“Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis shows what we have become.”

Brooke Foss Westcott, English Bishop of Durham (1825 – 1901)

“What attributes are you picking this time?” Xavier asked as they sat beneath a lilac tree and stared out at the Castle of Glass in the distance. It was early evening, and they’d stopped to finish Milly’s level-up before they headed back to the Castle.

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone that,” she countered, her player screen open beside her. They had just defeated their seventh goblin, and the battle had been enough to get them both to level three.

“Yeah, but I told you what I picked.”

“No you didn’t! You were walking ahead of me and forgot I existed, so I saw your screen from behind,” she reminded him. “Not my fault you were sloppy. Hey! Is that another goblin on that hill over there?”

“Where?” he said excitedly, squinting towards the hill. “I don’t see anything. Where the hell are you looking?”

While he was distracted, she added two points to agility and quickly closed her screen before he could see. She gritted her teeth against the pain and breathed a sigh of relief when it was over.

“Hey!” he protested as he saw her screen blink away. “That’s not fair. What’d you pick?”

Milly just shrugged, trying to conceal her mischievous grin.

“Whatever,” he grumbled. “It’s just a couple of attribute points. I’m still pissed we didn’t get a talent point when we hit level three.”

“Would have made this worth it,” she agreed, staring down at the remnants of her precious—and only—hoodie.

The back of her hoodie had been ripped open by the last goblin’s razor-sharp claws, and left the fabric below her belly button hanging on by a literal thread. She’d had to cut the bottom off completely before it was damaged further, which had turned her hoodie into a strange crop top that made her uncomfortable.

Now I have to walk around the office with my belly hanging out, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Ugh…I hate my body. I’m ugly, and everyone’s going to stare at me. Calista is going to have a field day. Probably will tell everyone I’m putting on a sexy little show, like she did before. Maybe I can just stay under this lilac forever. At least it smells good…unlike me.

She longed for the protective ambiguity of her undamaged hoodie and prayed someone at the office would have a sewing kit so she could repair it.

Strangely, she felt little discomfort around Xavier, even when she’d stripped down to her bra.

He never gives me a second glance, regardless of my state of dress. I don’t know whether to be relieved, or insulted.

A cool evening breeze blew across her bare skin, and she shivered.

“Should we head back?” Xavier asked. “I’m not sure we want to be out here after dark. Not until we’re much higher level. In many games, the monsters get a lot stronger at night.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” she sighed, pulling her hoodie down as low as it would go.

“Knock it off,” he scolded, slapping her hand away from the torn fabric. “If someone doesn’t like it, you can just punch them. You’re stronger and…tougher?”

She shrugged again, revealing nothing.

“…than before, so stop worrying so much about what people like Calista fucking Gale think. She’s just a shallow bully and her opinion is less than worthless. And the rest of our coworkers aren’t much better.”

She didn’t want to argue with him.

Xavier doesn’t care about anyone else back at the office, but I do. I hope everyone’s safe. I should check on Calista when we get back.

The last thought popped into her head suddenly, surprising her.

Since when have I ever—ever—wanted to see Calista? This damn day has my brain all scrambled. Nothing makes sense anymore.

As they marched for the office, the evening sun at their back, she still found herself trying to cover up her stomach despite Xavier’s advice—until they grew closer to the Castle, and all thought of modesty was abandoned.

The perimeter of the Castle teemed with hundreds of shocked and disoriented employees from the four companies, huddled together in small groups or wandering aimlessly, trying to make sense of the world around them. Some were injured, and many were in tears or stared blankly out at a world they no longer recognized.

It looks like a warzone out here. What the hell happened?

Above them—lining the windows of every floor in the single occupied tower—were hundreds more people staring out at the world beyond, too afraid to leave the workplace.

“Cowards,” Xavier scowled as he mocked those watching from the tower. “Maybe if they ignore everything, it will just go away.”

“They’re scared, Xavier,” Milly said sympathetically, spotting Fredrickson’s fat face squished against the tenth-floor window. “I’d be up there with them if you hadn’t dragged me out.”

“At least some people have gotten the message,” he said, glancing around the perimeter and hearing the crowded rumble of voices in the lobby.

She recognized a few faces who had overcome the initial shock of everything that had happened.

