Chapter 2: Chapter 2: The System

The store was darker than Henry remembered, dust falling beneath the white luminescence of ceiling lights. Only about a quarter of them remained on, leaving large squares of light upon the floor that almost reached the next one over.

Henry rolled over. Riley lay curled in a ball, her face stricken.

"Riley?" he asked.

She looked at him, then diverted her gaze. "He's dead."

"You don't know that." Henry stood to his feet. He offered her a hand.

She did not look at it or take it, then pushed up onto her knees. When she looked behind, her face paled.

Henry followed her gaze. The Shopmart entrance led to a brightly lit, white-floored superstore with painted blue walls. A random group of people stood near its entrance. There was a suspicious lack of workers. Henry noticed the same trend on his side.

Where was his manager?

He stepped through the doorway.

Bing Dong!

He looked up. The buildings merged seamlessly. "The outside world. It's just gone."

Initializing Character build...

Henry blinked at the floating blue words.

"I don't get to choose my build. Really?" Riley muttered in disagreement.

"Maybe it will build us up anew, you know?" Julio said. He cleared his throat. "I would like to be six inches taller!"

"I doubt it works like that," Riley said.

"How do you know, guacha?"

Initialization complete!

Specialty discovered!

Machine Operator

Henry waited for more details. None came.

Trait discovered!

Strength of Passion

Henry swept his gaze across the translucent blue display, searching for any way to expand the terms. Other than the small X at the top right corner, he found no way to glean additional information. Well, Machine Operator made sense to him. He knew how to operate a forklift among other machinery, but he didn't know how it would relate to this system.

A wave of chatter traveled through the people of Shopmart. Henry turned around. A porcelain-skinned woman with white hair stood atop a distant pallet rack, her arms and legs concealed within an armless black robe. She was grinning at them from afar. Dark eyes unblinking.

That smile... He'd seen the same one possess that elderly woman.

"Survivors!" she said. Her voice appeared on Henry's display as black text. "You are now part of the Retail Dungeon!"

Worry rose in Henry. He didn't know a damn thing about it, excuse his language.

The White Woman looked at him. Into his soul. "The goal of your journey is simple. Reach the top floor. Entrances to the next level are currently sealed. You will need to survive the listed time before these entrances will open. For the first level, you must survive 60 days!"

60 days remaining until access points open!

Sixty days? More than enough time to starve to death according to those survival shows he always watched.

"And one more thing," she said. "There are currently too many of you! After 10 minutes, a purge will commence. Run, hide, or fight, but they are coming!"

A large timer appeared near the ceiling, ticking down. The White Woman collapsed within her robe, leaving a pile of dark fabric.

A few people had the idea to run straight through the entrance to the adjacent store as if it would somehow be different over there, but Henry swore he'd heard the White Woman's voice coming from the other store as well. There were at least two White Women.

Henry focused on the forklift. Princess remained in the seat. He hustled over to her. He was thinking they should stick together, but the people were delving deeper into the store like it was black Friday.

"We need weapons..." Henry looked back to the forklift. He picked up Princess, falling into the seat with haste. When he turned the ignition, a soft blue glow coated the forklift. A holographic display formed a digital speedometer.

Now, this was new.

Like his visual display, this new forklift display had a menu. Upon selecting it, a diagram of the forklift opened up, highlighted sections here and there.

4 available upgrades!

Henry read through the four options quickly. He would need something called 'White Blood' to give the forklift self-repairing functions. The rest of the requirements made no sense. Boots sounded to his left.

Julio analyzed his ride. "No fair, gancho. Are you gonna stick the enemies with that?"

"That's what I was thinking."

Julio withdrew his revolver. "Let me catch a ride with you? I can provide drive-by support!" The pistol looked slightly bigger than before the system's arrival.

"I can't say no to help."

Riley strode up to his side. "Where are the guns?"

"What?"

"The guns!" she repeated.

"Shopmart doesn't sell them."

"Then what I'm supposed to do with my stupid build?" She muttered something about a 'scream attack' being useless.

"Don't worry, gaucha," Julio said, raising his pistol. "I got you covered."

As she eyed the weapon, then Henry's forklift, she whispered under her breath, a look of realization washing over her. "Your pistol changed." She looked at me. "So did your forklift. The system affects everyday items!"

Riley ran in a random direction.

"Where are you going?" Henry asked.

She did not respond.

Henry glanced at Julio. The cowboy shrugged.

Henry put the forklift in drive, the holographic display showing the RPMs. The vehicle accelerated forward with surprising speed.

"Wait for me!" Julio said. The man jogged up behind, catching a lift by standing on the small trim that formed a step to climb into the vehicle.

Riley was fast. Henry floored the pedal, speeding up to 16.7 MPH. The system had removed the speed limiter. Based on one of the upgrade options, it would be possible to go even faster.

People were now climbing up the side of the towering aisle walls. One man climbed to the top to stand near boxes of stoves. It looked like quite the defensive position.

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Riley. Why exactly was he following her? He didn't understand why he cared when he'd met her so recently. The girl paused at a junction. Looking one way, then the other.

