The Protagonist System

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Our arrival back at camp so early after leaving was met with mixed feelings. Some of them were happy we were back and brought enough animals for both breeding stock and for production. Some of them, mainly Lori and Shane, thought the worst and that we had stolen them and someone would come after us for revenge. The rest didn't want to commit to either side of the argument and stood back to watch to see who won.

And there was an argument. A loud one. Even with Maggie there to explain she owned the animals, my decisions and how I handled things was questioned. Of course, I didn't want there to be any doubt about what I did or why, so I laid it all out from start to finish and I also vehemently stated that I did absolutely nothing to cause any kind of rift between myself and the people at the farm.

It was Hershel's own beliefs that made him react as he did and I didn't blame Glenn and Maggie for it, because I stated clearly that they would be married under the eyes of God anyway. They gave me grateful smiles for not throwing them under the proverbial bus to save myself.

Unfortunately, my argument didn't work. I was blamed for what happened, because I was in charge of the mission and ultimately responsible for the outcome, even if I had done nothing wrong and couldn't have done anything differently.

Despite my advice about how dumb it was, the camp was put on a strict war footing for the foreseeable future, because they had all been convinced to fully expect the worst. It didn't matter that the people at Hershel's farm didn't have a working vehicle or had to cross almost 60 miles on foot with only three men carrying guns and limited ammo.

You see, the problem was I had forgotten how convincing Lori could be during an argument. With Shane backing her up, the camp's main protector and rule enforcer, I had been fighting a losing battle before it even started. After my rejection of her plan, she had been talking to everyone. It wasn't malicious or anything, it was her establishing herself in their minds as the right one.

Lori had a look of vindication on her face when I was told that I wasn't allowed to leave the camp for at least a week while they locked everything down and went over everything we had brought back. I immediately thought about telling them to shove their orders where the sun doesn't shine, then I thought about it.

Instead of getting angry at them for their idiocy, I volunteered to take over the camp watch for the entire week, since I wasn't allowed to leave with my own truck to gather the supplies they all knew I could bring back within a day. I said that it didn't matter now, because Hershel and his farm were a hell of a lot closer to the stash than we were. That brought them all to silence when they realized exactly what their decision to keep me there actually entailed.

I apologized to Amy right there in front of everyone for not bringing back the feminine hygiene products I saw there, or her favorite cereal, or the coffee beans I had promised her. I also apologized that I was going to be on watch for the entire week and I couldn't spend any time at home with her.

Everyone looked shocked at my words and I ignored them as I said I needed to shower and would assume the watch at the start of the next shift. No one had noticed when the truck disappeared into my inventory and I stored the two trailers, too. They weren't very observant, were they?

I put my uniform in the wash to clean it, showered myself, and dressed in my uniform once more and strapped on my handgun, my shotgun, a rifle, and my two ammo belts. I went back out to the camp loaded for war and to rub it in their faces. Everyone stared at me as I walked over to dirt ladder and went up to the top of the wall to the small walkway that was used only occasionally.

“Sheriff Rick Grimes assuming the watch command for the entire week.” I said and saluted Dale, whom could only nod in response. Little did he realize I was completely serious about doing all the watches and not just this one shift every day.

*

It took Amy two days of watching Rick constantly on guard, him pacing back and forth on the wall surrounding the camp, to realize she was starting to hate everyone else at the camp. Lori's smugness grated on her nerves and the only reason she didn't punch Lori's face in was because she was pregnant.

Amy tried again to get Rick to take a break, to eat something, and he refused. He said that everyone decided that the camp's welfare was much more important than his individual rights and he had to stay on watch to make sure no enemies dared to approach them. He also refused any and all help when the men that were supposed to take watch shifts showed up and he sent them away.

Even Dale wasn't safe from refusal, because Rick shouted at him because he didn't need backup when the older man took up the guard post on top of the RV. Dale was too startled by the shout to protest, even though it was his RV, and he climbed back down the ladder with a sad look on his face.

