The seven archons, along with their Inspired companions, trudged through the forest in silence. They’d unanimously decided to take a break and find a village to rest in. None of them were ready to face the Spectre after Thando.

The man in question hadn’t said a word since waking up, only staring off into the trees at random intervals. He was walking behind the wagon as it squeaked along under Chan’s power, contemplating. Willem saw how oblivious he was to his surroundings, but didn’t say anything, opting instead to keep a greater vigilance by himself.

When Thando was 15, him and Piet had snuck into a house party to drink alcohol. They were both already quite tall for their age, and the bored college kids manning the doors didn’t care enough to scan their ID chips. Despite looking obviously out of place, they were determined to make the most of the time they had before Willem found them, like he always did. A few drinks later, Piet had ingratiated himself with a large bevy of party girls and was wowing them with his sleight of hand tricks. Thando stood off to the side, drink in hand, soaking up the atmosphere created by the loud, bass-heavy music, the smoky haze filling the room and the strobing multi-coloured lights. A girl stumbled over to the couch next to him and all but collapsed into it, looking over at him from her position.

“Your friend is pretty cool, kid.”

Thando shrugged.

“That’s why I like him.”

She took out a pack of cigarettes and offered him one.

“You smoke?”

“Not cigarettes.”

“Yeah not many people do, these days.” she chuckled, lighting it up and taking a long drag.

She closed her eyes and exhaled a thick cloud, continuing to speak.

“Everyone always looks at me weird like ‘Do you know how harmful those are?’ As if I didn’t also grow up with the internet.”

“So why do you do it?” Thando quizzed, confused. “Most people with a deathwish just get a hoverbike on manual control.”

She laughed.

“Don’t even get me started, there’s a whole worldview behind why I do what I do but I think I’m just a bit stupid, to be honest. Don’t get me wrong, I have the highest GPA in my class and look professional as fuck when I’m not drunk, but I always want things I know I shouldn’t.”

“You can’t tell me there’s a worldview behind all your actions, then not explain it. Kind of a dick move.”

“You don’t just ask a lady her worldview before the first date,” she teased. “But sure, why the fuck not. This might be oversharing, but I had leukemia as a child. I was lucky enough that my parents could fly us to a city that Vitality was operating out of, so it never really impacted my early life as I could just wait outside her building after school whenever the symptoms got too bad. But one day, I think this was when her and Fury were fighting yet again, the Inspired just up and left. Vitality doesn’t have many headquarters so a lot of us that had moved there for medical reasons were left in the cold. I was lucky again, the cancer had been in remission for a couple years and hasn’t come back since. The only thing they left behind was a spreadsheet listing patient numbers and treatments, for the hospitals to pick up their slack. It’s pretty sobering to realise that the person you see as your hero and saviour only sees you as a number. I finally understood that for my entire life until that point, I had lived by the grace of something bigger. I should have died, but a brush with the smallest part of Vitality’s power has kept me alive until this day, and a brush with any other Muse’s power could likely just outright kill me. So who cares?”

She took another drag as Thando looked puzzled.

“Who cares about your smoking?”

“Who cares about life in general, dude. There are like 22 billion of us in the system and the only ones that matter are the Archons, the Muses and the Artifex. It’s incredibly freeing. I could die tomorrow and nothing would change. Tranquility could die and Mars would probably invade that same hour. My actions are immaterial, so fuck it. I want to smoke and when I inevitably get cancer again, I’ll go right back to the people that matter and touch the hem of their garments.”

“That’s pretty bleak. You don’t think you or I could make a difference in the world?”

“It’s a bleak world, kid. I figure our only options are to become powerful, or just stop caring so much. Everything we’ve achieved, the Beanstalk, the asteroid mining colonies, the floating cities on Venus, all those are only made possible by the people that matter. Even the zeitgeist supposedly belongs to all of us but we just dream in it, while an Artifex can actually grab a chunk of it and make shit. We’re literally peasants living among gods, but everyone’s too busy buying erotic dreamscapes where they can fuck their celebrity crush every night to care. I’m not one for the constant sex dreams, but they have the right idea. I’m not rich enough to become a Muse, talented enough to be an Artifex or unlucky enough to get an Archetype, so here I am, smoking cancer sticks next to a child. I do well in school because I want to live out my days in comfort and even that’s not a guarantee any more. So fuck it.”

The group in front of them erupted in raucous laughter as Piet said something hilarious. Piet however, looked down at his phone and frowned, before searching the room for Thando. Seeing him, he pointed at his wrist, did his best impression of Willem’s look of disapproval and held up a five. Willem was five minutes away, they had to find a pharmacy where they could buy a detox shot and sober up.

“Uhh, I kind of need to-“

“It’s fine kid, I know you have curfew or whatever. I’ll probably get up from here at some point.”

“Thanks for the chat, you’re very strange.”

“Don’t worry, there are so many damn people, you’ll meet someone just like me next week. Promise me one thing though?”

