The four of us stood in the mess of a conservatory, broken glass beneath our trainers. The other three had that look of confusion on their faces, seeing the destruction around them, the wolf on the patio, the other dead against the upturned coffee table. I smiled, as I recalled that I’d set the reset point right after we’d spoken about not using resets. There was an irony there that I found amusing, but none of them saw the funny side like I did.

  The two notifications flashed in the top right of my vision again, but I ignored them for now. I did need to get to them, but there was a lot for us to talk about. I walked over to the door that led to the kitchen and turned the light switch on in there. I could see vague light at the opposite end, in the hallway. Lights being turned on as Kaelyn and Charlotte’s parents were making their way to join us. Across from me, past the island and the cooker to the left was a door that led to the dining room.

  “What happened?” Kian asked from behind me.

  “Let’s get somewhere more comfortable and I’ll tell you,” I said, as I walked through the kitchen. The others followed.

  Soon, the seven of us were sat around the solid oak dining table, light shining from the chandelier above our heads, the wall on the clock showing it had gone just past four in the morning. It was a long rectangular room, as large as the lounge and the dining room in my apartment put together. There was a wall-to-wall cabinet on one side and floor-to-ceiling windows on the other, the middle two of which were doors that led out to the garden. I sat with Carmen on the side next to the cabinet, Charlotte and Kian opposite us, with Kaelyn on the end to our right and Charlotte’s parents on the other end. They listened carefully as I gave a rundown of the night’s events, and the attack of the wolves.

  “I fucked up,” I said. “We did really well. You and I,” I looked at Kian, “took out six wolves. Carmen and Charlotte got the other three upstairs. But I got bitten. Seems these wolves have venom in their fangs.

  “My arm was paralysed, and it was spreading, so I had Kaelyn reset me, and the three of you. I didn’t want you guys to remember me dying. It’s not something you needed to remember.”

  The best lies were partial truths.

  It was true I wouldn’t want them to remember me dying. But what I really didn’t want, was for them to have the memories of what had truly happened like I did. I don’t think I would get used to watching them die, but I had a coping mechanism that they didn’t. I was pretty good at blocking out memories I didn’t want to remember. I was well-practised at it.

  I flicked my eyes towards Charlotte’s parents. They seemed to be taking everything in their stride, including the power that I had. Maybe they were just grateful that I did have that power. Mary had a reserved smile on her lips towards me. The kind that seemed thankful that I was sparing her daughter from the grisly mistake she had made.

  I turned back to Kian and Charlotte. There she was, the Charlotte I knew. Gorgeous green eyes, smooth olive skin, bubbly blonde hair and a cheeky little smile on her face. I’d always known Charlotte to be enduring, strong, ready-for-anything. She had to be in her line of work. But I’d seen a different side to her. A vulnerability that I would never have guessed. Everybody had a breaking point. Hers was Kian.

  “Now, look,” I looked at each of them around the table as I spoke. “Let’s get serious. I can’t lose any of you. Not even Kaelyn now. And it’s not just because I’m scared of losing you. I can’t afford to lose you.

  “I need to win this USP. Not just for myself, but for the world. I can’t let myself be taken and killed, and to do that, I need all of your guys’ help. I can’t do this alone. Even a pack of wolves like we’ve just taken down was too much. There’s no way I could have done it by myself.

  “Now, I have at least four resets left. But after another two, I’m going to be slower and any more than that, and I’ll need a zimmer frame, or I’m dead and it’s over for all of us anyway.

  “We can’t fuck about anymore. We need to fix up as a team. Going with the flow just isn’t gonna cut it.” I turned to Charlotte’s parents, realising I wasn’t just talking to my friends. “Excuse my French.”

  Tom chuckled in that hearty way that dads do. Well, most dads. “You’re good,” he said, in a deep, throaty voice.

  “Well, it doesn’t sound like we were the problem,” Kian said. “You’re the one who needs to be more careful.”

  I looked him in the eyes, a gentle smile on my lips. “You’re right.”

  “Come on bro. The whole world is depending on you. You need to take this seriously.”

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  “I don’t think I’ll get used to being reset,” Charlotte cut in, giving Kian a look as she deliberately changed the subject. I’d seen that look from Carmen many times. It was the partner look for “You need to shut the fuck up now.”

  “It is a very odd feeling,” Carmen said, looking at me. “I remember our conversation up until you asked Kaelyn to prick your finger. Then suddenly, the next thing is standing on broken glass, with dead…massive wolves around us.”

  “It’s like a dream,” Charlotte added. “You know when you’re…I don’t know – in a field or something, and then suddenly, you’re standing on the edge of a cliff?”

  Kian cocked his head and looked at his girlfriend. “That doesn’t sound like a dream. That sounds like you need to talk to someone.”

