interest in joining the town’s attempt at a singular community.” I scoff at the idea. “But one that we control? Where we get the final say in whether or not someone is good enough? We can choose the people we like, the Abilities that we need. More people might mean fewer Rank Tokens in the short-term, if we have to share them. But it means more in the long-term, since we’ll be able to survive.” I turn to Nancy. “We’ll be able to live. And I promised you that I’d find a way for us to do that.”

  Nancy’s got a little smile on her face, something that a small part of me recognizes as pride. She nods at me, reassuring and agreeing and supporting.

  I turn back to Ryder. I approach him, take his hands and pull them out of their crossed position. Give them a squeeze. “Ryder, sweets, I’m not saying let’s add them into the Party and have them move into the house. I’m just saying that there’s strength in numbers, and that there are Abilities that we won’t be able to gain, even with a million Rank Tokens. But here are people—good people, people who I genuinely think we can trust—who want to help. Who want to let us help them. You scratch my back, I scratch yours.”

  He grumbles something about not being itchy, but his frown is looking way too forced.

  I pull on his arms again. “Come on, kid. Wouldn’t it be nice to come home from a long day of chasing surges to a hot, home-cooked meal?”

  “Can she make Mac and cheese?” he asks.

  I beam. “I’m sure she can,” I answer him. “I’ve got everything we need for some in my inventory right now.”

  Ryder gives me a small, crooked smile. “Fine,” he relents. “On a trial basis. Let’s see how good of a cook she is.” His gaze flicks over to Nancy. “And if they run away screaming when they learn about the Game.”

  ***

  It takes us into the evening.

  Savannah still needs to ‘cook’ the food, so we set up in the kitchen and I pull everything out of my inventory that she needs. She stands at the stove, stirring the dry, cold, uncooked ingredients in a pot, on a stovetop that isn’t on. She asks for patience and trust, so I find some. (Also, I’m really, really looking forward to an actual hot meal.)

  We tell them about the Game, how Ryder and I got it. How Nancy joined us. I explain the truth about the apocalypse event, and my understanding of the latent ambient magic in the earth. The magic surges. The Rank Tokens and levelling up. The Safehouse. The inventory. The map.

  We bare it all, put it all on the figurative table.

  And then Savannah puts a pot of steaming, gooey, melty Mac and cheese on the literal table.

  We eat until bursting, making indecent sounds at the decadence of the cheese and the pasta. I think Nancy sheds genuine, actual tears of joy. Ryder ends up with a smear of the cheese sauce on his forehead. I can’t stop smiling, so widely my cheeks hurt.

  “I wonder,” Nancy finally says some time later, when we’re all back on in the living room sprawled on the couch or across the carpet. “If Savannah joins the Party and gains access to an inventory, does she have an active-ingredients list? Like how you, Jane, have your weapons storage. And then, can she just pull out fully cooked things.”

  “No more standing at a dead stovetop?” Savannah asks, hope in her voice.

  “It’s a theory,” Nancy says.

  “And in that working theory, Beak would be able to do the same,” Savannah says.

  Beaker’s been the quiet one in all of this, taking in all we said with cautious thought. I admire the grit to stay vigilant, though he did partake in the Mac and cheese goodness and made all the same sounds as we did. I doubt they have access to still-cold milk and cheese.

  Now, thrust into the middle of attention, he just glances around and shrugs. A man of few words. I can respect that.

  But he clears his throat, and all four of us give him our undivided attention. “Thank you, for sharing your truths with us. And your ingredients. And your home.” He pauses, as if thinking if there’s something else he needs to thank us for. “And we’re honoured that you’d like to bring us into your party. But we need to discuss it, between the two of us. Before we can make any decisions.”

  Ryder nods, all big heart-eyes since he filled his stomach. So easily convinced, when you’re nine. “Take your time,” he offers. “Do you want to go downstairs and talk about it? It’s real private down there.”

  I stifle a laugh, but they agree, and Ryder takes them downstairs to show off his room. I wonder if he’s telling them about how easy it was to move the furniture, with our inventories, and if that will help our case. He scrambles up the stairs a few minutes later and goes right back into the kitchen, where I hear a utensil clank onto the pot. He went back for another bowl.

  Honestly, I don’t blame him.

  “Hey, Game,” I say out loud. “What are the logistics of bringing two new people in? How many can we house in the Safehouse? Will it weaken you, if you’re spread between more people?”

  The larger your Party Strength, the larger the Safehouse borders can be. Likewise, the larger your Party, the larger my capabilities. The more information I take in, the more I can learn.

  Right, not just a Game. Also some sort of AI. “So we can include a whole second house?”

  Based on the size of your Party Strength, that is correct. Please designate which neighbouring house you would like to add to the Safe Zone.

  “None just yet, Game. Thank you.”

  The notification box flicks away and I look between my friends—Nancy, perched lightly on the edge of the couch, and Ryder in the doorway, a bowl of pasta in his hands.

  “This is a big step, if they agree,” Nancy says to us.

  “A lot more responsibility,” I add.

  Ryder nods. “But also a lot easier, right? Sharing the work?”

  I smile at him, nodding. Look how quickly he’s learning! “Much easier,” I tell him. “We got very lucky, meeting these two.” I think again about Sutherland Beverly. His cryptic note. I hadn’t even told them about him, yet! “Maybe not luck, actually,” I add. “There’s one more thing I haven’t told you yet.”

  By the time I’ve finished telling Nancy and Ryder about the man who may or may not be a little bit psychic, and who will likely be joining us in our community someday, Savannah and Beaker have come back upstairs.

  And they’ve made a decision.

  ***

  Game Updating

  Players Savannah and Beaker have been added to your Party! You can now share your inventory with Party Members Savannah and Beaker and see them on your map.

  ***

  Congratulations, Savannah!

  You have reached Level 1!

  New Achievement! You have joined an existing Party!

  New Achievement! You have selected the Chef class!

  Welcome, Savannah!

  Race: Human

  Class: Chef

  Level: 1

  Rank: 1

  Statistics:

  Mental [4]

  Physical [2]

  Magical [2]

  ***

  Congratulations, Beaker!

  You have reached Level 1!

  New Achievement! You have joined an existing Party!

  New Achievement! You have selected the Crafter class!

  Welcome, Beaker!

  Race: Human

  Class: Crafter

  Level: 1

  Rank: 1

  Statistics:

  Mental [4]

  Physical [3]

  Magical [2]