Homegrown System

Alice's legs burned with the unending fire of a thousand angry suns as she pedaled up the hill. It was only a shallow incline, but the batteries on the bikes were running low, and she needed to save them for the really steep inclines that were scattered throughout this hilly city. Sure, they recharged a little on flat terrain and downhill, but it didn't quite compensate. It felt unfair to see Titus calm and cool on his own bike next to her as if they were just on a casual walk.

A drop of sweat dripped off the tip of her nose as she kept pedaling. Eventually, Titus spoke up.

"You know," he said, sounding completely normal as he coasted along next to her, "If you finished off some of these monsters, you could put some points into power and increase your stamina a little bit. I've been 'hogging all the experience,' as the kids would say."

It was true. He had been frequently stopping after pedaling ahead a little bit to finish off any monsters that got in their way. Alice refused to fight them up close with her knife. She was not confident in stabbing the monsters, not herself. But also because the thought of killing all the monsters had been... unsettling. They weren't like the bike monsters or the books. They resembled small animals, and the idea of stabbing a strangely raccoon-looking lizard in the face made her feel a little nauseous.

"Did you never play video games as a kid?" Alice panted out. "You're not that old. Twenty-five at most," she said, her breath not coming easily.

Titus just laughed. "I didn't get to play many as a kid, no. I have played a little bit recently, but something about growing up with them makes you just much better at them. And the 2D platformers I've tried don't really have experience points. Some of the more complicated video games I haven't gotten to yet, though… Whoops, watch out."

Ahead of them, the stop sign bent down and smacked into the sidewalk, barely missing where Titus had swerved out of the way at the last second and skidded to a stop. Alice put on the brakes as well and knocked down the kickstand.

"You can finish this off," he said, pointing at the stop sign, which was apparently an [Evil Stop Sign lvl 11].

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Alice said. "An evil stop sign? This is just stupid."

"Well, kinda," he said, holding out his ax handle for her to take. "If you whack at the base of it, I'm sure it'll finish it off."

She didn't move to take it. "I don't trust myself with that."

Titus let the hand extending the ax handle to her drop, and he rubbed his chin with his free hand. "I don't think the shovel spear is going to help you much, and I don't know if you want to get close enough with the knife."

"How about you help take it down, and then I finish it off?" she asked hopefully.

Titus frowned. "I'm not sure how the experience would be split up then. Is it based on the last hit?"

Alice deflated slightly. "I don't think so. It's probably a contribution system."

"So I can't help that much," Titus said brightly.

Alice nodded. Looking around, she found a car crashed into the building next to her. It hadn't been going very fast, and the front was only slightly crumpled, though the horn started blaring when she reached through the cracked door and unlocked it. Starting the car again, she backed it up, and Titus moved out of the way, dragging both of their bikes with him. She floored it, running over the stop sign with a crunch and thump. A notification appeared in front of her eyes.

[Level Up! Level 4 Reached.]

Taking Titus's advice, she split her points between power and control. She felt her dexterity increase, and the burning in her legs subsided slightly. Luckily, she didn't feel bad at all about destroying the car and killing the stop sign. In fact, she was actively looking for others as they continued on. She was still out of breath, so any conversation was stilted, though Titus seemed comfortable with that. Occasionally, he would point out something in the city to her, like his favorite pizza place or store. Still, he was also willing to let them go for long stretches without anyone saying anything. Alice was honestly grateful for the times he was talking because it helped take her mind off the horrific pain of cardio exercise.

When they were going through one of the many parks scattered around the city, a monster unlike any of the others crossed their path. It stood in front of them, its feathers fluffed up and its beak screeching. The possible attempt at intimidation was massively undercut by its one-foot stature, however. It was a [Level 5 Chocobo-looking Bird], and Titus got off his bike.

Alice did, too, this time, but she ran in front of Titus, holding her arms out.

"No," she exclaimed. "That's not an aggression call!"

He looked at her skeptically. "It's still a monster and free experience," he said.

"No," Alice protested. "We don't need to kill it. You're not going to hurt us, are you?" she said, turning to the little bird and squatting down. It cawed at her again before hopping a little closer and pecking lightly at the outstretched finger she held out. "I think it's just lost."

Titus rolled his eyes and headed back to his bicycle. Still, Alice ignored the grump and cooed at the bird, reaching out to scratch the feathers behind its head as it hopped a little closer.

"You're just a baby, aren't you? Don't worry. I'll protect you from the big meanie," she said as she held her arm out. The bird hopped on. As she lifted it up, it pecked at her ear, and she jerked her hand away from her face. "Oh, what was that for? That was mean. Don't eat me."

"Come on, leave the chicken alone," Titus said from the bikes. "I thought you were in a rush."

"Have you no heart?" Alice said as she turned, still holding the bird away from her face. "Look how cute it is. It looks like a chicken."

"That's what I said," Titus grumbled with a hint of amusement creeping into his voice.

"A bright blue chicken," Alice insisted. "Besides, would you just kill a chicken?"

"I've killed many chickens. I don't even know if I can count how many chickens I've killed," Titus said.

"What, you grew up on a farm or something?" she asked.

"Something like that," he said. "Sure, that might be cuter than your average chicken, but it's still experience. But I'll protect your delicate sensibilities and leave it be. Come on, let's go."

Alice tried to figure out how she could safely keep the bird on her bike but eventually gave up. Without a cage, it was not a good idea. It was calm and not really attacking her anymore, but riding a bicycle with it seemed risky. With regret, she bent over and placed the bird on the ground.

"Bye-bye, Mr. Cluckers," she said.

Titus groaned. "That's what you're calling it?"

Alice huffed. "Fine. Let's go," she said.

She got on her bike and turned on the motor. As they went up a particularly steep hill, the little bird hopped and flapped, trying to chase after them, but they were moving too fast.

"Mr. Cluckers, really?" Titus said a few moments later. "That's maybe the worst name for a bird I could possibly think of. You might as well have called it Birdie McBirdface."

"That joke is so old," Alice said. "What are you, a boomer?"

Titus just smiled. "I don't know, I think it's still funny. There's always time for the classics."

"You talk like an old man."

"I am an old man," Titus proudly declared.

Alice looked at him. "I guess you are," she said.