Foxfire

When it ended, it was just as abruptly as it started. Aurora was on the ground in the fetal position. Her arms were tucked around her head, and she was curled around herself. Just like that day-

She could hear Esprit talking, but couldn’t make out the words. The world felt hyper-vibrant, too much light flashing around and too much sensation. Aurora closed her eyes and focused on breathing. 

In… two… three… four… 

Hold… two… three… four… 

Out… two… three… four…

Ignore the noises.

Repeat.

In… two… three… four… 

Hold… two… three… four… 

Out… two… three… four…

Ignore the touches.

Repeat. 

In… two… three… four… 

Hold… two… three… four… 

Out… two… three… four…

Ignore the concerned voices.

Repeat. 

Aurora kept breathing, forcing herself to focus on the sensation of her chest rising and falling. Feeling as her pulse slowed. Feeling as the sensations that threatened to overwhelm her faded into a faint hum that she could handle. Not gone, that would take more time again. The flashbacks always took a little while to fade again. But that was okay. It was getting easier to handle. Especially when Kate was sitting next to her on the floor, slowly stroking her head.

Aurora blinked in surprise, looking up at her friend. “H… Hey.” 

“Hey Aurora.” Kate smiled down, not stopping her slow, gentle motion. “Feeling any better?”

“A bit… How long was that episode?” Aurora asked, still half-focusing on her breathing.

The voice that came back was not entirely welcome. 

“Around forty-five minutes. Miss Chane arrived around ten minutes ago.” Esprit informed her, the little robot fox climbing up onto her chest. 

“Not even a full day and the secret identity is blown.” Aurora snorted softly as she closed her eyes again. 

“You have no idea how hard it is not to just start fangirling, Aurora.” Kate teased gently, before her voice turned more serious. “What happened? Was it like that time-?”

“Yeah,” Aurora confirmed, cutting her off from discussing that particular incident again. “Too much stimulation all at once.”

“I apologize, Miss Barker.” Esprit seemed genuinely apologetic as they spoke. Unlike the disinterest and boredom they exhibited before, they were more lively if not alert now. “I should have warned you that it may trigger your PTSD. That was an oversight on my part, and I am sincerely sorry for not preparing you accordingly.” 

Aurora let out a long, tired sigh. It was too damn early in the morning for this. “It’s fine, Esprit. Don’t you need data to analyse or something before you get good at this? I have no idea how AI really works, to be honest.”

“Referring to your Dirtian attempts at a… Self teaching algorithm, yes. You would be correct.” Esprit seemed… Disgusted at the idea of human AIs? “However, I am more than a simple algorithm and I should have been more aware. Your conditions are listed in your profile, and I should have been more active in safeguarding you from them.” 

“It’s fine.” Aurora reiterated, bringing a hand down to gently rub the AI between its tall ears. “At least, I forgive you. Life is too short to worry about grudges like that.” 

“I… Appreciate it. Thank you, Miss Barker.” Esprit seemed to settle with the touch, to which Kate let out a little ‘aww’. 

“If you and I are stuck together, just… Call me Aurora.” She opened her eyes again, taking in the dirty, formerly white ceiling of her tiny bachelor apartment. “Kate… Don’t you need to be getting to work?”

“Oh no, not after you got hurt, AND you having an episode like this.” Kate shook her head, and held up her phone. “I already called out, and I’m staying here for the rest of the day. Besides, like hell would I miss out on one of my friends gaining superpowers!”

“Thanks, Kate.” Aurora reached up, and gently took her hand to stop her from petting her head more. “Help me up though. Esprit, did the system activate properly?” 

“Yes, though I am delaying the full suite of HUD displays and information until you are feeling better. There is no need to overwhelm you again.” Esprit confirmed as they hopped off her chest. Kate helped Aurora get back to her feet, and then sat down on her bed. 

“Alright, Esprit. Hit me with it. Slowly, if you can.” Aurora said, turning to her newly minted fox companion. 

“Very well. Activating the STAR System now.” Esprit replied, “You should see your Heads Up Display, or HUD appear in your vision now.” 

Aurora certainly could, blinking as… Things filled the corners of her vision. Just out of way to not be intrusive, but easily focused on to bring them into view. In the top right was a digital clock, while the top left held a five digit number like from out of a video game. It currently read [01050]. Below sat another small section of text, like it was bestowing a title. [Virtue Scale Rating: Unranked].  Beyond that, there was a thin line across the top of her vision that she immediately recognized as a simplified compass, eight little notches along it that turned as she did with markings to indicate cardinal directions. The bottom left of her vision held a small picture of a cell phone, and focusing on it brought her phone’s homepage into her full vision. 

“To go over some of the questions you no doubt have,” Esprit explained, giving Aurora a moment to finish exploring her HUD, “The number in the top left is your Score. By default, each newly chosen SuperSTAR gains one thousand score points, or SP. You gained an additional fifty SP for your… Dramatic scream earlier.” 

“Hold on,” Aurora interrupted as a frown crossed her face. “I got points for a panic attack? That’s… Disgusting.” 

“I would agree,” Esprit nodded, seeming just as uncomfortable as Aurora felt. “However, while I am free to voice my objections, it was suitably dramatic that the production team decided that it was worth additional SP.” 

