The next day the whole staff was there to give him examinations. Despite Ren's protests that he was fine, they continued well into the afternoon. He didn't even get to do his physical therapy. Once all the tests were done they let him relax in bed. He was well fed and didn't feel too resentful about all the poking and proding he'd gone through that day. Luckily, Lucy had been there the whole time and kept him entertained with playful banter, and he kept her entertained with stories about his adventure in the game. He left out how the last session ended, though he suspected that she knew. He had caught her staring at him several times with a worried look on her face.

Ren got so mad when he thought about how he was ambushed. Either the system had notified them where he was, or... or the system was used to send him there. That had to be it!  Ren thought. He relaxed and decided on a course of action. He would have to contact the company and see how it was possible for the system to be used the way it was.

Ren figured the doctor would have the results of the tests in the morning, and settled in for good long sleep.

The next day Ren did his physical therapy and when he was done, Lucy told him all the results came back okay. Ren smiled and reminded her that he'd told her he was fine. She still had a worried look, until Ren asked to go out to the mall. Lucy's face lit up and she went to make the arrangements. Ren always liked Lucy's smile because it always made him smile, even when he didn't feel like it... but he felt like it today, so her smile was so much better because of that.

They took a taxi to the mall and had their usual trip around the shops. Lucy tried the lacy lingerie trick again to try and tease Ren, but he told her that the blue set would bring out her eyes more than the red one would. Ren laughed as her mouth hung open and she blushed. He rolled his wheelchair towards the food court and she caught up to him.

“That wasn't funny!” She said as she took the handles of his wheelchair.

“Yes it was! The look on your face! Ha ha ha!” Ren turned his face to her. “Turnabout is fair play, you know!” He said and grinned.

Lucy rolled her eyes and smiled. She was glad that Ren was in such a good mood. She'd heard all the gruesome details from Barbara about what had happened to Ren the night before. She wouldn't dare watch the video. She'd been shocked and horrified that something like that could happen in a game; but, she knew since it was supposed to be so real, she guessed that crimes there had to happen, too... even if the idea of that made her skin crawl.

They got chili cheese fries and gravy this time and sat at one of the tables in the food court. Luckily, they had chairs that Lucy had moved aside for Ren's wheelchair. They chatted about different things. Lucy talked about her favorite shows and the characters she loved to hate. It made Ren laugh because she could get so involved in something like that. When most of their food was gone, a man approached the table.

“Hey there, sweet thing. Wanna have some fun?” He said.

Both Ren and Lucy looked at him with disgust clearly shown in their expressions. He didn't take that as a deterrent, however.

“Come on... ditch the cripple and be with a real man.” He said as he put his hand on the table in front of Ren and tried to push the chair away with his leg. His effort was futile because the wheels were locked and he couldn't move it that way.

“Get lost. I'm not interested. Even if I was alone and you were the last man on earth, I still wouldn't be interested.” Lucy spat at him. “I'd let humanity die.”

“Aw, come on! Don't be like that.” The man tried to reach for her, but his hand suddenly stopped. Ren had grabbed a hold of his arm.

“I believe she said she wasn't interested.” Ren said in an ice cold voice.

Lucy was startled to hear such a tone come from him. The man didn't blink an eye.

“Stay outta this, ya runt. This don't concern you.” The man tried to move his arm away, but he couldn't. Ren had a death grip on it and wasn't about to let go. They were causing a scene and the other people in the food court were looking at them.

“It doesn't concern you, either. I suggest you leave. Now.” Ren squeezed the man's arm harder. All that working out with the hand exerciser during physical therapy had really paid off.

“Let... GO!” The man said and twisted his arm out of Ren's grip. Unfortunately, a loud snap was heard at the same time. When the man looked down, he saw that Ren's little finger was stuck up at a very bad angle. He put his hands up in surrender, but Lucy lost it. She had seen Ren's finger, too.

“You... you... BASTARD!” Lucy yelled and pushed the man in the chest. He fell backwards over a nearby chair and onto the floor. “How dare you hurt him like that!” She stepped over to the man and he tried to crawl away.

“I didn't mean it! It just happened!” He said, then ducked. Lucy's foot had almost connected with his head.

“Someone call the police! Or mall security! Or anyone!” Lucy bellowed. Several people were already on their phones before she spoke. They'd seen Ren's finger as well.

