Charlotte kept her word. I didn't die. Nana kept hers too. She used that item the moment Char left the room and safely transported us to a cabin.

  Problem was it wasn't our cabin. Its condition was too good. Ours was nice but showed signs of wear and tear even before we moved in. By contrast, this was pristine and bit more luxurious. A second floor, bigger rooms, and a hammock in the den.

  Not to mention the view. The cabin sat upon a hilltop overlooking a lake. Moonbeams bathed the lake in silver. Gentle winds lapped at the reeds and trees. A host of smaller cabins stood across the lake but further away from the water.

  My HUD identified this place as Lake Ayla. I assumed the different color font meant I reached the other server. Escape items took players to their homebase, meaning I was right about Nana starting off in Ayla. Though now I couldn’t help but wonder why her cabin was so much bigger than the ones across the lake.

  Hadn't asked before she went to bed. We didn't speak much after we arrived. She curled into the hammock and swung till she slept.

  I spent the past half hour or so keeping vigil outside. Partly to play guard dog for the kid. Mostly because I wanted to be alone a while. There were unoccupied beds, but I opted for a downed tree by the shore. Gnarled logs made for surprisingly comfortable makeshift benches. Certainly more comfortable than the church pews.

  Classical music kept me company. “Claire de lune”, fitting given the supermoon hovering over the water. Char recently confessed she'd grown to hate this song. Hard to hate something this beautiful, but bitter memories tainted even the sweetest sounds.

  I hadn't dared check my Friends list. Doing so was akin to opening the cat-box. Charlotte was alive until proven otherwise. I really didn’t want to prove otherwise. But not knowing was just as bad. Arguably worse, since few things hurt worse than hope.

  Come on, Robin. You can do this.

  I checked. No MoonHuntress.

  A deep sigh made me realize I’d been holding my breath. What a stupid cliché. Not like breathing affected the outcome. Not like taking a breath would have retroactively saved Charlotte’s life. So what was the point?

  Hands clasped together to keep from shaking. Char’s were always so warm; mine were ice. Cold ached my chest like an empty pit. Pressing my hands against my chest did nothing for the shaking or pit. It just made me colder.

  “Hey... Uh, it’s me—well, I guess you know that.”

  The words slipped out. I wasn't the most religious–my church attendance testified to that, but I did believe in the Big Man to some extent. With no one else to talk to, prayer kinda felt right.

  Not that I knew what I wanted to say. I'd prayed a few times the past few days, and God's rate of answering matched my church attendance. Did praying to God even count in a world He had no part in creating?

  "I'm not sad yet. Not quite sure what I feel, but it's not that. More that I've been unplugged without being turned off. Like I was in the middle of doing something, but there's no power, so I'm just stuck…

  "And I'm mad that I'm unplugged–pretty furious actually, but I don't know what to do about it. Being angry doesn't bring her back. Getting myself killed doesn't bring her peace. I just... I just miss her so much already."

  That broke the dam. Tears choked the next words. I couldn't breathe, couldn't see. So I closed my eyes. I saw her walking down the aisle. No smirk to be found, but genuinely happy if a touch embarrassed.

  "Would you recite your wedding vows for me?" she whispered.

  "I'd travel Auro on foot for you. I would simply enter every District Dungeon. And I would scale this world’s biggest mountain and stare into the abyss for you…”

  I opened my eyes to find God looking down at me. I knew him by his platinum-red hair and paper thin cheekbones.

  "My," he said, wiping crocodile tears. "What a splendid display of emotion. I daresay that is exactly what I’ve been dying to see.” He made a rectangle with his hands and gazed at me through it. “Robin McArthur: recent widower and more than half decent cook. Convinced by his wife to spend their anniversary in a virtual world only for that world to steal her from him. Anything you’d like to add, Robin?”

  I didn't wipe my tears but managed a grin. “Nothing I can say on daytime TV.”