“So… Anything they consider dramatic is worthy of awarding SP?” Kate asked, catching on before Aurora did. 

“In loose terms, yes.” The little robotic fox nodded. “You will gain score over time by simply living your life, but the more drama, intrigue, action or romance you get involved with, the higher your score will grow.”

“Jesus, this is sounding more and more like reality TV.” Aurora rolled her eyes, but kept her frustrations in check. 

“I think that’s because it is, hon.” Kate shifted a bit. “You… didn’t know that?” 

“I mean…” Aurora glanced over at her friend. “We had a basic briefing about it while I was still in the army, but they focused more on the… How do we stop them from just stealing a tank sort of thing? We didn’t really ask why, and I never cared enough to look it up.”

“That’s… fair.” Kate nodded, putting a hand on Aurora’s and giving it a gentle squeeze. “But yes, this whole thing? The SuperSTARS? They are the main focus of a TV show. Not one we get here, obviously, but one that exists for sure. SuperSTARs don’t talk about it much, but what has gotten out sounds exactly like a crappy reality TV program from around here.” 

“Great,” Aurora grumbled, “So not only will I be on TV, I’m on reality TV. The worst kind.” 

“Could we get back on track? We have a lot to do today, before the season officially starts and Aurora goes back to work.” Esprit asked. They had stepped over and sat just across from where Aurora sat on the bed. They looked rather uncomfortable looking up, despite their robotic nature. Aurora wondered to herself why she was able to read the little fox’s body language so easily, but for now that was a minor concern. She reached down, and picked Esprit up and set them on her lap. They let out a little foxy squeal, but rapidly settled into Aurora.

“Sure,” Aurora confirmed, her hand gently running down the little fox’s back. The smooth metal plates were very slightly overlapping one another, but it was all surprisingly warm to the touch. 

“The other item of note in your HUD is your Virtue Scale rating. This is something you will have moderate control over. The Virtue Scale works from the ratings of Paragon to Vagrant, with a variety of shades between them.” Esprit explained, after a moment of quiet enjoying the petting they were receiving. “Paragons are those who fight for your current rules, generally speaking. If you are interested in upholding the law, fighting for justice and peace, you will find yourself aligning more with the Paragon side of the scale. If you are not interested in that, and find yourself fighting against the world order, breaking laws, and changing or destroying systems, you will find yourself on the Vagrant side of the scale.” 

“Huh.” Aurora blinked, looking down at her AI. “We get control over that?” 

“Through your actions, yes. You can see right now that you are labelled as Unranked. This means that you have not demonstrated a leaning in either direction of the scale since you activated the STAR System.” Esprit confirmed. “It will likely remain so for some time, at least two or three weeks as your actions form a pattern. The Producers would like me to remind you here that you are encouraged to ‘be yourself’ and not worry too much about the Virtue Scale.” 

“Sounds like a bunch of corporate nonsense, but I can see why. If they go through the effort of picking someone, they don’t want them to try and change who they are just to fit an ideal.” Aurora nodded along, understanding the basics of what Esprit was saying. There was enough of the faux-platitude political stuff during her time in the army from the top down that she was familiar. “Is there a mechanical difference between them? The way you spoke seemed to imply…” 

Esprit shifted, pushing their mechanical tail around to gently bat against the side of Aurora’s leg. “Yes, there is. Being on one end of the scale or the other shifts the power and versatility of the abilities and props you can unlock in your repertoire. For example, Paragon-aligned STARs have access to generally more powerful abilities. Things like innate flight, divine magic, and more straightforward but powerful weaponry. On the other end of the scale, Vagrant-aligned STARs are more versatile, sneaky, and esoteric, but generally not nearly at the same power-level as Paragons at the same score.”

“And that access to power and versatility varies depending how along the scale you are?” Kate asked, fidgeting a little bit as she looked over Aurora. 

“That is correct.” Esprit confirmed again. 

“So what happens if you stay in the middle?” Kate pressed on, “Like… Does it strike a balance?”

“No, unfortunately. Remaining between either end of the scale means that you will have the worst of both. You will not be nearly as powerful, nor share the versatility of either Paragons or Vagrants.” Esprit shook their head, before letting out a big yawn. “It is generally unrecommended to remain unranked, and highly unlikely to occur at all.”

“Can you switch between them?” Aurora asked, a thought crossing her mind. She wasn’t sure, but she thought she had heard about people becoming villains after being heroes for a while. She was certain that she had heard a saying about that before. 

“Yes, it is possible, if rare.” Esprit confirmed. “Generally it only happens during a dramatic seasonal climax or something that triggers someone to turn their back on their ideals. And to answer your follow-up question, yes. The abilities you purchase will remain with you. However, to switch between ends of the scale usually requires a great deal of change to your innate personal nature. It is not something that can be manipulated normally.”

“Huh… Alright then.” Aurora shrugged, dropping her idea for the moment. There were other things they needed to go over. You mentioned abilities and items… Am I able to buy things now?” 

“Yes, though I would recommend giving some thought to what you may wish to accomplish. The tools to fight crime are very different from those to steal from the rich.” Esprit nodded. “However, browsing through the starter options is a good place to start formulating those thoughts.” 

Aurora nodded slightly. “Let's take a look then.”