Awakening (Peregrine x Gryal)

If Tage had thought there was a big difference between the Settled Territories and the Middle Territories, it was nothing compared to the difference between the Middle Territories and the Wild Territories. She had thought their name was only a reference to the fact that the land had yet to come under Djinni control, but she had never realized how cultivated and tended both the Settled and Middle Territories were until this moment, and how truly wild the Wild Territories were. The Middle Territories might have been rougher, more damaged, but as long as they had stayed close to the path there had always been signs of civilization. Out here, there were no paths. There was no civilization. The land was rugged, steep and jagged, and utterly unfriendly.

Rhanna had been right in her assessment that it was going to take her and Toreck twice as long to make it to the rendezvous site with the three others in tow. In fact, it was starting to look like she had been generous in her estimation. Most of the journey they were traveling along the side of a mountain, and the kind of athletic ability that was required to easily navigate these slopes was also the kind of ability that only high level characters could possess. There was no easy path, only paths that were slightly less likely to cause Tage to fall and break her neck. Which, out here, would be disastrous. There were no cities, and therefore no checkpoints. She'd wind up back in Reznic, on the other side of the river.

Both she and Halp were, therefore, extremely cautious. Probably more cautious than was strictly necessary. Several times, Rhanna ended up tying a rope to them and then casting a floating spell, getting Toreck to tug them along like embarrassed balloons, simply in an effort to speed up their movement. Ripley seemed rather distant from the whole situation, didn't say anything, and managed to move fast enough to keep up with Rhanna's expectations.

In one of their stints as a couple of balloons, Ripley fanned his way over to Tage, latching onto her shoulder to keep them from bumping into each other by accident.

"What's up with Ripley?" the young man asked. "He seems even more down than usual."

Tage had noticed this as well, and a frown crossed her face as she turned to look at the robed Djinni a little ways below and in front of her. His silence had been bothering her as well, and she had a fairly solid idea of where it had originated. "I think I said something to him that I shouldn't have in the cave. Or, rather, in a way I shouldn't have. Now he's..." What was the correct adjective in this situation? Tage had the feeling that Ripley wasn't mad. Nor was he particularly sad. If she had to guess, concerned would have been the best. Concerned for his own role as a "person". But that wasn't something she could say to Halp. "I think I hurt his feelings."

Halp blinked. "How? When?"

Tage chewed on her lower lip. "This is going to sound really stupid," she muttered, stalling for time.

"Everything you say sounds stupid," Halp reassured.

Tage snorted. "Gee, thanks. Well, while my account was bugged out, I had to find some other way to occupy myself. So, my family took me and my big brother out caving."

"Caving? Like... in a real cave?"

"Yes, in a real cave." Tage objected. "We live near the mountains, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Only a couple hours drive."

"Wow, that's really cool. My parents have never done anything like that with me."

"Halp, do you want me to continue this story or not?"

"What? Oh, yes. Of course."

"Long story short, the lamp I was using ended up going out while I was in... a very narrow space. Like narrow enough that my dad couldn't even fit through. I tried to move forward to follow after my mom and brother, it was only a little side excursion to look at a space my mother had been in when she was younger, but I ended up getting slightly turned around, and ran into a dead end. By the time my brother found me I was in the middle of a full blown panic attack.

"Being back in that cave, in the dark, with the air like that... It was almost too much for me to bear. You and Toreck... well, I would have just guessed it was the dangerous situation of the game, too. But it wasn't. Somehow Ripley hit that right on the head, and when he pointed it out I... snapped at him. Basically told him to mind his own business and leave me alone."

Tage turned to look at Halp, and there was real concern in her eyes. "I just wanted him to leave me alone so that I wouldn't think about it, but I think he took it a lot more seriously than I meant it. And now I'm afraid that a simple apology won't be enough."

Halp patted Tage on the head. "Yeah," he said. "Sounds like you really messed up."

Tage twisted wildly, trying to punch him in the shoulder. "I'm serious!"

"Stop writhing up there," Rhanna complained. "Or I'll drop you!"

Halp turned to look at Tage, and the humor was gone from his face. "Just talk to him. Tell him straightforward what happened, how you meant it, and why it might have come out wrong. Ripley seems like a bit of a recluse to me. He's so quiet, and rarely ever engages in things except in the way they are 'supposed' to be engaged. So, yeah, he's probably misinterpreted the situation. But I think he's also the kind of guy who will forgive you if you explain it to him. Just.. talk to him when we get to the camp."

A sudden grin crossed Halp's face again. "Actually, scratch that. Better do it before. We are going to be in a camp filled to the brim with the best of the best of the Kingslayers. We are both going to be fanning out so bad that no one will be able to look at us without wanting to slap us."

The serious mood completely shattered, Tage burst out laughing. Once her laughter subsided somewhat she grinned at Halp, and softly said, "Thanks for the advice." However, before Halp had another chance to speak, tage twisted out from in his grip and firmly shoved him away, causing him to spin out and nearly collide with the branches of a nearby tree. The sudden bout of fighting that followed soon had Rhanna casting a paralysis spell on them as well.

"Regret bringing them along yet?" Tage heard Rhanna say, far below.

Toreck laughed. "You kidding me? I always wanted my very own Djinni shaped balloons. This is the best thing ever."


They stopped for a dinner break after several hours of walking, or floating, in Tage and Halp's case. Halp brought out a couple loaves of bread he had bought from the inn earlier that day, while Rhanna produced a rabbit she had caught while they had been hiking. Toreck got a fire going, and even managed to drag out a couple of marshmallows from somewhere in his inventory, which he promptly set aflame. Tage and, much to the girl's surprise, Rhanna, simultaneously objected to such wanton waste of the confectionaries.

"What? I'm a fire Djinni," Toreck reminded. "Charcoal tastes like heaven."

"Then eat the coals," Rhanna muttered.

Once the rabbits were done cooking, Tage grabbed her piece, before moving over to the far side of the little space, where Ripley was sitting. "May I... join you?" she asked, rather hesitantly.
 
The journey didn't feel long for Ripley, but his clock told him several hours had passed. He'd been mostly absorbed in analysis and simulation of previous encounters, trying to figure out whether Tage's actions were influenced by the fact that he was an AI, and to what degree. He'd realized pretty early on that it was obvious that her actions would be influenced by his AI-status, as proven by the fact that she asked him to fix the cave to not kill them, which she wouldn't ask a human.

That particular interaction, however, was not pernicious to the research that Ripley was conducting - so when would it be? A difficult question, and one that required a lot of thinking to process. So while Tage and Halp bounced about like chatty balloons, Ripley was recording and walking - later on, reviewing the logs, he'd realize that Rhanna had very much shot him a look of suspicion, since he was moving in the jagged terrain much faster than any level ten should be able to, but right now he was too absorbed in his research to worry about that.

It was so absurdly complex, though! Tage treated Halp and Toreck differently, for example. Both humans, but their personalities incredibly different. What if she simply wanted him to leave her alone because she didn't want to be helped by him because of his personality? More importantly, how could he verify this theory?

The more he progressed into the tree of options, the more frustrated the AI felt. Too many equations with mutliple solutions, too many unknown variables, too many things that he couldn't put into his equations and find a solution for - he couldn't even make statistical approximations!

He stopped mechanically for the dinner break, almost missing it and continuing on in a straight line. He'd been running simulations for however long this journey had been, and they all returned inconclusive results. He had a lot of log reviewing to do, and he couldn't afford to waste any more time trying to analyze this particular case. He'd just have to put in question any information regarding Tage, call it invalid, and move on. Perhaps even monitor her so she didn't tell anyone about his secret - but then again, who would believe her?

Irrelevant at the moment. Logs were not, however, and neither was that delicious smell of food that was making his mouth water uncomfortably. With a quiet, almost whispered "Thanks." he grabbed a small piece of the rabbit they were sharing, and took it to the corner of the camp. He was comfortable there - a medium sized rock provided a solid surface to sit in, the moss on it turning it less jagged and cold; and from there he could watch everyone.

He was about to start reviewing the logs of the journey here, when he noticed Tage walking towards him. The AI's eyes followed her curiously until she was standing in front of him.

Her hesitation sounded the first sign of alarm. When had he seen Tage hesitate? During that one particular quest. Was she still feeling distressed about the cave? For a moment, the AI felt a weird sensation in his chest as he pondered the option that she didn't want him to leave her alone, but it passed quickly when he heard her question - she just wanted somewhere to sit.

"Of course." The AI signalled to the stone near him, silent for a brief moment as he searched his information databases, eyes back down to his food. It didn't take long before he reached the conclusion that Tage had chosen to sit near him instead of anywhere else in the camp because she wanted something related to him. Should he take a risk now as she'd told him to, even if he didn't trust her?

Frustration kicked that last thought out of his mind, he'd spent way too long analyzing that trail of thought for no benefit today. Instead of wondering anymore, he raised his eyes to meet Tage's, a glint of curiosity in them, and offered what he believed was a proper way to begin the conversation:

"How can I help you?"
 
