The Lovers.

To Know Another Is To Know Ourselves.

Choices Define Us.

The Path Begins.

Beef was happy.

He was at the zoo, a place that had always brought him a certain amount of joy as a child. Back then, he would have had to be pried away from his computer or his books and dragged to a place like this, grumbling and moaning the entire way. It was only when they arrived, and he realized how much fun it all was, that he appreciated it. Beef shook his head. He had been such a little shit.

Now, he stood in front of the giraffes on an observation deck as they meandered around their too-small enclosure. People leaned over the side, holding carrots out for the enormous creatures to eat. A little bird fluttered around, hopping between the thin branches on the tree tops that were level with the observation deck. Bright green eyes shone from between shiny, faceted feathers and it trilled.

Beef, how long are we going to stand here?

Until I figure out what this Path is supposed to be showing me. Beef gave a shrug.

Hallow, disguised as a bird, lifted her head toward the sky. I sense strangeness.

Where?

I’m uncertain. She spread her wings. I will investigate and return.

Alright.

His Companion flew off, a bright flash in the Houston heat. Hallow would find their objective soon enough, and in the meantime Beef could enjoy this fleeting moment back home. The zoo was a bit underwhelming compared to the monsters he’d seen on the Continent, but Beef wasn’t really interested in the animals. The best part of this Path was seeing his parents still together.

He wasn't sure when this memory was exactly, but it was clearly before everything went south. Beef had only found out about their divorce the night he’d been summoned to the Continent. For a little bit, he could pretend that it would never happen.

"Michael, look! Look!"

One of the giraffes had craned its massive neck over the side of its enclosure and up to the observation deck. It looked at them with its big, watery eyes and weird little head knobs and Beef questioned whether or not the animals had any idea of where they were, who these people were standing before them, or anything at all. After his time on the Continent and the giraffe’s eager expression, he was inclined to think that maybe they did.

People packed the observation deck, at least twenty in the relatively small space. Hands reached out to give carrots to the big animals, and the giraffe was more than happy to extend its surprisingly long, surprisingly black tongue. The thing curled outward, wrapping around the carrot one lady held up before snatching it away to a barrage of delighted giggles from the crowd. A heavy, snap-crunch filled the air, drawing two more of the animals closer to the deck. Folks started making noise, their carrots waggled toward the approaching beasts like lures.

Beef, however, stood back, rolling his carrot in his surprisingly small hands. He wasn't much younger than he'd been when he'd left, and Beef had never been a tiny kid—he was one of the tallest boys in his grade, though there were more than a few girls who overtopped him by a half a head or more. Still, his small, sun-browned hands were strange to him. He missed his furry Minotaur mits more than he expected, but not because he was afraid of the giraffes or anything. No way. If he wanted to, he could jump right into the enclosure and wrestle a pair of them to the ground.

Totally.

He lightly flexed his quads, feeling the muscles draw steel-tight, compacting more than they had any right to, as if he were flexing muscles that he didn't actually have.

The first thing Beef had done when he'd arrived through the door was to access his Status Screen. He couldn't, of course, but finding himself walking through the zoo with his parents hadn't distracted him from experimentation.

I have access to my stats, but my Skills seem limited. Mana is…really low.

He lifted his head, sniffing. It was faint, masked by the smell of manure and animal musk, but he could sense it. Not Mana. There wasn’t any System on Earth, so Beef was pretty sure it didn’t have Mana—but death was everywhere.

Entropic energy. He looked around, catching faint hints of its heat. He reached out, his Affinity tangling with it for a brief moment before he released his hold. It’s definitely here if I need it.

Choices Define Us.

Beef stepped forward.

"Stop,” his mother said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “They’re dirty things. I don’t know why we even bought that carrot. Here,” she shoved a few dollar coins into his hands. They glinted gold in the sunlight. Beef’s favorite coin, because they reminded him of pirate treasure. “You can get something else.”

“Aw come on.” His dad laughed, holding up a carrot of his own. The giraffe snatched it from him with a deceptive slowness, yet it vanished almost instantly. “It’s easy! No need to be scared."

