The Champion's Network (Urban LitRPG)

[TheDivineDemon]

He pulled his old black sedan up to the front of the airport, double-checking his phone as he rolled to a stop. He was at the right place, at the right gate even, but there was no sign of his would-be client. Not that he knew what the guy looked like but he assumed someone would be waiting outside for a ride.

Pulling up the Poole app on his phone he sent out a quick message. Nothing fancy, a simple 'Out Front' to hopefully get them in gear. The response back was quick. Apparently, they were having some trouble finding their luggage and would 'be a minute'. That phrase forced a huff from his chest as he translated it to mean 'several minutes'.

He took up the job because he was bored, not to be bored.

He turned up the radio, on more for the background noise than anything else, and started scrolling down the apps on his phone. Mostly reposts, funny reposts but reposts all the same. Nothing new, only something he could absently look through as he waited. The radio started to earn more attention than half an ear.

The local DJ, DJ *Medieval Horn* Adven-Tune, was tearing into some poor farmer over something ridiculous. "-thinks he saw some jackalope, of all things, eating his crops. A whole 'bundle' of antlered bunnies stuffing themselves on-". The mean spirit felt unnecessary but the DJ was right. Even the idea of a jackalope sighting was completely ridiculous. Exactly the sort of brainless news you'd expect from an afternoon DJ.

A knock on his window jolted him to attention, giving him an eyeful of a skinny white guy in a business suit. Business suit waved with his phone in hand, looking to the world like a bundle of nerves.

"Are you, uh, 'Hero Hero'?" The man asked as the window rolled down.

"Hiro Hierro." He did not sigh, he corrected. He was far too used to the mispronunciation to even be annoyed anymore. "You Arthur? Find your bags alright?" Or as much as he used to.

"Ah, yeah," Arthur said, holding up an overstuffed roller. "Should I just…"

"I'll pop the trunk. You can toss it there."

"Right, thanks."

A minute later Hiro had them on the road, rolling towards Arthur's hotel. Unfortunately, it was not a ride to be filled with silence. That was a rarity in Hiro's job. People liked to talk, they liked to make noise. If not with him then with someone, or something, on their phone. And Arthur did not seem interested in his phone. Not with the way he kept twirling it between his hands.

"So, your name is Heero? Right?" He started and Hiro could already hear the wrong vowel being said. A long 'e' instead of the proper 'iy' sound. "Like the Greeks or Gundam Wing?"

He never watched Gundam, anime was more his sister's thing, but he knew it was Japanese. And Japanese meant it was the right way to say his name. Probably. "Like Gundam. My Dad thought it would be funny and I've been suffering ever since."

"I bet, I bet." He started to tap his phone against his knee, making a mindless beat. "I got a bunch of King Arthur jokes as a kid. And Arthur ones, like that old PBS cartoon. You know the one I'm talking about?"

"I think so," Hiro answered, eyes on the road as his GPS directed him around another turn. He didn't need it, he had driven around Steelsworth enough to know the way to most things. Especially to the various motels and hotels of the city. It was the kind of intimate knowledge that came with being a Poole driver. Still, it was better safe than sorry. So the GPS stayed, especially when it broke up the client's talking.

"Got a lot of crap for that. Aquaman jokes too, mostly from my friends but still." He kept making that beat, and 'beat' was a very generous term. It had no rhythm, rhyme, or reason. It was a mindless noise, a nervous tic. It also showed that the phone was dead.

The thing didn't light up once. Phones, in Hiro's experience, usually did when they were in motion. "Do you need a charger? I've got most of the popular ones here. Feel free to plug in."

"Huh, oh." Arthur paused and looked at his phone. The screen went white for a second as he checked the power. Hiro was apparently wrong about it being dead. "Actually, yeah, it could use a top-off."

There was a second of silence followed by the ruffle from plugging in the device. The second lasted long enough for the radio to whisper out "-question is do they taste like rabbit or venison? I mean-". The quiet did not last long, Arthur would not allow it. His anxious chatter filled the minutes as Hiro drove on.

Hiro did not mean to be rude, he made a habit of avoiding it if he could, but he tuned Arthur out. Just a bit. He contributed to the conversation in bursts, listening in bits. From what he could pick up Arthur had come to Hiro's little city on a business trip. His higher ups were showing him a huge amount of trust by letting him handle a 'minor' business deal by himself. With PanChema, the big money maker of Steelsworth, no less.

Hiro figured that there might have been a bit of nepotism going on there. People would never let someone so young handle such an important thing otherwise. Even if the other company was based in the middle of nowhere Virginia. There had to be a reason, not necessarily a good one but a reason all the same.

The hotel was about a twenty minute drive. The airport was not that far outside city limits, though it was far enough out for some local farmers to complain about the noise.

The hotel was a nice place, barely on the affordable side of upscale. A perfect fit for someone like Arthur. The man himself seemed eager to get out of the car. Ready to start prepping for his big presentation if his chatter was anything to go by.

Arthur surprised Hiro by stopping at the driver's side window, his retrieved suitcase in one hand and a folded fifty in the other. Most people paid through the app, which Hiro preferred as he rarely carried any paper money of his own. Much less enough to break the change of a bill nearly worth twice as much as the fare.

"Here, keep the change." He said, squaring his shoulders as he looked towards the four-story building. "Wish me luck."

Hiro obliged. His single word of encouragement followed behind the man as he walked through the doors. Why he needed luck so soon Hiro could only guess but never complain about it. It got him a hefty tip after all.

Hiro flicked open his Poole app and marked Arthur down as 'paid in cash', giving the time a second glance as he did. Not exactly early but not too late either. While he could put in a few more hours he felt no guilt in 'clocking out' early.

It was one of the perks of being a Poole driver, choosing your own hours. More or less. It was appealing, if not for the lack of benefits. If he wasn't already working a steady job at the dealership he would have never signed on.

With the rest of his day free Hiro decided to do a quick swing by his apartment, grab a few things, and head out again. His parents wanted him over for a family dinner and he was sure they wouldn't mind him doing a load or two of laundry while he was there.

He considered it an advance payment for the crap he was sure to endure.

He had just loaded his backseat with laundry when he heard it. A phone ring.

An actual phone ring. Not a tune or a buzz of a cellphone but a series of those old fashioned bells. He patted his pockets to be safe but his phone sat motionless. He even pulled it out to check the screen but no one was calling.

Finally, resignedly, he looked towards his center console. There, plugged into one of his many chargers, an off white phone rang away. Hiro groaned, recognizing both the phone and the situation. Clients forgot their phones in his car all the time, especially if they were in a rush or distracted. Which Arthur was.

Most everyone did the same thing when they realized what happened, panic. After that, and some calming breaths, they would have their heads on straight enough to figure out what to do next. Namely calling the phone and hoping that their driver was kind enough to make a return trip.

Hiro usually was.

Sighing, he grabbed the phone and gave the screen a courtesy glance. It read 'Destiny', no picture. There must have been someone Arthur knew at the hotel, a girl if the name was anything to go by. It would go a long way in explaining his nerves and rush at least.

Tapping the green call button, and after wincing at the obscene brightness Arthur kept his phone at, Hiro answered. "Hello?"

Static answered him. "Is anyone there? Hello?"

The static persisted. It roared and tolled, singing and ringing. It dug through his ear as a titter and struck gold in his brain as a cheer.

When he listened, truly listened, he started to realize that the static wasn't static. It was noise, busy and overlapping. A collage of noise, a mosaic of sound. The long 'eee' of a dial up connection, the din of computers booting up, the uproar of phones buzzing with notifications. A thousand times over these sounds and more repeated. It was there, behind it all, shaped by it all, he heard it.

A voice.

Indistinct, clipping, jarring, it spoke.

