“Oh no.”

I watch the Pale man as he shifts slightly from side to side in the black realm of nothingness, his every feature totally pristine and plastic down to the very last speck on his suit and tie. He’s like a fake approximation of what a human should look like.

“Oh, hell no.”

I try to turn away, even as my mind cries out that it’s pointless to run. This is his realm again.

He walks towards me. His every step making a dim click clack on the tiled flooring beneath us.

“Apologies, Asset 5,” he says. “This was the best I could conjure up with the limited resources currently at my disposal.”

Limited resources my ass, I think. You just can’t be bothered screwing up my brain more!

I watch, paralyzed, as he walks towards me with that dumb smile plastered across his stupid face.

Did I mention he’s stupid?

I will my body to use its powers. But, yeah, of course he’s messed with those.

[Blink]

DEACTIVATED

[Glittering Thrust]:

DEACTIVATED

I’m just a dog when I’m face to face with him, and it’s crazy how naked that makes me feel.

So I curl up and lay my head on one monochrome tile, letting out a hmpf! of indignation.

“Alright, get it over with,” I tell him. “Say what you need to say and let me get back to my bagel eating, General-slaying ways.”

He looks at me through wispy clouds of white fluff that pass between us in this colorless realm.

“We can appreciate that your stress levels are rather high at this time.”

“Rather high? Buddy, I’m ready to have an aneurism and I don’t even know if dogs can get them.”

“This is precisely why I have taken it upon myself to call you here,” he continues. “I have done so against the wishes of my superiors, who believe non-contact to be preferential to direct interference in the affairs of an Asset.”

“They got the right idea,” I scoff. “The less I see you, the better.”

“You must understand that it is my responsibility to oversee your progress,” he goes on, unperturbed. “I feel it would be remiss of me to not at the very least elucidate the options that are available to you at this crucial juncture. Perhaps you are unaware of what can be done at this time. I do not believe it is an example of interference to illuminate you.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Cut to the chase, for the love of any Gods that are up there,” I say with a heavy sigh. “I’ve got business to take care of.”

“Precisely,” the Pale specter says, moving around me, pacing like he’s deep in thought, while more tiles materialize out of nowhere to give him platforms to walk on. “Your current trajectory is one which conflicts with your overall objective. For this reason, I deign it necessary to tell you that this is a path you may freely reject.”

My ear perks up.

“Reject?”

He nods. “The elimination of the General and the saving of the Elvish grove does not coincide with your main objective. We maintain that your efforts would be better expended on continuing to Glumgavel and establishing direct communication with our databank.”

I shake myself. “Wait – y – you’re telling me I should just up and leave the Elves to die?”

He meets my stare with his own, icy, calculated eyes. “Consider the practical implications of your predicament,” he says. “The Elven have forced you into a precarious situation and demand that you offer them salvation. However, as our Asset you are perfectly within your right to refuse such demands. Your duty is the elimination of the Darkseed itself, not one of its minor lieutenants. In the large scheme of things-“

“’Large scheme of things’,” I repeat with a hearty chuckle. “That’s what you types really care about, huh?”

He cocks his head at me in confusion.

“There’s a word for people like you,” I say with spite. “You care more about the world than the people in it, don’t you?”

“This world must survive, Asset 5.”

“At the cost of how many deaths?”

Our eyes meet over the wispy clouds of nothingness and I catch a glimpse of something that could be emotion flare up in his plastic, pale face, swimming behind the clear sapphire pools that are his eyes.

“I consider the expiration of Asset 4 to be a personal failure,” he finally says. “The limited autonomy I am granted as a Handler sometimes results in…lapses in judgement. If Asset 4 had understood his position, and the options available to him at the time of his final assault against the Darkseed, I believe the outcome would have been different. This is why I am here.”

“Well, that’s a surprise,” I say with a twitch of my cream-covered nose. “You actually feel regret for what happened?”

“’Regret’ as you term it would be unprofessional,” his ghostly visage replies coldly. “I am activated only when an Asset is awakened, and my continued existence is determined by nothing more than the maintenance of that Asset. Thus, it behooves me, on a personal level, to elucidate options which guarantee a higher chance of your survival, and which result in the completion of your mission.”

“By running away,” I scoff again. “You’re telling me to just turn tail and go.”

The Pale Man shrugs. “With the army of the General distracted in the process of finding you here, you would have ample time to clear the path to the Grey’s fortress.”

I stand up, surprised to find my legs not shaking with fear, for once.

“They’ll find me anyway,” I tell him. “If I beat them here, I’ll have saved the Elves and stopped a whole army. Come on, man. You’re really telling me I should just run?”

He holds my gaze for an uncomfortable length of time.

“You have changed, Asset 5,” he eventually says. “We often find this to be the case. We wonder if your world is responsible for this, or if you are simply made to feel empathy for even the basest creatures of the earth.”

I laugh again. “You’re talking to one of those ‘base creatures’ right now.”

“You could expire, here and now, Asset 5,” he tells me straight. “All for the good of these Elves, who think you little more than a nuisance. We wonder: under these circumstances, do you truly not fear the approach of death?”

I don’t drop my gaze. I don’t stutter or shake. All I do is smile up at him through his blank, uncaring veil, while images of Swiftrunner and Myra flash through my mind.

“’Course I do,” I say. “Back when I was just a little dog looking for his next headpat that kinda fear was all I had. But now it’s different. You’re right about one thing, Mr Pale-Man: I have changed. Dunno when it happened, but I’ve got people that depend on me now. I’ve got people looking for me to do the right thing. People that wanna help me do the right thing, and I reckon the more people like that I meet, the more chance this world has of getting saved, right? Because, trust me, I ain’t a dog that can do this alone.”

As crazy as it sounds, I see what looks like a genuine smile appear on his face for a moment as searing light begins to cloud my eyes again, and I’m returned to the waking world.

"Good luck, Asset 5."