Holly’s avatar spawned beside Jack in his workshop, the last place she’d logged out.

  "Hey, Holly," Jack said cheerfully.

  She giggled. Clay smeared one of his cheeks, and oil streaked his forehead. Despite all the doubts she’d had, she had to admit it—he really was cute.

  "What?" he asked, glancing down at himself. "Do I have something on my face?"

  "No," she said, lying. "What are you working on?"

  "Just leveling up Tinkering and Masonry. Especially Tinkering. Trying to hit journeyma level 10."

  "How’s it going?"

  "Pretty good. It’s my highest minor now. Level 7."

  "Any new unlocks?"

  He nodded and handed her a small box. It looked like half a dozen others scattered around the workshop.

  "Uh… isn’t this one of your music boxes?"

  "Kind of," he said. "It’s supposed to go into the robot. It’s called a Soothing Resonator. It reduces aggro from beasts. I also got a new synergy between Tinkering and Bushcraft. Lets me add camouflage patterns to them."

  "Hmm… so your bots can venture into wild areas more safely."

  "Exactly. Interesting options if we send them to gather resources."

  "Sweet! What about our prototype?" she asked, nodding toward the large pot-bot in the corner. It sat on a treadmill-like wooden base, secured with ropes, and sprouted not two, but four articulated arms. A nearby table was crowded with diagrams, most of them sketched by her.

  "We’ll get to that," Jack said, grinning. "But first—I’ve got some good news. Ready?"

  Holly tilted her head, intrigued. "Okay... what is it?"

  “I’ve come up with half the money for my dad’s treatment,” Jack said, beaming.

  She blinked. “Wait—what did you just say?”

  “We held an auction yesterday. We made over 250,000 credits. Isn’t that awesome?!”

  "Jack! Oh my goodness! That's incredible."

  Before she knew what she was doing, she had wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back without hesitation.

  As they parted, her heart was thumping. She was suddenly aware of how close they'd just been. Jack grabbed her hands, grinning.

  "Can you believe it?!"

  “Yeah. It’s incredible,” she said, her voice catching just slightly.

  “I still can’t believe it myself. I’m already prepping for the next auction tomorrow. With a little luck, I might be able to raise another big chunk.”

  Watching him, so full of energy, so focused, her admiration deepened. He’d set out to do the impossible, and within days, he was already halfway there.

  “And there’s something else I want to show you.”

  He pulled a stack of papers from his inventory and handed her a few. As she skimmed them, she noticed lines of dialogue marked with names—Amari, Jack.

  “What is this?”

  “It’s the script for Amari’s next video. First in a new series called Major Minors.”

  “Oooh! Exclusive access! Sweet! Let me take a look.”

  The script outlined an interview between Amari and Jack, digging into beekeeping and how Jack’s class unlocked unique synergies with other professions. It was exactly the kind of video she would have bookmarked the moment it dropped.

  “So the first one’s about beekeeping,” she said. “Not pottery or bushcraft?”

  “Those already got featured when Amari covered how I unlocked the Handyman class,” Jack explained. “He wanted this new series to kick off with something fresh.”

  “Nice! But... why show this to me?”

  He scratched the back of his head, sheepish. “Haha. You caught me. I was hoping you might help me rehearse for it.”

  “Really?”

  “We tried filming it earlier,” he admitted. “Didn’t go well.”

  “What happened?”

  “Amari says I sound awkward.”

  She laughed. She hadn’t said anything to him, but she’d noticed how awkward he got in front of the camera, especially on his own old channel. Jack was funny and interesting, but only when he forgot the camera was watching.

  Amari, on the other hand, was a natural. He also had years of practice. No wonder he wanted to help Jack.

  "Sure, I can help you rehearse," she said. "After all, you let me cheat time with your Time Field. I have to pay rent somehow."

  Jack smiled. "Nice. Let’s do it."

  “Ready?”

  He nodded.

  She cleared her throat, lowered her voice, and slipped into a formal tone. "So, Jack, your hidden class lets you synergize different minors. What kind of synergies are we talking about here?"

  She looked up—and caught Jack bursting into laughter.

  "What is it?"

