Herman's words made Lex falter.
A part of him would have been happy to be rid of the pain in his arse. But there was something deeper about this decision that he was unsure of.
Because, in all honesty, there was one truth floating at the bottom of his mind.
'I don't want to do this alone—no, I don't think I can do this alone.'
Lex wasn't a genius. He wasn't remarkable in any manner, and the situation the store had left him in would've overwhelmed him if it wasn't for one annoying, persistent man.
Herman Staul.
So, he sighed.
Neither man spoke as they thought. The flickering light from the fire, paired with the darkness that now surrounded them, made it feel as though they were the only two people in the world.
Nothing was going to be achieved in silence.
So Lex broke it.
"Herman... what do you want to happen?"
Lex already knew what he wanted. What he didn't know was what the man opposite him thought. Herman wasn't the type to be easily read. Despite opening up a little tonight, his mind was still a maze Lex had yet to map out.
Herman stared into the fire, running one thumb over the other within his clasped hands.
"Suppose I could go back to what I was doing before. Find a dry place, pick up what work I can." He shrugged. "It was only last night that I was sleeping in the warehouse. Not much else waiting for me."
Lex frowned at that.
"Herman, I'm not kicking you out, you know."
Herman looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
Lex shifted awkwardly in his seat. "See... the store still needs work. We've done a lot today, that's true, but... I clearly need someone who knows what they're doing. I don't have any connections. I'm a complete loner back home."
He scratched the back of his head.
"I can't promise much money," Lex said with a chuckle. "Or any at this point. But there's space in the warehouse and an entire world we've barely scratched the surface of. The terminal already seems to think you're my temporary worker anyway. Might as well make it official."
Herman smirked. "So, your grand offer is employment and a chair in the warehouse?"
Lex smiled knowingly at him. "Is that not where you slept last night?"
Herman opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it again and stared back into the fire.
Lex prodded further. "Could even be temporary, if it sets your mind at ease. And there's no trade association you need certification from in this world. No need for papers either."
Herman still didn't speak, mulling Lex's words over in his mind.
Eventually, he sighed.
"Aye." He slowly nodded. "Suppose I could stick around until you stop being a complete liability."
Lex smiled, paying no mind to the verbal backhand he had just received.
"Good. Then it's settled."
Lex looked behind him, staring at the pile of refuse bags he had dumped near the back of the store.
"Also..." He pointed at Herman. "No drinking during shifts."
"Now, wait a minute—"
Lex pointed harder.
"And no filling the storage area with garbage."
Herman clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Power's already going to your head."
With that out of the way, they finished their meals, threw the rubbish into a refuse bag and carried the supplies back into the warehouse. Herman made sure to bury the embers beneath the dirt while Lex unrolled the sleeping bags inside.
They chose to sleep indoors. As safe as the barrier might have been, this was still a different world. There was no telling what was lurking in the bushes—or whether the barrier would continue working while the store slept.
Lex lowered himself into the sleeping bag with a tired groan.
"Night, squatter."
"Piss off, boss."
Lex chuckled as his eyes closed.
Within minutes, Herman's loud snoring filled the warehouse.
Lex's eyes opened again.
He groaned.
"This is going to be a long night."
Indeed, it was. Lex was frequently haunted by the guttural noises that escaped Herman as he slept, each one somehow louder and more concerning than the last.
***
Morning arrived with a groggy head and tired eyes.
Lex had woken first—or rather, he had hardly slept.
It wasn't the fact that he wasn't used to sleeping in a bag. Although that was true, it wasn't the main reason.
Herman's incessant snoring, coughing, tossing and turning had kept sleep just out of reach all night.
Lex finally gave up, rubbing his eyes as he sat upright and looked around.
The sleeping bag beside him rose and fell beneath Herman's bulk. A noise somewhere between a growl and a blocked drain escaped from within it.
"Not a dream," Lex said.
Faint daylight filtered through the cracks around the warehouse door. He pushed himself to his feet, stepped carefully over the scattered camping supplies and walked outside into the fresh air.
He stretched and assessed himself.
Lifting and pulling his body in ways he usually never would, he came to a conclusion.
His body hurt.
Like, really bad.
Not in the way of being bruised or beaten, but in the way that made every muscle inside his body scream when he moved.
"That's what I get for living a shut-in's life up till now."
It was common knowledge that sore muscles after a long day of exercise meant the body wasn't accustomed to that kind of work.
But, at the same time, it felt satisfying.
The ache was proof that yesterday had actually happened. He had worked, fixed something and ended the day with more than he had started with.
"I can't remember the last time my body burned like this."
It was early morning. He could tell from the low light and the sun only just beginning to illuminate Durim. Birds sang from somewhere beyond the barrier, their calls overlapping as the forest woke around him.
A gentle breeze passed through the clearing. It wasn't cold, but it carried enough of the night's chill to feel calming against his skin.
Instinctively, he reached for his phone.
And realised he didn't have it on him.
Panic flashed across his face—the kind that came when one of the big three was missing after a night of heavy drinking: phone, wallet or keys.
Then he thought back.
Had he even had his phone yesterday?
Not once had the thought of using it crossed his mind. Back in the real world, he had the annoying habit of checking it constantly, even when nobody was messaging him.
Thinking hard, he realised that maybe it hadn't been brought into this world with him at all.
"Why is that?"
A familiar box of green text flickered into existence at the edge of his vision.
[ Because certain advanced technologies are prohibited from being transferred through O.R.D. Dimensional Travel. ]
"Ahh... that makes sense—wait a second! The store spoke!"
