Chương 13: Chapter 12

Tuesday was uneventful, but because Tiff's life couldn't be simple anymore, Wednesday morning greeted her with another blue box.

[System Notification] Class Quest: Place Your Core has been inactive for 7 days since Awakening and has been marked as abandoned. New quest issued.

Quest: Place Your Core (limited). Find a location to place your dungeon core to establish your territory. If no location is selected within 48 hours, your core will be automatically placed at your current location. Restrictions to core mobility still apply.

Tiff groaned as she sat up. So much for ignoring her Class. At least she wasn't hit with any penalties for refusing to complete her first quest, though she supposed the second quest could be considered a penalty all on its own. Tiff had no idea what might happen if her core were destroyed, and now she no longer had the luxury of time to find the safest place. She might be on a timer, but she wasn't going to be hasty.

"Amy," Tiff nudged her sister as Victoria chauffeured them to school. Instead of taking the front seat, Amy had climbed into the back with Tiff, playing up her observation that, now that they had a driver schlepping them places, they'd made it in the world. Victoria rolled her eyes and told them that if she was required to wear one of those funny hats, it was coming out of their allowance.

"Hmm?" Amy looked over. Tiff considered how to broach the subject on her mind.

"You play video games." Amy gave Tiff a flat stare before rolling down her window and sticking her head outside. She squinted, looked into the sky, and brought herself back in.

"Yup. The sky is still blue."

"Ha. Do you play a lot of tower defense games?"

"Sometimes," Amy nodded, but her eyes narrowed slightly. It wasn't that she was suspicious of Tiff…but she was suspicious of Tiff.

"Why?"

"No big reason," Tiff shrugged.

"Do you remember that Dungeon Keeper game that came out a few years ago?"

"Sure!" Amy lit up.

"Though, technically, it was a remake. The original came out, like, a decade ago. It was pretty good; they even got the original voice actor for the Overlord." Tiff listened as Amy rambled on about various units, upgrades, and strategies, proving that yes, she was familiar with the game. So much so that her excited rambling quickly went over Tiff's head. She never really played the game because, technically, the player was the bad guy.

They were sending units from the "Underground" to the surface, where they hoped to take over the world.

"So, yeah, I'd give it a solid 8 on the scale, no problem," Amy eventually finished up her in-depth analysis, making Tiff jolt.

"Why'd you bring it up?"

"I was thinking," Tiff answered, "That it sounded sort of familiar. I mean, after the Rift opened over the weekend, I was trying to fall asleep, and it hit me; Rifts are a lot like video games, aren't they?"

"Well, yeah," Amy agreed, "But that could also be because developers take so much inspiration from Rifts to throw in their projects."

"Right," Tiff nodded.

"But I mean, like, a portal opens, monsters spill out, and heroes need to go inside to clear it out. In a way, Rifts are closer to Dungeon Keeper than they are to Monster Hunter."

"Huh," Amy said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, that tracks, to a certain extent. Hey! I wonder if that means somebody's out there putting Rifts down?"

"Doubtful," Victoria shook her head as she pulled into the parking lot.

"If there was, we'd know about it. Something that crazy? It would be huge. Now get your butts out of here and go to class. Tiff, I'll see you after school."

"Hey!" Amy shouted even as she slammed the door.

"Can I get a ride?" Victoria smirked as she rolled down the window.

"Only if the boss says yes."

Tiff and Amy parted ways in the entrance hall, since their lockers were on separate sections of the wall. Victoria's words rang in her ears, the boss. Tiff couldn't see herself as a boss. No matter what position she imagined herself in. Not somebody important enough to employ private security. Certainly not as a Dark Queen. Tiff snorted. Not even as somebody climbing the ranks of retail.

She knew she had to get a job someday, and chances were likely that she'd be flipping burgers or working a cash register somewhere. Actually, she supposed she could see herself as a boss… though not the type with minions. Apparently, when she was really little, they'd taken a trip to a Blockbuster Video and Tiff's tiny brain had been enamored.

Maybe it was the bright and colorful lights, maybe it was the playable game stations, or maybe it was the thousands of thousands of dvds on display, but all she could talk about for the next week straight was how she was going to grow up and own a Blockbuster. Obviously, that dream was long since dead, since not only did Tiff grow up after being 5 years old, but most movie rental joints went out of business long ago. It was for the best, really.