Tage sat down carefully, keeping the small bowl full of herbs and cooked rabbit cradled carefully within one hand, making sure she wouldn't spill it. She pulled a fork from her inventory and took a bite, chewing slowly to stall for time.

It had seemed so much easier when Halp had said it, when she had been light as air and drifting along through the sky. 'Just talk to him'. Yeah, right. What was she supposed to say? How was she supposed to start? She was halfway through her second mouthful when she realized that Ripley was waiting for her response. She finished chewing quickly and swallowed. Stalling wouldn't do her any good.

"I'm sorry," she began, before nearly wincing. She already wished she could start over, but there were no takebacks. The only thing was to keep going. "You've been so quiet, more quiet than usual I mean, and I know it's because of me. Because of... what I said."

Tage swallowed, but finally forced herself to look up and meet Ripley's eyes. It should have been easy. This was just a game, and even if he was mad at her, it didn't make any difference. They could part ways, and it wouldn't really matter.

That was a stupid thought. Of course it mattered.

"I was scared and... and I just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible without thinking about... well, abut what I was really scared of. And I shouldn't have taken it out on you, because I know you were just trying to make me feel better, but I did, because you... you knew exactly what was wrong, and every time you spoke to me I could feel you thinking about it, and that made me think about it and I just wanted to stop thinking about it. So I was rude and brusque because... well, you don't always understand what Halp and I mean if we don't say it straight out, and I didn't want you to misinterpret what I was trying to say, so I was abrupt. But..." Tage cut herself off, biting down on her lip. Now that she had started speaking it felt like she couldn't stop, yet she still hadn't made the point she wanted to make.

"So I'm sorry. It wasn't fair of me to react that way when you were only trying to make me feel better. And I know you are upset, and you have every right to be. But I hope you'll be able to forgive me at some point, too."

Tage sighed. Yeah. That was what she had wanted to say. Or something like that. She had hoped it would have come out more coherent, though. Now it was up to Ripley. "I can... leave, if you want. Go eat somewhere else."
 
Ripley's eyes stuck to Tage's hesitant figure - perhaps not the most polite thing to do, but the AI was still as curious as ever. Tage was rarely hesitant doing things, and the last time she'd done so she was about to leap down a hole to fight a creature that would be able to wipe the floor with ten like her at the same time. That was understandable. Hesitating before talking to the AI? That wasn't, since Ripley was not, as far as he knew, scary. Though perhaps AIs were? Perhaps she just wanted to eat, though it didn't seem too likely. It was an unknown variable, again. He was starting to get sick and tired of running into those all the time, but perhaps that was part of the human experience.

Still, if before he was confused, he was even more when she started talking. Sorry? What for? He almost interrupted her as she took a breath, but he wasn't sure if he was supposed to know what she was apologizing, and seeing how she was going to continue talking, perhaps he'd find out then what the problem was.

Her eyes met hers, and he could read something in them. Perhaps regret, perhaps even pain? He wasn't sure, but it was far from a smile; and he was suddenly aware that just like she'd read the fact that he was more quiet than usual she would probably be reading his eyes right now. A slightly worrying idea, but not too important right now.

Throughout her explanation the AI kept eye contact, standing perfectly still - far more than a human should in this case, perhaps partly revealing his unnatural nature, his senses focused on making sense of what Tage was talking, reading her body language. Trying, perhaps for the first time, to apply the knowledge he'd acquired about humans to a situation where it truly mattered if he was right in his guesses.

A small surge of empathy followed the warrior's words, with the AI finding itself if not sharing, then at the very least understanding her feelings. The idea of being trapped in a cave, having thoughts she didn't want to have whenever the AI spoke about it - perhaps because of the AI's own relationship to gloom, unpleasant caves. And she was definitely right about him not understanding things, so why would he be angry about that?

When she finished the apology, Ripley blinked, his mouth opening and closing a moment later as he re-thought his words. Something didn't fit, or something wasn't quite right. Another blink, his eyes still focused on Tage. He bit his lip, not giving the warrior a direct reply to her questions.

"Give me a moment. I need to think how to word this." He simply provided, closing his eyes for a brief second and taking a deep breath in a surprisingly human motion. A moment later, his eyes snapped open again, a neutral expression in his face, and he started speaking once more.

"I am upset. However, the word is not too accurate. I am upset, but I am not disappointed or unhappy. Merely worried." The AI cocked his head to the side. "I understand why you wanted to be alone during the excavation. I didn't back then." A brief moment of hesitation. "I should probably explain. In the cave, you pushed me away but seemed comfortable with the rest of the group." There was no hurt or annoyance in his words, but merely statement of facts. "It wasn't a problem until I figured that it was because they were humans and..."

For the first time since they'd met, the AI hesitated while speaking, eyes averting to the side for a brief moment - perhaps towards Rhanna? - before focusing on Tage once more, the moment of doubt gone like it was never there. "You know what I mean, hopefully. This led me to need to reevaluate a lot of our previous interactions, and this took most of my attention for a long time." He sighed, shaking his head slightly remembering the futility of the effort. So much time wasted, though he turned to a small smile at Tage. "So there's no need for you to leave. Though if you really feel like you must do something to compensate, I have a couple of questions." The AI's smile widened just slightly.

"First off, am I still supposed to forgive you if I don't think there's anything to be forgiven about? And, second, how differently do you treat me because of my, shall we say, special situation. And how much of it is it because of personality?" He asked candidly, not really knowing how difficult the question he was asking was to answer.
 
"I.." Tage had sat in silence, listening to Ripley's words with a mixture of something between relief and confusion coursing through her. On the one hand, Ripley wasn't mad at her. He didn't hate her for treating him the way she had. That, in and of itself, made this conversation a success. But at the same time, she found herself set on edge by what he was saying. By what he was suggesting. Not because it was impossible, but because it served to remind her that Ripley was an AI. He could look at the world so differently, and she would never know. That thought sent her mind spinning, off in directions she had never really imagined before. She'd always had conversations about AIs with people. That was always the debate, wasn't it? If AIs came to exist, did they deserve the right to be treated as people? Tage had always firmly stood on the side of "Yes, they would". Yet here she was, facing that exact situation. What was more, she was facing an AI who's job was to learn to be as human as possible, to the point that no one would ever be able to tell them apart. Tage believed in Ripley's, and the TITAN System's, benevolence, but who was she to make a decision for the entire human race? Trying to distract herself from that dangerous line of thought, she took a mouthful of the soup. It was rich and flavorful, but at the moment it could have been bland as water and she didn't think she would have noticed.

"I think," Tage began slowly. "The fact that you have now told me that you don't think you need to forgive me amounts to the same thing as offering forgiveness. Even though it gives a different message." She paused for a moment. "The second question is a lot harder. In fact, it may be impossible to answer. But... I'll do my best to be as honest as possible." She grinned weakly. "That's why you stick around after all, isn't it?"

"The reason I can't really answer it is because... well, I've never known you without also knowing about you. It is therefore impossible for me to know how I would have treated you if I didn't know. But I do know I... forget a lot. I've never really been a quiet gamer. Part of the fun of gaming is you get to be as noisy as you want, and as long as you aren't an ass about it there aren't really any consequences. But some of my first online friends, my first guild-mates, they were very reserved. They were older, and the whole VR thing seemed so new to them. So real. But that means I'm used to hanging around with people who don't get as... into things as Halp and I do. So the way you act, it wasn't really all that odd.

"But then something would happen, and I'd remember. It wouldn't even have to be something you did. Like one time I was taking loot off a monster, and thinking about drop rates, and then I remembered. Or when we were being chased by one of those strong monsters there was no way we could fight. Halp would shout something about proximity, and then I'd remember. It would stick around for a little bit in the back of my head, and then I'd forget again. But when you don't remember... you don't remember that you don't remember. So even if we went over every conversation we ever had, I wouldn't be able to tell you if I treated you differently than I would have otherwise.

"I can tell you about the cave, though. Because that... that's fresh. I still remember what happened. I remember it... too well, almost.

"When I sent that message... I definitely treated you differently than I would have otherwise. I needed you to... get it. Right away. And, unlike with a... well, I knew there was a chance you might not get it unless I spelled it flat out. I don't think I would have done that otherwise. But as for why I was able to smile and nod at Halp and Toreck and Rhanna, when I couldn't with you, that had nothing to do with... it. That was because they didn't know. They didn't... remind me of what happened. When they talked to me it was a distraction. But you... everything you said and did reminded me of what happened. Because you... you made it happen. You needed it to happen.

"And I get that. I'm not upset about it, even if it still gives me nightmares sometimes, and I wake up screaming in the middle of the night. " Tage swallowed violently, suddenly feeling a lump in the back of her throat that told her she was about to start crying. She quickly looked away from Ripley, taking a few quick gulps of the soup to try and ease the tightness in her chest with the warmth. "Most... most of the time I'm able to understand why you needed it, and I'm able to think of it exactly like it was; a terrifying moment in a game. But in there it was... too fresh. Too real. And I couldn't bear any reminders." She quickly wiped away a tear, before taking another gulp of soup.

