Darren ducked back into the stern cabin as a gun barked on the deck. Once he checked himself for holes, he poked his head up in time to see one of the newly levelled up pirates, the one woman of the group, teeter. Blood pooled on her shirt. But she didn’t fall. Instead, she cast some kind of healing skill and launched an attack on a heavyset pirate with the most epic sideburns Darren had ever seen.

  The big man fended her off, and soon she was down, one against four proving too much. Obviously. The others trussed her up, alive, barely, and dragged fore.

  Darren slipped out of sight, content to let Samantha handle the pirates.

  So Themis still had it out for him. He hadn’t realised quite how much conflict there’d be between the AIs in the game, though it made sense as soon as he took the time to think about it. The devs had designed the game to build itself, essentially. They guided the world into being and seeded it with ideas and concepts, but by the time players would arrive en masse, it would run itself.

  During his play testing, he hadn’t really taken the time to have conversations with NPCs, as he was more focused on finding exploits within the system. It was interesting to hear how the game was responding to the information the devs had fed it regarding players. He briefly wondered how much of it was designed, and how much was just the AI adapting to the information it’d been fed and making things up.

  Probably a balance of both.

  His musing was interrupted by Samantha climbing down the stairs into the cabin.

  “That sounded relatively successful,” he said.

  She shrugged, her expression weary as she leaned against a bulkhead. “They’re a volatile group. I’m disappointed that woman survived. While the mercy is good to see, she’ll continue to poison them against us. This ship is a cannon with a lit fuse.”

  Darren folded his arms and frowned. “Do you think they’ll stick with us long enough to get to Isla Cascadura?”

  “Probably. We only need a day. But if you choose to disband them at that point, they’ll likely turn on you.”

  “Yeah… that’s what I’m worried about. Let’s wait until I can talk to Poseidon at his temple and go from there.”

  Samantha nodded her agreement.

  “So,” Darren said, “what was all that about riches and glory from following me? That why you’re still here?”

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  It was a minute before Samantha spoke, “Our agreement was to get to Isla Cascadura. I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll go any further.”

  “Alright. Can’t ask for more right now. Though I hope you don’t leave me with four vastly stronger pirates to deal with by myself…”

  Samantha leaned forward and patted Darren on the shoulder. “I’m sure you’ll find a way, Mr Bottomus. Now, stay out of sight down here. I don’t want anyone inspecting you. Keep Twist of Fate primed and be ready to summon your little gun on my command.”

  Darren snapped a mock salute as Samatha turned and climbed out of the cabin.

  He badly needed a class. Relying on someone else to keep his skin safe was driving him insane. He felt like a noob tagging along with his big brother again, being carried through games with little autonomy or impact.

  He cast Twist of Fate on Rupert in the bucket and put them back in his inventory. Soon enough, they’d be at Isla Cascadura, and fingers crossed, he’d get some damn answers from the AI. He was still annoyed that the AI refused to talk to him unless he was at a temple. Imperious piece of code.

  Darren settled down to wait, sparing a brief thought for Wilson. He hadn’t spoken much to the coconut since this voyage began. If he were being honest with himself, he’d miss it once he got out of the game. But not enough to stick around.

  Well… probably not.

  ***

  Darren sighed with relief when Wilson’s voice drifted down through the hatch and into the stern cabin, where he’d been hiding the last day or so. “Land ho!”

  Around him, the ship groaned softly as it sliced through the calm sea. He could hear the waves slapping against the hull outside, and the light filtering through the hatch indicated a clear, pleasant day. He could not wait to get out of this hole…

  Since Samantha’s negotiation with the pirates, the trip had gone fairly smoothly. Except for him not sleeping a wink during that time, staying alert for a warning from Samantha.

  He had Exhausted up to level 3 now. The debuffs were killing him. -3 to all stats. It left him lethargic and foggy-headed. But soon enough, they’d dock, and he could get a nice, safe inn to hunker down in for a snooze. He wondered if he’d need to sprint off the ship, or if the pirates would leave him be. He didn’t doubt that at least one would inspect him when he emerged and see that he was listed as a local.

  What would happen after that was anyone’s guess.

  Footfalls on the ladder drew his attention, and he glanced up to see Smanatha descending.

  “We’ll be in Twin Lanterns’ port in three hours,” she said without preamble. “Luckily for you, there is a military force of sorts on this island; they don’t like violence on land. So if you can get on the dock before anyone inspects you and thinks we’re lying, you should be okay.”

  “Good to know. What do you think the chances of them throwing a stink are?”

  “Actually quite low. They’re suspicious still, but not as much as I feared. We haven’t seen many Interlopers yet, so they’re not certain what to expect from you. Except for mild psychosis.”

  “I can probably pull off unhinged.”

  Samantha cocked an eyebrow.

  “I can definitely pull off unhinged.”

  “Alright. Assuming nothing goes too far south, we’ll meet in the evening at The Rusty Spoon—an inn in the poor quarter. Surprisingly good despite the location. Once we dock, just leave as though everything is normal, and if things go bad… I’m sure you’ll work it out.” She climbed back up the ladder and disappeared from view.

  Darren could hear her yelling orders to the pirate crew as they sailed ever closer to answers.