"Do you think we can trust him?”

“He looked really alarmed when I told him the news. If The Singular had attempted something already, he wouldn't have reacted like that. His job is basically to keep track of anomalies inside the system and fix them, so...” Alan waited for Ashley to make another comment, but she seemed to reflect on something. “What’s the possibility of The Singular having adopted a human form?”

“High,” Ashley said plainly, staring deep into his eyes. “The only way to enter The Novus is through a pod, and if the Singular successfully entered one, the system must have interpreted it as a logged-in User.”

“Through a pod…” Alan said absently, before frowning at her. “Like you did?” he asked, closing his fit. Ashley remained quiet, without flinching or moving an inch. “You didn’t hack yourself into The Novus, did you?”

“I inserted myself into a pod, yes.”

Alan gritted his teeth. “An already occupied pod?”

“Yes.”

“Are you usurping a human’s body?”

“No. I’m just using her ‘account’.”

“How can you say that with a straight face?!” he shouted, hitting the table. “What happened to the passenger’s consciousness? Is the real Ashley Yates dead?”

“She’s in a vegetative state,” Isabella II blurted out.

Alan felt dizzy. He felt like puking at any second.

“W-what…?”

“Her pod failed. It had a leak. With the passing hours, her brain deteriorated. By the time we fixed the issue…”

“We?!” Alan cried as the memory of him fixing the broken glass of a pod popped into his mind. “Oh… god…” He embraced himself, suddenly feeling cold. “I could have helped her earlier… I could have prevented this...”

“That statement is incorrect, Alan,” the AI said, Alan now conscious of how her face and voice did not belong to her. “The damage to her brain was already irreversible. As the Cryo-sleep requires that the subject has continuous neural stimulus, hence the creation of The Novus, a prolonged leak of oxygen and liquid nitrogen can…”

“Stop ad,” he said, too tired to look at her.

“My Original can not interfere with The Novus, even Adriano has said so. We only used the tools at our disposal to deal with this issue.”

“Tools?!”

“We can talk about ethics after we have resolved the Singular situation, but by now, do not let this info deter you from seeing me as an ally of humanity." She reached a hand to him, and he wondered if such a gesture had been programmed into her, or if she had seen it somewhere else. “Ashley Yates can not be saved, but we can use her body to save one hundred thousand people. Please, Alan.”

"Do you think I'm up to the task? I'm the weakest User, remember?"

"You have already contacted an Administrator, and you've convinced a max level User to help us." She half-smiled. "You're doing well, Alan Warden."

A few feet away from them, resting over the couch, was Sloochie with its eyes closed, although no sleeping emoticon floated above it.

***

Half a mile away from the house, sitting in a café, Amelia was having breakfast and listening to their conversation. "I knew that coma story was bullshit," she said to herself before sipping coffee, oblivious to the fact that the people around observed her. Some were confused by the idea of a High Leveler casually relaxing in the also called Beginner’s Town, but the majority was captivated by her beauty and stylish, elegant clothes.

Have you been carrying that weight on your shoulders all this time, you idiot? she thought, emanating a fire aura that alerted those around her.

***

“What should we do next?” Ashley asked.

“We can’t do much in our current state,” Alan said, exhaling. “You have seen it. People here value power and money first. We’ll need to level up so we aren’t stomped and pushed apart again, and to do that we need to form a guild, that way we can make money, and subsequently more allies.” He looked at her in the eyes while tapping his index finger on the table. “I don’t think we’ll be able to keep the secret from every person who decides to join us.”

“That is foreseeable, but I would prefer to withhold the information as long as possible.”

“Until it blows in everyone’s faces?” Alan looked away. “Amelia likes to be in control at all times. I don’t think we'll be able to go on secret missions without her asking questions.”

“Do you trust her?” Ashley asked, although her expression did not show curiosity.

“Are you going to ask me that every time I meet someone new?” he asked, and sighed. “Despite everything that had happened, and although my inner logic is screaming that she may have ulterior motives to help us… My guts also say that I'd be a fool if I don't keep her by our side."

"Where is she?"

Alan opened her Social Media tab and checked his friend list. "She's still here in town, but she may not want to talk to me. I told her horrible things yesterday."

"Everything will be okay once you apologize, right?"

"You say it like it’s easy," he squinted.

"Alan. I just realized that you have not told me about your trip to Londorus yet. Were you able to talk to Astrid Bradford?"

Aren't you mad at them for killing you and kidnapping me? We're still here, fine and safe, but…

"Change of plans. Astrid won't be able to help us."

"Understood. More reason to keep Amelia with us."

“I suppose…” he said absently while tapping the table with his index finger.

Why is she really helping us?

Amelia’s face appeared in his mind. Her beautiful smirks, her dangerously angry expression, her always collected voice.

She hated me so much that she uninterruptedly killed me a dozen times. He grabbed the cloth around his chest and glared at nothing.