“Uhh, I won’t buy an erotic dreamscape, don’t worry.”

She snorted in amusement.

“We both know you’re lying but that wasn’t the promise. You obviously aren’t as jaded as I am, so you might actually do something with yourself. If you do somehow end up as a god, be better. The rich assholes in the Muse’s Court and the bureaucratic assholes in the UN know we don’t matter and treat us as such. [Gamer] is the only halfway decent one of the bunch and that’s only because he knows the Muses hate him. If they weren’t so threatened by his existence, they’d all be buddy-buddy in fucking Olympus. It’s a big club, but you, me and countless others can never be in it.”

“Okay, sure. I’ll be better.”

That conversation played on a loop in Thando’s head. He had promised that random girl he’d be better but here he was, finally able to reach the higher echelons of power, and he was murdering children. He’d likely have to kill more people whose only crime was to be less powerful than him. He would have to become exactly the kind of callous asshole she’d warned him against, just to stay sane. It’d be enough to get him to give up and accept his death normally, he’d never harm a child intentionally. But as he glanced at the wagon, bouncing slightly up and down with every bump in the road, he knew he’d wade through rivers of blood for Piet. No matter how rough it got, he wasn’t fighting just for himself. And it may be callous, but to him, Piet, Willem and Chan’s lives superseded every other.

“Hey Chan?”

Chan turned, hearing Thando speak for the first time in hours.

“Yeah, whats up bro?”

“Would you kill for Piet?”

Chan was silent for a while, considering his answer.

“I’ll have to, won’t I? Even once we leave this place, we’re not normal people any more. We can’t have normal values and morals because out there, and especially in here, they’ll get us and everyone we’ll have to protect killed. I don’t like to dwell on it while we have more immediate problems, but things are going to change because of us, bro. [Gamer]’s appearance and what it implied is the only reason peace has held up for so long. Once we show up, we’ll make Earth the strongest power in the region and force Venus and Mars to react. We’re not nobodies any more. For people like us, there is no objective good or bad. We can only look on the carnage after the fact and pray it was worth it. And Piet? He’s worth it.”

As Thando digested his words, the group broke past the tree line and started passing farms. They were nearing a village.

Alexander took the opportunity to speak.

“Okay, it’s been a rough couple of hours, so we’ll take a break here, eat some food and regroup at midday. There will definitely be side quests in a village this big but I trust I won’t be chasing after anyone who wants to be a hero. Don’t do any of them, even if they seem safe. Again, they are always a trap. We’ll go back to challenge the Spectre again when we’re all ready.”

All around were grunts and nods of assent, so he gave Connor a nod of acknowledgement and the short redhead ran ahead of the rest of them, likely to scout the village before they entered. The others walked at a slow pace, still shaken up but much better than before.

Thando had decided to rewrite his affirmations because he could feel how unstable he was getting. Snapping at the wrong time, especially now that he had powers, could be fatal, and not just for him. He couldn’t afford that. The problem was, the medieval setting the Narrative Shift had generated didn’t seem to have any paper. Writing them in the journal was no longer possible, as it wasn’t around when he wasn’t channelling ego and Alexander had said that even though, as a Primary archetype, he wasn’t bound by cycles like the secondary and tertiary archetypes, his power wasn’t infinite and would sputter out after some time, depending on how much sleep he’d gotten.

Lesser archetypes would normally only be able to channel for five or six cycles of power, starting at 15 minutes long and increasing by five minutes with each successive cycle, corresponding to the dream cycles in which humans entered REM sleep and connected to the zeitgeist. Primaries somehow connected as soon as they fell asleep and banked their entire sleep session, giving them eight hours of power a day, assuming they kept a regular sleep schedule. Thando, however, hadn’t, as he and Sabine had been up for most of the night, then he’d passed out for an hour after facing the Spectre.

Note to self: All-night marathons will get me killed. Sex is more fun in the daytime anyway.

The group finally entered the village proper, a flash of red on one of the roofs being the only sign of their taciturn companion. Willem and Chan were going to nap, and after apologising again for hijacking the room, Thando planned on joining them after he’d searched for something to write on, having discovered that he still had his pen from before the Shift in his shorts. All else failing, he’d find a flat piece of wood and carve his affirmations onto it.

The village looked like your stereotypical fantasy fare. Thatched, layered roofs, wooden houses, low stone walls, the works. Essentially a bigger version of the hamlet Piet’s betrothed was in.

Poor girl. She had never seen Piet before yesterday but I could tell she cared. This place is fucked up.

Sabine waved at him from the door of what looked like an inn, calling him over. She’d finally worked up the courage to talk, it seemed.

“Hey Sabine.”

“Hey Thando. Umm, I think we need to talk.”

“Sure, let’s sit.”

They entered and sat down at one of the tables of the sparsely patronised inn. Alexander had explained that because the plot revolved around them, every resource within the Shift was at their disposal. Meaning they didn’t need to pay for food, drink or a bed, simply asking one of the background characters would get them whatever they wanted.

