“Oh no you don’t,” and I step a bit closer to the white screen pointing my finger at it, “You got me into this mess, you’re sticking around to help me get out.”

[We wish to assist, but this is as far as our current power reaches. Your body will not be able to handle anymore of our interfering with the system’s data.]

“So, I just have to trust your plan from now on? Yeah, not falling for that, you at least have to tell me where my brother is before you go disappearing forever on me.”

[We will reveal his location when you are ready], and I’m almost tempted to punch it again but it quickly continues on, [and we will not be gone, just unable to reach you. Outside of the levels we will be able to speak once more, only inside the labyrinth will our power be blocked. You can always return here to seek us.]

‘Still annoying,’ I think to myself, as I sigh and run a hand through my new pink hair. It takes a second before I remember that it wasn’t always pink. It’s weird how used I’ve gotten to color but considering everything else I’m busy dealing with, it ranks rather low on the priority list.

“You better keep your promises system.”

[We are not the system] it reminds in bold and I don’t know why but a shiver runs down my spine, my feet itch to take a step back even though the screen is just a mess of pixels. ‘Seems I stepped on a nerve.’

“Then what should I call you? You look the same minus the color.”

It pauses for a moment as if trying to figure out what to call itself. [We believe the term “hacker” is the best option. That is the word for ones who invade and break systems in your tongue is it not?]

Well, that was a lot of information at once and I feel like it might have just said a few things that are very important, but I really don’t care about its backstory. My only concern is finding Zeke.

“Okay, then hacker, my brother’s location first or I’m not playing your game.”

The white window takes a second to appear again, as if the people on the other side are thinking about what to say. It’s easy to imagine a bunch of nerds crowding around an old desktop, muttering to each other and gesturing wildly to a conspiracy board as they debate their word choices. Though I highly doubt that’s what is really happening, it’s a thought that brings a smile to my face all the same. I know already it’s not going to tell me, but maybe it will crack one of these times and slip.

[We have warned you not to seek this information.]

I glare at the window and amazingly it continues [But since you are so insistent, and we are running out of time. We can tell you no more than that your brother is in the tutorial.]

“He’s here?! Which door?!”

And I frantically scan the doors as if I will suddenly see a difference now that I know one of them leads to Zeke.

[Our influence is weak here and your body unstable, we cannot use any more power until you stabilize.]

“And how do I stabilize?”

[By fulfilling your [Heart-Wish]]

“My what?”

[You may think of it as part of the price you must pay for our aid. You have a “tenet” with us, much like how an acolyte might make to their god. It is a rule you must follow, a condition you must meet. If you succeed, your power will stabilize and we will be able to interfere more, fail and you will continue to fracture apart until it kills you.]

I whistle at the long-winded explanation, that I only briefly skim through, “Seems like a stupidly harsh penalty for only getting your unhelpful ass, but fine, what’s my condition then?”

With another faint ding a blue system window appears, [Registered Heart-Wish is—]

And I hear a sad pained voice ring in my head and echo through my bones, a voice that has always been lingering since I woke up but that I was blind to until now. It whispers in a voice before familiar as my own and as foreign as a stranger, a quiet whispered, “I don’t want to be alone.”

“What the fuck was that?” and I glance around just to make sure there’s no one else nearby, but I’m alone in the camber.

[Your Heart-Wish], hacker types, [it was the wish that summoned you.]

“Summoned me—?” I cut myself off, shaking my head with a sigh and crossing my arms, “look I don’t care for your nonsense world building or stupid terms. If I need to fulfill this pointless condition to get my brother back, then I’ll find this sad sap all the friends they want.”

[No, it’s a condition for you.] it emphasizes, screen circling around me before coming to stop in front of me once more, [you must gather allies and not be alone.]

“Fuck.”