"Who would want to join the guild of the weakest user in all The Novus?!”

"I would… I need a vacation… I just need to know if you have your feet on the ground... I won’t listen to a man that has his sights set on... a woman that forgot all about you time ago."

Huh… that last part sounded like she was worried about me…

Alan stood up with a determined look in his eyes. "Let's go look for her. We can't start our guild without her."

Ashley rose too, following him to the house's exit. When he twisted the doorknob, she pulled him from the helm of his shirt. "What about me, Alan, do you trust me?"

Alan turned to her.

I definitely see her in another light. Not a completely positive one, though.

"I do."

"Even though I'm doing something unethical, like…"

"Say nothing more."

"Equip Set M," a voice was heard from outside. Alan opened the door and found Amelia casually leaning over the porch railing, arms folded. "The Town Hall must be open by now. Let's get that guild license. Or what, have you changed your mind?"

Alan's eyes widened. Her new ally was sporting red knee-height heeled boots and a black leather dress. Amelia’s makeup made her gaze look provocative and her lips inviting. Her long, loose red hair looked like a mantle made of the best shiny silk.

"My eyes!" Alan cried, reaching out his hands. "Daughter of the Sun! My pure, bachelor heart can't handle this much sexiness!"

"What, this? Better get used to it. To me, this outfit is just Tuesday."

"Thank you, keep up the good work!" Alan vigorously said, giving her two thumbs up.

"You're so weird." Amelia exhaled, tossing her hair back, before frowning at the sight of him pursing his lips. “What?”

“Amelia… About yesterday…"

She stepped forward to seal his lips with her index finger. "Don't say a word. We're even now. I know you said that we are all adults now, and we’re responsible for our decisions, but you're too rigid. Lose yourself a bit"

"No, it's not okay!" He grabbed her hand, startling her. "You've been helping me since the moment you asked your sister to give me a ride, and you have kept doing it without asking for something in return. Yesterday I acted like an ass, so I'm sorry! I don't know how I'll be able to pay for everything you have done for me, but just you wait. I'll pay it with interest."

Come on, you can laugh at me all you want, but I needed to say it. Alan held his breath, waiting for a sarcastic remark or a mocking reply. But she only looked away.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Can you let go of me?"

Alan glanced at his hand holding hers. "S-sorry. Did I hurt you?”

"You couldn’t hurt me even if you tried,” she said in a tiny voice. Not physically, at least, she thought. “Let's not talk about yesterday, ever again.”

Alan took a deep breath and smiled. “Yeah. Deal.”

Amelia remained silent while looking at the depth of his green eyes. Huh, you have cute eyes, Alan Warden. I didn’t notice the first time I looked at them. That time I was blinded by rage, but why? Was I genuinely mad at you, or was it all a masquerade to please Marco? Amelia blinked, noticing that Ashley was patiently staring at both. I would normally get mad at this gal for standing there like an idiot, but now that I know her true nature, I can't feel any threat from her anymore.

She suddenly felt angry. Unless you’re into that sort of thing, you pervert!

“Are you hungry, Ash?” Amelia asked.

“Yes.”

“Come, let’s go get breakfast, my treat.”

***

The three looked out-of-place walking among the other Unus’ residents.

Amelia chuckled once she noticed the multiple gazes. A level 5, which is low even for Unus’ standards, an emotionless but cute level 41, and me, a Max Leveler and the hottest girl in this whole shithole.

“Alan, give me your arm.”

“Are you going to rip it from me?”

“No, you idiot. You’re escorting a lady down the street, so act like a gentleman. Here.” She held his arm while walking. “See? That’s better right?”

Alan muttered a lot of incomprehensible things while his face turned bright red.

Amelia looked at her surroundings, finding curious bystanders glancing at both. She smirked, satisfied.

Alan, no one will know what you have sacrificed for the wellbeing of this spaceship and its colony, you will never be rewarded nor acknowledged. If the least I can do is look pretty for you and treat you to good meals every now and then, I’ll do it gladly.

After all, I'm already used to being someone else's doll.

She took a peek at him. Although this time I might not mind as much. She glanced at Ashley. I could even help her look decent if you want.

“I know how you can start compensating me,” Amelia said. “Can I be the one naming the new guild?”

“Sure, you have earned that right.”

“Yay! How about Sweet Slayers?”

“What?! No!”

“Fluffy Demons?”

“That's even worse!”

“Authentic Doomers, The Unrivaled?”

“You came prepared, huh? Ouch!”

Amelia pierced her nails on his arm and released a grunt of exasperation. “You said it was okay for me to name it,” she muttered, frowning while thinking about what they had in common. Let’s see, two people in a quest to find something that might not even exist! She pondered about it for a moment. “Phantom Seekers!”

She did not receive a reply for several seconds.

“I like it!” he beamed.