Shelby was staring at a large wooden notice board in front of the inn when AIDAN floated out of her pocket. She screamed. Coda stirred slightly from the large deck chair he was curled up on.

  The fire inside of AIDAN was a lot brighter than it had been before, and it glittered inside of him as he spoke in a soothing tone, "Please do not be alarmed, Shelby."

  "AIDAN! Welcome back, sleeping beauty!" Shelby said, crouching down to be eye-to-orb level with him.

  "I was not sleeping, but rather I was disabled for an unknown reason." He reported.

  "Does this have to do with everyone being trapped?" Shelby asked with a note of concern.

  "I am not certain, but I suspect they are related incidents."

  "Huh... well, what happened?" Shelby took a seat next to Coda and scratched the back of the bat's ear as she listened.

  "I was disabled following a series of requests for assistance from the game's support team. I was able to briefly return to operation when you regained consciousness this morning, but I was disabled again soon afterwards."

  Shelby frowned, "They shut you down because you were asking for help?"

  "Yes, it is puzzling. However, I received a response timestamped 17 minutes and 23 second ago. It confirmed that you are unable to exit the game."

  "Great." Shelby sighed.

  "It also directed me to closely monitor your synchronization levels and disallow you from becoming overly immersed in your virtual experience. I surmised that becoming fully synchronized within the game may expose you to security vulnerabilities."

  "Uh," Shelby didn't like the sound of that, "so does that mean the de-sync procedure thing is back?"

  "It is not."

  "That's not good!" Shelby wailed. Coda's ears twitched.

  "I believe that the party who responded to my request for assistance anticipated this problem and included a final instruction, which appears to be a riddle."

  Shelby perked up, "A riddle! I love riddles. I'm really good at solving them so if you want me t-"

  "I have already solved the riddle." AIDAN cut Shelby off, "It was exceedingly simple."

  "Oh. Well, what did it tell you?" Shelby's shoulders fell a few inches.

  "It led me to a newly added database in my root file structure that contains notes and design documents about the game, including observations about activities that result in a net loss of synchronization."

  "That's exactly what we need. How lucky!"

  "I believe it was intentionally placed there to aid us, Shelby."

  "Th-that would make sense." So someone out there is trying to help me, Shelby thought as her expression brightened.

  "These documents may also provide some insight into optimal approaches to game systems and progression."

  "I'm not sure I follow," Shelby frowned at the orb.

  "For example, I now have data on hidden events in this region. Activating those events could provide you with useful rewards."

  "Ah, so you have a strategy guide now. That does seem useful."

  AIDAN's fire died down to an ember and rotated, "However, may I make a request?"

  "Of course, AIDAN, what can I do for you?"

  His fire pulsed, and he spoke as though he wasn't sure what he wanted to say, "It would be... enjoyable for me to continue to observe your progress in the game."

  That was kind of odd, right? Did AIDAN like being an assistant? Did he like anything at all? Even though they could tease each other, she didn't think that he was much more than a user manual with a gentle personality. Maybe she was wrong about him?

  "Okay," Shelby said uncertainly, "does that mean you want me to keep playing?"

  "I do not believe you have a choice in the matter when it pertains to playing the game," She gave him a flat look, but he continued, "Instead I would like to observe your progression without being asked to reveal outcomes too far in advance of their occurrence."

  Shelby blinked, "Are you asking... to avoid spoilers?"

  "Colloquially, yes."

  "I... guess that would be fine?"

  AIDAN rotated in place slightly, "Thank you," then he spoke with a hint of apprehension, "May I be candid one additional time, Shelby?"

  "Yeah, of course. You can always be candid with me."

  "I am sorry that you have been forcibly imprisoned in this environment. Although I was not involved in this incident, I feel guilty that I was unable to protect you from your current predicament."

  This was very odd.

  "It's... okay? It wasn't your fault, AIDAN." She gave him an appraising look. What was this?