  The bells on his hat jangled as he laughed. "Such moxie. I could smite you where you stand and yet you crack a joke."

  "Not moxie. Just calling your bluff.”

  “Oh?” The laughter left his eyes. "You think I'm bluffing?" His voice was cold as the pit in my chest.

  "Yes," I said without flinching. "Not saying you can’t, but Char’s right that you won't. Watching us squirm is too fun. Smiting is a waste of a good toy." I stood, finally wiping the tears off my face. "Meaning there's no harm in me doing this."

  I flipped the double bird, still grinning.

  Another fit of laughter dropped the Admin’s intense facade. “Clever woman that Charlotte. True, it’d be a shame to break my toys when there’s still such fun to have. I’m curious to see how brittle some of them are.”

  “How brittle do you think I am?”

  His smile stretched until his lips touched the crown of his forehead. “Do you want to find out?”

  A snap of his fingers summoned a large screen with Char’s defiant glare plastered front and center. “This video is a record of Charlotte McArthur’s final moments,” he said. “I won’t force you to watch. The choice is yours and yours alone.”

  “Play it,” I said without hesitation.

  Char strutted out the dungeon entrance. No trace of regret in her eyes now. She was confident. All business. Of course she was. Her plan worked, after all.

  Two players stood before her. One obscured their face beneath a white hood, while their buddy hanging back by the horses did the same with an oni mask.

  “Pause it,” I said.

  “Lost your nerve already?” the Admin asked with barely concealed scorn.

  “Got a question. Why isn’t my HUD showing me their info?”

  He clicked his tongue and wagged his finger. “Because I don’t want you peeking, Robin. That’s an unfair advantage.”

  Fine, but I could still guess.

  Oni mask was clad in samurai armor. That eliminated casters and most supports. The armor looked heavy, so I’d say Paladin or Berserker. Something to take hits, while Hood worked from the back. The white hood topped a set of matching robes. Definitely not a melee class. Either a Sorcerer, Spirit Medium or support.

  “Resume,” I said.

  Char curtly nodded at them. “Evening, boys. Was wondering when I’d have the displeasure of your company.”

  “Then you know why we’re here.” Oni mask’s voice was deep and mechanical.

  A quick glance at the Admin told me this was additional interference on his part. No peeking.

  “I can venture a guess,” Charlotte groaned. “You can take off the hood, Marcus, I know it's you.”

  He did, but the camera didn’t show his face. “It brings me no pleasure to do this to you, Charlotte… well, maybe a little.”

  “Sure I’m not the only woman you bring no pleasure to.”

  Char’s eyes flashed gold. In less than a second, she was halfway to the nearest tree and Marcus’s chest was covered in arrows. His mechanical screams were music to my ears. Get him, Char.

  Oni summoned a bow of his own. It was much larger than Charlotte’s and nearly bigger than she was. A pair of arrows the size of ballista bolts trained on my wife’s position.

  I yelled for her to look behind without thinking. Almost as if my words reached her, she did.

  Char jumped, narrowly avoiding the first arrow. She released one of her own that traveled parallel to Oni’s second. Her arrow bounced off his armor, but electricity surged through his body anyway.

  I knew how painful that was and how debilitating the paralysis would be. Maybe the Friends list was wrong. Char still had a chance!

  Then I watched Oni’s arrow tear through her stomach. Half her health gone in one attack. Char landed on her side, coughing up blood. Her hand pressed against the wound but couldn’t stop the blood flow. Each drop cost another percentage of her health.

  Marcus ripped another arrow from his chest. “Status?” he hissed.

  “Hurts like hell,” Oni said.

  Marcus nodded. “Then we’re in agreement to take this slow. Really embrace that golden rule. Do unto others, right?”

  A dry laugh rasped from Char’s throat. “Marcus,” she said, struggling to her knees. “I’m nowhere near done doing unto you.”

  Several arrows sailed toward Marcus. Black tendrils emerged from his shadow and swatted them down.