*

No one at camp could understand how Rick was doing it. He didn't eat, he didn't sleep, and he kept walking and guarding the camp the entire time. Morning, noon, and night, he didn't stop. He just kept going, and going, and going. It didn't make sense. All they did was order him to not leave and endanger the camp again. That was reasonable, wasn't it?

As the days wore on, Lori's smug look eventually faded and changed to worry. She had thought she put Rick in his place, well below her in social standing, and was proud to have made the point that her safety was much more important than his. He turned that position right back on her and now he was killing himself by being on constant guard.

Any time she looked out of the moving van that she and Shane lived in with Carl, he was there pacing the wall and with his guns ready to shoot anything that threatened the camp. Why? Why was he doing this to her? Why couldn't he just accept that she had won and had the last word?

By the fifth day, everyone at the camp was as worried about him as Amy was. They all knew that a person couldn't live very long without water or food and he never stopped guarding the camp to do anything else. He was covered in sweat and his steps were less sure and purposeful, too.

On the seventh day, Rick's hair was matted down, his clothes soaked completely through from sweat, and his stumbling gait had all the women at the camp close to tears. Amy had passed that point days ago and all she could do was watch as her man destroyed himself for the good of the camp... and that's when she realized that was exactly what he was doing.

Amy rushed around to tell everyone what the whole point of this was, shocking them all. When they were all warned, she went to the protection wall and waited for the appropriate time. The end of Rick's week-long shift. Everyone gathered around behind her and some of them looked apprehensive, while two of them were afraid. Lori and Shane had a difficult time holding a crying Carl back.

Rick's shuffling feet came into view and no one noticed he no longer carried any weapons or anything else. Amy looked up at his ragged face, unshaven for over a week, and he looked like someone had dragged him behind a car for several miles. He did a kind half salute, his arm shaking heavily, and he mumbled something about his watch finally ending. His first step down the dirt stairs sent him tumbling, making everyone but Amy gasp.

Amy stepped forward and easily caught him, his wasted away form as light as a bag of feathers. “You fool.” She whispered and kissed him, despite the state he was in. “You lovable, stupid fool.”

“I hope... this was enough... to... prove...” Rick mumbled and fell unconscious.

Amy picked him up in a princess carry and everyone moved out of the way. She carried him to their home and Andrea was right behind her. Her silent support had helped Amy a lot during the last week and she really appreciated it.

They settled Rick onto the bed and stripped him off, his uniform would probably be tossed instead of washed. It was ruined and wasn't worth the effort to clean it. Both Amy and Andrea gasped at his emaciated body, worn away much too quickly for only a week without food and water and continuous walking. His laboured breathing worrying them even more than his body did.

Before they could do anything more than stare at him, everything seemed to slow down and it all came to a stop, just as Rick took one more ragged breath and stopped, too.

*

Congratulations, you're an idiot!

I barked a laugh at that. No, I'm not. I did what I did on purpose. I wasn't supposed to die from it, though. I spent a stupid amount of Karma Points to avoid that as I intentionally gave up all the hard work I did to make myself better, just to teach them a lesson. I wanted them to suffer while I spent another long convalescence recovering and getting back into shape.

Then I'm glad to inform you that you didn't die and your points weren't wasted. You also didn't realize you were buying a lot more with your points than you thought you were.

My mind needed a few seconds to comprehend that. What exactly did I buy?

There were suddenly fireworks shooting off around me and into the darkness. They exploded and gave me an awe-inspiring view.

That was really cool. I thought and applauded mentally, since I didn't have hands at the moment.

You have successfully unlocked the newly installed 'Pause World' feature! During moments of dire stress, or during intentionally created moments of timeline divergences, the entire world will hold its breath to wait and see what you want to do next.

Again, my mind needed a few seconds to understand that concept. Holy crap. I thought and stared at the notification. Holy crap!

