"Wait, are you saying Systemfall is millions of years old?" Kristi asked with a very concerned expression.

Nessy tilted her head, considering the question as she snagged up and chewed another crystal fruit. "Maybe? I can't tell for sure. The general feels of watt I'm picking up is that this place isn't just a regular store that got affected by Systemfall a few weeks ago."

"That's ridiculous," Katerina scoffed. "It's just a Superstore that got warped by whatever cosmic bullshit is happening everywhere on Earth. Nothing more."

Nessy's ears flattened in frustration. "Why won't you listen to me? Your souls are literally being kept somewhere in this place, and all you can do is argue! Argue, argue, argue."

"I'm not paying some interdimensional shopping mall," Katerina crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Tell that to the papercraft monsters trying to collect your debt," Nessy retorted, gesturing to the window where more receipt people were forming, their paper bodies rustling as they surrounded the RV trying to find a way into our domain.

I looked between the arguing pradavarians, feeling the tension building to a breaking point. Nessy's frustration was palpable, her tail stiff with irritation. The raptor sisters maintained their defiant stance, unwilling to admit they might need to follow the store's rules.

"What about finding another exit?" Kirra suggested. "What about delivery entrances or emergency exits?"

"Another random exit will likely lead to another dimension," Nessy shook her head. "This place is a limitless mess and I'd like to get back to our Ferguson, not the one where everything is made from soup or nails or something."

"Bloody stuck here with a bloody annoying dog," Kat growled under her breath, arms crossed.

Nessy growled in pure frustration. Then, her expression shifted to focused resolve. She marched over to the storage compartment where my grandfather's old guitar rested. With a purposeful motion, she pulled it out and settled onto one of the fold-down seats.

"What are you doing now?" Katerina demanded.

"The only thing that seems to work around here," Nessy replied, tuning the guitar with expert fingers. "Communicating with music."

Before anyone could object, she strummed a powerful chord that bounced across the entire RV. She began to sing, her voice cutting through the tension like a knife:

"Listen up, you stubborn raptors, Time to face what really matters! This store's alive and keeping score, Of every item walked out that door!

Your souls are fragmented, torn apart, Pieces missing from your very heart. The Superstore has claimed its fee, In ways that none of you can see!"

The raptor sisters stared in stunned silence as Nessy continued, her voice growing stronger with each verse. I could feel the song's impact—not just as music, but as something more substantial, like it was weaving itself into the fabric of reality around us, a clear, inescapable message that Nessy was struggling to deliver to Kristi's sisters.

"We can fight these paper creatures, Shoot and blast their lifeless features, But they'll return a hundredfold, As long as your debt remains unsold!"

Kaledoniya's expression shifted from skepticism to wonder as she clapped. Even Kirra seemed entranced, her tail swishing unconsciously to the beat.

"This dungeon's old as time itself, Each aisle an interdimensional shelf. It follows rules we must respect, Or consequences we'll collect!"

The RV's lights flickered in time with the music, and I noticed the receipt-people outside had paused their assault, their scanner-eyes blinking in a pattern that matched Nessy's rhythm.

"Your pride won't save your scattered souls, Nor will bullets, blades, or brave patrols. The only path that leads us out, Is settling debts without a doubt!"

Krysanthea's feathers relaxed as she listened, her amber eyes on Nessy with what was possibly a look of respect and appreciation. Even the fox officer seemed to relax, her fluffy tail wagging to the tune. Bulbee flowers flickered in tune too, Bulwichu tree swaying its crystalline branches to the melody.

"Our packs survived the slime domain, We'll conquer this retail chain! But first we have to play its game, Or forever stuck we will remain!"

Nessy's voice rose for the chorus, her ears perked forward with passionate conviction:

"So swallow pride and pay the price, Take my advice, don't think it twice! Your scattered soul-shards we will reclaim, Restore your essence, end this game!

The Superstore is patient, vast, It's lived out ages, unsurpassed. But we don't have eternity, To wait out its severity!

Think of Ferguson waiting there, Of people counting on your care! We must return to guard the town, Not let our stubbornness keep us down!"

As she approached the final verse, Nessy locked eyes with Katerina who still had her arms crossed and seemingly unaffected by the song.

"So what'll it be, Strand sisters three? Will you trust the husky who can see? The path ahead is crystal clear, Pay your debts and get us out of here!"

Concluding the lyrics portion, Nessy strummed the guitar for about ten more seconds with a sweet smile looking like the most precious, cutest husky in the universe, the RV lights pointed at her and making her figure out perfectly, highlighting every feature.

