He ran the broadside of the blade through his fingers, admiring the mirror like finish of the sword and the chip free edge, sharp and lined with sunlight. The Hurdland blue tunic and the tattered leather armour were disposed of and replaced by dark grey clothes and a lightly tanned leather chest piece and shoulder pads.

The day before had been one of stress and annoyance, an evening with highly critical parents that brought his spirits down. “You're playing far too much of that game. Your schooling will suffer. It's dangerous, you'll end up just like her.” This is what they had said to him, wild eyed and angry. Just like her? He screamed in his own head. She didn't end up like that out of choice, neither will I! You don't know anything! But he didn't dare say that to their faces. Twelve hours introspection led only to darker moods. But when the boy entered the world and saw the fruits of his labours, Ragen felt good about himself, he had made progress. The words of his parents no longer stung. They would not stop him.

Holta on Trine was quiet this morning. Ragen had heard that many players were heading north to the capital, some grand ceremony was due soon, everybody wanted to see it. Butler was not so concerned, he was happy to stay where he was and continue to quest alongside Ragen. The man came up on the youngster in his bright blue tunic and dark leather armour, his eyes were wide and his smile matched.

'How do I look?' Butler gave a comedic twirl.

Ragen sheathed his sword and looked up from the bench he was seated on. 'You look beautiful, the bell of the ball.' He laughed.

'I bought it all just before.' He sat beside Ragen. 'When did you get yours?'

'Last night.' Ragen answered.

'Last night?' Butler was shocked. 'Didn't you leave after I did?'

'I was here for about two hours after you left.' Ragen explained.

Butler scowled and whispered. 'Are you sure you're not playing too much?'

This is all I need. 'I'm playing just as much as I need to.'

'You've got to be careful, Ragen, you don't want to get addicted.' Butler placed a hand on his shoulder. 'There's no harm in taking a break.'

Ragen shrugged Butler off and stood up. 'I don't need you to tell me what to do.'

Butler kept his calm. 'Ragen, I'm not telling you what to do. I'm only giving you some advice, as a friend.'

'Your advice is stupid!' Ragen retorted. The rage he had saved for his parents came out at his friend. 'You don't understand anything!'

'Why are you being like this? It's not like you.'

'You don't know me!' Ragen's breathing was heavy, he was hot in the face. When he saw Butler's expression of hurt, he sighed and came to his senses. He doesn't deserve this. 'It's not you, I'm sorry. I've been hearing the same thing from other people too.'

''Then I must be right.'

'I know. But...' Ragen looked at his feet. 'They don't understand, no one understands.'

'Then tell me. Help me understand.'

Ragen sighed. 'I can't.'

'I'm not going to force you, but you know I can't help you if you won't tell me what's wrong.'

'It's too personal.'

'That's fine.' Butler replied. 'Just take a break for a couple of days, let it pass.'

'No!' I can't.

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'Why not? What's going on?'

Ragen did not answer, he sat down on the bench and twiddled his thumbs. He considered telling Butler his issues, but did not know how. It hurt him too much, and why should this stranger be privy to the workings of his heart when his own parents were not? He fiddled and fidgeted and sighed. Butler was patient, he sat quietly and watched Ragen while the boy was working things out in his head. 'My sister died.' He finally spoke.

'I'm really sorry to hear that.' Butler said softly. 'I really am.'

Ragen hardly heard, he just carried on talking. 'It was months ago. She was suffering from Ghost Rejection, do you know what that is?' He looked up to see Butler thinking.

'It's a problem when doing a direct connection to a server... I think.'

'Close... When people connect to the web with their Ghost, their minds can sometimes not return to their bodies. Their Ghost is literally rejected and when separated, the body and mind can't function. No one's seen it happen for a long time, it was cured for all we knew.' He swallowed hard. 'The cure didn't work on her, the doctors and programmers couldn't make it work. She was locked out of her body, Butler. She...' Ragen began to cry.

'I'm so-so sorry.' Butler slung an arm over Ragen's shoulder as the boy wept.

'She went online and then couldn't get back. It lasted for only a couple of weeks, and then... They said her Ghost was lost for good.' Ragen's tears dripped down on to his fumbling hands. 'She was on life support for a month, but there was nothing they could do. The rejection... He let her die. Butler, he gave up on her and let her die...'

Butler hardly knew what to say, all that came was a question. 'Who let her die?'

'My dad. He had them shut off the life support.' Ragen sobbed.

'Ragen. I'm sorry he did that to your sister, I'm sorry he did that to you, but-'

No, I don't deserve your sympathy. 'The worst part was...' He looked deep in to Butler's eyes. 'I don't think I cared very much. It didn't affect me at all.' Butler was incredulous, Ragen saw it. He wanted to make an excuse, so his friend wouldn't think less of him. 'I wasn't close to her, we didn't spend any time together. I did my thing and she did hers and we never did anything together, it was always like that. We were so different. I never knew her at all... That's why I'm here.'

'You're here because you didn't know your sister?'

Ragen rubbed his wet cheeks. 'Yeah. She got Ghost Rejection while she was here. She was always playing this game. All of her time was spent here. She had none for my mum and dad, or me. She spent every spare minute playing this bloody game! I didn't know her, I felt bad because I didn't know her. I felt like a bad person for not knowing my sister, not knowing who she was. But I knew what she loved, she loved The Law of War, and I thought that... I thought that if I knew why she loved it here, if I could just experience what she did, I could know her. I couldn't grieve for her, but I want to now. I want to be sad and I want to miss her and I want to have a part of her to hold on to, because in all fourteen years of my life, I've never had anything of her to keep.' I'm a bad person, a bad brother. And now she's dead. He cried and cried.

Butler had held him securely, but Ragen felt the grip loosen. He hates me. He looked to his friend and saw only a blank face.

'What was her name?'

'What?' Ragen sniffed.

'What was your sister called?'

'Lauren.'

'That was her character name, Lauren?'

'No, her character name was Broadway, Broadway Mohon.'

Butler smiled. 'You've paid homage to her, eh? Ragen Mohon?'

'Yeah.' Ragen blushed, though it did not show through his already flushed cheeks.

'Listen. You're not a bad person, Ragen, you're not. You're making the best out of a bad situation. I'll help you. I'll ask around about your sister and see if we can find anyone that knew her.'

'Seriously?'

'Yeah, seriously.' Butler smiled. 'You're here trying to find out why she played the game, and I'm here to help you.'

'The world is a big place.' Ragen wiped his face.

'Then we better get to it.' Butler stood from the bench and stretched his arms out. 'Or, I better get to it.'

'You?'

Butler tapped himself on the chest. 'Yes, me.' Then he pointed to Ragen. 'You have to take a break for a few days, get some rest, free up some head-space.'

'OK, I will. I'm pretty tired.'

'Good. We'll meet back up in a couple of days. Real days, not our twelve hour days. So get going!'

Ragen looked to log off, but before he left he gave a heartfelt thank you.