Everyone checked out their homes before meeting back up. Adrian thought it was a weird feeling, knowing he'd worked so hard for this apartment and that he wouldn't be able to re-sign because of his job layoff. Now, none of that matters. The same is true with living alone, being single, and having no romantic prospects. The old world no longer mattered, and Adrian was excited to leave his old life behind.

  I really am a stereotypical Isekai character. Minus the part where I leave Earth.

  He laughed at the notion. This was a fresh start, a reset button on a life that had gone awry. He didn't find anything worth bringing with him, so he sent a message to the rest of the group in their newly acquired party chat interface.

  Hue: Finished on my end. Looks like the city is pretty deserted.

  Maeve: I'm westbound across the river. There's a settlement and more signs of life, but not engaging them.

  Todd: I went east and found a few settlements. Didn't engage.

  Paige: Guys, there are a bunch of dead bodies hanging from a streetlight downtown. Didn't attempt any recon after spotting the corpses.

  Brody: The Dragonschpit belch, brewery ish a good time. Meet me hereeeeee. K bye.

  Maeve: What the fuck, Brody?

  Hue: It's as good a spot as any. Brody, drop a pin for the rendezvous point.

  Brody dropped the pin in the party chat, giving the team directions to the Dragonspit.

  Pin sent via party chat. Warning: AI dormant. The functionality of sending pins is reduced. Full functionality for sending locations in chats can be accessed when your personal AI becomes active.

  Finally, some details on the AI.

  It was a weird sensation. Adrian could feel the pin, as if it were calling to him. He followed the sensation deeper into downtown Cleveland.

  Adrian arrived at the brewery and took in the surroundings. There was already a community in the making, a magical one. There were magical gardeners, a tailor, a convenience store, a repurposed auto parts store, a restaurant, and a day care, but for grown-ass children in adult bodies. A lot was going on, and Adrian didn't want to wrap his head around a 4-year-old in a 20-year-old's body. The thought just creeped him out, but he had other reality-shattering ideas vying for real estate in his head. Still, he tried to keep himself from being overwhelmed by living in a magical world with rules understood by no one. Adrian sighed and walked inside the Dragonspit, a brewery with a wild atmosphere.

  "Bloody hell, you made it!" Brody was shit-faced and had a crowd around him. He was speaking in a British accent, which wasn't even among the top 10 weirdest things to happen today. "This drink gives you a British accent. It's mental, innit?" Brody laughed at the words coming out of his mouth, along with the others in the crowd.

  A bartender started to head in Adrian's direction. He looked like a stereotypical bartender at a local brewery. He was a larger man with a bushy mustache that tapered to a fine point, wearing a plaid shirt and hipster glasses. The fedora he wore really brought out the dragon's bright colors on his shoulder.

  "Is that a fucking dragon?"

  "Is that a fUcKIng DraGoN? Another human lacking mental capabilities walks through our doors. Sad!"

  The bartender laughed as he scratched the dragon under the chin.

  "Her name is Organic. And mine's Rolo. What can I get ya? Do you want an accent like your friend's? I can currently make drinks that give you British, German, Australian, and Irish accents." Brody was telling a story to his new friends, and they howled at the punchline. Rolo shrugged his shoulders at Brody when he said, "Great guy, he brings a great aura to the place."

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  "I'll just take a beer, hold the accent."

  Rolo gave a gentle smile and began pouring a beer.

  Everyone seemed to be having a good time, eating and drinking as if it were a standard happy hour after a long day at the office. It was as if they were completely unaware that the world hadn't fundamentally changed, even as they were surrounded by chaos. Adrian took a deep drink from his glass and instantly felt better.

  "What's in this drink? What did you do, Rolo?" Rolo had a sheepish look, as if he had been caught peeing outside.

  "Everyone is just so tense. I wanted to ease everyone's burdens and keep the good vibes going in here." Adrian tried to be pissed but couldn't. It was like the drink turned off his ability to be upset at anything.

  "How long until it wears off?"

