California.
Home of sun, surf, and sexual hedonism.
Not today, though. Today, it was raining.
Three tired Nekos snoozed in the SUV while Shadowpaw and I shared an umbrella on a search for food. I had a small list in my phone which Licorice had made. Whether we could get everything or not wasn't important.
The important thing was Licorice had started taking the idea of organising very seriously. I think she hoped to get at least one skill as soon as she could.
I admired her dedication and gave her a quick belly rub before leaving.
"We're going to need money sooner or later," Shadowpaw said. "Credit cards, too. I'm not sure my skill will make us bank accounts."
"Maybe not," I said. "But I have faith. The System will provide."
"You trust it an awful lot…"
I nodded, understanding she still harboured a few doubts. "I do," I said as we skipped across a small side street. "I can't really tell you what it was like on Neyteria. You'd find it hard to relate to. I'm sure some of the things I talk about sound impossible, even though you've witnessed some of it when you made Skye's ID."
"It's… different."
"Right." We paused at some traffic lights will a few cars cruised by. The puddles swished under their tyres. "When I first got to Neyteria, I was disoriented and paranoid. Before that, the System had asked me a lot of strange questions, but hadn't explained anything. Words were popping up in front of me all the time and I didn't get much of a chance to think. I was in the middle of a forest and I think there was a pig attacking me the second I got there. Nothing made sense and no one was there to explain it to me. Most of what I learnt in the beginning was trial and error. Mostly error."
"I doubt that," she scoffed.
"It was ten years ago for me, Shadowpaw. I was a bookstore clerk before that. A high school dropout. I was weak and frightened." We crossed again as the little green man gave us an encouraging clicking rhythm to walk to. "It took a long time before I started to notice there was a pattern to the System's interactions. It felt like it was constantly judging what I was doing and then providing me with the tools I needed to keep improving. Sometimes, I was disappointed in a skill it gave me, only to find I desperately needed that skill a few weeks later. I don't trust the System to keep me safe, but I do trust it to give me the opportunity to look after myself. I'm not sure if that makes sense."
"Kind of." She looked up to the sky beyond our umbrella. "Does that mean the System is God?"
"Ah!" I moved her away from the edge of the sidewalk as a car, going faster than the others, hit a puddle and sent a wave of water where her feet had been. "That's a good question. And one I can't answer. I can't decide if it's a conscious thing or not. Sometimes it feels sentient and thoughtful. Other time it feels alive only in the same way a plant does. The Demon Lord called it a virus and I guess that made more sense to me than it being a god. A virus is a living thing, but it doesn't think like we do, if at all."
"A virus!" She looked startled by the thought. "Are we sick? Will we die?"
"Everything dies," I said, again a bit surprised by the thought because I didn't have any Wisdom. "Actually, with the System I don't think I aged at all. Neither did the Nekos. You might live forever. Or…"
I trailed off as I shared a train of thought I mostly kept to myself.
"…we die when you do," she finished for me.
"The System categorised you as a minion," I said apologetically. "On Neyteria, I met a few Necromancers who had minions of their own. Those minions all disappeared when they died. However, their minions are mindless and their Management Workshop is pitiful. Maybe Nekos are different. The System locked me out from seeing what's happened to my other Nekos left behind. I don't think they disappeared. I think they're still alive on Neyteria. But, I don't know for sure what's happening to them. So, maybe minion means something different to my class."
"That sounds positive?"
"I hope so," I told her. Then gave her a firm look. "Please don't share those thoughts with anyone, Shadowpaw. I don't want them to worry."
"I won't," she promised.
"I freed you from the tyranny of the world," I told her, taking her hand. My head throbbed a little, which reminded me I needed some aspirin. "And I will free you from myself if I can find a way. Then I can be sure you'll be safe even if something happened to me."
"Nekos forever?"
"Nekos forever."
We entered the mall we'd been searching for, and I waited in front of a busy little supermarket while she went in on her own. I didn't have a stealth skill, so it was pointless for me to follow.
She returned fairly quickly, carrying a few shopping bags and shaking her head.
"This is crazy," she said. "I walked right up to the counter and just put everything into some bags and walked out. I even took the bags from behind the counter. The guy didn't even look at me. No one looked at me. I feel like a ghost."
"That's stealthies for you," I said, ruffling her hair and grinning at her. "You don't see them until they want to be seen. Sometimes, you're all a pain in my ass."
"How?"
"Imagine sitting in a chair for hours, just relaxing. Looking at the books on your library shelves. And then, just before dinner, you blink and realise there's been a stealthed Neko standing right in front of you all that time and you hadn't even seen her!"
Shadowpaw smiled a wicked smile which made me want to run away. "That sounds fun, actually."
"Gah! I didn't mean to give you ideas."
"But you did." She gave me the shopping bags, tucked her arm in mine, and let me lead her to the next shop. "Tell me more!"
She appropriated some more items we needed, filling up both of my hands with bags. I asked her to grab me a backpack, which she did.
As we trudged back towards the car, she couldn't stop shaking her head.
"It's so easy, though. Way too easy."
"For now."
"What?"
"I said, for now. Don't get used to it. Your skills are all fairly low compared to most places. We wouldn't do this sort of thing in any of the bigger cities in Neytonia. Their warding runes are too good. We'd have to get you deep into your shadow skills first."
"Shadow skills?"
"Forget about it for now." I shrugged to move the backpack into a more comfortable position. "I don't know when, but the System will initialize for others sooner or later. There will be more people like me, with their own classes."
"More Nekomancers?"
"I don't think so," I said, frowning. "As far as I know, I'm the only one."
"Why's that?"
"Because the System told me. It said Nekomancer was a unique class."
"Unique? Like, only one, then."
"Yeah. There's common, uncommon, rare, epic, and unique. I'm unique."
She giggled at that. "You are! I never met anyone like you in my whole life." Her giggle cut off. "Bexley?"
"Hmm?"
"It's getting harder to remember my old life."
"I know."
"Will I forget everything?"
"Eventually."
"Isn't that… a bad thing?"
"I don't know," I said thoughtfully. I'd had this discussion many times. "What do you feel?"
"Happy," she said, holding my arm tighter. "I'm so happy. Sometimes, I don't know why."
"It's the Neko way," I said, a little distracted by the pulsing ache in my head. I'm glad she'd brought me some aspirin, but it was tucked away in the bags and I hadn't been able to take it yet. "Nekos are always happy. That's why they're so special. I do my best to make sure you're happy. Every minute of every day."
"That sounds sweet."
"Is it?"
"I don't know. I don't remember having any proper relationships before. I know I dated sometimes. Mostly other cops, or friends of cops." She sighed. "It never worked out."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. Maybe it was my work. Maybe it was me." She pulled herself closer as it started to rain again. "I always felt like either the men I dated were afraid I was investigating them or they wanted me to cuff them. Either way, it ended up being awkward."
"Sweet Shadowpaw," I put leaned down and kissed her cheek. "You can investigate me anytime."
She grinned up at me. "And cuff you?"
"Now now. Let's not get too carried away…"