They ordered some food from a bored looking waitress and Sabine began speaking. She took a deep breath before starting.

“Umm okay, how do I say this? Look, last night was.. amazing. More than I thought it would be. Before all this, we’d been preparing for Lizzy’s wedding and I hadn’t even thought about guys in all the bustle. Now, we’re trapped in here and the thought that I could actually die is beginning to sink in. I don’t know if this is just me being horny and lonely or if I’m searching for some stability in this crazy situation but I.. I like you. To an embarrassing degree, especially since we didn’t know each other two days ago. You’re fun to talk to, confident, super hot, unreasonably tall, I mean fuck, dude, you even have a dimple! Sorry, I’m rambling but I hope you understand. Before this, I’d be too intimidated to even say hi to a guy like you. Since we might not make it out, I just want to know for certain where we stand.”

Sabine was red and breathless after her admission, as if she’d used one breath the entire time. Thando reached over the table and took her hand.

“That’s a.. complicated question, Sabine. I don’t want to rush into.. whatever this is, especially while we’re risking our lives and our sanity every day. Like you said, we haven’t been here long and according to Alexander, we’re not even near the end of this ordeal. But there’s also the fact that, out there, we’ll be completely new people. We can’t just go back to our old lives and, if I’m totally honest, I’d rather have someone I trust by my side because it will literally be all of us against the world. Remember how often [Gamer] was attacked after his Shift, and he was just one man. I have my friends, but you’re beginning to look like the only girl I can have an actual future with. So here’s what I propose. I think I like you too, but as you said, we barely know each other. While we’re in here, let’s take things slow. If you’re not sick of me by the time we bring the Shift down, I want to take you out and we can start something.”

“Okay.” She smiled, “Okay, I’m comfortable with that.”

The waitress chose this moment to bring their steaming plates of food, but Sabine raised a hand and stopped her.

“Miss Waitress, could you actually bring the food up to our room?” she said, giving Thando a suggestive look. “Maybe after 15 minutes or so.”

“Huh? But we don’t ha- ohhh yeah, our room. Make that 30 minutes, please.”

Sabine smiled.

An hour later, Thando and Sabine were digging into their now-cold food when they heard a thud and a scream from below. They looked at each other in alarm before rushing out of the room and down the stairs.

A sea of rats had taken over the ground level of the inn and there were more spilling out of the kitchen, filling the room with the sound of claws scratching against the wooden floor and a constant squeaking. Thando couldn’t even see the floor through all the dark grey fur. The waitress and the few patrons were standing on tables and shrieking. Thando and Sabine exploded in golden light as they sprang into action.

Thando loaded a Zap into his pen and jumped directly into the swarm. As soon as he touched the first rat, the scent of burning fur and ozone filled the air as all the rats in a wide radius around him were zapped with electricity. The circle of death gave Sabine a place to stand as her throat started glowing gold and she spoke with power.

“Stop.”

All the rodents immediately froze in place.

“Follow.”

She started making her way out of the room and every rat, now quietened, meekly followed her through the door. Another thud was heard from within the kitchen and Sabine nodded at Thando, indicating she had the swarm under control.

Thando ran into the kitchen, where he saw the cellar door wide open and rats peacefully streaming out of it. Now that he was closer, he heard the sounds of fighting from inside.

Entering, he saw Likhwa locked in a deadly struggle against an enormous rat. It was the size of a lion and every bit as ferocious, as it slashed and scratched at him with claws the size of butcher’s knives.

For his part, Likhwa was holding his own, drenched in water for some reason, with a broken off claw sticking out of his thigh. Thando saw the corpse of another equally huge rodent lying off to the side, guessing that the claw was its parting shot. Still not too comfortable with using his Bang, he activated Hyperbole and leapt down the short flight of stairs.

“Heads up!”

Likhwa and the rat looked up, seeing Thando mid-lunge towards them. Likhwa gave a savage grin and tore the claw out of his thigh with a spray of blood, stabbing through the rat’s paw and the floor, pinning it to the spot.

Thando cocked back his arm, feeling it swell and grow. As he flew forwards, his fist expanded to the size of a car tyre and the veins in his arm shone with golden energy. The bulging muscles of his arm felt like a spring on the verge of breaking if the tension was not released.

Likhwa stepped back from the struggling rat and Thando crashed down onto it, punching directly at its torso. With a burst of viscera, his fist completely flattened the rat’s chest, barely any resistance felt. As his punch hit the ground underneath it, the golden light in his veins shot into the rat and it just.. popped, blood and effluvia painting the room.

“Ow fuck, this thing has really tough bones.” Thando complained as he started picking shards of bone out from his rapidly shrinking fist.

Likhwa started laughing. Thando was confused.

“What’s so funny?”

“Not that I’m complaining, but why are you naked?”