Trailblazer Read online

She didn’t pretend to laugh. Sometimes his jokes just weren’t funny. Not to her, anyway.

  “Anyway,” Darthrok continued, looking amused, “What next? I thought Essley would be here by now, but she must have had something to do.”

  Sally took another bite of churro. They’d gone through all of Pivot, seeking out CMs. Four times, she’d doubled back to her store to help customers. After she’d made sure people had what they needed from her store, they’d picked up the tour where they’d left off.

  She hadn’t managed to touch a single one of the CMs, nor had any of them felt like they were similar to her. Each of them had been fairly simple, with obviously pre-established lines of dialogue.

  That made her think of Sujan. He used plenty of set dialogue, but sometimes she felt like he was customizing things he said. Plus, she’d been able to touch him. And, she found it easier to talk to him. What made him different than the other CMs?

  She stuffed the last of her churro in her mouth. “I need to talk to Sujan again.”

  Darthrok gazed at her, mystified. “What? I can’t hear you with all that food in your mouth.”

  At first, putting the remainder of her food into her mouth had seemed efficient, because she wouldn’t have to continue to hold it. Now that she’d done it, she found that having too much food in her mouth could make it, paradoxically, hard to chew or swallow.

  With an effort, she managed to gulp the dessert down, noting that she’d need to keep her bites much smaller in the future. “Ow.”

  Darthrok laughed. “Let’s get some water. It’ll help wash that down. Sometimes I forget how new you are to everything.”

  They backtracked to the tavern, which they’d already checked out. At the counter, Darthrok ordered two waters and slid two coppers across the bar.

  Sally smiled politely at Lorrain, for whom, presumably the tavern had been named. “Last Call Lorrain’s” was a fun name, really.

  Lorrain nodded back at Sally pleasantly, but without any hint of recognition, even though Sally had talked to her at length just a half hour ago. The bartender didn’t appear to find it odd that Sally and Darthrok would come in for drinks, leave, and come back again for water so soon.

  “Can I get a lemonade?” Sally asked.

  Lorrain brightened, with exactly the same toothy smile she’d shown when Darthrok had first ordered lemonades for them.

  “One Lulu of a Lemonade coming up!”

  While the bartender got the beverage, Darthrok asked, “Testing her out to see if you can get a different response?”

  Sally sighed. She hadn’t expected it to work. “Not really. Mostly, I just like the drink.”

  “We could get a spiked one, if you want to try it.”

  She shook her head. “I prefer it unpierced.”

  He laughed. “No, spiked means it has alcohol in it. You’ve never tried it, right?”

  “I’ve heard of it. No thanks.”

  He finished off his water and set the glass down. “Fair enough. To be honest, the lemonade’s tastier when it’s plain.”

  Sally finished her water, and Lorrain set a tall, frosty glass with a slice of lemon on the rim in front of Sally.

  Darthrok leaned his chin on his hand and watched her take a drink. “It’s funny about you. In some ways you’re super smart and savvy, and in others, you’re like a child. It’s cute.”

  “I feel the same about you,” she said, “but probably less cute.”

  He laughed, and she smiled in response. She liked that she could make jokes and tease him, and that he’d laugh. He had a good sense of humor. He was honest, and he’d proven to be trustworthy. He’d been a bit blunt and unintentionally insulting at first, but he treated her pretty much like he treated Essley now.

  “What do you think about me?” she asked carefully, watching him. “Do you think I’m real?”

  He blinked in surprise, then his expression turned thoughtful. “I’m not sure what you are, really. If you’re sentient or what. I do think you’re unique, and that whatever has made you the way you are now, it wasn’t intentional. There’s no way what you’ve been doing is part of anyone’s plan. So…I believe you’re Sally Strong. One of a kind.” He ducked his head and smiled at her. “Is that good enough?”

  She got a thrill out of hearing her new name, but her sense of warmth toward him went deeper than that. He didn’t entirely understand her—and that was okay, because she didn’t understand herself yet, either—but he was a friend she could count on, nonetheless.

