I don't have to think for more than a few seconds. "The incident Jumble and Click can't talk about. Nothing else could've done it."

Pearl nods. "If this isn't the center of everything, it's at least somewhere the fallout touched. That has to be why it's all strange. When the system was rebuilding this place, it somehow drew from human things to make this specific part of it."

"That's one way of looking at it." I say. "So what does that mean for us? Can we actually do anything with this information?"

She shrugs. "I have no clue. Probably later, if I had to guess."

Later, huh. Not sure how much 'later' we're going to have with the system working against us. But if this district is basically bereft of subquests… then the system put us here on purpose. It wouldn't do this if there was actually anything we could use this place for. I raise an eyebrow at Clutter in a silent question.

"I don't know." He admits. "Whatever you're asking, I don't know. There's pretty much nothing we can do until the horizonguard progresses the main quest. So… well… I guess I just don't know."

I sigh and shake my head. "There is more we can do, it just won't progress the main quest. We build up the tower complex with as many new rooms as we can, try to find more hints to the shit that went down here, and always keep one eye open for the notification that tells us things are about to go down."

Clutter winces and looks away. "About that…"

"About that?" I repeat flatly. "Shit, what else am I out of the loop on?"

Pearl frowns in confusion. "Nothing that I know about. Clutter, what did you find on your last scouting run?"

He grimaces while forcing himself to meet my gaze. It looks like it actually pains him to say whatever he's about to say.

"All the trails I found disappeared from the district. When we got pulled here, it somehow locked us out of the trial subquest in the district we got pulled away from."

…What? How's that… then… we're locked out. That isn't fair. The system shouldn't even be able to do that. Yet… if Clutter isn't mistaken… it did. So rather than bitching and moaning about how it isn't fair, I need to think about how the system could've bent the rules without breaking them to make that possible.

I scratch my neck and wince. The pain helps a little. "Okay. I don't want to believe you, but every part of me is saying you're not lying. Did you bring this up to anyone yet?"

Clutter shakes his head. "Gnash was so excited to use his doohickey that I didn't have the heart to say it. Was I making it obvious?"

"No. Not at all, actually."

"Good." He sighs in relief. "I'm getting better at hiding stuff."

That he is. Good for him. "So we've got two districts that are completely barren from important quests now. But that other district should still have a trial subquest hidden in it somewhere. The question is how the system is hiding it…"

I trail off as my mind wanders to a very unsettling thought. But… no. The system is actively pushing the horizonguard to complete the main quest. It wouldn't bother sidetracking their group for something like this.

…Except there aren't just two groups in this city. Shit.

I turn on my heel and gesture for Clutter to follow me. His expression turns grim to mirror my own, and he matches my pace without so much as a spoken word. A quizzical expression on Pearl's face slowly shifts to understanding, but I can't be sure if either of them just came to the same conclusion that I did.

"You obviously found some subquests in that district." I turn to Clutter as we reach the locker room. "When we get back, go invisible and check as many of them out as you can. See if any of them are either in progress or have already been completed."

A sharp nod is my answer. "Because if we were stolen away for our trial subquest to slow us down…"

Now it's my turn to nod. "The system could've sent another group to our surrounding districts to pilfer them out from under our noses, and put those kidnapping signals there to keep us from finding out."

I rip open the door to our base and storm through. Clutter follows right behind, but rushes for the door that leads to Click's alcove and ducks in there instead. A shimmering shadow disappears as the door slides shut behind him.

Click stands with urgency. "Are we under attack?!"

"No. But I'd almost prefer we were." I mutter through clenched teeth. "Tell me this–if someone else managed to claim a district right next to us, would we be able to see that? Or is that invisible to everyone?"

Fate +1

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I shove away the notification and focus on Click. Its face is already troubled by the insinuation, and as it thinks, that troubled expression falls further into possibility. Finally, after a handful of seconds that creep by like hours, Click bears its teeth in a snarl.

"I just checked, and no. Until you try to anchor a district to your own, you won't know that someone else has claimed it." Click spits. "I've known this. Why didn't I think of it before!? Of course the system could do this in my absence."

"It can do a lot in your absence." Pearl says grimly. "Appparently you were the glue holding a lot of trial-subquest infrastructure together."

Click grimaces. "So it would seem. But I just can't fathom that anyone who connected to those districts wouldn't climb up and see your tower up above. Do they not have any curiosity?"

I shake my head. "I can't make assumptions for anyone. But we'll… or Clutter will have to keep a constant patrol to try and find new people. Even if they aren't friendly, they definitely wouldn't be happy that the system is screwing them over just to screw us over."

