FOR THEY CANNOT DIE ANYMORE, BECAUSE THEY ARE EQUAL TO ANGELS.

[cccorp]

Today, the canals of Mac Anu flow as gentle as they always do, gondolas drifting lazy through the paths of sunlight cut bright across the water. Shops and vendors line the stonework streets along the waterways, a general murmur of NPCs circulating through their preprogrammed business keeping Mac Anu, as always, feeling maybe a little more alive than a real city.

There is one particular bridge that nearly every player's taken at least once, because it connects to a great many other places of interest, and it's wide enough for easy travel. Besides, with the professions update, they've put a fishing spot on the other side of it. NPCs with fishing rods litter the spot in alternating shifts, their laughter mingling with the calls of shopkeeps advertising cheap prices for some simple plants to get started crafting with, and the clink of forks and plates at a restaurant nearby, its customers singing the chef praises.

Below the bridge, a gondolier passes, humming, his gondola drifting along its circuit through the canals, his tune in rhythm with the passing conversation. As he comes out from under it and sails further away, he glances up at the bridge, as if he were expecting something, and he seems to see it. His gaze remains fixed there until, eventually, the water takes him out of sight again.

Today, you might notice that at the base of this bridge, just before your feet, is a red sort of smear.

A little further down the bridge, about a fourth of the way along it, is a person collapsed on the ground. The red trails to him, fallen forward.

You see upon approaching his hand grasping at his throat at the singularly cut sliced deep into his neck. His one good eye wide and unblinking, he is—among all the laughter and conversation on either side of the bridge; in the shadow of the clock tower, which stands a silent witness, the sun at its back—no longer breathing, his body cool to the touch.

Perhaps this could be considered a kindness: for one who failed, time and time and again, to grasp the desire to live, maybe he found some suggestion of it in his last moments, his hand at his throat, his palm smeared with dried blood, a curious anomaly in the deathless Mac Anu. Fragment had, after all, taught him a great many things. Should he not be grateful for one more, no matter how permanent the lesson?

Mithrun is dead.

Comments

[insinning]

[The moment Sinclair had known for sure, for himself, that the half hour respawn time had counted down (half an hour, one hour, more), he had logged off. There had been a series of messages. Calls.

Nothing.

Some time passes before he gives up.

So he returns to Mac Anu, to the barrier, and waits.

And waits. His gaze fixed on Mithrun's corpse, as if he could learn something by it alone.]

[rebelles]

Vogel...are you alright?

[ The look on his face seems to be more than just shock at stumbling on a horrible scene. Haru is in reeling herself. Just the other day, Mithrun had been her opponent, strong and undefeatable. The still body there being him doesn't feel real. ]

[insinning]

[Haru's voice gets Sinclair to move. Just a glance over, his gaze shifting as if reality has registered around him. He digs his fingers into his wrist a little more]

...I will be if he responds to my calls.

[rebelles]

[ The two them must have been close. Haru can't imagine the worry he must feel right now. ]

Do you know anyone who can check up on him? Maybe his phone is silenced...

[ She wants to sound hopeful for Sinclair, but she can only think of so many reasons Mithrun isn't answering, and few of them good. ]

[insinning]

There's someone who could.

[ Mithrun lived near lots of people after all. But he had checked the forums and Hani...]

...no one's there to answer the door apparently.

[rebelles]

That's worrisome, but it's good that someone knows where he lives. I wonder if the authorities can be alerted...

[ In case of medical emergency. She's heard about the incident with another player in the past. ]

[insinning]

I don't know if they'll do a welfare check. Mo--Mithrun's family is very rich. They wouldn't let police near, I think.

[Not if it meant putting their reputation in danger]

[rebelles]

They're risking his safety. Nothing could be more important.

[ But she knows how rich families can be. ]

It's frustrating we can't do more from here.

[insinning]

...yeah. [He shakes his head a little, straightening]

Are you alright, Noir?

[rebelles]

[ She had been play-acting hero in the game, but when they really needed one, she feels helpless. ]

I'm a little shaken, but I'll be alright.

[ She should be the one asking him that. He was close to Mithrun. ]

I'm more worried about you.

[insinning]

I...[twisting his fingers together. Haru was a good person. Innocent. Seeing a body like this--it's not right. This game should have been fun for all of them]

...unless I can see his real body for myself, I don't want to believe this is real. [A beat] I just want to keep believing he's in a hospital somewhere. That's something people can come back from.