  “Good enough,” she agreed.

  She took a sip of her sweet, tangy lemonade, and her notification system alerted her that someone had just stepped into her shop.

  “Is something wrong?” Darthrok asked.

  “I have to go to my shop.” She pushed her drink away, suddenly no longer interested in it.

  “You could bring the lemonade with you,” he suggested. “No need to get sad about it.”

  “It’s not that. I just don’t want to go.”

  “Why?”

  She’d known this problem would come up sooner or later. She’d been hoping it would wait a bit longer. Until she felt more ready for it. “It’s Kitria.”

  Sally had never felt more worried about entering her shop. Normally, she knew exactly what would happen, and felt confident that she could handle any transaction with ease. A person would ask for something, Sally would provide it, and the world would continue to spin.

  This was nothing like those times. As Sally entered her shop, she didn’t know how the impending transaction would end. Or begin. Or what might happen in between.

  She did know that it would be unlike anything else she’d experienced.

  Breathing in the familiar scent of her store—all wood and metal and oil—she straightened her shoulders and walked behind the counter. Only then did she fasten her attention on Kitria.

  Should she fasten on her normal, amiable smile? Should she act the way Kitria expected her to?

  No.

  It might be safer to do so. Sally didn’t want people to realize she’d changed. She didn’t want to attract attention. But she couldn’t pretend to be what she used to be in front of Kitria. Sally was awake now, as awake as Kitria or Darthrok or anyone else, and she deserved better.

  She deserved to defend herself.

  Sally met Kitria’s gaze, unsmiling. She put her hands on the sales counter that was in her store, which was situated in her town.

  She leaned forward. “What do you want?”

  Kitria’s head tilted back and to the side. “That’s a new greeting. Upgrades?”

  Dathrok stood just inside the entry, tense. In that instant, Sally knew that if things went badly, he would fight, and die, for her. She also knew that Kitria could pound him into the dirt. He was only level twelve.

  Sally did a deep assessment of Kitria rather than the usual basic type that only required a glance. She carefully noted every detail.

  Kitria

  Adventurer

  Chaotic Neutral

  Level Forty

  Profession: Entrepreneur

  Specialty: Mercenary

  Kitria is carrying fifty-eight platinum coins.

  Kitria has seventy-eight platinum, sixty-three gold, twenty-eight silver, and twelve copper in electronic funds.

  Kitria is a formidable adversary, but not a concern for you.

  Kitria is in a bad mood. Kitria is usually in a bad mood.

  Sally laughed at that last bit. She leaned forward, toward Kitria, gathering all of her words and letters, and carefully enunciated. “Up grades. Big. Big up grades, Kitria, chaotic neutral level forty mercenary adventurer.”

  Wow, that was a lot of syllables. But she’d gotten through it.

  Kitria’s arrogance faded, and curiosity rushed in to replaced it. “Is an event about to start?”

  Sally dug deep and gave Kitria her best look of disdain. “Are you going to tell me what you want?”

  Kitria blinked. “Wow. I guess they changed
your personality. Okay. Buy premium metal cutter.”

  Sally narrowed her eyes. “Ask nicely.”

  Kitria took a step back. “Dude, don’t get a short circuit. What did they do to you? Fine. Please can I buy a premium metal cutter?”

  Sally smiled. “Two platinum.”

  It was a fair price. Not the most she might charge, but not nearly as low as she could potentially offer, if an adventurer’s karma and charisma were working in their favor.

  “Offer one plat,” Kitria said.

  “People don’t talk like that,” Sally sniffed. “Ask nicely.”

  Kitria ran a hand through her hair. “Seriously? Fine, whatever. Please, can I offer one platinum for the premium metal cutter?”

  Sally didn’t like her tone, or the way she sarcastically enunciated every few words. “No. Two platinum.”

  Kitria scratched her chin and shifted her weight. “Are you wearing new clothes?”

  Sally stared at her. Was Kitria only now paying attention to Sally, now that she’d stood up for herself?

