Sandra Kristoffson rang the bell on the imposing door. She supposed it was doing its job; she felt quite intimidated, with the wrought iron fence miles behind her, and the foreboding door before her. Her boss had assured her it would be a cakewalk, perfect for a newbie like her. Hmph. She’d checked plenty of families under supervision! She didn’t need to be babied anymore!

“Who is it? I mean, who may I ask is calling?” a woman’s tired voice came over the intercom.

“Uh, hi! It’s Ms. Kristoffson, here for the final check for the adoption?” she said into the comm. That was strange. Mr. Lonescu’s file said he wasn’t married, so there wasn’t supposed to be anyone but Elizabeth there. A friend? New girlfriend?

“Just a moment, please.” A minute later, a haggard-looking woman in a pristine maid’s outfit and dyed purple hair opened the door. “Hey there-I mean, welcome. The boss’s in the training hall, I’ll take you to him.”

“Thank you, I-wow.” Sandra said, taken aback at the simple opulence of the front hall. The maid flashed a wry smile.

“Yeah, gets you like that if you’re not used to it. This way, please. Don’t wander off, the place’s big and you could get lost.”

“It certainly feels big enough for it.” Sandra said jokingly, trying to break the ice. The maid smiled brittlely.

“You have no idea. Especially when trying to find a little girl when she decides to be bratty and disappears.”

“Ah, that’d be-Elizabeth, right?” Sandra said, fumbling with the file.

“Lizzy. She had a hard time adjusting at first, but she’s calming down and opening up more. Plus she’s twelve. I know I was a brat at that age, so I try not to hold it against her.” the maid said, leading Sandra past the hall, the kitchen, the living room with tha sofa big enough for eight and a TV that eclipsed that, and tons of paintings and pottery lining the walls and alcoves.

“Mr. Lonescu has a lot of stuff.” she said awkwardly.

“I keep telling him to throw some of the junk out, he has to rearrange it every few months. I have to move most of it.” the maid said. It was then Sandra noticed the bags under her eyes.

“Um, sorry if I’m intruding, but...are you alright? It’s kinda my job to see if everything’s okay, if the children’ll be cared for.” she said. The maid chuckled.

“Ah, don’t worry about me. The boss just keeps an...unusual schedule, and I gotta be up at odd hours sometimes. The fun you have when you don't have to work for a living.” the maid said, rolling her eyes.

“Wouldn’t know what that’s like.” Sandra said, making a note of it. It was time to get serious.

“Ain’t that the truth. Here we are.” They’d stopped in front of a Japanese-style sliding door. The maid slid it open and they headed inside.

“Look out!”

Sandra squawked as a body came flying at her, then suddenly she was lifted into the air while the man collided with the wall.

“Hey! Watch it! You’ll hurt somebody!” the maid snapped.

“Sorry, Lina! Guess I shouldn’t have done that, huh?” the man said, jumping up from the ground unhurt.

“E-E-Excuse me, c-could you put me down n-now?” Sandra squeaked. The maid was holding her aloft like a puppy being held away from danger.

“Oh, sorry.” Lina gently set her down, and Sandra marvelled at her. The maid was smaller than she was, but her arms were rock solid! It was then Sandra noticed the twenty pound weights on Lina’s wrists, and the forty pounds on each of her ankles.

“Do...do you wear them all the time?” she inquired, pointing. Lina sighed and nodded.

“Yeah. The boss’s daily requirements need a lot of strength, I gotta wear ‘em til I build up more. Recently moved to this weight, it’s a bit tiring. He’s kinda a fitness nut, you can ask him yourself.” Lina pointed a thumb at the enormous white-haired man in a karate gi coming up to them. “Hey boss, this’s Ms. Kristoffson, the social worker here to check on the kids.”

“Ah! Velcome, velcome to my abode. I do regret your unfortunate introduction to my house. As you can see, it is time for exercise, as per the mandate, and I find martial arts to be an excellent vorkout.” he said, gracefully bowing with an arm behind him while shaking her hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“Y-You too. It doesn’t get that rough all the time, does it?” she asked. This could be trouble.

“It had better not.” Alex said, casting a disdainful eye on the blond man. He had the decency to look sheepish.

“Sorry, I thought it’d work.”

“Ve are fighters, not acrobats. Flip around on your own time. Ve can perform gymnastics later if you vish, it von’t help you in battle.”

“A-Anyway, I’m here to check up on Jamie and Lizzy. Where are they?” Sandra said, checking her files. Alex raised an eyebrow while the blond man snickered.

“They are right here. Are you blind? Oh, that’s right. Peterson!” He snapped his fingers, and an elderly gentleman in a butler’s uniform brought a blonde young woman over, dressed in a fencing uniform. Both of them carried sabers.

“Present, sir.”

Sandra checked the attached photo, and the heights and weights the file had on them.

“Excuse me, but you’re Lizzy?” she asked the girl.

