Fluff

Chapter Thirty-Seven - Orbjective

"Okay," Emily said as she looked over her sisters. They were more or less ready to head out. "Maple, do you want to come, or did you want to stay here?"

"Um," Maple said. She gripped the fabric of her skirt for a moment, eyes downcast as she hesitated. "Can I come?" she eventually said.

"Of course, I wouldn't ask if you wanted to if I didn't expect you to... maybe want to take the option," Emily said. She could have worded that better, but it was close enough. "I'd love to have you with us."

"Oh-okay," Maple said. She looked around, then darted away.

Emily figured she was off to grab something, so she looked over the rest of her sisters in the meantime. Teddy, Athena, and Aurora were dressed more or less normally. Lots of cargo pants and sweatshirts with pouches on the front. Rough, but tough clothes, and warm, because it was a smidge chilly out at the moment. Trinity, both of herself that were here, was dressed normally as well, but with the poncho that Maple had made on as well, which gave her a strange, warped silhouette.

Emily made a mental note to see if Maple couldn't make more of those. Or similar, at least. If this was going to become a more stealthy operation then having more stealth capabilities would be worthwhile.

On the other hand, she didn't want to overwhelm Maple. The sister in question came running back, with a large-brimmed sunhat plopped atop her head. It was covered in taped-on leaves. She was also wearing a large belt with some zip-lock baggies hooked into it like pouches.

"What's all that?" Emily asked.

"Um, the hat hides me in the woods a little," Maple said. "And it protects from the rain and sun. But that's just... normal hat stuff. And the belt is for things? I need some natural stuff too... even if we got a lot of things already."

"Alright," Emily replied. Who was she to question Maple's process? "Well, it's cute."

"What? You haven't said that I'm cute in weeks!" Teddy said.

"Yes yes, you're all very cute," Emily said.

Trinity grinned. "Heard that, Teddy? If we're all cute, and there's twice as much of me here, then I'm twice as cute!"

"Alright, enough of that," Emily said. "You're all individually as cute," she said, cutting that entire argument off before it could really start. She didn't need Teddy turning into a bear in the living room. "Let's just head out. Remember, we're trying to be discreet. So no big noises, alright?"

The plan was simple, for now. Or rather, this first, tentative step of what might one day soon, hopefully, be something of a plan.

With that done they headed out.

The path from the home they'd... made their own to the edge of the Endgame was well-trod by that point. The grass was flattened out and in some places they'd crossed so many times that there was an actual deer-path forming.

She made another mental note to come back another way. They didn't need such an obvious path back.

Trinity was the first to cross the line into the Endgame's territory. It was a solid three feet from the space they'd marked out on their last crossing.

"It's growing faster," Emily muttered. "But also slowing down a bit?"

"Probably growing based on activity in the city," Athena said. "Like it's pushing out as much as it can when there are more people doing Endgame-related stuff, but when there aren't as many people doing that kind of thing, it's not as fast. Maybe?"

"I suppose that makes sense. But doesn't that mean that if everyone leaves the Endgame alone, it'll... just stop growing?" Emily asked.

"Won't it get bored if you do that?" Trinity asked. She was flashing her Minor Shadow Blend on and off constantly, even with the body that was outside of the range of the Endgame. "Oh, there's new information for you, Big Sis Boss."

Emily blinked, then took a long step forwards and past the invisible line that marked the edge of the Endgame's territory.

Endgame Entered.

Hi again! <3

A whoooole heap of things have changed since you last entered!

You have... 8 Robber points! Good Job :3

You have... access to the Object Information Screen!!!

Emily took a moment to parse all of that. The first bit was normal. The same information flashed up before her every time she entered. The messages below were, obviously, new. Other than status screens for how many Robber Points she had left, the Endgame, or whatever controlled it, hadn't communicated with her since they'd first entered it.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Eight Robber Points," Emily said. The last time she'd looked, she had six. Did trying to grab the object, and successfully stealing it, jump her up by two? That seemed like too little and a lot at the same time.

In any case, she'd take whatever boost she could get.

"And an Object Information Screen?" she muttered.

"Should be Orbject, no?" Teddy asked. "Since it's all round and stuff?"

A new screen appeared before Emily, making her heart jump a little.

Minor System Update!

Object is now Orbject

:3

Emily decided that she didn't like this Endgame.

She looked around, then pointed to a patch of forest not too far off to one side. "Let's head over there, under cover. I think the HRF might have drones or maybe flying heroes. We shouldn't be standing where we might be easy to spot."

With her sisters darting out ahead, they moved over to the woods, then settled in behind a few bushes and fallen branches, next to a pair of old pines and beneath a canopy of maples. It was a decent amount of aerial cover. Enough, she hoped, that seeing them from above might be a little trickier. It was just about the best she could do.

First thing first, she asked her sisters how many Robber Points they each had while taking out her notebook.

Emily: 8

Athena: 5

Whisper Drift

Aurora: 5

Unlock Simple Door

Teddy: 5

Summon Glow

Trinity: 5

Minor Shadow Blend

Unlock Simple Door

Maple: 4

Reach

Tapping the back of her pen against the page, she did a bit of simple mental math. They'd all, with the exceptions of Maple and Trinity, gained two points from grabbing the... the orbject. Maple only gained one, and Trinity gained five.

The latter made some sense, she supposed. Maple had provided gear, but wasn't there herself. Trinity had done much of the work all on her own, and taken a lot of risk as well. Her reward was therefore larger.

This many points to spend was... not bad, actually. It was a lot of potential, a lot of small but useful skills they could unlock, especially now that she'd tested so many of them.

Her sisters started to play tag, and she only needed to tell them to be quiet three times before they started to scream a little less.

Once that was done, she settled down against the bark of one of the pines and opened a menu with a whispered command. "Object Information Screen."

Nothing happened.

She sighed.

"Orbject Information Screen," she muttered.

Hehe :3

Orbject Information Screen

You have 6 Days to find it!

New hints for Robbers available daily!

Today's hint is: The Orbject is in the city!

What was she even supposed to do with that?

"Ah, it's not very helpful, is it?" Maple asked. She came over and slowly, carefully, settled in next to Emily. Her hat did make her hard to see, somehow. It blended in with the trees and bushes around them, making it difficult to see half of Maple's face. From above, Emily imagined she'd be almost impossible to see at all.

"Yeah. I knew it was in the city already."

Well, no, she didn't know for certain, but she definitely suspected. That group of Villains they'd run into seemed like the sort, at least in her estimation, to have something like a base nearby. They had planned that ambush, so it made sense that they had planned someplace to hide once the ambush was done as well.

"I'm guessing that the clues will get better every day," she said.

"I guess so," Maple said. "That feels like it makes sense."

Emily nodded along. "In that case, maybe we can take today off. I'm still not feeling one-hundred percent, and I think a day of rest could help. And with a second clue tomorrow, we'll have a better idea of where to start with the scouting."

"Okay," Maple said. "Um. A day might be enough for me to make something. I had an idea, when you were talking about drones. I might be able to help."

"That... would be nice, yeah," Emily said. "Thanks, Maple. You've been very helpful."

Maple smiled without meeting Emily's eye. "Y-you're welcome."

Emily reaffirmed her decision. Maple was the cutest of her sisters. And the quietest, which... maybe quiet was cute? The amount of noise the others were making as they ran around certainly wasn't cute at all.

***