Elsa slinks off before Gigi and Colton make it to my stoop. And then they’re here; Gigi reaches out a hand to have me help steady her as she lowers herself to a seat beside me, while Colton stays standing, towering above us both. It takes a concerted effort on my part to not stare at him—or stare at the muscles in his arms as he crosses them across his chest. I turn my attention to Gigi instead.

  “This is a nice surprise,” I say, squeezing Gigi’s hand that remains holding mine. “How’s everything going?” I let my gaze flicker to Colton. “How was your drive?”

  “Drive went fine, thanks to the gas,” Colton says.

  “Good.”

  “And it’s been quite lovely here, watching the houses fill up,” Gigi adds. She smiles. “Having my house full.”

  I steal another quick glance at Colton. It’s like he sucks up all the air when he’s nearby. But I ask my question to Gigi. “Colton moved in with you?”

  Gigi nods. “And his sister and her daughter. Lovely folks, you really ought to meet them,” Gigi says, giving the back of my hand a pat. And then she pulls her hand away from mine.

  “I’ll meet everyone in time,” I say absently, wondering if Gigi pulling her hand away means anything specific. “Right now, my job is to go get everyone.”

  Like the church people. Tomorrow’s problem, sure, but I’m worrying about it already. I realize after a moment that tomorrow is Sunday, which means I’ll be coming to them on their holy day. I hope that doesn’t end up being an issue.

  Focus on the task at hand, Jane.

  “And to make sure my people are safe,” I add, giving Gigi my full attention again. “Speaking of which. Have you given any more thought to…” I’m very aware that Colton’s right there. “To me proposal?”

  AKA, Gigi joining the Party. She declined the first time I asked her, but I’ve asked a few more times now. I keep telling her, it’ll be easier for me to protect her—and for her to protect herself—if she has the Game’s system on her side. But I don’t want to use as many words in front of Colton.

  Gigi waves a hand, poo-pooing my code word. “Oh, don’t be so secretive,” she says. “I’ve told his everything.”

  Oh great. “Oh. Great.”

  “That’s why we’re here, actually,” Gigi goes on, smiling broadly at me and then at Colton. “I want to be an NCA.”

  There’s a pause. “A what?” I ask.

  “NPC, Gigi,” Colton says.

  I jerk towards Colton. “An NPC!?”

  “Oh yes,” Gigi says. “That.”

  “Gigi, why on earth do you want to be an NPC? Do you even know what an NPC is?”

  “A… A Not-Person-of… Person of…”

  I sigh. Colton sighs at the same time. I ignore the rush that sends down my back. “A Non-Player Character,” I say. I don’t want to hear Colton’s voice. “A character with no agency, with no personality, and no growth!”

  “Exactly,” Gigi says. “Protected by your Game, but not an active participant.”

  I open my mouth for my rebuttal, but… Well, she has a point. I don’t want Gigi fighting monsters and going after surges (not that we’ve come across a single surge in our assignments from Sutherland), but I want her protected by the Game. I force my gave to Colton. He’s already looking at me, the hint of a smirk on his full lips.

  “Was this your idea?” I ask him. He dips his chin in a single nod. “And what about you? Do you want to be an NPC too?”

  He shrugs. “I’d kind of want to create my own little party,” he admits. “Though I’m not sure exactly how this whole thing works. Gigi just knows the basics.”

  I close my eyes. The more I think about it, the more I think it might actually be a good idea. I’m just peeved that it’s Colton who came up with it. I throw the thought out at the Game, who hasn’t said anything to me since Wednesday morning I was asking questions about how to strengthen the Safe Zone without adding a dozen people to the Party, and when I asked about using Tokens to build it, the Game went silent. I thought it was thinking, processing, but it hasn’t said anything to me since. And the few times I mentally prodded at it, it gave me nothing.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  If I didn’t know it was an inanimate AI with no body and no feelings, I might actually be a little worried.

  For the first time since Wednesday, I ask the Game a direct question. Can you give someone a classification of NPC? And if so, does that add to the strength of the Safe Zone?

  I wait a moment for the answer, my eyes still squeezed tight. Before the familiar bloom of words appears over my sight, a voice interrupts me.

  “So is it done?” Gigi asks.

  My eyes fly open and I glare at my grandmother. “I don’t even know if it’s possi—“

  Yes.