[...Connection established…] [...Download Initiated...][...Patching…][Download Complete…Launching Program]

[Logging in]

The phone case creaked in his hand and a shaky breath escaped his lips. "Must have been a robocall." Hiro croaked as the static petered off, his throat drier than it had been a moment before. "Weird sense of humor this Arthur guy has. Should have just blocked the number."

Hiro set the phone down and gripped his steering wheel, his heart hammering in his chest. But why? The laundry bags weren't that heavy.

He tried to take a few breaths. They shouldn't have been difficult but they were. He could hear the blood pulsing in his eyes, which could not be normal.

Another breath, extra long, seemed to do the trick. His head was still a bit wonky but his heart stopped trying to escape his chest.

He started to debate heading back into his apartment, popping a Tylenol, and sleeping whatever hit him off. Then the thought of missing out on a homecooked meal, and running out of underwear, made him reconsider. That and the image of his mother's disapproving glare for going back on his word.

Sighing, he shifted his car into reverse and eased on the gas to leave. When nothing happened he flushed, shifted back to park, and started the engine.

He drove away, rubbing at his temple and praying the headache didn't get worse. Though, knowing his mother, it probably would.

 

[TheDivineDemon]

Mercifully his headache had started to fade as he drove. Becoming a dull roar after he dropped off Arthur's phone then to a rolling echo as he pulled up to his parent's house.

Hiro's childhood home was a pale blue row house that was older than either of his parents, his grandparents even. Yet, it still managed to look relatively new. Under the constant care of his father's careful hands and his mother's critical eyes, the building had been restored, renovated, and updated a dozen times over. The solar panels mounted to the roof were only the latest in a series of updates and add-ons.

Hiro didn't bother with knocking, lugging his bags of laundry through the front door with barely a greeting. And why would he? He was home.

Tierra, his sister, waved as he passed through the den. She didn't even bother to look up from her tablet.

"Hey." She said, nose deep in something. Her fingers jabbing at the screen feverishly, likely working on some new project. Everyone in their family was always working on something.

Except for him.

"Dad's still at work." She warned, "And Mom's in the kitchen cooking."

Meaning he would have no buffer, great. Exactly what he needed after a monster of a headache. He could already feel it pulsing back to life.

The door to the basement, thus the laundry room, was through the kitchen. There was no avoiding it, no escaping it. Not with her in there, practically in the middle of the kitchen, prepping dinner.

It looked like lasagna.

He knew he could have turned around right then. That he could head back into the town proper and find a laundromat, but more than a few things stopped him. Pride, money, the fact he was already there. With all that against him, there was no way he could leave.

"Hey, Mom." He said, deciding to dive straight into the deep end.

She smiled up at him as he stepped in, already near the doorway, and pulled him into a hug. Big, tight, and awkward she pulled him in for a hands-free hug. Her sauce stained fingers held high to avoid his shirt.

Tatsuki Hierro was a slim woman with a bobbed haircut and a severe face. And while Hiro wasn't exactly the tallest guy around he still had a good half a foot on her. Tierra took after her in that department. Hiro mostly got her facial features.

"You're early." She accused as they separated, a mock glare on her face.

"Laundry."

"Always here for something, never just to visit." She huffed and waved him off. "Well, get to it. The sooner you're done the sooner we can chat."

He gave her a smile he didn't feel and moved on before she could say anything else. She still frowned as he passed.

The family laundry room was more of a corner in the basement that had yet to be consumed by boxes of holiday decorations, old clothes, and tools. The washer and dryer pressed against the wall closest to the stairs with a stack of baskets off to the side.

He took his time with it. Dividing clothes that had already been sorted and measuring out the exact amount of detergent. Even with that he only killed a handful of minutes, not nearly long enough.

Hiro chanced a glance at the stairs, then pulled out his phone. He could fake it for a few more minutes.

Hiro blinked as he unlocked his screen. Something was already open. An app he did not recognize.

<Welcome to the Champions' Network!>
<Would you like a tour?>

The lines were in green on a black screen, with an effect that made the words seem deeper than they should be. Some font that made each letter look as if they been carved into his screen.

Did he want a tour? No, no he did not. What he wanted was to know how the app had appeared on his phone. When did it even have time to download? Was it a hack?

Hiro slid his finger across the screen, dismissing the thing so he could deal with the app itself. But it didn't go away, not really. It stayed as a mini icon, pulsating on the screen.

The golden "CN" rested within a green circle, a glaring little one gleaming in its upper right corner. Again, it was pulsing. A steady rhythm of expanding and shrinking that made it impossible to ignore as he hunted for its program. He could hear it in his skull, feel it in his chest. It even seemed to speed up with his heart when he made the connection.

All in his head of course. There was no way some random phone app could track his heartbeat. Right? Not without a Fitbit at least. His headache-addled brain was playing tricks on him.

Like how the app was. The stupid thing was like the bastard love child of Bixby and Messenger. Refusing to go away when dismissed, impossible to find in his library. Meaning he was having a hell of a time trying to uninstall the thing, just like Bixby. Did this "Champions' Network " sneak in with a system update? A hack?

"Hiro? Are you done down there?" He jerked up at the sound of his mother's voice. He had spent his precious reprieve obsessing over a stupid app. Great, perfect.

"Almost! Got distracted!" He yelled back, pocketing his phone and starting the washer. The issue of the app was pushed aside as he trudged up the stairs.

"I was beginning to think you fell in." She said, giving him a critical look.

"Got distracted."

"Well, come here and help your old mom out." She said, gesturing to a bag of potatoes on the counter. "Grab a knife and start peeling."

Hiro huffed, even sighed, but made his way over with a single comment. "Potatoes and lasagna? That's a lot of starch, don't you think?"

"A little extra starch isn't going to hurt you." She defended, though her eyes did take a quick look at his new paunch as she did. Hiro ignored that, washing off the potatoes and popping off the sprouts.

There wasn't even a beat of silence before she pushed on.

"So, how has work been?" She asked, not quite looking at him as she cleaned her potatoes. "Are you still at that car job?"

"Which one? The dealership or the ride sharing? Either way, the answer is yes."

She clucked her tongue. "Two jobs? Still? If you need money that bad you could always move back in."

"I'm fine."

"I'm sure you are." She said, her eyes still not on him as she skinned her potatoes with a practiced hand. "But so much work for so little money? You're a college graduate, there are better jobs out there for you."

He had an Associate's in General Studies after he dropped his major. Not exactly something that screamed opportunity.

"There are less out there than you'd think Mom." He said, falling into a familiar rhythm with her. Familiar answers spilling from his pressed lips, replying to her questions with an automatic grace he did not feel.

Yes, he applied to all those exams and was just waiting for a date. No, he did not think he was ready to go back to school. And… he was very much unsure of how he was feeling.

Hiro, obviously, did not tell his mother that last bit. Instead, he mumbled out a "fine" and focused on his potato. His second potato.

His mother kept peeling one after another, not even slowing as she gave him a bit of side eye. "Are you sure? You seem a bit pale." Which was an impressive feat considering he inherited his father's skin tone.

"Just a headache." He said, telling her a half truth.

"Have you taken anything for it?"

"Nah, I'm fine, I'm fine." He said it twice, to reassure them both. Though going by the look on her face it wasn't helping either of them much.

Before she could get another word in, his sister, blessedly, came to his rescue. Still nose deep in her tablet she stomped into the kitchen. "Hey, Hiro? Can you look at this for me? It looks a little hinky to me."

'God yes' he thought even as he wiped his hands and more politely said, "Sure."

Turning the tablet over in his hands he was about to ask what she was working on when he froze. Not paused, froze. His hands didn't even shake, though every vein in his skull pulsed.

Just like the golden "CN" on his sister's screen.