‘Well that just got 1000x times harder’, I think glaring at the white window. I’m not exactly a sociable person. Outside of Zeke every other human being is a chore to speak to. I have people I’m familiar with sure, everyone does, but nothing like a friend or gods be dammed a lover. Zeke was always more than enough for me, and in between rough dead-end jobs making sure we had enough to eat and keeping away any of the vultures that thought us easy prey, I never really had a chance to be lonely or learn the right people skills to gain friends. ‘And now my life depends on who well I can make small talk? This really is a fucked-up system.’

“If you’re a hacker, can’t you change it?”

[No, this is something even we cannot change.] and even though it’s a floating box of text I can somehow sense the grave nature of its words, [To alter your heart wish will have consequences that at best will kill you.]

“At best huh?” well that wasn’t ideal clearly, guess I have to play nice then, my least favorite activity. “How long do I have to find a person?”

[Another day before the debuffs will start]

‘That’s annoyingly fast,’ I think to myself, crossing my arms, ‘guess I have to become buddies with the first person I meet.’ I pause as the thought sinks in with discomfort, squirming sense of dread and unease, but I shake it off. ‘And I’ll find one who preferably isn’t trying to stab me.’ I quickly add on to the end, thoughts flashing to Night for a moment.

“So, I just need to complete the tutorial, not die, and get a lackey?” I ask to summarize, “then you tell me where and how to free my brother?”

[Yes, we cannot aid you if your dead.]

“I’d make a kick-ass zombie though,” I point out, the hacker or hackers—they do speak with a ‘we’, but who really cares if it’s one person or a whole country long as them help, I’ll call them what they want and behave as best I can. No matter what it is, they ignore my joke and leave me alone with my choice of doors, guess it’s time to test my luck.

I scan over my options once more, leaving out the broken down door that most likely leads to the boss room. In order from left to right the doors are; hawk, snake, lizard, wolf, cat, bear, boar, butterfly, and spider.

Butterfly is the most obvious outlier in that lineup, which either meant it is the easiest or extremely bad. And while normally I wouldn’t mind testing my luck, with finding Zeke on the line as well, best to avoid it just in case, even if it had signs of being opened the most. Snakes and spiders are a hard no, because venom, and I do not want to test if my healing skills extend to that, and I’m not using [Cleansing Touch] on myself until I’m certain it’s not going to just kill me like it did the other people I used it on.

[Your skill dose not kill] hacker types, but I ignore it as I continue to try and be smart about which door to go down.

Cat I guess is an okay option, I’ve never minded cats, but I doubt these will be house cats, and I’m not sure I want to take my chances with a lion or tiger or whatever mythological nightmare is hiding behind that door. And even if they are just house cats, no person can outrun a cat, small and fast with teeth and claws? No thank you, I would rather the spiders.

Hawk is also a hard no. They were birds, which meant they could fly and ‘as a human—' I pause, reaching a hand up to feel the tips of my pointed ears. With a cheery ding my player screen appears with its glitched out background. ‘A mostly human person’ I amend my thoughts. ‘I don’t fly, so not going through there’. Even with my spear, it would a struggle and whose to say the whole tutorial takes place in a cave? Best not to risk it for now with flying creatures.

Wolves are pack creatures, so I wouldn’t just be fighting one wolf at a time, so I’m going to pass on that one as well. Boars are notorious for being vicious jerks, so I would rather not, the same with bear. Not to mention the bear door had a knife stuck into the wood, while the boar door had the word “NO” carved into it. Which only left the lizard.

Lizard didn’t…. sound that bad. Unless its talking like alligators or something, but the other doors seem pretty specific about what kind of animal/monsters are behind them. So, I assume, it’s just going to be lizards, which… even if they are large like Komodo Dragons I feel pretty good about my chances of killing a lizard.

Plus, the lizard door looks relatively untouched. No threatening words, or well-worn hinges, just your typical everyday door.

I glance up one last time to see if the hacker has anything to say, but it doesn’t flicker into view, no approval or disapproval. “Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out,” and I reach out and turn the door handle.