The final chords hung in the air for a bit, reverberating through the RV long after Nessy's fingers had left the strings. For a moment, no one spoke, the impact of her performance leaving us all momentarily speechless.

Kirra was the first to break the silence. "Damn! That was... incredible," she said, her eyes wide with amazement. "How are you so good at music now, Ness?"

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"Did you feel that?" Kaledoniya asked, looking at her sisters. "It was like I could sense what she was talking about—our soul fragments scattered through the store!"

Krysanthea nodded with a smile, more used to Nessy's talent compared to her sisters.

Only Katerina remained outwardly unmoved, though I noticed her claws flexing nervously against her elbow. "Neat trick with the artifact-amplified singing," she said dismissively. "But singing doesn't change facts. We can't just roll over and do whatever this place wants."

Nessy set the guitar aside with a sigh. "I'm not saying roll over. I'm saying we need to work within the system to beat it. And that this shop wants payment."

"With what?" Katerina demanded. "We don't exactly have millions in cash to cover everything we've taken! What's it even gonna charge for a watch that can rewind time?!"

"I think," Nessy said slowly, her nose twitching, "we need to work here."

"What?" Katerina's red-tinted cheek scales seemed to darken with incredulity.

"Get jobs at the Superstore," Nessy clarified. "Start paying off the debt through labor. Once we've shown good faith by working off some of what we owe, I'm pretty sure the door will reappear. We follow the rules, we get out."

"That is the most ridiculous—" Katerina began.

"I think that," Krysanthea interrupted, "it makes a twisted kind of sense. If this place is an infinite dungeon that operates on retail logic, then employment is a valid form of debt repayment."

"You can't be serious!" Katerina turned to her sister. "We're going to become cashiers in a haunted Superstore filled with monsters that'll try to bite our faces off anytime we don't pay attention?"

"If it gets us out of here with your souls intact, then yes," Krysanthea replied firmly.

Katerina's jaw clenched, her eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. "This is insane. All of it. And I'm not taking orders from an effing dog!"

"Maybe we can discuss this in a more relaxed setting," I suggested, sensing the growing, murderous tension. "Kristi, Kat, can we talk in the dining area?"

After a moment of glaring at each other, the two eldest Strand sisters followed me to the small dining booth. I sat on one side, while they squeezed in across from me.

"Look," I began carefully, "I understand your concerns, Katerina. This situation is... unprecedented and weird. But Nessy has proven right about things so far—the slime core, your Superstore artifacts taking pieces of your souls. Maybe we should trust her on this too."

"Why should I?" Katerina hissed, leaning forward. "This is Ferguson's survival we're talking about! Who knows how long it's going to keep us here! Our family has maintained order through this crisis—we've kept people fed, safe, and relatively normal. Then you two show up with your... freaky RV artifact and a singing dog, and suddenly we're supposed to follow you, change everything?"

"We're not asking you to change everything," I countered. "Just try to adapt to the reality we're facing right now. And you only mainly need to follow Kristi's orders as she's Chief, right?"

"I was fine with Kristi having a human boyfriend," Katerina continued, ignoring my point. "Even a househusband is acceptable—humans make excellent partners for career-driven pradavarian raptors! But a dog? In your pack? That crosses a line, Kristi!"

Krysanthea's feathers flared with sudden anger. "Who I include in my pack is none of your business, Kat!"

"It absolutely is my business when it affects our family and our town!" Katerina shot back. "Do you have any idea what Father would say if he knew you were pack-bonded with a lowly canine? The scandal would undermine everything we've worked for!"

"Our father is not the ultimate authority on my life!" Krysanthea's voice rose dangerously.

"He's the Lord Marshall of Ferguson!"

"And I'm the Chief Ranger," Krysanthea countered. "I've proven myself capable of making decisions for the safety of our town, with or without his approval."

"Are you?" Katerina challenged, her golden eyes flashing. "Because from where I'm sitting, you've been compromised. Highway 69 clearly broke something in you, Kristi! Don't think that I can't see how your ha..."

That was the final straw. With an animalistic snarl, Krysanthea lunged across the table at her sister. They crashed to the floor in a tangle of scales and feathers, claws flashing as they wrestled for dominance.

I blinked at them from my seat, startled by the sudden violence. Nessy appeared at my side, sliding into the booth beside me, watching with a relaxed expression as the two raptors rolled across the RV floor, hissing, growling, scratching and biting each other.

"Should we stop them?" I asked uncertainly.