It did not belong there, it forced itself to be there. He knew this as much as knew it was there for him, demanding to be seen.

All the same, he had to ask. He had to be sure. "When did you download this?"

"What? Java?" She asked, peering over at the screen. "Beginning of the semester I guess? Why? Is that why the code isn't working?"

Hiro honestly didn't even notice her project. His attention was too drawn to the beating of the gold on the green icon and the little red "1" glaring at him.

"No, no." He said, voice tight as he gestured to the icon. "I meant this. The Champion's Network."

"The what?" She squinted at the screen. "Huh, don't know. Jamie probably. Dude keeps recommending games and I keep forgetting about them."

That wasn't it, he knew it wasn't. He could FEEL the app looking at him. Waiting for him, impatiently, to click on it and take its tour.

He wanted to believe it was a coincidence, that the app was just some bug on the local wifi, but he could feel that it wasn't.

"Hey, are you okay?"

He blinked over at his sister, the room roaring dully in his ears. "Huh?"

Tierra must not have liked he said that because she snapped her tablet from his hands. She gave him a narrowed eyed look, she looked a lot like their mother right then. If she started nagging at him too he'd definitely snap.

A hand landed on his shoulder. "You," his mother started, "Are lying down."

"I said I'm fine."

His mother scoffed, clearly not believing him, and actually started to push him out of the kitchen. It took her embarrassingly little effort to get him stumbling toward the stairs. "Just like your father." She mumbled, "Go lay down and rest. You obviously need it. Go, go!"

Hiro trudged up the stairs, and not because she was forcing him. No, it was because he could use the nap. Just an hour or two, that was it.

His feet tracked an old trail to his childhood bedroom and fell face first onto the bed. It would just be for a few hours. Just a few…

He fell asleep, phone still in hand and headache still pulsing.

-0-0-0-

Hiro gave a sudden gasp as he woke, shooting up in his bed and taking in air like a drowning man. Fresh air startled his lungs leaving him suddenly awake and much too alert. There was no reason for this, there had been no nightmares, sudden falls, or anything like that. In fact, it had been a pleasantly blank sleep all things considered.

Still, for whatever reason, he was awake. Awake and disturbingly alert. There was no sign of his usual morning grogginess, no hint of a lingering dream slipping from his memory, only the sudden clarity of a well rested mind. Luckily, his headache seemed to go the way of his sleep. Gone in a gasp.

Palming for his phone, which had been helpfully plugged in, Hiro noticed a glass of water and Tylenol resting next to it on the nightstand. Hiro popped both of the little white pills gratefully. The headache may be gone but some preventative steps could never hurt.

Sipping at the offered water Hiro took a look at his phone's screen. 6 AM, to the dot. Exactly when his alarm would usually go off, a leftover habit of a different time. Of when he actually had a reason to be up so early. It was also hours later than he planned to nap.

The strange thing was he did not remember dismissing the alarm. Had he been that out of it? That he'd swipe away an alarm he always woke to without noticing? Maybe. It wasn't that big of a deal, just odd.

Not thinking about it further Hiro got out of bed and began his day. Something that was easier than one would think. Hiro may have moved out but he was still in his old room. Or, at least, he was in the storage closet for all the crap he didn't want or couldn't fit in his apartment. Which was a lot.

Moving aside an old Quiltbag and some out of date textbooks Hiro managed to find an old box of clothes towards the back of the closet. They were a bit tight, more than he'd care to admit, but they still fit. Mostly.

Mindful of the early hour Hiro tried to creep out of his old room, then the floorboards creaked under his feet. The old foundation betrayed him right when he left the room.

From the living room, Hiro heard a short snort, followed by a cough, then a snore. Peeking in as he passed he spied his father, still in uniform, sprawled out across the couch. It looked like the guys in Animal Control had been working hard that day if he knocked out that soundly.

Hector Hierro was a stout man with a deep tan and thick black hair that just managed to hide his growing bald spot. Hiro inherited most of these features, though the bald spot had yet to rear its ugly head. Thankfully.

Tiptoeing past his snoring dad Hiro snuck his way to the kitchen, the TV flashing 'Are you still watching?' as he passed. If he was lucky there would be some spare toothbrushes in the pantry, which his mother always bought in bulk. Everywhere from the pantry to the garage to the basement were overfilled from shopping deals of years past. It would have been an impossible mess to sort through if not for his mother's meticulous organization methods.

Said method allowed him to find a stack of toothbrushes shoved in the upper corner of the pantry. Lucky.

Ripping one free from its packaging and moving to toss it out he noticed a note on the fridge. His name was written at the top in large bold letters and circled half a dozen times, just in case he didn't notice it. It read: 'There is leftover lasagna for you in the fridge. Make sure you grab it. Don't forget. Love Mom'.

Hiro almost snorted at that. Why didn't she just send him a text like a normal person? He'd have been guaranteed to see it instead of toothbrush fueled happenstance. Or maybe she did and the note was just in case? The redundancy sounded like her.

Pulling out his phone he went to unlock it and hesitated, his thumb hovering over the screen. Why was he hesitating? It was just his phone. Why did it feel like something was building at the back of his skull?

Hiro almost let out a snort.

He was overthinking things. Dramatizing them and giving them more credit than they were due. It was only an app… That was still on his phone.

The little gold-on-green icon was still there, pulsing with the number 1 in the corner. Hiro rubbed at his eyes, there was no headache but he was frustrated enough to get one. No one liked malware on their phones… and he might have infected his family's WIFI with it. Great. Perfect.

Hiro let out a long frustrated breath, organizing his thoughts. First thing first, he had to see if there was a network-wide infection. Actually, that was second. The first thing he had to do was run his anti-virus program to purge the stupid thing. And while that was running he'd check the home electronics.

His sister took her tablet back to her room so there was no checking that again but his parents seemed to hate having them in their room. They also seemed to disagree with the idea of having a password on them, the homescreens appearing at the touch of the power button.

And so did the app.

It was on his mom's tablet, his dad's, and even the Firestick when he checked the TV. He groaned out a nice long "Fuck" at the discovery, just loud enough to get a startled snort from his dad.

"Huh, what's that?" The older man said, not quite jolting into a sitting position but getting close to it. He blinked a few times and gave Hiro a sleepy smile. "Hey there bud. Trying to take over my shows?"

Hiro gives an effort of a smile to the joke, it might have been a bit guilty. Something his dad picked up on quickly. "You alright there?" He asked, sounding much more awake and his hand clamping down on Hiro's shoulder. As much of a reassurance as it was a way to stop Hiro from pulling away.

"It's, well, it's kinda my fault." Hiro admitted, "Kinda. I think one of the clients I drove put malware on my phone and now it might be on the WIFI."

"Well, that doesn't sound good," Hector said, pulling out his phone. "What's it do?"

"Outside of downloading a weird app to everything, I don't really know." Hiro even showed him where it showed up on the TV.

"Strange way to advertise something." He said, still on his phone and flicking his way through screens. "Well, I'm not seeing anything. Pass me that remote."

"You're not going to click on it are you?" Hiro asked, holding the controller away from the obviously computer illiterate. "Because that would be incredibly stupid."

"Best way to figure out what it does, otherwise it's just going to sit there bugging us." He said, snagged it from his son's hands when it became obvious he wouldn't pass it over. Then he squinted his eyes at the screen, "Huh, it's gone."

"What? Really?"

Hector tapped around the home screen for a bit, even dived into the larger app library, before giving up. "Yep, looks like it. It was definitely there though, maybe it can hear us or something? Like Alexa was supposed to do."

"You don't have any voice stuff here Dad." Hector was pretty paranoid about it. He had barely allowed smartphones or tablets in the house after he heard about that rumor.