"What are you looking for?" Henry asked, catching up to her.

"The toy section!"

Henry frowned. "We moved it to the far right side, bottom quadrant."

She flashed a white smile. "Thanks!" She took off like an Olympic sprinter, leaving them far behind, her pink skirt fluttering in the wind.

The skirt did not hide the jiggles of her bottom, but maybe that was because it didn't begin to cover it. Henry reddened. He wasn't trying to look! Even from his peripheral vision, it was so obvious. Why couldn't the girl wear normal clothes? He whispered for forgiveness.

"Ain't she something?" Julio asked.

Henry glanced at the man sideways. "Don't be getting any ideas."

"Like you weren't looking!"

"I was looking for something to cover her up with!" Henry realized his fists were clenched. He felt as though he might lash out again. "A girl can wear whatever she wants. I just meant... I think she's been through a lot."

"Relax, gancho. I only tease."

Henry caught up to Riley. She stood in the toy section, looking around quickly. What could she possibly want from a toy? He needed to find her a real weapon. He could head back and grab her a shovel. They weren't too far away.

"Yes!" Riley exclaimed. She grabbed a big blue box, pulling it down to land on the grey floor.

It was one of those foam shooter guns. Henry cleared his throat. "Not sure how that's going to help."

She ignored him, tearing open the cardboard like a kid on Christmas. She pulled out the plastic gun. It was the biggest model they had, a futuristic LMG. It even had a box magazine that could hold many darts. Riley spun it around in her hand, looking for the place to push the foam dart inside.

While she was doing that, Henry hopped out of the seat to retrieve a shovel. As he crossed the distance, he realized something odd.

As much as he felt stressed about the current situation, there was something different. The constricting force that had made his life terrible for the past two months: his debt. He was free from it for the moment. His phone didn't work and nobody could reach him in this place.

Unless Cylus had entered the Retail Dungeon. Henry felt his chest tighten. Even if he did, would the man really pursue him at a time like this?

Christ forgive him, he needed another drink. He pulled a shovel and jogged back just as Riley pressed the fully loaded magazine into place.

She pointed at a far wall and fired.

The dart stuck to the wall. It didn't do anything because it was just...

A loud crack sounded, a small firey white light exploding outward where the dart had been. How had a foam dart produced a fist-sized explosion? Henry frowned. Riley continued onward. Now what was she looking for?

Although Henry had a weapon of his own (the forklift) he grabbed a pistol. There were no more LMGs available. The shovel was too cumbersome so he left it behind. He tore the pistol out of the box, loading it up as fell into his seat.

Princess whined at him.

He looked at her. "I'll get you something eventually."

She let out a little half-growl half-whine. He swore it meant, you better.

Before they took off, Julio stacked as many nerf guns as he could fit on the back of the forklift. "I don't have a lot of ammo, you know."

"It's smart. I imagine your specialty is firearms?"

"Oh, no, gancho! My expertise is Cowboy!"

"Then we need to find you a rope," Henry added.

"What do you think this is?" The man grabbed the robe bound into a tight ring on his hip. Henry hadn't noticed it. It sort of blended into his get-up. By the time Henry rounded the bend, Riley had made a mess of torn boxes.

"What are you looking for?" Henry asked.

"Anything," she said. "Toy grenades. Lightsabers."

Henry walked over to a box on a high shelf. It was high enough that Riley must have missed it. It was a Lightsaber for one of the new Star Wars movies. When Riley saw what he held, her blue eyes went wide. She dashed over, pulling it free from his hands.

Henry blinked.

"Thanks!" Riley said, and she was tearing into it. She frowned. "It's just plastic..." She spam clicked the button with a groan, the Lightsaber sound starting and cutting off repeatedly. "I thought the system would have converted it into ionized plasma."

"Maybe it's random," Henry said.

Her expression turned bright. "You're a genius!"

She ran over to where Henry stood by the Star Wars boxes. She extended a hand, groaning to reach. She couldn't reach any of them.

Henry grabbed the box, lowering it down into her open hands.

"Must be nice living as a giant," Riley muttered.

"Not really," Henry said. He grabbed the remaining four boxes, resting two of them beside her where she sat on the floor opening them. He stood on his feet, opening his.

"Nope, just another toy," Henry said. He squinted at it.

Inspection skill discovered!

Inert Lightsaber

This common toy doesn't live up to the greatness displayed in the movies, but that's okay. Look hard enough, and you might find one that does.

Henry looked around. Where had Julio wandered to?

"Riley..."

"They all suck!" She looked at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"We have sixty seconds."

"Oh." She stood to her feet.

"Julio!" Henry shouted.

"Gancho! Look what I found!" The short man rounded the corner, holding one of those mountable talking fish. He pressed a button, and the fish swung its head around, singing a country song. "Ain't this something!"

30 seconds remaining!

"We need to go," Henry said. He mounted the forklift. "Come on."

Julio got on one side, Riley on the other.

Henry had no idea where to go. He envied those that had taken the high ground. They would fare much better than the people scattered below.

The clock ticked zero.

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