Woof

As Ren and Gabe were talking, Merrit found himself on a bench next to Rosemary. She had immediately opened the researcher’s stolen laptop, and began trying to crack the security. They sat awkwardly, on opposite ends of the bench.

She had not spoken a word to him since, which suited him fine, as now that he was next to her in person, he had no idea what to say. He had fantasized about something like this happening for the majority of his waking life, but now that he was there, in a situation like this…

Now that he was able to get a good look, she really did look nothing like her idol avatar. Her long coat, hair, and mask, gave off the impression of someone unapproachable, in contrast to her online persona’s flashy, bright, almost overdesigned outfit.

“Can you stop staring at me? It’s creepy…”

“Oh- uh… sorry…”

He looked away, and stared into the distance. It seemed like her personality wasn’t very close to her online persona either. Still, it was getting pretty awkward, and he wasn’t good in situations like this.

Come on, Merrit… think of something! The weather…? No-

He shifted over slightly closer to her, preparing to strike up some conversation, but without looking over, she shifted away from him. Testing again, he moved over, then she moved to follow, like it was some children’s game.

She turned and gave him a tired look, and then moved to a different nearby seat.

This isn’t going well at all…

Saving him from further humiliation, Gabe walked over and threw Merrit his phone back.

“Oh- Making friends?”

Rosemary was silent. Merrit hesitantly answered- “Not ye-Not really.”

Gabe seemed unsurprised.

“I guess you’ll have more opportunities later-You’re lucky Ren called you. Otherwise you’d be in a ditch filled with bullets meant for someone else.”

He leaned closer.

“Now, the truth. Where did you get this laptop?”

Merrit figured there was no point playing dumb now, and began his story.

“We- Ren found it. We were in a village in the Red Zone, making a delivery, and a giant red circle appeared in the sky-”

He stopped, as Gabe’s eye flashed menacingly.

Noticing, Gabe waved him on- “Don’t mind that. Continue.”

“Ren went to the center of the circle, and he told me that he found a bunch of mangled corpses, in some sort of - ritual. I’ve seen that circle before- so I think they were trying to summon something… probably a Demon Lord. The researcher you wanted was there, and Ren took him out-”

Gabe interrupted again-

“You’ve seen a Demon Lord summoning? You can’t be that old, right?”

“Only once… But you’re right, I’d only ever heard of regular demons before… I didn’t know there were worse than just the regular-sized ones.”

“There shouldn’t be. I haven’t seen anything of higher class than a Pawn in years… You know the rank classifications, right?”

“No…”

“We used to rank them by their size, danger, and ability for independent thought. Pawns are your standard mindless drones, probably what you’re used to seeing. Above that… there’s Knights, Bishops, and Lords- horrid, powerful things that evolve in the blink of an eye-”

“Then yeah- it was one. But that means- if you knew Ren, you’re from back then too, right? ”

Gabe gave him an appraising look for a moment, and then-

Rosemary looked up, annoyed.

“Can you two quiet down? I’m trying to concentrate, and I’m almost through the security.”

Merrit, unable to help himself, rushed over to look-

“Whoa!- How did you get through the-”

She pulled away, and moved to another seat further away.

“I did a SQUIRREL injection on their login page.”

She looked back down at her work, ending the conversation.

Awkwardly, Merrit sat down again, facing Gabe, who looked at him almost sympathetically.

“To answer your question- yes. I am from that time. Ren and I were… Well, we knew each other.”

“Were you close?”

“I don’t think you could say anyone was close to him, except maybe Mina… did he mention her to you?”

“Not by name… is that the girl from the poster?”

“What poster?”

“Oh... I saw an old recruitment poster once-Ren and 3 other people were on it.”

“That takes me back… Yeah, she was there. The red haired one, with the gentle look on her face. As a matter of fact-I was there, too. The tall one.”

Gabe went silent, seemingly overcome by memories.

Timidly, betraying a slight bit of hope- Merrit asked- “He didn’t tell me much about this… except that nobody made it out. You were the strongest fighters of that time-If you’re alive, does that mean…?”

Gabe shook his head, and his wistful expression disappeared, replaced by his previous scowl.