"He's not scared, Wendell. He just doesn't want to.” His mother sniffed. “Just like I didn't want to come to this damn zoo."

She stood to the side, well away from the giraffes and held her phone up as if it would ward them off. She’d been scrolling on her phone the whole time Beef had been in the Path, though he supposed that wasn’t out of character for her—Beef could recall a number of times she’d been out with them and would hang back, typing away or laughing at something she wouldn’t share with him.

One of the giraffes arced its head toward them, surprising them both, and his mom cringed and let go of Beef’s shoulder before scurrying back. “Oh god, it touched me!”

Had she always hated the zoo? She had dragged Beef to it often enough that he’d figured she loved the place as much as his dad.

“Calm down.” His dad reached out, trying to block the giraffe’s head from his wife. “You’ll just panic the animals.”

“The animals?”

That familiar sour feeling bubbled up in Beef’s guts, like it had the night he’d been taken away. He hadn’t seen them both together in what felt like forever—Beef just wanted them to get along.

"I'm not scared. Look." Beef stepped forward, and as the giraffe craned its neck toward him, he offered his carrot. The creature chomped down, pulling the carrot out of his hand and yanking, but Beef's grip was too strong and his old body was way too light. The giraffe yanked him forward, and its teeth crunched around his wrist.

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"Oh my God!"

“Wendell!”

His parents were shouting and his mom dropped her phone, reaching forward to smack the giraffe's face. The poor creature bleated in alarm, its head yanking back as it tried to evade the slapping woman. Unfortunately, it had no intention on dropping it’s favorite treat—and the boy attached to it. Beef was lifted off the ground and the crowd freaked out.

“It’s fine!” he yelled, but his thin voice was lost amid the chaos. Frustrated, Beef hooked his feet around the deck’s railing and the giraffe jerked in surprise, unable to yank him further. “Let go, dummy.”

For Beef's part, it didn't hurt at all. With fingers strong as steel springs, he pried the giraffe’s jaw open and yanked his arm free. He flopped forward, nearly falling before his dad hauled back on his belly and the pair of them tumbled onto the deck as the giraffes all galloped away.

"Oh my God, Michael! Are you okay? Is your wrist—? Oh no he’s in shock." His dad was over him, checking his hand, turning the slimy appendage over and pressing his shaking hands to Beef’s forehead.

"I'm fine, Dad. Look." He held up his hand, flexing all of his fingers and wrist. "It didn't even break the skin. It just snagged on my watch.”

“You were wearing a watch?”

“Not anymore,” Beef lied.

His dad helped him sit up, but he was still very ginger about it. “I'm so sorry, Michael. I shouldn’t have pushed you to feed them—"

"No, dad, I wanted to. It was my choice."

His dad opened his mouth to protest again, but apparently he saw something on Beef’s face that stopped him. He merely gave a small smile and squeezed his shoulder. “You’re a lot older than you look.”

Beef grinned.

"Absolutely ridiculous," his mother exclaimed. The zookeepers had formed an apologetic huddle around her, most of them looking horrified or confused, while their designated leader tried to get a word in edgewise. "If my son loses his hand, I'm going to rip this entire place down and turn it into a parking lot!"

"Honey, relax." His dad stood up, lifting Beef back to his feet. "Look, he's alright. Totally uninjured."

Quick as a flash, his mom was there, looking Beef over. She let his unblemished hand drop and looked back at the cowering attendants. "This isn't over.”

Without another word she seized Beef's unslimed hand and dragged him off the observation deck, his father trailing apologetically behind. They marched down through the asphalt pathways across a lot of trees until they got near the aquarium and aviary. The smell of animal funk intensified and grew more humid even in the dry heat. They slowed just outside the doors, where the aquarium was built up to look like a fake cavern.

"Michael, honey," his mom said, "could you please go ahead, into the aquarium? We'll join you in there shortly. I need to talk to your father."

"Um, okay." Beef didn't have to be told twice. For all his best efforts, it seemed like another fight was about to happen. “There a lionfish I wanted to see anyway.”

