The Hooky Day

The five friends walked across the mostly empty parking lot behind the diner—stopping at the parked blasters.

Thomas and Javari opened the rear hatches of both of them, pulling out their helmets and gloves while the inventor stopped a few feet away from everyone else, now searching several areas of his own person. Evony and Cally both turned and watched him; Osric rolled up his left sleeve, revealing a sleek blue device snapped around his arm, fitted with a few buttons and a touch screen on the top. Then, he covered his arm up again and dug into one of the inner pockets of his overcoat, pulling out a small, oddly-shaped remote of a chrome color, just before reaching into the other side and sliding out what looked like a tiny homing beacon with three little legs for a stand.

Evony and Cally exchanged odd glimpses, then continued to stare at him.

“Bio-reader… pod-caller… pod remote,” Osric muttered to himself, reaching into his outside pockets next. “Oh… where is my… is that my…? Wait a minute… aha!”

He whipped out a large round metal device in the shape of a very thick and bulky coin, complete with a button directly in the center of it.

Evony gave him a look, stepping closer. “Ahm… I know you’re an eccentric inventor person, but… why do you carry so much of that stuff just… on you?”

Osric paused and glanced up at her, flashing a smirk. “Well… because you never know when you’ll need it, of course. It’s only sensible to be prepared, especially if you end up on an impulsive adventure. Like right now.”

“O… kay,” Cally mumbled, venturing closer and eyeing the devices in his hands. “But like… what… is any of that?”

“Precautions,” Osric said simply. “I’ve got everything covered. A backup ride home, a medical device, a steering mechanism of a very unique design…”

“And… protection?” Evony asked, perking her brow.

Osric gave her a flattened sort of smile. “Well… we’ve both got that covered already, Evony. Oh, but… now that you mention it, I do have… aaah…”

He shoved the devices back into their proper pockets, then rolled up his other sleeve, revealing another device strapped onto his right arm, a slender metal device, though this one had no screen, only a large, rounded hump in the center with what looked like a small closed hatch around it.

“Ehe,” Osric grinned at it, then rolled his sleeve back down again. “I’ve got plenty of aces in the hole, don’t you worry.”

Thomas shoved all the helmets into the rear hatch of the blaster parked farther away, freeing up the trunk space of the other one.

“There ya’ go,” he said, sauntering over to the empty trunk and swatting at it. “Plenty of room now.”

Osric made a nod, turned to Oliver, grabbed him out of the air—then reared back and threw him into the open hatch with great force—making him smash into the inside of it with a loud and echoing BANG-THUNK.

Thomas and Javari sputtered out a laugh, Evony taking back and ogling him in surprise.

Cally’s jaw dropped, gaping at the inventor in shock.

Osric straightened up, adjusted his hat, and turned to her.

“What…?” he uttered.

Cally shot him another baffled double-take, making Thomas and Javari roar with laughter even more.

“You’re so violent with him…!” she gasped, jutting her hand out to the open trunk where Oliver lay.

Osric glimpsed at it, then back at her, cracking a smirk.

“I designed him, Cally,” he reminded her, letting out a few soft chuckles. “And trust me… it’ll take a lot more than being thrown into a trunk or being shot by a rock to hurt him.”

Osric then reached over, closed the rear hatch, and walked off around the vehicle to mount it.

Cally stared down at the ground in confusion for a moment, mouthing the words shot with a rock? to herself before she approached the blaster as well.

Everyone lined up and prepared to climb aboard, all except for Evony, who was still staring over at the back hatch of the other blaster, where Thomas had stuffed all the helmets away.

“Ho’kay,” she breathed, making a face and turning to the others. “I guess we’re riding with no helmets now…?”

“We don’t need ‘em now,” Javari knew. “Not if we’re using the dome extension.”

