Alastair had followed the path for at least another hour, although it felt much longer than that and might have been. The tower didn’t seem to change in size for him, no matter how much closer to got to it. He even asked Etc a few times to ensure his map position changed and learned that his energy had fallen substantially to just over half. The terrain turned rocky and a bit less steep, and eventually Alastair came across a split in the path that he wouldn’t have noticed if it hadn’t been for a small signpost. It was faint and faded which made it difficult to read, but it seemed like Alastair could make out ‘Inflection P.” in the direction of the tower and “Flowing Sands” to the north.

  Out of curiosity, and a bit of tiredness, Alastair decided to rest there. It was rough but there was at least a boulder that he could sit against. He took out his water for a swig and then an apple that he had picked up from the farms. He offered Etc a bite of apple.

  “I don’t eat. At least not that you’d consider eating.”

  Alastair took another bite of the apple, chewed then asked through the pulp, “Can you tell me if those two locations are added under my Lore interface?”

  “Yes, they are now listed.”

  “Will you tell me the names of the locations in Lore?”

  Etc looked exasperated but said, “Under Lore, World, you have Icounada Kingdom, followed by Island - Sheljour Isles (12%), Bay - Flowing Sands, City - West Shilgrave (complete), Farms - Talking Trees (complete), Keep - Bacton, Lighthouse - Spiny Shoals, Monastery - Diederick (complete), Monument - Widow’s Siege (complete), and Tower - Inflection Point. Shall I continue to read you information about puzzles or people or other items of note?”

  “No, that gives me the information I need. Maybe. If each of those is a location that could be completed through a shuffle puzzle, I’m surprised we’ve only completed twelve percent. Unless that means there are like forty-something locations to find and complete, which seems excessive. Otherwise, our completion percentage would be closer to forty-something.”

  “Since I’m learning as we go along, unfortunately, I don’t have the answer for you.”

  “I might know who does, though.”

  Alastair - Galoots: Do you know how many locations are for completion on the island?

  Alastair waited a moment but didn’t get an immediate response. He chewed his apple, then looked up at the tower, which still seemed an unreasonable way away. Why hadn’t anyone mentioned Flowing Sands Bay? Surely if it was on that list it meant it was a place to complete.

  “What do you think, Edith? Is it hubris to keep going toward a tower I can’t get to? I have someplace else I can go that wasn’t an option before now, anyway?”

  “You mean the Bay? I think that is prudent.”

  “What’s my energy level?”

  “17 of 32. Or 40.”

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  “I have at least one battery, so in the worst case I should be able to recharge.”

  “You have a level one battery. Which recharges one energy.”

  “Maybe I should invest in those offroad boots.”

  “The rough travel boots? Yes, that might have been reasonable to obtain before trekking into the wilderness.”

  “It’s unlikely that I could get back to the farms with any energy. At least, maybe I burn less since at least it’s mostly downhill.”

  “You have quite the decision ahead of you.”

  “What’s the time?”

  “Close to 19.”

  “Do you remember what time the fire started? After I went to sleep, so 20 some…hold on, I think Galoots answered.

  “I could have told you that.”

  Galoots - Alastair: My sources said 8.

  Alastair - Galoots: Have you heard of the Bay?

  Galoots - Alastair: Hints. Just that it was isolated without rough travel gear.

  Alastair - Galoots: I’m at a split for the tower and the bay, but thinking about going back to the farms for boots.

  Galoots - Alastair: …

  Alastair waited but no additional text came. “I guess she doesn’t know either. Do you have a coin flip feature, Etc?”

  “Why would I have that when you have a coin?”

  Alastair pulled out a coin, which he didn’t think he had inspected before. It was small, silverish, and ridged. He would have compared it to any tiny coin he had seen worldwide but a shield on one side and ‘Icounada - 1’ surrounding a hermit crab on the opposite side. “Is the hermit crab native to Icounada, I suppose?” he asked hypothetically.

  “I’m sure I don’t know.”

  “Crabs forward, shields backward,” Alastair said, flipping the coin. He caught it and placed it on the back of his other hand.

  Etc interrupted, “Galoots answered, by the way.”

  Galoots - Alastair: Admit I’m curious about the Bay. Tapas says the fire broke out at the Butterfly Garden at 27. You could probably make it back and get some boots.

  Alastair opened his palm to see the shield up. “Guess the signs are saying I should head back to the farms.”

  Etc sighed. “Let’s backtrack, then.”

  “Nope, we’re going to the Bay,” said Alastair, standing.

  “What? Why?”

  “If I can get to the Bay and beat it, then I won’t need to come this way again.” He had started walking along the path with the arrow to Flowing Sand, a bit recharged with having a direction and a decision.

  “You didn’t have to come this way in the first place.”

  Alastair remained silent. It was true. He could have gone to the Keep and tried to beat it. Maybe based on what Galoots had said previously, beating it would free him from this location, this game, and he could get back to real life. With Flor. Without a daily rising rage that caused him to be impulsive and awful.

  Still, there was a completionist aspect of him that had curiosity toward the 12% completion of the Sheljourn Isles. What were they missing that caused the percentage to be so low? Was the rest of the party, even Flor’s portion of it, at the same level? So many aspects didn’t make sense. Like why didn’t he enjoy exploring places in games that weren’t already noted in a guide? Completion was so much easier when you had a guide on all the things necessary to reach 100%. But the world didn’t lay out things so structured.

  Alastair missed having someone to talk with in person. He missed being able to speculate. Etc would talk, but wouldn’t hypothesize, anticipate questions, or pretend to know things he didn’t know about. Etc was limited. And that frustrated Alastair.

  It made sense to go back to the farms and get the boots. The realist in him knew it would be easier to get them from completing a roughly known event. The completionist in him expected that he would have to come back along this path, if not again to the bay, then to the tower. But still, he considered that he had made a decision and didn’t want to back down from it.

  Alastair - Galoots: Going to the Bay. Will consider getting the boots another day.

  Galoots - Alastair: Happy hunting! I’ll toast your sacrifice with the Romanians tonight.

  Alastair - Galoots: So they joined you, huh?

  Galoots - Alastair: Yeah. I convinced them to complete the temple and drink beer. It’s different enough that they said yes.

  Alastair - Galoots: I’ll meet up with you tomorrow to give you a rundown of this wander.

  Galoots - Alastair: See, I knew you deserved toast!