Over a week later, Dante sat alongside Reina-cat in the usual basement room of Vyxora as they worked.

“So how’s Mortal—, what was it?” Reina asked.

“Fighter. Yeah, that’s really backfired on me.” Dante sighed. “After she narrowly beat my nemesis, she wanted to start fresh. Now she’s addicted, and hogging it.”

“I’ve been a little worried, but she’s been in such a good mood. I didn’t want to ruin it by telling her to slow down.”

“Don’t you two usually talk about, like, everything?”

“Yeah… she told me at first and wanted me to watch, but I was busy the first few times. She stopped asking, though. I got consumed working on something and only realized how many days had passed since she last asked when Val talked to me today.”

“Eh. Nothin’ to worry about, in my opinion. Bit of a pain to me, but I can respect she’s experiencing her first real gaming high. I know you’ve somehow had them with your weird taste in simulators.”

“Hey now, don’t hate on CPA simulator, it’s great.”

“Sure it is. Wait. What? Like an accountant? Seriously?”

Reina giggled. “Just kidding, that’s not one, but you’re probably right. I can relate.”

“Heh. Anyway. She cracked the top one-hundred already, but she’s gonna hit a wall.”

“Wow. In the world? What do you mean, though?”

“She refuses to use special abilities. Shows how scary good of a fighter she is to even get this far. Makes me think Nero never had a chance, or Vito.”

“Are you sure she knows how?”

“Yeah, I explained—.”

“Sorry, have to stop you. Call from Griff.”

Reina-cat went silent. In Reina’s room within the Vyx apartment home, she lay on a comfortable gigantic bed where her previous ‘bed’ once was. They had partially refurbished the room into a more typical bedroom. Several wires led into the wall from Reina. She wore a headset, similar to an ALTR.

“Hello Uncle Griff, it’s late, how’ve you been?” Reina asked.

“Hey, Reina. Yeah. Listen.” Griff spoke in an exasperated tone. “I know this’ out of the blue since we’ve had no progress to talk about since last time. You haven’t heard anything, right?”

“Not really, no.”

“I’ve been looking into things as much as I can, working on the premise they’re some kinda cult as we theorized, but nothing substantial yet. You?” His tone fluctuated abnormally, almost frantic.

“Sadly, I haven’t had much luck either. But Griff, you sound strange. Are you okay?”

“Fuck. I don’t know why I’m bothering with wishful thinking. As if saying it will make it true. Pathetic.”

“Uhm?”

“Truth is, Tau’s missing. I’ve got a gut-rot level bad feeling here. His wife saw him last night, assumed he went to sleep late, and got up early. Yet I haven’t seen him all day. No one has. I don’t even know what I’m asking you or what you could have… but have you heard anything? Even something small.”

“Oh no. Nothing comes to mind.”

“I really only gave getting to know the guy a chance recently, but I’m not aware of this being something that happens. His wife assured me he pretty much only works and goes home. Shit. Fuck. Please, Reina, can you?”

“Of course, Griff. On it. I’m already messaging my contacts.”

“Appreciate it. I’m trying to avoid thinking the worst here. This stomach pit ain’t letting me, though. If we’re lucky, the kid has some vices no one knows about. Listen, Reina. Assume this is worst case. Take all the precautions and extra security measures you can for yourself, plus Vyxora.”

“What do you—?”

“Gotta go.” The call ended.

He didn’t want to say it, but he must think they took Tau? Reina thought. If what Val said about him…

A few days later, Artemis stood near Viktor on the cityscape planning floor of Aegis Industries. Several dozen people filed into elevators, leaving only them. Viktor, with swipes of his hands, altered a building’s architecture over and over.

“Viktor, did you really take personnel from Project Esca?” Artemis asked.

“Hmm?” Viktor continued his movements.

“Viktor. This is serious, please stop what you’re doing.”

Viktor stopped and looked at Artemis. “That’s a rather icy stare, Artemis.” He glanced around. “Where is everyone?”

“When it was a person here or there, teams could make do. But you’ve interrupted work on an important contract, Viktor. You have to recognize that is not acceptable.”

