Fortune or Fooey

"So? What do you think? Don't you think this would make an excellent video?"

"Hmmm."

Had it been any other day, SK would've put on a fake smile and told Rachel that this fortune-teller was probably full of animal excrement.

However, after the evening he had last night, SK was more than open to the idea that this fortune-teller was legit.

If anything, they were probably one of those Arcanis System Users.

'Man, it'd be great if I could just ask the System about this sort of thing,' SK thought to himself. Immediately after this thought popped into his head though, a transparent blue System window appeared in his field of vision and over Rachel's face.

[You do remember I am connected to your thoughts and these windows are only visible to you, right?]

"Pfft!"

"Huh?"

SK's puff of air was meant to express his surprise at this turn of events, but he knew better than to mention the existence of a reality-defying System thing to one of his closest friends this early in his life. As such, he decided to tell a little white lie.

"What was that?" Rachel asked, confused by the sudden puff of air.

"Nothing," SK lied. "Just…finding it unbelievable that there can be a fortune teller out there with a one hundred percent accuracy rate. Think she can tell me some lottery numbers?"

"Oh. Wait, I thought you disliked gambling."

"Several million dollars is several million dollars. I ain't looking a gift horse like that in the mouth anytime soon."

"Fair enough."

"Now then, shall we go?"

"Yes!"

Once SK and Rachel were on their way to the former's car, SK began to have a mental conversation with his System. To be more precise, SK was transmitting thoughts to the System, while the System itself responded via blue text boxes.

…

'Okay, I'm going to be honest; I kind of forgot that you were connected to my mind.'

[Really? We've known each other for an evening, slept in that specially crafted bed, and spent the last twenty minutes or so parsing through my menu screens, and you forgot that I am telepathically linked to you? For shame…]

'I…you are surprisingly articulate for...actually, what the fuck are you exactly?'

himself[I'm a System. The Superhero System, no less.]

'Yeseenut…you're not going to give me a clear answer on this, are you?'

[Nope!]

'Great. Alright, can you at least tell me if this fortune teller we're about to meet is another User? Because the gossip article seemed to imply that.'

[Error! Error! System is unable to determine this possibility without being in at least ten feet of the hypothetical user.]

'Distance thing, got it. Man, I hope this fortune-teller is just eerily accurate and not another User…''

…Meanwhile…

In a little shop hidden in a city block, next to a boba shop, two women were having a transaction across a small table that was covered in a satin cloth and decorated with a crystal ball.

On one side was a middle-aged woman with a frumpy hairstyle, thick glasses, and a sundress that seemed to fit wrongly despite being the right size. This woman was known as Victoria Bartleby, and she was wondering whether or not her current boyfriend was her soulmate.

"Well? What do your cards say? Do I have a shot at true love?"

"Hmmm…"

Sitting across from her was a comely woman dressed in a face veil and wearing a robe that radiated that mystique and wonder that usually came with being a fortune-teller. This lady was known as Miss Myster to the wider world, and she had just finished her tarot reading for Miss Bartleby.

And judging from the way her eyes looked as she went over the cards, the reading was quite strange.

"Well…" Miss Myster trailed off for dramatic effect before explaining the reading to Miss Bartleby. "The cards seem to suggest that you are indeed close to your soulmate; its just... odd."

"Odd?" Miss Bartleby repeated. "Odd how?"

"You may find this hard to believe, but it's actually possible for someone to have multiple soul mates and even have them change over the course of a lifetime. This is because our souls are not static objects but dynamic ones. Even the smallest stimuli can cause one's soul to drastically change," Miss Myster explained. "Tell me something. Has an old flame or relationship suddenly made itself known to you again?"

At this question, Miss Bartleby let out a gasp.

"My ex-boyfriend, Alonzo!" Miss Bartleby exclaimed. "He called me last night, saying that he was a fool for eloping with my sister and that he wanted me back."

"I-really?"

"Yes."

"Huh…Well then, that makes this next part easier to tell you. Right now, your soul is in flux, and you have been presented with a choice between two possible soulmates. Do you wish to reignite that old spark with Alonzo, or do you feel that your soulmate is none other than your current boyfriend, Richard?"

"I…I…don't know," Miss Bartleby honestly answered as she looked down at her hands in shame. With a sigh, she eventually got up from her seat and made her way to the exit.

"Thank you, Miss Myster. You have given me a lot to think about."

"Anytime."

Miss Bartleby left the shop with a brooding look and slightly sullen demeanor, as she had hoped that Miss Myster would be able to give her some guidance.

The painfully hilarious thing about this moment, though, was that Miss Myster could've definitely provided her with a clear answer and told her who her actual soulmate was. But alas, Miss Myster couldn't do that because it would've gone against the quest that the System had bestowed upon her.

And she had been working very hard to meet its demands.

[Ding! Quest Complete.]

[Number of relationships muddled: 5/5]

[The rewards have been sent to the user's inventory. Please review at your earliest convenience.]

"Fucking finally," Miss Myster spat out in a voice that sounded significantly more curt than the mysteriously soothing voice that she had used moments ago. "If I had to hear one more daffy bird complain about their relationship for another minute, I was going to-tsk!-no…no…you gave up that life a long time ago."

Now that she had finished the quest, Miss Myster wasted no time in opening up her inventory screen and claiming the reward box to see what she earned for completing this quest.

Evidently, she wasn't all too impressed.

[One spool of Fate Thread (Inferior) has been added to the inventory.]

[One Bronze Familiar Creation Ticket has been added to the inventory.]

[700Gs has been added to the inventory.]

"Seriously?! That's it? After all of that work and all of that effort in mucking up all of those lovebirds, just so I can get this chump change of a reward?! Bah! BAH!" Miss Myster cursed before taking a deep breath to center herself. "Forget it; I just need to fulfill my weekly quest. At least that one pays better."

Hearing her thoughts, her System quickly summoned forth the screen detailing her weekly quest and reminded her of what she had to do.

…

[Weekly Quest: Assured Fortune]

[Objective: Weave fate for a customer so that certain outcomes are guranteed. Be sure to include instructions on how to avoid this fate. Otherwise, be sure to fulfill the fortune in whatever way possible] 

[Fate Force: 0/1]

…

"Now I just need the right customer to come my way," Miss Myster concluded once she finished reading her weekly reminder and dismissing the quest screen.

Flicking her wrist, Miss Myster manifested a strange-looking card between her fingers with a weird symbol printed on one side and a demonic-looking bird on the other. Printed in neat cursive on the bottom of the picture was a name that read, "Fletcher the Strix." 

"Come on out, Fletcher. Mama needs your help."

HOO! HOO!

Releasing the card from her fingers, Miss Myster summoned forth a rather nasty-looking owl that had clearly seen better days. However, if one were to gaze into the eyes of this foul fowl, they would notice that its eyes looked a little too intelligent for a bird of his size. In fact, if one were to look into them, they would notice that it would feel as if one was staring into the eyes of another human being.

"Fletcher, honey, I need you to go out there and bring me someone who needs our guidance. Okay?"

"Hoo! Hoo!"

"Good."

Miss Myster didn't move from her seat as her familiar, Fletcher the Strix, flew out of her shop, phasing through the walls and windows like a ghost and ascending into the airspace above San Francisco.

The demonic-looking owl swept its gaze over the busy city streets before identifying a possible target of his mistress's machinations.

Eventually, the strix found exactly who they were looking for.

"Hoo! Hoo!"

Youngsters were always his master's favorite; they always made for the most tragic of news stories that were just so... entertaining.