Melissa took every opportunity to tease Tiff over it whenever it came up, though she usually eased off pretty quickly as she herself was overwhelmed with nostalgia. Mostly for VHS tapes, which Tiff had to admit, sounded intriguing. And also ancient and barbaric. Video, on a tape? That you needed to rewind? No thank you. Tiff kept herself busy through Homeroom by amusing herself with the thought of how many people took their first step off the neutral path on the Greyscale by stealing videotapes.

Would the system give them a quest to not turn it in? Would the late fees be considered a penalty or a reward? What did that mean for the employees? Did collecting outstanding rentals contribute to ranking up a Class? Is that how somebody became a [Manager]? Unfortunately, they were still stuck on the basics and wouldn't start talking about Classes or Quests for a few more days. After thinking about it, Tiff was grateful.

She didn't know how long she'd be able to keep her mouth shut about her class, especially since everything today seemed determined to bring her mind back around to her quest.

Quest: Place Your Core (limited) Time Remaining: 43: 17: 36 Tiff watched the seconds tick down one by one before eventually banishing the screen from her sight. As if her class by itself wasn't enough to darken her mood. And her personal "System problems" weren't the only thing dragging her down. Today was PE, and Tiff was not looking forward to it. She lingered in the hall up until the warning bell rang and scurried into the locker room to change with a handful of seconds left to spare.

A bunch of girls gave her weird looks as she hurried past them, but she paid them no mind. Her desire to prolong the inevitable eventually lost to her need not to be late, and she found herself, panting and disheveled, standing in the gym next to everybody else, without a moment to spare. The teacher's assistant raised an eyebrow as he marked her down for attendance, but otherwise didn't say anything about her appearance.

She hadn't voiced her concerns to her family (mostly because they hadn't occurred to her yet) about when it came time to dress down for PE. But standing in front of the locker room, thinking about how her Might was now a D, sent shivers up her spine. In Tiff's mind, like those horrible dreams where she walked onto a brightly lit stage in front of a crowd, fully naked, she imagined something similar happening for PE.

Though, instead of being fully naked, she was only partially naked, as visions flashed in her mind of trying to pull up shorts that were suddenly huge and baggy, or swimming in a shirt 5 sizes too large. Really, she didn't need to worry and her nightmares were unfounded. If she'd stopped to think, she would have realized that she'd been a D for an entire week, and all her regular clothes fit just fine. So as she was standing in line with the rest of her class, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary…

except for the fact that she was already out of breath.

"VanDyne!" One of the coaches called as soon as the aides were done.

"Front and center!" Maybe one of the reasons Tiff hated PE was how sports-centric the whole program was, and nothing was more sports than a coach. Fortunately, she wasn't being called up to a podium to stand in a spotlight, but the words front and center always had a way of making her feel small. She looked up at the coach, a brawny man with a whistle around his neck and a clipboard in his hand, tapping it impatiently. Okay, she was small. But it made her feel insecure, and she hated it.

But, probably because of some sports code she didn't understand, the man meant nothing by it. As soon as Tiff shuffled over, he nodded at her and checked off a tick on the clipboard like she'd made good time. Not a personal best or anything, Tiff mused. She didn't have enough hustle. Okay, maybe there was something to this coach-code. Given enough time, she could crack it.

"Got your specs in from DMA," Coach Plumtree said. Tiff watched the man's hands as they couldn't sit still. First, they fiddled with the pen as he tapped it against the clipboard. Then, with the whistle hanging around his neck. Eventually, he rubbed his left bicep twice, patted his right elbow, and ran his index finger under his nose. Am I…supposed to steal third base? Clearly, he was sending mixed signals.

"VanDyne, are you with me?" He asked. Thankfully, he didn't do something asinine like snap his fingers under her nose. It appeared he simply had a case of the jitters where he couldn't keep still.

"Sorry, sir," Tiff hastily apologized. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"No worries. Like I said, you're on reduced workload, but that doesn't mean you get to screw around. I hope you like running, that's one of the few accepted activities across most boards." And so, Tiff found herself jogging around the perimeter of the tennis courts. At first, she wasn't alone, as everybody started off the day running. But Tiff, specifically, was scolded to slow down and stay steady, while everyone else was nagged to pick it up.

