I studied them all, struggling to keep my face emotionless.

Sara wore simple armor, not unlike my set, accented by a simple gray cover-up. Short, shoulder-length blonde with a single red streak accenting her bangs. I relaxed my mind and let <Cruel Lens> take over.

Early twenties, confident, no trace of post-teenage depression. Smart. Either tested out of high-school or dropped out early. Probably worked a high-level job before this all started. She’s the aggrieved party here and she’s pissed, but reasonable if I can goad her into thinking big picture.

Arthur was Sara’s polar opposite. Jeans and a T-shirt with the armor underneath, making him look bloated, despite his slim build. Darkly red hair, almost auburn. He looked at me like I was a bit of waste that fell out of the trashcan and landed on his shoe. 

Hotheaded. Driven, but only cares about results, not about methods or presentation. Smug and can’t back it up. Something… else. Tension between him and Sara. Not one-way, considering how she snapped at him earlier.

They were both Agility builds, and considering how my attempt at <Suggestion> had bounced off Sara like she wasn’t even there, she was likely the high-Int caster of the group. 

Tyler was still kneeling with his knee on Swat Guy’s back, the officer still out cold from the blow. He was peering at me in confusion, as if he didn’t understand why I hadn’t left.

How did I want to do this? 

Shifting one person’s mind away from something they were set on was tough. Changing the collective mind of a close-knit group was almost impossible. My only saving grace? I was pretty sure they weren’t all that tight-knit. At least not yet. 

Arthur opened the conversation for me. “That’s it. We’ve gotta do the kid too, now.” 

“We’re not doing anyone.” Tyler grimaced. 

“Shut up, Arthur,” Sara said, at almost the same moment.

Fine. First step was, I needed a heel. Someone in the group to pick out as an outlier, someone to make me sound more reasonable by sounding like an asshole. 

I strode passed Arthur, shooting him a derisive glance. “That his answer to everything? Kill all your problems?” 

“Oh good.” Arthur sneered. “Another bleeding heart.”

I spoke directly to Tyler, ignoring Arthur, “No seriously, is that his contribution to your allegedly elevated guild? Being the bloodthirsty, stupid one?” 

Tyler was about to speak up to defend Arthur, when Arthur did me a favor and cut back in. “It’s a new world we live in, kid. You can’t just show mercy to people who fuck with you and pretend like it’s not going to come back and bite you. The boot has to go.” 

I shook my head, mockingly stoic. “Arthur, you’re an actual moron. Dumber than a rock dropped into a whole ocean of stupid.” I saw Sara smirk out of the corner of my eye. “You’re the one who started talking about killing. For all I knew, you planned to kidnap him, hold him somewhere safe. Good job screwing up the plausible deniability. Actually, if you were slightly less stupid, I’d say you did that deliberately, to give them a reason to kill me.” 

“This isn’t helping,” Sara said, still trying not to smile. 

But the damage was done. I’d poisoned the well. Arthur’s fists clenched. But he fell silent. 

“Regardless of whose fault it is, it doesn’t change the fact that we’re now in a difficult position.” Tyler started. He was studying me, attempting to get a read. But there was no tickle from <Ordinator’s Emulation> indicating he was using an ability. 

“This dipshit killed my friend. He’s dangerous.” Sara said, gaze bouncing between me and Tyler. 

“Yeah, I was there, at Baylor. He took a shot at me too.” It was information I never would have normally given out, but I needed it as bait. 

“You were there?” Tyler’s eyes narrowed.

“Idiots,” Arthur chuckled. “Didn’t you say he wasn’t a User?” 

There it was. I wanted to get that out of the way as early as possible, before Tyler’s ability came off cooldown. 

I put a hand to my face. “Okay. I can’t. I actually can’t deal with this guy.”

“It’s a legitimate question. We don’t even know a fraction of all the factions involved.” Tyler mused. 

“You did say it was weird, since your… ability… doesn’t usually direct you to non-users.” Sara pointed out.

I looked between all three of them like they were the most unreasonable people in the world. “Fine. Just send me an invitation to the guild, so you can see my status and we can stop acting out the Spider-Man meme.”

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Tyler considered that, then nodded to Sara. “Keep him restricted, so he can’t see the roster.” 

Sara fiddled with the screens, and I received the invite moments later. 

<Sara has invited you to join the Adventurer’s Guild as a restricted member>

<Would you like to join the Adventurer’s Guild?>

<Y | N>

Adventurer’s Guild? Really?

I suppressed an eye roll, swapped to my Civilian identity and joined the guild. 

Sara stared out into space. “Matt. No level, no class… definitely an NPC.” 

I gave Tyler an exasperated look. He, in response, stared Arthur down. It made sense. From his perspective, the man had made them all look like fools twice now. 

“So, what, you just happened to be at the hospital the same time countless Users passed out? No one else finds that the slightest bit weird?” Arthur tried. 

I’d already established a baseline of this story with Tyler. So left it sounding relatively unconvincing, baiting the hook again. “Or, when normal people end up in the hospital, they have friends who end up visiting them.”

I shot a look back at Arthur, and shielded from the other two, gave him a malevolent sneer. He nearly choked. 

I turned back, my face completely neutral and reasonable. “Look, I was there. All I did was try to run away, and he took a shot at me. The bullet squibbed and shredded his arm. Check if you don’t believe me.” 

Sara pulled up Swat Guy’s sleeve and found a filthy bandage in desperate need of rotation. 

Tyler, eyed the wound, then looked back at me. “So, let me get this straight. This guy kills multiple people, probably Users and Civilians, takes a shot at you. You spot him here and follow him. You stop him from killing another person. And now you’re putting yourself in harm’s way because for some reason you want to save him?” 

I laughed. “I’m trying to—Alright. I’m going to tell you something. You may not believe me, but it’s completely true.” 

Tyler bit. Nothing changed in the big man’s expression, but I felt <Ordinator’s Emulation> vibrate in the back of my mind. He had the ability back off cooldown and I’d prompted him to use it. 

The words left my lips easily. “I don’t give a single, solitary fuck if you kill him. I don’t have a single objection to killing him. In fact, I hope you do. Months from now, when it won’t matter.” 

I felt Tyler’s ability fade. He looked genuinely unsettled, as if he’d truly believed that the only qualm I had was a moral one. 

“He’s just trying to buy time. I don’t know what game he’s playing, but that’s all he’s doing.” Arthur reiterated.

“And you’re constantly impulsive and push for what you want. What’s the difference?” Sara snapped. 

I cocked my head. There was baggage in the statement. Like Arthur was pushy in some other way, impulsive in some other way, and Sara was getting fed up. 

Oh, yes. Plenty to play with there.

“What the hell is your problem with me?” I pivoted, turning to Arthur. The younger man still leered at me. I used  <Suggestion> and pushed through his mental defenses easily. 

”They don’t recognize you for your potential and never will unless you do something. Come on. Show them how strong you are. Coward.” 

Arthur’s eyebrows lowered. Behind me, I heard Tyler and Sara quietly conferring. He was so close. He just needed one more push. 

I gave him the malevolent smile again and kept my voice low. “You know… Sara’s never going to fuck you.”

Even knowing it was coming, the backhand was blisteringly fast. I turned my head with it, feeling a sharp pain as knuckles drove cheek into teeth. 

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