Arnel did not mention the failsafe occupation. He did not even think about it much, either. It was an obvious thing, something he knew already. He didn’t need proof that it was true. Theta warned him that the AGMI would not let him go. Maybe he misunderstood what a failsafe was — it seemed unlikely though — but Arnel would not be surprised if he learned, for example, that there was a sniper watching him at all times, or that there was a Machine Arsenal, on the other side of the planet, constantly calculating re-entry trajectories for some form of an orbital artillery strike. In reality, Arnel suspected that once the AGMI wanted him dead, he would stand no chance.

Before Arnel had a fear of AGMI without any substantial proof to back it up — it was just his instinct to fear them — but after they used Artemis to try and kill him, he had more than enough proof of what they were capable of. Perhaps thinking of them as malevolent entities was a bit of a stretch. One cannot call a snake that bites and kills humans malevolent. AGMI were not creatures of good and evil or even good or ill intent. They simply did things, like the snake, that they were made to do. To kill; to purge; to annihilate any and all elements that stood in the way of Humanity’s Prosperity — they were weapons of war, after all. It was only humans that, sometimes when they were unable to comprehend the logic of the choices AGMI made, attributed such actions to malevolence. Perhaps even belligerence.

Arnel and Thomas did not speak much on the way back home. This was their covenant — the beautiful lie and illusion that allowed two adversaries to be friends when no one was looking. Thomas did mention, as a side note, that alpha was much less dense than the population block of fourteen.

Isobell’s breakfast was delicious. She prepared a French-style omelet with toast and bacon on the side. It looked disgusting, but the idea of mostly solid food was enticing enough to give it a try, and, surprisingly, Arnel wasn’t disappointed. Not that he thought it would disappoint. He had incredible faith in Isobell Stone’s cooking ability. Currently, she was a class K citizen like her “husband” and likewise a failsafe. Former employment: Military intelligence. Formal training in signal intelligence, espionage, and, most importantly, chef de cuisine. No wonder Thomas looked so happy.

Surprisingly, Arnel felt relaxed when these two were present. If he could see them, then he shouldn’t have to be afraid of them. The true dangers were the things he couldn’t see. Keep your enemies close, someone once said, and there was a certain wisdom in that.

But who really was Arnel’s enemy? If one were to remove the idea that dangerous people were enemies, then things would become very confusing very fast. Snakes were dangerous, but one wouldn’t consider them to be an enemy. Soldiers — Thomas and Isobell — were dangerous, but were they his enemies?

The holo-screen showed images of a burning Arcology. A faint news anchor voice spoke at a barely audible volume, “-ghters are still attempting to put out the fires caused by yesterday’s reactor containment failure. Icarus-4 is one of the leading Arcologies in the development and production of components for the Mars and Europa Colonization Projects.”

But Arnel barely paid attention to the news. His mind was somewhere else, considering the abstract nature of who or what his true enemy was. Delta’s warning was still fresh in his mind. It was omnipresent, in one form or another. There was also the fact that Arnel did agree with their logic. Leviathan was dangerous, but so were the others. Perhaps the others — Delta and Epsilon — were more dangerous to Arnel than Leviathan. They did try to kill him, after all. With a superweapon. As if a missile or a nuclear bomb was not enough to do the job.

Eventually, these thoughts turned towards what he felt was more important than anything else in the world. A part of him knew that it was foolish, but he couldn’t help it. If it wasn’t for Priscilla, Arnel would not be alive today. She was the one who gave him the will to live, endure the pain, and remain sane through everything that had happened. That one month he spent with her, and those two hours, each day, of being subjected to unimaginable pain were not things a mind should be able to withstand. In those days, Arnel was already dead. If he were an AGMI, he would see that as the only possible outcome of a situation like that. And yet, Priscilla changed his future.

Now, it was his turn to do something for her. Maybe that wasn’t it, either. Maybe he just wanted to see her again, and everything else was just an excuse — some exalted goal to rally behind as if it was a war cry.

Who was Priscilla? Was she locked away somewhere, like Camille? Was she also one of the Lost? Arnel didn’t think so. AGMI had something in common — they terrified Arnel. Even Camille had something that set her apart from an ordinary person. It was the very air around her as if it commanded respect — as if she was greater than life itself. Priscilla was different. She was so human that Arnel forgot that she was a denizen. If someone told Arnel that Priscilla was actually a player, he would believe them. No, Priscilla was not an AGMI. He really wanted to believe that.

“Hey, Arn,” he heard a familiar, male voice.

“Wei?” Arnel turned his head to look at the visitors. “Anya? Jennifer?”