“Oh!” Osric gasped, reaching up to his hat. “That reminds me… I better…”

He began fidgeting with the top of his unique goggles, pulling out what appeared to be a small, thin strap that was affixed to them, and he connected it to an unseen mechanism inside the brim of his hat with a faint click . Then, he reached around to the back of his head and did much the same from the rear side of his goggles, fastening his hat firmly to his head.

Evony stared over the seat of the blaster at him incredulously, smirking and choking out a laugh.

“What?” Osric smiled, tilting his head and flicking the side of his hat quite hard. “Can’t have it flying off.”

“It’s not gonna fly off if there’s no wind hitting us,” Javari sniggered at him. “But okay…”

“Yeah… um… how will there be no wind hitting us?” Evony asked, remembering her other experiences with the blasters.

“You’ll see,” Thomas smirked, leaping swiftly onto the front of the long leather seat. “All aboard.”

“Hold on.” Osric scanned the shapely vehicle to and fro, then pointed at the center of the seat, and then the back. “One person in front, two perfectly center, and two in back. We must be seated in that precise way, not all in one pile.”

“Ah-huh… sure buddy,” Javari laughed, lumbering onto the seat with Cally climbing on behind him.

Osric walked forward and held out his hands to them, looking Javari and Cally up and down, then examining the seat under them, seeming to measure their placement. Then, he nodded and moved to the back, draping a leg over the seat and patting on it, smirking over at Evony.

“All aboard indeed,” he said.

Evony sighed, feeling a spark of nervousness. She’d ridden the blasters a couple more times since she first met Thomas and Javari, but never without the helmets and gear. Regardless, she crawled onto the blaster in front of Osric, right into the spot he he’d motioned to—and then she swallowed a faint little gasp, feeling his arms wrap around her and pull her much closer to him in a warm, tight embrace from behind.

Osric then looked up and down again, gauging both of their positions very intently. Next, he looked forward, where Cally was hugging onto Javari, and where Thomas was gripping the handlebars, preparing for the drive.

“I think this might work,” Osric thought aloud, leaning over the side and reaching to a tiny hidden mechanism under the edge of the seat. “Hold tight.”

He pressed something—and all the sudden, three black straps shot out of the sides of the seat and wrapped around the waists of Thomas, Javari, and Evony, making all of them take back in alarm, staring down and feeling the straps tighten on them, securing them to the seat fully.

“Whoa…!” Javari yelled down at his lap.

“Holy f…” Thomas uttered, glancing around his waist.

Evony gaped down at it in silence.

Osric breathed out a laugh.

Javari twisted around, giving the inventor a baffled sort of look.

“I didn’t know this thing had seatbelts!” he exclaimed.

“More like automatic straps,” Osric replied with a sideways nod. “And that, um… that’s worth knowing. So… you know. Try to remember they’re there.”

Javari’s expression flattened.

Osric adjusted one arm tighter around Evony, using the other to raise his cane and gesture toward the mountain. “Be advised as well; Mt. Crumpet is a big place. We’re going a long distance with way too many passengers aboard this thing. So, for those of you not tied down by a strap, you’d better cling onto someone who is for dear life.”

Cally looked scared all the sudden, scrambling to wrap herself around Javari from behind almost entirely.

Osric spotted her struggling to coil around him, giggling lightly. “Oh, I’m just kidding. The straps are just a precaution. The dome extension should provide all the safety needed.”

Cally snapped her head back and shot him a look.

“Are you done?” Javari asked the inventor coyly. “We’re dying of old age sitting here listening to you talk.”

Osric moved his cane outward and thumped him lightly on the back of the head, making him duck for cover, and the end of the cane jabbed at the back of Thomas’s head by accident.

“ Hey … now,” Thomas hollered, hunching down and looking back. “No hitting the driver in the back of the face!”

“Hah… my apologies,” Osric smirked, withdrawing his cane and gently sliding it sideways in front of Evony. “Here… could you hold this for me, please?”

