“How did you end up being mama and papa if you and Ashley aren’t dating?”

I look over to see Kevin staring at his hands. Some momentary lapses in brain functions are all I got hit with but it seems like Kevin is being hit a lot harder than I am, or was. I think I’m good now; I hope I’m good now. Being good would be for the best because we’ve got a long hike to get to the visitor’s center. It would be great if Kevin could focus a little. From what I can tell nobody has been to this area of the forest, there’s no footprints or damage for any fights and through my constant scans I’m not picking up any other people.

“Kevin,” I shout in his ear.

“Hey buddy, we’re making some good progress,” he responds completely oblivious to the last half hour of walking.

“How did you and Ashley end up with Yara in your little family?”

Kevin sighs, “do you really want to hear that?”

“I absolutely do,” I don’t but I need to get him talking and focused.

“We used to be in a gang, because we’re tough. Our king was a real jerk of a guy no matter how you sliced it. He was also stupid but he knew everything. You know the kind. He kept telling everyone that it was based on an order of knights, but it was clearly based on a chess board. We had a black king and queen, then a white king and queen. No racial.”

I can’t help but laugh, “what is no racial?”

“It’s when you say something that sounds really racist but it isn’t meant to be racist. Anyone can be black or white king and queen but when it gets explained, it’s a little shaky.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So, our leader is a jerk, but I’m good. I’m the best we had. I work my way up the ranks until I’m black king. This is when I became The Black Swordsman. I didn’t choose the nickname, but the coat gives me a boost to speed and dexterity which comes in handy when dual wielding. I always wore the coat when things got serious and I used two swords and I was the black king, you get it. Things got bad for the crew, so I plotted a coup,” Kevin starts to stare off into the distance.

“I didn’t know you had it in you,” I try to bring him back to the conversation.

“I didn’t either, Ashley put the idea in my head. She’s strong, but doesn’t like to fight. She helped me plan it and get some people on our side. I managed to win and take over the gang. I got rid of the whole chess board craziness. What about you? You ever join a gang? Actually, you seem like a corporation guy. The really stiff type.”

“I’m mostly a solo player.”

“But you seem to be pretty close with the guys in your group.”

“Well, Kai is basically my best friend. We met Daamin about three years ago and he forced himself on us, but we don’t mind. Kai is a solo player too, but we teamed up a lot in multiple games but weren’t a team. Daamin kind of forced us into working together a lot,” I spot Kevin looking at his hands again. “You didn’t explain how you became mama and papa.”

“When I took over, I was good to the new recruits. I didn’t let them get beat up without retaliation. I didn’t force them to give up a big percentage of their loot and credits. I got the nickname Papa Bear because they said I was protective of the cubs, or lower-level players. Ashley became Mama Bear because she was basically second in command and maybe even more defensive than I was. When we all got trapped here, a lot of our gang was wiped out during the first few weeks. Yara managed to survive and really took the mama and papa thing to heart. Ashley thinks it’s PTSD and she’ll eventually get past it so we’ve just been going along with it.”

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“It’s good to know that you aren’t a group of psychopaths.”

“What’s your deal? Why were you willing to send us both to our deaths for data drives? You clearly can’t use a sword and Daamin uses katanas so there's no real goal for you at the end of this quest.”

“We’re trying to go home. I found the creator of the game and kidnapped her. We need to -”

Kevin interrupts me, “Don’t just gloss over that. You kidnapped the creator of the game? You saw their face?”

“Yeah,” I guess I’ve just accepted it as normal now.

“Well how do we get home?”

“We need to gather four pieces of code to upload a cure for a virus infecting people with tech implants. After we get the code, we need to beat a bunch of floors of security at AutoSoft.”

“What does that have to do with the sword?”

“We have to break the sword to get the code.”

“It’s not that cool of a sword anyway. There are other cool swords in the game.”

We march on through the woods, picking up pace and trying to keep up with the ghosts of our friends. The terrain down in this a little rough and there’s a constant slope. Not enough of a slope to make it hard, but enough that it’s noticeable.

“Did you hear that,” I ask Kevin.

“It’s like, heavy footsteps and maybe a growl.”

“Yeah, it’s been behind us for a while but it sounds like it’s getting closer.”

We don’t get a chance to discuss it anymore before we hear a roar behind us. We turn to see a white bear in the distance slowly approaching us. I want to say it’s a polar bear but there are some clear tech mods that have been made to it. One of the paws is completely made a of a brownish metal, a portion of its skull is covered with metal plates, wires shooting out in all directions connected to the spine. More plate work among the abdomen.

“Should we run,” I ask.

“No, I used to hunt with my dad. There’s a rhyme for when you’re approached by a bear. If it’s black, make a quick attack. If brown, get down. If it’s white, goodbye to your life,” Kevin responds.

“How about, it’s furry, we need to hurry?”

“Wait, I got it. I think I got it. If it’s black, sneak attack. If it’s brown sit around. If it’s white, goodnight. If it’s black, fight back. If it’s brown, stay down. If it’s white, go towards the light.”

“That’s even worse.”

“No, I think I got it. If it’s black, sneak attack. If it’s brown sit around. If it’s white, goodnight.”

“I’ve got one, it’s getting bigger, time to squeeze the trigger,” I equip an assault rifle. “This is good for 30 to 50 feral hogs I hope it’s good for a bear.”

The bear rushes forward as I open fire. Kevin dives off to the side and stabs at the bear as it focus on the gun fire. He runs to the side as the bear changes targets. I make some distance before firing again. I’ve lost sight as Kevin as I slide to avoid a massive metallic paw. The paw still smashes into my shoulder, sending me to the ground and my assault rifle tumbling out of reach. I equip a shotgun and brace myself against the ground. The lets out another massive roar, saliva spewing from it’s mouth. At the last possible second my body responds to me, I squeeze the trigger. Pain erupts through my shoulder, reminding me the stab wound to abdomen hasn’t fully healed. The bear pauses, dents and cracks covering its armored torso where my bullets landed, blood dripping down onto me as its lower jaw has been blasted loose and barely hangs on. I expect the bear to drop on me when it finally moves. Instead, it stands on two feet and prepares to drop those massive paws on me. I try to move but my body won’t seem to follow orders. That’s when I spot Kevin leaping from a tree, both swords in hand. He brings down both swords slashing at the bear’s back. Slowly the bear starts to fall backwards onto Kevin. His ankle gives out as he tries to hold up the tank of a creature, crushing his legs beneath it.

“You alive over there,” I call out to him.

“Yeah, just stuck.”

“I’ll help you out when I can move again. I think I got hit with a paralyses status when the bear hit me.”

“It’s okay, nothing is broken but my ankle is sprained for sure.”

“I thought these things were supposed to drink coke and hang out with Santa.”

“You’ve been lied to. Polar bears are one of the only creatures that consider humans a food source,” Kevin laughs.

“You’re in good spirits for someone crushed under a bear.”

“I’m in good spirits for someone who isn’t going to be bear turds.”

I can’t help but laugh, “you’re an okay guy Kevin. Sorry I thought you were into some weird kinky stuff.”

“Oh no, that’s definitely the vibe we were giving off. I’m going to find Yara, but we’re not doing that anymore. Sorry I called you boring. You got a real pair on you,” I get a contact request from Kevin.

“I’m going to accept that as soon as I can move.”

“Did we just become friends?”

“I think we did.”

“Do you want to do karate in the garage?”

“I guess, I don’t know what that means.”

“If we’re going to be friends, you’ll learn,” Kevin starts to laugh but groans in pain.