November 3rd, 2035

Osiris City

By the third day, they lived in a small two-bedroom apartment in western Osiris. Some of the players had refurbished some large abandoned buildings on the outskirts of town, and those buildings would house thousands of players. It simply wasn’t feasible for most people to consistently pay for hotel rooms.

Henry Wolfe had spent all of that day in the apartment. He was thirteen years old, and he had logged on with his father. Luckily, father and son had spawned in the same city.

The militia had created an “orphanage” of sorts for the children who did not have parents to look after them. Henry had spent some time in the orphanage the day before in order to hang out with the other kids, but it wasn’t his home. Unlike most of the other kids, Henry’s father was in the game with him. Henry tried to hide it in front of the other kids, but he was immensely grateful that he hadn’t been separated from his father.

The door to the apartment opened, and Henry’s father entered with a sigh. The man’s name was Stanley Wolfe, and he was one of the elite soldiers of Osiris. He wore a grey cloak, marking him as a subordinate of the greatest strategist in the world, Tantalus. Stanley Wolfe also wore three golden chevrons, marking him as a squad leader within the Greycloaks.

“Welcome home, Dad!” Henry Wolfe shouted as Stanley Wolfe closed the door.

Stanley smiled as he leaned his bolt-action rifle against a wall. He unclasped the grey cloak that acted as his uniform and draped it over the back of a nearby chair. The cloak was certainly a far-cry from the uniform he had worn as a police officer in the Old World.

“How was work?” Henry asked excitedly. He rushed forward and hugged Stanley around the midsection.

“Easy there,” Stanley said as he patted Henry on the head. On the second day, Henry had changed his avatar to more closely align with his physical body in the real world. For all intents and purposes, Henry had a child’s body, though the attributes of Henry’s avatar were still equivalent to those of a Level 1 adult.

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“You’re stronger than you look,” Stanley said with a smile. “Work was fine.” Stanley sat down as he spoke. “I spent most of the day on patrol. Squad T14 ran into a few Goblins, and my squad was sent to reinforce. Other than that, it was a slow day.”

“Oh no,” Henry said with genuine fear. “Was it dangerous?”

“No, not at all. A few Goblins are no threat to a squad of Greycloaks,” Stanley said with certainty. “Though, that reminds me of the Operation. Just so we’re clear, you’ll live at the orphanage until I come back, understand?”

“Of course,” Henry said. “I’m excited to hang out with all of the other kids.”

“I’m sure you are, kiddo,” Stanley said with a smile. “By the way, I got you a present.” Stanley reached into one of the many pouches that hung from the belt of the blue military uniform that all Revenants wore at their birth. He produced a necklace which bore a symbol of a vertical cylinder. with two angel wings sprouting out the side.

Henry looked at the necklace in disappointment. “But that’s for girls, Dad.”

“No, no,” Stanley said. “This is a magic charm for preventing nightmares. I know how you’ve had problems with that stuff in the past. Look, I have an identical one right here.” Stanley reached under his shirt and produced an identical charm. “When I’m out on the mission to New Arcadia, I want you to hold onto that charm. As long as we’re both wearing our charms, we’ll be able to reunite, no matter how far away I go.”

“Yes, Dad,” Henry said. He didn’t understand why that small piece of metal was so important to his Dad, but he took the necklace and put it around his own neck anyway. Little did Henry know, the necklace would soon become his most prized possession.

“Good,” Stanley patted Henry on the back. “Now, I got a bonus from my work today, so let’s go out to eat!”

“Hooray!” Henry cheered.

Stanley Wolfe, Leader of Squad T11, was happy to have a brief moment of peace with his boy before Operation Reunion was set to begin. He was better known among the Greycloaks as “Foxhound,” and he was valued for his ability to stay calm in a dangerous situation.

Stanley had a bad feeling about the Operation. There would be danger, more danger than the higher-ups were willing to admit, and he would be happy as long as his son was safe.