"It was freaky!"
"Sounds like the game was just messing with you," Heidi replied, carefully pouring sweetened soy sauce into a tiny cup from a giant bottle. She set the bottle down. "Look, Lorenz. You haven't played a lot of games before. That's completely on us. We saw you becoming a weird jock-nerd and didn't stop it in time."
Heidi capped the bottle and replaced it among the forest of condiments. She looked over the rest, searching for who knew what.
"I don't know if I should feel insulted," Lorenz shot back. He frowned at her as they walked back to their table, Heidi carefully cradling her soy sauce as well as a cup of spicy mayo.
Just as they sat down, a pair of waitresses swooped by, depositing a dozen little plates on the table. They were all dumplings of some kind. Some were plain, and some were decorated, either simply or elaborately. It was a feast for the eyes.
"This one is the chef's latest creation: Seared Lobster with Steamed Snow Pea," one of the waitresses said, pointing at set of dumplings decorated with red edges.
Lorenz eyed the dumplings before looking at the rest of the plates. Sure enough, there was a tiny sign on each proclaiming what they were. He started to have a foreboding feeling.
"Are you a taste tester here or something?" Lorenz asked as he leaned towards Heidi.
"Ms. April has the best tongue on the East Coast," the other waitress protested. "She does us the honor of coming to taste test our newest innovations."
"I love dumplings," Heidi agreed, wielding chopsticks to pick up one of the lobster dumplings. She carefully dunked it into her soy sauce.
The other three watched with wide eyes as she tasted it. Lorenz had a feeling that his fascination came from a totally different place than the other two's. He surreptitiously glanced around, trying to locate a garbage can or pail or even a bowl. If Heidi really didn't like it, who knew where the rest of the dumpling would wind up.
"Hmm, interesting texture," Heidi said after a few seconds of careful chewing. She looked thoughtful. "Perhaps sear the lobster just a bit less before steaming?" She turned it around to the undipped side and took a tiny bite. She nodded. "Yes, too rubbery after steaming."
One of the waitresses whipped out a pad and started scribbling. Heidi systematically tasted the others, commenting on each dumpling.
Lorenz sighed and scooped up the rest of what were proclaimed 'egg and bacon.' He took a bite, nodding in happiness. It tasted just like a breakfast burrito but with a soggier wrapper.
Lorenz smiled and made a mental note to add the dumplings to his list of approved foods. It wasn't very long. Heidi and Cora tended to experiment a lot, and frankly, sometimes it wasn't stuff he considered worth eating.
Like the stinky tofu phase. Lorenz tried to hide the shudder at that memory. It tasted so good, but the smell alone! Then they had to try different flavors, something Lorenz hadn't thought possible.
He'd never been so happy when that restaurant closed its doors. People had been giving him weird and pitying looks that month at school, and his worst enemy had offered to help him find a place to stay if he was really hard up.
Lorenz massaged the bridge of his nose. The dumplings were bringing back memories.
"Have you ever heard of anyone vanishing?" Lorenz asked Heidi, looking up.
"Vanishing? As in kidnapped or something?" Heidi asked, separating out four plates. "Not these three," she told the waitresses. "They're not that good."
The one not taking notes scooped up the indicated plates and whisked them away. Lorenz watched as she disappeared into the kitchen, deftly opening the swinging door with her hip.
"And the rest?" The one taking notes asked.
"These four are phenomenal. No tinkering required. Those three really need work." Heidi popped another dumpling into her mouth. "So good!"
"I'll let the chef know. Thank you so much, Ms. Lowenstein!" The waitress gave a happy nod and trotted off.
Lorenz took a sip of his soda. Heidi flashed him her dimples and dug into the remaining plates with gusto.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you skipped lunch again," Lorenz said.
"Breakfast and lunch," Heidi mumbled around a mouthful of dumplings while she nodded. She swallowed and took a gulp of her unsweetened tea. "So, missing people?"
"Anything like that you've heard of?" Lorenz asked. He eyed the rest of the dumplings with disfavor. He had liked the bacon and egg one, though. "Don't you ever get tired of eating these?"
"Tired of dumplings? Bite your tongue! Dumplings are life!" Heidi proclaimed. Then she paused and shrugged. "You can put anything into a dumpling, and I've had so many varieties over the years. When Grandma dragged me to Germany to visit depressing places, I got to eat a bunch of ginormous ones stuffed with sausages and yummy sweet stuff. Best part of the trip!"
"You know, Grandma Lowenstein would smack you if she heard that," Lorenz commented with a sigh.
"And I know what I know," Heidi shot back, unrepentant.
Lorenz bit back a smile. It was part of why he was still friends with her, even after they'd grown up and gone nearly separate ways. Heidi was Heidi, and the world could either accept her or not.
"I'll ask around where I am. Still, who's missing that you know of?" Heidi asked, polishing off one of the plates.
Lorenz blinked. Every plate had held five dumplings. He'd only eaten the four remaining of the bacon and egg. That had left eight others, two of which had been traditional shrimp and pork with cabbage dumplings. Heidi had sent three of the plates back.
