“What?” Colin asked.
Farmer Edward gave him a grin. “I think I just got more Comrades to help me on the Farm.”
***
Farmer Edward loaded the Ants onto the back of his truck with the help of his Comrades while Colin, Katrin, and their Comrades rested in the front. Then, he drove them to the Sunshine Town Comrade Home.
“What are we doing here?” Colin asked.
“You’ll see.” Farmer Edward said.
He went to the Ants and the back of his truck and said, “All of you, come with me.”
To Colin’s surprise, they got up and followed him.
Edward knocked on the door, and Larissa opened it. “Edward! What brings you here?”
“I’d like to register six new Comrades.” Edward smiled, nodding to the Ants.
“Six Megants?” Larissa blinked. “All at once?! How did you manage that many without the whole nest attacking you?”
“I was defending something.” Edward told her.
“Well…!” Larissa shook her head. “Come on in. Let’s get you bonded.”
She brought them straight to the Registration room. Colin and Katrin watched as Farmer Edward put his footprint beside each of the ants’ footprints on the black plate.
“Antone, Antwo, Anthree, Antfour, Antfive, and Antsix.” He named them all. “Let’s go home. I’ve got plenty of work for you all. We’re going to expand the farm.”
***
Jonah, Alicia and Larry were finished with their work by the time they arrived back at the Farm. Edward paid them all in the hundreds of Clira.
“They did a lot more than you did.” Edward explained to Colin as the three headed back to town.
“I know.” Colin said.
“But there’s still a bit more work you can do if you like.” Edward said. “I’ve been thinking of expanding the farm for two nights now, and with six new Comrades to help out, I think it’ll go easier. Especially since they’re hardworking Ant types. Until now, I didn’t have anything suited to cutting or biting down trees to clear more space.”
“Farmer Edward…” Katrin asked, “How many Comrades DO you have?”
“Me?” Edward thought about it. “Over twenty. Maybe thirty, including these six.”
“Wow.” Colin stared.
Edward laughed. “I run a farm, Colin. I need that many Comrades just to keep the place running. You’re a Traveler. You can get by with just one special Comrade or two. But me… I need a whole workforce, or Sunshine Town might suffer a food shortage.”
“I… see.” Colin managed.
“Especially since there are so many new Travelers and Comrades this season. We’re going to need more and more food.” Farmer Edward added. “And I’m going to need more and more help on the farm, so any time you need work…”
“I’ll come help you out.” Colin agreed.
“Me too.” Katrin said. “But for now, I think Raiki needs to rest. Goodbye, Farmer Edward.”
“Goodbye, Katrin. Goodbye, Colin.” Edward waved. “It was fun catching new Comrades with you two.”
“Thanks, Farmer Edward. I learnt a lot.” Colin grinned.
“Goodbye.”
Phase 04: Meeting Michi
On the way back to Town, Katrin asked, “Colin… how did Shiro and Raiki know that their friend was in trouble?”
Colin thought about it for a while. “Maybe they have their own way of communicating. Remember how Edward called Webby and Firebull to come all the way from the farm?”
“You mean, they can communicate without Traveler Watches?” Katrin asked.
Colin shrugged. “Who knows?”
Katrin thought for a bit, and said, “Call me if you need help with anything.”
Colin blinked. “What?”
Katrin shook her head. “Nothing. I already have your contact in my phone book, so I was just giving you mine.”
“Oh.”
They walked on in silence for a while more, their Comrades on their shoulders. Then, Colin asked, “Kat… where did you get your Comrade from?”
“Raiki? The scientist lady gave her to me.” Katrin said.
“Scientist lady…?” Colin blinked. “Blue visor? White coat?”
“Yeah. She said her name was Michi.”
That explained a lot.
“I should have guessed.” Colin said.
Shiro yawned.
Colin made a call.
“Who are you calling?” Katrin asked.
“I’m calling Michi.” Colin answered.
Michi picked up the call. “What is it, Colin?”
“Michi…” Colin paused, not sure if that’s what he should call her, but went on anyway. “Why did you give Katrin and I our Comrades?”