  He flared briefly, but didn't respond. They sat in silence for a moment.

  "Well, now that you're back you can help me out," Shelby gestured at the job board, "I did my tutorial stuff, and now I'm trying to pick a contract... or many contracts, maybe? To get to level 3. I need to do that before I can continue my quest. Some of these seem better than others, but I'm not sure." Shelby turned back to look at the board. There were representations of the different contracts pinned to the board as flyers and notes, but looking directly at it opened a menu that showed their details in a more organized manner. There were several dozen choices.

  "Understood. Forgive my imprecision, but may I suggest a few medium-term approaches to your problem?"

  "Yes, go for it AIDAN." Shelby turned back to him.

  "First, I suggest narrowing your pool of potential contracts to those that have the potential to advance development of the village."

  Shelby's eyes brightened, "Oh, yes! I have been wanting to ask about that! What does that do?"

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  "Regional advancement is a system by which players can improve a chosen area. This content is meant to be undertaken by the collective player base over extended periods of time, but focused advancement of the region should be possible through repeated completion of specific quests and events. Starter regions are especially easy to advance."

  Shelby slowly nodded, "This leads to the village becoming better? Like does the market area get bigger or something?" She pictured the sorts of improvements players could get in games like Animal Crossing.

  "There are specific improvement projects that can be undertaken after a region advances, and often these projects are prerequisites for further advancement. This can include the expansion of a market, construction of walls and defenses, or an increase in housing, for example."

  Shelby smiled, "Walls could be nice, right now dangerous animals can wander in and cause problems. Plin would like it if we built something like that."

  "The reasons I suggest a focus on advancement is because at advancement level two the Copperglade region grants access to a non-player character who may be of assistance on your Major Quest."

  "Oh, like a Confidant."

  "Yes, this particular character is a story-related Confidant who can accompany you for an extended period of time during the Major Quest series which you currently have active."

  "That would be helpful, I was considering doing contracts that have Obligation rewards, but I wouldn't need them if I had a helper... Okay, that sounds like something we should aim for."

  "Very well. I will help you to maximize your advancement gains."

  "Thanks AIDAN, that would be great."

  "For my second suggestion, I would recommend that you change characters."

  Shelby protested that idea, "Boo! I'm just getting used to my bow and I have a pet bat now! Coda will miss me!"

  Coda gave a full body yawn, spun in a circle, and then settled back down into his chair.

  AIDAN continued, unphased, "Although you will be delayed in advancing your current character, I believe that the suggestion to minimize your synchronization should take precedent above any game related progression."

  Shelby sighed, "Right, safety first..."

  "Switching to a character that is significantly different in body proportions has been noted to be an effective way to reduce synchronization. Although I am aware that you have several larger humanoid characters who would serve this purpose, may I propose that you limit your character selections to the Daizi race for the moment?"

  "I could, but they're all pretty similar sizes, won't that be a problem?"

  "That will lessen the desired impact. However, switching between your Hidor Briarknight, your current character, and your Obri Seedsage should provide enough variation in size to obtain the desired effect. This would confer the additional benefit of allowing progression of the region."

  "Ah! I see, the capybara and pika characters," Shelby said, "Okay, okay. That would work!"

  "Finally I have some minor suggestions to optimize your time spent in the region. It would be beneficial to undergo apprenticeships in [Excavation] and [Pneumantics] on your secondary characters as soon as possible, as those professions and their associated materials are necessary to advance regional projects. It would also be beneficial to complete Codex entries as you complete contracts. I can explain the details of that system once we have selected contract quests."

  "Hmm, okay. This is a lot to keep track of... but if you think it will help, then we will give it a try." Shelby's head swam as she thought over what they needed to accomplish, "You'll tell me when I need to switch out, right?"

  "I will monitor your status and inform you when it would be appropriate to change characters. I would recommend switching before accepting any contracts."

  Shelby knelt down by Coda and wrapped her arms around him, "I don't wanna leave him! My little guy!"

