Episode 10.2 - Tom’s Feelings

The trip down the Fortress is never exactly a speedy one; endless winding staircases can really slow your roll. Perhaps we should consider adding an elevator.
    Tom stays behind to scold the two bickering Estoplfo, while Flint drags Sek off to conduct checks on the battery setup, leaving just me and Lila on our way to investigate. I need to get back to Eshu soon, but it would be harsh to leave Lila flying solo. That and I can't deny some curiosity about the whole thing.

"Those two seemed a bit unusual," I comment.
    Lila nods, "They're two of the best in the battalion, but an infinite source of headaches for Tom. They're brothers, or at least hatched from the same nest, it's made them rather competitive."

"Ah, I get it," I laugh at the image of the skeletons competing in various ways across their lives.
Welp, that's the easiest question out of the way. I can't help but wonder what Eshu would be thinking if she were here. Lila refusing to have a bodyguard within the plan isn't all that strange for her, but Tom's reaction really took me by surprise. 

Despite being our senior, we don't know much about him or any of his kin. I'd like to blame that on the language barrier, but maybe we simply haven't made the effort. That said, when I think back on it, this isn't the first time he's gone against Lila; when we broke out to go save the villagers, Tom let us go. Of all the Estolpfo, he's the only one not blindly devoted to Lila's exact orders - that's likely what makes him a good second-in-command.
    Eshu would have more insight; she'd pick up on some little thread. What can I say like that?

"Does Tom have any rivals?" I finally decide on. To my surprise, Lila visibly cringes; I apparently hit the bullseye.

"No. Not anymore anyway."

"Oh... Does it relate to why he got cross with you back there?"

She gives me an exasperated smile, "Feeling nosy today, are we? And there was me politely leaving you and your boyfriend stewing in your own time rather than butting in on you both.” I blush a bit at that, feeling a little guilty for being so pushy, but I still think it's for the best.

She sighs, “Fine, if you must know. Surely you've wondered at some point why I only have one evolved Estolpfo? Almost all of the others are near level capped, one hundred out of one hundred. They could evolve to the same as Tom's class, greatly increasing their power."

"Now that you mention it, wouldn't that solve our shortage issues?"

Lila stops at one of the tall, narrow arrow-slit windows lining the staircase and looks out upon the little kingdom we've made for ourselves. The window mills are turning softly, the little pathways leading down the hill past the boroughs and then out into the village with its rapidly spreading fields and the project to redirect the river. It's become quite a settlement out there.

"They see it as a mark of honour, I think. They refuse to evolve even though no one would object these days. Silly little guys,” she murmurs.

"Did someone object before?" I ask.

"Mmmm, ya sort of. My homeland is one of backstabbing and subterfuge. The military is a delicate balance of officers and divisions watching each other, keeping one another in a precarious check. Each rank and position has unspoken but well-known standards to follow. A Specialist Major like I was, can have a maximum of one battalion, one steed and one evolved species as a sub-commander."

She turns to me, a faraway look in her eyes, "It was years ago, I was younger, more naïve. I'd just gotten that position. I got ahead of myself, thought I'd finally made it, finally had power and could outsmart anyone. It was a really, really, stupidly childish scheme. I've told you before, Estolpfo are used as expandable vanguards and labour; it's rare to have a battalion as 'old' as mine. Many members who've lived so long and gained such strength. We thought we could play the system a bit, gain a little extra edge of power over others with the same rank as me.
    It went okay at first. One of my veterans class-changed to Skeletal-Steed, a Tier 2 class. I can't imagine going from a biped to a horse myself, but she seemed super keen on the idea. It went without a hitch; she counted as my steed as I didn’t have one before that - ability to teleport makes it rather unneeded, heh - you've seen her around, right?"

The question causes me to realise 'who' she means. Around the base, you do sometimes see a galloping skeletal horse. It rarely comes close; sometimes days can go by without seeing it, but it's a familiar sight all the same.