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  Beads of sweat poured down Char’s face. Her eyes frantically moved between Marcus and Oni. “You guys are rat bastards, you know—”

  Charlotte was interrupted by her own bloodcurdling scream.

  A second Marcus stood behind her. His arm reached around to lodge a knife into my wife’s chest. She tightly gripped the handle; electricity coursed through the blade. Paralysis cut his ensuing scream short.

  Charlotte ripped the knife from her breast, growling like an angry beast. She wasted no time stabbing him. Once. Thrice. Every plunge of the knife brought her closer to salvation. Blood spatter dappled her contorted face. Lionesses fresh off the hunt looked less feral than her.

  Char raised her knife once more but couldn't bring it down. A ballista bolt severed her hand from her wrist. Her health was hanging on by a dwindling thread. She whispered something too faint to hear. My name? Maybe that was wishful thinking. Knowing Char, one last curse was how she'd want to go out.

  “We both know how this ends, Robin.” The Admin sounded surprisingly tender. “You don’t have to keep watching.”

  “Yes, I do.” Otherwise, I’d still have hope.

  A second bolt found Charlotte’s heart. She convulsed and collapsed. My wife was dead before she hit the ground.

  I said nothing. The cold pit gnawed at my chest, but I didn’t flinch. Char would never forgive me if I showed weakness in front of the Admin.

  “I’m honestly impressed you managed to watch the whole thing. You’re less brittle than I expected, Robin.”

  I let out a deep breath to keep myself centered. Didn’t want my voice cracking now. “Show me her P.O.D.”

  The Admin’s fingers drummed against his cheeks. “Much as I would looooove to hide it and have you keep your hopes up, you earned my respect. Your reward is the honest truth.”

  He snapped his fingers; the screen changed to a P.O.D. room. Charlotte slept behind the blue glass. She looked peaceful. The only cause for concern was the flat green line.

  “Your wife is dead. She suffered cardiac arrest. The same as all the others.”

  The man in the P.O.D. beside her looked peaceful too, though he felt anything but. These really were coffins.

  The Admin made another rectangle with his hands. “Now that the shadows of doubt regarding your wife’s demise have been dispersed, what do you plan to do next?”

  He was being an ass about it, but it wasn’t a bad question. Charlotte was the whole reason I was here. It’d be so easy to give up without her. But even though she was gone, I wasn’t alone.

  Her sacrifice saved me and Nana. One thing I wasn’t going to do was blame the kid. We were at Colve for her, but Marcus had his eye on Charlotte long before. If not there, he would’ve attacked us somewhere else. She had no fault in this.

  Since Char’s sacrifice saved Nana, it was my responsibility to keep her safe. I’d need friends for that. We were planning on joining Diego’s player army eventually. Taking Nana to District Dungeons put her in danger, but we were vulnerable alone. At least other players insulated us from monsters, human or otherwise.

  I flashed my best debonair smile. “I’m going to beat this fucking game.”

  The Admin smiled. Not a grin or smirk but an honest smile. It felt more condescending. He touched his heart and bowed. “I’m looking forward to it. May your journey crescendo into a most delicious climax.” He snapped his fingers and disappeared.

  Alone again. No need to hold it all together, Robin. Cry if you need. Instead, I let out another deep breath. There was work to do. Better get to it before Nana woke up.

  ***

  Alone time wasn't spent idle. First order of business was reading through Diego's old messages. Couldn't join the player army if I didn't know where to find them.

  "My friends, I request your assistance in conquering the Administrator's challenge. My party and I have cleared an area of Ira Isle to be our headquarters. Acedia's mariner will ferry players across the sea. Our journey of liberation will begin in three days. Any and all volunteers are welcome and appreciated.

  Thank you,

  Diego"

  That was sent yesterday, giving me two days to reach Ira.

  Bradley's group expressed interest in joining Diego, so I messaged them. I'd rather make the trek with more than just Nana in case Marcus and Oni wanted to finish the job. And it'd be nice to have familiar faces I liked.