It is a powerful ability and we are quite proud of its successful implementation.

There was a distinct pause there and I had an unsettled feeling. Because I never ignored my gut feeling, I had to ask a question. Okay, if that's the good news, what's the bad news?

We have yet to install the 'Unpause World' feature.

I laughed, because what else was I going to do? Well, that's just wonderful! What the hell am I supposed to do while you fix it? Float around here or go back to spend however long trapped inside my immovable body?

The little blue box belonging to Fate popped up below the larger system one. That's up to you. You can wait around here, wait around there, or head off to somewhere else.

My mind blanked for the third time and I needed almost ten full seconds to reboot. Excuse me? Did you just... I can just... wait, the pause feature will let me jump to another protagonist story in the middle of my current one? How does that even work?

The word 'giggle' appeared briefly. We've had a lot of things to rebuild and fix after that run-in we had with that minor goddess. It also gave us a few ideas, like how to manipulate the different time compressions used in each realm of that world.

Or stop it entirely. I thought in understanding.

That's right. A little tweaking here and there and it opened up the option for pivotal points in the story to let us stop it all and see the potential there.

That's when I got it. It couldn't work unless I specifically asked for it!

And you paid for it. Fate responded. You wanted them to know how much they screwed up.

I really did. I thought with satisfaction. I can't wait to see their faces as they struggle to get everything going without my help.

The word 'giggle' appeared briefly again. You have to, remember? We haven't finished installing things yet. I'm happy it worked without exploding your head or something.

WHAT? I mentally gasped. That was possible?

Soft laughter came from the surrounding darkness. I'm just messing with you. The system is there to help you, not hinder you or hurt you.

I grumbled about her jokes not being funny and then sighed. There wasn't anything I could do until they could fix things and I sure as hell wasn't going to just float around or lay around as I waited for however long between moments of time for them to finish working.

Well, since I'm here anyway, what are my options? I asked.

I'm glad you asked! The main text box showed.
Because this is outside the normal progression of the system's usual functions (for now), your current Karma Points won't affect it.

Oh, damn. I thought. Do I even want to know what's going to happen?

Fate's text box showed the word 'giggle' again. I can spin the Wheel of Fate for you! Yay!

If I had a hand, I would have slapped myself on the forehead.

The word 'giggle' appeared several times in her text box as the sound of a spinning wheel with metal pegs came from the darkness around me. Don't worry about it. It worked out the first time I did this, didn't it?

You mean when I pissed off a bunch of powerful beings after I murdered some of their most important ones, absorbed too much magic, and violently exploded in the middle of a killing field full of abominations? I asked her and barely managed to not sound sarcastic.

The little text box Fate used showed a wide-eyed emoji for a moment. Yes, that one.

I didn't say anything else as the sound of the wheel started to slow down. When it finally stopped, there was a sound of a buzzer. It was not a nice sound, I was sure.

I think I'll let your system controller handle things now. Bye!

I listened closely when Fate's text box disappeared and could have sworn I heard the sound of running shoes and then a door closed.

Congratulations! Your next world has been chosen and the prep work has already begun. Please wait for several minutes as things are made ready for your insertion.

Sure, I've got nothing better to do than worry my ass off about where you're sending me. I thought, this time with as much sarcasm as I could.

Why do you want to ruin the surprise?

I made a snort sound and then laughed. How about a few hints?

It is a world full of danger and on the brink of collapse. It is also Gender-Swapped.

Well, fuck. I thought as dread filled me. Are you kidding me? I have to be a woman this time?

No, your testes and penal attachment will remain intact.

Oh, thank god. I thought with relief.

Everyone in the world has been Gender-Swapped to fit your preference to remain male.

I stared at the text box, my mind gone blank for the fourth time.

Setup complete. You will be notified when the 'Unpause World' feature becomes available and you can return to your main storyline world with no discernible time passing. Have fun!

I didn't react at all as everything went black.