Chapter 5: Terms of Service

Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Terms of Service

[Greetings, Rex. Please remain calm. Panicking will only make the next 10 minutes more embarrassing for both of us.]

Jared stared at the floating panel.

It stared back, glowing politely.

[I am your System. Think of me as a guide, a tracker, and a very patient babysitter. My job is to monitor your beasts, record their ranks, and warn you before they fall apart. I will also be commenting on your life choices. That part is free.]

"You’re talking," Jared whispered.

[Astute. You’ll go far.]

"You’re a system."

[And you’re a hospital aid who spent his last moments being rude to a vending machine. We all have our titles.]

’Among other things why only talk about the vending machine’

’ Wait,It knows about the vending machine.’

[I know about everything. I’m thorough. Now, basics. I track every beast you bind, their rank, their condition, and their regression status. If a beast sits unused for too long, it begins to devolve. I’ll notify you before it drops. Whether you listen is between you and your conscience.]

[Notifications only come for your newly rendered beast not your starting ten]

Jared opened his mouth to reply.

Then something slammed into his skull.

It felt like a wave hitting a seawall. Images flooded in all at once, so fast and so loud he curled sideways on the bed and clutched his head.

A kitchen with chipped blue tiles. A training yard of packed dirt. Two adults in dented armor, laughing at a doorway, gauntlets glinting. A heavy gem warming in a boy’s palm. A girl at a table, staring at her food like she wasn’t sure she was allowed to eat it.

It lasted maybe 3 seconds. It felt like 30.

When it cleared, Jared lay gasping on the mattress, sweat cooling on his neck.

[Memory transfer complete. Don’t worry, it’s normal. You’ll only feel mildly violated.]

"Thanks," he rasped. "Very comforting."

[I try.]

He sat up slowly. The room around him was no longer a mystery. Small, tidy, a desk by the window, a narrow bed. His room. His house.

His parents’ house.

He pressed his palm to his forehead and sorted through what he’d been given. His name here was Jared too, which seemed lazy. He was the only child of a well known beast master family. The kind of family people stepped aside for in the market. His parents were away right now, slaying beasts somewhere far beyond the mountains.

And someone else was in the house.

A girl. The memories were warm around her, easy and familiar. Zoey. The same age as him. Adopted by his parents years ago. She kept the house running whenever the adults were gone, cooking and cleaning and bullying him into doing his laundry.

Jared swung his legs off the bed. ’Okay. Don’t make it weird. Just be normal.’

[You’re already making it weird.]

’Quiet.’

He cleared his throat and shouted toward the door.

"Zoey!"

Footsteps sounded in the hall, quick and unhurried. The door swung open and a girl leaned in, one hand on the frame. She had a dish towel over her shoulder and a streak of flour on her cheek.

"Why are you screaming?" she asked.

"I need something."

"What?"

"I don’t know. Water, maybe."

"There’s a kitchen.I’m not your maid." She said it lightly, with a crooked grin. "I’m kinda like your sister. Do it yourself, Jared."

Jared blinked.

[Wow. She just served you a full plate of independence. You should thank her.]

’I’m not going to thank her.’

[You’re going to want to. Eventually.]

He sat there, stunned, then shrugged. He had spent 17 years being yelled at by hospital staff. A teenage girl with flour on her face was hardly going to break him.

"Whatever," he said.

"Good boy."

"I’m older than you."

"By 3 days."

"Still older."

She snorted and started to go. Jared sat up straighter.

"Wait."

"What now?"

"When are Mom and Dad coming back?"

Zoey paused. The words ’Mom and Dad’ sat strangely in his mouth, but they came out smooth enough. She turned and gave him a flat look.

"You forgot?"

"I just want to confirm."

"They said maybe a month or so."

Jared’s stomach dropped. "A month?"

"Give or take. It’s a big hunt. They’re on patrol you know. You know how they are."

"So they’re away for that long," he said slowly. ’That’s a long time to leave a kid alone. But then, I’m not a kid.’