She was mildly miffed at the insinuation that she couldn't handle a few simple circuits around the courts. They weren't even the same size as a full lap around the track! But after being lapped by the entire class and feeling as if she were about to expire, she was grateful for the consideration. Unlike the other day when it was overcast and cool, today was more in line with Southern California's normal weather. That's to say, the moment the sun crested over the horizon, the air felt like it was on fire.

Tiff was sure the nearby asphalt was about to start boiling and the entire class was going to melt into a pile of goo. Thankfully, they did not, and Tiff even survived jogging for a quarter of a mile. She flopped onto a bench, casting dirty looks at the line leading to the water fountain, and once again found herself drawn to her quest in unexpected ways. If I put it underground, the core room would remain cool, wouldn't it? Subconsciously, Tiff was already considering a lair.

Not seriously, but the sort of daydreams that come to people as they're doing repetitive, monotonous things had to stem from somewhere. For Tiff, this was desperately trying to avoid thinking about some of the less-than-pleasant outcomes of putting down her core. … what would happen if it got destroyed? Tiff didn't want to think about it. In some of those games Amy was yammering about, the death of the core meant the death of the controller.

Tiff didn't think she was connected to an inanimate object in such a deeply personal way… but if she was honest, she couldn't disprove it and she was scared. Chances were just as high that if something happened to her core, she would be unaffected other than suffering a debuff until the system replaced it. She didn't know. But her mind went to dark places and she tried her best to shake it off. The rest of PE was spent fooling around with an orange, rubberized puck as the class played street hockey.

Some people claimed it was field hockey, but surely it would be best called court hockey, since they were neither in a street nor a field. Very briefly, Tiff had an image of an old man in judges' robes, with a grey, curly wig, sitting behind a tall courtroom counter, holding a gavel in one hand and a hockey stick in the other. Finally, she smiled. When lunch came, Tiff wasn't feeling overwhelmingly hungry. Sometimes, after a hard workout or exhausting day, she might feel ravenous and need to fill her empty belly.

After PE today, she simply felt nauseous and decided that lingering in the cafeteria would not end well with the oppressive mix of strong odors. Tiff peeled an orange on her way to the library and quickly scarfed it down before heading inside. At least the school insisted upon working air conditioning. The library was blessedly cool compared to the blazing afternoon sun, and Tiff wasn't the only one seeking refuge among the stacks of books.

However, unlike some of the ruffians who dared to sneak snacks inside this literary paradise and cared not about the damage their greasy fingers could inflict, Tiff had a valid reason to be here. She sidled up to the counter, where the librarian was watching a pair of boys like a hawk, and cleared her throat.

"Ah, welcome." The librarian might have looked strict, but she was soft beneath her severe exterior. Tiff had experience dealing with the woman before, and she was not afraid to admit that it took her many minutes to work up the courage to ask the woman for help. Now, while they weren't on personal terms, Tiff wasn't instantly intimidated…without help from her passive, either.

"Can you tell me where to find the section on System Classes?" The librarian smiled, though it had the effect of raking her eyebrows into a sharp line. She pushed her glasses up her long beak of a nose, and it gave Tiff the impression of a particular bad-sighted hawk. Was it near-sighted or farsighted? As someone who didn't wear glasses, Tiff never really knew the difference.

"Miss, I'm afraid you'll need to be a little more specific than that," the librarian chuckled.

"Nearly 30 percent of all printed word is related to the System, Classes, or references them to a relevant degree."

"Oh," Tiff's eyes widened.

"Do we have a section on known Classes?"

"Trying to get a leg up on the competition?" The woman smiled.

"Yes, we do, but it is a large collection; you might be searching for a while. Can I help you narrow it down? What are your parameters? Something related to industry? Politics? The arts?" She gave Tiff a wry smile.

"Certain heroes, perhaps? I must warn you, it isn't often the System grants powers to people after they Awaken. If you haven't received something already, chances are low that you'll get something in the future."

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of a database of known Classes. I'm not trying to become one, but I was wondering if you've ever heard of a specific Class? Something called a Dungeon Master?"

"Dungeon Master?" The librarian repeated. She pushed her glasses up her nose again and stared thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"No," she eventually shook her head.

"I'm afraid I'm not familiar. Is there a new Metahuman rising through the ranks I'm not familiar with? I swear, what you see on tv these days…."

"Not that I'm aware of, no," Tiff sweated. Fortunately, she wasn't rising through any ranks, and she certainly didn't want to appear on television.