An elderly man in a fluorescent green jumpsuit—whom she recognized as the CEO of EnergyWave—was strolling through the northern forest by himself, plucking mushrooms off decaying logs and stuffing moss into his inventory as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

The three young lawyers were practicing with the rusted weapons in a clearing at the edge of the forest, the youngest having finally abandoned—or lost—his briefcase.

A middle-aged woman, whom Milly thought was one of the government managers, was, of all things, inspecting the quality of the prairie soil outside the Castle. Two of her employees held clipboards and were taking notes.

“Not everyone seems glad they came downstairs,” Xavier observed, pointing towards the prairie-side lobby entrance.

Kenji and Amir, the accountants who occupied the cubicle across from them, sat on the stairs, their eyes filled with resigned terror. Amir had a fresh cut across his cheek, and Kenji clutched a broken spear. Edna Carthage, their manager, was yelling at them with more venom than Milly had ever heard from the woman.

“All I told you to do was find some food, and you couldn’t even do that!” Edna shrieked at the top of her lungs. “Get your asses up, get back out there, or so help me, I’ll…”

“Fire them?” Xavier interrupted as they approached the lobby. “You threaten to fire them three times a week, Edna. Good luck trying that now. You aren’t in charge around here anymore. Kenji and Amir don’t have to listen to your shrill, idiotic nonsense.”

Edna whirled around, a scowl plastered across her thin face. Her heavy make-up was streaked, and her tight blond curls were in disarray. Milly had never seen the manager’s carefully crafted appearance slip so far. Her eyes fell on Xavier and flashed with intense anger.

“You two! You’re in so much trouble. How dare you push Frank! You’re going to pay for that. And where the hell have you been? You were instructed to attend the meeting in the boardroom. If you’d bothered to show up, you’d know we’re trying to maintain some semblance of order in this emergency. Mr. Stone demands you step in line and…”

Xavier didn’t slow his march into the lobby. He pushed past Edna, knocking her out of the way. Edna gaped up at the man, her face turning red.

“Fuck off, Edna,” he scowled. “You get in my way again, and we’ll be exchanging more than just words.”

Edna was about to scream at him, until she saw the sword clutched at his side. Her anger drained away, and she backpedaled away from the exit.

Xavier strode into the lobby without looking back.

Milly knelt beside Amir as the lobby doors slammed shut.

“Are you guys okay?” she asked, placing a hand against Amir’s bloody cheek.

“There are monsters out there, Milly. People have been hurt. We think people have d-died,” Kenji stammered, trying unsuccessfully to contain his panic.

Her heart clenched with sorrow as Kenji spoke.

“We tried to help—we really did—but there was this green creature with a knife,” added Amir apologetically. “We barely got away. I-I don’t want to go back out there. I don’t want to die.”

“I know,” she said simply, as she activated her Healer’s Touch. Her hand glowed blue, and she directed her magic into Amir’s cut. He stared at her with wide, frightened eyes as she poured enough magic into the wound to stem the bleeding. “There, that should help a little.”

“How…how did you…?” Amir stuttered, his finger tracing across the wound.

She started to answer, until Xavier poked his head. “Milly, get in here.”

She smiled at the two men and followed Xavier inside. Distracted, she missed the glare of absolute hatred that Edna shot behind her back.

The Castle of Glass’s lobby was packed with a hundred people and an equal number of Tutorias, each dressed slightly differently to reflect their assigned player. The noise was deafening. Some of their coworkers were hunched against the wall, their heads between their legs as they tried to block out their pink-haired Tutorias’ steady stream of information. Others were in tears or simply stared at the stained glass in utter shock, their situation incomprehensible.

A makeshift first aid clinic had been created in the southwestern corner, in front of one of the vacant stores. It was packed full of bruised and bloodied people whose groans added to the fear that permeated the lobby. A few people had scraped together enough composure to help the injured, wrapping wounds with supplies obtained from floor first aid kits.

“We’re running low on bandages,” called a tall, muscular man in a white tee-shirt spattered with blood. He was kneeling over a woman whose arm had been broken. “Shit, Ying. Lucy doesn’t look good. I don’t know what to do.”

