A mile and a half later, Alan was regretting his decision, but they’d arrived at the police station in under 15 minutes, and he’d gained a point in endurance. He’d also almost thrown up.

“Wait,” Alan gasped, talking to Kitana, “Let, me, rest a bit.”

“Very well, we shall wait a minute.”

Alan collapsed onto the stairs in front of the police station, taking a long drink from the self-filling water bottle he’d bought earlier. It was already half full.

Looking up at the station, he noticed a board tacked up above the entrance.

It read: “Gamers, if you require medical aid please proceed to Pier 27. If you wish to trade or purchase items, proceed to the downtown mall nearby the Metreon, at the corner of Mission and 4th St. If there is an emergency, add IntelligenceAgent.23 as a contact.”

Scrawled onto the sign were a few words of profanity, doodles and a few messages that were fairly helpful. The key ones said, “You fail the Tutorial if you get outside help, don’t ask for aid,” next to it was, “You can still buy items though! Visit Igor’s Emporium!” “No items here, all taken,” and “The Army rules San Fran, get out while you still can.” There was also apparently some sort of base camp across the Golden Gate Bridge.

“Looks like there isn’t anything to scavenge here," Alan said. "Any idea what to do next?”

“What do the green dots on the minimap represent?” Kitana asked.

“Neutral or allied life forms larger than a frog, I think. If they’re particularly important life forms they'll still show up if they’re smaller though,” Alan said.

“Well, you mentioned before that you have no combat experience. I believe we should train," Kitana said. "Have you killed before?”

Alan stared at Kitana, wide eyed. "You mean like in the Game?"

“Yes," Kitana said, giving Alan a level-eyed stare. "Like hunting."

"Um, I haven't," he said.

"We will begin with the basics then."

Kitana proceeded to show Alan how to hold his knife. She was calm and direct, demonstrating cuts and thrusts useful against a larger opponent like the animals they were to fight. Alan gained a few stat points and even a basic knife fighting ability from the instruction. Both that and the sneak ability had a question mark after their rank. Alan was too busy to figure out what it was for.

They then moved on to try to find a live target to practice on.

The city looked like it hadn’t been maintained for years, with rampant growth everywhere. It wasn’t much of a surprise that wildlife had moved in as well. Alan and Kitana managed to spot a deer standing in the middle of a yard, with Eve’s help. Alan wasn’t sure how, but she sensed everything within a five-block radius.

Alan slowly and patiently crawled over to the fence in front of the yard the deer was in. He proceeded to climb over it with surprising precision and silence. He figured it was the sneak ability at work. The deer continued to nibble on some fallen fruit, oblivious to Alan.