  If I wasn’t already sitting down, I’d have collapsed. The word pops up in my line of vision with such gusto that I physically recoil. I want to cry from relief at seeing the Game answer. I want to cry in relief that it answered in the positive.

  And yes. Adding NPCs to our Game will strengthen me. NPCs will not be able to collect or distribute Rank Tokens. They will not have levels or stat points. They will not have defined Abilities. They will not have inventories.

  “Is she… okay?” Colton asks.

  “I don’t know,” Gigi answers.

  I throw a hand up, silencing both of them.

  Will they still be able to use their magics? And train those magics in… other ways? I hadn’t forgotten that the Game didn’t recognize the ashing as a way to collect magic.

  Yes.

  Will they be able to become playable characters, later, if they want?

  Yes.

  “Okay,” I say aloud, both to the Game and to Gigi. I turn to my grandmother. “You’re totally sure?” I ask. “You won’t get the level up or use an inventory, like Ryder and Nancy and I do. You’ll be… stuck.”

  Gigi leans forward. “I’ll be secured.”

  “Unless you choose to—”

  “I’ll be fine, Jane,” Gigi interrupts. “This is what I want. As soon as Colton explained the concept to me, I knew it was the right decision for me."

  I pause. But who am I to say no? There’s literally no downside. “Okay,” I say again. Then do it, I ask of the game. Please make Gigi an NPC.

  I wait for something to happen. For a light to flash, for a trumpet to blare, for Gigi to react. But the three of us just stay there.

  “Okay what?” Colton finally asks.

  But wait. Something is different. There’s a little yellow dot on my map. I’ve gotten so used to it that I often don’t even look at it. But sure enough, there’s my white dot, and a little yellow dot is right beside me. I smile. “It’s done.” I focus back on Gigi and, after a moment, a yellow dot appears over her head, Gigi written beside it.

  Gigi leans back, grinning up at Colton, and the little NPC nametag moves with her.

  “Do you… feel any different?” I ask her. “Did you get any interface or any…?” I let myself trail off because Gigi’s shaking her head. “So you don’t have any idea that you’re attached to the Game?”

  With barely missing a beat, Gigi’s head shake becomes a nod. “I have no idea,” she says, her smile broad. “Which is how I like it. But I’m protected, which is how you like it.”

  “Everyone’s happy,” Colton adds.

  Can you turn everyone inside the fence into an NPC? I ask the Game. If Gigi doesn’t know, then no one will know, and having them in the Game’s interface will give it strength.

  You will need to point out every person you want to add.

  Not convenient, but I suppose I should do a pass on the block to make sure people are well. I turn my gaze directly onto Colton. Turn Colton into an NPC.

  The Game said he could become a playable character later, if we choose to give it to him. And since I’m staring at Colton, I spot the moment the NPC tag shows up above his head.

  “Everyone’s happy,” I repeat. I try to mentally click on his name, to see if I can open up some sort of NPC profile. It takes a second—I have to lift my gaze to the NPC tag, the word floating above his head, and not look right at him. And then, sure enough, a little pop-up window appears:

  Name: Colton

  Age: 32

  Sex: Male

  Designation: Member of Party Leader Jane’s Safe Zone

  Class: Gravity Manipulator

  The pop-up vanishes before I’m able to read all the rest of the details, because there’s more—and I realize it’s because Colton knelt down in front of Gigi. “If that’s all, I’m going to go help Em and Susie finish unpacking,” he says.

  The NPC tag moved, so I was no longer staring at it, so the pop-up went away. Noted. Though more importantly: gravity manipulator?

  “That’s all,” Gigi says, reaching out a hand. Colton places one of his large hands on top of Gigi’s small one, and she uses her other hand to pat the top of his hand.

  No wonder it feels like the world tilts on its axis when he walks in the room, why his presence is so weighted.

  “Okay, I’ll see you later,” Colton says before standing back up again. “Jane,” he adds, his only goodbye to me. I meet his eyes and dip my chin in return, but pause.

  “Actually,” I say. “I’d like to meet your niece and sister, if that’s okay.”

  I have my next task, after all. I need to meet everyone so I can change their classification.

  And now that I know why Colton is so magnetic, I’m less scared of being in his orbit. If anything, I think, bring it on.