[And if he is truly dead, who. who who who who

Who does he need to kill in turn?]

[rebelles]

Yes, I want to believe it's not what it looks like. This is just his avatar.

[ Avatar, not body. Players have sustained injuries and were fine. She places her hands over his comfortingly. ]

Mithrun isn't here in the game. Will you keep waiting?

[ A gentle nudge to take a break. Staring at the avatar, it's too easy to think the worst has happened. ]

[insinning]

[He glances down at her hands, startled, but he doesn't move away. He squeezes her hands in thanks, and hopes she doesn't feel him trembling]

...no, not here. Mithrun wasn't the type to sit and wait either. He was always moving.

[So yes, he'll take a break. He'll keep moving forward]

what if we met at the corpse party and used it to touch base all invest...what if

[ophidie]

[As usual, it's not her business. She isn't a busybody, and when it comes to things that she has no control over, Miharu already knows that getting involved when she can't change anything will only lead to dismal feelings.

But like the last time she ran into Vogel when things were abnormal, she comes to stand next to him, gaze cast elsewhere. She's seen enough to know he's been here for a while. Maybe it's the uncomfortably intimate way exploring areas with someone makes it feel like one knows them better that makes her want to check up on him. Maybe it's the chilly realization that, of all the people playing this game, Mithrun's the only one whose name behind the screen she knows, even by accident.]

No one's gonna blame you for logging out, you know.

what if indeed

[insinning]

[Sinclair looks up, but he's not startled to find Scitalis standing next to him. It's an odd comfort in a way, strange and warm. People here were...kind. It's almost terrifying]

...I feel like if I keep looking, I'll see something new I didn't see before.

[But he's no detective. What can he do?]

[ophidie]

[No, he shouldn't get the wrong idea. She is anything but kind. Even now, her feelings are a dark storm, threatening to thunder over.]

But you won't. [Directly, her mouth a firm line.] You're just as likely to start seeing things that aren't there to fill in the gaps you still have.

[Clawing desperately for meaning, not finding it, spiraling further.]

[insinning]

[Then maybe she can see how much he's holding back too. There's a darkness there, bubbling deep]

...you're right.

[A short exhale and he...finally turns away. See? This is kindness.]

...we need to figure out where he went last.

[ophidie]

[Even if she didn't volunteer to be part of this "we," Miharu doesn't immediately object to being included in it.]

You should think of who might have been with him, too. They could have seen something but they're sitting on it. Bystanders usually keep their mouths shut.

[Even at this distance, there's something recognizable about Mithrun's injuries, perhaps attributable to one such "bystander." Vogel has probably seen them too.]

[insinning]

[He frowns, trying to think]

...that would be difficult. Mithrun liked to do a lot of his runs solo, when there was no one else around.

[And...he isn't in a state to try making connections to anyone just yet]

[ophidie]

That's inconvenient. [He's far from the only one, and how could they know that running solo would make their steps so difficult to trace when needing to scope out the last moments of someone's life, even virtually.

(Logically, it should only be virtually, but everything Miharu has experienced up until this point has left her with sinking and foreboding dread, like has found the way to crawl through yet another boundary.]

Okay, we'll shelve it for now. Maybe he picked up something to do with a profession, but I have no idea if we can see that information.

[insinning]

[ Maybe that's something to keep in mind. Avoid running solo. ]

I don't think we can. That's admin territory, isn't it?

[ophidie]

Probably. I've never seen it on someone's profile.

[She's visibly thinking, a contemplation deep enough that it reflects on the face of her avatar.]

We'll figure something out. [She's part of the 'we' now.]

[insinning]

[A nod. Normally Scintalis would get a smile or an attempt of one...but Sinclair doesn't even try this time. It doesn't seem right to keep fake anything right now]

...we will. Lets go back to the chaos gate.

[Despite the statement, there's a hesitation at the end - a question? Maybe Scitalis noticed something he hadn't since she was less closely connected to this than him]

[ophidie]

[It's a pause that doesn't go unnoticed, prompting her own hesitation. She turns to look back at him over her shoulder.]

Are you planning on any particular destination after that?

[insinning]

Maybe we should try other root towns. Or jump through some dungeons again.

[Maybe they should go back to the ??? town? That's there the whispers of someone dying horribly were first heard after all]