Dylan reread the email, hoping that he'd missed something. But no, Vert was apparently unable to recover his lost items. Dylan's hands twitched in anger, Mabel's loss hitting him all over again. He hadn't realized just how much faith he'd put into Vert restoring his minions.

No, that wasn't it. Dylan just didn't want to think about how he'd lost everyone. Mabel, Brunhilde, Saul, all of them gone. And Dylan wasn't even around to see it happen.

That might've been the worst part. Dylan hadn't lost his minions on an excursion like he'd always assumed. No, they were gone because a terrible friend decided that he needed to destroy Dylan's work. Mabel hadn't died to a superhero in the midst of battle but in an ambush by a cheater.

Dylan realized with surprise that he was thinking of Mabel as a real person. He couldn't think of her as an NPC any longer. Dr. Zlo's creation had become more real to Dylan than any character he'd ever interacted with in a game.

It was a dark thought, Dylan realized. Because if he considered Mabel real, how many others inside World of Supers would be real as well? Would NPCs start to seem real if Dylan reacted to them enough? Or were the NPCs just realistic enough to convince people? And did it even matter?

Dylan's Net chat pinged, taking his mind off his thoughts for a moment.

D.Black:

Hey, have you gotten an answer yet?

Superfan39526:

Yeah. They can't fix Skyline.

Or Mabel.

Because their goddamn system doesn't hold a backup for more than three days.

And it took them FOUR days to get back to me.

Because APPARENTLY they separate tickets now and there's some new department that handles "player satisfaction" or some bullshit.

D.Black:

Wtf

That's ridiculous.

Actually, that's beyond ridiculous. That's just stupid.

So we get destroyed by a cheater, and we don't get anything?

Superfan39526:

They'll give us stuff to rebuild.

But that doesn't mean Mabel will come back.

Or Brunhilde.

D.Black:

That's probably the same for all the minions.

Have you tried rebuilding Mabel? Maybe the game stores her memories or something?

Superfan39526:

No.

But if you think it'll work.

D.Black:

Can't hurt to try, right?

Dylan grabbed the VIS off its stand and shoved it over his head as he jumped into bed, desperate to try anything at this point. World of Supers formed around Dylan as he selected Dr. Zlo, spawning a small ways away from Skyline's wreckage. Once he loaded in, Dylan marched over to his destroyed mansion.

Cass stood around the wreckage, working hard to recover as many tools as he could.

"Cass," Dylan said. "Don't worry about working yet. You're still missing an arm."

"I gotta do something, boss," Cass said. "I can't just sit and stew."

Dylan frowned at that. It was another hint that the NPCs in this world were more advanced than Dylan believed. If Cass could experience loss and the grief that came with it, what else could he experience?

Dylan shook his head. There was no time to think about these questions, and he wasn't exactly the person for the job either. First, Dylan needed to see if he could revive Mabel, memories and all. The villain opened his power tab and scrolled down to his minion.

Momma Mabel

A follower of Dr. Zlo who joined the villain to learn his ways. She has her own power to control small groups of people. She calls all her minions her children and makes them call her Mom. Momma Mabel is known for her crass language and love of young men.

Sundress (1)

Lackey (1)

Southern Livin' (1 magazine)

Cantankerous joke book (1)

Phlebotinium (1 g) or Sciencium (100g)

Description open, Dylan ordered everything he needed and went to help Cass move debris. After a few minutes, a delivery truck appeared in the distance, dropping off the requested items. Dylan rushed over to the parcels, grabbing the items and tossing them all into a pile. He crafted a base minion first, letting the lackey appear before holding it to use in Mabel's list. A moment later, his old minion stood before him.

"Well now," Mabel said, looking around at the destroyed base. "It looks like a tornado's run through here."

"A small setback," Dylan said, getting his hopes up. The new minion sure sounded like Mabel. "Rebuilding won't be a problem."