Evony felt his breath brushing past her ear, swallowing and nodding as she placed the cane in her lap. Then, she looked forward, seeing that Cally and Javari were seated just a bit too far ahead of her. She wouldn’t be able to hold onto anyone in front of her the way she usually did.

She took in another deep, shaky breath.

Thomas popped the hatch open in the center of the console between the handlebars, revealing a few controls, a few buttons, and a tiny screen. He began to change the settings, switching the dome extension to ON.

Evony huffed out a sigh. “Fuckin’a…”

Osric leaned slightly forward and glanced over at the side of her head. “What’s wrong?”

Evony’s mouth opened, looking at everyone else and mildly shaking her head. She felt anxious, more so than usual, but she certainly didn’t want to say it out loud.

Thomas shut the console hatch, then turned the keys—and the engine roared to life.

Evony swallowed a gasp, instantly stiffening in her seat.

Osric felt her muscles tense, and he coiled his arm around her more snugly.

“We’re fine,” he whispered to her. “Watch.”

The propulsions exploded with air, jolting the vehicle a foot off the ground—and then, something new happened.

A round metal platform constructed and extended out from under the bottom of the vehicle, creating what looked like a small, circular floor—and from the edges of this rounded platform, a shimmering blue light appeared, wrapping around the entire blaster and everyone on it, encasing them in what looked like a transparent force field.

Evony glanced around at it, suddenly finding that they were safe and secure inside a bubble, and she choked out an astonished little laugh.

“No wind, no ice pellets hitting anyone in the face, no great risk of falling off… just like riding in a car,” Osric smiled, patting her on the collar. “You see? We’re all good.”

“Three-thousand feet up, up the side of Mt. Crumpit,” Thomas growled in his throaty, lisping voice, gripping the handlebars tight. “We ride way up high to the tiptop to dumpit! ”

“Oh fuck,” Evony breathed, reaching up and clutching Osric’s arm. “Hold on.”

“Evony… it’s all right,” Osric laughed breathlessly. “There’s really nothing to worry ab—”

The blaster shot off like a bullet—making everyone except for Thomas jolt back in their seats.

Explosions of snow flew into the air in their wake—the blaster and its bubble soaring out of the parking lot directly towards the faraway path up the mountainside.

“Oh… ‘kay,” Osric breathed, straightening out in his seat and locking his arm around Evony even harder. “Well, I didn’t realize we were racing up there…”

Evony snapped her eyes shut, leaning back into him and gripping his wrist viselike, forcing herself calm. She felt no wind beating against her like usual, but she still felt unusually nervous about the way they were riding this time.

“Three-thousand feet up—up the side of Mt. Crumpit!” Thomas yelled much louder, laughing maniacally as he sped to the edge of the mountain. “WE RIDE WAY UP HIGH TO THE TIPTOP TO DUMPIT! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“Shut up! ” Cally gasped. “You sound like you’re gonna fly everybody up there and just throw us off!”

Javari joined Thomas in chortling insanely as the blaster reached the edge of the mountainside—and it sped up the long, wide path that led up the mountain way, snow flying into the air behind them as they rocketed up the endless hillside.

Everyone found themselves leaning more forward, sitting at an incline as the blaster raced uphill.

“Music?!” Thomas yelled, ripping the center console open again and hitting a button.

“Turn on some Mikey V synthwave!” Javari requested.

“Nooo—not today, my friend,” Thomas smirked, cocking his head and selecting a specific song on the screen. “We just broke into the 2080s this year—so let’s get some late ‘70s and early ‘80s vibes goin’ on. Behold!”

All the sudden—an old AC/DC song began blaring from the blaster’s speakers.

Thomas continued to drive up the wide snowy path up Mt. Crumpet, nothing but snow-covered trees and the occasional rock on either side of them, though they were barely able to visually register any of it as it whizzed past; the blaster carried them farther and farther up the mountainside in incredible time, and as the song played, Evony finally began to open her eyes, glancing around and seeing the world flash by outside of their transparent dome, the vehicle carrying them up the way quite effortlessly, and nothing frightful was happening at all.

