Series

Rex Ractor keeps getting promoted into larger and larger versions of the mess he already understands. The escalation is in scale, never in Rex — he does not become a hero, learn to fight, or acquire a destiny. He gets a slightly better mop and a slightly worse job title. Each chapter stands alone; the running threads are rewards for continuity, never prerequisites.

1. 
   1 Sanitation Protocol

   You are the night janitor on a research station that has begun making its own decisions.

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2. 
   2 Hazard Pay

   A mop held level is a formal challenge. Nobody mentioned this to the cleaner.

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Barry Trundle walks through a catastrophe of his own making in excellent spirits, and never finds out. The self-aware little man of the originals is the one thing removed — Barry has never suspected he is failing, which is what keeps the comedy warm rather than cruel. LOOK tells you the truth, THINK ABOUT tells you what Barry believes, and working out the gap between them is most of the game. Each chapter stands alone.

1. 
   1 A fool and his voucher

   The prize is a weekend at Lake Placebo. The lake went in 1974. You could not be happier.

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Hollis Tare is not a hero and does not become one. She is the Reckoner: the officer of the crown whose whole work is to walk the nine parishes once a year and settle what is owed — three fish, one shilling, a song sung whole. What grows across the chapters is the size of the debt, never Hollis. Each chapter stands alone; the running threads are rewards for continuity, never prerequisites.

1. 
   1 The year's round

   Every march that stopped paying its debts is gone. You are why this one hasn't.

   IN BETA