"I'm sure," Mabel said, turning to Dylan. "I've heard of you, you know? A strapping young villain looking to take on the world. Made a bit of a name for yourself too, haven't you, Zlo hon?"

Dylan's hopes fell. Mabel was acting like she hadn't met him before.

"Call me Momma Mabel," his minion continued. "I'm here to learn a trick or two from ya."

Dylan didn't answer. Mabel was gone forever, it seemed.

"Hon?" Mabel asked. "You alright? You look a bit down."

"I'm fine," Dylan answered. Dr. Zlo wouldn't show weakness to his minions, and Dylan at least wanted to stick to character. "Welcome to the team, Mabel."

"Glad to be here, hon," Mabel said. "Now, where am I needed?"

"Let me get you some minions to work with. Then, you can direct them to clean up the place."

Dylan turned away from his new minion, his face scrunching up in pain. "Come on, Cass," the player said. "Let's get you that new arm."

A few Jacques later, Dylan sat on the ground watching Mabel command his minions. Cass stood by his side protectively, watching Mabel warily.

"I don't trust her, boss," Cass said.

"Why's that?" Dylan asked.

He figured it was because Cass knew this was a different Mabel, but that didn't seem to be the case.

"She just walks in here after everything's destroyed and says she can help. No way she's doing this to learn from you."

"But you've met her before," Dylan pointed out.

Cass gave his boss a confused look, "Boss, I've never seen that woman in my life."

Dylan sighed. And here was proof that Cass wasn't as advanced as Dylan thought. The NPC had reset all the knowledge he had of Mabel, leaving Dr. Zlo to remember all the times they shared.

"I shouldn't have made her again," Dylan muttered.

"What's that, boss?" Cass asked.

"Nothing," Dylan answered. "Let's take a look at that arm."

"How you doing?" Dylan heard.

The player looked up to see Dextra and Jack standing nearby, the latter offering a hand to pick Dylan up.

"Mabel doesn't remember anything," Dylan said as he stood. "And after I made a new one Cass doesn't even remember Mabel from before."

"Well, they're NPCs, right?" Jack asked.

Dylan nodded, "Yeah. But, they act so advanced all the time. And Mabel had this entire personality built from her times with Dr. Zlo. That's gone now. And Cass doesn't even remember her now that I've made a new one."

"I don't get it," Jack said.

"Mabel was more than an NPC, wasn't she?" Dextra asked.

Dylan shrugged, "I don't know? I'm realizing now that all these advanced NPCs seem too close to humans. But I also know they aren't? It's just, they keep saying and doing things that computers don't do."

"Do you think you can't be sad about it or something?" Dextra asked.

"Maybe?" Dylan said. "They aren't real, you know?"

"Yeah, so don't sweat it," Jack said.

"Jack," Dextra said. "Think of it like Dylan lost a pet he'd had for years."

"Oh," Jack said. Her eyes went large, "Oh."

She turned to Dylan and wrapped him in a hug, "Hey. It's going to be okay."

Dylan froze in the hug, unsure how to react to the news. Eventually, he pulled away.

"I don't want it to be okay," Dylan said after a second. "I don't like this feeling. It's like there's a black hole in my stomach that won't go away."

"It will," Jack said. "It just takes time."

"And possibly catharsis," Dextra said. "Have you considered getting some revenge?"

Dylan snorted, "Already doing that, remember? John's getting banned, and then he'll get to see me all over advertisements for the next expansion."

"I don't mean them," Dextra said. "I mean Vert."

"Um, I don't think it's a good idea to tell him to get revenge against a company," Jack said.

Dextra waved a hand, "I don't mean doing anything in the real world. I mean here."

"I'm listening," Dylan said.

Dextra started pacing, "We both know that this company isn't the best when it comes to game design. I propose we find a way to exploit it."

"So, cheat," Dylan said.

Dextra shook his head, "No. We find something legitimate that the company didn't intend to happen. Like when you stole that alien mothership, or I took over Haven City. Except we make sure whatever it is can't be stopped prematurely."