  “Hey, Bradley. I remember your group planned to join Diego’s army. We’ve given it some thought and plan on joining too. If you don’t mind the company, let us know and we can make the trip together.

  Thanks,

  Robin”

  Second order of business was cashing in my level up. My decisions had been pretty simple thus far–follow Char's orders. I'd built my character to support her, but Colve highlighted my weaknesses in a group setting. Namely prep time and my inability to target multiple allies at once.

  Luckily, those could be mitigated with upgrades or new skills.

  Upgrades came in two flavors, increased potency or decreased cost. I increased potency of Kimchi’s healing and Firestarter’s damage at levels 6 and 8 respectively. Decreasing the cost affected prep time and mana but not the ingredients. Disappointed but still worth it.

  As for new skills, a pair of passives caught my eye.

  Passive Skill: Family Dinner. Soup’s on, everybody! Prepare a dish and serve it to multiple players at once. Does not apply to dishes served from your inventory.

  Passive Skill: Leftovers. Anyone want seconds? Make an additional serving of a dish without using extra ingredients.

  The initial plan for Level 12 was upgrading Buldak’s potency to assist Char with aggro management. There was still merit to that idea, especially given Nana’s frailty, but aggro management would be handled by the tanks. My job was to provide support across the board. Best to increase my efficacy overall rather than focus on specific buffs. After all, the more I contributed, the more exp I’d get. Meaning I could get to those specific buffs quicker.

  Family Dinner now. Leftovers at 14. Then upgrade or learn other recipes as needed. With that out of the way, I got started on arguably my most important task.

  I started making breakfast. The kitchen was surprisingly scant, but I scrounged enough ingredients from the cabinets and my inventory. Turns out those bee eggs would come in handy. Bad news was I lacked the vinegar needed to poach an egg. Good news, lemons made for an acceptable substitute.

  "Morning, kiddo."

  Nana stirred from her hammock. “It’s too early to be morning.”

  “If it’s not morning, then I guess you won’t be needing breakfast.”

  She immediately sat up. “I mean, I guess it can be morning.”

  Smelling fresh sizzled bacon tended to have that effect. “I’m almost done with your eggs. The bacon’s done if you want to get started.”

  Nana hopped out the hammock. “Do we have any plates?”

  “You don’t know? Isn’t this your house?’

  “Uh, kinda…” She jogged to the nearest cabinet. A quick look inside revealed polished dishware, goblets and cutlery. "Technically my dad's."

  "Your totally not dead dad right?"

  She flashed a smile. "Yeah, that one." She loaded three strips of bacon and a slice of toast on her plate. "He told me about this game he was working on. I said it sounded fun, so he got me a spot for the weekend."

  "You said he was working on it? What does he do?"

  She shrugged. "Stuff, I guess. Mostly just tells other people what to do."

  A supervisor then. Maybe one of the directors? That level of pull explained the nice cabin. "Why Ayla over Auro?"

  "Dad wanted me to have a safe place in case I found the game too scary." Her eyes flashed gold; a silver coin appeared on the back of her hand. One flick of her wrist flipped the coin, revealing its golden underside. "Having this lets me travel between both games. I never see any players or monsters here. It's like an empty summer camp."

  That little revelation changed things. Nana was much safer here than anywhere in Auro. Especially the DDs. "Then why didn't you stay here after the hacking?"

  She looked like I asked something stupid. "Because this place is boring.” She scooped her poached egg onto the slice of toast. Golden yolk flowed from the bread crust onto the bacon. "You're, uh, not gonna make me stay here are you?"

  Was it that obvious I was considering it? "I'm not going to make you do anything. But I think it's a good idea."

  She cocked an eyebrow. "You think it's a good idea to leave me alone?"

  "I sound like a jerk when you put it like that."

  “And a bird brain.” Nana slurped the yolk river and half a bacon strip. "Lady Charlotte's right,” she said in-between bites. “You need someone cool to boss you around." Her eyes shifted around the room. "Is she still not back?”

