Dawn’s eyes snapped open to the jarring sound of knocking. The digital clock on her new Cosmo phone, resting on her nightstand, glowed seven AM. Confused, she sat up as the knocking grew more insistent. It was Xander. With a sleepy voice, Dawn told Xander to come in.

  "Why did you wake me up so early?" she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep, as he entered her simple, functional room.

  Xander’s gaze was flat, devoid of sympathy. "There is much for you to do and much to learn. Why waste time sleeping? Meet me in the living room when you're ready. I will be showing you a different situation type." He turned and exited, leaving Dawn to slowly nod her head, sleepy but awake enough to understand the command.

  A moment later, Dawn walked out to the living room to see Xander already seated on the sleek couch, impeccably dressed in a suit and tie, tapping away on his new phone. Without looking up, he began to speak. "Today, I've found a low-rank Containment situation for you. I've made arrangements with Cosmo to bookmark the situation, and we will handle it."

  "Wait a second, please." Dawn hurried forward, her anxiety mounting. "I need to know a couple of things before we start our next situation."

  Xander finally looked up, his gaze direct and unyielding. "What are your concerns?"

  Dawn swallowed, feeling nervous under his scrutiny. "What is the 'Urgent' button in the 'Find Work' page? And when will Cosmo give me more information on situations? Also, what do you mean bookmarked the situation?"

  Xander leaned back in his seat, a small, grin touching his lips. "Good. I'm glad you actually looked at the app on your own and are asking questions. That shows genuine interest." He continued, the faint smile still playing on his lips. "The 'Urgent' tab is for when Cosmo has a situation that needs immediate attention. When that happens, Cosmo will freeze time for that realm, stopping everything in it until an Incarnate is found for the job."

  He paused, then went on. "In the same sense, bookmarking a world will slow its time until you return. This feature is mainly for times you need to revisit a realm with the same natives you worked with. Maybe you promised to return in a few years or something along those lines. This is how you can fulfill those promises, but an Incarnate can only bookmark two situations at a time. This prevents too many realms from being slowed from progression for too long."

  "Lastly," Xander concluded, "Cosmo will open up more to you at twenty-five completions. Remember, only successful recalls count, I call that clearing the situation. When you complete your twenty-fifth situation, instead of going straight back to Earth as you do now, you'll stop at the character creation room, or as I call it, the lobby. At that time, Cosmo will properly introduce himself and answer a few of your questions to the best of his ability. From that point on, you can go to the lobby after a clear to see the breakdown of anything that got converted from that situation. If you are okay with the simplified version, you can skip this and just check your app when you get back into your body."

  He shifted in his seat. "Another term for you to remember is how to determine which time scale you're talking about. Inner time is the time inside a realm, and as I've said before, one second on Earth is one year inside a realm. Outer time is the time scale of Earth."

  Dawn was looking towards Xander, slowly nodding as she processed the information. It was overwhelming, but she understood. "Okay, are you ready to go now?" Xander asked.

  "Yes, I'm ready," Dawn replied, then hesitated. "But I kinda forgot what a Containment situation is about exactly."

  Xander sighed faintly before speaking. "A Containment situation normally consists of one of two things. The first kind is a disease that is highly contagious and deadly. The second kind is mainly a high-ranking beast that is about to destroy a crucial part or location of the realm. It could also be an empire or nation that needs knocked down a bit, but usually, it's the monster." With that, Xander stood up and walked over to Dawn.

  Dawn looked up at Xander, a fresh wave of anxiety beginning to wash over her as he approached. He put his hand on Dawn's shoulder, and with a tap on his phone, the world around them dissolved. The next thing Dawn saw was the lobby, the familiar, stark white of the character creation room.

  "Welcome, Agent X and Legend Dawn," Cosmo's voice intoned.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Confused, Dawn looked over at Xander. "Xan— I mean, Agent X, how did you get me here?"

  "If I'm touching an Incarnate when I accept a situation, it will bring you with me," Agent X explained. "From here, you can leave or choose an avatar. If you choose an avatar it shows you agree to aid me. However, if I'm touching a normal human when I accept, nothing will happen to that person." He paused. "Also, Dawn, you might want to think of a legend name that isn't your Earth name."

  "Yeah, I haven't given much thought about that yet," Dawn replied, then turned to the avatar HUD.

  She noticed all the options for avatar race were labeled "Beastfolk" and, next to it, would say "Spliced with an animal" for example, "Beastfolk spliced with Lion" or "Beastfolk spliced with Deer." Confused, Dawn asked Xander what this meant.

  "Beastfolk are like humans but mixed with an animal," Xander explained. "They remain more human like than animal. The 'spliced' part just means the animal features the humanoid is mixed with. Ancient beastfolk are almost pure beast but have human actions."

  "Oh, I understand now," Dawn said. A moment later, Xander observed Dawn picking a Beastfolk that was spliced with a leopard. Dawn paused for a moment before checking the abilities column. She paused to see if Xander would say anything. Seeing he didn't say anything about her choice, she scrolled the ability column. Here, Dawn saw a variety of healing skills and some detection skills.

  Dawn turned to Xander with a big smile. "I think I know what this Containment situation is about!"

