Book Five, Chapter 89: Preparations

~Riley~

“I’m certain that we could accomplish this much more feasibly with a bit of string,” Andrew said as we finished setting up one of our many traps incorporating our silver nitrate and copper purification method.

“Look, Antoine’s rescue trope is supposed to be a test of Hustle, and I don’t know if you noticed yet, but we haven’t really had one—unless having a timer counts as Hustle-based, which I don’t think it does.”

He continued messing with the finicky mechanism we had designed on the fly. Around us, the remaining mercenaries were being a big help. Their relatively high Hustle made light work of the meticulous traps we were building.

“Fair enough,” Andrew said. “I have just the trope for buffing my Hustle, but at the same time, I’m uncertain of how this fuse can possibly be lit by a bullet.”

“Well, my friend, that is exactly what Savvy is designed for—making things that seem kind of plausible work when they wouldn’t in real life,” I said. “In movies, a bullet can light a fuse if it strikes a rock at the same time and sends out a spark or put out a fuse if it just hits the dirt.”

Andrew already had a high Hustle stat. That, combined with his ability to buff his Hustle when performing a task that requires lots of focus, meant he would be ideal for meeting the requirement of passing a test of Hustle.

“Let’s not forget,” I said aloud to both Kimberly and Andrew, the only two other players around for the finale. “Anytime you get a chance to show off on Hustle or to win using that stat, you need to do it. Whether it’s running from one of the wolves, throwing something at it, or shooting it with a really accurate shot—we have to show off our Hustle. I’m not exactly sure what the consequences of not doing that are, but Antoine’s trope was pretty clear.”

Andrew nodded. I’m not sure he liked me being so redundant, but I would rather be redundant than forget to say something.

Kimberly quickly walked away toward the staircase that would lead below the Fort.

“Is she okay?” I asked.

“You might need to go ask her,” he said.

“I will,” I said. “Right when we finish up here.”

Finding a super-powerful weapon against an enemy was almost as important as finding ways to employ it. We needed to devise multiple different traps and tactics that would use our new and improved rolling silver to great effect.

That was actually something Andrew was quite good at.

Sure, arguably the best way to take care of it was just to hold a container of silver nitrate that we had stocked up, drop copper in it, and wait for the wolves around you to start trying to tear their skin off—but that was one note.

We needed a variety of traps. We needed the enemy confused and disoriented, and we needed to be able to mow through them.

There could be a dozen wolves coming toward us. There could be two dozen. We were preparing for even more than that. The Dailies was being a bit weird. It just showed me how many people were out and about in Southeastern Carousel. I didn’t understand why it was focused on hikers and townsfolk, but it felt ominous. Better to be overprepared.

What I was certain of is that Kimberly was at the center of it all.

They would come for her.

Everything pointed toward that.

But only pointed. I was acutely aware that we were making a massive assumption in our plan by taking for granted that the wolves would come to us.

It was one of the first things we were told by an NPC. Were we foolish? I didn’t know. I felt like the story had confirmed that idea.

The presence of the Fort, the location of the catacombs and tombs underneath the Manor, the significance of the location, and the fact that the She-Wolf, the pack leader, had not yet come to this place confirmed for me that this was the setting for the finale.

Moments earlier, we had seen Second Blood come and pass, and I had survived it thanks to Michael’s sacrifice.

By all rights, I should have been sitting in the theater watching everything take place right at that moment. But it just so happened we had a convenient trap to walk into at the right time.

Nevertheless, when the final battle started, I wasn’t going to last long, and I knew it. Oblivious Bystander or not, I was next.

I just had to make it count.

Kimberly, wherever she was down underground, was so important in this story. The trope she had received with her Celebrity aspect was no joke. So many things revolved around her character—not just because of her relationship with Antoine but because of her relationship with the history of this place and her connection with our enemy.

Everything hinged on her, and all I could do was spout out plans and tactics.

Andrew was diligent at work, setting up our various traps and contingencies.

I knew I could be frustrating and a bit of a micromanager, but I was truly grateful to have another high-Savvy player around. His plans would work as well as mine—or even better.

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It should have been me and Camden. He was more laid back than Andrew. I wondered what he would have done in this storyline.

Heck, if he were here, we would have had Eureka. We wouldn’t have spent our entire subplots trapped inside the library researching. He would have had it done in half an hour.

It was going to be great if we could just get him back. Him and Anna.

She would know what to say to Kimberly.

I had a feeling that if she were still here, our problem with Antoine wouldn’t really be a problem, though I couldn’t put my finger on why.

We were so close to that moment where everything was going to be better I could almost taste it.

The needle on the plot cycle moved so quickly, watching as we secured our traps. Only giving enough of a glimpse to the audience so that they could wonder what we were up to. With every second of footage Carousel got, the mystery built, and our traps became more powerful because the audience wanted to see them.

They wanted to believe that we were this smart, that we could actually solve this problem.

And I hoped we actually were. But I didn’t know.

After I had secured the last little bit of dirt from all the holes we had dug up and swept the entire courtyard—just so that the wolves wouldn’t be able to see where we had dug—we were finally finished.

Now, I could double-check everything.

And when I was done with that, I could go find Kimberly and make sure she was ready.

And she would be because she had to be. Because when we needed her, she stood up and became the main character, and she would do it again.

I knocked the dust off my hands with a few claps and headed to the stairs, still working through lines and possibilities in my head as I walked.