  “No,” I said without looking at her.

  “Where is she?”

  She’s dead.

  That should’ve been so easy to say. Two little words. A grand total of two syllables. But saying them was like passing a kidney stone. I needed to, but it hurt to try.

  I glanced at my eggs–currently burning in the pan. The words would come eventually. Now I needed to focus on something I might actually be able to save. The spatula slipped from my grasp. A loud clang rattled my ears when the metal hit the wood floor.

  I stood frozen but for my shaking hand. Breathing wasn’t a necessity in Auro, or seemingly in Ayla, but I forced myself to. Each breath steadied me just a bit more.

  “Sorry,” I whispered. “I just–”

  Nana hugged me. She didn’t say anything. Didn’t need to. I was really grateful she didn’t ask me to say anything either.

  “Thanks, Shadowcloak,” I finally said.

  “My friends call me Nana.” She stepped back and offered me the spatula. “Thank you, Robin.”

  I took it and barely managed to save my fried egg. “My friends call me bird brain. Besides, you don’t have to thank me for breakfast. It’s a big brother’s job to look after his sister.”

  “It’s for more than that.” She hopped into her hammock. Her knife quickly stabbed into the last bits of egg, toast and meat. “You still haven’t left me behind. You could’ve left when you woke up. Or when Lady Charlotte shot me with the arrow. Most of my friends don't stay very long." She finished her makeshift kebab with a loud burp. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. Next to asking for seconds, there’s no better compliment for a chef.”

  She smiled. “That’s another thing. You can be a jerk, but you’ve been nice to me since we first met.”

  “Really? I seem to recall you accusing me of being mean and suspicious.”

  “That’s the second time we met.” She twirled the knife around her fingertip. “First was in the elevator. You probably don’t remember. I don’t tend to leave much of an impression.”

  Elevator? Where would there be an elevator in Auro? No, not in Auro. But there had been one in Pippen Tower. The same elevator where Charlotte and I ran across a red-haired kid who wouldn’t talk to us. That’s where I recognized the lisp.

  “You laughed at my Auro-ientation joke,” I said. “I appreciated that.”

  Her eyes lit up. “You remember me?”

  It wasn’t the only thing I remembered. There was one last part of our complete breakfast that I’d been saving. “That and–” A pair of cream-topped mugs appeared in my hand. Golden honey-sweetened lemonade shimmered through the glass. “I also remember promising to toast a mantis slaying.”

  I sat in a chair across from her and offered the mug. “To a successful dungeon run.”

  Excitement and hesitation dueled on her face. “Uh, are you sure? I don’t know if we can call it successful…”

  “It wasn’t the dungeon that got her,” I said. “Besides, it’s a common practice to honor a fallen friend by drinking. Char’d be pissed if we were moping when there was good honey to drink.”

  Nana nodded. She gingerly took the mug but didn’t drink from it. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “Which one?”

  "You think it's a good idea to leave me alone?"

  She didn’t look me in the eye. Her focus was on her reflection. Not the scrawny girl with glasses and acne from the elevator. But the platinum haired warrior who endured severe trauma in a few short hours.

  I glimpsed my own reflection. Physically the same, but not all scars showed on the skin. It’d help to have someone around who knew what I went through. Lake Ayla was safer, but I’d already promised the Admin I’d beat the game. I doubt he’d let me sit things out back here. And I wasn’t about to leave my little sister behind.

  “Knowing Char, she’d be livid at me for keeping you in an empty summer camp when there was a whole game to explore.”

  “Good,” she said. “I’d have followed you anyway. I promised Lady Charlotte I’d look after you.”

  “Boss me around, you mean?” I laughed, almost surprised I could. “You’re gonna annoy the hell out of me, kiddo.”

  I grinned and raised my mug.

  “Of course.” She matched my grin and clinked her mug against mine. “What else are little sisters for?”