So, Evony let out a deep, calming breath, finally loosening her grasp on Osric’s wrist just the slightest bit. Then, she flashed a smirk, feeling the incredible speed of the vehicle despite that she felt no wind at all, AC/DC’s If You Want Blood hitting its chorus, and she suddenly felt thrilled and delighted again, as if she was inside of a phenomenal movie montage—but living a thing like this in reality was incomparably better than watching it on a screen. It was nothing short of fantastic.

She let out another breath and relaxed slightly more, looking around and smiling.

Osric observed her from behind, then leaned in and spoke quietly into her ear.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you get scared before,” he said.

Evony took back, turning halfway toward him and making a face. She almost wanted to argue, but she shook her head once and decided against it, staring down and suddenly losing herself to a loose thought.

Because—come to think of it—she herself couldn’t remember the last time she actually got scared. Most of the time, she would face situations of danger with apathy, something inside her switching off and allowing her to manage it with no feeling.

Now, however—it seemed that she was reacting to things almost normally sometimes.

“If you want blood!” Javari sang along to the song.

“You got it!” Thomas cackled—speeding forward even faster.

He began cruising to the side, smoothly to the left, and then easefully to the right, making long, careful swerves and making the blaster feel like a rollercoaster ride.

Cally perked up and laughed, Javari raising his arms and yelling with delight. Thomas became possessed by the adrenaline—and he stood upright, feet hooked solidly into the foot guards, jutting both fists into the air and howling into the echoing atmosphere of Mt. Crumpet.

“Aaaand now!” Thomas declared—plopping back down and slamming his hand to a button on the console. “WE FLY!”

At once—the propulsions switched from air to fire—blasting them off the ground and sending the vehicle launching upwards from the snowy terrain like an airplane taking flight.

Everyone began yelling and snickering with glee; Thomas steered them up and veered off to the left, leaving the path behind and soaring above the endless woodlands.

The cane began to slide off of Evony’s lap—and she quickly grabbed it, looking over the side and inhaling sharply, seeing just how far they suddenly were from the ground below.

“Okay. Holy hell,” she breathed, sniggering and training her eyes forward. “I’ve never actually looked straight down on one of these before.”

“Yeah—don’t do that!” Javari laughed.

The blaster sailed across the sky just above the pointed treetops of the mountain pines, Thomas grinning with glee.

“Watch for trees!” Osric snickered.

“What was that? What?” Thomas yelled back at him. “Hit the trees? You got it!”

Abruptly—he steered downward and plunged the blaster into the ocean of trees—Cally and Evony both screaming.

Then—they all found themselves positively barreling through the branches and pine needles, the force field encasing the blaster smacking and snapping twigs rapidly all around them as they continued shooting through the air.

Javari and Thomas were chortling madly now, Cally grinning in shock and covering her mouth.

“Yeah… it’s all well and good until you actually hit a tree head-on,” Osric remarked.

Thomas glimpsed back at him, nodded sideways, and instantly steered toward the sky again; the blaster broke out of the woodlands like a dolphin breaching the sea, whizzing into the cold sky up the mountain.

And thus—for longer than anyone cared to keep track of—Thomas continued driving, flying, dipping, steering, and whizzing all the way up Mt. Crumpet for a great stretch of time thereafter. The five of them shared laughs, snide comments, and even broke into song together a few times before they eventually decided to commence for landing.

By the time they were exceptionally high on the mountain—where the air was even colder, where the fog of clouds occasionally invaded their view, and where they could not hope to see even a microscopic sign of Silverhollow anymore—Thomas looked directly down, gazing fixedly at the landscape below them until he eventually located the path again. Then, he slowed the blaster down considerably, bringing it into a long, cautious descent upon the snowy mountaintop.

“Don’t look now,” Thomas advised, still staring downward fixedly. “But I thiiink … I found what we’re looking for.”