"Well, we'll keep an eye out for it. McAfee the stuff to be sure and reset everything if we see it again." His dad said, sounding more reasonable than he did a moment ago. Seriously, who clicked on an app that just randomly appeared? Seriously!

After a pause his dad turned a critical eye onto Hiro, "You eat yet?"

"I haven't even brushed my teeth yet."

Hector let out a 'tsk' and then a grunt as he stood. "You go do that. I should be halfway done with some eggs and bacon by the time you get done. You're grabbing a plate before you go, make up for missing dinner last night."

That was all his dad would say about Hiro's dizzy spell and he was very thankful for that. Though Hiro made sure to leave, after a plate of breakfast, before the real interrogation came.

It wasn't until he was out of the house that he checked his phone again, where the virus scan was complete and came up empty. A clever little bug whatever the thing was. That jackass Arthur, if that was his real name, had some explaining to do if Hiro ever caught up with him.

Still, what did the thing do? Was it mining his data? It wasn't like all his other apps weren't doing that already so why make it so obvious?

He drummed his fingers as he drove to his apartment, thinking. He couldn't delete it, it wasn't recognized as malware, and Google had no answers for him. Besides an ad at the top of the search asking if he wanted to start up the App.

What else was he supposed to do?

Reset like his dad said? It wasn't like he had a lot of data or numbers to back up anymore, everything he had was recoverable. In fact, he could do without some of the pictures he couldn't bring himself to delete.

And it wasn't like he could call the police. What would he even report? That he thought someone put a virus on his phone? He was a bit rusty on the subject but he was pretty sure the laws only protected the government and businesses from implanting viruses in general. Proving that the sender wasn't just another victim was another issue, or so he would think.

Besides, that jerk still worked there and god only knew what would be said if he tried to report things. Probably something about him "trying too hard".

Hiro let out a tsk, one he tried to believe was dismissive and moved his attention back to his phone. What was he going to do?

He sat there in the small parking lot thinking about just that. A factory reset was starting to seem like the only thing he could do but he didn't like the taste of it. As little as the data mattered it was still his and he didn't like the idea of being forced to give it up.

Giving his phone another look he remembered the bone brained choice his dad tried to spearhead with. 'Click on it and see what happens', also known as the dumbest decision you could make when it came to this kind of thing. But if he was going to lose everything anyway, well, he might as well go for it.

Right?

The app was there again when opened his phone, pulsing in an eerily familiar pattern. It almost seemed eager as his thumb hovered over the icon, shining brighter as the digit hovered closer. Hiro hesitated again, it felt like he was about to do something stupid but…

His thumb pressed down and he felt a jolt run up his arm, driving straight into his spine and brain. "Ah!" He yelped, fingers tense around the phone as the screen began to change.

<WELCOME TO THE CHAMPIONS' NETWORK!>

 

[TheDivineDemon]

<WELCOME TO THE CHAMPIONS' NETWORK!>

The strange font seemed to call out, louder than before. More eager. He could feel his eardrums ringing from the imaginary volume.

<Welcome… Hiro Hierro>
<Champion of The Eastern United States>

The words lacked the volume of the first line but they carried a deepness, an attention, that dragged him in. Hypnotic was the only way he could describe the sensation. The screen had his attention and he was not sure he could look away.

When the words began to fade he thought, naively, that it was over. That the noise would at least knock down a few levels, to go from booming to ringing.

It did not.

It got worse.

His phone screen opened from deep within, unfolding to a pristine view of the Earth. The planet spun lazily with hyper-realistic detail, specks of light too few to be cities dotted the continents. Framing the globe were eight icons, symbols whose meaning seared themselves into his retinas at a glance.

Despite this, despite how intuitive it seemed, the App still decided it needed to spawn a little cartoon character. It spun into existence from the corner of the screen, waving a comically large gloved hand. It's only hand. The rest of its body was a light blue sphere with the ancient emoji of : ).

[Hi there!] The character chippered, the : ) flapping to and from : D as it spoke. [My name is Nav and I'll be your tour guide to the Champions Network!]

It raised its hand unto a fist, as if to cheer, with the eight icons glinting in the background. Some, Hiro noticed, were grayed instead of the deep blue of the others.

[Now!] The little character yelled in its not-voice. The words stood out clearly in his mind, even as the ridiculous thing stroked its imaginary chin and paced across the screen. [I'm sure you're all wondering what this App is and what it's for. Well, to put it simply, it's exactly what it says it is! A Network to connect the Champions of the World!]

Nav shrunk in size, allowing Hiro to see the whole screen again. To see the lights of the globe grow all the brighter. One of them caught his eye, the sole light on the east coast of the United States.

It was familiar. It felt so very familiar.

[That's right!] The ball of excessive energy bounced, literally bounced, in excitement. [You are the Champion of the World! Well, one of them. One of a hundred and fifty three to be exact. It's a bit of a numbers game but most countries have at least one Champion. Some have more but that's only because they have more to protect!]

It made a small shrugging motion before moving on.

[There is going to be a lot to protect in general but that's why the Network is here! To create and prep individuals who met our algorithm's criteria! You all possess the mindset and abilities to-]

Nav went on for a bit, seminar talking and ego boosting with every word. Hiro quickly grew tired of it. He was just beginning to wonder if there was a way to skip all inane talk when Nav froze.

[If you need further help I'll be right over here.] The little character gave one last : ) before rolling into the corner, shrinking into a dark blue dot. A dot that Hiro readily ignored, it had been completely too chipper for his taste.

Now he could look at the App in peace.

The globe was still spinning lazily at the center of the page. A 'map of Champions' if he made his guess right. Three lights in the US but only one each for literally every other country in North America, even Canada and Mexico. Was there a discrepancy because of population? He was half tempted to turn Nav back on to find out but quickly decided against it.

'Was this a game?' He wondered. The grayed out icon of a man's silhouette in the upper left corner that rang <Stats> in his mind pointed to yes. But why would anyone go to all that effort if that was all it was?

His finger hovered over the button before trailing down to another grayed icon. An unfurled scroll with a cycling circle over it. <Skills>.

At the bottom of the row was yet another gray icon. A book that read <Techniques>.

The last of the grayed out icons was a shopping cart that he didn't need ringing words to know it was the <Shop>.

From there all the other icons were blue and 'available '. He honestly ignored the other three and focused in on the blue speech bubble that screamed <Forum>.

If any of this was real and not some fevered delusion then there would be something there. Hiro couldn't even imagine some scam artists going so far as to fake an entire chat log just to mess with him. No one would waste that much time on a joke. Right?

The page took no time to load, there was barely a flash of the CN logo before the forum pulled itself up. There were only a handful of threads but Hiro suspected there used to be more if there were titles like 'Consolidated "What's going on?/Is this for real?/WTF! Thread'. Hiro figured that might be the best place to start, he was fairly sure the ones labeled 'This Is So COOL!!' and 'MAGIC?!?!?' were going to be less than helpful.

The oldest post was only a day old.

■ 'Consolidated "What's going on?/Is this for real?/WTF! Thread'
(OP) Champion: England - March 12th, 2018
Is this for real? Cause this is something straight out of an anime. Quest? A stat sheet? A skill list? Seriously, did I get hit by a truck and not notice?

Champion: South Korea - March 12th, 2018
I am now Han Jihan, my destiny has been realized.

Champion: USA (West) - March 12th, 2018
That manhwa is trash.

Champion: Brazil (North) - March 12th, 2018
Why is this in Portuguese?

Champion: South Korea - March 12th, 2018
@USA (West)
You shut your lying whore mouth!

Champion: China (Zhōngnán) - March 12th, 2018
@Brazil (North)
It's not. An autotranslate maybe?

The Cantonese is coming in very well.

