"Good evening, brother."

Mason blinked through the smoke of his fire, and saw Blake's silhouette.

“Ah Christ,” he said, poking the fire with a stick.

"Well that’s not very friendly. You know, I'm actually starting to like your cave." Blake came around and formed a chair out of nothing. "Sad? A little. Stifling? Certainly. But it beats the undead armies."

Mason smacked himself in the face as if trying to wake. But in truth, he was happy to see Blake. He was also still angry, and his mind had otherwise been blissful mush from a night with his girls.

"I assume you got the 'competition' message and want to talk strategy."

Blake frowned and made a tsking sound.

"Leadership is making you very cynical. Can't I just miss my brother and stop by for a chat?"

Mason turned and stared until his brother sighed.

"Obviously with me, Annie, and Seul-ki we have three players. So we'll enter the 3s. I realize you'll also run a team, so mostly I just wanted to check..." he shrugged. "I don't mind beating whatever poor bastards you pick, but I thought it best we two towering titans avoid each other, as it were."

"I'm doing the twos," Mason said. "But I wouldn't be so confident you can beat our three team."

Blake smiled, but it faded.

"What do we do about the individual duels? I don't want to fight you."

Mason nodded. He was angry, but he didn't want to fight Blake, either. The idea of actually killing him, even in some kind of temporary, fake way...he wasn't sure he could do it. Hopefully they could call uncle, or something.

"Who knows. We might get knocked out before it comes up."

Blake snorted.

"Me, maybe. I don't actually know the rules. Can I summon constructs in advance? Or do I have to go in with nothing? We have no human civilians in the tower so my knowledge is...limited. A definite oversight on my part."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Haley's asleep," Mason said. "You could go bother her next, if you like."

Blake smiled. "Thank you. I will. You're doing well? The Nexus is amazing? How was 'first contact'?"

Mason sighed, and told him the details. However angry he might be, and however much they might fight or go their separate ways, Mason knew they'd always be brothers. He described their new forest city, the great tree, his meeting with the 'emperor'. Blake winced.

"That's...unfortunate. But so many survivors! I hadn't expected that."

"Does it change your secret, ridiculous plans?" Mason asked, again wondering what the hell the point of making friends with orcs was.

"Probably not." Blake shrugged. He leaned forward and put his hands to the fire with a grin. "I can actually feel it, you know. Makes you think."

"About what?"

"All this." Blake glanced around the cave. "What's the difference between this and reality? How do we even know roboGod doesn't have us all in some kind of...Matrix?"

"Didn't you tell me you asked it those questions way back in the tutorial?"

"Ah yes." Blake snorted. "I'm sure our universe traveling, possibly genocidal, synthetic overlord would struggle with...lying to one of its test playthings."

Mason gave that some thought, deciding ultimately it didn't make much difference if it was 'real' or not. They had to assume it was. The alternative was lay down and die, or else treat people like nothing mattered. It put a few of his actions and how he'd been having into a bit more clarity, and he felt a moment of shame.

"Sometimes I think about the non-humans as...fictional," he said. "Maybe I shouldn't."

He felt Blake's eyes and creeping smile, which mostly annoyed him. He wasn't ready to go from 'treat non-humans better' to 'make friends with the orcs and goblins that tried to kill my people'.

"Don't get any ideas. That makes your green friends even more guilty," he snapped. "If they're more than pawns in some game, then I’ll judge them just as I’d judge men, and I see murderous bullies who think less of us than we do of them. I didn't start those fights."

"Point taken," Blake said with a sigh. "But I didn't come here for that. It's all kind of exciting, isn't it?" He grinned. "Our powers. The women." He winked. "This tournament. Don't tell me you're not having at least a little fun."

Mason tried to give his brother a glare, but couldn't quite hold it.

"With the caveat of some alien destroying most of the human race?" he asked. Blake rolled his eyes and nodded, gesturing for the rest of it with a hand.

"Yes," Mason said with a sigh, thinking it was maybe more true than he wanted to admit. "I'm having a bit of fun."

"That's the spirit." Blake stood and stretched with a yawn. "Well. I should be sleeping, too. And I still need to keep your blonde beauty up for a little while." Here he wiggled his eyebrows, and Mason just shook his head.

"She's had a long night," he said, trying not to grin as the images of his night flashed. "Don't keep her too long."

Blake laughed and started to fade from view.

"I miss you, brother," he said, dropping his usual facade. He might have said something else, but he'd disappeared, and Mason's sleeping dream swallowed his consciousness again.