He gets the information after he works out and checks his computer. It’s laid out in a long set of files, but Malik had someone summarize it.

He reads the files and the summary, reads it again, and tries to settle the thrum of vengeance inlaid in his veins. 

It isn’t just about a game, anymore. It started with Yir, and the fire was fed with the whispers of accusation, and it roars with the weight of the file. 

He snaps his computer shut. 

He thinks about the strength of the man in game. He can’t beat that, can’t match it. It’s a strength that seems to defy all he knows- but it is a game, after all. What he has to do, is, in the spirit of the game- fight, and win. But he can’t do that. At least, not now. 

He stands, fumbles with the doorknobs, and steps into Aria's room. He has to make sure they’re awake, but he’s a bit too restless, has to make sure they’re alive.

He peeks in at Aria, and she looks up, before something even he can’t read filters through her expression.

“Is everything alright?” He looks up, and her phone is tilted down to her chest with her peering up at him.

“It’s… fine. I- it’s about this guy I know.” His sister nods, pointing to the chair at her desk, and he reluctantly sits, carding a hand through his pulled back hair. A single tarot card lies on her desk, but he pays it no mind. 

“And?” She whispers. 

“He’s a bad guy. A true, classic villain- to put in on your own terms. But… there’s nothing I can do to him. At least, not where it matters.” 

“A villain. He fought with the GIA, then?” His sister whispers, and he turns his eyes up with a nod.

“A big time commander. And he was good, too. For the other side, that is. He killed hundreds- maybe thousands- of my comrades.”

“I don’t know much about your time in the war, Vesper,” Aria whispers. “You don’t talk about it. But, if you were a squad leader, that means you are capable.”

“And?” He whispers. His heart drums slow. In with a breath, out with a calling. 

“I think, if this guy is really as bad as you say he is… I think you already know what you need to do.”

Vesper turns to look at Aria, and she meets his gaze unfalteringly. 

“Haven’t those bastards been allowed enough already?” Aria says, and Vesper feels that fire in his chest swell, unearthed beneath his skin in a call for violence untouched by time.

No. 

“Aria,” he says with a slow exhale, and he thinks of the way his grandfather would say it when Vesper was young, eager to serve. “Listen to me. I wasn’t drafted. I joined as soon as I could. I was a squad leader before the war even started because of our legacy. Our grandfather and grandmother- they were in the military too.”

“Okay? All the more-“

“Listen. I’m telling you this, to tell you I don’t want that life for you. I survived out of pure dumb luck and spite long enough to get good at what I did. Me and Clay-“ the words die in his throat, and his mechanical eye twitches, rolls in its socket.

“Vesper?”

“I didn’t start all by myself. I had a lot of friends who joined too- our types stuck together. I ended up alone anyway. Do you understand what I mean by that? They died in combat. Let go of your hatred for the other side, or you’ll die like all my friends did.”

“Let go of your hatred? Like you do?” She hisses, and he turns his head away. “You ‘lived off of spite and pure dumb luck.’ Don’t pretend you aren’t miserable, that you don’t still want to kill those sons of bitches! You know what dad used to say? Never forget. And god help me, I’ll follow his words-“ 

“Aria-“

“Dad would understand.”

Vesper twitches back, and she crosses her arms. “Aria,” he says, but she ignores him, sighs heavily and rolls her eyes.

“What? All dad could ever talk about was how proud he was that you were fighting for the UFN! Every car ride, every news broadcast- he would scream in rage at the sight of the GIA winning a battle, and throw a party for every appearance of the Worlds Strongest Soldier. And after the war, even after he finished it, he told us to never-”

“Your father-“ he shakes his head. “Our father disowned me when he heard I enlisted. So don’t you dare talk to me as if you understand, when I was dealing with his bullshit before you were born.” 

Aria gapes, but he continues on anyway.