[A teenager’s body with a teenager’s hormones- yet not a kid. Good luck with that.]

’I did not ask for commentary.’

[I’m contractually obligated.]

The memories hadn’t covered this part clearly. The details were blurry, like looking through frosted glass. So he decided to ask.

"So what do we usually do when they’re gone that long?"

Zoey squinted at him.

"You sound strange," she said.

"I’m just tired."

"You’re always tired. That’s not what I mean." She shook her head, shrugged, and explained anyway. "You spend the whole time training. That’s what you always do. You and your Ground Dragon, going at it every morning like you’re trying to flatten the yard. The neighbors are scared of you."

"Of me?"

"Of her. Your dragon. You’re basically a menace." She grinned and ticked a finger in the air. "Mr. SSS Rank Beast Master."

She laughed at her own joke and spun toward the door, her braid swinging.

"Lunch is ready, by the way. Don’t let it get cold. I’m not reheating it."

"Zoey, wait..."

But she was already gone, her footsteps fading down the hall.

Jared sat there, frozen.

’She knows about the Ground Dragon.’

His heart started pounding. He had just picked that beast, minutes ago, from a pocket dimension in the void. He hadn’t told anyone. He hadn’t even left the room.

’How does she know? I haven’t even summoned it yet.’

He turned to the panel hovering in the air.

"What’s going on?"

[Ah. There it is. The question I’ve been waiting for.]

"Explain."

[Gladly. The original owner of this body was already a beast master. He already had a beast bound. It happened to be an SSS Rank. A Ground Dragon, in fact.]

Jared stared.

"The same one I pulled."

[A fun coincidence. The universe has a sense of humor. Or a very lazy writer.]

"That’s not possible."

[It’s very possible. I’m looking at it right now.]

Jared opened the pouch at his belt, one he hadn’t noticed until now, and tipped the contents onto the blanket. Ten gems rolled out, glittering. He counted them.

’So it’s the same Ground Dragon. Or I got the original’s, and the one I pulled is a duplicate. Or...’ He shook his head. ’I don’t know. And I don’t have the energy to figure it out.’

[Wise. Overthinking gives wrinkles.]

"I don’t have wrinkles."

[Give it time.]

He picked up the red gem and turned it over. The heavy, armored shape inside shifted.

’So that’s why Zoey said training. If the original Jared trained with this thing every day...’

His eyes widened.

’Because otherwise it would devolve.’

[Look at that. A thought. I’m so proud I could short circuit.]

"If I don’t train it, the Ground Dragon drops. SS Rank, maybe worse."

[Correct. A beast that isn’t used loses rank. It slides downward. SSS becomes SS, SS becomes S, and so on until it’s a very expensive pet rock. The original owner understood that. Which is why he spent every morning in the yard being a menace.]

"So I have to keep up the training."

[Unless you enjoy watching your SSS beast shrink into something that can’t open a jar.]

Jared looked at the gem, then at the other nine on the blanket.

’Nine more. Nine other beasts that nobody knows about. If they sit unused, they’ll fall apart too.’

His throat tightened.

’I can’t let that happen.’

[You know, for someone who claims not to care, you look awfully concerned.]

"I’m not concerned. I’m calculating."

[Of course. That’s what concern looks like in a person with your personality.]

"Shut up."

[Make me.]

A knock rapped against the door, sharp and impatient.

"Jared!" Zoey’s voice rang through the wood. "It’s getting cold! I’m not kidding, I’ll eat it myself!"

"Coming!" he called back.

He scooped the gems back into the pouch, tied it shut, and stood. His legs felt steady. His head felt clear. For the first time since the hospital, he felt like he had a direction.

But he wasn’t done.

He looked at the panel floating near his shoulder, glowing softly, patient as a stone. There was a lot he didn’t know. About the system. About his beasts. About what it could actually do.

’If this thing is going to be with me the whole time, I should understand it.’

He took a breath.

The system urged him to say the word ’status’. He just did as was told.

"Status," he said.