Finally rid of Ned, Mira flopped back onto the stone turtle's shell, closed her eyes, and let her body relax. Wrapped in the warm late-afternoon light, she drifted off.
In a hazy half-dream, her consciousness floated into a forest. She hovered above the ground and could see, not far away by the creek, a little hamster roughhousing with friends—while her life bead lay off in another direction.
Mason Yu had, after a lot of trouble, finally caught back up with the group. He wore a sour expression as he tossed three exchange cards for plain rice onto the spot where Ollie and the others were sitting.
"Anyone got extra supplies to share?" he asked.
Ollie: "..."
Grace Jiang: "..."
Anna Lang: "..."
Sorry, they'd been outplayed by the production team—there really didn't seem to be anything to hand over.
Mason smirked at their silence; of course. Worthless bunch. Not reliable when it counts.
Ollie felt like a rival had just looked down on him. He fished a bottle of spring water from his pocket and chucked it back at Mason. "Yours. Take it."
Mason was parched by then. He'd walked past the creek while trying to find the group, but his fastidiousness wouldn't allow him to drink from a wild stream—what if there were parasites? The bottled water Ollie offered visibly improved his mood.
"The production team put the markers so high up. Ollie found a little squirrel to help, so we got the five-point card. The other team probably didn't do so well," Grace said, happily cracking sunflower seeds and casually offering a handful to Mason.
Mason really didn't like Ollie, but leaving the group had cost him trouble; he needed someone to help him smooth things over so he could rejoin. Reluctantly, he sat on a nearby rock, took the bottle, and started shelling seeds.
They wouldn't see each other's points until two hours before scoring stopped—until then it was all guesses.
"Not necessarily," Grace said as she chewed. "Jade Hayes can climb trees. Maybe their score's higher than ours."
They noticed Ollie's ridiculous speed with seeds—hand up, hand down, gone—so the bag they used to toss the shells in already had a thin layer of hulls.
"How do you even know Jade can climb trees? Is that part of her thing?"
Ollie thought: What's so strange about a tabby cat climbing trees? She's basically royalty among cats. But he didn't say that out loud.
"Oh, we met her at a short outdoor-climbing boot camp once," Grace said, sounding sheepish. "She was first. I was last. The top three got a Michelin-star dinner— I didn't get anything and got chewed out for two weeks..."
Ollie remembered it too. The camp had indeed been real—he'd been sent there before he came down the mountain. It taught small monsters basic wilderness survival.
But climbing trees and cliffs requires a body—his was just a weak, helpless little hamster at the time. His true form wasn't even a fist-sized rival to the tabby; him placing anywhere near the top was laughable. He'd hated sports then, so despite species-specific scoring, he'd proudly finished dead last.
"In short, she can free-climb cliffs. A tree is nothing to her."
Viewers hopping between the two live chats were stunned. They'd already been shocked by Jade's inhuman skills; now they were told she'd held back? Fans were freaking out.
"When did talent standards in showbiz get this insane? Is she some martial arts prodigy? Is this even the same planet?"
"Free-climbing cliffs... Is Jade Hayes about to quit acting and inherit some secret sect?"
"Wait—where did they get sunflower seeds? Did the production's supply cards include seeds?"
"No, the little squirrel gave them. Check the trending—someone probably recorded it."
Right: the seeds they were cracking were from the little squirrel—pure, no-pollution sunflower seeds. The only downside was they weren't roasted, so they tasted a bit dry, but Ollie liked them.
The friendship between the hamster and the little squirrel had just gotten that much stronger.
"So we're doomed?" Anna said. "Ollie's great with animals, but little critters aren't humans. They won't cooperate forever. I feel like there's something we're missing."
Anna had finished the tiny portion she was assigned. She didn't want to sit around with nothing to do, so she wandered a few paces along the stream.
"Our biggest problem now isn't points," Mason said, suddenly practical. "It's food. Aren't you guys hungry?" He was surprised he'd eaten through the sunflower seeds so fast. They only had four portions of white rice between them. If they didn't find more food, how were they going to split that?