The man tried to crawl away again but a nice bystander, a big burly guy with a beard and mustache, stood by the man's head.

“I don't think so, buddy. You ain't goin' nowhere.” The burly guy said and crossed his arms. He wore sunglasses, a red bandana, a blue t-shirt, and loose fitting jeans. He kind of looked like a biker.

Lucy thanked the burly guy and turned to Ren. She knelt by his chair and looked at his finger. She was about to straighten it, but Ren stopped her.

“Leave it for now. The cops might want some evidence as to what happened. If you fix it before they see it, he might get off with just a warning.”

“B-but doesn't it hurt?” Lucy asked in a small voice.

“Oh, like you wouldn't believe... but... I've felt worse. A lot worse.” Ren looked Lucy in the eye. “You know I have.” Lucy nodded. “A few more minutes of this is nothing compared to that.” Ren said and let the tears well up in his eyes, but didn't let them fall. Not yet.

The police showed up about 20 minutes later. Ren figured that now was the time to let some of his feelings show and tears ran down his face. He didn't cry, but everyone could see that he was in severe pain. The police got the story from several eye witnesses, that the man was harassing them and that Ren's finger ended up being broken. Ren told the truth when they got around to questioning him, and the officers could clearly see how broken his finger really was. This was no small matter to be brushed aside, unlike the other times Lucy was harassed. The man was arrested and charged with several counts of assault, and causing bodily harm to a minor. Ren still had another month to go before his birthday.

“It was his fault!” The man shouted as he was hauled away. “It was HIS fault!”

The police and the crowd looked at the man with disgust. The big burly guy had stuck around the whole time and Lucy told him how much she appreciated all of his help and thanked him again. The burly guy ducked his head and scuffed his feet.

“It weren't no trouble, ma'am.” He said. Lucy said goodbye and went back to Ren's side.

She knelt down by his chair again. “Are you ready now?”

Ren nodded and Lucy pulled his finger down and back into place.

“Aaaagghhh!” Ren hollered and the people around him jumped. Even the big burly guy winced. Ren let the tears flow again. He didn't have to hold them back this time.

Lucy couldn't set his finger properly until they got back to the hospital, but at least it wasn't causing extra pain by being at such an odd angle anymore.

“Time to go home.” Ren said through gritted teeth. The tears stopped on their own eventually.

Lucy nodded, gathered up the trash, and tossed it in the garbage.

Stolen story; please report.

They made it back to the hospital without any further incidents. When they got inside, Lucy went into full 'nurse mode' and Ren was placed gently onto his bed. She took great care to not hurt his hand further. She got the supplies she needed and set to work. In no time at all, she had his finger set up in a splint and had him take some pain medication. He tried to tell her he didn't need any, but she stared him down and he took it without another word. He spent the rest of the day talking to Lucy and the other nurses. Gossip as good as what happened to them at the mall, spread like wildfire. Different versions had made the rounds and Ren was questioned all day about it. He laughed when he heard the one where he'd jumped out of his wheelchair and punched the guy in the head.

It's too bad that wasn't true!  Ren thought. That would have been a good hero's moment.

Ren kept debunking all the different stories and told the real one so many times that by the time he was supposed to go to bed, he'd already been fast asleep for an hour.

The next day, after Ren did his physical therapy, he wondered how he could contact the company. He needed to know how the system was used against him like that. He asked Lucy about it when she came in to give him breakfast. She said that the doctor had the number for Sid Tec and she'd ask him about it. Ren nodded and said he'd wait to talk to the doctor. Ren ate and Lucy took the tray back to the kitchen. A few minutes later the doctor came in and Ren asked about contacting the company. The doctor asked why, and Ren asked if he'd seen the video. The doctor said yes, and Ren explained that the system had sent him a message to go to the spot where it happened, and Ren wanted to know how the system could have been used like that. The doctor was intrigued at Ren's deductive reasoning and said he'd call the CEO right away.

“Don't forget to send a copy of the video.” Ren said to the doctor as he left the room.

********

After talking with the CEO, the doctor sat in his office and tried to decide what he was going to tell Ren. It was quite the pickle the CEO had dropped on him. Telling him the system could be manipulated in that way, but that it was fixed with a new patch and would never happen again. The doctor had misgivings about letting Ren back into the game at all, the first time something bad had happened... but now... he sighed. There really wasn't anything he could do about it. He'd have to take the CEO's word on the safety of the system. At least Ren could log out at any time and can't get trapped in the game anymore.