"Ugh," Tage said, disgruntled and frustrated with herself. She set down her bowl to wipe away the last of the moisture that misted her eyes with the heel of her hand. "I don't even know if that answered your question at all," she concluded, rather lamely, with a faint laugh that was more a release of tension than it was any real expression of humor.
 
Tage's reactions as the AI spoke were inconclusive at best. She didn't seem completely reassured, yet she didn't seem as distressed as before. Progress? Possibly. Simply getting that far would have to count as a success for now - he'd managed to interpret Tage's words and manners in the correct way, and had managed to respond to them in a truthful way that reassured her, even if only partly.

Her words, a weak smile, let the AI figure out more precisely what had happened - she understood that she was forgiven, but his own questions had brought thoughts that she didn't have an answer for into her mind; something that humans thoroughly disliked in the AI's experiences. He nodded at her admission of ignorance, wondering whether he stuck around because she was honest or because she knew his secret. A bit of column A, a bit of column B, but with the single nod he'd given it was likely to be mistaken for a confirmation of her half-hearted joke.

Ripley's eyes turned to Tage's as she spoke, drifting from time to time to the sides as he'd seen humans do. What she said made sense, considering human limitations. Forgetting the way humans did sounded like such a useful thing! Being able to temporarily not have some information, only to recover it later. Almost like what he did with his access to the database, but in the humans' case it wasn't even a chosen action. It had to be extremely frustrating at other times, though. What if you forgot your name?

It wasn't all random, though. It relied on a set of clues, a system that related things. Similar to a database. In the AI's mind, a plan popped up for an implementation of "forgetfulness". A bad one, of course, since it was halfway through a conversation with Tage, with no real attention dedicated to it - and he still wasn't sure he wanted to put that in practice. Important things should not be forgotten - but then again, he could just tune the system to give him believable memory without having to worry about losing important data. Maybe even add an off switch.

For a brief moment, his eyes had drifted upwards somehow as he got lost in thought, but he quickly refocused on Tage's, just in time to hear her admit that in the cave she had indeed acted differently because of his AI nature. All other thoughts were pushed aside in that moment, and she had his full attention this time as the AI's gaze turned piercing, locked on the woman's.

He nodded lightly as she spoke, once or twice, and two lines of parallel thought appeared in his mind. One followed Tage's explanation, trying to fit in what she was saying to his concerns about her treating him differently - and realizing that Tage wasn't really treating him differently for his AI nature as much as for the unpleasant experience she'd had to go through in order for the AI to come to completion. Everything was in order, and Tage had shown that she was as reliable as ever.

But another part of the AI's mind reeled at her narration of how the experience haunted her. Something clutched at his stomach, and halfway through he was forced to look down as she spoke, finding himself unable to meet her eyes anymore. And when a quick glance revealed her drying a tear, he stopped looking in her general direction and just stared at the ground.

He felt awful. He felt as if something had punched him in the gut, but nothing had; as if his own body was rebelling against him, twisting his insides in an iron fist. Remembering Tage's narration only made it worse, but he didn't have the luxury of forgetting - and instantly he understood why humans needed that system. He fell silent, trying to find the right words to apologize again - but he'd already done that and it didn't fix anything apparently. A heavy silence fell as Tage gulped her soup, but fortunately she changed the mood, or at least tried to, when she was done.

Ripley, however, had a hard time moving on. He looked at Tage apologetically, briefly, his vision blurring for a brief moment - tears? - before he stared at the ground again. He wasn't even sure what he wanted to say. He sighed, shaking his head slowly from side to side. There were questions to answer on his own end.

"Yes, you've answered my questions." The AI replied - honestly, not completely, but right now even the allure of knowledge wasn't tempting enough to make him want to listen to Tage talk about the cave again. He paused for a brief second, trying to find the right words, but he gave up finally and just went with something he hoped was okay.

"I wish I could make it up to you somehow, though. It's different to be aware of your suffering as a bunch of vital constants and reactions and logs and... This. And apologizing, despite how often people do it, seems to not fix anything." Another brief pause, a flash of illumination as concepts linked together. There was, after all, a way that the system used to apologize when something went wrong. "It will not erase your memories, but would it make you feel better if you got an item as an apology?" Ripley's head rose with hope. "At least so you have some good memories of the event to go with the bad?"
 
"Nah, that's okay," Tage replied lightly, taking another sip of the soup. For the first time she actually seemed to taste it, and her eyes briefly fluttered closed as a smile spread across her lips. Who would have guessed that Rhanna was a good cook? A moment later she was focused again, turning to Ripley. She knew she was going to need to explain it better than that. "Items work great as rewards for quests, because they are a... tangible reward. They show players that they are making progress, and help them to complete harder quests later. But that's just a game, and even though... it... started as a quest, it wasn't really a quest. Not by the end. I certainly don't think of it as a quest anymore. So an item wouldn't exactly be appropriate." She turned to glance at Ripley, a brief look of concern on her face. For a moment she wondered if she should have simply accepted the item, to try and make him feel better. But if he ever found out she did that, it would really just make it worse. She really didn't want to see him feeling bad, though. She didn't blame Ripley for making those decisions. She knew she would have done the same thing.

"Besides," she continued brightly a moment later. This time an honest grin spread over her face. "I've already got lots of good memories. That entire journey was a good memory, and I somehow get the impression it wouldn't have been nearly so good without you along, eh? That's a reward in and of itself." Her little bowl of soup was nearly empty, but the pot over the fire was still nearly completely full. Halp had moved up to Rhanna and Toreck, and was pestering the both of them for more information about the Ultimate. Toreck seemed amused by the whole thing, but it was obvious that Rhanna was getting frustrated.

"Come on," Tage said. "Let's go join the others. Maybe we can save Rhanna from Halp's incessant pestering." She quickly got to her feet, and on the other side of the clearing Rhanna's eyes were drawn to the motion. A brief frown crossed her face, and she set down her bowl and got to her feet even as Tage and Ripley were start to walk over.

For a moment Tage stared at the woman in confusion, before offering a bit of an awkward smile. "Why'd you..."

"You've had your heart to heart," Rhanna cut in. Her voice was friendly and light, but Tage got the impression there was something a lot more serious behind her words. "Now it's my turn. Stay, Ripley. Talk to me."

Tage blinked in surprise. "But..."

Rhanna leveled her with a look that stilled her voice in her throat. It was the kind of look that said far more than words ever could. She cast her eyes over to Ripley, who seemed practically trapped by Rhanna, before glancing over at the fire, where both Toreck and Halp were watching them. Halp shrugged slightly, and Toreck offered an apologetic smile, but motioned her over.

With one final, worried glance at the AI, Tage moved over to the fire, sitting down between Halp and Toreck. For a moment she hoped they'd stay quiet enough that she might be able to overhear some of what Rhanna was saying to Ripley, but that fell through a moment later.

"That was odd," Halp offered.

Toreck just shrugged. "Rhanna's always lived her own way." He grabbed Tage's bowl, and promptly refilled it. As he handed it back he locked Tage in place with his golden gaze. "There's no point in trying to eavesdrop," he offered. "Rhanna may not be the nicest person, but she knows people well. If she wants to speak to someone privatly, she won't say whatever it is she really wants to say until she's certain no one is listening. So, let's just make it easy on her, okay? Have you ever heard the story of what led Krajni to found the Kingslayers?"

"Wasn't it just a desire to face a tough boss?" Halp asked.

"Yes and no," Toreck agreed. "There's no doubt that the Kingslayers were founded to fight the strongest bosses, but there was a lot more to it than just that desire. Before he was the head of the Kingslayers, Krajni was kicked out of his previous guild."

"Really?" Tage found herself asking, drawn into the story despite herself.

"Yeah. I wasn't there, but I heard all about this from someone who was. Let me tell you about it."

On the other side of the clearing, Rhanna sat silently beside Ripley, watching as Toreck draw Halp and Tage into his story. The two might seem like polar opposites, but they had worked together long enough that they really did understand each other well. She'd offer him a quiet thanks for his actions later.

Right now, though, she turned to face Ripley. The spirit djinni seemed uncomfortable under her aloof blue eyes, and Rhanna fully intended to use this to her advantage. She remained silent just long enough to make sure that Ripley was starting to wonder what exactly she wanted from him. Then she spoke

"Why are you hiding your level from those two?" she asked, bluntly and to the point. Rhanna did indeed know people well, and she had seen exactly how quiet Ripley was, and how uncomfortable he seemed around people. With Tage or Halp she would have started another conversation, before slipping the question in at just the right moment. Not with him though.

"Don't try and tell me you are not," she continued. "I was paying attention during that fight. I saw how hard your spells hit. I'd say you are at least level 30. Probably closer to 40." Her eyes locked on his. "They are obnoxious, but Tage and Halp are good kids. So why are you lying to them?"
 