Now there were only six dumplings left, scattered across three plates. Even as he digested this information, Heidi's chopsticks swooped down, and another was gone.
"You're going to get fat," Lorenz flatly said.
"I don't gain weight," Heidi replied, swallowing. She aimed at another dumpling. "Did you want any more?"
"I'm full. Unlike certain people, I eat regular meals." Lorenz signaled the waitress. "Tell the truth. Are you invested here or something?"
"Something," Heidi agreed with a nod and a smile. "Ah! May we have the check, please?"
"Will do, Ms. Lowenstein," the note taking waitress said as she reappeared. The empty plates were efficiently stacked and removed. "Back in a minute."
"So, 'something.' Just what does that mean?" Lorenz asked, glancing around the intricately decorated restaurant.
The menu had several dozen dumpling varieties on it in addition to the enormity that was the dim sum assortment. Lorenz hadn't expected to see so many dumplings, but considering that Heidi had been the one to drag him here, he hadn't been that surprised.
He had been surprised that it was a dim sum restaurant. Lorenz hadn't been to one since their high school days. Most dim sum restaurants usually closed fast if they couldn't find the clientele.
With Heidi having not only discovering them, but also helping them with their dumplings, this one might last longer than usual. Lorenz surmised that the dumplings were probably their hook to pull in curious college kids. Their college was fairly close to this place, after all.
"Something is something," Heidi replied with a shrug. "As I said, I'll ask around, but don't expect much. I mean, I haven't been playing this game for long."
"Neither have I." Lorenz slouched backwards before taking a breath and straightening up. He rolled his eyes at Heidi's knowing expression. "Like you don't remember the 'don't slouch' lessons."
"I do, but I don't slouch," Heidi replied primly. "You can go back to your research. I've got the bill."
"And now I'm ill-mannered?" Lorenz sighed. He stood up, knowing better than to get into a useless argument. Once Heidi decided something, that was it. "I'll talk to you later, then."
Heidi waved her fingers at him as the waitress approached with a bill. Lorenz paused for a second, shook his head, and left.
*****
Lorenz looked around his resting space cautiously. It looked like a hurricane had whizzed through it. He'd spent ten minutes just staring at the screen before deciding to log in.
The only thing not touched was the small painting on the wall. It was a landscape of Maraca he'd bought at the market one day when he was taking a break from research. The market had been remarkable to him. Players and NPCs had been hawking a variety of goods.
It had been the so-called 'Artists' Row' that had drawn his attention. There, people were selling statuettes, pictures and crafts. Some had been elaborate. Some had been plain, but most of them had been exquisitely finished, no matter if it were a player or NPC.
Thinking about it later, it had made sense. There were plenty of players who had gold and didn't spend it because they weren't interested in adventuring or exploration. They were content to just loiter around the towns and villages, completing 'penny' quests and socializing with friends and family.
The most they spent was on their rents. You couldn't stay in a community without having a place to log in and out of. Guilds were popular because they provided a safe space for their members' logins as well as to keep their miscellaneous items aside from the community warehouses. Though, to be fair, most of the rooms were little more than broom closets with shelves.
Lorenz touched the remnants of the bed. The solid wood planks and columns had been shattered, the bedding ripped apart. There were faint sooty marks at the edges of the raw wood. Lorenz stopped just short of touching them.
He concentrated. His skill list had 'Inspect' on it, and he'd used it almost to the max. Cora had told him that if he managed to secure both 'Identify' and 'Examine' it might combo and give him a boost to his Intelligence. He'd bought the scroll for 'Examine' on his way to Maraca but never used it.
'Identify' was a skill he'd gotten from the initial quest that let him become a mage. He was supposed to use it to identify the flowers he needed, not that he'd actually used it that much.
Lorenz glanced at the door. There were sooty ovals on the edge, and the door handle also had a layer of blackened metal. He found that he had no urge to open the door using the handle after watching the blackening expand ever so slightly.
He pulled the scroll out of his message list. Lorenz sent himself a quick pat on the back. He'd been curious about how people seemed to be able to send small things to each other through the internal mail system.
Lorenz really wanted to meet whoever programmed the mail delivery system of the game. He'd sent himself the scroll with a quick nonsensical note. The scroll had been waiting for him at his next destination.
The mail system had its own inventory system, much, much smaller than the usual one. You could only send things like scrolls and cards, and even that was limited to ten.
He ripped the scroll, watching it dissolve into particles of light that sunk into his skin. Lorenz winced as the knowledge implanted itself into his mind. He heard a faint, cheerful ding and suddenly felt as if things became just a little bit clearer.
He pulled up his status and stared at his skills list. Like Cora had said, he now had 'Appraise' listed with a blinking message that said 'merging.'
Lorenz turned towards the ovals on the door. Then he triggered 'Appraise.'
[Dark Demon's Fingerprint – Eroding – Caution! Dark Demons erode things not of their dimensions. Contact with fingerprint will mark user unless Purification spell or items used.]
Lorenz's eyes widened. He hadn't quite expected that. He heaved a sigh and logged out.
He'd just have to ask Nate to get him out of the room.