"In that case, either it's a very niche Class and you might find it in Encyclopedia Classica, or it isn't well documented. Do you have any idea what it does?"

"No," Tiff answered truthfully. She really needed to escape all these questions.

"Well, if we have any information on it, it would be here," the woman jotted down some instructions for Tiff to locate the book and slid the note over.

"If somebody put you up to researching a strange Class, do be aware that not everything is a Class. It might not exist. I remember way back, there was a fad of ranking fake Classes…." Tiff muttered her thanks and quickly scurried away. She wasn't in any hurry to hear about bizarre hazing rituals from decades ago, just as much as she didn't want to answer any more probing questions.

Dodging around kids slumped over tables like piles of wet laundry, she made her way to the corner of the stacks where the encyclopedia lay. Truthfully, Tiff wasn't actually looking for her Class in the book; she just wanted to know if someone knowledgeable recognized the name. Who was more knowledgeable than a librarian? Especially if the lady had a book-related Class? Tiff found the row and section, eventually locating an old, thick book.

It occurred to her that she could have just as easily looked this up on one of the school computers, but then again, in the same breath, Tiff was mildly paranoid that somebody might sniff her out through her search history. And, because she was annoyed with herself for only considering that after she had the heavy book, she decided to blame the librarian. Maybe she didn't suggest an online search because she had something against computers.

Tiff sat down and cracked the book open, starting at the index and scanning down the list of known Classes. To her absolute lack of surprise, Dungeon Master wasn't on there. It was a shot in the dark, but one she felt worth taking. Since she'd come all this way, Tiff spent the rest of her lunch chillin' inside the library (with its supreme air conditioning) and browsed through random sections of the encyclopedia.

Perhaps it made sense in hindsight, but most Classes listed in the encyclopedia were derivatives of the Citizen Class. Tiff never thought about it before, but it was possible the rare person, like her, who Awakened to a Class might not actually be able to change their Class. It would also explain why famous heroes went by their alias rather than their Class.

Big Time and Wrecking Crew, two of the most famous Superheroes on the West Coast, would have much less impact if they had a mundane, silly class like [Strongman] or [Demolitionist]. Though there was something to be said for each of those, too. After several minutes of searching, Tiff eventually found Victoria's first class: [Martial Artist]. After kicking enough butts and taking enough names, a [Citizen] might find themself traveling the path of a warrior.

And probably earned themselves a solid start on the Mercenary route, too. From [Martial Artist], the possibilities seemed endless. The encyclopedia didn't list every single permutation for evolved Classes, since that was basically impossible. [Bodyguard] was only a single outcome in an infinite sea of Classes. The blurb on [Martial Artist] listed some of the more prominent ones, such as [Kickboxer], [Wrestler], and [Kung Fu Fighter]. A very large section was devoted to retail workers.

Tiff was confused, thinking she might have picked up a specialized volume instead of a generic encyclopedia, but after reading the preface, she learned something interesting. Many "entry-level" Citizen Classes were almost interchangeable. Rather, just because somebody received a Class didn't mean they had to stick with it forever. Somebody working down at the Walmart might pick up [Retail Clerk]. If they stuck with it long enough, it was possible they could upgrade to [Retail Manager].

Specialized Classes also existed, where that same Walmart employee might earn something if they worked in a specific department for an egregious amount of time. Like [Sporting Goods Manager]. Tiff shook her head and flipped a few chapters. Political Classes were among the most heavily studied yet poorly understood. Even more extreme than retail Classes, political ones were volatile. The main branch for a political Class was, understandably, [Politician].

It encompassed so much of the governmental world, from local city councilmen to kings and queens. From what Tiff read, it seemed like specific, detailed Classes were handed out like temporary badges or trophies. For example, if a [Politician] ran for office and got elected, he might become a [Mayor] or a [Governor]... whatever the position was. He'd then keep the Class for as long as he held the office… which granted him all the powers and benefits the System deemed fit to bestow.

Frustratingly, very few of those were listed in the book. Tiff was greatly interested in this, since her System told her once she put down her core, she would become the supposed "supreme authority" in her domain, and she'd steal it away from some of these high muckety-mucks. It might ease some of her worries if she knew what to expect when the core eventually popped out. … and that brought up another very disturbing thought.

Popping out a dungeon core made Tiff sound like a very bizarre chicken, and suddenly, she had another reason to never use her class. Where was this fictitious core stored, anyway? What did it look like, and what would it do? How was she supposed to hide it? And where was she supposed to hide it? This looped everything back around to the beginning, and now she was thinking about her quest once again.