Admin - March 12th, 2018
<This is very real _____ _______, and anyone else who is reading this thread. You are all Champions for the new age to come. Many of you may have already seen the changes, more are to come.>

<Magic has returned and the world will have to adapt.>

<For more information please look to your quest guide or click on Nav>

(OP) Champion: England - March 12th, 2018
Ok, who are you and how the bloody fuck do you know my name!?!?

Admin - March 12th, 2018
<The Admin is the admin, as my title suggests. I will be around, keeping your app running and updating things as time goes on.>

<If you have any suggestions please direct them to the relevant threads pinned on the forum homepage.>


Hiro rubbed at his eyes, his headache finally fading. Leaving him only with an obnoxious sense of frustrated confusion. The thread answered none of his questions and honestly only left him with more, one mirroring the Champion of England's to a T.

Who was the Admin? Were they the ones who made the invasive App? And how in the world had it given him such a headache? Better yet, why?

Was it even related?

The other threads were about as helpful as the first. They were all full of excited disbelief and speculation. Speculation the Admin did little to clear or clarify on. All the mysterious figure did was refer everyone back to the <Quests> tab, something people seemed thrilled about.

Hiro was not too far from excited himself but there was a distinctively different emotion sparking in his mind. What he was instead was curious. The forum threads were building, fighting against consolidation as people, Champions, vied for attention. Every one of them was expressing a giddiness that Hiro frankly could not wrap his head around.

Why were they acting like this? Was it some sort of hypnotism? Were his headaches from earlier because he was fighting them off?

Or were they targeted? The App had all but admitted it with Nav. 'People who met certain criteria' was what the mascot had said. They certainly seemed to fall over themselves looking around the App. Especially the <Quests> and apparent promise of magic, something many seemed to be taking at face value. Some even went so far as to say that they have cast spells, there were even videos attached to the threads. He watched a few and, if nothing else, the video editing was impressive.

He eventually backed out of the forums and returned to the homepage. The globe still spun but his eyes trailed over to one of the icons. A quill poised to write, the apparent symbol for <Quests>.

Out of curiosity he clicked it, not giving it much thought. Something he regretted as a sudden blare reverbed in his skull.

"Ahhh!" He hissed, his hand going to his eye as if expecting pain. Thankfully there was none, just the attention grabbing blare. An alarm to make sure one noticed something important.

The App sure loved its not-noises.

[!MAIN QUEST!]
<Protect Civilization!!!>
*Defend the infrastructure and lives of modern civilization at all costs!*
*Real time quests and rewards will be generated for this purpose*
*Failure to attempt these quests will result in stripping of Champion status*
*To act in counter to their quest will lead to dire consequences *

"What is this? Is this seriously a videogame?" Hiro wondered, "All of this for a game?" What kind of bull was that? And what did it mean by 'dire consequences'? For what? Being a terrorist?

Obviously there were consequences for that!

The next category of quest rolled up the screen without fanfare, not even a ding. An honest relief for Hiro's poor head, he did not need another headache.

[Starter Quests]

<Generate 10 Skills>
*Showcase your abilities to the world and unlock the <Skills> tab*
Reward: Gain a Class based on your Skills!

<Catalog 15 Altered Plants and Animals>
*Abnormal plants, animals, and even insects have been appearing across the world! Track and record 15 such interests in your area. Unlock and fill the <Bestiary and Herbarium> tab!*
Reward: Monetary prize will be distributed based on the recording's level of detail.

<Learn a Spell>
*Unlock the <Techniques> tab by learning a single spell.*
Reward: Greater magic awaits you at the completion of this task.

<Reach Level 5>
*Sharpen your skills and reach a higher level! Unlock the <Stats> tab after Lvl 1!*
Reward: Gain your first Title!


Hiro tossed his phone away in disgust, clicking his tongue as it clattered along the dashboard. "It really is a game." He shook his head. "All that for a glorified ripoff of Pokémon Go. What the hell?"

He tapped his finger against the steering wheel then he started his car. Hiro did not like being messed with, he hated not having answers.

Especially when they were so near.

-0-0-0-0-0-

The drive back to the hotel was made longer by the steady and constant ding of his phone. Notification after notification sounded off, more than a little odd considering he had turned off the sound ages ago. No guesses were needed to know which App was going off.

Arthur had better have some answers for him.

It was barely past eight when he arrived. The hotel was already fairly busy with cars pulling in and out, people coming and going with the early hour. Hiro knew it was probably too late. He knew that Arthur was there on a business trip, probably, and was likely already off doing God knows what. Still, Hiro had to try.

Try and fail in the face of a smiling blonde.

"I'm sorry but we cannot give out a client's personal information." She said with her forced smile firmly in place. The smile of a service worker, he knew it well and sympathized. He still asked, he had to.

"I get that. I really do, but I need to talk to him." Hiro reasoned, some of his frustration starting to leak into his voice. "If he's still here I'd appreciate it if you called him down."

"That is not our policy sir."

Hiro took a breath, letting it out slowly and keeping his temper. "How about I leave a message? Could you pass that along?"

Her smile still strained at the edges but she agreed. "Of course sir." She said in the same chipper monotone that made him think any note he wrote was not going to make it to Arthur. He still left one. A quick jot on hotel stationery with his phone number.

There might be a visit from the police in his near future, always a pleasant experience, but he had to know. If there was even the slimmest chance for answers he was going to take it.

Though he would probably be keeping his distance for a while, just to be safe. He did not want to come off as some sort of crazed stalker. Well, more than he already was.

'Shit' He thought, 'I probably already messed this up.'

He rubbed at his forehead, frustrated at the dead end. While not his only lead it had been his most immediate. He could only hope his second idea would not be as much of a flop as the first.

Hiro pulled his phone out as he drove. He gave the screen a glare as that golden CN popped up again, a little 2 sticking out obnoxiously in its corner. His phone opened right to the App as soon as he unlocked it, not even bothering to ask for permission this time around. It just went straight to its announcements.

<Congratulations!>
<Due to repeated action you have Generated your first Skill! Just 9 more to go!>
<Advance your Skills to gain experience and level up!>

His first Skill was [Driving], something that gave him a snort of amusement. Of course. They were probably tracking him with his GPS. Hiro saw no point in turning off the App, the Network would probably turn itself back on. Damn invasive thing.

Hopefully, his next stop could help him with that.

"Yeah, I have no idea what's going on man." The clerk said, the third one called over since Hiro showed up.

Hiro honestly did not know what he expected. People working at phone plan stores probably only knew the specs of the phones they sold and not the actual programs. The fact they had called other people over had given him a brief bit of hope but that had quickly fallen into a pit.

"I thought that maybe it was using your phone's facial recognition but you don't have one, the phone's too old." He gave an apologetic shrug, as if he just gave an insult, then kept talking. "I literally can't find it anywhere in the program. I can't see it if you're not touching it, which, again, is weird. There's not even a fingerprint sensor on the thing and the Bluetooth is off. If I didn't know better I'd think you were messing with us."

The look he gave Hiro said that was exactly what he believed. Hiro did not rise to that. Instead, he gave his thanks and began to leave with his phone.

The clerk called after him, "Sir! You ARE due for an upgrade, eligible even! We could sign you up for a new phone today."

Hiro worked at a car dealership, part time, and he knew the sound of someone desperate for a sale. He had not known that phone clerks worked on commission. Seemed ridiculous but here they were.

He started to "grind" his [Driving] skill, or so the forum called it. The other Champions, and god was that pretentious to even think, called it. "Grinding a Skill". Skills were things to be chased after, to get. As if they were Pokémon going for that next level.

Hiro shook his head as he hit the backroads, getting around some of the midday traffic. He was heading north, back to his old college. George Mason may not be known for its computer programs but he had friends up there, probably. He dropped out over a year ago, nearly two… And he was not exactly at his best when he left on what was supposed to be his break year.