He walked off, and the weight of his mother’s stare didn’t let up until he’d rounded the corner into the faux cavern. The giraffe attack and fight hadn’t happened in the past. All of his trips to the zoo had been so peaceful they bordered on boring. His mom may not have liked the zoo much, but she had always liked seeing him have fun.

Beef retreated to the aquarium, turning through the faux rock archway before stopping just outside the glass doors. His parents huddled nearby, away from the crowds of people, and began to talk. It was hard to make out everything. While his physical stats were definitely accessible, his Perception was a bit shaky. Beef wasn't sure if that was a reaction to being on Earth again, or if his lack of focus on Perception was to blame. He had a feeling both were at play.

"Have you looked at the paperwork I gave you?"

"No, I haven't yet," his dad admitted.

"Well, why not? I gave it to you a month ago."

"Yeah, well, maybe I'm not willing to give up."

"Give up," his mom laughed. "There's nothing to give up. This hasn't been working for years, Wendell. What exactly are you trying to save here?"

"Trying to save our marriage. And it's insane to me that you don't seem to care."

"It's not that I don't care. I wish I were still in love with you. I wish we were happy, but I'm not. And I have to look at what's best for me."

“Best for—” His dad forced himself to breath. “What about what’s best for Michael?"

"This is what’s best for him. Besides, do you think he’ll even care? He spends all day in his room playing that godawful video game. He barely says hi to us."

"Nancy, that's just teenager stuff. You think he's not gonna care? How stupid are you?"

"Call me stupid one more time, you absolute prick."

"Now we're name-calling."

"You started it."

"You are such a child,” his dad snapped. “You can't have a single conversation without turning it into a fight." The man held up a hand, forstalling whatever else his mother was gonna say. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. No, I haven't looked at the paperwork. Have you thought about couples counseling again?"

"That won’t go any differently than it did the first time we tried it. Therapy doesn’t work."

"Couples counseling didn't work because you weren't trying."

"What do you mean I wasn't trying? I showed up to every session—”

“And were closed off. You refused to engage with any of the therapist's prompts."

"Fine. In the interest of not being closed off, I’ll tell you the good news: I’ve got a new job.”

"What? When did this happen?”

Beef couldn’t help the little gasp that stole from his lips. What? I don't remember this.

“It pays double my current salary…and it's in San Francisco.”

“That's so far away. What about Michael?”

“That's why I asked if you looked at the paperwork."

"What the hell are you talking about?”

His mom smoothed her skirts. “I want you to have sole custody.”

Beef couldn’t believe it. His ears rang like he’d just been in an explosion, and from what he could see his dad was nearly as confused. He said as much.

"What? You think I can afford the time to get him settled into a new school district, make new friends, and do my job? I’m a lawyer not a miracle worker, and that doesn’t come with an excess of free time.”

“We make the time,” his dad said, throat raspy with emotion. “It’s what I’ve always done.”

“Look, here he has friends. He has neighbors. And he has you.”

“He's supposed to have you too.”

His mom ignored that. “That's my offer. I think it's quite generous. I'll pay alimony with my new job, and you take full custody."

At first, Beef didn't realize he was moving, but the voices faded as the darkness of the aquarium overtook him, and the outdoor heat was replaced by the artificial cool of the AC. Fish bubbled around him. They swam through tanks that filled the corridor on either side of him, bright flashes of scale that he could barely take in.

His mom didn't want him. She gave him up for a job. But he thought that his dad had—No, his dad had been there. Always.

Beef pulled out the change from his pocket. The pile of them glinted dully in the dim light of the aquarium, coppery and green.

Fool’s gold.

He clutched them tight in his too-small hand, ignoring the pain as the edges pressed into his palm.

Hallow. Where are you?

Near the elephants. I’ve not found the source of the disturbance I detected.

Beef looked up as the fish tanks ended and a stretch of blue-lit hallway led to a gift shop and the wide doors marked with painted feathers and gilded words.

Meet me in the aviary. We’ll start looking together.

On my way.

Beef wrenched open the door, forgetting to hold back his Strength, and the thing creaked balefully. He winced, hauling back on it to ensure it closed, so busy with it that he didn’t notice how the shadows glittered.

Behind him, where the dark met clouded daylight, something followed.