“Figures he wouldn’t tell you. But no. Him and I are the only ones left. Now, back to business. Do you know any more about these summoning incidents? How they summoned it, why, what they’re planning?”

“No… I’ve basically told you everything I know. I thought if I was able to get into that laptop, we’d be able to find out about whatever’s going on.”

“I see. And that girl? She’s a new High Priest? Resurrecting the Goddess? Do you know anything more?”

Merrit was realizing how little he knew about his companions, or the world in general. It had just been one crazy event after another, but as this giant was staring at him with a disappointed look on his face, his cluelessness began to be embarrassingly apparent.

“I- no…”

Gabe gave him an appraising look, scanning him for a few seconds.

“I see. Then I think it’s time for us to take our leave. We have another task next- but we can take care of everything from here.”

Gabe seemed to be struggling, until he finally seemed to be able to force the words out.

“Thanks, kid. I assumed I was the only one left. Take care of yourself.”

He put his hood back over his head and stood up, along with Rosemary, as they both turned and began to walk away.

Merrit was stunned- “Wai-wait! That’s it?”

“What do you mean? I’d say you got a pretty good deal out of this- got to meet your idol, too. Better than having your entire upper half blown to bits, right?”

“No, I- You’re not going to ask about Ren? And I have so many more questions-”

“I’ll contact him later. But you’re just a regular person-It’s probably best if you stay out of all this.”

“I can help you! I can- I…”

But what could he do? An elite hacker, and a walking tank, and then there was him… Maybe he could shoot some cans from a distance as a street performance.

Rosemary shook her head, in a silent ‘this guy can’t be helped’, and Gabe walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Where we’re going, what we’re going to deal with, is 10 times worse than anything you’ve probably seen out there.”

“But I- Ren trusted me with this! He asked me to figure out what was going on, and-”

“Look- he was probably just trying to soften the blow, putting you somewhere out of harm's way to do some minor task he couldn’t be bothered to do on his own. That’s the way he operates. He’s always been like that.”

“I…”

Merrit could not argue, for as much as he tried to suppress it, he had wondered that many times himself.

Rosemary finally looked up to speak to him.

“Sometimes it’s best to just accept things as they are.”

“But- that’s all you sing about! That’s all you talk about! All your songs, having hope, standing up when there’s nothing left to live for, always striving for something better- I’ve lived by that my whole life! Did you not mean any of that?”

He couldn’t see her eyes behind the sunglasses, but he knew he had touched a nerve.

“Don’t think you know me, that we’re close- just because you’ve been watching me on a screen. It’s best if you think of her and me as different people.”

She turned to leave, and Gabe did as well.

Merrit wanted desperately to follow them, to berate them for their arrogance in looking down upon him, on how unfair it all was- but all he could do was stand there, still. What would happen even if he followed them?

He felt the shame wash over him, building up inside, until it hit a crescendo.

“FUCK!”

He slammed his fist into a wall, again, and again, and as it bled, he realized how pathetic he was.

 Even for all that bravado, he was still back where he started. No conviction, no development, nothing-It was always the same, he always found himself here, confronted with his powerlessness, swallowed by his own doubts-

“Make not haste towards a hurried conclusion, lest the ground crumble beneath thy feet.”

A voice echoed in his head, and yet there was nobody. As he hurriedly looked around, he saw a massive wolf, who had apparently silently snuck up behind him, and was now staring into his eyes.

He hurriedly rummaged around in his pockets for the holstered pistol Ren had given him, only to realize it was still on the ground. Lunging for it, he aimed it at the dog, who had not moved since.

As he looked closer, he saw not the rabid, bloodshot eyes of the predators he was used to seeing, but something cold, rational, almost- intelligent.

“Don’t tell me… ? Dogs don’t talk, I must be going insane…”

The voice echoed again.

“The mark of a fool is one who shutters his own windows upon seeing the sunlight.”

He wasn’t an expert in language, but he felt that whatever it was, it was making fun of him.

“It matters not. You wish to follow them?”

“I… I don’t know. I want to help, I just want to be better…”

“Then accompany me.”

“I…”

This feeling… this shame… he was beginning to be sick of it.

“Alright.”