  Charlotte punched his shoulder like he was an opponent in the ring, causing him to shout out.

  “That hurt!”

  “Good,” Charlotte replied, whilst the rest of us laughed softly.

  “Well,” I said, “let’s hope I don’t need to do it again. I don’t plan to anyway.”

  Mary stood up, a smile on her face, and tapped Tom on the shoulder. “I’ll go prepare some breakfast for you all. Let you guys talk.”

  Charlotte smiled at her mum. “Thanks mum. Can you guys leave the phone and the notes you’ve written?”

  Mary put her hand into the cardigan she was wearing, took out her phone and gave it to Tom, who came over to his daughter and placed it and the notes he had been writing in front of her, before the both of them went to the kitchen.

  “Dad’s written down where the flags showed up. Two in America – one on the West Coast, the other on the East. Two in China – one, more north near the border with Russia and Mongolia and one near the west, near Tajikistan and Afghanistan. One in the south of Turkey, near the borders with Syria and Iraq. One near the border between Germany and France.” Then she looked up at me. “The last one was up near York.”

  York? I’d been there once, a long time ago. It was a city in the North of England, not too far from Leeds. One of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the country, it had a mixture of Roman and medieval architecture spanning its history of more than two thousand years. I was a bit of a stickler for old architecture and had visited it for that reason. I can’t imagine whichever Champion had chosen it as their starting point was doing the same.

  “Was there any indication of which flag is whose?” I asked. Charlotte shook her head at me.

  “Why York though?” Charlotte asked. “Why not London, where you were last?” She frowned. “Why have the others started across the world?”

  “They’re not here for River, are they?” Kaelyn spoke. We all turned to her. “It’s a battle? The Divine artifact is a side quest for them. It’s open to all participants, so River is always in danger, but for the other Champions, their goal is to win the battle. And that’s against each other as well as Earth. How far apart are these places they have started at?”

  “Literally, some of them are as far apart as they could be,” Carmen said. Her lips were slightly pursed, like she was concerned about something. Most likely her parents. She wouldn’t remember the wolves we’d just faced, but she’d seen them. And there were two Champions in China, with whatever forces they’d brought. How long before they were fighting in the streets of Hong Kong?

  From the kitchen, we could hear the sounds of cupboards being opened and pans being put on the stove, and something being sliced and diced on a table.

  “Maybe it’s military?” Kian said. “America, China, Russia, Turkey, France, Germany, UK. South of Turkey is access to the Middle East. West of China is access to Pakistan and India. Nuclear powers and strongest armies? It would make sense, right? If they get rid of the strongest armies, the rest of the world would be easy to take.”

  “I doubt they’d go for a domination victory,” I said. “That seems like the hardest. Killing the other Champions or capturing the flags seems to be the best options.”

  “But you’d still need a stronghold,” Carmen said. “They wouldn’t want to be in danger themselves, so taking out the strongest armies would buy them time. If they want to capture the flags, they’ll need somewhere to defend them. And they need a base to defend themselves from attack.”

  I looked over to Kaelyn. “What do you think? Anything from your training that covered war tactics?”

  She shook her head. “I was trained to infiltrate and kill, but I think both of you,” she looked between Kian and Carmen, “make sense. They may be trying to take out the biggest threats to them first, but it gives you an opportunity.” She looked at me. “Whilst they’re dealing with your world’s armies, you can all get stronger.”

  “There’s still the one in York,” I said.

  “And,” Carmen added, looking towards Kaelyn, “they probably have people like you. Trained to infiltrate and kill.” She turned back to me. “They know where your flag is. We need to expect they’ll come for you for the Champion kill and the flag.”

  “Maybe we should ask the government for help?” Kian suggested.

  I dismissed it out of hand. “I don’t doubt they’ll come for me, but I won’t be reaching out to them.”

  I wasn’t exactly trusting of the government. Not in a mad conspiracist type of way, but I’d seen enough of politics to know that the government didn’t give a shit about its people. Politicians were only concerned with getting richer. They just knew at times they had to pretend to care so people would vote for them. Even now, I’m sure most of them were trying to figure out how to make money off the current situation. I suspected if I asked for their help, I’d be working for them, not with them.

  “Did any of you get quest notifications?” I asked. They all shook their heads. “But you got the loot notifications?” They all nodded, except Kaelyn.

  “They must be the Champion quests,” I said. “Let me check what they are, and then we need to make decisions. We need to figure out whether we find somewhere to hunker down and defend. Or do we stay on the move?”

  “Options,” I said. It brought up the blue screen with the four options the System had said there would be, and three more at the top.

  [Champion Flag]

  [Champion Quests]

  [Loot Available]

  [Universal System Protocol Status]

  [Quests]

  [Universal System Protocol Exchange]

  [Map]

  The three options at the top were in red, the rest in white.

  I pressed on [Champion Quests]