“Yup! What’s up? We’re in the middle of a lesson, I’d like to get back to it soon.” Lizzy said. Sandra nodded. The photo was practically of a different person, but her features were the same. Apparently she’d gone through a growth spurt, and had decided to wear her hair shorter.

“This shouldn’t take too long. Now, where’s Jamie?” Sandra asked, looking around.

“Uh, right here.” the blond man said, putting on a pair of glasses. Sandra did a double take, eyes flicking from the photo to him.

Lizzy at least looked like the same girl, if filled out more and with a change of style. The wall of meat before her was entirely different. Height: 5’7’, Weight: 135 lbs. The boy in the photo was wan and withdrawn, nearly a skeleton. The young man before her was huge, well over six feet and practically bulging with muscle. He was nearly the same dimensions as Alex. She was eye level with a set of washboard abs!

“Yeah, I get that a lot from people who knew me a while ago.” Jamie snickered. “Puberty hit me real hard.”

“It’s amazing vhat proper diet and training regimen can do for a man. Peterson is an excellent chef, and Lina is learning from him. Rest assured, the children are vell taken care of and provided for.” Alex said firmly.

“I-I can see that. What is your weight now then?” Sandra said.

“263, last we checked.” Jamie said, stretching.

“A shame I couldn’t have gotten to him sooner. Alas, he vill most likely never achieve his full growth. Still, vith the proper mindframe physical deficiencies are no hindrance. Vhat do you bench now, Jamie?” Alex asked.

“Going to 350!” he said proudly.

“I...see. Is Lizzy doing the same?” Sandra asked, making notes in the file. So, so many notes. The eyes were the same as the photo, it wasn’t an imposter.

“Heck no! I’m not getting that big!” Lizzy declared.

“Young Lizzy is fed the same qvality meals as Jamie, but only until they are full. She must do similar basic exercises, but she vill not be lifting nearly as much as he does. Though I do encourage her to.” he said, shooting a pointed glance at her. She stuck out her tongue.

“Mmm-hmm.” Sandra said, taking notes. “And their grades? I notice they’re not in school.”

“Yes. I have tutors come to educate them, the finest in the land. You should have a copy of their transcripts.” Alex said, and she shuffled through the papers until she found them. “Due to the past events of our lives, ve thought it best to hold off on public school until the fall.” he explained.

“That does make sense.” she admitted. They were survivors of the RFO incident, and with their previous home life and with Jamie’s role in setting them free, it was probably for the best to keep them out of the public eye. Mr. Lonescu seemed to be something of a recluse, so it worked out.

“What doesn’t make sense is we don’t get a summer break.” Jamie complained, and Alex rounded a stern glare at him.

“You vill have a veek off in July and three in August. You spent a whole month playing a game last year, I cannot imagine vhy you vould vant to continue vith it more.” he said, sighing.

"But it’s out today! And you said we could after training, and it’s nearly time so can we?” Jamie begged, his eyes sparkling. Alex checked the clock on the wall and sighed.

“Yes, yes, very vell.”

“YES!” Jamie pumped his arms in the air, bouncing up and down.

“Oh damn, that’s right. Gotta hurry!” Lina muttered.

“As you can see, my protege is qvite excited for the new game released today. Vill you be reqviring anything else, Miss Kristoffson?” Alex asked. Sandra closed her folder, beaming.

“Nope! This was the final check-in for the adoption, it's pretty much a formality at this point. I think there’s nothing to worry about. It was a little unusual how you met, but…” Her eyes went to Jamie, over double the size from the photo. “I’m happy to leave them in your hands.”

“Vonderful! Then Peterson, please see her out. Ve must convene elsewhere.” Alex said, and the butler bowed.

“Of course sir. Miss Lizzy, will you be joining the others?” he asked, escorting the social worker to the door.

“Maybe later. Get back quick, you said we’d practice until six!” she said, waving her saber.

“Of course. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” Once Sandra was gone, Jamie turned to Alex.

“Race you to-” But Alex was already gone, dispersing into a cloud of bats that flitted through the now-darkened window. “Hey, no fair! That’s cheating!” Jamie yelled, racing to his room.

Alex heard him from his coffin, chuckling. The lad was growing to be much more capable and outgoing, to be sure. But there was no way he was going to let any of them go without making sure everything was alright. Lina was already there. He paused, his fingers over his computer screen as he closed the tab. A news article had popped up, showing Devan Richelu shaking hands with his Head of Development, Joshua Mayhew. Alex shook his head; as he suspected, the man was a pot-bellied twig. Ah well. He did good work, at least. The new game features had triple the security and failsafes the old one did.

Alex put on the helmet and laid back, the dragon appearing entwined around the Real Fantasy Online II logo. Devan had promised him there’d be a class exclusive to them on launch; the Tamer subclass Dragon Rider.

As the world faded into virtual, the vampire chuckled. The new safety features had better work. And if not, well...he grinned, fangs sliding down hard and sharp.

He couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into this one.