“Is it really more important than Avalyontis, though? Artemis? Truly?”

“Level of importance is irrelevant, Viktor. Aegis Industries has a reputation to uphold for delivering on contracts we’ve accepted.”

“Mmm.” Viktor paused. “Fair enough. You may have them back. Tell me, though, what do you think of the city name?” A subtle excitement tinged his words.

“Adequate as any.”

“Dear Artemis, can’t you give me a bit more than that? A-v-a-l-y-o-n-t-i-s, as in, Babylon? Atlantis? Avalon? Three mythical cities long revered for being well ahead of their time. I’m even thinking of including a modern day hanging gardens. The world will look to this city for its very future. It will define what is possible, like wonders of old.” Viktor paused. “That reminds me, I wanted to check with you. Such an excellent memory for these things. We built the eighty-third district, right? Charity or some such.”

“Eighty-fourth. Yes.”

“Right. Close. I’ve been told we may lack in the more labor intensive vocations. We should be able to just relocate those residents to Avalyontis, yes?”

Artemis paused. “Yes.”

“Excellent. I’ll get someone on that. You know, I have to commend you for how well you know me, Artemis. Had you not cleared everyone out and been someone else, I’d have fired you for telling me what to do with my own employees.”

“You did fire the project lead for that, Viktor. That’s why I’m here.”

“Oh. My days are really bleeding into one another it seems. Can’t remember the last time…” Viktor returned to manipulating the cityscape. “Was there something else?”

“There is. I’ve reason to believe Siegfried may have kidnapped a young policeman.”

“Ah, he mentioned something along those lines. I think that was the reason for his call? Permission? We briefly discussed his lack of success; he was quite apologetic, I recall? Having trouble remembering the specifics. Was it he…worried? Yes, worried. That the ‘Aegis Slayer’ might stay underground.” Viktor’s gaze intensified on a building he manipulated. “The entire ordeal slipped my mind. What was your question, again?”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Nevermind. I’ll take my leave.”

“Always a pleasure Artemis, send everyone else back in. Need to see if this idea is feasible.”

A short while later, Artemis sat in her office.

“You’ve probably never seen that Viktor, have you?” Xandr asked.

“No… you must’ve told me about it, though,” Artemis thought.

“Since we’re having this convo, yeah. Musta. Back when it was Weihelm Industries, he’d come by more and more as I progressed on Aegis. Eventually, every day. He’s not too outwardly emotional. But you can just sense it in his words. An electric excitement. He would ramble on about how Aegis would change the world forever. Even though I was the one creating it, he grasped the world after and began planning accordingly. At least, I assume, from how heated our discussions became. In the end, he shut me down hard.”

“When you dared mention Aegis was something more; too important to merely be a product.”

“Yeah.”

“I thought he might flinch, a little, at least. To think he already knew.”

“That’s the true Weihelm you’ve only ever seen glimpses of. The vision for his city will only grow.”

“Until anything and everything is acceptable.”

“Aren’t you glad I saw it coming?”

Artemis gazed at the wall with Xandr’s picture. Sometimes, I wish you hadn’t.

The next day, Aelfric once again kneeled before Artemis in their ALTR meeting room. With his gaze affixed to the ground, he conveyed his latest spying results, including Tau’s disappearance. Rare emotion tinged his voice.

“Belle already informed me,” Artemis said.

“Oh,” Aelfric said. Artemis recounted her interaction with Viktor, loosely. Such a vile creature, he is. Nothing will stop me from fulfilling my mistress’ desire. “I understand. What will we do, my Lady?”

“‘Do’? Nothing.” Artemis had a stern, distant gaze upon Aelfric. His head tilted up, staring forward.

“But has this monster not gone too far? This Tau appears an upstanding officer of the law.”

“So?”

“And he has a family; a wife and child.”

“Do you think those you’ve killed thus far had no families?”

“What? No, I. They were, I mean…”

“What? Not ‘upstanding’ citizens? What difference does that make?”

“That’s not what I mean, I—.”

“Enough. Tell me, how would saving this officer benefit us in any way?”

“I…do not know.”

“Should I be concerned of your behavior and judgment?”

