The screen went blank.
For a second, I thought the app had crashed. Then gold text appeared against the black.
QUEST MASTER INITIALIZATION
Identifying Master...
EVAN COLE
Registration complete.
A profile loaded beneath it.
EVAN COLEQUEST MASTER — Lv.1
Master XP: 0 / 100Authority: 10Players: 0 / 1
Nine attributes followed.
STR 8
AGI 9
VIT 8
STA 7
INT 14
WIL 10
PER 11
CHA 8
PRE 6
I knew what most of them meant.
Presence took a tap.
PRESENCE
Ability to command attention and influence perception through appearance, bearing and social impact.
Healthy adult baseline: 10.
Six.
I thought about Camila straightening my collar that morning.
Apparently the System had found a numerical value for being useful without looking like somebody people should listen to.
Fourteen Intelligence was more flattering. That one, at least, I wasn’t going to argue with. The rest weren’t especially impressive, but none were absurd enough to immediately prove the whole thing was nonsense.
The next section was more interesting.
MASTER SKILLS
Assess Lv.1
Assign Role Lv.1
Quest Selection Lv.1
I opened the first one.
ASSESS Lv.1
Evaluate compatible targets within 10 meters.
Information depth increases with Skill Level.
Assign Role required a compatible assessed target. Quest Selection required a registered Player.
Player. Role. Quest Master.
The terminology wasn’t subtle.
Whoever had designed this thing assumed one person was supposed to stand above everyone else using it. Before today, I might have found that ridiculous.
After the day I’d had, I mostly wanted to know how literal it was.
Below the Master Skills were two more sections.
PERSONAL SYSTEM SKILLS
None
SYSTEM TRAITS
None
I stared at those longer than expected.
For some reason, None bothered me less than a fake list of things I already knew how to do. I could program whether the phone approved or not. If this thing eventually gave me a Skill, apparently it meant something else.
Something added.
There was more.
QUEST FUNCTIONS
Standard Quests — UnlockedSide Quests — LockedDaily Quests — LockedMain Quests — LockedQuest Chains — Locked
Then:
SYSTEM INVENTORY — LOCKED
MASTER SHOP — LOCKED
That was almost enough to make the whole thing feel deliberately designed.
Not just an app.
A progression system.
I disliked the thought mostly because I’d started taking it seriously.
I closed Quest Master and tried deleting it again.
Still no option.
Restarting the phone didn’t help either. The black icon returned with everything else, but there was no corresponding application in storage and no record of it in the App Store.
I took a screenshot.
My wallpaper appeared. Email. Banking app. Everything else.
The crown didn’t.
I opened Quest Master and took another screenshot.
Again, everything except the app.
That was harder to explain away.
I sat at the kitchen counter with the phone in one hand.
Whoever had built this knew my name, apparently knew enough about me to assign numerical values to things like Intelligence and Presence, and had somehow bypassed every normal part of my phone’s operating system.
Malware was still technically possible.
It was becoming very ambitious malware.
I opened the app again.
One final tab waited at the bottom.
MASTER QUESTS
Only one entry existed.
FIRST PLAYER
Register your first Player.
REWARD
+25 Master XP+5 Authority
STATUS
Incomplete
I tapped the help icon beside Player.
What is a Player?
A Player is an individual registered within the Quest Master System.
"Useful."
I tried again.
What happens when someone becomes a Player?
Additional information becomes available when registration requirements are met.
Apparently the System had discovered corporate compliance language.
I tapped Authority next.
AUTHORITY
Exclusive Quest Master resource.
Earned through Player progression, Quest completion, Role milestones, Master Quests and achievements.
Used to influence Quest Master functions.
Additional applications unlock through Master progression.
That answered almost nothing.
I had ten Authority. I had no idea whether that made me rich or barely solvent.
One more question.
Are you real?
The cursor remained for a little longer this time.
Define real.
I stared at the answer.
"Fuck you."
Quest Master declined to respond.
At least the relationship was developing naturally.
I opened Assess.
ASSESS Lv.1
Range: 10m
I was alone.
For once, the System and reality agreed.
There were still explanations available that didn’t require accepting a magical progression system. Sleep deprivation ranked high. Some kind of neurological problem remained technically available too, if I wanted the evening to become dramatically worse.
Either way, I wasn’t registering anyone until I knew what registration actually did.
That wasn’t morality.
It was basic risk management.
I checked the time.
2:47 A.M.
My alarm was set for 6:20.
Whatever Quest Master was, morning could deal with it.
I locked the phone and made it halfway to the bedroom before stopping.
That annoyed me more than the app itself.
A minute ago, I’d decided I was done. Apparently some part of me hadn’t received the memo.
I went back to the counter.
The black square with the gold crown was still waiting exactly where I’d left it.
I looked at it for another few seconds.
"If you’re still there in the morning, we’ll talk."
Then I locked the phone and went to bed.