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Tage didn't want compensation? That was unusual, but not unheard of. It did mean that the AI had to find some other way to compensate her, but if she said it was okay, he'd have to accept it. She seemed to have misunderstood the kind of item he was talking about, and for a moment he thought about correcting her, but hearing her hesitation when simply mentioning the quest's existance pushed that idea out of the AI's mind. Best to just move on and, perhaps, help her forget.

His worried look turned to a subtle smile when Tage mentioned making good memories with him. It held as she hinted at the fact that she knew of his interventions, but two could play the subtle game; and out of the multiple ways the AI could understand that sentence he chose to take it in a very non-incriminating one.

"You would've found most of the good spots without my help as well." Was his quiet reply between spoonfuls. Taste was such a weird thing - he could taste things properly, but given the amount of people that had different opinions on what was good and what wasn't, the AI had had some trouble configuring his tastes and, in the end, he ended up not doing so. There were no foods he liked, nor any he disliked, which seemed to be better than liking some and disliking some.

But their bowls of soup were almost empty now, and Tage seemed to be eager for more, so when she motioned towards the others Ripley nodded and stood up with her. Whatever plans of staying in the background he had were quickly derailed, though, as Rhanna singled him out for another "heart to heart". And, while her tone was friendly enough, the AI did not really want a heart to heart with her or just about anyone else. He tensed slightly, but nodded, starting the process to elevate his rights in the background, eyes turning slightly unfocused as he did - he didn't know what Rhanna wanted, but she had been acting suspicious towards him; and if she was starting to get close to the truth he'd have to arrange for her to take a long break from the game. Maybe even a permanent one. With any luck, though, it wouldn't be necessary - banning people was not something the AI would consider fun or desirable.

Outwardly, the AI shrugged and sat back down again on the rock, putting the now-emtpy bowl to his side, and looking at Rhanna, slightly nervous - both because of the questions she might ask, and because of the actions he might have to take. Silence stretched onward for a few seconds and, as humans tend to do when faced with it, Rhanna broke it.

Her accusation almost made the AI sigh - almost, because he knew that if he sighed in relief at being accused it'd send a very wrong signal. Privilege elevation was cancelled as the AI's eyes focused once more on Rhanna, then to the ground, trying to figure out how to explain himself - he didn't even have to lie, after all. That moment of silence was all Rhanna needed to continue speaking, laying out the evidence before Ripley.

"I didn't expect anyone to be so observant." Ripley began after a few seconds, with his thoughts now in order and turning to look at Rhanna. Unconsciously, talking with a stranger, and in a tense situation had made the AI default to a more formal speech pattern. "The short answer would be because I think it is best, but I don't think that will satisfy you. So please do bear with the long explanation."

"I met them when we were all low level, but I've leveled much faster than them. If I were to play with them with my higher level, either they would have to go to zones that were too hard for them, or I would trivialize their challenges. Even simply knowing that I am higher level would've probably made them rely on that in difficult encounters instead of trying to improve and beat the challenges on their own, which would've undermined or outright eliminated their feeling of success." Ripley's eyes were almost fixed upon Rhanna's, trying to figure out her feelings about the explanation, though from time to time they flitted to the campfire, checking that everyone else was still distracted and out of earshot. "If my friends are low level and I want to play with them, I must be low level too."

Another brief moment of silence from the AI, his almost impassive expression broken by a weak half-smile. "I'm not sure whether you're acting to protect them or yourself, but I assure you I mean no harm to anyone, though I cannot think of a way to prove this unequivocally. Still, I would ask of you not to tell them. Can I count on your silence?"
 
Rhanna relaxed somewhat as Ripley started to speak, leaning back against the rock with her hands behind her back. It seemed she had almost not expected Ripley to speak. However, the look of ease that had come over her quickly fled as the AI continued to speak. She sat up straighter and stiffer, locking her eyes on him. Her hands came together in two pale fists in her lap.

Rhanna had never been one for logic. She always had, and probably always would, trust her gut. And while Ripley's story made sense in the most trivial of fashions, something about it set her on edge. She couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was that bothered her, so she let him continue to speak, to lay it all out, hoping that she would be able to put it together, and figure out what was bothering her.

She opened her mouth, prepared to respond, when it suddenly hit her what was wrong. Her teeth clicked together nearly catching her tongue, before briefly grinding together. How stupid did he think she was, implying that he could level that fast above his friends? She had fought with Tage and Halp, however briefly, and while both of them had been able to offer little aid, it was only because of their level. Both of them had acted with a maturity and sense during combat that had showed they were no inexperienced players. Levels would have been easy for them to gain, especially at that early of a stage in the game. What was more, when they had gone to fight, they had relied upon each other, but nearly flat-out ignored Ripley. He was a new addition to the group. If his story was true, and if Rhanna gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed they had been working together for several levels, that still meant he would have had to gain at least twenty five levels, while his friends only gained two or three. And that was downright impossible.

"Bull. Shit." Rhanna said, harshly. She knew she was being rude. In that moment she didn't really care. Rhanna didn't doubt that Ripley was keeping his level hidden so he could travel with his friends. But she was suddenly equally certain there was far, far more to it than that. And, whatever it was, Ripley was trying to keep it hidden from her. Trying to pull the blinds over her eyes as though she was some ignorant fool. That was the fact that set her blood boiling. "I've played this game for a long time, so don't you dare try and feed me some bullshit sob story. I know the impossible when I hear it. Tage and Halp aren't novice players. There is no way you could have gained that many levels over them in such a short period of time. It isn't humanly possible."

Her arms crossed protectively across her chest, as she did her best to lock Ripley in place with the weight of her eyes. "Which means there are exactly two options. You are lying your ass off to me, or, somehow, you are cheating. So. First and last chance, because I really hate liars. Whats. Going. On."
 
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Rhanna's reply had Ripley blinking in surprise for a brief moment - the hostility was unexpected, and inside the AI it was returned. Ripley wasn't, however, someone to anger quickly or burst into rage - it simply simmered into an uncooperative attitude, his brows furrowing so very slightly as the woman accused him of being either a cheater or a liar; all of which was based on nothing more than a hunch on her side. Annoying, to say the least, and so far from the truth.

"If I had a way to fool TITAN I wouldn't be sitting here talking with you, I would be making millions off it by selling it online. So I guess I will have to get used to being hated, since you're not willing to accept the truth as such. And if I were to lie and give you something easier to swallow, then you'd hate me anyways for being a liar." The AI replied cooly, maintaining eye contact with the woman, his body sitting perfectly still.

"However, if you are going to try and find holes in what I've told you, you should at least try to consider other options. Perhaps I simply wasn't as low level as you understood when I met them - or if you must see a lie in it, I wasn't low level at all. Perhaps Tage and Halp enjoy activities that are experience-inefficient, much like this whole trip is, where I prefer powerleveling. Or, perhaps, you are not as knowledgeable as you think about this game, to name a few. Not that it matters, of course." The AI shrugged, his tone still as calm and controlled as when he started. "You have already declared me guilty in your mind, and now you are just interrogating me to see if you can get me to say something to justify your suspicion. While I cannot stop you from suspecting me, I have no reason to explain myself further if you are going to try and twist everything I say against me, specially given that my actions do not affect you. I will, however, be happy to continue this conversation if you ever choose to do so in friendlier terms."

And, with that, the AI turned his head from Rhanna - a slightly awkward situation where he wasn't actually doing anything, but he wasn't looking at the woman that could very possibly want to reply to him. If she did, she'd capture the AI's attention once more, with him turning to face her once more. And, if she didn't, the AI would begin practicing his spells when she left.
 
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Rhanna's eyes narrowed as her jaw clenched together. She was almost as rigidly still as the AI, but she held herself silent with an icy rage, right up until Ripley finished speaking. When he was done, she got to her feet. "Or maybe I know this game much better than you think I do," she began. Her voice was calm, too, but there was an undercurrent of steel in it. Her blue eyes were as dark as the ocean in the middle of a storm. "I didn't go into this thinking that you were guilty of anything out of the ordinary. I just wanted an explanation. But now, oh, now I definitely believe it. I'm not stupid. There is something wrong with this whole situation. You are hiding something, and obviously going to a great deal of trouble to keep it from everyone else. I gave you the opportunity to come clean about whatever the hell it is. Instead, you got cold and defensive, and told me fuck all. I told you. Last chance. But that's how you want to play it? Fine. But now? Now I neither like you nor trust you. And that sure as hell affects me."

With no further words, she turned on her heels, striding over to the fire with a rigid, furious step. She hesitated for only a brief moment as Tage and Halp turned to look at her. She was a bit surprised to realize that she genuinely liked these kids, and for a moment she felt a little bad about what she was going to do. But one glance back at Ripley was enough to steal her nerve. "We're going," she told Toreck.

The fire djinni looked taken aback, but seemed to sense immediately that Rhanna was deadly serious. "Rhanna," he said, playing for time. "Wha..."