Katrin stared.
Michi, however, didn’t hesitate. “To the Kat, I gave a Cat. To the lost, I gave one to help him find his way.”
“Hey!” Katrin protested. “You gave me Raiki just because people call me ‘Kat’ for short?!”
“Is that Katrin?” Michi sounded pleased. “I didn’t know you two were… together.”
Something about the way Michi said ‘together’ made Colin a bit uneasy, but he wasn’t quite sure why.
“Hey!!” Katrin yelled.
“Is there a problem with your Comrades?” Michi asked, all cool and confident.
“Well, they ran off to rescue their friend without telling us and we had to chase them to get them back.” Colin said.
“But they did come back to you.” Michi pointed out.
“Well… we didn’t know if they would.” Colin went on. “Farmer Edward said Shiro might have abandoned me because he didn’t like me, or because he was hungry.”
Michi actually laughed at that. “Colin… have you checked your Comrade’s Traits?”
“My Comrade’s what?” Colin blinked.
Michi sighed. “Where are you?”
“Halfway to Town.” Colin mentioned. “From Farmer Edward’s place.”
“Meet me in Town, then. Where are you headed?”
“The Market first, to buy food for Shiro. Then the Gym.”
“There’s a blue roofed stall in the market which sells fish. Come find me there.”
A soft click told Colin that Michi had closed the connection.
Colin glanced at Katrin.
“I’m coming too.” She declared.
***
Michi was still wearing her lab coat when they met her at the blue-roofed fish-seller. She eyed them both and said, “You’re slow.”
“It’s our first time to the Market. We weren’t sure where it was, or where this stall was.” Colin explained.
Michi pointed. “Canned tuna.”
“What?” Colin blinked.
“Buy that for Shiro and Raiki. They’re still young, and canned tuna is the best food for them right now.” Michi said. “It’s 10 Clira per can.”
Colin winced. “That’s expensive.”
Katrin frowned. “How do I know how much money I have?”
Colin and Michi both blinked. Michi answered. “Katrin… if you have to ask… I don’t think you have any money.”
“What?!” Katrin spluttered. “Don’t I have some money to start with?”
“Not unless you’ve earned some.” Michi said. “What about you, Colin?”
Colin held up the coins Farmer Edward gave him. “I had to weed a garden to get these.”
“An easy job, with Shiro to help you.” Michi said.
Colin grimaced, and didn’t tell her that Shiro had been absent during his work.
“Five cans, please.” He told the fish-seller, giving him all the coins.
“Um… Colin…” Katrin said nervously.
Colin handed her two. “I owed you for helping me locate Shiro. We’re even.”
Katrin grinned. “Thanks.”
Colin gave one to Michi. “This is thanks for giving us our Comrades.”
Michi took it with a small smile and a small bow. “Let
’s feed them at the lakeside. They’ll like it there.”
The lakeside was all the way across Town from the Market. It took them a while to get there, but Michi was right. The moment Shiro saw the lake, he seemed to light up and wagged his tail…
Wait a minute… wagged his… tail?!
“He’s got two tails.” Colin blinked. “A shorter one and a longer one.”
Shiro was wagging the shorter one. The longer one was still around Colin’s back.
“His tails can change length too.” Michi told him.
“What about Raiki?” Katrin asked.
“She’s only got one.” Michi said.
It was a beautiful place. There was a long stretch of green grass, and benches along it. Some people were fishing, though they caught old boots more than anything else.
Michi led them to an empty bench and sat with them. They opened the cans of tuna and let their Comrades eat.
“Michi, do you remember what I asked you?” Colin spoke up, as Shiro was eating.
“About Shiro’s traits?” Michi mused. “Touch your watch and think of wanting to know your Comrades’ stats.”
Colin tried it. A blue beam of light shone from his watch, and swept across Shiro.
Then the watch projected a picture of Shiro in front of Colin. Above it were five tabs, currently opened to “Image”. The other four were “Abilities”, “Techniques”, “Skills” and “Records”. Under it was the label; ‘Shiro, M-5 Experimental Wolfcat Cub.’
