It was a warm summer's eve. I know that this introduction is a bit cliché, but it really was an evening in July. I had been sent to Anarchy Acres to check on some weird monster hunters. I should probably mention that ever since my near-death incident, rumors spread around the island that there were more monsters roaming around the island. Not many believed the rumors but the farms are pretty isolated so there wasn't anyone to tell them that this whole thing makes no sense. I drove to the fields in one of the new cars Lars finally created, parked it near the river and walked to the farm. Sure enough, there was a bunch of people crowded around a bonfire with pickaxes and torches, classic monster hunting weapons. There seemed to be a leader, a man wearing a long dark coat and hat, giving out orders in a thick country accent. I made my way to the fire and caught some of the conversation.

"...so you two are gonna go down by the river to guard them. And for the last time, remember the code names."

"Yeah, yeah. You're Deadfire, I'm Sharpside or something like that, and he's gonna be-" He stopped as I came out of the shadows, apparently I was recognized.

"Well, well, well. Look who came out of nowhere just to tell us to stop another hunt." Deadfire strutted up.

"You all know that the torches can easily burn this whole farm down, and that others are reporting you all for snooping around the woods."

"It ain't a crime to want to be safe."

"Ok then. What do I have to do to persuade you all?"

I noticed he slowly drew a six-shooter out, I felt very underprepared. All of a sudden, a girl stepped out from behind him and pushed his gun to the ground. She looked like Little Red Riding Hood met a punk band, but who am I to judge.

"Now Deadfire," she said, "I thought that the guns were for monsters only."

"Fable…"

"You know what you said. I say you put that away, and we get on with better things."

"Uh…" Was he blushing? "Fine. C'mon guys, let's pack it up."

One of the guys snickered, Deadfire shot him a look and he quickly shut up. They cleared out until it was just me and the girl. She gave me a curious look, then talked.

"Those guys are a bit too cocky when it comes to handling arguments. I promise that we won't start anything up if you promise not to catch us. You have my word."

"Thank you…"

"Fable. The name's Fable. Code name, at least. See ya."

She disappeared into the darkness, and I sighed. Ever since we tried to establish some sort of government (more on that later) to make laws, it seemed like that there were even more people trying to defy us. It's not only random people out in the woods, we've also been having a lot more arguments with each other. When we created the government there was a decision to disband what's left of the military and scrap all the 'special guns', like ARs and miniguns for metal. Nat, Martha, and Ty are all saying that we need an army or group of fighter for protection, Lars, Craig, and Jasmine are pro-government. The arguments have gotten so bad that no one will speak to each other and some people were talking about moving East, alone. I didn't take a side because we can't afford to be splitting up like this, even if they don't like the government they still have responsibilities within it. I haven't seen Jonesy for a couple days, all the pressure got to him. Since the government is sort of a democracy with a council instead of president, it can't run properly without everyone doing their part. Anyways, back to reality. I drove back to the empty factory that was serving as HQ and found almost everyone inside, sitting at the round table used for meetings. Uh oh. Did I miss an announcement or something? I was about to apologize for being late, but everyone was so deep in conversation I don't think anyone noticed me.

"...report says that it was sighted around coordinates B4 and B5…"

"...the laser went all the way up…"

"...if it wasn't standard blue then what is it…"

I shuffled over to an empty seat and tried to catch a glimpse of the maps and papers on the table. Evey map had a bunch of red arrows and circles near the northwest side of the island, the papers were just lists and lists of names.

"Oh! Ramirez! There you are!" Martha nearly jumped out of her seat and everyone else looked up.

"Hey guys. Did I miss something important?"

"It's not a crisis or anything, just a rumor that we need to check out. That reminds me…" Jasmine picked up some notes and quickly gave out orders. "Jonesy and Craig, you guys get some of those off-roaders ready. Martha, Nat, Ty, Juan, try to find some of those basic pistols. Lars, double-check all the maps and help Jonesy and Craig. Ramirez, I'll fill you in." Everyone quickly dispersed to whatever, Jasmine continued to pick up papers like she was preparing notecards for a speech.

"No offense, but the way all you guys were working doesn't make it seem like just a rumor."

"I'll admit, we got a bit too excited over this. Other than the occasional hunting party or jaywalker, there hasn't been that much for this 'government' to do. I dare say that things have gotten a bit boring around here. But here's what happening: about a day ago, a resident of Snobby Shores claimed that they saw a laser shot into the sky from a mountain."

"Sounds too good to be true."

"I know. Only Juan believes it's real, we actually have a bet with him. Loser has to pay for brunch tomorrow."

"If it all sounds fake, then why are we investigating?"

"That's the other great part. The person who saw this claims that the laser looked exactly like the storm, some kind of 'storm beam'. And you know how everyone is, myself included. If it involves the storm, it's dangerous and needs to be destroyed immediately." I understood her, I still cringe a bit whenever someone says it. Juan and Nat came back with a small box filled with pistols just as Jonesy came to tell us that the off-roaders were ready. Each one could sit two people, three if the back two didn't mind squeezing in. Thankfully the seating was all planned out, so it was an easy trip. The mountain had an interesting look, instead of having a curve like the other ones it had wide, flat ledges arranged in stair pattern. After a short climb with Ty forgetting to tie his rope tight enough and falling, we made it to the top. We spent a bunch of time searching, so I'll spare you the details: we didn't find anything. Jasmine surveyed all the rocks one last time and shrugged.

"I guess if no one else can give us actual proof of the laser then it's just a weird rumor. Juan, you know what this means…"

We all got a good laugh out of it on the drive back to HQ, by then the sun had completely set. Jonesy invited me to some late dinner and stargazing, how could I say no on a nice night like this. He picked out another great place, the very top of the small mountain near Salty Springs. We laughed and ate for almost an hour until we were both looking up at the sky, tired but still talking. Once we climbed back down the mountain, Jonesy pulled out a small box that looked like it was made of velvet. He opened the box, and my heart stopped beating.

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