Hiro sighed as the memories started to boil to the surface. Hopefully, someone would still be willing to help him out.

The roads of Virginia were peaceful on his way out of Steelsworth. Farmland broke up an increasing expanse of trees. He saw a few antlers but no deer seemed brave, or dumb, enough to try crossing the roads. Yet.

Still, it was peaceful. He even rolled down his windows, enjoying the new spring air. The wind was cool and the air warm. This would be a nice drive, something to take his mind off of everything for a little while.

Though he noticed something as he drove.

There were a lot of antlers in the tree line. More than he had seen during last year's rut. They were also all fairly low to the ground, real low, laying on their bellies low.

One of them raised their head and twitched a long ear.

Hiro had to slow his car. Then he pulled onto the shoulder, coming to a stop.

He could not have seen what he thought he had seen. There was just no way, it was impossible. He looked back but he couldn't see them from where he stopped.

He could, and maybe should, have gotten his car moving and kept driving. Gotten to the college and see if anyone could help him.

Instead, he got out of the car. It was a numb experience, his skin felt fuzzy and his mind half blank from the sheer absurdity of it.

But there they were, noses twitching and standing on their hind legs as he approached. Long ears up and alert behind a set of antlers.

Jackalope.

There were jackalopes in Virginia.

 

[TheDivineDemon]

Jackalope.

Antlered rabbits. Hare?

They were real, they were right in front of him. Big eared with a set of antlers to match, staring at him across the field with twitching noses.

"I-" He felt like he should say something in the face of absurdity. He felt this way yet the words would not leave his mouth. All that would, or even could, come out were "I, uh, huh?"

He couldn't have said it much better than that.

There were about ten of them, ten that he could see at least. They were all about three feet tall from tail to tip and of similar coloring, a dull gray with a darker fuzz across their antlers. Were they related? Did PanChema spill something in the water and mutate them?

Did he drink some of it?

One of the jackalopes, or maybe it was jackalope, started to thump its foot against the ground. One followed its example, then another, and another. Soon all of them were thumping the ground. A steady sound that shook the ground beneath Hiro's feet.

They weren't running away. Animals usually run away when humans show up, especially prey animals. When they didn't that usually meant…

Hiro slowly started to back away, feeling very stupid for leaving his car. More jackalope crept out of the tree line, noses twitching and eyes focused on him.

He picked his lips as the first took their first hops forward. 'No sudden moves, no sudden moves.' he told himself over and over again, taking a steady step back with every repetition. There was a chance that they would lose interest if there was some distance between them. That if the big human started to get on his way that they would too.

The jackalope still advanced. Faster now, more moving forward even as he retreated.

Hiro was not going to make it back to his car, not in time, not at the rate he was going. Still, he did not dare turn his back to them, that just seemed like a good way to get an antler to kidney. So, he stumbled his way into a backward run.

Which meant he had a front row view of six of the fifteen jackalopes starting their sprints after him. Between a hop and a lope they charged, eating up the field as they lowered their heads and jumped. Pointed and sharpened bone came rushing towards his face.

Hiro punched it.

A textbook jab, it felt sloppy but it did the job. The antlered rabbit bounced across the ground, tripping others as it came to a stop. That gave most of the others a pause, but not all of them.

"Ah!" Hiro gasped, pain lancing across his ankle as he was sideswiped by an antler. It failed to pierce his jeans but his cotton socks were no match.

He gave up his backward run and made a full sprint for his car. They gave chase, he could hear them racing along the grass. Closing in for a second pass.

They rammed his legs, little skulls knuckling into his thighs with all the force of a baseball bat. He stumbled but kept running, adrenaline letting him ignore the way a bit of antler broke off in his jean leg.

He bobbed out of the way of an obnoxiously high jump, more out of a fear fueled reflex than anything else, and knocked another out of the air. They were hot on his heels, as often ahead of him as behind. They weren't doing it to cut him off or surround him, they simply caught up and sprung at him. Horned battering rams coming from all angles but he had yet to fall.

Hiro, once upon a time, was used to far better tactics and maneuvers. Though his foot wasn't as sure as his memories. Or the rabbits'.

"Fuck." He cursed, fumbling for his keys. They snagged as he was rammed again, nearly dropping them if not for a lucky save. "Fuck!" He cursed again, just so the universe knew how much he hated his current situation.

He slammed the door behind him, and another slam followed. He cursed a third time, starting his car and peeling away as fast as possible. Scraping and thuds sounded as he left, as did the dings from his phone. He swerved along the backroads, ignoring the honks as he raced for distance.

After a minute or so he pulled himself to the side of the road, jostling his wounds as he parked. He coughed out a shaky breath, flem and bile mixing at the back of his throat. He spat it out on his floor mats. He would be pissed about it later but, frankly, that was his future self's problem. Current-him was having a bit of a panic attack.

Hiro pressed his forehead against the steering wheel and tried to remind himself to take deep breaths. It worked, in a fashion. Instead of taking in long deep breaths he repeated a mantra of "What the fuck?" to himself. He said this over and over again until his heart stopped slimming into his ribcage.

"Okay." He said, repeating it to reassure himself. "Okay. That happened. Jackalopes happened. Why did it happen?" He questioned the air but found the answer in his hand, in his phone. He remembered what the Admin said, what the quests had asked for.

Magic has returned.
Find altered animals.

Hiro looked at his phone, at the notifications of <You have Generated 2 new Skills!>. Then he said the only thing that came to mind.

"What the fuck?"


-0-0-0-0-0-


Hiro did not make it to George Mason that day. Instead, he drove back to his apartment and started to pace.

It had taken a while, longer than Hiro would care to admit, but he had finally calmed himself down. A combination of deep breathing and cursing did him wonders. Enough that he could pay more than a passing glance to his injuries.

Every other step he took earned him a little wince. Fresh lines of red pain traced his ankles, dyeing his white socks pink as they oozed. His thighs and abdomen were bruising while his shin was about as marked up as his ankles, maybe more. All thanks to the velvety snag of bone in his hand. Hiro had to dig it out of his pants leg where one of the… jackalope's antlers got stuck in the material.

Small, curved, and distressingly sharp the snip of antler held his attention. It was proof that something was going on, a kick in the face of reality. Though Hiro wasn't quite ready to jump on the 'magic is real' bandwagon just yet he was starting to consider it.

He licked up his phone and read the notifications again.

[Due to repeated action you have Generated 2 new skills!]
[You have generated the Skill: Running]
[You have generated the Skill: Striking]
<Searching digital footprint… [Striking] Skill altered to [Boxing (Self Defense)]>

They searched his digital footprint? They could do that? He knew the App was invasive but damn. Not that finding out he used to box was anything more special than a Facebook dive. Still, what the words implied stuck with him.

A lot of the things the App implied or outright said were sticking with him. Especially when he was A) shocked enough to consider it seriously and B) calmed enough to do it properly.

Hiro might not have gotten his Bachelors but he had gone to college. And all those legal classes let him make all kinds of jumps and impressions. Able to take the wording he remembered, and reread, from the App to hopefully gain a fuller picture.

<Magic has returned > [... One hundred and fifty three Champions…] <Catalog 15 altered animals and plantes> [There is going to be a lot to protect in general] <Protect Civilization>

Magic was supposedly back and it was changing things, mutating regular animals into urban legends. And it was such a widespread event that someone, a Champion, was needed in every country. Because the world was changing too much, too fast, leaving everything and everyone in danger.

Because if magic could turn rabbits into aggressive jackalopes then…

Hiro rolled the bit of antler between his fingers, ignoring the twisting feeling in his gut and the sensation in his chest that he was not so sure he liked. He brought it up to his eye, examing the little piece of impossibility. The proof of a statement that could not be more clear or more unbelievable.