“What’s ‘M-5’?” Colin asked.
“Just my code.” Michi said. “M-5 stand for ‘Michi-five’. Raiki is M-4. Do you want to know about Traits or not?”
“Of course.”
“Then press that tab marked ‘abilities’.”
Colin pressed it. The whole projection changed.
(Author’s note: HP = Sta*2+Str, MP = Wis*2+Int)
“What’s this?” he blinked.
“You’ll find out soon enough.” Michi said. “The important thing is this.” She pointed.
“Canine Loyalty?” Colin blinked. “What’s so important about that?”
Michi sighed. “Simply put, it means Shiro would normally follow you around like a puppy. He’s as loyal as a hound.”
“Then why did he run off like that?” Colin asked.
“Well, you said something about saving someone. And there’s this.” Michi pointed to another Trait.
“Independent?” Colin read. “What does that mean?”
“It means he can make his own decisions and choices without you.” Michi answered. “Even in battle.”
“In battle?!” Colin studied Shiro. “Isn’t that a bad thing?”
Michi simply pointed to a third trait.
“Analysis…?” Colin frowned. “What does THAT mean?”
“It means he knows how to think about a situation logically before making decisions.” Michi said.
Katrin came over. “This is unfair.”
“What?” Colin blinked. “Why?”
Katrin pointed. “Shiro’s intelligence is incredibly high.”
Colin looked at the spot she pointed at, the bar that said ‘Int 18’. “Is it?”
Katrin gave him a flat look. “Not only is he very smart, he thinks fast.” She said, pointing to ‘Wit 14’. “And he even moves fast.” She pointed to ‘Spd 20’.
Colin was still blur. “So what does this all mean?”
Katrin knocked him on the head for that. “It means, Colin, that you’ve got a wolfcat that can fight without you telling him what to do!”
“I do?” Colin blinked.
Katrin groaned. She ticked off one finger. “He can make his own decisions.”
She ticked off a second finger. “He’ll make good decisions because he’s so smart.”
She ticked off a third. “He’ll make good decisions quickly because he also thinks fast.”
She ticked off a fourth. “And whatever he decides, he’ll do it quickly too, because his speed is so high.”
“Oh.” Colin didn’t know what to say.
“If you’re fighting weak Wilds, Shiro might very well finish two fights in the time it takes for any other Comrade to make its first move.” Michi added.
“What?!” Katrin protested. “That can’t be true! His hits can’t do much damage! Look at his strength! It’s so low!”
She pointed to the bar that said ‘Str 6’. “
In response, Michi pointed to the fourth trait.
“Feline… finesse…” Katrin’s eyes went wide. “Oh no. No way. You’ve got to be kidding.”
“What? What does it mean?” Colin had to ask.
Katrin’s face was pale. “It means, Colin, that Shiro uses his speed to attack, not just his strength.”
“Isn’t that good?” Colin asked.
“It’s brilliant!” Katrin protested. “It’s so good, it’s unfair!”
“But you have to be careful.” Michi added.
Colin frowned. “Why?”
Michi pointed to the bar that said ‘Sta 6’.
Katrin froze. “That’s crazy.”
“What?!” Colin burst out.
Katrin gave him a flat look. “That’s stamina. That’s Shiro’s defense and health.”
“What about it?”
Katrin pointed to the top bar, ‘HP 11/18’. “You see this? This is his hit points; his life. Colin, I’ve never seen a Starter Comrade with less than 25 maximum HP to begin with.”
Colin scratched his head. “So?”
Katrin let out a sigh.
“Just be careful not to let Shiro fight enemies too strong for him.” Michi advised. “As long as they can’t hit him, you’ll have nothing to worry about.”
“In other words, don’t fight anything that moves fast.” Katrin shook her head. “What about Raiki?”
“Raiki is more of a long range type.” Michi said. “She’s all about doing damage, and doing lots of it over a long period of time. Just don’t let her get caught in a close-range fight.”
Katrin opened Raiki’s abilities window.