Aelfric’s head dropped while he compressed his kneel further into the ground. “No!” He tempered his voice. “My sincerest apologies, Lady Artemis. I allowed trivial emotions to cloud my judgment for a moment. Please forgive me for wasting your time.”

“I will forget. See that it does not happen again.”

“I swear upon my duty.”

Artemis turned away, gazing at the Earth. She stood in thought for a time. “Do you understand the significance of Siegfried’s actions? It reveals an impatience. The man’s hidden his true self well in our sparse interactions. Viktor certainly has no clue he may be a cult leader or some such nonsense. When we include this theory, it paints a picture of a far more egotistical creature than I’d have thought. Further, we may presume his previous jobs met success far quicker and avoided complications despite his method’s public displays. To this end, he’s in uncharted territory. Do you understand what we must do, Aelfric?”

“We must wait, my Lady.”

“Correct. Our own patience is bearing fruit on multiple fronts. Viktor becomes more preoccupied, consumed, by the day. You are to continue as you are. Provide Belle with an extensive debrief on all that you’ve learned. We will have her investigate your findings.”

“Understood. Please allow—.”

“I forgot.”

“Yes, understood. Thank you for your time, Lady Artemis. I take my leave.” Aelfric disappeared.

“Aren’t you worried about putting a crack in the adoration the boy holds for you?” Xandr asked.

“I don’t need adoration. I need loyalty,” Artemis thought.

“Okay, sure, but it’s not like you aren’t feeling anything about leaving the officer to Siegfried. Would it hurt appearing—?”

“One could easily argue I’m taking advantage of a young man with severe mental issues. He may have sought me out incessantly, but ultimately I relented, allowing his service. At this point, he’s become far too integral in my plans to allow him to be compromised by fleeting emotions and lapses of judgment.”

“It’s really not easy playing your doubts, you know. Stamping out weapons before I even get to wield them.”

“You’re welcome to disappear.”

“You’d miss my voice.”

“Hm.”

A week passed. In Reina’s basement room of Vyxora, Dante and Reina-cat sat in relative silence while their screens flashed. The only sounds were that of the server hums and Dante’s keystrokes. Periodically, Reina-cat glanced at Dante’s tapping fingers.

“After all this time, why don’t you just jack in?” Reina asked, startling Dante.

“Huh?” Dante glanced at Reina-cat, who stared at the keyboard. “Oh. Uh, kinda just got used to this. Could ask you the same, why you bother being Reina-cat? Why the screens?”

“Mmm,” Reina grumbled. A brief silence passed.

“My bad if I’m wrong, as I’m definitely terrible at reading these things as my ex-cyberwife would attest, but somethin’ bothering you? Been pretty quiet and seemed rather annoyed just now. Which, I’m having a hard time recalling that from you?

Reina let out an exhaustive sigh. “Sorry. For some weird reason, your keystrokes suddenly started irritating me. Even though I can’t remember ever noticing them in the past. I think I might’ve just been latching onto something.”

“To be annoyed about?”

“Yeah. I think.”

“Alright then.” Dante returned to what he had been doing prior.

Reina-cat stared. Of course he wouldn’t follow up. This is Dante. When the heck did I start confiding in him, anyway? Though he might be the only one that’d understand. Wait. Did he say ‘cyberwife’?

“Did you say ‘cyberwife’?” Reina asked.

“Ex-cyberwife. What about it?” Dante said.

“Uhm. Like. You were married in ALTR? Right? Really? How’s that work? What’s that even mean? I kinda thought you were—.”

“Whoa, too many questions in succession. It was in a game; there were some sweet benefits tied to it. Though, those weren’t enough as she left me, eventually. Something about not listening. Or something, I dunno.” Dante shrugged.

“That’s…more expected.”

“In hindsight, she mighta been a dude, anyway.”

“What?”

“Don’t get me wrong. You know I play female chars all the time, albeit I don’t act particularly feminine, I think. And it’s ALTR, it’s about being free of judgment. Thing is, though, it wasn’t an RP server, you know? So there’s just some kinda weird deceit that doesn’t sit right. But whatever.”

“Uh-huh.” I’m lost. I kinda regret asking. Some time passed.