[ Correct. I have identified this as the perfect time to talk before Temporary Employee Herman Staul awakens from his alarmingly long slumber. ]
[ Please proceed to the terminal room so we can discuss matters privately. ]
Lex glanced back towards the warehouse. Herman's snoring was still audible through the door.
"Privately might be optimistic."
[ Nevertheless. ]
Lex sighed. "Just as I was enjoying this quiet morning..."
He walked back into the warehouse and approached the security door.
When he entered the terminal room, it was different from before.
The first few times he had entered, it had been a brightly lit metallic room.
But this time, it was dark.
The green, flickering letters on the screen provided the only light, casting a sickly glow across the surrounding metal. The low hum of the terminal felt louder without Herman's complaints filling the room.
Lex narrowed his eyes and walked carefully towards the screen.
"I'm here."
[ I know. ]
[ Apologies for the lack of lighting. Herman is still asleep. ]
Lex looked back at the door. It was perfectly engineered and had no visible gaps.
He raised a brow. "It's not like any light escapes this room, so why would it matter?"
[ ...Courtesy. ]
"Right..." Lex scoffed.
"Anyway, I'm here. What did you want to discuss?"
Silence lingered. The terminal's humming filled the room as if it were thinking about how to begin.
[ Owner Lex Peckham, I have brought you in here for a few reasons. ]
[ The first is to thank you for taking up the mantle of Owner in my time of need. ]
Lex crossed his arms.
"Time of need? Honestly, I took it up because I had nothing else. If anything, it's this store that protected me, so I should be saying thank you."
He leaned closer to the screen.
"I had a suspicion you were sentient, but you're lacking the usual robotic tone. Is this something to do with you waking up?"
The store's messages had never felt exactly human. They had been structured and overly formal, as though every answer had been prepared long before Lex asked the question. Until now, he had been stuck between believing it was intelligent and believing it was just a complicated machine.
But, immediately after hearing its first response that morning, he knew.
He wasn't speaking to a menu anymore.
He was speaking to someone.
"Are you a person?"
[ Although I possess intelligence, I could not be considered a person. You may think of me as the soul connected to this branch. ]
Lex frowned.
"A soul? Can you hear me anywhere in the store? Can you read my thoughts?"
[ I can observe and communicate within the branch and its immediate boundary. Your private thoughts remain your own. ]
That was reassuring.
Slightly.
Then the other word caught up with him.
"Branch? There's more of these things?"
[ ... ]
[ Technically, yes. But none like this one. ]
It didn't elaborate further.
[ Continuing, the second matter I wanted to discuss is what is currently happening. I am sure you are confused. Despite how competently you and your new employee have handled the situation, there are many questions you may wish to ask. ]
[ But before that, please allow me to welcome you to something bigger than yourself. ]
[ This is the Otherworld Retail Department, or O.R.D. for short. A store unbound by the limitations of space or dimensional barriers. It is a feat of engineering that cannot be replicated anywhere else in the universe. ]
[ Truthfully, given another ten years or so, I would no longer be here. I would have 'died' from a lack of magical power, as there is none to speak of in the world you come from. ]
[ As such, I am grateful. Your grandfather, Leo, was too old when he found this store to take on the challenge himself. But he mentioned you. ]
Lex's eyes widened. "You met my grandfather? And he mentioned me?"
[ Affirmative. He spoke of you fondly—and of the many regrets he carried over not being able to give you a better life. ]
Lex looked down, reminded of his recently deceased grandfather.
For a moment, the green light blurred against the metal floor.
He blinked and forced his attention back towards the screen.
[ Despite his old age, we came to an agreement—or a trade, to be exact. ]
[ He owned the store on paper. But as its overseer, I could not allow someone to take charge without first seeing whether they were capable. On top of that, I required something else. ]
"And... what was that?"
[ A soul and an occupant with whom I could merge. ]
[ While the functions of this store are indeed miraculous, without a soul and body to anchor me, I was fated to fade into obscurity. ]
Lex's face went deadpan.
He was beginning to understand what his grandfather had done.
"He bargained with my soul and youthful body, didn't he?"
[ ... ]
[ Yes. He offered me a means to live on. ]
"Pretty shameless way to word it. It's my soul."
[ It is now our soul, and your body is now our body also. ]
[ As such, if you meet an unfortunate end, so shall I. ]
Lex stared at the screen.
The faint satisfaction he had felt that morning disappeared.
"Our body? What does that mean? Can you control me? Am I trapped here?"
[ Those concerns are understandable. The precise limitations of our bond form part of the agreement made with your grandfather. ]
He pinched the bridge of his nose, unsure how he was supposed to react to any of this.
"Of course. Of course Grandpa would do that. Why wouldn't he? Was he insane? Actually, yes, he was. He would one hundred percent do something like this!"
Lex groaned.
Anger was easier than acknowledging the feeling beneath it: that his grandfather had arranged Lex's future without trusting him enough to explain any of it.
"So, Terminal, what does this actually mean? Until yesterday, I was on Earth living a very mundane life. I thought magic and souls didn't exist, but with all this, I can't exactly deny that they're real."
He gestured around the darkened room.
"And, as such, I have literally zero knowledge about any of it."
[ And that is okay. ]
Lex jerked his head back. "How?"
How could the store trust him? He had no knowledge of what this world revolved around, no understanding of magic and barely knew how to run a normal shop.
[ Because you have me. ]
The terminal hummed quietly. Green light flickered across Lex's face.
[ I never told you what your grandfather's terms were. ]
Lex's stomach sank.