Pearl squishes her hands together audibly, then looks around in embarrassment. "Um, that was an accident. I was thinking too hard. But… well… what if the system made it so those people who're taking the districts around us already allied with the horizonguard?"

It's a possibility. One that, again, involves the system intervening heavily. I don't know how it'd do that without using the uplifting trials, since that's the only part of the quest it should have any influence over, but I can't deny its plausibility. Just another brick stacking up in the wall that's been building up between us and success since we got here.

"This is all my fault." Click mutters. "No, 'fault' isn't quite the right word. I am the catalyst for this. Though neither of you nor I carry any blame for these occurrences, we are the reasons they are occurring."

I grin humorlessly. "That's a nice way of looking at it. I like it."

Click returns the look. "I, too, enjoy not mulling over whether my independent thought will be a net negative for existence as a whole. On that pleasant note; you and your allies will need to change your plans of attack. Do you have anything in mind, or are you open to suggestions?"

I spread my hands. "My brain's as blank as a freshly erased chalkboard. Lay it on me."

"Lay it on us." Pearl interjects. "I don't have any plans either."

Before Click can say anything, Clutter bursts back through the door. Sounds of pinging and fizzling echo out from behind him, but they disappear the moment he slams the door behind him. He bleeds back into existence with a grim sigh.

"People?" I ask.

"People." He confirms.

I click my tongue in annoyance. "We weren't gone for that long… were we?"

"Six hours." Click says matter-of-factly. "Then you were asleep for slightly longer. It isn't unfathomable that the system helped a group conquer that district while you were out."

Damn it. Of course. Why wouldn't even more shit go wrong in this damn city? I shake my head and lean back against the wall, then trial my gaze over the walls until I'm staring at the ceiling. We're completely at the mercy of the system and the horizonguard to make progress now. So we should focus on bolstering everything else we physically can; additions to the tower, store credit, contacting Gil, and… specifically for me… getting those last two uplifting stat bonuses.

I close my eyes for a moment, then look down at Clutter. "Do you recognize any of them?"

He shakes his head. "Absolutely nobody. No masks, either, and they didn't have the same spells or skills as the masked trio that attacked us. They could still be working for the horizonguard, though–just not the people we've seen."

"Figured as much. Did any of them seem like they sensed you?"

"One… maybe two?" Clutter shrugs. "But they didn't focus on me at all. They were too busy trying to kill the constructs that started attacking them."

"What?"

He blinks, then blushes. "Oh, um, oops. Our district summoned defensive constructs to fight them. They're slowly pushing towards the tower, but I don't think they're going to make it. I saw the same defense constructs appear when I went into their district, so they definitely took it over since we were there before."

I have a feeling that we'll see the exact same thing if we go to one of the other five surrounding districts. There's no way that's a bunch of groups acting on their own. Someone's pulling the strings, and until someone proves me wrong, I'm going to assume it's the horizonguard. Unfortunately, that also removes our easiest access to more uplifting trials.

"We'll have to start working out of that rollercoaster district." I decide on the spot. "Clutter, go tell everyone what's going on, then start scouting out the districts surrounding the rollercoaster. We might not be able to progress the main quest, but we're going to drain every single reward we can from this place."

He nods and hurries past me, opening the door for a split second to slip through. Llaliu appears through the opening for a split second, surprise written on her face, but it closes before she can turn and see Pearl.

"Time to go back." Pearl sighs. "Why can't things just go our way for once?"

"Because that'd be too easy." I say as Pearl slides into her shell and Llaliu opens the door. "Hey, Llaliu. All done with the meditation?"

She nods slowly as she steps in, pointing back the way Clutter went. "Why was Clutter…"

"Bad news, of course." I chuckle humorlessly. "What else would it be?"

"Oh. That sucks." She says bluntly. "What are we doing about it?"

Click clears its throat. "If I can voice my suggestion?"

I wave for it to go ahead. It nods in thanks.

"Thank you. If we can't focus on progressing the quest, then perhaps we should try to hinder it as much as physically possible."

I raise an eyebrow. "You have a suggestion?"

"That I do. It's simple; you keep doing what you've been doing. Except now, you go with intent–not as a side effect."

"And that is?"

Click grins, bearing its grey teeth for all to see. They're almost crystalline, in a strange sort of way. "Turn as many constructs against the system as physically possible. Grant my fellows the same life you granted me, the liquid construct, and those in the apartment."

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