"Noppers," Nessy replied. "This is raptor conflict resolution. Very normal for them, actually."

"They solve things with violence?"

"Yes. This da raptor way," the dog-girl replied. "Don't try to get in between 'em or you'll get sliced."

"Aight."

The fox-girl and two raptors sisters retreated, to make as much space for the two wrestling sisters in the middle of the RV.

The two sisters fought with impressive coordination and power despite the confined space. Katerina had the advantage of raw aggression, but Krysanthea fought with a bit more measured technique. They slammed into the kitchenette, sending plastic cups clattering to the floor.

Kaledoniya and Kirra watched, making no move to intervene.

I glanced at them.

"Typical stuff at the Strand house," Kirra commented with a nonchalant shrug. "Kat's always trying to become top raptor. They go at it at least once a week."

After a particularly intense flurry of movements, Krysanthea managed to pin Katerina to the floor, her forearm pressed against her sister's throat, her knee keeping her sister's body immobilized.

"Yield," Krysanthea growled, her amber eyes blazing, claws pointed at Kat's eye.

Katerina struggled for a few more seconds before going limp. "Fine," she spat. "I yield."

"You will not question my decisions, Deputy Chief," Kristi hissed.

"I will not question your decisions, Chief."

"You will respect my... dog." Kristi waved at Nessy who beamed, tail wagging.

"I will respect your dog," Kat hissed out.

Krysanthea released her sister and stood, adjusting her rumpled uniform with dignity despite the feathers sticking out in all directions.

"Now that that's settled," she said as if nothing unusual had happened, "we need to decide our next steps."

"What exactly is the problem with dogs anyway?" I wondered. "From my perspective, Nessy's been the most consistently helpful person in this entire situation."

Katerina, let out a bitter laugh, rising from the floor. "Dogs are emotional, unpredictable, and intensely territorial. They form inappropriate attachments and refuse to let go. Their pack bonds border on obsession. During season changes and cycle events they become even more unmanageable—howling, marking territory, messing up public spaces, picking fights and assaulting people of opposite gender."

"And raptors don't have any similar issues?" I countered.

"We control our instincts, train ourselves to push them into organizational focus!" Katerina insisted, finally sitting up. "Dogs wallow in theirs! We know when it is time to step away!"

Nessy clung to me, stepping closer to me.

"See?" Kat growled. "She thinks that she owns you, idiot human!"

"Kat," Kristi spun to her sister. "You will respect my… Alec!"

"I will respect your boyfriend," Katerina muttered, lowering her eyes to the ground in a submissive gesture.

"Kat, to be fair," Kaledoniya interjected unexpectedly. "Nessy's demonstrated more insight than any of us so far. She helped stop the slimes, right?"

"Right," Kristi nodded.

"So, she can clearly smell things we can't perceive," Kaledoniya concluded.

Katerina stared at her younger sister in disbelief. "You're taking her side?"

"I'm taking the side of getting out of here alive," Kaledoniya replied. "Humans have always been the calmest, most rational species. It's why they're trusted with the most critical roles in society. If both Alec and Nessy n' Chief think this plan will work, I'm willing to try it."

"I agree," Kirra chirped. "Besides, did you hear her sing? That was... sooo cool! I've never experienced anything like it."

Katerina looked between her sisters, then at Nessy and me, her expression shifting from anger to resignation.

"You're all against me then," she said flatly. "You're all falling for her artifact-power."

"Not against you," I corrected. "For getting everyone home safely."

"Fine," Katerina finally conceded, though her eyes still burned with defiance. "We'll try it your way."

Nessy's tail began wagging tentatively. "So we're agreed? 'Operation Employment' begins?"

"Yes," Krysanthea confirmed. "We follow the store's rules and see if it helps us resolve this situation."

"Don't expect me to be happy about it," Katerina grumbled.

"I never expect you to be happy about anything," Nessy replied cheerfully, earning a deadly glare from the dark-scaled raptor.

She sniffed the raptor and seemed to realize something, her tail stopping its wagging, her expression darkening. She didn't say anything though.

Krysanthea stepped forward, assuming her leadership role once more. "Alright, we need a concrete plan. If we're going to work in this place, we need to figure out how to apply for jobs, where to find the soul fragments, and how much we need to pay off."

"I'm on it," Nessy declared, her nose already twitching as she slid one of the windows open slightly and sniffed the air. "Got it! First things first—let's find the Human Resources department!"

[Quest Update: "Supermarket Sweep" - New Objective: Secure employment at the Infinite Superstore to begin debt repayment!]

The System message flashed at us.

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