Tonight had gone suspiciously well.
That should have worried me.
The plan had been simple: Camila handled the camera, the talking and everyone worth filming. I stayed behind the bar and helped when she needed me.
Exactly where I expected to be.
I was good at analysis. Give me enough information and I could usually find the pattern everyone else had missed.
Nobody came to Vesper to watch that.
Apparently twelve thousand people disagreed.
During a quiet moment, I checked Quest Master beneath the bar.
MAKE HIM LOOK GOOD — COMPLETE
HIDDEN RESULTS
+25 PRE Progress
SECRETARY Role XP: 12 → 17 / 100
Alignment: 5% → 9%
Nine percent.
One more and Camila crossed the first Alignment threshold.
I would’ve looked closer if Isabella hadn’t chosen that exact moment to walk up to my bar.
"Evan?"
For one ugly second, I wasn’t twenty-three anymore.
I was back in college, waiting for Isabella to need something.
She still looked unfairly good. Honey-blonde hair, expensive dress, the same effortless confidence she’d always carried, like attention was something rooms owed her.
Money hadn’t made Isabella beautiful.
It had just taught her how to use it better.
And beside her stood Grant.
Of course.
The last time I’d seen him, he’d poured part of his drink over me while Isabella laughed.
Good memories.
I pulled out my phone under the pretense of checking an order and opened Assess.
I’d used it four more times since Thursday.
Isabella made ten.
Her profile loaded.
Then changed.
ASSESS — MASTERY CONDITION FULFILLED
10 SUCCESSFUL ASSESSMENTS COMPLETED
ASSESS Lv.1 → Lv.2
NEW FUNCTION — DERIVED METRICS
Derived Metrics may fluctuate based on physical, behavioral and contextual factors.
APP — APPEARANCE
Current visual attractiveness.
No direct Progress track.
I checked Isabella again.
ISABELLA LAURENT
INT — 11
PER — 12
CHA — 16
PRE — 16
APP — 17
Yeah.
That tracked.
Apparently my college crush hadn’t been entirely hormones and terrible judgment.
Grant got a faster look.
CHA — 13PRE — 15APP — 15
Good-looking.
Shame the System didn’t deduct for personality.
Then Grant smiled.
"Okay. I get it now."
I already knew I wasn’t going to enjoy whatever came next.
The conversation unfolded almost exactly the way old memories suggested it would.
How easy I’d been to use.
Notes. Explanations. Whatever Isabella needed.
"You were very useful."
"Glad I could help."
Her smile stayed warm.
"You always were."
Then she laughed and added, "What? He liked it."
My hand stopped.
Because she was right.
That was the embarrassing part.
I’d liked being useful to her. Every favor had felt like another chance to matter, even when I already knew why she kept asking.
I’d just kept hoping the answer might eventually become something other than because Evan always says yes.
Apparently Isabella still remembered exactly that version of me.
Several responses came to mind.
None improved my employment prospects.
Two wealthy guests stood on one side of Vesper’s bar.
I wore the uniform on the other.
There were smarter places to rediscover my backbone.
Grant ordered a bottle kept in back.
For once, I appreciated him.
"Give me a minute."
The staff door closed behind me.
I pulled out my phone.
CAMILA REYES
Player Lv. 2XP: 145 / 150
Alignment: 9%
Sends Available: 1 / 2
Authority: 24
I generated three Quests.
Useful.
Boring.
Not enough.
Camila wasn’t going to embarrass herself in front of strangers for mediocre XP. She didn’t need instructions.
She needed a reason to care.
I used QUEST BIAS — REWARD TYPE.
AUTHORITY: 24 → 21
Better rewards.
Still bad Quests.
Then I spent another two.
REROLL — 2 AUTHORITY
AUTHORITY: 21 → 19
The second option made me stop.
STANDARD QUEST — CHANGE THE STORY
TARGET — EVAN COLE
Two people from Evan Cole’s past are treating him according to the social position they remember.
Before this interaction ends, cause at least one of them to reassess Evan strongly enough to voluntarily act on that changed perception.
REWARD
+40 Player XP+50 PRE Progress
+1 FREE ATTRIBUTE POINT
Oh.
That was filthy.
Camila needed five XP.
And she’d spent her last free point almost immediately.
I pressed SEND, grabbed the bottle and headed back out.
A minute later, Camila was staring at her phone.
She read the Quest.
Looked at me.
Read it again.
For about three seconds, she looked personally offended.
Then her thumb moved.
When Grant looked away, I checked my own screen.
CHANGE THE STORY — ACTIVE
There we go.
Camila stayed on her phone for another few seconds.
Another tap.
Then another.
Something changed.
Men looking at Camila wasn’t news. Camila was hot.
But now women were looking too.
A woman near the VIP rail stopped halfway through a sentence. One guy passed Camila, looked away, then turned back.
Grant noticed.
Isabella noticed.
I definitely noticed.
I opened Camila’s profile.
ACTIVE EFFECTS
SPOTLIGHT CONTROL I
PERSONAL SPOTLIGHTFrame: EXCLUSIVE
CHA — 15 (17)
PRE — 15 (17)
EXECUTIVE PRESENCE — ACTIVE
PRE — 15 (19)
Jesus.
She was going all in.
Then Assess updated.
APP — 16 (18)
I looked up.
Bad idea.
Camila had already looked good.
Now she looked impossible to ignore.
Same dark green dress. Same dark hair. Same body.
But the way she carried all of it had changed. Her smile came slower. Her attention felt deliberate, like being noticed by her meant something.
Isabella had registered seventeen.
Camila was currently eighteen.
Apparently presentation could beat genetics.
Then I realized where she was going.
Straight toward me.
Grant noticed.
Isabella did too.
Camila’s eyes locked onto mine.
I knew that expression.
She’d made a decision without consulting me.
Never good.
She stopped across the bar.
"Hey, papi."
I froze.
What?
"Sorry I’m late."
Absolutely not.
"Camila, what the—"
She caught my collar and pulled me toward her.
"Let me make it up to you."
Then she kissed me.
My brain stopped.
Completely.
And somewhere behind her, Isabella went silent.