He tried to stand up, to greet his friends, but his legs trembled violently and he fell back to the couch. The trio — Fang, Nissa, and Yen in Singularity — smiled at him. Anya even waved, holding a bag filled to the brim with juice packs and sweets by the looks of it.

They looked pretty much the same in the real world as they did in Singularity. Maybe Anya was a bit taller, and maybe Jennifer was a bit prettier. Wei was Wei. He always had that cool demeanor that was not something appearance alone could replicate.

“We came to visit you,” Anya said. “We asked Jen for help.”

Jennifer smiled. Her eyes glimmered with an unmistakable sparkle of relief. As if seeing Arnel back home meant more to Jennifer than it did to him. Maybe Jennifer knew about the hell he had to go through after he received the surgery — which was very much thanks to her.

Arnel returned Jennifer’s smile with the same warmth and then beckoned the group. “Come, sit,” he said. “I still can’t walk. I am supposed to do physical therapy to recover.”

Wei was leading the group towards the couch, and he spoke, “I thought they kept your muscles from atrophying.”

Arnel nodded. “They did,” he said. “I just forgot how to walk.” He laughed as if to diffuse the tension. It probably wasn’t easy for them to see Arnel like this.

They were childhood friends, although Arnel lost contact with Wei and Anya for the past few years. After Arnel’s mom died, he kept to himself for the most part. Jennifer was the only one who insisted on visiting Arnel and keeping him company. When she passed away, his sun had set that day, and it took all the light of all the stars with it. It took love itself beyond the twilight with it.

“Can we help?” Anya asked.

Arnel shook his head. “I’ll be fine, really,” he said. “Who told you I was back home?”

Jennifer was silent. She just smiled, as if she was happy just to see him. She sat down next to Arnel, while Wei took the sofa on Arnel’s left, and Anya sat next to Jennifer.

“I called your hospital,” Wei said. “They told me you were discharged.”

“You have some explaining to do, buddy,” Anya said, that “buddy” a little bit too intense. “You scared us to death.”

Arnel tilted his head. “What are you talking about?”

Anya pointed at Wei. “He logged in, in the middle of the night, to check on some news, and you disappeared on his friends and clan list,” she said.

Wei nodded. “I thought something happened to you.” He rubbed his hands together and shivered. “In the real world,” he added.

Anya nodded, and Jennifer also.

“He called me and asked me if I heard anything,” Jennifer said. “I called your dad — it was a mess. We thought you… died.”

“But turns out you were fine,” Wei said, eyelids drooping. “In Singularity too, apparently.”

Jennifer raised an eyebrow at that. Anya also stared at Arnel, expecting an explanation.

Arnel swallowed. There was no way he could tell them what actually happened, and why he disappeared off their lists. When he was in that room with Camille —

“By the way, who is Camille?” Wei asked.

Arnel narrowed his eye to thin slits. “How do you…?”

“She is in our clan now,” Wei said.

Anya nodded. “She is a—“ She glanced towards Jennifer and quickly closed her mouth shut, silencing whatever she was going to say.

An awkward silence descended on the group which lasted all of five seconds before Jennifer said, “Do you all need a moment alone?”

Arnel shook his head. “No, it’s fine, stay,” he said. More than anything, he did not want to answer these questions.

“Do you guys want anything?” Isobell appeared at the entrance.

“We are fine, thank you!” Arnel called back before anyone else could answer.

Anya frowned. “Who is that?” she asked.

“Neighbors,” Arnel said. “They are looking after me while dad’s away.”

Anya nodded. Jennifer seemed thoughtful, while Wei was… well, he was Wei. Wei was difficult to read.

“Look,” Arnel said, clasping his hands together. “I can explain everything, but I will need some time to collect my thoughts.” It was probably the lamest excuse, but it was all he could think of. What was he supposed to tell them? Camille was a monster, he ended up in a place that was disconnected from Singularity, and his neighbors were his bodyguards? Sure, that was one explanation he could use if he wanted to make his friends laugh. Then, of course, there was another explanation: Camille was an AGMI, she was locked away in a prison, and his bodyguards are there to put a bullet in his head whenever they get the order to do it. That one might also make his friends laugh, but not because it was funny. It would probably be more like a compassionate laugh or a pity laugh. The 'ah, he has gone mad' kind.

Wei sighed and nodded. “I get it,” he said. “Just tell me this: is this good for Exalt?”

Arnel's left cheek twitched at the question. “I...“ he trailed off. He frankly did not know if this was a good or a bad thing. On one hand, having an AGMI on the team was probably a good thing. On the other hand, having an AGMI on the team was a terrible thing. It really depended on the perspective of a person. Ending an argument with a nuclear strike was probably a superpower.

Wei seemed to understand. “We won’t know until we try?” he asked and then nodded. “We’ll make it work.”