"Get up and start walking, or get left behind," she barked, cutting him off and giving him no time to argue. Then she turned to Tage and Halp. "And as for you two, you don't get to follow. Consider your invite to visit the Kingslayers revoked as long as he is still with you." One delicate, furious finger leveled at Ripley. And then, she turned and began to walk away, leaving behind nothing but a stunned silence.

"Wha...?" Toreck repeated. Tage and Halp looked as flabbergasted as him. "Just... hold on a minute. I'll try and see if I can... Fuck. Rhanna! Wait!" He got up and bolted after her. A few moments later, Tage and Halp heard the sound of Toreck's voice, muffled and incomprehensible over the distance.

"She... she can't do that, can she?" Halp asked, sounding panicked. "She can't!"

"...I think she can," Tage responded, equally stunned. "I think she just did. What... what just happened?" Two pairs of confused eyes turned towards Ripley.
 
Ripley's expression didn't move during Rhanna's outburst - the moment he'd said he'd have to get used to being hated he'd done so; and the woman's words were ignored completely - at least outwardly. Inwardly, the AI was having trouble holding back from returning the aggressiveness - what a useless emotion! - and he hovered on the edge of requesting a privilege elevation and taking his revenge in a less than legal way.

However, logic prevailed. That would only prove the woman's suspicions; and more importantly there was nothing illegal about not liking Ripley. Hurtful, perhaps, specially when the AI had given her all the information he could let her have; but being hurt was not cause enough to shadowban her. So Ripley did nothing as she walked over to his friends, watching how she did indeed take out her frustrations on them and made them start moving again, throwing another dagger his way as she denied those two access to the Kingslayers based on Ripley's presence. Another ember on the fire of the AI's anger, which was quickly put out. Being an ass was still okay according to the game's rules; as long as you didn't do it so much that you'd get heavily reported.

A soft sight came out of the AI's lips as both Tage and Ripley turned to him. Too much stuff to explain, not enough time to do so, and there were more important things than sharing whatever truth he could give them right now. "I'll explain later, over private chat." The AI got up as well. "But you should get going and catch up to her. There's no need for you to miss out on the guild just because she doesn't like me, right?" A soft smile appeared on his up-to-now stony lips, and with that the AI turned around, pausing for a brief moment as a message box with Tage's name appeared in his UI and filled up much faster than it would've if its owner was subject to human limitations.

Rhanna suspects something about me, though it doesn't seem to be important. She didn't quite make clear what, and I'm not sure she knows herself, but she seems to believe that I am too high level for the time I've been playing this game, and apparently the fact that I cannot provide an answer that satisfies her means she must take it out on you. Probably because she does not see a way to take it out on me since she has nothing I'm interested in. My apologies for the fact that our friendship has singled you two out as targets.

In any case, it's trivial to solve this situation. There's no reason for me to continue with you now, as I already know the Kingslayers rather well and your new escorts should be able to handle anything the game throws your way, barring a world boss. So enjoy yourselves and do let me know when you respawn. I'll be around.

With the message sent, the AI started walking away, his hand already performing the gestures of a speed-enhancing spell that would be complete in a few seconds, putting him well out of Tage and Halp's reach.
 
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Tage heard the faint ping that alerted her to the fact that someone had just sent her a message, but in that moment she didn't even bother to check who it was from, or even acknowledge its existence. She had understood exactly what Ripley intended to do, and had no intention of letting him do it. Her hand reached out, closing over his shoulder and bringing him to a halt. "Ripley. Wait. This is ridiculous. You... you don't have to leave. Just... wait a bit okay? Let Toreck talk to her. I'm sure this is all some big misunderstanding, right? Things like this happen sometimes. Don't take it so seriously." Tage suddenly realized she was rambling, and promptly shut herself up. All the same, the hand that had closed on Ripley's shoulder didn't release, as though she was afraid, if she didn't keep a solid grip on him, he'd disappear anyways.

"Come on," she said, pulling him back towards the fire, where the abandoned pot of soup still waited. "You can't just leave. It'd ruin the whole thing. We'll wait here, okay? Wait until this gets... sorted out." Only once all three of them were seated, and Tage was quite certain that Ripley wasn't about to bolt, did she open up the message he had sent her. She skimmed it really fast, before rereading it a second time, a little more thoroughly. When she was done, Tage slid to the ground, resting her lower back against the stump she had just been sitting on, and ran her fingers through her hair. At least now she could begin to guess what had happened, and feel a little bit of understanding towards Rhanna's actions, even if she was ultimately still primarily confused and frustrated about the whole situation.

It wasn't surprising that Halp had never noticed anything odd about Ripley, he was simply too easy-going for that. But Tage could imagine, if she hadn't known what she did about Ripley, how she might have reacted to him. She certainly would have been curious, and she could also see herself getting mad if her questions were met with nothing but stonewalling, which is almost certainly what Ripley would have done. Yet Tage had no doubt that Rhanna was many times more observant than her. And apparently, when her trigger snapped, it snapped many times harder than Tage'd would have.

Already, Tage was trying to think of some way to smooth the situation over. Some way to fix it, even though it already felt beyond fixing. Something she could say, even if it was a flat out lie, to satisfy the woman. Words and ideas spun through her mind, but nothing she thought of seemed like a good idea. Instead, hoping a bit more information would make it easier for her to come up with something, Tage quickly typed out a message, and sent it off to Ripley.

Can you tell me what happened in more detail? What she said, and what you said? It doesn't have to be word for word, just... more than you gave me. I think I can help.

---

Much further away, far beyond the range of Tage's hearing, Toreck's longer legs finally allowed him to catch up with Rhanna's head start. "Rhanna," he complained, slowing. "Hold up." She didn't stop. Didn't even so much as slow. "Goddammit Rhanna, I said wait."

Lunging forward in one quick movement, Toreck grabbed onto Rhanna's arm with one strong hand, spinning her around heavy-handedly, even as she struggled to escape from his grip. For a moment the two friends wrestled in frustrated silence, before Rhanna hesitated, unable to break free of the warrior's much stronger grip. Instead she fixed him with a glare that promised, if he did not let her go right now, he would be eating the business end of a fireball within a couple of seconds. One hand lifted, prepared to act on the threat. Toreck caught her hand a moment later, locking both hands together in his palm to keep her from using any magic. His other hand wiped at his brow, even as he shook his head.

"Rhanna, what the hell is going on? I've seen your temper flare before, but never like this. Talk to me."
"What is there to say?" Rhanna spat, briefly giving up the struggle to try and free her wrists. "You heard exactly what I had to say."

"Yes, I did," Toreck agreed, trying to keep his voice level. "And now I want to know what caused it." When Rhanna didn't answer, but simply started struggling again, his grip tightened further, until she winced. "I'm not letting go until you tell me what happened. I'm serious, Rhanna. Talk."

Finally, after one last ditch struggle, Rhanna seemed to accept exactly how serious Toreck was. "Fine," she hissed. "You want to know the problem. He's hiding something."

"Everyone is hiding something. We're in a VR. That's not the problem."

"Yes it is!" Rhanna objected. "That's exactly the problem. He's hiding his level-"

"But that's..."

"Do you want me to talk or don't you?" Rhanna snapped. "Then shut up."

She waited, one brow raised. Toreck didn't say anything, simply shrugging instead.

"Good," Rhanna started again. "Keep it that way. But you are right. It isn't that big of a deal. That isn't a big deal. But there's more. I wasn't all that bothered by it when I went to talk to him. But considering he's traveling with a couple of level 10's, and he's easily four times that strong, I was curious. Understandably so.

"You should have heard the story he tried to feed me when I asked him about it, though. That group hasn't been together that long. But he basically flat out said that he'd been their level when they'd met, but now he was many, many times stronger. And that is literally impossible. Even if I give them all the benefit of the doubt, assume they've been together longer than they probably have to give them more time, assume that Tage and Halp level as slow as the newest of players, it doesn't add up. It can't add up.

"So I called him on it. But, instead of clarifying, trying to come up with a new story, anything normal... He locked down. Completely."

"But this is all just speculation," Toreck said softly, trying to reason with her. "He hasn't..."

"I don't care!" Rhanna cut in. "I've played this game a lot longer than you. I beta tested it. I know exactly what it is possible for people to do, and I am telling you there is something downright unnatural about him. At first I thought he was just a liar, making up stories for who knows what reason, but he doesn't act like it. I've dealt with people like that before. Lots of them. But he doesn't seem like one of them. The more I think about this, the more confusing it all gets. There's a part of me that is beginning to wonder if he was telling the truth, which is almost worse. That means, at best, he's found some sort of exploit we missed during beta, and he hasn't shared it because he doesn't want the developers to find out about it. At worst... I have no idea. I just don't know." She seemed to deflate slightly, and when she started speaking again some of the heat had left her voice.

