“Is there something I’m missing? I get that Geoff hiding the orb is suspicious but do you know what he’s hiding it for?”

Fuyumi furrowed her brows when she heard Shin’s question.

“I mean I’m not opposed to calling Nightingale to ask for his opinion but is Geoff that dangerous?”

Fuyumi turned her head toward Shin.

“I have some reason to believe that, yeah… Let’s walk and talk” She said, pointing toward the road.

Shin got up off the stairs and followed her. They only had about another ten minutes to return to the inn.

“That night, I confronted Geoff about the orb. I might’ve been too… aggressive with him but I felt that my conviction was justified.”

“Was there no other way?”

“I could’ve asked him without pointing a dagger at his throat but…”

Shin sighed, facepalming.

“You really should be a little more careful about that.”

“I had my suspicions, and I was right.” Fuyumi said pouting, turning to look away from Shin.

“Well, how did he react to that?”

“Obviously, he didn’t really like that. He grabbed my dagger and pulled it straight through him. I was caught off guard since I forgot about Dragonfall’s no-combat rule.”

“Which apparently doesn’t apply to everyone equally. How fun.” Shin added, throwing his hands behind his head.

Fuyumi clicked her tongue in mutual annoyance.

“He also told me to keep it between us. He seemed like he didn’t want to have to fight us or anything. Although, that might just be for his convenience to accomplish whatever goal he has.”

“Could be either way. Since he was surprised at how strong we were, I’d assume that it’s a bit of both.”

They continued walking until they were at the inn’s entrance. Shin opened the door for Fuyumi and they walked into the lobby and were greeted by the staff. Shin felt awkward as they made their way to her room. He didn’t think much about it the first time given the situation that they were in, but he was still going into a room alone with a girl. Fuyumi went to the corner of the room to organize her belongings. Meanwhile, Shin tried to take his mind off of the intruding thoughts by springing up a conversation as he sat beside the desk.

“I guess now is a good time to ask Nightingale.”

“Sounds good.” Fuyumi responded while she hung up her cardigan in the wardrobe.

Shin sent him a message.

“Hey Nightingale, do you remember that orb from the cave in Freila? What’d you do with it?”

He closed the menu after he sent the message. However, a few seconds later, a notification icon sprang up in the corner of his vision.

“He’s always so quick with the replies.”

Fuyumi sat on the bed.

“I still have it with me. I never spent the time to actually appraise it since we’ve been so busy. I’m not sure if we can do that here though. We might have to go back to Freila. I assume that’s not really an option for us though, is it?”

Shin read his message out loud for Fuyumi.

“Being in Dragonfall almost made me forget that we’re wanted.”

“Yeah.” Shin made a one-sided smile as he replied.

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“What do you think we should do then? We could look around in Dragonfall to make sure, but Nightingale is usually right about his guesses, isn’t he?”

“Almost always.”

Shin opened the social menu to find Geoff’s name as he replied. He thought about his options. Confronting him with Fuyumi would likely result in a fight. Leaving Dragonfall for Freila to appraise the orb could be an option, but he would have to sneak his way into the city without getting caught somehow. The soldiers at the gate would immediately notice him so that probably wasn’t an option. Finally, they could just leave Geoff alone. They don’t know what his goals are or if they’re even evil. Shin scratched his head in frustration as he thought.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s just a little confusing. We don’t know what he’s planning or if he even has bad intentions.”

Fuyumi laid on the bed. She put her hand in the air, staring at her palm against the wooden backdrop of the ceiling.

“I could just follow him you know.”

She snapped her fingers, creating a cloud of smoke that collected into a clone of her. The clone walked over to Shin and leaned against the wall beside the desk.

“That works too.” He replied, raising his eyebrows.

“How about I follow Geoff tomorrow? You two can look for someone that can appraise the orb.”

Shin was surprised to hear the suggestion come from the clone directly as opposed to Fuyumi. Questions began to flood his mind which he blurted out.

“How does your clone work anyway? Do you see what it sees or does it act how you would act independently? Do you gain whatever knowledge it does?”

“First of all, slow down. Secondly, Fuyumi sees what I see when she wants to. She can close her eyes and concentrate to borrow my vision. Third, the way how I act and move are all identical to how Fuyumi would. Finally, she learns what I do, yes.”

Her clone answered all the questions promptly. He noticed that its tone was sterner than Fuyumi’s normal speaking voice.

“That works, I guess I can tell Nightingale our plans.”

When he told his friend, Nightingale agreed and decided to meet up with them the next morning. With nothing left to do, the clone dissolved into the shadow underneath the bed. Fuyumi got up and walked into the bathroom. She grabbed the frame of the door and turned around to face Shin.

“I’m going to take a shower. Don’t try anything”

She stared daggers into Shin before closing the door behind her.

“You know I’m not that kind of guy.”

An important decision sprang up in Shin’s mind. Should he go back to his room, or stay with Fuyumi? His mind was telling him to go back to his room, but his body was telling him to stay. The awkwardness of the situation enveloped him as he finally got the courage to say something.

“I think I’ll head back to my room.” He said as he got up from the desk. He began to walk towards the door when he heard Fuyumi’s voice.

“Are you sure? It’s already late.”

He stopped in his steps.

“What is this situation?” He thought before replying.

“What do you mean? It’s not like it’s dangerous to walk back alone.”

He heard the sounds of dripping water and rustling clothes through the door.

“Just stay, it’ll be more convenient since we’re heading out together in the morning anyway.”

Shin sat back down and looked around.

“There’s only one bed though.”

Fuyumi cleaned herself using the showerhead as water began filling the tub beside her. Shin was frozen in place.

“That’s fine, you can sleep on the floor or on the desk.”

He rolled his eyes as he went to the cabinet to grab his equipment.

“I’m the one who paid for the room though.”

“You got the room for me, so the room is mine! Just be grateful that I’m willing to share it with you!”

It was hard for Shin to hear Fuyumi over the running water.

“If you really want to, you can share the bed with me.” She continued.

“Huh?”

“I’m kidding!”

“Oh, fuck off! I’m going back.” Shin yelled back.

“I just wanted to see your reaction, sorry! I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Something you learn from Ayaka?! Haha, see you tomorrow.”

Shin left and walked back to his room.

+++++++++++++

[08:34 | May 06, 2035]

Shin stood beside the window in his room waiting for a message back from Fuyumi or Nightingale. Outside the window was the same perpetual night sky that he had gotten so used to. He sent them a message earlier telling them to write back once they were online. Shin leaned forward through the window, resting his chin on his hand.

He collected his thoughts but he didn’t have much to go off of other than what Fuyumi said the other day. The situation was complicated and he knew he could trust Fuyumi. However, Geoff was the leader in the group that held it together.

“What would happen if Geoff was plotting something against us?” He thought.

It would be easy for Malady, Prezzo, and Scottie to take his side given they were so close. He considered sending them a message to ask what they were doing or to involve them in their plans but he couldn’t take any chances. He began to feel drowsy as he didn’t sleep much the night before. There were too many things going on at the same time. Fuyumi playing with his heart didn’t help either.

Just as he was about to fall asleep upright, he received a message from Nightingale.