  "About 10 minutes. Enough time to down another brew and keep the taps flowing!"

  So the hipster is also a hippy, got it.

  Most people didn't know the difference between a hippy and a hipster, but Adrian did.

  "Well, I can't really sell anything yet. The AI got rid of the entire financial system and said we haven't unlocked the Marketplace and transactional functions yet."

  Adrian went into his wallet and looked at one of his credit cards,

  Financial Talisman - Can be loaded with system credits to purchase or sell goods or services. This item is locked until Nexus changes its mind.

  "So the beer is free?" Brody chimed in,

  "It is free!" Brody yelled from across the bar. "Rolo is a good lad just doing his part to save humanity." Brody slurred, as Rolo's face went sheepish at the praise, and he went back to work on his brews. Brody got up and put his arm around Adrian, "Isn't this place spiffing? The whole block's already in an alliance, innit? Proper brilliant spot to wait out the end of the world."

  Spiffing?

  Maeve and Paige walked into the bar as Brody was yapping about the greatness of this place in an insufferable British accent. Todd and Dusky trickled in later and got some drinks. They needed to figure out their next steps.

  "I did a quick perimeter scan. It's a decent settlement that doesn't attract attention. The people here seem to have good intentions and are unaffiliated with other groups around the city." Dusky said, drinking his glowing blue drink as two women a few tables down eyed Dusky up and down with a flirtatious glint in their eyes. Dusky winked at them before taking another sip, "Plus, the drinks are good."

  Maeve sighed as she gave her assessment,

  "It's as good a spot as any for the time being. Rolo said the floors above used to be a hotel, so that we can call this place headquarters for now. Getting too attached to a place is just dumb with what's happening."

  "Yes, Maeve-chan", Dusky responded.

  "What does 'chan' mean?" She replied.

  "It is a Japanese term of endearment commonly used informally for women."

  Paige chuckled, "You know what they say. If you want to know about Japanese culture, ask a white guy."

  "Remember, we're a group that excels in the shadows. No attention is what we're aiming for, so I concur with staying here." Todd added.

  Rolo came over and put a drink in front of Dusky, "This drink is for…" Taking a second look at the note, "... the shadow daddy." Everyone stopped to look at the bald, fat king flirting with two beautiful women way out of his league from across the bar.

  They were interrupted by the System before they could make any plans for their future or wrap their heads around the idea of women being romantically interested in Dusky.

  Quest: Establish Order

  It's time to bring some order to this chaos. The old guard appears to believe they can still operate under the old rules. The Great System determines how things will proceed and who will manage them in their respective positions. Create a place for yourselves in the new hierarchy, or don't. I don't care either way.

  Objective: Claim a Seat at the Table of Cleveland.

  Rewards: Official titles by the Great System and Nexus. These titles unlock additional governance functions.

  "This… doesn't help us." Todd sighed. "Let others run things. Maybe Nexus can give us unofficial titles or something."

  "I'm sure Nexus isn't done with the quests, so our plan remains the same. Scout the area and make sure assholes aren't in charge in this new world. And if there is an asshole in charge, then we remove them." Maeve added. At least everyone was on the same page for the group's purpose. Adrian was ready for anything this new world threw at him.

  "Then let's continue. We have established our headquarters, and our purpose is clear. Let's split into two groups and make contact with the established settlements. If there's any funny business, then we will inflict our own justice."

  The group agreed and split into two. The headband team, consisting of Adrian, Dusky, and Paige, would make contact with the settlements. At the same time, Maeve, Todd, and Brody would explore the south.

  "This is exciting", Brody said, still stuck with his British accent. "Hands in! Team on 3!" Brody put his hand in the middle of the group, wanting to get a team chant going.

  "Nope."

  "Will you look at the time… gotta go."

  "I don't know what to do with my hands."

  "Think I left the stove on."

  "Fuck off, wanker."

  The group got up and was off, while Brody was left hanging. Organic saw the interaction and gave Brody a contemptuous look, shaking its head in pity.