99

--The Enclave--

As she leaned away from him, it occurred to her that she didn’t really know much about Miko — or Cynth, for that matter, but she seemed to be more the type to wear her heart on her sleeve. Cynth was a bit brash, but she seemed honest, and had no issues biting back at people she thought were doing wrong.

During the questioning with Grim, Cynth took a role as the distraught Miko’s protector. She spoke for him when he had a hard time speaking for himself. Or was it speaking over him? With Cynth at his side, Miko had come off as much the same kind of personality as Tea: shy, timid, and a bit helpless — not to mention the fact that he was a trade class rather than a combat one. At that time, however, he had just lost a friend, and was blaming himself for it.

And maybe he still was, and, rather than continuing to cower as he had, the sharp glint in his eyes was the result.

“Message him, Guin,” Miko said again.

Guin couldn’t help but grin, and ask, “Is that an order?”

“Should I make it one?”

Guin looked down, smiling still, then shook her head. “No,” she said. “I got it.”

She went ahead and sent Grim a vague message of: ‘Hey. I need to talk to you. I’ll try to call later.’ And then, her and Miko returned to silent observation of the virtual life around them.

“How is it that I could be the target of some serial killing crazy person?” she asked, watching as a small scuffle broke out between two players who had bumped into one another. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

“Things don’t always make sense,” Miko told her. “Some things just aren’t logical.”

“I’m… tired,” she said.

He chuckled. “It’s still morning. Long day ahead.”

“What do I do if it’s all real?” she asked, looking up at the garule man.

“You live,” he said. “And all that entails.”

Guin chuckled.

“What?” Miko asked, abashed.

“At first I felt like I was being hunted by all the gaurli on the Enclave,” she went, picking at her fingers. “Now, here I am being the prey of some unknown hunters. How stupid.”

“Prey?” he blinked, then laughed. “What do the garuli care about hunting you for? You are asking why an actual killer might be after you, but apparently you were so special all the garuli in the land cared about you.”

Guin blushed as she pouted, “I know! I’m an idiot! I’m reminded every day!” She sighed and crossed her arms. “It’s just that —”

Prey. Before it all been in her head — she had enough self awareness to know that. She couldn’t prevent how she felt, but for the most part, she knew that her feelings towards the garuli had more to do with her anxiety than any real threat that they posed. She had similar feelings about her interpretation of most social interactions as well. If it wasn’t some sort of pretend divination she could blame for any future bad luck, than the perceived threats may have been real — and if there had been moments where her instincts hadn’t just been set off by her imagination… You are someone’s prey. The Jackal’s, or whoever he’s working to stop. The jackal man may not have been working alone, but who was the other? Who was the magician?

It wasn’t just the garuli who made her uncomfortable in the past few weeks, she knew. If she took out the cases where she could rationalize what she felt as her being ignorant and neurotic, there was at least one instance she remembered — one person she could name — that made her fear.

From the depths of her memory, eyes appeared. Dark, with rings of gold.

Guin touched her arms absentmindedly, remembering how he had caused her to shiver. The feeling of being watched. A person who had made her feel hunted without any cause or reason.

Merlyn Jace.

A man with a wizard’s name and the aura of a predator… A ‘magician’ — in real life, rather than in the game. It couldn’t be, could it?

Miko was calling her name out in concern, but she held her hand up to quiet him as she let her thoughts run their course. If that was the case, then...

‘Why are you different?’

‘Have you seen the magician?’

Maybe she wasn’t so different after all.

She’d met Merlyn two times — by coincidence, she had assumed, and yet neither time did he seem fazed or even surprised by her existence in either location. Even when she had bumped into him the first time, it was almost like her knew — or planned — for it to happen.

Blood rushing to her head, she stood and twisted around, searching to see if maybe the jackal masked stranger was still in the area. Question after question bubbled up from within her as she replayed scenes in her head. Odd things that didn’t line up.

“Guin,” Miko said more firmly as he pulled her back down to the barrels. “What’s wrong?”

“I…,” she started, still scanning her surroundings. “Are you certain Ollie Bear didn’t mention anything else to you?”

The little garule sighed. “I don’t think he ever really mentioned anything about his real life, to me, or anyone else. Is something wrong?”

“I think I was,” she murmured. “I think I told him the wrong thing.”

“Told who, what?”

“The Jackal,” she said.

“Guin,” Miko gripped her hand tightly. “Are you in trouble?”

Guin looked into Miko’s worried black eyes. She wanted to lie to him so that he wouldn’t worry anymore, but she wasn’t sure she could really lie in the state she was in. Even if she did, he would know.

So she nodded.

“There was this guy,” she started. At least if she really did die, someone might have a lead. “Merlyn Jace —”

‘Jace’?

Even as her mouth formed the word, the realization made her feverish. ‘Jace’. Impossible… Guin’s eyes went so wide they hurt.

‘Father… Why don’t Jace and Doctor Sere get along?’

From memory to dream, the words echoed in her mind. ‘Jace’. The little girl in her dreams knew a ‘Jace’. Could it have been the same Jace? How could it be?

But how could there be such a coincidence?

She had been so caught up in Doctor Sere and the sutak that the other name had seemed insignificant.

‘Merlyn Jace’ wasn’t just anybody — he was somebody — just as much as Sathuren was to her. Appearing in her dreams as well as in real life.

“How could that happen? Again?” she asked, near in tears as she looked at Miko. He, of course, had no idea where her train of thought had gone, so he just pat her shoulder.

But if she knew that he was real and on The Enclave, like Sav was, than maybe she’d have better luck finding him than she had when she was looking for Doctor Sere. She opened the in-game web browser and quickly typed in the name. There were several results that looked viable right away, but her breath caught in her throat when the one at the very top read:

Merlyn Jace, Head Developer, Varier Corporation.

“Is this guy the one you’re worried about?” Miko asked, leaning in as if he could read the screen over her shoulder.

“He’s a guy,” she breathed. “The question is, what kind of guy is he.”