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  "Oh my goodness, Holly! You sounded just like Amari. The accent was perfect. You nailed it!"

  She giggled. "I like accents. And I’ve watched a lot of his videos."

  "What other accents can you do?"

  She thought for a second, then said, with a different cadence, "I’m so hungry. I want to have a pastel de nata with my café."

  Jack’s jaw dropped. "You sounded just like my parents! How do you know how to do an English-Portuguese accent?"

  "I had this friend in high school. Her family was from the Azores. I used to hang out at her place all the time."

  "Do another one. Come on, do another one!"

  She laughed, seeing how happy he looked. So she kept going, shifting from accent to accent, and soon Jack was nearly doubled over, wiping tears from his eyes.

  Even as she laughed with him, something fluttered in her chest. Her heart hadn’t quite calmed since that hug, and somewhere beneath all the fun, quiet questions stirred.

  What are his intentions? And if there is something more here... how do I feel about it?

  *

  Beeatrice loved having her own space. She’d only managed to move out of her parents’ place thanks to the money from her channel about beekeeping in New Earth. Between ad revenue and selling honey, royal jelly, candles, and queen bees, she made more than enough to cover her expenses and still set a little aside each month.

  She sat in her room, the walls painted with hexagon patterns. Clutching her favorite bee plush, she rewound the video a few minutes.

  She’d always been a fan of Amari’s content. His editing style resonated with her, and as a content creator herself, she made a habit of studying what worked. She was always looking for inspiration.

  She just hadn’t expected him to make a video about beekeeping.

  “Tell us about those,” Amari said in the video.

  “So, the pot hive is a recipe I unlocked by synergizing Bushcraft and Pottery,” Jack explained. “As you know, my class makes minor professions synergize. That unlocked this recipe, which no one else has.”

  Beeatrice sighed. “So that’s how he got those hives...”

  “Are there any other beekeeping-related synergies you’d like to share?”

  “Sure!” Jack said. “This is a song I learned from the synergy between Beekeeping and Bard.”

  He picked up an ocarina and began to play.

  Goosebumps rose on her arms. She set the plush down and placed a hand on her chest.

  “Okay... that’s actually beautiful.”

  The guy could really play. Not just game notes—music. She’d already been impressed that he was part of Amari’s crew. Now he’d gone and surprised her again.

  “So what does that melody do for your bees?” Amari asked.

  “It gives them a buff. They work faster, and it boosts their resistance to disease.”

  “By the way, Jack, what is your fatality rate?”

  Beeatrice leaned in.

  “Uh? What do you mean?” Jack asked.

  She rolled her eyes. “How do you not know something so basic?”

  “How many of your bees die from sickness? Or predators?”

  Jack scratched his chin. “Uh? Predators? Is there such a thing?”

  “Yes. There are. Plenty.”

  “Oh! I did not know that. So I guess none.”

  “And sickness?”

  “Hmmm… they all just die of old age. And a few times, they died from the cold.”

  “How many hives do you have?”

  “Four.”

  Beeatrice choked on her tea.

  Four hives and not one predator attack? No mites? No fungus? Not even stress collapse?

  If he’d had one or two hives, she’d understand. Developers had made the early stages of beekeeping forgiving. But once you passed three hives, that’s when the problems started: mites, fungal infections, wasp attacks, and stress collapses, just to name a few. Beekeepers had to stay on top of everything or risk losing it all.

  Four hives and no setbacks? That was unheard of.

  She set her mug down a little too firmly, jaw tight. Not just because Amari had clearly sat on details like this, saving them for the interview—but because Jack, with his awkward, offhand delivery, had just given him another perfect moment.

  It was almost funny how clueless he seemed about how special his class really was.

  “How much money have I spent on chemists and antibiotics just to keep my bees alive?” she muttered at the screen.

  And here he was, journeyman level five in beekeeping, and nothing had gone wrong.

  She crossed her arms and muttered, “Some people have it too easy.”

  “Any other synergy recipes or skills you can tell us about?” Amari asked.

  “For that, you’ll have to catch part two of Major Minors: Beekeeping,” Jack said with a grin.

