{-Tinath-}

“Have you seen Mom anywhere?”

The Nankohm worker looked up at her, shrugged, and went back to what he was doing. “It’s late, Rachel’s probably gone home like almost everyone else. Talk with her in person.”

Apparently he couldn’t tell that she wasn’t exactly in a good mood. “I wouldn’t be asking you if she was home.”

“Then check over there. That’s where she was the last time I saw her.”

Tinath didn’t bother saying anything else to him, simply going on her way. She pushed open the door with little regard to who else might be in there.

Everyone looked up—some clearly almost sent into a panic—but most went right back to their work. Rachel was the only one to stand up and walk up to her.

“We had a lot we needed to get finished but we’re almost done. I know it’s later than usual but I’ll be home as soon as I can,” Rachel mumbled.

“I’m honestly not worried about that right now.” Knowing what she’d probably ask next, Tinath added, “Dad put whatever you made in the oven, it’ll probably be done by the time you get there.”

“So you’re here because you have something to report?”

“I guess you could say that.”

Rachel gave a small nod and turned back to the others. “Keep working, I’ll be back as soon as soon as I can”

“Ah, one thing before you go,” some newer person called. “It says here that a quest in Kehnore can be updated..?”

Someone else peered over to see the specifics. “You know the quest we set up at the start involving the temple outside of Kehnore? Someone finally completed it—someone just needs to make sure it resets at the end of the day.”

First they did part of a quest that involved interacting with the Rune Reactivation Project, and now this. Either they were stupid enough to not realize what would draw attention to themselves, or they honestly didn’t care.

Rachel seemed to have a similar thought, considering it for a moment before slowly saying, “Go ahead and let it reset. Look at the list of all the players that were a part of it, too. Remember to activate the other portion so that other people can still get the rewards for helping the priest.”

Several nodded, some leaving for another room while others stayed there. They probably could’ve gotten someone in the actual office to do it; but she’d overheard a while ago that it was easier to pay attention to the effects when they were already there.

With that taken care of, Rachel began to walk to another room and gestured for Tinath to follow her. “Are you here because you know who those last few players were?”

“Technically no, but it doesn’t take a lot to guess.”

“Find anything about Cassidy, then?”

“Not a thing. As far as I can tell, no one’s seen her around Kehnore in months. At least no players are talking about her. It’s kind of hard to inconspicuously ask the NPCs about her since most of them would probably recognize me.”

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That woman had said that people were talking about Tinath—not that it was any surprise, given what else they were capable of. Honestly, the woman had probably been the minority when it comes to what she knew. Most of Kehnore must’ve been well aware of what happened at Kyirius by now.

Which made one of two things surprising: that Tinath hadn’t been called out a lot more, or that those four were still going about their quests like nothing had changed at all.

“I see,” Rachel mumbled. “Well, Mr. Mair had to have chosen you for the job for a reason. He has to think you’re capable of doing it.”

“I guess I’m still not trustable enough to know why exactly he wants to do this?”

“I already told you that there’s no point in questioning Mr. Mair.”

“If you’re not going to tell me anything, then I think it’s going to take me longer to find her than you’re hoping.”

“Tabby, please don’t make this difficult.”

“I’m not the one withholding information here. I really don’t get why I’m trying to chase down Cassidy when you've decided you weren’t going to bother her.”

“I don’t make the decisions,” Rachel said with a surprising amount of assertiveness. “If you won’t take what I have to say as an answer, then go ahead and try to ask Mr. Mair. If he hasn’t told me about the details, then he’s not going to tell you. You’ll be lucky if you can even find him.”

She stopped and sighed. “I’ve got to get back to work and I’m sure you’ve got other things to do, too. I’ll see you when I get home.”

…

She’d made a lot of “mistakes” in her life, but they were things she never regretted. She met some of her closest friends by sneaking out and playing tabletop role playing games instead of studying. All that time she spent on video games ended up earning her a lot of money in the end, even now when she hadn’t done anything major in two years. She’d consider deciding not to go to college as one of them, too—she wouldn’t have had as much time to do the things she actually enjoyed.

Then it came to the stuff about this game, and it all just became mistakes. Deciding it wouldn’t hurt to try; figuring she might as well help Nankohm; realizing that only half of what they told her was true and playing along with them anyway…

At this point, she wasn’t sure what was running through Mr. Mair’s head. He specifically assured her when she started that Cassidy wouldn’t be a part of it at all—she was something completely different than solving Nankohm’s problems. He said that they’d “arrange” something once the twins were taken care of, which from what Tinath had seen would’ve simply called Cassidy to one of the bases. Not like this.

Not stalking the streets of Kehnore City early into the day, when most players aren’t on yet. Not hoping to find her yet unwilling to do the next step in the process when she did.

Tinath had found a quiet place to discreetly watch anyone who might pass by. She didn’t expect to see someone; rather, she was doing it to clear her head, and figure out what she really wanted to do.

She sighed as her hawk rubbed up against her, its way of trying to comfort her. “I know you’re trying, but I don’t think you can help.”

The hawk cawed, but just moved to her lap instead. It settled down with a few pets and a small, momentary smile from its owner.

Of course, any happiness she might’ve taken away from it soon faded. “I don’t want to be a part of this if it means hurting anyone,” she mumbled. “But I can’t really get myself out of it, either. I’ve already screwed up that part… Unless I just quit.”

The hawk rammed its head into her hand as if to say you’re definitely not leaving me here on my own.

“Relax, that’s really not an option either. If I leave then they’re just going to get someone else to look for them and I can’t do that. If anyone else was supposed to bring them back, they’d be gone by now.”

Its next imaginary solution—shared by dancing around a little—was a thought she hated to acknowledge had crossed her mind. All three of you like Cassidy and, if you’re there, you might be able to help them.

“Except the players they’re with probably aren’t going to let me get close enough to explain.”

Another caw. Well, you don’t really have anything to lose, do you?

With that, it flew off without warning, through the city streets. Perhaps… it really wouldn’t hurt to try.