Everyone else instantly ignored his advice and followed his trail of vision down to the ground; they spotted what looked like a wooden shack nestled into a cozy spot between a collection of trees and the large, rocky wall of the mountain itself, positioned right alongside the narrow winding path.

Javari then raised his head again, narrowing his eyes at the horizon. “Ahm. Is it getting dark outside…?”

“It always gets dark early this time of year,” Osric said.

“Yeah, but… how long have we been gone?” Javari asked.

“We’ve been riding for hours,” Cally informed, checking her phone. “Yeah… it’s after five already.”

“ What? ” Javari choked. “Holy crap , dude… we’re not gonna get back to town until freaking midnight.”

“Oh… sure we will,” Osric laughed. “All we have to do is not go on another joyride when we decide to go home.”

“And we did end up watching that Christmas tree thing in town for longer than I thought we would,” Evony commented. “This day just started flying by…”

“Yes… but the night is young,” Thomas smirked, clicking his tongue and shifting gears, the propulsion switching to wind as the vehicle leveled itself out just above ground. “Here we are.”

Just after the blaster found its balance atop the ground, Thomas cut the engine, the propulsion blasters assuming their ground position before thudding onto the icy dirt with a loud thunk . It now sat still, silent, and parked alongside the crooked clearing in front of the wooden building.

Then, everyone on the blaster turned their heads, gazing over at the front of the rickety, isolated tavern as they began to dismount the vehicle and absorb their new environment.

To the right of the blaster and the clearing was a large rounded overlook on the other side of the path, complete with an old wooden fence made of logs, and to the left was the rickety building made of wood and damaged roof tiles, a lone sign hanging above its doorway. In crookedly-carved letters, the splintery wooden sign read; The Witch’s Tit .

“Oh… that’s classy,” Cally muttered tonelessly, coiling her hands deeper into her puffy jacket sleeves.

“Yeah, well… this is where the gruff and uncensored country folk live,” Javari shrugged, zipping up his studded jacket a little tighter. “I don’t know where they live… but… they do live here. Has anyone actually seen a house up here anywhere? Because now that’s really bothering me…”

“I saw maybe five or six from way up high,” Thomas shrugged, zipping his own jacket practically up to his chin. “All pretty far apart from each other… and all up here, on the highest part.”

He turned to Javari, scanning him up and down.

“You sure about that hat?” Thomas asked, narrowing his eyes at it skeptically.

Javari took back, placing a hand over his heart and giving him a look as if he’d just been slapped across the face. “How… dare you. This is my signature hat , you slut fuck.”

“M’yeah, but…” Thomas shrugged and nodded sideways, glimpsing over at the front of the tavern. “I don’t know how these good ol’ boys are gonna feel about a bunch of strangers walking into their bar… especially if one of them is wearing a fruity-ass feathered fedora. You might end up giving off the wrong impression, my friend. S’all I’m saying.”

“Okay. First of all, I’m not gay,” Javari said bluntly, jabbing a finger at him. “And second of all—if I was gay—then I could turn everyone in that bar before sunrise. I have magical charisma powers, motherfucker.”

Then, he raised both hands, tipped the hat in a very precise way, and gave Thomas a long, unwavering stare.

“Yeah, see… that prolonged eye contact thing you do to make a point… that’s just gonna piss people off in here,” Thomas remarked, waving over at the tavern. “Don’t do that.”

Javari cocked his head and leaned suddenly forward, his eyes open wider, staring into Thomas dramatically. The two of them continued to bicker back and forth for a moment, Cally groaning and rolling her eyes as she folded her arms and began to shiver, the sky growing just the slightest bit darker.

“What is that…?” Osric murmured under his breath, turning and gazing up the narrow snowy path.

He walked off, strolling away from the group and thumping his cane across the ground as he did. Evony turned and stared at him from behind, then broke into a brisk stride after him.