"So what went wrong after that?" I ask.

Lila sighs, "Tom is short, right? So short that he blends into a crowd of his juniors. The horns that mark him as a Tier 2 species are entirely covered by his hat. As I said, it was an insanely dumb idea..."

"Wait, you didn't..."

"Yup! We had the next strongest evolve to the same as Tom, and told anyone who asked that he was Tom. We thought by doing this, we could have two Tier 2s by simply abusing Tom's height - how stupid is that? Of course, we were caught and dragged before an inquiry."

It strikes me that this story's end is an obvious one. Moreover, I'm reminded of our camping trip, Sek insisting Lila's history is her own, even if this event probably happened before she truly existed. This guilt, the rift it's left between her and Tom, is entirely based on data, memories that never happened in a sense.

My thoughts must show as Lila nods, "My punishment for trying to play the system was a force reduction of one-fifth, and a command to execute one of my evolved subordinates. Those troops taken from me were dispersed into other battalions; I believe they've all died now. And as you can tell, I chose the second, Harry, as the one to execute. Tom never forgave me, even if he usually hides it well. It was the tactical choice. Had I refused, I would have been demoted and the entire battalion broken up, although that's not what he took issue with..."

I frown, "What then?"

"He wanted me to execute him instead.” Lila sighs, “As the senior of the group, as my sub-leader and someone who'd agreed with me to try the whole stupid ploy, he believed it was his responsibility - that Harry should live and take his place as captain. I did have logic on my side; Harry had just evolved, he was more than one hundred levels lower than Tom. He was exceptionally skilled, the battalion ace you could say, but he lacked both raw stats and the stability of Tom's long-standing leadership. But none of that is the reason I did it, and Tom knows it. I had to choose between my best subordinate and my oldest friend, Ko, so I did."

I fall silent. Despite all that, he still serves her so loyally. And Lila… Could I do that, choose between two people who meant so much to me? It's not exactly the same, but could I choose between Sek and Eshu? No way.

A thought crosses my mind, "That's not why he was mad with you today, though, is it?"

"Urk!" Lila groans, "Really going all out against me, eh?"

"No secrets between sisters... At least that’s what I would say, but I don't want to force you either."

She smiles, floating up a little and ruffling my hair. It's a little embarrassing, but I also don't hate it.
    "After all that, I was in a pretty dark place. I'd finally made it to a position of power, only to lose so many of my best guys. I felt guilty, I felt small and foolish. I rather wanted to run away and bury my head in the sand. I couldn't lose Tom, not then. He'd been with me so long, this chronically small Estolpfo shunned by much of his own kind, yet who'd gotten so strong, evolved, and become my right hand. He was with me when the last of my family died. He'd been my rock in climbing the military ladder. My weakness didn't just cost us one-fifth of our friends; it dishonoured Tom, made him live disgraced as a commander who scapegoated punishment onto his subordinates, onto his own little brother.
    So I got, defensive. I--" she flails her hands, "Overprotective. Tom thinks I still am, that I rush to put myself in danger before I let them go anywhere near it. He, no, all of them, find that disagreeable. They want to fight for me, to protect me instead of the opposite."

"Well, I can empathise with that."

Lila shakes her head, "I'm not trying to coddle them! Look out there," she waves her hands emphatically out the window at the view below, "They're amazing! I couldn't be prouder of them, whether in combat or building all this. But, but, but!
    ...Those laser cannons, a blast from one takes less than ten per cent of my health points, but an Estolpfo? It would one-shot most of them, and yet they would not hesitate to die to prevent me from a minor, easily healed injury. Do you get what that feels like? What's the point of that! What good is honour that makes them die for nothing more than preventing me from a minor inconvenience? I don't want that kind of loyalty!"