“Dante, do you mind If I vent, a little?” Reina asked.

“So something was bothering you. Shoot,” Dante boasted.

“Thanks. Thing is, Mama’s been on my case a lot. Like, more and more. Telling me to go outside. Telling me to talk to people in person. She’s even roped Yuna and Papa into nudging me each day. They keep getting more pushy even though I’m busy like always. And they keep offering to shepherd me around, since I still can’t walk, but I’m exhausted enough after therapy dangit! And I get their worried but I can’t just neglect my work, it’s incredibly important! There’s only so much time in the day. I never had to worry about these things before, but now Mama’s bringing it up every time I see her! ‘You should do this’. ‘You should do that’. But I don’t want to, damnit. I’ll decide when to do those things! I’m not a fucking child! Why can’t they leave me alone?” Reina-cat’s paw shot up to cover it’s mouth. It slowly turned to meet Dante’s gaze.

Dante chuckled a little. “Heh. Bet you’re missing your old bed, aren’t cha?”

“What? How—.” Reina paused. “How’d you know? It feels… wrong, to think that way.”

“You forget, I’m the weirdo who envied your condition.”

“But it can’t be right to feel like this.”

“You don’t know what you've got until it’s gone, as they say. Right and wrong are subjective, anyway.”

“Still…”

“I’ve no idea where Celeste pulls her energy from. Kinda tires me just being around her. So, it’s hard for me to think like she does. But if I had to guess what they’re thinking, it’d be they’re assuming you were miserable in that bed, and just kept it buried like the good girl you are. Didn’t want to burden them and all that jazz.”

“Really? There were, of course, some things I was envious of, but…it’s true I never really complained even early on, if I think about it. So, you’re saying that they’re on my case because they thought I was miserable before and now want me to experience what I couldn’t? Like, maybe they want me to make up for what they perceive as lost time?”

“Sure?” I didn’t think that deeply, but sounds right?

“How could I get them to understand?” Reina stated the question aloud, albeit it sounded reflective.

“Dunno. Think I should point out something, though. I feel we’re kindred spirits to some degree, but you defiantly still care about and like RL way more than me. So, uh, like, having a body might grow on you. Know what I mean?”

“I…” Reina giggled. “You’re probably right. I might be a bit scared?”

“You did have a panic attack that one time.”

Reina giggled. “It wasn’t that long ago, but yes.”

“Tell anyone?”

“I haven’t.”

“Might help.”

“Hmm.”

A call appeared from Griff in Reina’s visual. She answered. “Hello? Griff? I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for days.”

“Yeah. Reina.” Griff’s tone rang low, each word conveyed weight. “I listened to all the voicemails. I appreciate all the work you’ve put in. But I’m calling to let you know to pack it in. Too much time’s passed. Thanks. Sorry.” The call ended.

“What? Griff? Griff?”

“He hung up,” Reina said.

“You were on a call? Thought you were just thinking.” Dante stopped typing and turned to Reina-cat. Reina explained Griff had called and what he said. “Oof. Sounds like he’s given up. That sucks.”

“Yes…”

“Random segway, but what’s going on with The Legion outcome, anyway? Just popped into my head, now I’m the slightest bit curious.”

“Oh, I didn’t tell you? They’re appealing to the council to nullify the result. For forcing your younger brother to fight”

Dante chuckled. “Ha. Sore losers. You guys even decide what you were gonna do? Can’t imagine vassalizing them.”

“Still discussing.”

“Fair enough.” Dante returned to his work. A brief silence passed.

“Dante,” Reina said.

“Yeah?”

“Your insensitivity about Griff aside.”

“Ah. Figured I mighta flubbed that.”

“That you recognize that, is something. But, anyway, I wanted to thank you. I can’t figure out how to phrase this without sounding insulting, so sorry about this - but I never thought you’d give me such helpful insight. I only meant to vent.”

Dante chuckled. “Heheh. No problemo. I think my listening has really improved since coming here. Maybe there’s a chance I could win back my fourth cyberwife, I really liked her.”

Reina giggled. “Good luck. Wait. ‘Fourth’?!”