"What I do know is I don't want whatever is going on with him anywhere near me, this fight, or any of the Kingslayers. And I'm sorry I had to lay it on Tage and Halp like that, but they are his friends. If they are involved in it, they won't follow."

"But... It, Rhanna? "It" what?"

"Are you not paying attention to anything I just said!" Rhanna snapped, suddenly fired up again. She jerked violently to the side, catching the distracted Toreck by surprise. Her hands broke free. But, rather than starting to run again, she lifted her hands in the beginning of the spell to release the promised fireball.

Toreck, much to her surprise, didn't move. "Fine," he said, quietly. "If hitting me with that will make you feel better, go ahead. But, please, just... calm down."

For a moment the outlines of the spell flared brighter in front of her fingers, before she slashed her hand to the side, suddenly canceling the spell. "No," she said, rather quietly. "It wouldn't make me feel better.

"I don't know what to do," she continued, suddenly alarmed to find her eyes filling with tears. "I have no idea what is going on, but I know something is going on. And I absolutely hate feeling ignorant."

"I know," Toreck said, equally softly, as he stepped forward and gently hugged her. "It's okay."

They stood there like that for a moment, before Rhanna seemed to realize what was going on. She tensed, but Toreck released her before she could shove away from him. He stood there for a moment, looking rather awkward, before running his fingers through his short, bright yellow hair. "Shall... we go back?" he finally offered.

Rhanna was silent for a moment. "Yes," she replied, only to follow it up a moment later with "No." Toreck raised an eyebrow, and got a small laugh out of her. She sobered just a second later and continued. "I was serious when I said I didn't want whatever's going on with him near this fight or the Kingslayers."

"Why?" Toreck asked. Rhanna stiffened, but Toreck bowled right over her. "No, Rhanna, I'm serious. Think about it for a minute. For me, please. Why don't you want him near this fight? I'm not certain what you see about him, but I'm willing to believe this mysterious "it" is there. But, from the little I know of Ripley, he seems like the most... obedient game player I've ever met. He follows rules and expectations nearly to a T, and appears to have absolutely no desire to push the boundaries. Unlike a certain two I could name, who ended up getting you to use a levitation spell in a way I'm pretty sure it was never intended to be used. What are you expecting him to do?"

Rhanna didn't answer. After a couple silent moments, Toreck sighed. "Rhanna..."

"Shut up," she snapped, cutting him off. Something in her voice, though, was lacking its usual intensity. "I'm thinking."

And so they stood for several long minutes. Finally, though, Rhanna sighed. "I have no reason to want to keep him away," she said, defeated. "Except for the fact that I hate how he's trying to pull the wool over my eyes."

"Well, consider this an opportunity to... un-wool," Toreck offered. "Keep an eye on him. Either he'll keep it very carefully hidden, which will keep him from doing anything else, or he'll let something slip, and you'll get closer to that answer you seem to crave so desperately."

Rhanna sighed again, rubbing the ends of her long hair comfortingly. "I don't know if I can... take that back, though. Or if any of them will let me."

"Won't know unless you try."
 
Ripley blinked in confusion when Tage reached out to grab him, turning around to look at her with the feeling painted in his face. Her words made sense, but the sentences themselves, the content behind them, that didn't. What was ridiculous? She did have a point in getting angry at his reply. Hell, the AI himself would admit that his reply had partly been aimed at making her angry. Even if Tage said he didn't have to leave, Rhanna had just said he had to if he wanted his friends to meet the Kingslayers. And how would he take it if not seriously? The hot-tempered woman did not seem to be joking, for sure. He wasn't even sure of how to reply to Tage, so he just nodded - that seemed to work when you didn't know what to say - and followed her to the fire. A moment later, the AI had put his thoughts at least slightly in order, and whispered quietly:

"I don't think it's worth arguing with her. You two might miss your chance to meet the kingslayers, and I don't feel strongly about it either way." More or less the truth, after all. A nervous silence fell over them as Halp looked in the direction Rhanna had departed anxiously and Tage read, but it didn't take long before the new-message notification broke it for Ripley. It barely took a second before the reply was flying Tage's way:

Rhanna asked me why I was hiding my level from you two, since she'd apparently noticed my damage output being higher than expected in the bossfight. I explained that while we'd met at similarly low levels, I'd risen in experience much faster than you, but I preferred to keep the game's content challenging and entertaining by not giving you two a safety blanket or easy route. She called this 'Bull-shit', and said it was impossible. Which, granted, is the truth if you are not following almost-optimal powerleveling for inhumanly long periods of time. At this point my answers took a turn for the inflammatory, and I reaffirmed myself in the fact that this was the truth, suggesting that her belief that it wasn't possible was due to lack of sufficient knowledge. Perhaps not the best move in retrospect, since it does hint that there's a factor about me that she does not know. I accused her of having labeled me as guilty and only being seeking something to justify the label, and refused to continue the conversation. It seems that she believes thus that I am lying to her, and she apparently hates liars.

Having hopefully given Tage all the information she needed to do whatever she was doing - perhaps her own analysis on the situation? He'd have to remember to ask her to share it afterwards - the AI just sat next to the fire, thinking about his next action. Somewhere along the line he'd stopped just being an observer and become part of these humans' lives, and it'd only become obvious to him when they'd shown that whether he stayed or not mattered to them whether in a positive or negative way.

It wasn't a very pleasant feeling. It was hard enough knowing what people thought and wanted, to worry about whether his being there or not was important to them. Ideally, he would've just been able to wave goodbye to Tage and Halp and rejoin them a short while later without them complaining in either case. This plan was apparently no longer an option, which meant that the next best-case scenario had him getting along properly with Rhanna.

And then came the bad cases, where Tage and Halp had to stop going to the Kingslayers because of him. A short pause followed that thought - since when was their enjoyment one of his goals? The reply came a moment later, as he realized that it was part of his directives as a game AI.

So getting along with Rhanna it was. This meant that either he had to feed her a believable story, or find some way to make her accept the current one. Neither seemed too likely while she was as angry as she was when she left the clearing. The time for planning and wondering had passed now, though, and as the fiery warrior walked back into the camp Ripley looked at Tage, raising an eyebrow very slightly, half pleading, before his eyes went back to Rhanna.

Loathe as I am to ask for it, I think I need your help to fix this.
 
One glance at the sour look on Rhanna's face, and Tage sent one final, short reply.

Yeah

In all honesty, Tage wanted help with this situation. She liked people, for the most part, and it was fun to try and understand them. But that didn't really mean she was good at talking to them. Yet, here she was, in a position of needing to come up with a believable lie to feed a competent, intelligent woman, who was, if Ripley's message was anything to go by, remarkably observant. How else could she have figured out that Ripley's level was so high? Even Tage hadn't noticed even though they had traveled together for several weeks. It had been such a surprise, in fact, that she'd had to struggle to keep the look of surprise and hurt from crossing her face when she'd read that particular fact. She had to remind herself that it wasn't surprising. He was an AI, and his ability to level so much quicker than her certainly wasn't a reflection on her own skill as a gamer. She had reminded herself that she had something to accomplish, and had kept reading, waiting for some answer to fall out of the sky and hit her on the head.

One good thing about the situation, albeit only a very small thing, was that Rhanna seemed to have mostly calmed down. There was still something hard and cold in her eyes whenever she glanced at Ripley, so it was obvious that a little walk and talk with Toreck hadn't solved the situation for her, but at least they wouldn't have to deal with her spitting fire at them. She stood up as Rhanna got closer, stepping somewhat protectively in front of Ripley. Rhanna's eyes snapped to her for a minute, before drifting back to Ripley, and then jumping back to Tage.

However, just as Tage was about to start speaking, Rhanna lifted a hand to forestall her. "I'm sure you've got something wonderful planned, Tage," she said, almost as though she was reading from a script within her head. "But me first, alright?"

Tage blinked, but nodded, trying to hide her relief. She hadn't had anything planned at all, let alone something wonderful. Maybe this would give her the last little bit of time to think, or maybe Rhanna would give her something to respond to that would make this whole thing easier. Either way, it was much better than starting.

Rhanna's eyes turned back to Ripley. She stared at him for a minute, silently, before Toreck gently nudged her. "I... don't like to have to admit it when I've done something wrong," she began, rather hesitantly. "But I... overreacted. If you," here she paushed, turning to look at Tage and Halp as well as Ripley, " All of you, will allow it, I would like to... take back what I said before about you not being able to come along as long as he's here."

There was stunned silence. Rhanna looked between them, waiting. When nothing was forthcoming her arms folded across her chest, her foot tapped once, and a taste of the usual heat came back to her voice. "You can say something now, and stop looking at me like idiots," she scolded.

Tage gulped. "I... yeah. I mean, it's not really my decision, but... as long as Ripley doesn't mind." Behind her, Halp nodded his agreement.
 
The AI had to take a few seconds to process what had happened - Rhanna's words and demeanor were so distant from what they'd been just a minute ago. Toreck had to have worked some dark magics, but whether he did or not, the result was Rhanna apologizing; which the AI had tested repeatedly was a very difficult thing for some humans to do. And Rhanna definitely fit the bill for a human that did not want to apologize.