Anya nodded. “Yeah, we will figure it out,” she said.

Arnel glanced between the two. Did they know? How could that be possible?

“She asked for your help, right?” Wei asked as if to imply something by the word help. Aurora’s Blessing? The fact that he cannot refuse to help someone?

Jennifer tilted her head, listening carefully to the conversation, but she didn’t seem aware of the conversation happening within the conversation.

Arnel nodded. “Something like that,” he said. They didn’t know Camille was an AGMI, or so it seemed. Could it be that they knew that she was not a player? Since denizens could be adventurers, technically, they could probably also join clans. Would the clan list point something like that out? Besides, Camille wasn’t a denizen, was she? She was a monster. With blood magic, the only thing Arnel could think of was that she was some kind of demon.

Wei nodded. “Makes sense,” he said, climbing to his feet. “Well, we just wanted to check on you and make sure everything is fine. You really had us worried.”

Anya and Jennifer followed suit and stood up. “I am really glad you are okay,” Anya said, leaving the bag on the table. “See you in Singularity tonight?”

Arnel nodded. “Yeah. I should have a Sim Pod by tonight,” he said.

“A new one?” Wei asked.

Arnel cursed himself for letting that slip out. He nodded. “Uh, yeah. A get-well present from… the good people supplying me with painkillers and a reason to eat them,” Arnel said, half-sarcastically.

Jennifer’s smile faltered when Arnel spoke those words.

Wei grinned. “Take care of yourself, man,” he said, patting Arnel on the shoulder.

Anya nodded. “See you tonight, Arn,” she said, and she headed towards the exit with Wei.

Jennifer did not go with them.

“You guys leaving already?” Isobell’s voice rang from the hallway.

“Yep! Thank you for taking care of Arn!” Anya replied and her voice faded in the distance.

Finally, Jennifer sighed and scooted closer to Arnel. She chewed on her bottom lip, staring at the table in front of her.

“What’s the matter, Jen?” Arnel asked.

“Are you… really okay?” she asked. “You don’t seem like yourself.”

Arnel nodded. “I am fine.” That was probably the biggest lie he told on that day. Maybe the biggest lie of the entire month. I am fine. That was the kind of thing people say when they are standing on the ledge.

Jennifer knew him since they were kids. She could easily tell when Arnel lied. Maybe, when Arnel lied to her, he did it in such a way that she could tell — to perpetuate the illusion that close friends know each other — as if it was a subconscious thing to do. But this time, Jennifer smiled, as if she was convinced by his words.

Then she nodded. “I am glad,” she said. “I was really worried…” She wiped the tears forming in her eyes away before they could slide down her cheeks. “I was really worried I ruined your life.”

Arnel’s expression faltered. He could not so easily maintain that polite, courteous countenance when he saw her break down like that. She was still very important to him. What she, and her family, did for him was not something that he could ever pay back. Her friendship, and her affection, especially.

She sobbed, then chuckled as if to laugh at her own fragility. “I am sorry,” she said, wiping away more tears in her eyes. “I just wanted the best for you.”

“Hey…” Arnel whispered.

“I didn’t know things would turn out like that,” she said, voice cracking. “I didn’t know it would hurt that much!”

Arnel froze, not sure what to do. He hugged Jennifer. “You saved my life,” he said, tone soothing. “I would be dead if it wasn’t for you. And I am fine now. I don’t feel any pain anymore.”

This time, she used her entire forearm to wipe away the tears, while nodding.

“You did nothing wrong,” Arnel whispered. "Don't beat yourself up about this. It is not your fault."

They remained like that for several minutes, only Jennifer’s sniffles breaking the silence every now and again. She was so warm and so soft. Arnel had, in all honesty, forgotten what it was like to be close to someone. It was a strange thing, now.

He whispered soothing phrases to her, repeating many of them. Like "It is not your fault," or "I am fine now," but it still took several minutes before Jennifer completely pulled back from her own ledge of complete breakdown. It seemed like she really believed that it was her fault that Arnel went through that hell. Even completely ignoring the fact that it was the only way to save his life.

“Can I come visit you sometimes?” Jennifer asked once she calmed down in Arnel’s embrace.

Arnel nodded. “Any time you want,” he said.

“All right,” she said and stood up, without even looking at him. “See you soon,” she added, before heading out, her head slightly lowered.

When Jennifer left, Aren tried his best not to dwell on it, but he ended up doing so anyway. He felt like trash. A part of him wished he died in that accident, for reasons entirely different this time. He should've realized it back when he met Jennifer in Singularity. His best, and until recently his only, friend was suffering. Because of him.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

He would find a way to make things right. He had to. He really hoped there was a way to make it right.