Drinking game and a visitor.

As William and Ryan left for their date, Jessica left for Heather and Ryan, and Jesse did the same for Becky and Missy. The Jessies asked each group the same question: “Do you want to do something to get to know each other? We will be stuck with each other for all of this game.” Becky, Heather and Ryan seemed amenable, but as usual with Missy, she protested. After gathering the two groups, Jessica asked, “So here or the community centre? The other place has booze and tea.” The group agreed to move.

Seeing all of the contestants not on the date enter as one big group brought a smile to Samson’s face. The goblin greeted them in his usual teasing manner, “So you guys miss me already. Wonderful that you come to my fine establishment. What will be your poison for the evening?”

“Let us first figure out what we want to do to get to know each other; then we will get back to you,” Jesse shouted back.

“Okay. I will put some good liquor in for a lot of shots, cold. Anyone have a strong preference?” The newly inaugurated bartender said with a smile.

“Why would we need shots?” Becky asked.

“Never have I ever. A game where someone says, ‘Never have I ever…’ insert statement about something you never did. If another did it, they take a shot.” Samson explained.

Heather looked at the group and responded to the goblin's half-proposal. “That isn’t a half-bad way for a large group to get to know each other, you know. Is low-alcohol fruity an option?” The Jessies looked at each other, shrugged, and nodded. Becky also nodded. The remaining woman was conflicted, but in the end Missy agreed.

Samson served the group a large bottle of a liquor none of them knew the name of, which was logical since it was a special brew from some fey being. It cost him nothing to serve if the group asked for it. It didn’t need to be explicit, just probable that it would aid in the activity and fit what they asked. It was by far the lowest alcohol content of all the liquors meant for shots; it had a fruity taste and, most importantly, each shot was a truth serum, mild as it might have been. “I suggest everyone take at least one shot before you start to have a taste of the liquor, so you understand the alcohol content,” Samson said with a smile.

“This isn’t another one of your pranks.” Heather had become especially sceptical about him.

“No, this is merely water to help lubricate the conversation. To make you more honest with yourself and one another, not a prank on my behalf or from my perspective in the least. It is me trying to help.” He said with a smile.

“And staff can’t lie, right?” The resistance to drinking what he offered was palpable in the voice of the last target of his pranks. The goblin merely nodded and left.

Everyone clinked to a good evening and poured in the shot. “Shall I start?” The heiress decided to ask; hearing no refusals or indication that they wanted to go first, she started. “Never have I ever kissed a girl.” The Jessies poured another shot into their mouths to no ones suprise.

What did surprise people was Ryan downing one. “What? In a hetronormative socity, it is worth experimenting if you think you are gay; maybe you are bi. It saves suuuuch a hassle if you can have a straight-passing relationship.” The Jessies nodded at that. “Now, since I was the first to respond. Never have I ever…” He thought for a moment about screwing over Missy. “Cheated on one of my partners.”

Which worked; no one else needed to down a shot. “Fine, I deserved that callout. Never have I done anything anal.” And clearly aimed retaliation that Ryan took on the chin.

Heather got hit in the crossfire. “Sometimes a girl wants to try something…” She admitted into her hands. “I could do another one, or we can hand it to the Jessies or Becky so that everyone gets a turn.” She still hid her face.

“Sure, never have I ever had a one-night stand,” Becky said, assuming at least someone must have. This was true for the half of the group that had some form of sex life.

“Never have I ever done anything illegal,” Jesse said, expecting at least one of them to have. The guess paid off for both Becky, to her surprise, and Missy.

“I hacked a computer once,” Becky admitted shyly.

“That is heavier than what I did, basic shoplifting,” Missy responded.

Jessica decided to ask, “Do Jesse and I both have a turn, or do we share one?”

“You share one set of memories, so it is no more than reasonable.” Heather agreed.

“There might be some complications there.” Becky defended her friend. “The two of them seem to have been getting more and more independent from one another. Minor memory differences have been popping up. Syl said it is because of Ember’s influence on the harem and its transformations. So I think it is worth it if she thinks she can pick something Jesse did do, but she feels like she didn’t.”

Ryan and Heather were surprised at the bombshell that Ember had somehow messed with the transformations and tried to find out more from the four who did apparently know what was going on. The problem was, they didn’t know what happened either. After the talks over a carafe of water, Heather agreed that if Jessica thinks she can mess with Jesse as well as the others, she should be allowed to participate.

Jessica went with one she knew Jesse had done but felt no claim to anymore, preferring to see the alternative timeline as hers over the one she actually participated in. “Never have I ever fired a gun.” The group was shocked that she said it.

“We all know you were a soldier; during basic training, you need to fire a gun.” Heather protested. Missy agreed with this, but Ryan looked at Becky with a question mark.

Ryan looked over at Samson. “Can we get a second opinion on this?”

The goblin looked up from his book with a cup of tea. “She isn’t lying; she can’t be. The liquor is also a truth serum; it won’t force you to answer, but it will guarantee that whatever you say is the truth. For the record, whether or not you take a shot is also an answer.”

“How dare you!?! You said this wasn’t a prank.” Heather felt hurt.

“It isn’t; it is a way for me to help guarantee the integrity of the game. I told you it would help you speak the truth, didn’t I? I don’t consider giving you an aid for your game a prank.” The green man spoke with a confidence Heather rarely saw in anyone but Philips.

“Fine,” Heather grumbled, and with that exchange everyone agreed that it ought to count. Other than Jesse, the other people who drank a shot were Ryan, Heather and Missy.