So while Tage kept the warrior distracted, Ripley thought about his words. It was a tenuous situation, and he had to be very careful both with what he said, and with what the humans would understand from what he said. Complicated beyond standard complication, and he did need those few extra seconds. Soon, however, Tage had turned to ask him if he minded, and the AI could not delay speaking anymore.

"This is perfectly okay as far as I'm concerned." He replied quietly, his eyes rising to meet Rhanna's. "I am sorry to have been the cause of so much distress all around. Thank you for your apology, as well." He hadn't had enough time, the AI biting his lower lip softly for a second before continuing, slightly hesitant. "I cannot find a way to say this with the right connotations, so please ignore them - I also appreciate the fact that, while you do not like me, you are not punishing my friends for this."

The AI sighed quietly, nervous. Words were very misleading, words were very complicated, and when you were trying to rebuild a burnt bridge with words not being fully aware of what you were saying didn't really make the cut. Still, that was all that he could do, so with any luck it would be enough for the warrior woman. With more luck, it wouldn't inflame her temper again as he said something inadvertantly rude.

"I guess since, as the proverb goes, the cat is out of the bag there's no reason for me to hide it anymore." Ripley frowned and shook his head in very slight motions, standing up. A quick tap in the menu or two for a human, in his case not even that, and his woolen robe was replaced by a silken one, brown rippling and turning to silver-embroidered black. His staff, however, simply disappeared into thin air when he replaced it - its upgrade would appear when the wizard needed to use it, and not sooner, which would've seemed like a trivial matter to anyone who hadn't had to drag around a large wooden stick for hours. He bit his lip again, turning to Tage and Halp with hesitation once more painted onto his face.

"I'm sorry for any suffering this deception causes you." He opened his mouth to continue, closed it again, looked to the ground. He felt like he was being heavily observed under a spotlight, and the feeling was very, very unpleasant. His eyes drifted from time to time to the forest, hoping that someone would mention moving away soon. Various ideas flew through his head but, right now, he had the feeling that all he could do was wait for his apology to be accepted or, in a worst-case scenario, rejected.
 
Tage was surprised to find herself having to quell her first instinct when Ripley started speaking, which was to step in front of the AI to shelter him from Rhanna's eyes. It wasn't that Tage thought Rhanna was going to attack him, or otherwise harm him, but there was something about the way she was studying him that set Tage's nerves on edge. She was somehow utterly confident that Rhanna was analyzing Ripley's every word in a way that Tage knew she never could. She had no idea what conclusions Rhanna might be drawing from his words themselves, the way he said them, even how he was standing and moving as he said them. With her own knowledge, Tage found herself picking out everything "wrong" with what he said. The fact that Ripley was an AI suddenly seemed so obvious, even though she knew it wasn't. She tried to keep herself calm, even as Ripley stood, moving away from where she and Halp were sitting.

"What... just..." halp stammered, staring flabbergasted at Ripley. "Where'd you get those? Why do you have those?"

"Ripley's been hiding his level, Halp," Tage clarified for him. "To better travel with us."

"But... he was... I'm sure... huh?"

"Do you need me to repeat it?" Tage asked mockingly, finding it comforting to settle into the familiar pattern of teasing her friend.

"What? No. But..." Halp looked at her for a moment, before a faint frown crossed his face. "You knew?" A few steps away, Rhanna turned to look at Tage as well. She seemed very interested in the answer to that question.

"Well, I guessed," Tage began. This was, of course, a flat out lie, but it seemed like the right thing to do in the moment. Especially with Rhanna's eyes boring into her. "You and I spend so much time together it isn't surprising that we level basically at the same rate. But Ripley only hung out with us sometimes. It seemed too much a coincidence that he'd level almost exactly the same, too."

"And you didn't tell me? All those moments we seemed right on the edge of getting eaten by high level demons, and it never occurred to you to mention the fact that we were traveling with someone who could actually fight them?"

"Not really," Tage replied with a shrug. "Besides, wasn't it more fun that way?"

Halp reached over, punching her half-mocking, half-serious in the shoulder. "It was scary!" he complained. But, as Tage rubbed her shoulder, he shrugged slightly. "But, yeah. Kinda fun, too."

Satisfied with the exchange, Halp finally turned to Ripley. "Nice robe," he said with a grin. "A bit too... campy for my tastes, but it sure looks comfortable. And since we, ultimately, didn't get eaten by any demons, I suppose it's okay. If we had, though, you'd be meeting the sharp edge of my axe!" He scowled with over exaggerated fierceness, to almost comical effect.

"What other end would he meet?" Tage teased, fully ruining Halp's already disastrous attempt to appear fierce. "The blunt one?"

Finally, Rhanna seemed to grow tired of Tage and Halp, and she cut into the conversation. "This is great, and all, but we should probably get moving again. I've pretty much wasted our lunch, so if you want any more food, grab it now."

Toreck moved forward, sitting down in front of the fire and quickly filling the bowl. He got through two mouthfuls before he suddenly seemed to notice the awkward silence that was surrounding him. "Oh," he said, before taking another bite. "But you offered."

"Honestly," Rhanna complained. "I would have thought you'd have more sense than that."

"But I didn't even get a full bowl before you went storming off and ruined everything."

Rhanna glared, but ultimately jerked her head to the side in a dismissive motion. "Whatever. Just... hurry up."

The awkward silence resumed. Tage and Halp glanced at each other, both feeling the desperate need to break the silence before it got any more intense, and both, apparently, suddenly finding their minds utterly blank. Before they could do something stupid, however, Rhanna broke this silence.

"My god this is awful," she stated, bluntly. She glanced at Ripley, only for her eyes to suddenly light up with the beginnings of an idea. "Peace offering, okay? I can't exactly say that we are friends, but at least pretending like it is a good start, yeah?" Her hand flicked around in front of her, executing the familiar hand gesture to send a friend request to a nearby player.
 
The AI's words fell into a thick silence, with everyone waiting to see what the other would do. Tense, but at least it wasn't an outright declaration of war - until Halp finally found the words he'd been looking for and, with him and Tage settling into their standard teasing, Ripley felt slightly more at home.

It wasn't too surprising that Tage had figured out on his own the part about his level. If Rhanna had in a few hours, then it was expected that Tage would in as long as they'd spent together; even more considering she knew of his particular situation. It didn't bode well for the AI, though - judging by the current situation, duplicity wasn't something he was even remotely good at, and yet it was something that he'd been told to consider indispensable for his survival.

It was a shame, all in all. He understood Rhanna's resentment, and while she described her outburst as "overreacting" the AI could definitely see why she would be angry at being lied to directly. He would've liked to tell the warrior the truth, but he couldn't take any chances with TITAN's survival.

Whether this thoughts were painted in his face or not, Ripley's expression soon changed to a mixture of surprise and even happiness as Halp praised his robe, throwing what the AI hoped was a teasing threat his way - with the dramatic effect of it being obliterated by Tage.

What good mood these two had wasn't shared by Rhanna, and she quickly got them moving again - or at least tried to. Toreck seemed to still be hungry and had apparently figured out a way to manipulate Rhanna into being less mean towards him - benefits of a long term relationship, probably - and Ripley was more than happy to start blending into the background again.

There would be no such luck, though, as Rhanna added him to her friendlist. The AI froze in place, looking slightly like a deer caught in headlights. Of all the possible actions! She wasn't his friend, so why did she want him in her friend list? She even said it out loud!

And what was the point about pretending? Why would she want to pretend to be friends, or why would Ripley want? What was the benefit in any of that? Not causing further issues would be best achieved by minimizing contact, not increasing it!

It took a few seconds, but he realized she was waiting for a reply. He looked at her, trying to figure out what she had in mind, but he really could not tell; and it was starting to drag to the point where the wait could be considered offensive.

"I'm..." Why'd he start talking if he didn't know what to say? That was bad, now it only looked worse. Another pause, a deep breath, a quick gesture with the hand as the AI glid through menus before they even appeared to accept the request. "I'm not sure why you want me in your friends list considering you hate me, but I would like peace. I can't promise I'll be a good pretend-friend, though, seeing how both you and Tage saw through my previous attempt at pretending. But I will try."

With any luck, Rhanna would nod and leave him now, and let him go back into his shadows where it was comfortably out of the limelight. He definitely could not understand how some people enjoyed attention enough to cause trouble to get it. Toreck seemed to be done with his meal as well, and the AI slowly shifted in the direction they were supposed to be going, signalling his readiness to leave, or so he thought. They had a long trek ahead of them, after all.
 
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Indeed, Rhanna accepted Ripley's response exactly like that. With a nod. For a moment, her hand lingered over the menu, as though she was fighting the instinct to do something, before it dropped to the side. She turned back towards Toreck. "Please tell me you are done now," she complained. Toreck, who had been just about to grab one last bowl, promptly dropped the ladle back into the pot.