“On the other side, there were drafts too. There were people like me, who grew up thinking their country needed them to die for it, and people who didn’t want to fight at all. If you think, even for a second, that I don’t think about the blood on my hands every day, then you are wrong.”

“But-“

“You should hate the GIA, Aria. It stood for tyranny and the evil of humanity. But you shouldn’t hate the soldiers forced to fight under it.”

“I didn’t know,” she says, and he rubs a hand over his face, fingers dancing across his scars. “About dad.”

“That’s not what’s important. Do you get what I’m saying?”

“Yeah. But commanders are different from soldiers, Vesper.”

He hesitates, and something like memories stokes the fire smoldering in his heart. She sees the flicker of something in his eyes, that even she can’t read, and she focuses. Let’s her voice get as strong as steel. 

“So, what will you do?”

“…how do you get stronger in Ada?” And Aria, who, in a momentary second of confusion understands- smiles.

—

Rainman logs on, spawning back in the main entrance. He follows his usual path to the bakery, briefly encountering the same pickpocket NPC that’s tried to get him the past couple of log ins. 

“Hand it back,” he says with a sigh, and the short, slim dwarf coughs and awkwardly hands him back his meager coin pouch. 

He continues on his way, stepping into the bakery with a hint of relief. Even though the backroads are quieter, there are more and more people who annoy him there.

“Rainman!” Leon says with a happy smile. The other player who he’s talking to turns around, furrowing his brow in slight annoyance. 

“Hello, Leon. Miss me?”

“Well, of course. Come help me in the back, yeah?”

“Coming.” He acknowledges, pushing in a wayward chair. 

“Dude,” the player whispers in confusion. “How high is your favorability?”

“Somewhere above 200,” he whispers back, and the player pretends to faint, a hand swooping to their forehead. 

They laugh a bit, and he steps behind the counter when Leon heads to the back. “So, what did you need?”

“Well, I was trying to get the chain quest for the token for baking. You must have it, right?”

“No, actually. I’m not that far into the chain quest.”

“So, your favorability is high ‘just because,’ or something?”

“No, I just hang out a lot here. I mean, I do quests that aren’t connected to chains. I help around, you know?”

“Crazy. You play for fun, then?”

“Don’t we all?”

The player laughs, and nods a bit. “So, what’s the best way to get the token?”

“Just stick with it,” he says. “Leon gives them out pretty easily if you’re respectful. Just a month or two of in-game time?”

The player nods, face falling a bit, but Vesper just shrugs. “So, anything I can get you? I recommend the Star Iltberry Cake. I collected the Iltberry myself, you know.”

“I’ll take a slice of that, then.” They pay quickly, and head out of the shop with their cake, waving a quick goodbye. 

“Is he gone?” Leon calls.

“Yeah. Why?”

“That kid is bad news.” Not uncommon to hear from Leon. He really doesn’t like players that much, because ‘most are little bitches.’

 Nora enters through the back door with a rustle of magic keys, and Rainman smiles wide. It is kind of weird how easy it is to smile in Ada. 

“Nora!”

“Rainman!” Nora says, returning a wide smile. “You won’t believe what I made today!” He gestures for her to continue on, and she beams. “I made a sword! A whole sword- and Filli said it was the best first sword he’s ever seen!” 

“What make?” 

“Just classic one-handed. Nothing special, but I bound the handle myself, without Iris’s help- I used the black leather that you gave me!” 

He had collected black leather from one of the rarely seen elven merchants in exchange for some of the rare flowers, Tuinis, that he had gotten for Leon. “If you don’t come over here and give me a high five right now-“ 

Nora bounds over, and he decides to be nice for once and not pull away his hand so she misses. “Can we go to the fields? I want to hear about your sister!” They often go to the fields to talk, when she gets done blacksmithing. 

“You really weren’t lying,” he says to Leon. He shakes his head with a sigh, and Rainman just nods. “Well, come on then.” They take a bagel or two for the road, and head out to the fields behind the town. 