  Xander gave her a nod as he tapped on his own HUD screen. Cosmo spoke again. "Agent X, loadout confirmed. Legend Dawn, loadout confirmed. Initialize situation?"

  "Confirm," Xander said.

  Just like that, the lobby dissolved. Dawn opened her eyes to see a rundown kingdom with only a few people walking around outside. From beside Dawn, she heard an unfamiliar voice. It was loud and deep. "Give me the recall crystal before we talk about your needs."

  Dawn turned her head to see a Komodo dragon standing upright at around seven feet tall. The Summoner Deer Beastfolk staggered back a little before processing the request. Agent X started to growl, a low, guttural sound that seemed to vibrate the very ground. The Summoner hastily found the recall crystal and threw it over to Agent X. As soon as he caught it, he made the swift motion and said, "Stash," storing the crystal away.

  Agent X then performed his grand bow, bending at the waist with one arm across his stomach and the other flared out to the side. "I am Agent X. My accompany is Legend Dawn. What is your request?"

  The Summoner sighed a breath of relief, seeing the change in Agent X's manners, then spoke. "There is a terrible plague upon this land. Our kingdom remains clear of it, but as a result, we have shut our gates, letting no one in or out. This has cut off any and all supplies to our kingdom. Can you cure this plague? Or maybe find a way to verify the pureness of people bringing supplies?"

  Agent X told the Summoner if he could arrange a convoy of supplies, then Dawn and himself could check people before letting them enter. The Summoner stated there were already some wagons full of supplies at the north gate that had arrived earlier today. Agent X nodded and turned to look at Dawn. "Dawn, let's go." With that, the trio walked to the north gate.

  Upon getting to the gate, the Summoner asked Agent X to keep the people outside the gate until they were sure the people and supplies were plague-free. Agent X agreed and asked the Summoner if the wagons would know where to go once cleared to enter. The Summoner said they would. Agent X replies, "Okay, let us get to work. Please return to your duties as we handle ours." The Summoner was taken aback by this but then walked away, unsure of what to think of Agent X.

  Agent X then turned to Dawn and asked her what ability she had picked.

  Dawn smiled. "I chose a healing ability that helps people recover."

  Agent X pinched his nose. "Okay, you can heal them, but how will you know if they are infected?"

  Dawn dropped her head, feeling defeated.

  "Don't worry, I know low-rank abilities can't do much." Agent X continued. "I'll check the people; you check the wagon for anyone trying to sneak in or anything that smells rotten."

  Dawn nodded, feeling she wouldn't be useless after all. They walked through the gate and approached the first wagon on the roadway in front of the gate. Agent X spoke to the Bear Beastfolk holding the reins. "I will check you for disease, and my colleague will check your cargo. If you pass, you'll be allowed to enter the gate."

  The Bear man hollered back. "Oh yeah? And what if I say no?"

  Agent X started to have a black energy emit from his body as he stared the bear in the eyes. "I haven't had lunch today," he said, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous growl, "I could use a snack." The threat was clear.

  The bear slouched back into his seat. "Yeah, okay, do whatever."

  Dawn spoke up trying to soothe the situation. "Agent X, he agrees to your terms. Please check him for the plague. I'll go to the back and check his cargo."

  The dark energy from around Agent X moved and focused on his hand as he raised it out toward the bear man. Then, at a rapid pace, the dark energy left Agent X's hand and coated the driver. Dawn panicked and looked at the bear. But then she settled down as she realized the bear wasn't in pain or anything.

  "What are you doing, Dawn?" Agent X spoke. "Go inspect the cargo."

  Dawn, realizing this must be how he was going to check them, she ran to the back of the wagon. She climbed into the back and saw various fruits and some herbs she assumed were for potions. She climbed back down and told Agent X it was good to go. With that, Agent X waved the bear to drive through the gate.

  The next wagon pulled up where the first wagon had been. Without a word, Agent X covered the Lion Beastfolk driver with the dark energy, scanning the driver for any illnesses. Dawn, like before, climbed into the back, but this time she saw various clothes that had a faint scent of cleaners. She climbed back down out of the wagon and gave Agent X the all clear. Several wagons went by in this fashion, with various supplies and zero issues.

  Then came this wagon with a nervous-looking Deer Beastfolk driver. Agent X noticed the nervousness of the driver and began his scan. Dawn climbed into the back. She saw various clothes again, thinking to herself it was weird they had two wagons of clothes but only one with food. Dawn got a whiff of something rotten. She pauses, thinking it must be old food. Just as she was about to climb out, she saw some of the clothes moving. She stopped in her tracks as she prayed she was just seeing things. Just then, the clothes moved again. Dawn slowly moved closer to the pile of clothes that was moving. She pulled the clothes, and a small Deer Beastfolk child was there. The child begged Dawn not to report them being there. Confused, Dawn thought to herself, Why would I report you? Then she noticed. This child looked like it might be sick. With this silence from the hero, the child spoke again. "My father is the leader of this kingdom. I'm just trying to get back home before he shuts the gate again."

  Dawn sighed and shook her head. Then she climbed out of the wagon and gave Agent X the all clear. The wagon rolled past the gate and into the kingdom. Dawn's thoughts weighed on her, hoping she didn't make a mistake.