"But you are getting along so well now," he said, a glimmer entering his eyes. "I'm sure you two would be just fine if we sat here for the rest of the evening."

Rhanna didn't seem to find the humor in his statement. "Yeah, no. Get up, pack up, and let's move. This break went on a little longer than planned, but I think we can still make up for lost time and make it to the rendezvous before dusk if we hurry."

Halp leaped to his feet. "Do we get to be balloons again," he begged Rhanna, cheerfully.

Rhanna rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever. We'll probably move faster that way, anyways."

That was, ultimately, exactly what happened. Chattering happily, Tage and Halp tied themselves back into the ropes, and passed off the other ends to Toreck, who tied them around his own waist. Rhanna cast the spell, and Tage and Halp rose into the air, whooping. A moment later, and they were off.

Now that Rhanna and Toreck didn't have to worry about slowing their pace to accommodate the level 10 Ripley, they were able to move a whole bunch faster. Soon enough Tage and Halp were being pulled along so fast that they could barely hear each other over the rushing of the wind in their ears. Toreck soon began to play around with their buoyancy, using their lift to jump gaps that might have otherwise been unpassable, which allowed him to keep up with the magically accelerated Rhanna and Ripley.

Of course, as the journey continued, the novelty of feeling like they were flying quickly wore away from Tage. She and Halp pulled themselves together, trying to shelter each other from the bite of the wind, even as the rope continued to rub more and more uncomfortably against their chests. Only stubbornness combined with a desire to reach the Kingslayers that much faster kept them from complaining, and begging to be let back down.

Surprisingly, it was Rhanna who first seemed to notice their discomfort. After a few more minutes of running, she slowed the group down. Toreck turned to look at her, one brow raised, as she traced out a couple of magical runes to slowly lower Tage and Halp back to the ground.

"W...ww..we're okay," Tage protested, teeth chattering slightly. "You c..ccan keep going." Halp nodded his agreement, even as he rubbed his hand vigorously up and down his arms.

"We're almost there," Rhanna dismissed. "And I'd rather not walk into the camp with you two fools strung up like balloons. I'd never hear the end of it. That story is going to get spread far enough anyways, what with this guy's big mouth," she gestured at Toreck, "That the last thing I want is more eyewitnesses. You'll walk."

All Tage and Halp could do was nod, and breathe silent sighs of relief when Rhanna turned away.

That last stretch of land seemed to take forever, at least in Tage's eyes. It probably had to do, in a large part, with the fact that she ended up riding piggy-back on Toreck for large parts of it, as she and Halp found more and more locations that it was simply impossible for them to pass. There was no doubt that this was not land that any level 10's were meant to pass. The embarrassment was tempered somewhat with guilty pleasure, thinking about the story she was going to have to tell once all this was over. No one would believe any of this, which somehow made it all that much better.

Ultimately, Tage was so wrapped up in the combination of her struggles to overcome the terrain and her fantasies of how people were going to react to this story when it was all over that she didn't notice the traces of the Kingslayer's camp until they were practically right on top of it. When she finally spotted the little grey tents, mixed among the grey rock of the hillside, she let out a gasp of surprised pleasure.

Toreck laughed. "You can get down now," he told her, warmly. "I'm sure you'll be able to walk the rest of this, and that you'd rather get into the camp on your own two feet."

The little party was noticed almost as soon as they entered the ring of tents. "Rhanna!" a group of voiced called out, echoed by equally as many cries of "Toreck!" The two of them waved enthusiastically, as the twenty or so members of the Kingslayers in the clearing hopped to their feet and hurried over. For a moment any distinguishable conversation was lost in a warm, enthusiastic burst of chatter. From what little Tage could gather, Rhanna and Toreck had made it plenty in time, and they were still waiting for the last couple people to show up. The scouts were reporting that the Knight was still completely trapped, and wouldn't be breaking out any time soon. The scouts had stayed far enough away that the demon seemed to have yet realized it had walked into a trap. Finally, though, someone noticed the three figures behind Toreck and Rhanna.

"Wait, wait!" That voice cried out, and everyone turned to face a tall, lean ice/water/lightning Djinni, dressed in the armor of a high-level ranger. "Who are they?" he turned to point at Tage, Halp, and Ripley. For her part, Tage was suddenly feeling remarkably out of place, and wondered if this had been a good idea after all.

"Well," said Toreck, in the voice of a storyteller warming up for a long story. "It is quite the tale. Someone get me a loaf of bread, mug of ale, and a chunk of meat, and I'll be glad to tell you all about it." Toreck moved away with the gang of Kingslayers, already speaking despite his statement that he'd only start talking once he'd been fed.

"Come on," Rhanna said. "He'll be at that for at least an hour, probably more, and then they'll all expect me to retell the exact same story. Let's go find you a place to get settled for the night. It'll still be a couple days until the raid, and you'll need a space to leave your avatars when you log out." She led them over to the other side of the clearing, where there was still space for plenty more tents. She directed them to the tent supply, provided by the guild, and pointed out the location of several of the key places within the camp. "Krajni will be here tomorrow, and I'm sure the rumors of your arrival will have already reached him by the time he gets here. If you are going to freak out about him, better to do it now. He's not a big fan of being ogled, especially not when he's on a mission."

Rhanna turned to go, but paused for a moment, turning back to face Ripley. "Toreck may like to make me feel uncomfortable, but I'm almost certain he'll leave our... spat out of the story. I'll keep it to myself if you will." Without waiting for a reply, she nodded, before walking over towards the large tent where Toreck and the rest of the Kingslayers had gone a few minutes before.

Tage stood in silence for a moment, before letting out a faint, breathy "...Wow." Halp nodded, tongue stilled for once. There really were no words.
 
Humans did use the friend list for so many things unrelated to friendship. Rather confusing, but perhaps it was for the best that he found out now, as opposed to thinking someone was his friend when they were not.

Toreck's attempt at humor did not seem to amuse Rhanna in the least, and with the woman wanting to make up for lost time the crew was shortly off at a much faster speed - a combination of Ripley not hiding his level and his two friends being turned into balloons once more. As they moved further into the high-level area, the weather itself became more hostile, with temperatures dropping down on earth - nothing that a quick heat spell couldn't solve, though it was still warm enough that it was barely worth the effort to cast. Up in the air, however, things had to be different, and Ripley had to wonder how well the two "balloons" were holding up, having to deal with stronger air currents, lower level, and quite probably no protective spells.

They had huddled up, but they were not complaining, so the AI had to supposed they were doing well enough, and his thoughts quickly turned away from the current situation and onto reviewing data he'd gathered during the clash with Rhanna. There wasn't much he could obtain from it right now, but he had to start at some point; and seeing how it was the first time someone was angry at him he was positively giddy with expectation of discovery.

There was not much time for the AI to analyze that, though, since Tage and Halp's status seemed to catch the eye of Rhanna as well, and against the AI's assessment of the situation she brought them down to the ground. The following interaction left the AI completely confused - they were freezing, but they were saying they were okay; Rhanna had lowered them but it wasn't due to their discomfort. The only possible conclusion was that someone, maybe even everyone, was lying there and Ripley had no clue why any of them would do that. More to analyze in the future, and he'd started to treasure the moments he didn't understand as opportunities to learn.

Their reception at the Kingslayers' camp was no less exciting for the AI than to his friends, though he did a much better work of hiding it - people seemed to not like being analyzed for whatever reason, that much he'd learned quickly. A quick glance around him revealed some of the highest-level characters in the game, equipped with a combination of mostly-optimal battlegear and fashionable attires alike, depending on player inclinations.

The chatter turned to the Knight quickly, unsurprising as it was the main reason they were all there, but the AI was much less interested in that than Halp and Tage's reactions. Their wide-eyed looks and low level gear gave them a bit of a tourist look, and it was honestly a surprise that they escaped the Kingslayers' notice for as long - but then again, the return of Rhanna and Toreck had probably grabbed all their eyes.

With only the smallest hint of a smile, the AI was happy to just observe, though that wasn't bound to last too much. With Toreck taking the brunt of the high-levels' attention away from them, the "lowbies" were left alone with Rhanna, who seemed to have a much better insight to Tage and Halp's future actions than the AI did. Not that uncommon, but she seemed to be consistently insightful, which made it all the more tragic that he couldn't ask her for help. With the two star-struck rookies distracted for a brief moment, she turned her attention to Ripley - though fortunately she wasn't being hostile this time - and he barely needed a split second before nodding at her offer, with a quiet "Thanks." before the woman took off.

Turning to his two friends, the AI gave them a half-smile, seeing their dazed looks and guessing that they were impressed by the sights. "So, welcome to the frontlines, Halp. Are they living up to your expectations?" He asked, expecting nothing other than a yes. "Looks like the journey was well worth it, but the destination is even more so." He couldn't help but smile at their bedazzled expressions. When they saw Krajni, they would probably just topple over in fan-adoration, and he wouldn't miss it for anything in the world.
 
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