The doctor went back to Ren and pretty much told him everything. How he'd been killed because it was the only way to get him out of the game safely. He told Ren that the CEO had no idea it was happening that way, and when he found out, he had them fired, their accounts deleted, and had them banned from the game.

Well, damn. There goes my revenge plans.  Ren thought. That's just going to burn me up inside, knowing I can't get them back for what they did! Fired? All they got was fired? They killed me, dammit. With a needle!

The doctor, unaware of Ren's thoughts, told him he was free to get back online if he wanted. Ren just nodded and the doctor left his room.

Do I want to play today?  Ren pondered, then closed his eyes. Teepo. I haven't forgotten about you... or my promise.

Ren went to the bathroom and did his business. He cleaned up and got into bed. He picked up the VR headset and put it on. He didn't want what happened to him, to happen again. He would have to get stronger. He needed to learn how to be better.

“Flow Login Start”

Ren felt the familiar sensation of transition and appeared in the completely white, wide open area he'd first started the game in.

System Update! Various bug fixes and updates have occurred since the last time you were logged in.

View Update Log:

Yes/No

“No.” Ren said. No matter what it said, he knew what the real update was for... and the 'bug fix' was actually the company's attempt to get him out of the system. He looked down at himself and saw that he wore his Elven Court outfit... and the beetle crown was on his finger. Cool.

“Summon Teepo!” Ren said and tapped the ring with his thumb.

Teepo appeared and Ren picked him up. He put Teepo on his shoulder. It was now his regular perch.

“M-m-master? Are we...” Teepo shuttered. “...in the great beyond?”

Ren laughed and it echoed in the empty space. “No, Teepo.” Ren said, but then stopped. If anything, this would be 'the great beyond' for Teepo. It was the loading area for the game... but Ren didn't want to scare the little guy like that. “I'm just waiting to get back to the city.”

Teepo skittered from one shoulder to the other. “So... so this is... Limbo?”

“Yes... yes, Teepo! That's it exactly.” Ren smiled at Teepo and Teepo chittered in delight. They both waited to get back to their 'lives'. Instead of Ren fading out of the white expanse as usual and going into the game, this time the game faded in and formed around him instead. He thought it was a bit weird, but figured it was the update that messed things up. When the game came into focus, he realized where he was. He was back in the mansion, in the room he'd first woken up in. That was an odd restore point to have, but he didn't question it. Ren went to the door of the room, but didn't open it. He activated Sneak and listened. He could hear nothing on the other side and then opened the door. He still heard nothing and moved down the hall to the left. He knew how to get back to the main hall from there. Teepo hadn't seen this part of the mansion and was all excited. He stayed on Ren's shoulder, despite wanting to skittle around on the beautiful tiled floors. Ren chuckled to himself. If he thought he had the time, he'd let Teepo do just that.

Ren got to the stairway and he heard noises come from downstairs. He stopped and listened, but he could barely hear people talking. He slowly crept down the stairs, one at a time, and paused on each one. When he was almost at the bottom, a group of four people passed by in the hallway, right below where he stood. They didn't see him, but he froze anyways.

Teepo, go!

Teepo jumped down and skittered down the stairs and barely touched them. He disappeared around the corner. Ren waited for a few moments and then Teepo spoke.

“Master! The party is still going on!”

What? How?

“I don't know... but there are still lots of people here and they look like they are performing some type of mating ritual.”

Ren was shocked when he heard this, and turned off Sneak. Teepo must be seeing things... Ren thought as he walked down the stairs, down the hallway, past some bystanders, and into the main hall. Ren almost laughed when he saw what Teepo had seen. People actually were doing a kind of mating ritual. They were dancing. Ren looked at the crowd of people that were now gathered in the middle of the hall.

They're dancing, Teepo.

“That's what I said, master. A mating ritual.”

Ren laughed and looked down at Teepo. He wasn't going to try and explain the differences to Teepo tonight. When he looked up, a young girl with glasses stood in front of him.

“Would you care to dance?” Rosie the Librarian asked as she held out her hand.

Oh, crap. Ren thought. Teepo chittered in laughter.