( John POV )

Jade and Zane are flirting in earnest now. Interesting. I’ve never seen Jade like this. Still, it’s always dull being a third wheel, and my attention wanders to the hologram of the planet, sitting in the middle of the table, and then to the real thing, below. Well, not ‘real’, but...

Eventually, I am rescued from my predicament by the return of Anno, Zane’s little owl-like AI. Not too bright, if I had to guess. The fallen feather, lying on the table, balloons out in a deeply improbable way, filling the the air with fluff, and there it sits on the edge of the table once more. It’s already chattering.

“Sir! I’ve downloaded the update! Everything is up-to-date, and I now have full access to the bestiary database, allowing me to bring the full analytical force of my intellect to bear! My word, sir, there’s so much to learn! For example, sir, did you know that if our tribesmen don’t eat, they’ll die? This will have huge ramifications on our strategy! And-”

I’m not sure I could live with Anno. Lucklicy Zane interrupts his quickly.

“Yes, thank you, Anno, that’s enough.”

For a second my brain is trying to wrap itself around what is was just implied.

“Uh… Anno hadn’t realised that food-production was necessary?”

I say sounding surprised.

Zane looks like he’s about to melt into a puddle of pure embarrassment.

“Yeah… I’ve not really been... focusing on it. I don’t actually know that much about strategy. I’m mostly interested in the societal management aspect of the game, so I just sort of... let my hunters get on with it. They seem to be pretty good at it, choosing good targets and so on. Food hasn’t really been an issue.”

“So... you just let you people do whatever they want without any input? Basically?”

Slowly Zane nods to my question, clearly embarrassed.

I’m getting a slow, sinking feeling that this entire meeting was a waste of time. Jade throws me a dirty look, though, so I shut up. And let her take control of the conversation.

“Honestly, John. Not everyone takes the same metagaming approach as us. I’m sure Zane’s tribe is doing just fine!”

Hearing this Anno decide to clear up the confusion with an honest answer.

“Actually, we have had some issues! For example, our tribe’s work distribution is completely off, as they spend far too much time on non-productive tasks, like leisure, or acquiring and cooking food! We’ve also lost several tribe members to hostile wildlife!”

Zane looks pained, but takes the opportunity to steer the conversation away from tribal mismanagement.

“Ah, yeah! Which is what prompted this meeting in the first place, wasn’t it? The Candur incident! Anno, could you bring up the replay data for it?”

Finally! Well, hopefully not a total waste of time after all! Beyond Jade’s love-life, anyway.

Anno immediately jumps to attention and responds to Zane.

“Yes, sir! Shall I play the recording, sir?”

Zane nods in encouragement, then pauses, wincing in renewed chagrin as Anno leaps from the tabletop and starts flying in circles, looking confused.

“Sir, I cannot comply with your request, as I cannot find a wall to project the data on!”

Jade flicks a wrist languidly, looking smug. AI seem to enjoy a little class-warfare, now and then. I’ll have to talk to her about it, later; it’s neither fair nor kind.

In an authoritative voice she speak to Anno.

“TO: AI ‘ANNO’: EXECUTE_COMMAND ‘Y78-LG5/CK3’ -e -t “Night Sky””

Anno freezes for a moment, and thumps onto the table in a pile of simulated feathers, shimmering as his self-projection briefly switches to low-poly mode and back. In a jarring shifting of reality, the scene around the table and chairs changes utterly. One second, we’re in the blackness of space, the next we’re sitting on a slope, gazing across a grassy mountainside. I really need to work on my transitions, but no matter: here we are, with an excellent view of the events of the recording. Presumably, if Anno’s got the right one.

Anno picks himself off the ground, fluttering to Zane’s shoulder with as close to an expression of annoyance as an owl’s face can muster.

“Ma’am! Was that really necessary?! I was quite capable of loading the protocol myself, with access, rather than you overriding my subsystems and maxing my processor usage! I do have the relevant protocols!”

Jade hushes him him and points down the mountainside. Below, three hunters are stalking the imposing silhouette of a Candur. The recording begins.

( Zane POV )

Well, John and Jade seemed to get more insights out of the recording than I did, that’s for sure. They were muttering to one another about evolutionary power-balances and Neolithic hunting methods, all sorts of stuff. Me, I just saw three of my guys get fried my some fire magic. Kinda’ depressing, really.

Still, time for some return, and so Jade showed us another recording, of some enormous great hunt they pulled in a savannah. Clever stuff; they were using the landscape to avoid tangling with the birds one-on-one. Still, I can’t help but feel it strips the romance from the whole thing. Jade grins when I mention this, and I get teenage-style heart fluttering for a sec.

Dammit, I’m past this hormone shit.

I quickly move the conversation on, noting something that’s been bothering me.

“Why do humans start with primitive spears? My tribe didn’t…”

Jade prepares to answer but gets interrupted by an over eager Anno.

“Sir! Sir! I know this!”

I really should spend some time on teaching him some manners.

“From the forums I have gathered that only some races get starting weapons, and only if fits thematically and for balance!

For example, Goblins get no weapon because they rely on their large numbers and claws! Wolfkin, too, rely on their starting claws. The elves don't get a weapon either, but they don’t need meat to thrive as they are better at scavenging and gathering.

Then, humans get spears to compensate for their weak unarmed fighting, and centaurs get heavy spears, unfit for throwing but very useful in cavalry-style charges. Although those are basically sharpened tree trunks, as I understand it. Not much tactical flexibility.”

There’s a moment of stunned silence, as everyone absorbs this info-dump. Anno, misinterpreting the situation, does some smug preening. I let him, as his pride’s already taken enough of a beating today.

Eventually John gets his bearing and restarts the conversation.

“Uhh… Fair enough, I guess. Is there any info on what made that one candur so special that it had such powerful fire affinity?”

“There’s no real way to tell. Too many possible explanations”.

Jade comments, which is saying something about the sheer amount of options.

Still I decide to throw in my suggestion.

“Does the cause matter? So long as there’s a way to determine which individuals have this kind of affinity, I mean…”

Apparently, neither John nor Jade had considered not looking gift-horses in the mouth. John looks at me quizzically. I start to explain my theory.

“No, look, it’s simple when you think about it. The world’s already been simulated for a bunch of in-game time, right, to iron out any kinks in the ecosystem and stuff. Well, it comes down to basic evolutionary pressures. When I first saw the flock of Candur that my tribesmen were hunting, I assumed that a single alpha male and several females was a normal group composition. But your flock had a bunch of males. Given that the males largely serve a defensive role, it would seem logical that, if a male can defend a flock by itself, it would probably drive off the others, yeah? So, if there’s only one male in a flock, that’s a pretty good indicator that it’s a magic-wielding badass!”

By the end, John’s nodding in understanding. Jade got it before I was even halfway through, off course. I shrug.

“Hey, I studied biology back in college. It’s just about the only bit of this game where I excel.”

John leans back in his chair simply looking towards the sky in though while thinking out loud.

“Huh. Yeah, I guess that does make some sense, actually. Doesn’t really explain how the whole magic affinity thing works, but I guess it’s a good way to stop people from getting instantly roasted.”

Jade is looking at me approvingly. I like it.

Having finished the rest of the meeting Anno and I leave the chat room and prepare to exit VR.

Before doing so I decide to check quickly my inbox.

One new message, only a few seconds old. It’s from... Jade? Huh.

In it she asks whether I would like to go on a date and she offers her phone number.

Ohmyfuckinggodyesplease!