Another person had since wandered into the community centre. Her foam colored dress moved as if it was placed upon actual water rapids. The only one who actually saw her was the goblin who was tracking her but didn’t address the elemental who had entered the room. First-Melt-of-the-Laurentide approached the group and, more specifically, the Jessies. These developments were too interesting for the head of research not to check out.

At first, the water elemental just hovered around the childhood friend split in two. Then she took a step over to Becky and Missy, noticing the differences from the original designs. As their game continued, the drinks flowed, but she didn’t touch, feel, or use any sensory magic. All that would be… wrong, and she knew she would get scolded if she did. She heard Becky whisper “good girl” to Missy and noticed the completely different response from the design. She summoned a sheet of water, looked at something, and took more notes. In the millennia First-Melt-of-the-Laurentide had existed, she had never seen anything like this. The behaviour was weird; the order was wrong. Normally, later transformations overwrote earlier ones, but the command was overwriting the compulsion's output. That should not be possible… It was as if the seams weren’t seams but were different… She needed to touch them to feel the seams, to experience what was different.

Samson coughed; everyone looked at him. He stared at nothing, or exactly where First-Melt-of-the-Laurentide was standing. The goblin glared at the elemental, and the group was weirded out. “What is over there, Samson? And why do you look angry?” Ryan asked.

“Nah, bud, I’m not mad, but I do think that First-Melt-of-the-Laurentide needs to ask for consent. She knows Syl wants mutual understanding before touching, especially if it might be invasive. [First-Melt-of-the-Laurentide], you know how to emulate English and are the oldest on staff by a long shot. I know you know how to take a corporeal form. “ The goblin scolded his colleague. “It isn’t like you are going to do anything untoward, are you?” His tone shifted from annoyed to his teasing one.

The group blinked as the air grew drier and the woman in their eyes materialised. She had drawn in all the moisture out of the air in order to shape herself. Her voice sounded like it was generated by an early Vocaloid, but it did pass along the message well enough. “Hello ladies and gentlemen, I am [First-Melt-of-the-Laurentide],” her voice sounded like a drip freezing and melting again as she spoke her name. “But for your vocal cords, I suggest you call me by the acceptable translation of First-Melt-of-the-Laurentide. My role within the show is head researcher and advisor to the writing department.”

Ryan’s face scrunched up as he tried to figure out what it actually meant. “Why do you say acceptable translation?” He managed to grasp one of the laundry list of questions humming in his brain.

“Do you want to spend time saying First-Melt-of-the-Most-Recent-Glacial-Maximum-on-the-Laurentian-Tectonic-Plateau, or I know earth elementals have their own terminology for tectonic plates… So yeah, I shortened it using terms used in English vocabulary that exists that combine specific terms. My specific name probably wouldn’t have changed, but we would have a different term for that glacial maximum.” The water elemental spoke with a grin, and the group glared at her.

“Isn’t shortening something that causes elementals to be bound to a person?” Jessica asked, having been the one around Chris and Ember for the longest.

“Yes, but that doesn’t count under two circumstances: first, it is a name a master has given me, and you were introduced to me with said name; And second, language evolves; other alternative translations work. Ember is a case of the first. My name is a case of the second. If you live long enough and the intelligent life you live with gains enough specific interest, new terms will eventually develop.” A cordial smile formed on the elemental's face.

“Have you ever bound yourself to a living being?” Jesse wondered aloud.

“Yes easier to move between large glaciers that way. You don’t have to wonder as much where your next bit of energy comes from if you have a living source alongside you. They were, most of the time, plenty welcoming to help me get to my destination before dying.” First-Melt-of-the-Laurentide spoke as if she was talking about cattle.

“Do you not miss them?” Jessica followed up.

“I do every once in a while, but what is one in the millennia I have existed? I don’t have time to remember all of them, let alone to mourn them. There is only so much time, and by the time one millennium has gone by, how many people could I have had contracts with? If I wanted, I could have gone through 20-30, depending on how late we bound each other when they died.” The tone kept growing more distant as the researcher kept speaking.

The group grew silent as they realised what they were dealing with. Ryan found a question that might have been on some of the rest's minds. “What about Ember? How do they see this?”

“I can not speak for the little ball of fire, but I will say that I remember the first person I contracted with. The first you were given, it feels special.” The water elemental sounded sadder but didn’t show it on their face. She was nostalgic for that time. “I also have no clue how the harem magic is messing with their bond. Just like I don’t know how the bond is messing with the harem magic.” Under her breath, she muttered. “Damn writing team should have consulted me about it before making it an option for Chris to make contracts with Elementals. Humans on that world never were able to see them.” After a deep sigh, she continued in a normal voice and tone. “That is actually the reason I am here to take a closer look at the transformations that are most affected, as well as the ones who seem to be the least affected.”

“Wait, so you want to check the Jessies and me?” Becky asked.

“Actually, all of you would be great reference material. Syl might not have made it a point, but some of the things the commands you have given Missy over there shouldn’t work. You should not be able to overwrite triggers of later transformations with earlier ones unless it is an explicit part of that. An example of one that should prevent it is: More shape, more spring; it has a never clause in it. Based on observations, I think something is weird with the literal construction of the transformations. To see what is going wrong, I need to touch you, not just your physical self but your soul.” First-Melt-of-the-Laurentide said, as if she had practised this a thousand times.

“Eww, and why does a creepy reality show that is forcing us to fuck my ex or get horribly disfigured care about consent all of a sudden?” Missy protested.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t have asked; orders from the Boss lady.” The researcher looked at the people in front of her as if they were her lab rats. “No volunteers? Fine, have someone tell me when you are ready to be probed.” The elemental sauntered out of the community centre with the people inside stunned, or, in the case of the goblin, sipping tea like it was a Tuesday.