  The video ended with Amari addressing the viewers, teasing upcoming content and reminding them to like and subscribe. It had already pulled in 14,000 views in just a few hours, a stunning number for such a niche topic.

  Beeatrice leaned back and sighed.

  “Well... I guess I underestimated him.”

  When she’d bought those pot hives from Jack, she never imagined he’d be making content that would compete directly with hers. She tapped her foot, thinking it through. Then she opened her email and began typing to Amari’s business contact.

  Hi Amari, this is Beeatrice. I run the channel BeeasBees. I just watched your video with Jack. He’s a friend of mine.

  She paused. That was a stretch. They’d only met once and exchanged a few messages. But she left it in.

  I’d love to collaborate with you on your next video about beekeeping.

  She finished writing it, hit send, and leaned back again.

  Competition wasn’t a bad thing. If they played it right, both channels could benefit. Maybe they could grow their audiences together.

  After checking the latest metrics on her channel, she slid into her capsule and logged back into the game.

  She spawned into her bee farm just outside Pearlsgate. A hundred hives surrounded her, buzzing with life, a symphony of hard work and sweetness.

  Before tending to her babies, she opened her message system.

  “Hi, Jack. It’s Beea. Long time no see. How have you been? How is your beekeeping going?”

  Her gut told her that keeping in touch with him might be good for business later on.

  With that out of the way, she took candles from her inventory and walked over to the holders scattered across the farm, replacing the old ones.

  Unlike a certain obnoxious beekeeper, she still had to worry about mites, stress collapses, and surprise wasp attacks.

  *

  It was Friday. Horace was sprawled in the afternoon sun on the patio, the stone warm beneath his back. He’d crafted so many shields over the past few days that every time he closed his eyes, all he saw were measurements, planks, and nails. He needed the rest.

  Amari had been editing like crazy. Marie was on a call with a friend from the Krakens. Jack was off at the week’s final auction in Eternia. That left just him and Rob holding the fort.

  He got a notification from his personal AI. Horace opened his browser and pulled up the latest video—the one from earlier today, covering their quest to kidnap the baby allosaur. His AI assistant had flagged a new comment mentioning him.

  TheTheresa: “Oh, wow. When Horace sacrificed himself at the end, I had a tear in my eye.”

  He chuckled and typed underneath it:

  HoraceNr1Fan: “That Horace guy is so heroic! I wish I could be him. He’s my idol.”

  It was a silly game, piling on his own praise, but he found it fun for some reason.

  According to Amari, the Breach videos were dropping today. He couldn’t wait to see what people would say about his tanking during those massive waves.

  “You know you can just log out and get some real sun, right?” Rob called from nearby. “This won’t get you any Vitamin D.”

  “It’s raining in South Africa today, mate,” Horace replied, eyes still closed. “I’d rather stay here and enjoy the good weather.”

  Rob stood there for a few seconds, then gave in and lay down beside him.

  “How long do you think until Jack gets back from the auction?” he asked.

  “Shouldn’t be long.”

  Rob sighed. “Man, my cousin’s turning into a millionaire.”

  “Haha. Auctions have been going well. But he’s about to spend every last penny on your uncle’s treatment.”

  “Yeah. After today, that will be sorted,” he said, relieved. “Everything he makes now will go into the village. Plenty of sun there, too.”

  That got a chuckle out of Horace.

  Marie called from the edge of the courtyard. “Aren’t you two living the good life! Do you want some beach towels? A couple of coconuts, maybe?”

  “Yes,” Horace said immediately, raising a hand without opening his eyes.

  Rob sat up a little. “Wanna join us?”

  There was a soft ding in all their interfaces.

  JackOfDiamonds: “Can anyone protect the vases? Going to use Retreat now.”

  “I’ll go,” Marie said, already turning toward his workshop.

  “I can go too,” Rob offered, pushing up to his feet.

  Marie just placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine, babe. I’m already standing.”

  And then she was gone.

  Horace turned toward Rob, one eye open. “Babe?”

  Rob shrugged.

  Horace gave a slow nod. “Respect.”

  They both leaned back into the warmth, the only sound around them the soft, steady hum of Jack’s bees.