  She should have stood up for herself a long time ago. She wished she’d been able to do it a lot sooner, but it still felt good.

  Kitria sighed. “Fine. Accept.”

  It wasn’t a polite acceptance, as Kitria might have said to another adventurer, but Sally had pushed Kitria far enough for today. Sometimes, repairs took a long time to complete.

  Sally reached beneath her counter and pulled out two identical cutters. One of them, she exchanged with Kitria for exactly two platinum coins.

  The other, she activated and held in front of her, in case Kitria should get any ideas about reaching for her short sword.

  Kitria’s chin came up, her eyes focused on the dangerous tool.

  Sally deactivated the tool and met Kitria’s gaze. Really looked into her eyes. She leaned forward and enunciated, “Happy adventuring. Come again soon.”

  For the first time ever, Sally saw a flicker of doubt in Kitria’s eyes.

  “This is weird.” Kitria frowned. “Whatever.”

  She left the store.

  As soon as she was out, Darthrok could no longer maintain his cool. He let out a wordless shout, then said, “Holy” and then a bizarre ululating sound came out of his mouth.

  Sally stared at him.

  “Sorry,” he said. “Profanity filter. I mean, holy gasket, that was steamin’ awesome! I’m pretty sure you made her fear for her life, and you didn’t even do anything.”

  Sally laughed. “I did, didn’t I?”

  “Yeah, you did!” He ran around the counter and picked her up, spinning her around.

  She laughed, he laughed, they both laughed until they were giddy with the thrill of success.

  She heard the sound of a throat clearing, and Darthrok set her down.

  “What did I miss?” Essley asked.

  “And she just left?” Essley asked in disbelief.

  “Walked right out,” Darthrok confirmed, grinning.

  “Wow. I wish I’d seen that.” Essley’s look of amazement gradually morphed into a smile.

  Sally had let Darthrok do most of the storytelling, both because she didn’t want to stumble over her words and because she wanted to hear his perspective.

  His perspective made her sound really cool. So cool that she almost wanted to meet the person he was describing, but that person was her and she could scarcely believe it.

  She giggled, suffused with a level of delight previously unknown to her.

  Pride.

  It was pride she felt. She’d known the word, but not the feeling. Until now.

  An odd but pleasant sensation filled her, like light filling a previously darkened room. She felt brightened. Illuminated. Parts of her that had been dark now felt newly alive. She felt smarter, more aware, and more capable.

  The sensation was similar to when she increased her knowledge. It had to mean that she’d leveled up.

  She closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her chest, sinking into her sense of pride and accomplishment.

  “Sally. Sally?” Essley’s voice penetrated Sally’s haze and she opened her eyes.

  “You’re crying again,” Essley said, stepping close and wiping tears from her cheek.

  Sally hadn’t realized. “It’s good,” she assured her friends. “It isn’t bad to cry. It’s strong.”

  Darthrok leaned in and patted her on the back. “Yeah, it can be. Just like you.”

  She smiled. She’d never felt stronger. She wiped away the rest of her tears and slapped her hands down on her sales counter. “Right. Sally Strong, phase two.”

  She struggled to say the word phase, which she’d put together with sounds from different words, but from Essley’s and Darthrok’s expressions, they understood it.

  “Sure,” Darthrok agreed. “So what’s phase two?”

  “All circuits that lead in also lead out,” Sally said.

  “Okay. Same question.” He smiled faintly.

  Sally smiled back. “We wake Sujan.”

  8

  “How do you know Sujan can be woken?” Essley held her hands up in front of her in an apologetic gesture, palms out. “Don’t take that the wrong way. But he doesn’t seem like he’s…you know…like you.”

  It was true, Sally’s plan had a major flaw, but she wasn’t going to let that slow her down. The worst that could come of her trying to wake Sujan was that he would remain unawake.

  A little bit of failure wouldn’t hurt her.

  “He isn’t like me,” Sally admitted. “Yet. But if I can, I think he can. I’m different than everyone. But he’s different too, in his own way. I can touch him.”