What was he supposed to do now?

Tell someone? If not about the App then about the crazed Jackalope at the edge of town. Though he was fairly sure he knew how that would go. If he was not sent to the looney bin then he'd be mocked on daytime radio.

Who would he even tell? Who would believe him? Hiro did not have many friends anymore, post highschool diaspora and how he departed college saw to that. And his family, well, his mother was already treating him like glass and he did not want to give her any more excuses to do so.

He did not spare his coworkers more than a second thought.

So, what did he do?

He asked himself this a few times as he paced around his foldout futon. One turn gave him a particularly bad wince, and even a hiss, as he agitated his ankle again.

"I should probably take care of these." He muttered to himself, half limping to the only other room in his apartment.

Hiro lived in an old renovated house that was sectioned off into quarters, two apartments per floor. Hiro rented the smallest, and cheapest, of the four. It was little better than a studio, or even a dorm room, with a small kitchen area and even a full bathroom. A bathroom where he kept a small first aid kit under the sink.

Sitting at the lip of the tub he pulled out his bottle of peroxide and started to dab it onto his wounds. Having something to do helped, gave him a chance to step back and think.

He was almost, almost, sold on the idea of magic existing but he was not quite there. Something was going on, obviously, and someone was trying to do something about it. Or was giving the appearance of it, and going about it in a very weird and suspect way?

But who were they? How did they know? And how did Arthur fit in?

Hiro needed answers but had little in the way of clues. He needed leads, he needed to figure out what was going on.

The one route he tried to follow through Arthur led straight to a roadblock. One he was going to get around but he was delayed there all the same.

Barring that he saw only one other avenue. One other way to eke out those answers he desired.

He had to play the game the Champions Network wanted him to play.

He did not know the rules, he had no clue what the real goal was, he was not even sure how to play. But he would. He would do every quest, scroll through each thread, and even question the Admin themselves to get his answers.

… right after he was done cleaning himself up.

 

[TheDivineDemon]

■ I saw a Jackalope
(OP) Champion: USA (East) - March 13th, 2018
I saw a jackalope, a lot of them. And they were mean little bastards. Are all the altered animals out there going to be like this?

Champion: USA (West) - March 13th, 2018
Pics or it didn't happen

Champion: Zimbabwe - March 13th, 2018
What is a jackalope?

Champion: Britain - March 13th, 2018
As much as I hate to agree with your Western counterpart he is right. You need pictures to gain progress in your <Catalog> Quests.

As for your question, I found most of mine in a docile state so far. I even found a Unicorn calf, or at least a calf with a bone protrusion that looks like a horn, and it was completely fine despite some depictions in myth. So I do not believe they are all naturally aggressive.

I hope that helps.

@ Zimbabwe, They are antlered hare of the eastern US cryptozoology

Champion: USA (Central) - March 13th, 2018
OMG! Jackalopes are real? You have to get those pictures! … When they aren't trying to kill you. I'm not finding many critters out my way, some plants but no animals. I think I might have to go out of state to find anything. Maybe I could find a chupacabra or something.

Sidenote - East! West! We NEED to start a chat group here! I'll ask Nav how to do it!



From there the thread descended and went off track. Most of the comments that followed were all about chat rooms and which ones should be made, eventually. From geographic region to the Champion's desired 'build' to the most inane things like cooking. The Admin, of course, quickly arrived to get things back on track. And, as with every other appearance, they were incredibly vague when answering questions.

Still, Hiro largely got what he wanted as the comments and replies came rolling in. While the <Catalog> tab of the network gave a growing idea of what was changing around the world it did not tell how each champion found their queries.

It was mostly Google.

They put in 'weird plants' or 'strange animals' near them and followed where the tabloids and social media pointed them. Simple, to the point, and, most importantly, it worked. It also showed a pattern beyond methods, namely where most of the animals were found.

Looking through the various pictures in the <Catalog> he found that most of them were taken within a farmstead. Within barns or with crops in the background. Most everything found was newly grown or born, new to the world, and different from everything before it. He hadn't seen one person post about that, so either they haven't noticed yet or were keeping it close to their chest for whatever reason.

That was exactly why you had to review the files first. They gave you a solid baseline to build up from and reveal things that others might have been trying to hide. In this case, a little research told Hiro exactly where he needed to start, and where to deploy his personal advantage.

The phone barely rang once before a familiar voice picked up.

"Hector Hierro." His father answered as quickly as always, so quickly that he never bothered to check the caller ID. "Who is this?"

"Hey Dad, it's Hiro. Do you got a minute?"

"For you? I can make several. What's going on bud?"

That was the question, wasn't it? But how did he word it so that his dad didn't think he was crazy?

"Uh, the thing is-" Hiro started off to a great start. At least the words were coming out of his mouth. "I ran into some pretty aggressive rabbits on the way out of town yesterday and-"

"Rabbits?" His father interrupted, "Do you mean hare? Are you okay? Where did you see them?"

"Uh," Hiro was taken aback for a moment, surprised by his father's sudden intensity, but he answered easily enough. He had marked down the rough location before he had hit the forums, it was the closest to a sure find he had after all. Still, "Is everything okay Dad?"

There was a beat of silence on the other side, then a sigh.

"Not really." He said, Hiro could just imagine his dad messing his hair as he always did when he was frustrated. "Things have been pretty busy here for the last couple of months."

Hiro could imagine. He had seen what people doing surface level searches could find in a day. The one of a bull calf with a hand shaped hoof was going to stick with him for a while. So, what his father, an officer for Animal Control, who worked in the field daily must have seen had to be disturbing, to say the least. And Hiro wanted to know all about it.

"You want to talk about it?"

There was another pause followed by a regretful yet hopeful tone that slammed Hiro in the gut. "I'd love to but I can't right now. How about tonight? We could pop some beers and talk? Like old times?"

The words made Hiro's insides squirm. Talks, real ones, with his parents hadn't gone well lately but they used to. Especially with his dad. He had his first beer on the back porch with him. His dad laughed as Hiro choked on the disgusting taste and tried to give him sage advice between guffaws. Or what he thought of as sage advice. He would do that several times with Hiro over the years, pulling him aside for serious talks, trying to guide his son the best he could. Laughing and enjoying peaceful moments.

Hiro missed it.

And now he was tainting those moments with manipulation. Because of his curiosity, he would take advantage of his father's exhaustion. It was almost enough to make him reject the offer.

He didn't.

"Yeah Dad, I'd like that." He answered, the sting of personal disgust sharpening with each word.

The feeling stabbed deepened when his father chipperly, happily, responded. "Great! Look, it's been great hearing from you bud but I gotta go. See you tonight!"

Hiro didn't put his phone down when the phone ended. His face screwed up, his mind unable to let go of what he had just done. At how happy his dad sounded.

There was a lot to unpack there. And he was certainly not going to give himself enough time to unpack it. Instead, he pulled up the tabs he left open. Tabloid websites and Twitter feeds, the local Facebook and Reddit pages. Information at its rawest, uploaded by the masses.

If there was something strange going on in Steelsworth he was going to find it… He just had to make sure he took a picture of it this time.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Steelsworth had a number of hiking trails and paths. Most were glorified bike paths littered with dog shit but they were nice enough. Little trails carved into what was left of the county's forest, nature walks without the natural parks.

Along one of these paths, there was a swampy little area where a little pond lay. Its murky waters were overgrown with algae, reeds, and lilypads. The sight of it stirred up a sense of nostalgia in Hiro's chest. He used to come here all the time when he was a kid, when he could… When friends invited him along… dragged him along.

Anyway, they used to catch frogs there. They'd skip rocks across the surface and scare off the ducks. Where they would stare at and jar fireflies. All those ridiculous things kids did.