While they’re walking there, Nora explains how she made the sword, and shows off her ‘god given’ muscles from all the work. “Well, you definitely have a gift,” he says easily, and it’s true. 

She smiles wide and eager, and they make it to the long-grass fields, where they both sit and lay in the grass, respectively. 

“So, what’s Aria like?” Nora asks, and he looks up at a cloud that looks like a duck overhead. “Come on…”

“I have a brother too, you know.”

“But I can’t relate to your brother,” she explains, and he sighs. “I know about the promise you made to my father. I guess I… just want to know what it's like to be your sister, I guess.”

“Well, you’re like a little sister to me anyway. It’s not much different. But Aria… well, our parents died in an accident, as you know.”

“How does that work, anyway? How are you so much older- you said your siblings weren’t even adults yet?”

“My mom was young when she had me. Fresh out of high school, really. Her and my father got trapped together… though when they were finishing college I stayed with my grandparents. They hated each other, really. I think I was the only reason they stayed together… not that it made my life any easier.” 

Aria’s turned to look at him, and he sighs, turning back to the clouds. 

“They wanted to wait till I finished college to get divorced. I'm not sure why, because they didn't even try to act civil, but... then they had Aria when I was in high school. Nothing changed for a while, but then Leo was born, and, in my graduating year... when I was about to leave... they were perfectly happy with each other. They acted like soulmates.” 

“I get it, I think. That must’ve been…” 

“Difficult? Yeah. I was jealous, for a while. They got to grow up how I dreamed, when I was little. But I got over it.” He sighs. “Anything else before we get into my illusively mentioned sister?” 

“If… if my dad really did pass away,” he turns to look at Aria, who’s silent and morose at even the thought. “Would you let me be a blacksmith, still?” 

“Of course. It’d be stupid of me to take that away from you, if it really happened.” 

“Thank you,” she whispers. “I… I just really, really wanna be a blacksmith.” 

“Of course. I think there are some things that… that when you make people stop doing, or stop being, you lose them, too. I think my father never realized that.” 

They sit in silence, for a bit. 

 “I suppose you’re going to keep bugging me about Aria, then?”

Nora laughs, warm and kinda shy, and nods. “Then… Aria, well… she’s smart. And passionate. She wants to be an engineer, I think- unless her dream’s changed. There are moments when she reminds me a lot of my grandma, actually.” 

“Really? How so?”

“Well, she’s stubborn for one. And a little bit afraid of how other people will view her, even if she pretends she isn’t. She’s kind, but… holds vengeance close to her heart. She… reminds me of me, sometimes, too. The war has messed with everyone's mind, even if they weren't on the front lines like I was.” 

“You fought?” Nora asks in awe, and he nods.

“I think that's part of the reason why she’s so vengeful, really. Everyday, I’m a reminder of the brutality of the opposing forces. Here, well, my scars are concealed. But I’m disfigured on Earth.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah.” 

“Your Gods’ blessing is like no other. I hope you know it doesn’t matter to me or Leon.” 

“Of course.” He brings himself back to the image of Aria in his head, fuming, eyes ablaze. What happened, on that day, couldn’t have helped. He wonders if he made the right choice, again. “I just… I just hope that she realizes that the other side were human, too.” 

“I’m unsure how she could confuse your races, since Earth doesn’t have any of the others.” He glances over at her, and she laughs awkwardly. “That was a joke. Ill timed?”

“No. You could work on your delivery, though.’

“Thank you for the advice,” Nora murmurs sarcastically. They fall into an easy silence, watching as the sun slowly starts to drift into the other side of the world. 

It’s Nora who breaks their silence, in the last hours of light. “We should head back. Thank you for telling me about her. And… for just being here.” 

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

The sun is down into the skyline when they get back. Rainman’s offered the guest room in the bakery to sleep in, and he obliges, for the first time in a while letting time in game pass with the sun and stars overhead. Of his own will, that is.