The Burger Man
Cody had dozed off without discussing anything with his Papaw, they had been too worn out to waste energy. The exhaustion wasn't from anything in particular, but the politics they witnessed definitely did NOT help.
Cody's dream was filled with images of the dog turned monster. One moment they were chasing a ball, then the next it was ripping a bug/crab in half. The ease of transition was the unsettling part, like he could easily be a mindless monster just swinging a baseball bat at his loved ones and not even know it.
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Ira let the little brat sleep, he had earned it, the way he just unleashes destruction with his hands was nothing like the man had ever seen...well, perhaps napalm and bombs would beat it, but it was downright unnatural.
He walked over and kissed his love, "The boy is sleeping, he seems to be handling all of this poorly."
Betty just looked confused, "Didn't he save your behind again? How does that make a lick'a sense?"
Ira sighed, "It is how he handles it. He isn't."
Betty could understand, Ira wasn't always so fond of remembering the war or participating in society.
Betty looked at her husband, "You have to get him to open up to you, he is our boy, and he seems to be strong."
Ira nodded, "He fights like he doesn't know what is going on, seen it before, soldiers that are able to dismantle an enemy assault by intuition, but they could also fail basic on a bad day." Ira shook his head, "It is a liability on the battlefield."
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Time passed and it was now around 8 p.m. and Cody was surprisingly not very hungry, 'Huh, weird.' He brushed it off but felt a wary feeling from the orb. Not dangerous, but he should know why? Weird.
Cody felt the items in his pocket, he wanted to know what they were.
He pulled one out at random, the collar.
It had been stained but was once a forest green, right now it was barely able to fit around a finger though.
Cody wondered about identify? The classic tool for all powergaming in novels and games.
The orb shook its head disappointedly, then it pushed the knowledge to coat the object in mana.
Cody felt the collar and wished for it to become big….
"JESUS!" The collar had gone from finger size to belt size.
The orb was congratulating him on his first [Item] that was designated so by the system.
He looked around, but how do I figure out what it does?
The orb asked him if he would like to...put it on and try it out?
Cody immediately rejected, "It could be a mimic in belt form." Then he tossed it onto the ground.
No reaction.
Ol'orbbie was feeling down. This was, dumb, dumb as FUCK.
Cody continued, 'Joking, but it could be a cured object, and if I put it on, I might bind it to myself.'
Cody was thinking about other games and all of fantasy lore, things that come from enemies or bad guys were not supposed to be immediately trusted like the orb felt, but what did he know?
The orb knew this mentality would be a barricade to understanding, so it activated itself.
[Cody. Please trust the information I provide, it WILL save your life one day. I am telling you, that this item is not cursed and it will not bind to you. Only an item above [Rare] would ever bind, as the item would be arbitrarily weak. Please place the item on your person, and feel the benefits. I will tell you if you are correct and designate a name for experience points.]
The voice dumbfounded him with the amount of pure sass it had.
'Okay, okay.' Cody placed the belt around his waist and was confused on how to tighten it when it slowly snugged and fit itself on his waist.
'Auto sizing...nice…'
Cody closed his eyes in habit, the belt was radiating a feeling of something.
He felt like he needed to be true to himself, he needed to follow his own goals, fight for his own right to party.
'Uhhhhhh….that last one?' Cody expected a response but got none.
The feeling was like the one in college he had while drunk. Run away with Brook and just live together forever. It was a strange memory, but it made him feel good, he felt like standing up for his own goals.
'Is this a charming belt?' Cody asked and was clearly incorrect.
He needed to get Ira and Betty somewhere safe, they were worth too much to the world and to him. This place was a walking time bomb, the food, medical, military, and every department was being run by the Mayor and her assistants. This couldn't last for long, peacefully at least.
Cody racked his brain, but he just felt a sense of self loyalty. Then it hit him, a dog with a loyalty collar, obvious.
[You have successfully identified a Collar of Loyalty. Congratulations.]
Cody felt like he could put it into words, vaguely.
'So this item makes someone/thing more loyal to? Oh, the person that places the collar. And, 25%??'
He was getting a flashing feeling that was fleeting.
'Why can't we have item status sheets?' Cody was depressed, loot storage in a bank would be a nightmare in this system.
The orb wasn't going to take this, then Cody felt a phrase, "You have lost left leg privileges." Then he suddenly went ungracefully to the ground.
Cody was amazed at the level of control and wasn't weirded out at all, almost like the orb had controlled his emotional reaction to bodily invasion.
The orb smacked him, it did no such thing, he was simply this weird.
Feeling came back within a second, 'Good joke.' Cody was calm about the being within him, perhaps too calm, but it didn't really matter.
Cody planned on giving the belt to Ira for the dog, then he pulled out the other two items.
The bundle of leather..was..a bundle of leather.
Cody focused, drowning in a stinky hide that had been perfectly processed and yet retained some 'funkiness'.
'What, uncommon hide or something?'
[You have suc-] 'SKIIIP'
Cody pretty much figured that one out after trying to mind fuck the collar.
Then the box…
He felt like it could hold anything.
'Please don't let it be anything weird…'
Cody enlarged the box and it sat on his lap, a foot in all dimensions, and unnaturally lightweight.
The light green and beige color pattern seemed to resemble the hide of the creature.
He cracked the lid and golden light poured out from the inside, "WARN A BROTHER!" He was upset at the orb for just letting him get flashbanged pointblank.
The item was strange, it was very heavy and felt like it was made out of steel. The weird tubes and grated opening were dead giveaways though, it was something like a sausage maker, or meat extruder?
[You have successfully identified a (Miniaturized) Monster Meat Extruder. Congratulations.]
He was confused.
He walked over to Betty, she was speaking with Ira about his drinking habits for the millionth time.
"Grandma, I have a present for you!" he was a little confused, but it felt like she might be able to utilize it.
She looked at the miniature extruder, "Aww, how thoughtful, did you find this little replica while searchin'?"
Ira looked at it and was confused as well, he knew they hadn't even got to that part.
Cody smiled, "Nope, this is from a loot box we got for killing a giant monster!" He was a little too excited, but he should have been.
Ira stood up, "This was in the box? Then it can't be ordinary." He placed his hand on the object and felt it like Cody had.
Betty attempted to do so as well. They could feel like latent abilities of the object, just waiting to be unleashed.
Ira opened his eyes, "This thing can make monster meat into edible meat…" he was dumbfounded, it was a perfect solution to their growing food problem.
Ira and Betty just stared at their Grandson, who may have just saved thousands of lives.