Fully distracted, Tiff abandoned the book in favor of wandering around the library, peeking into nooks and crevices, wondering if there was a suitable hidey-hole for a dungeon core. The sad part was that she was only half-joking. The air conditioning was a major selling point.

"So, how was school?" Tiff and Amy both rolled their eyes at Victoria's saccharine words. Tori only graduated 2 years ago, and she made it sound like they were little kids coming home from preschool.

"It was great!" Amy sassed back.

"I got a juice box and took a nap."

"Really?" Victoria teased.

"You shouldn't sleep during class. You'll flunk out."

"I'm just joking," Amy sighed. They both knew Amy was sharp enough to skip a few lectures and skirt by.

"That's a shame," Tiff sighed in a distracted way.

"I could go for a juice box." The car went silent and she realized her sisters were staring at her.

"What? Juice is tasty."

"Fair," Amy grinned.

"But you need to share. It's the lesson of the day!"

"Wait," Victoria laughed.

"Are we sure this wasn't kindergarten?"

"I wish," Amy laughed.

"Then I'd get to spend the whole day coloring with crayons."

"I'd pin your art on the fridge," Tiff patted her sister on the shoulder consolingly. The ride home felt short, and as soon as they pulled up to the house, Amy bolted inside. Tiff placed her hand gently on Victoria's shoulder as she lingered. Despite how un-secure the Camry was, Tiff was growing comfortable in it. Maybe, if she put her core here, it would become mobile? Or would that simply brick Victoria's Toyota?

But then again, maybe that was another point in favor of putting the core in the car, forcing Victoria to upgrade….

"What's on your mind, Munch?" Victoria asked.

"I…got a new quest today," Tiff sighed. Victoria nodded seriously.

"More Affinity stuff?"

"No," Tiff shook her head. Though now that Victoria mentioned it, what sort of Affinity did teachers and students have? What quests would the System give her? Would they still be dark on the Greyscale? Would she need to corrupt the Science Department?

"Sorry. No, it's a Class quest. Remember the first one I showed you? Apparently, I failed it. The System marked it as 'abandoned' and gave me a new one."

"Oh no," Victoria frowned.

"Did you get penalized?"

"Not exactly," Tiff said.

"But it did give me a new quest. It's basically identical, only this time, there's a time limit. Here, take a look." Victoria leaned around in her seat to peer into the back, where Tiff was bringing up her screen. It only took a moment to read the new quest, and when she was finished, Tiff waved it away and Victoria frowned.

"48 hours, huh? And it looks like there's already a chunk missing. I'm guessing the System gave you this quest when you woke up?"

"Yeah," Tiff sighed.

"Tori, what am I going to do?"

"Doesn't seem like you have much of a choice," Victoria shrugged. She wasn't being blasé and placed her hand gently on Tiff's leg.

"If the System says it's going to go down, the core's gonna go down."

"But, where am I going to put it?" Tiff whined.

"I can't just drop it in the middle of the street! Somebody's going to find it!"

"Tiff," Victoria chuckled, "I get the feeling, no matter where you put it, it's eventually gonna get found."

"So much for never using my Class," Tiff groaned, dragging her hand down her face.

"Tori, I'm serious. Where am I going to put it? So far, my options are your car and the library."

"My ca-... wait," Victoria balked.

"The library? As in, the school library?"

"They have great ac!" Tiff scoffed defensively, crossing her arms.

"Summer heat is no joke!"

"Sure, until you can't get in during the summer," Victoria laughed.

"And really, Tiff…my car?"

"Okay, so the library was a joke, but hear me out. Maybe if I put it in your car, it can be mobile?"

"Tiff," Victoria said patiently as she closed her eyes.

"This is not a good idea. For one, my windows aren't tinted. For another, how big is your core? Are we talking about me trying to smuggle something the size of a person everywhere I go? Do I wrap it in a seatbelt and toss a hat on it? I'm willing to bet this isn't like an old McDonald's cup I can toss into the back seat and forget about."

"I know," Tiff sighed.

"But I've got to find something." She paused and stared at their front door.

"We don't have a bomb shelter from the 50s hidden somewhere, do we?"

"Tiff, we don't have a basement." Tiff shrugged, unbothered.

"Worth a shot."