While the other three stood beside the blaster and yammered—Osric marched further up the mountain path, then slowed to a stop, gazing out through his dark lenses at the area before him. The narrow path led up to areas unknown, the woods and the overlook off to the right, and the rocky mountain wall with a few nearby trees over to the left, but there was nothing else in sight, nothing of significance at all.

Evony stopped behind him, surveying the area and wondering what he was looking for. When she saw nothing, she gave him another odd look.

“Do you feel that?” Osric asked her softly.

Evony made a face, glimpsing around again, then shaking her head. “Feel what…?”

Osric continued to stare up the path for a moment. Then, he pinned his cane beneath his arm and raised his hand, peeling his glove off with his teeth and raising two bare fingers in the air.

He stood still like this for several seconds, seeming to be waiting for something.

“ There ,” Osric breathed, raising his fingers just the slightest bit higher. “There it was. Just for a second…”

Evony stepped around him and faced him properly. “What’re you feeling for…?”

“A draft,” Osric mumbled, still gazing off into space.

Evony’s eyes narrowed. “We’re on a snowy mountain.”

“No… a warm draft,” Osric clarified, lowering his hand and turning to her. “Like… that brief little burst of warmth that might waft out of a house after you close the front door on a cold winter night. It was like that. Did you feel it…?”

“Ah… no… didn’t really notice,” Evony uttered, turning and looking down at the tavern. “But… I mean… the bar’s right down the hill. Maybe it came from there.”

Osric stared into nothingness for a moment longer, slowly sliding his glove back on and placing his cane back to the ground, feeling the gentlest gust of wind sweep past.

“No… can’t be the bar,” he instantly knew, making a shake of the head. “The bar is downwind of where it came from.”

Evony made a quizzical expression, sighing and shrugging.

“Well… I don’t know. Thomas said there were some houses up here somewhere,” she suggested. “Maybe someone lives right up this path. I bet they do… or the path wouldn’t be there.”

Osric paused again, seeming to consider this. Then, he reached up and clicked one of the buttons on his goggles—switching his view to a heat-seeking one. The landscape before him suddenly became brighter for him, a luminous electric blue, and he searched every hint of it for any heat signatures that might have been further up the mountain—but he saw none at all.

“Huh,” he murmured, switching his goggles back to their normal view. “Strange…”

“Guuuys!” Cally hollered up the path at them. “Don’t wander off! Come ooon!”

“Yeah, hang on a sec!” Evony yelled back, giving Osric’s sleeve a gentle tug. “C’mon… it’s insanely cold out here.”

Osric gave one more peculiar stare to the path up the mountain before turning and walking with Evony back to the others.

Thomas then faced everyone else in the group, planting his hands together and giving them an odd smile.

“Okay. Just… before we go in here, just keep this in mind,” he told the other four. “To these people, we’re not locals. So, um… don’t treat this place like it’s the Silver Hollow. Javari .”

“What?!” Javari exclaimed, jutting out his arms. “I didn’t do anything! Why’re you calling me out?!”

“Because I know you, and I know how you act in a club,” Thomas chided. “Don’t go in there spinning a cane and trying to put on a show, because they’re liable to kick your ass in.”

“I don’t even have a cane—and we have a freaking famous guy with us!” Javari argued, jutting his hands out over to Osric, then motioning rapidly between Thomas and himself. “And hey—yeah—me and you are pretty well-known too! They’d have a lot of balls to try and put their hands on us!”

Thomas gave him a long, deadpan stare. “These aren’t the kind of people who care , dude.”

Cally choked out a laugh.

Javari turned and gaped at her, looking almost offended.

“Oh… what, are you gonna act like that wasn’t funny?” Cally snarked playfully.

“C’mon… just be nice to people, and hopefully they’ll be nice back,” Thomas disclosed, turning around and leading them toward the tavern. “We’re on a cultural adventure tonight…”

Everyone followed him—except Osric, who suddenly stopped and turned back around, gazing back at the parked blaster.