“Damn it, Tyrell, I can’t do it all myself,” replied the short woman in her early thirties as she impatiently swiped her short black hair out of her eyes. “Veronica! Go to my admin desk just off the entrance to the third floor. I’ve got a pair of shoelaces and an old yardstick we can use to help brace this. Go!”

Veronica dashed away, and Milly flagged her down before she got to the stairs.

“Veronica, what’s going on?” she asked, as the injured woman’s scream of pain cut through the noise of the crowd.

“Milly! Xavier! You’re…you’re alive!”

“Of course we are,” Xavier grumbled. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“You disappeared this morning before the meeting. The managers told us to stay on the floor while the four CEOs met upstairs to develop a plan. Some…some of us didn’t listen. Milly, I need to get back to my children—they’re all alone. But there are monsters out there. Everyone who entered the wilds is coming back hurt…or not at all.”

“We know about the monsters,” she said softly, glancing back at the medical area. “Xavier, I’m going to go help them. My magic…”

Before she could finish, an angry roar erupted from the jungle, rattling the stain-glass windows.

“What the fuck was that?” Xavier whispered, hand anxiously gripping his sword hilt.

Veronica’s face went white as a ghost as the lobby erupted into a terrible panic. The Tutoria’s popped out of existence, and the horde of people scrambled for the elevator and stairwells. Those who were outside burst into the lobby, pushing their way through the doors in a frantic attempt to escape what was coming.

“Shit, come on Milly!” he shouted, pushing his way through the crowd towards the jungle exit. Milly instinctively followed on his heels, as Veronica fled into the stairwell.

She nudged her way through the crowd, her enhanced strength and agility helping her maneuver through the throngs of panicked people.

She burst through the jungle exit, a light rain spackling her bare skin. The vegetation was dense, with hanging moss and vines dangling off branches and vibrant wildflowers littered the landscape. Damp ferns and moss covered the undergrowth, and colorful birds flitted between the treetops. It would be gorgeous…if not for the roar that had shattered the jungle’s peace.

Her eyes fell on a woman in a tight black skirt and deep V-neck white flutter-sleeved blouse kneeling over an injured man outside the exit. She was soaked with sweat, and her long crimson hair stuck to her shoulders.

“C-Calista?” she asked, shocked, as she saw the woman’s fancy clothing and polished fingernails covered in blood. She was clutching a first aid kit to her chest with one hand and holding gauze against the man’s chest wound with the other.

Has she been helping the injured?!

“Mil-dead?” Calista answered, sounding lost and paralyzed by the roar. She glanced down at the man, and back into the jungle. “He…he just ran out of the jungle and collapsed. I-I don’t think we can move him. He’s hurt really bad. I-I don’t know what to do.”

Xavier, ignoring the prone man, rushed over to Calista and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Calista, what the hell was that roar?”

“I-I don’t know,” Calista whispered, eyes filled with fear. “There were a couple of people who went into the jungle a few minutes ago. Their friend was killed by a monster this morning and they wanted revenge. They…they were drunk. And angry.”

He looked like he was about to slap the woman—the very sight of her enough to bring out his anger—when three people appeared from the jungle, crashing through the undergrowth in a desperate attempt to reach the lobby.

“Run! Everybody fucking run!” cried the man in the blue dress shirt and black tie. Drenched in sweat, he scrambled through the ferns, desperate not to slip on the wet undergrowth. A woman in a pink blouse ran at his side, and an older man with monogrammed sleeves trailed behind.

The man in blue clutched the shaft of a rusted spear tightly in his hands, the head having been snapped off.

Behind them, erupting from the jungle with another angry roar, came a ten-foot tall, massive humanoid monster. So broad as to be nearly square, he was easily over five hundred pounds. He carried a six-foot-long trunk as a club and had a sadistic grin as it chased its fleeing prey.

Milly swallowed her fear and opened her inventory, readying herself for the fight.

The Non-Canonical Aftermath:

“Milly, I’ve had this hangnail that’s been bugging me,” Amir nudges, sticking out his finger towards her. “Do you think you could heal that too?”

“Oh, and I got a papercut yesterday,” Kenji jumps in. “It really stings.”

“And I stubbed my toe on my desk. If you could…”

Milly groans.

“You see,” Xavier says in his best ‘I told you so’ voice. “This is why you keep your powers a secret.”

Scenic Art by Nancy Harron