  “That is different,” Darthrok agreed. “But he isn’t awake like you. He’s still moving in his old patterns. Following his same loops.”

  “But I can touch him,” Sally persisted. “I can’t touch the other CMs. And my words are bigger with him. To talk is easy.”

  “Plus, he’s gorgeous, right, Sal?” Essley grinned. “I mean, he’s not my type, but he’s very good looking.”

  Sally smirked and shook her head. “That doesn’t hurt, but it’s not why.”

  Essley and Darthrok chuckled.

  “So how do we wake him?” Darthrok asked.

  “Don’t know.” Sally pursed her lips. “That’s the weak spot.”

  “That’s the weak spot in the plan?” Essley peered at her for confirmation.

  Sally nodded.

  “Yeah, I’d say so.” Darthrok frowned thoughtfully.

  “There was a guy,” Sally said slowly.

  They both looked at her expectantly, waiting for more.

  “A kind of scary guy,” she added.

  Essley nodded encouragingly.

  Sally focused on her words and letters, carefully planning each word and syllable before she said them. It was hard, and her sentences became very slow. “GM, may be. He talked to me. He knew I was different. He said he could give me more words, but said I needed to be fixed. So I acted like old Sally Streetmonger to make him go away.”

  Darthrok threw his hands up in the air. “Hang on, hang on, wait. A GM noticed that you’d changed and talked to you about it?”

  Sally nodded.

  “And he said he could increase your vocabulary, but that he wanted to make you the way you used to be?”

  Sally nodded again.

  “Blazing currents, Sally, how did you not mention this before?” Darthrok’s eyes were much wider than normal.

  “He went away,” she answered. “Is it important still?”

  Darthrok’s eyes got even bigger. “Yeah! Yeah, that’d be important. Even if he thought you’d been reset, he’s likely to check back on you to make sure your code’s clean.”

  He was saying strange words again, and he seemed upset.

  “What should we do?” she asked.

  “There’s nothing to do, really,” Essley said. “If we try asking about it, we’ll just be drawing attention to you, which we don’t want.”


  “So,” Sally said, “we can’t do anything anyway. It doesn’t factor in.”

  Essley and Darthrok exchanged a look.

  “She’s right,” Essley said. “It doesn’t change anything we might do.”

  “But it’s something we should have known,” Darthrok argued. “Sally, if something—if anything—happens, anything out of the ordinary, make sure you tell us, okay? Maybe it won’t change anything about what we do, but at least we’ll be informed, so we can be watching or thinking ahead. Even if the words are hard for you to find, just try, and we’ll try to understand. Okay?”

  Aw. He was worried about her. She could tell. She nodded. “Okay.”

  It was nice to have someone worry about her.

  She said, “I’m going to go see Sujan tomorrow.”

  “What will you do?” Essley asked. “Do you have any ideas on how to wake him up?”

  Sally shook her head. “No ideas yet. Maybe I’ll think of something. Or maybe Guy will show up.”

  Essley looked concerned about that possibility. “That could be a bad thing, though, right?”

  “Could be,” Sally admitted. “If it happens, we’ll see. Otherwise, I’ll keep working on Sujan.”

  She had about twelve hours. She needed to come up with a new, very convincing reason for him to take her on as an apprentice. If she fulfilled the quest he’d given her, she’d have a reason to see him frequently. Spending time with him would give her the chance to find the key to waking him up. Plus, becoming his apprentice might make him more open to her. More accessible.

  Sally looked from Essley to Darthrok. “He’s different than the others, and Guy wants us to stay apart. That has to mean something, right?”

  “It could.” Essley nodded.

  “Sure, why not?” Darthrok agreed.

  They weren’t entirely convinced. She could see from their body language that they were keeping their doubts to themselves to avoid discouraging her.

  Should she reconsider? She didn’t want Somewhat Threatening Guy around, and she definitely didn’t want him tinkering with anything that made her who she now was. But everything seemed to be pointing her at Sujan, and she felt certain that there must be a reason.

  Adventuring was supposed to be risky, right?