Katrin stared. “Michi… you really like speed and intelligence, don’t you…?”
“Obviously.” Michi smiled.
Katrin pointed. “What does this mean?”
She was pointing at the trait ‘Focused’.
“You know how ‘wit’ works with how fast your Comrade can perform some techniques?” Michi asked. “Especially the powerful ones or long-ranged ones?”
“Yes.” Katrin said, frowning.
“Raiki uses Intelligence in that. The same way Shiro uses Speed in his attacks.”
Katrin gaped. “Wow!”
Michi pointed to the fourth Trait. “Efficient means she’ll be using less MP to do her techniques.”
“WOW!” Katrin jumped.
“But like I said… don’t let her get caught in a close fight.” Michi reminded her. “She’s not too good at that right now.”
“Right, right…” Katrin nodded sagely. “Michi, these Comrades are brilliant.”
Michi burst out laughing. She just raised her face to the sky and roared with laughter.
Colin found himself exchanging blur glances with Katrin.
Michi went on laughing to the sky, heedless of everyone staring at her.
“Uh…” Colin trailed off.
“Michi?” Katrin blinked.
Michi went on laughing.
After a while, people got bored of wondering what the joke was and went on about their business while Michi kept laughing. Colin was scratching his head and Katrin was sitting down with a curious look on her face when Michi finally stopped.
“You two…” Michi wiped tears from her face. She had been laughing really hard. “You have no idea how hard it was…”
Colin shifted uncomfortably. “Uh… not really.”
“It must have been terribly hard.” Katrin offered weakly, but it was clear that she didn’t think ‘terribly hard’ was enough to de
scribe what Michi went through.
Michi finally just sat down and stared at the lake. “Look, you two… your Comrades are happy with you, and to me, that’s the most important thing. Just promise me you’ll never treat them badly.”
“I won’t.” Katrin said fervently.
“Me neither.” Colin added.
***
They left Michi still sitting there, staring at the lake.
“She’s really… dedicated… isn’t she?” Colin said, as they headed towards the gym.
“I can’t imagine what it was like for her to give us Raiki and Shiro.” Katrin said softly. “It must have been painful, after all the effort she put in to breed them just right.”
“Nami seemed to think that her breedings never do well.” Colin remembered.
“Nami must be an idiot.” Katrin replied. “Or else the wrong people got them. Just imagine what would happen if the person who got Raiki tried to tell her to attack with her paws… or asked Shiro to stay still and defend himself.”
“That would be really dumb.” Colin figured.
“But that’s also two of the first things new Travelers would do.” Katrin said. “And you can guess what they’d say about their Comrades after that.”
“Useless.” Colin didn’t need to guess.
“I don’t think Shiro would even listen to a Traveler who told him to stay still and defend.” Katrin added. “Independent and smart, remember?”
“True.” Colin agreed. “Shiro’s good… but I kinda feel useless.”
“Huh?” Katrin blinked. “Why?”
“He doesn’t need me.” Colin explained. “He can do everything by himself.”
Katrin thought about that, and looked from Shiro to Colin intently.
At last, she said, “Remember what Michi said, Colin?”
“About what?” Colin asked.
Katrin gave him a wry smile. “The reason she gave Shiro to you wasn’t because he needed you.
“It was because you needed him.”
Phase 05: Option
The girl at the front desk recognized Colin the minute he and Katrin stepped into the Gym. “You’re back! And you’ve brought your Comrade!”
“Nice to meet you too.” Katrin said, a bit put off about not being greeted.
“Oh! Sorry!” the girl at the counter offered her hand. “I’m Dani, receptionist of Sunshine Gym. You are…?”
“Katrin.” She answered.
“Nice to meet you.” Dani turned to Colin. “And you?”
“Colin.” He replied.
“Well, then, what can I do for you two?” she asked.
Colin paused and was surprised to find Katrin looking at him. “I don’t really know. We just got started, and Nami said to come here.”
“Just got started?!” Dani stared. “It’s been hours since today’s new Travelers have been through here! Most of them came back with their second, third, or even fourth Comrades by now!”