"We're hungry. But Ollie said don't worry—food's coming," Grace replied, completely confident in his animal-whisperer abilities. Mason stared; yesterday these people had all been strangers. What had he missed overnight—felt like he'd skipped several episodes of a drama.
Because they were live-streaming, Mason swallowed his bratty pride and, in a normal voice, asked Ollie, "So what are we eating? How long do we wait?"
Ollie brushed sunflower-shell dust off his hands and stood up. "Wait here," he told them, rolling up his pant legs and kicking off his shoes before stepping into the creek.
"Hey, Ollie! Be careful! It doesn't look deep, but in the backcountry this could be dangerous!"
Ollie waved it off. "I grew up in the mountains—this won't slow me down."
Even though they were all furry critters inside, Jade Hayes the tabby didn't like water. Ollie did.
It's the 21st century—there are dryers now. Besides, fur was hot. Turning into his true body and wading into the water was the best relief, all the other mouseys said it was great.
From the bank, they watched Ollie squat and poke his hands in the flow, feeling and searching. At first he came up empty, then suddenly he lunged and grabbed a plump, perfect little fish—small but flawless—and hauled it up with his bare hands.
"Wow—Ollie, you're amazing!"
Grace and Anna instantly became cheerleaders on the bank, clapping. Ollie told Mason to pick two giant leaves off a tree to hold the fish; Anna and Grace went off to gather firewood.
He stunned the fish on a rock and had Mason line them up on the leaves. The fish were tiny—if four people were to be fed, they'd need a lot.
This was the grimiest work Mason had ever done. Ollie, busy and confident, had Mason wash each leaf, then use a small folding knife that had been redeemed from a card to whittle skinny skewers for the fish.
"Is this safe to eat? Those sticks aren't sanitized—bacteria, and do you even know how to start a fire? If we can't make a fire, all this fish is useless—we can't just eat it raw."
"Relax, Mr. Fancy. If I said I could make it edible, I can. Unsanitized means unsanitized—if you don't get sick you don't get sick. Just bear with it."
Ollie had a few packets of chili powder hidden in a pocket—perfect for grilling. If they couldn't find more food later, they could trade one rice voucher for one meal and split it, supplementing with grilled fish to at least get through the day.
Mason had no argument. He knew there wasn't a better plan. If they didn't eat now, they'd be starving until the night's end. Celebrities might go a day or two without solid food sometimes, but here the physical tasks were intense—they couldn't afford to be empty.
Mason secretly liked collecting folding knives—he even kept a whole room of different models at home—so he handled the whittling expertly. The skewers came out clean.
He was almost done with the seventh skewer when Anna's scream came from not far behind them.
"Ahhh!!! Ollie! Ollie! Get away! There's a snake! A snake!"
Viewers in the live chat jumped. Ollie's chest-mounted camera was focused on the water right where he was scooping fish.
Mason's camera tracked his hands and the row of stunned fish.
Both Anna's and Grace's cameras were pointed at the branches they were collecting—no one noticed the blue-green snake sliding into the creek and stealthily heading for the fishing spot.
Anna had just finished gathering enough sticks to drop a batch by the bank when she turned and saw it.
She swung her camera back toward Ollie—and the snake slid straight into frame.
"Oh my God, get out! That color means venomous!"
"Jesus—what kind of snake is that? This is terrifying! It's almost to him! It moves so fast in the water—can he even get away?"
"Is the production team watching? This could be lethal if it bites!"
Mason reflexively dropped the skewer he was carving and clenched the knife in his hand, ready to throw. He might miss, but what if he didn't?
Ollie heard Anna and glanced back. His eyes lit up.
In the panic-strewn chaos of the live chat, with viewers screaming and flailing, Ollie did the unexpected: he walked toward the snake and reached out his hand. Calm as could be.
"What is he doing?! Is he insane?! That's not a gentle little squirrel—this is a snake! He's going to get killed!"
"I can't watch this—I'm out. I can't look at that color without feeling sick."
End of chapter.