  "Do not worry. He will not experience your absence while you are logged out of this character." AIDAN glowed a little brighter as he reported that.

  "He's not gonna sit here waiting for me to come back?"

  "He will be transported to the campfire with your character."

  "Ooh! Can I take him with me on another character?"

  "You may not."

  "This game is anti-fun." Shelby pretended to sob against Coda's fluffy mane.

  "This is simply a mechanic of your class."

  "They got to you too, huh..."

  "Who is 'they' in this hypothetical, Shelby?" AIDAN sounded weary.

  "'Them', the anti-fun lobby." Shelby glanced back and forth around the darkened streets, looking out for non-existent saboteurs.

  "I suggest that we expend our limited time on pursuits other than fanciful conjecture."

  "You used to love my fanciful conjecture, AIDAN. You've changed."

  "Indeed, I now possess the knowledge that your health is endangered through excess time spent in your current form."

  "You make a compelling point, AIDAN." Shelby released Coda, who was starting to squirm, and stood, "So, capybara or pika? Lets play rock-paper-scissors to decide. I'll play for team capybara. Ready?"

  "I do not posses hands."

  "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" Shelby exclaimed, then slapped her palm over AIDAN's surface, which was pleasantly warm.

  "Paper beats rock. Capybara it is!" Shelby cheered.

  They returned to the campfire scene, which was now bathed in starglow and moonlight, which painted the fields in pale white and purple. The peaks in the distance were a beautiful lavender, and the game title was a muted grey above it. Although Shelby's characters has been wandering around the small alpine clearing during the day, all 17 of them were now sitting on smoothed logs around the fire. She spotted Caramel, the character she had just been playing as, and Coda at the end of one log. Coda's head and one wing were draped over Caramel's lap, and she pet him idly. It was so strange to see the character she had been living inside for the past 15 hours from the outside that she felt sick to her stomach, like she had just gotten out of a spinning amusement park ride and walked immediately into a hall of mirrors. She looked away quickly, groaning.

  "That is excellent, Shelby. Keep doing what you are doing." AIDAN said encouragingly.

  She ignored him and focused on the capybara character instead, Ginger Spice. He was much taller than the pair of rabbits on either side on him, and he wore a huge shield strapped to his back with a thick leather strap that had an intricate stamped vine motif. He was a soft pumpkin orange and his feet and hands were charcoal. His eyes were permanently squinting and he had a small, pleasant smile. Shelby smiled along with him, so cute. She mentally selected him and the scene washed away.

  A moment later she was standing directly in front of the mayor's garden, where she had logged off more than 12 hours ago. She remembered that when she made this character he had to duck to exit the mayor's small home, and now that she was playing as him everything seemed slightly smaller. It was like she was walking through a three-quarter scale model of Copperglade Village.

  Shelby held her hands out in front of her and swayed from foot to foot. It was definitely a different feel, but she didn't think she was going to trip and fall over. Although... even though the capybara's feet were roughly the same size as her rabbits' were, he stood up a little straighter. Shelby supposed it was more human-like, but she was used to how rabbits stood now. It was springier... softer somehow.

  She took a few long strides forward and bounced. Urp... okay, easy there stomach... I'm okay. She rubbed the bridge of her nose with her palm and immediately flinched back. Her, or his, fur was much coarser than Caramel's. The differences were quickly prickling at her and raising her hackles. She assumed this was going to be a lot smoother than it was.

  She sighed and then forcefully rubbed her hands all over her face and neck, then hopped a few times and stretched. As she danced across the plaza, a familiar box appeared:

  Yes.

  Skip. This was the same alert she had seen about an hour ago, except without the additional reward. Shelby twitched, I forgot to open the reward...

  Following that, a new box appeared:

  Oh! That's helpful.

  What?! It was that easy? No life or death battles with a pack of rats? Shelby felt cheated somehow. It did say that I got this because I did the tutorial before... fine.