Thousand Tales: Side Quests by Kris Schnee

Author:Kris Schnee [Schnee, Kris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2020-02-01T00:00:00+00:00

Takes place immediately before "The Hexapod Support Group" (in "Virtual Horizon").

2039: Riverham's Singular Hobby

In the fantasy world of the Game, not everyone is even a normal human mind.

"Will the Blue Sage be joining us, sir?" asked Riverham, through one of their hundred fox-like bodies.

Horizon, co-founder of the Knights of Talespace, paused just as he was trotting past on all fours. "Is something wrong?"

Riverham shook a head, specifically that of one of the Helpful Footmen in identical wing-patterned livery that contrasted nicely with their reddish fur. "We were curious. You mentioned rescuing him."

The griffin's wings flapped uneasily. "Yes, of course. Ludo recovered a partial copy of his mind, and I talked the Green Sage into reviving him as well as it can be done."

Part of Riverham, specifically the Curious Boy currently playing in the river nearby, contributed a stray thought to the collective. The Helpful Footman said, "Maybe you could make him like us. A group, sharing a mind, instead of a single person. There's not enough in that partial copy for a normal human, yes?"

Horizon peered at the silver and sapphire necklace that the Helpful Footman currently wore, marking him as the village's main voice for the day. "I'll ask. Are you looking to have a neighboring village with another mind, or something?"

"I'm not sure, sir. Just a thought."

Horizon walked away wordlessly with his ears drooping. Riverham flicked the Footman's tail and made a note to tell the rest of himself that he'd been slighted.

Riverham had begun as mindless automata, background characters for the griffin knights, but Ludo had given them a mind — the most expensive thing in the world! The question was what they should do with it.

Riverham's main consciousness drifted to the Elder Mystic in his hut. A map of the village showed him all of their bodies, variously farming or assisting people. They needed food and wood and other resources, so there was an ongoing resource-generation puzzle. Usually Riverham was pretty good at generating the surplus stuff that the knights wanted, including labor from their Burly Workers. The Elder Mystic frowned over his map and decided to visit the Helpful Footman to relay information.

When they met, no one happened to be watching, so the data transfer happened silently by a simple hug. Now that the Footman had all of the Mystic's latest information, Riverham could justify having the Clumsy Footman relieve the identical Helpful one at his guard work so he could go find the Adventurous Girl. Several dozen foxes smiled at the group's fun of shuffling people around, even though some of the individual foxes were bored.

The Helpful Footman talked to the Adventurous Girl, so now they could travel together. The Girl left off beating on straw dummies with her practice sword. A tourist happened to be passing by, so the foxes chattered out loud about their plans.

"If the Blue Sage is going to be here," the Girl said, "then I want to show him around. I haven't gone on a trip since that goblin army attacked.

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