He figured all that life in a contained area, not owned by anyone but maybe the State, would be the best place to start. The local Twitter even said a few things about 'unique' sightings along the tra,il so Hiro was sure he was on the right track. He would try the rest of the forums later, after narrowing things down more and talking to his dad.

Though, he wished he had brought something better than his Walmart Adidas. Not that he owned any other shoes.

The grass squished under his feet, the ground muddy from the overflow and runoff of the pond. The frogs and crickets were singing their songs, beating out the bird calls, and holding little care for the approaching human. Desensitization was a hell of a thing.

Hiro, of course, had his phone in hand and opened up to his camera. If things went south like they did the last time he was at least going to have a picture before he had to book it.

Though Hiro didn't need to worry about that here. The animals of the pond, on a whole, seemed to be a hell of a lot more temperate than the jackalope. The British Champion was right and, honestly, nothing seemed that abnormal. Not even the frogs.

"Hmmm." Hiro hummed, squinting his eyes as he gave one of the plump amphibians a second look.

Slick skinned and croaking they looked about the same to him. And that was his clue. They looked the same. Everything else looked smaller yet these frogs still seemed about the size of his hand. And at the age of twenty two he'd like to think grew a bit over the last decade.

He hummed again, standing at the edge of the pond. Eventually, grudgingly, he let out a sigh and started to remove his shoes and socks. "This is going to suck." He said, rolling up his pant legs and trudging into the cold murky water. He sent up a quick prayer as he felt the water lick at his jackalope scratches.

He was slow in his approach, rippling the water barely more than a duck as he closed in on his target. The frog stared up at him, abnormally calm as it regarded him with a mighty croak.

Hiro carefully raised his phone with one hand, thumb at the ready, as he lowered his other. A size comparison, just to be sure, for both his peace of mind and to make sure the picture counted. He even managed to take a couple before his phone rang.

The sound, as close as it was, spooked the poor frog. It let out something close to a shriek as it plunged into the water. Accompanying its departure was a splash of pond water that went right up Hiro's nose.

Sputtering he answered the phone.

"Hello?" He asked, already knowing and dreading the caller.

"Hero-boy! Where are you at my man?" His manager asked.

"I took the day off, sir. I called and had to leave a message but I did let you know. " Hiro had, in fact, called three times. Before and after opening, but no one picked up. "I needed a personal day."

"Yeah, I saw that. Not very professional, is it? Leaving a message to call out?." The man said with a click in his voice, as if his call logs didn't show all the time Hiro had tried to call the dealership. "You're really putting us in a bind here man."

"Mr. Mclean, I called out hours ago, my shift would have just started. I won't be coming in today."

"Can I ask what was so important that you had to call out on us like this?"

Hiro paused and gave the question some actual consideration. Because what could he say without sounding crazy? That he wanted to take pictures of frogs? That only sounded slightly less insane than the truth. The truth made it sound like he joined a cyber cult, which… might not be too inaccurate and something he'd have to keep in mind.

So, instead, he said, "I needed a mental health day, sir. I've been on a walk since I called out."

"A mental health day?" He repeated as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Kid, I thought you were different from the rest of your generation. Well, whatever. We'll talk about this on your next shift. Enjoy your "mental health" day."

When the call ended Hiro could only shake his head. He had tried to give proper notice, it wasn't his fault that no one picked up, and less so when they apparently couldn't find a replacement. Why did he work there again?

Oh, right. Money.

Though he was probably, leaning towards definitely, going to be looking for a new job after that call. Had his boss always been that annoying? Well, if worse came to worst he'd still have his Poole job to fall back on.

As he submitted his first, recorded, abnormal find he very quickly found another source of income.

[You have logged your first abnormal creature!]
<Processing Contribution>
[You have earned 200 USD for your contributions! Find more abnormalities, or expand on existing entries, to earn more!]

Two hundred dollars? Just like that? And he could get more by going over his old entries again?

Hiro wasn't sure if the app was legal but it did make quitting all the more tempting. More so when he added the observation of "frogs of unusual size" and received fifty dollars for his troubles. Hiro briefly wondered how much the other Champions were making.

Another thing for his list of questions.

He spent another hour or so touring that old pond before moving on. There wasn't much there to his untrained eye. The fish still swam about, the flower still smelled pleasant, and the ducks were still viciously territorial. Maybe he had missed something, very likely, but he was only on his first pass of this park.

And even if he didn't find anything else there he would probably learn something worthwhile from his dad later that night.

He walked the trails more idly after that thought, more than he would care to admit. He still gave the plants and such a courtesy glance as he walked by, vaguely hoping to see another obvious change. Which, despite his experiences, he knew was easier said than done.

Hiro had seen the pattern, the other Champions likely did too, and he was fairly sure most of the creatures he was looking for couldn't even walk yet. Still, maybe he had a bit of luck still in him. For all he knew there could be some mutated flower growing along the park somewhere.

And, if he decided to think on it for more than a moment, there was no more likely place for it than the Community Garden. The Steelsworth City Council had made a big deal of it a few years ago, planting it with fanfare that had quickly died off after the election season.

It was, like the park itself, fairly small. Barely under two acres Steelsworth's main park, Liberty, had only the garden and the paths going for it. It didn't even have a playground, and it wasn't even the city's largest park, yet families were already starting to spread out on the early spring grass. The winter chill was barely gone and here they were.

Volunteers worked diligently around the park, mostly the garden, pulling out old growth and planting new… herbs? It looked like herbs.

One of the workers was tending to the city's not-so-famous fruit salad tree, one of those trees that had a different fruit growing from each grafted branch. She seemed to be in the process of grafting a new branch on, wrapping a sprouting stick in a tight wrap of plastic, and pouring a thick liquid with every go around. She stared at her work, frowning, before pulling something out of her pocket.

A crystal, about the size of a poker chip, transparent and pearl like in color. She held it up to her eye and examined the branch. Whatever she saw bloomed a smile onto her face, then she frowned again.

Hiro had been approaching, a platitude ready on his lips so he could take a look around the garden when she locked onto him. She scrutinized him under the gaze of her crystal, considering him with a frown, then she smiled again.

When she started to wave he paused, confused and hesitant as he gave a weak wave back. When the other volunteers stopped their work and followed her gaze to him he started to get worried. When they all started to stand he knew he was in trouble.

 

[TheDivineDemon]

I guess this should have been the first post but here we are.

I think I went over this a bit in my first chapter but I wanted to make myself a bit more clear. I have had this story planned for a long while, as in longer than the pandemic a while, and I kept procrastinating on it. I've planned and planned, mulled the characters and plots and themes over and over again to the point I needed a corkboard to help organize/visualize my thoughts. I told myself that I can't just keep planning and hoping for the best, I said that I needed to write. That I needed to bully myself into a timetable. So here we are.

I'm not Happy with chapter five, not with its length at least and only vaguely ok with the content. But I wrote, it was a week late but a Sunday is a Sunday. That's my goal, once a week, inch by inch until I'm better in both content and length. I'm going to start considering what I'm writing here my rough draft, I might not be rolling in likes but I think this is a project I need to do for myself more than anything. That said, if anyone has any advice I am more than willing to listen cause I already know I'm likely going to be rewriting/reworking parts later.

I'll admit now that the embers of this idea came from me disliking certain elements of the LitRPG genre. It all felt samey, or recursive if you want to be technical about it. As if they were writing fanfics of a fanfic of a fanfic, blue screens and power gaming in a fantasy world. I want to avoid some of that but in the same breath I got to say I love LitRPG and Progression stories in general, when the protag isn't a jackass. I'm not saying that I'm the guy who can break the cycle (That's probably Pirateaba) but I'm going to try and make something enjoyable for most of us.

Now, have a good day and peace!