Dejectedly, she starts to float down the staircase again, and I follow close behind, "So we compromise on things, me and Tom. Take meeting with all of you guys. Originally, I planned to leave the Demon-Realm guns blazing, get everyone out in one crazy run. Tom insisted they'd be fine in storage, that they could wait for me to teleport them later. I hated that idea. How could I be sure they would simply be stored, and not executed on the spot for their leader's desertion?
He also insisted I should take some of them with me, a small squad of guards. Now that was ridiculous! If I was going to sneak out and quietly scout new lands, a bunch of rattling skeletons on my heels made no sense. In the end, we compromised; I would sneak away on my own. In turn, he would maintain his telepathic link with me at all times, so I'd know the second if trouble brewed. It worked out in the end; they were stored, and I gradually teleported them all here. So I guess all's well that ends well," she shrugs, clearly worn out by the trip down memory lane, "But sometimes there are no compromises to be had. I won't have firepower wasted guarding me, and I also won't let people die to cover my back when it's is in no serious danger. This time, Tom can just huff. I'm not moving."

As she finishes, we make it to the ground floor and out the front gate. I don't have much of a refute for what she said. It's true she is incredibly strong, and our plan is already short-handed as is.
     
I asked for a blood pact because I wanted to become stronger, because I want to protect her the way she does us, to be able to do more than whine when there's something I don't like - and I have gotten stronger thanks to it. I've been training in magic, not to mention the stat growths, but compared to her?
    This world might be alive, but it is ruled by unnatural things. The numbers of a system create gulfs you can't easily overcome. Perhaps that's no different to the old world, but seeing the chasm between you and someone you love, quantified in cold, uncaring statistics, in mathematical quantity, is really hard sometimes.

Like Tom, I'm a Tier 2 or whatever now, but Lila has gone on a much longer road; class-changed a dozen times, maxed her level at multiple points, learned a myriad of skills and spells and sheer knowledge. I can't just skip my way to being by her side as an equal; there's no convenient cheat skill - heck, that's not true! The blood pact might as well be a cheat, and the fact that fighting drones gives remarkably high amounts of growth points - truth is, I have cheated plenty to catch up faster, yet that still hasn't brought me anywhere near being someone she can lean on wholeheartedly. It's incredibly frustrating.

Up ahead, at the lip of the hill, is a crowd of Estolpfo and a couple of the human villagers. I step across a bald patch of grass where Flint's people buried the power wiring for the turrets. The crowd naturally parts to let Lila through.

"Welp, 'it' definitely looks human."

I nod, "If it's some sort of decoy, it's a very strange one..."

Running, stumbling and running some more is a madman. Clothes torn and tattered to the point of hobo apparel, a bizarre chest plate and helmet adorn their torso and head, oddly small, giving the impression of a grown man (notably broad and beefy, no less) wearing children's clothing.
    He's utterly covered in dirt and grime. I can only guess the streaks of blond beneath are his actual hair colour. I do spot a scabbarded weapon at his hip, but otherwise, he looks less like a danger and more like comic relief. His face is also streaming tears and snot; he must have been crying for some time now.

"What should we do?" I ask.
    Lila shrugs, "I haven't changed the barrier yet, so he can't pass through without permission. Let him come right up to it and say hello."

I turn back to watch the guy’s approach. He seems intent on beelining right at us.

"Yo, looney bin watching are we?" Sek calls, stepping up beside us.

"You can't call it that these days," I sigh, albeit it's hard to blame him. A thought crosses my mind, "Hey, can he see the barrier?"

"Hmmmm? Well, if he is a decoy made by the drones, we know they can see it." Lila replies.

"Right, but if he's not--"
   
Bonk

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh," Sek and everyone else wince, "Right in the nose."

We watch the mountainous hobo wobble, clutch his face, nose bleeding and bent slightly. He topples backwards, hitting the grass hard.

"Quite an entrance," Sek chuckles.

I can't help smirking, too. The way he stormed so brazenly forward, before bopping against the invisible wall, was really funny. I mean, err, ughhh.
    "We should go help, ahem.”