Thomas, Javari, and Cally all pushed the creaking door open and stepped into the tavern—and Evony stopped at the door, turning back and eyeing Osric from a distance, seeing that he was marching back over to the blaster instead.

She let the door ease shut, then simply stood out there, watching him from afar and waiting for him to get done with whatever he was doing now.

Osric approached the back of the blaster, unclicked the handle for the rear hatch, and pulled it open.

Then, he fell still there for a second, tilting his head and making a face at the open trunk.

Inside the small trunk of the vehicle—Oliver was laying crookedly on his side, his screen bright, displaying a very old video game, the game making the occasional boop each time the virtual ball hit one of the moving white lines on either side.

“Are you playing Pong …?” Osric breathed with a laugh.

Oliver’s Pong game vanished, his screen instantly flickering and changing into a pixelated caustic expression.

“Amidst this very long process of slowly expiring from boredom because no one bothered to put me into sleep mode before gallivanting across Mt. Crumpet all the livelong day… yes,” Oliver said grumpily. “I was indeed playing Pong, sir.”

Osric smirked, then gave him a questioning look. “Has anyone tried to call me?”

“Twice, sir,” Oliver replied, whizzing out of the trunk and floating at his master’s eye level. “Dr. Walker.”

Osric sighed and rolled his neck. “Well, what did he want…?”

“To know where you are, sir.”

“Did you tell him?”

“Of course, sir.”

Osric huffed out another breath, looking down and closing the rear hatch of the blaster.

“Do they need me?” he asked.

“Does who need you, sir?”

“ Them ,” Osric reiterated. “As in, everyone at the lodge. Levi, Grady, any of them. Do they need me back right now?”

“Not urgently, no,” Oliver informed. “Although Dr. Walker did express concern about Master Grady’s mental wellbeing tonight. Evidently, catering to the Byers family is weighing quite heavily on him this evening.”

Osric nodded mildly, then gave him another curious look. “But there’s no actual emergency there, right?”

“No, sir.”

Osric nodded once more, peering past him and eyeing the distant path up the darkening mountainside.

“Good. Then we don’t need to rush back anytime soon,” he said softly, planting his hand to the top of Oliver’s body and turning him around a 180, facing him perfectly toward the north path. “You see that little passageway up there?”

“I do, sir.”

“All right… here’s what I want you to do,” Osric started, leaning closer and gesturing up to the path as he spoke. “I felt a warm draft come from up there, but I don’t see any houses, structures, vent systems, or anything of the like anywhere nearby. There also aren’t any heat signatures up that path. I don’t know what’s up there… but I’d like you to go into stealth mode and poke around up there a little bit. See if you can find out what’s up there, and record everything that you see. If you come across danger, then evacuate… and it you see something particularly urgent, then evacuate and contact me. You got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

Osric nodded and looked to the side, and his eyes landed on Evony, standing beside the entrance of the tavern and patiently waiting for him.

He stared over at her for a second, then smiled and faced the bot butler again. “And you can also call Evony if you can’t get through to me for whatever reason. I’ll be with her.”

“I’d expect nothing less, sir,” Oliver replied curtly. “You’re always with her.”

“Yeah, yeah… listen. I don’t know how long we’re gonna be here, but she and I will be in the tavern for a bit,” Osric explained. “So if you get back before we come out, just wait here by the blaster for us. If we decide to leave before you’re done, I’ll just call you and tell you to come right back.”

“Duly noted, sir. Anything else?”

“Uuum. Nope. That’ll be all,” Osric determined, snatching him out of the air and reeling back. “Bye!”

He threw the bot butler over the blaster, sending him flying off toward the northern path. Oliver straightened out midair and floated to the path with ease, slowly vanishing from sight.

Osric straightened up, adjusted his grasp on his cane, and smirked before sauntering over to the tavern and joining by Evony’s side once more.