Eight clues, eight parts, eight notes. It seemed so simple now that I had been given the answer, almost like watching a trivia game show. Growing up, my mother would frequently complain how stupid all the contestants were, even if she always waited for the answer before doing so. The hundred-level quest was the same. Each of the clues screamed music. Using their map locations, I had Flicker plot a scale on top in order to get a match. To save time, I had him cross-reference with areas that Firestarter had been. Unlike me, she was a celebrity: rumors of her new Vesperia avatar had flooded the net hours before she appeared in game. From them on, hoordes of fans and groupies had created a record of ninety percent of her online time, uploading it on fan sites and game boards.

If I managed to complete this, I was going to make a point to thank her, just to rub it in.

“Twinkle, what's Firestarter's status?” I asked looking at the world map.

“Firestarter is listed as offline,” the AI replied. “Do you want me to do a paid search?”

“No.” Claire hadn't been able to delay her for more than ten minutes. With the amount of resources she had, I was impressed. Firestarter just needed to flick her fingers to have her agent hire five dark web hackers to destroy whatever code-knot my information had put on her. She had offered me a hundred thousand just to quit; who knows how much she was willing to offer someone else? “Send the coordinates to my mails,” I said, then logged out.

The sound of mewing came from my phone the moment I emerged from my rig. Normally, I'd assume that was Twinkle having a panic attack since I had logged off without any warning. After what I'd heard in Crystal Spires, I could never be sure if it was actually my AI or Claire keeping tabs on me. After a minute of non-stop ringing, I muted the phone and—for the first time in my life—logged Twinkle off.

Sorry, Twinkle. I doubted the companion would have any hard feelings; the manufacturer had made sure that the his behaviour model was completely child friendly, which meant my return would be marked with a celebration, and the topic would never be brought up. That didn't make me feel any better.

Quote:I need to see you at work. Urgent.

I sent a manual message to Jeff. The reply came seconds later: 35. That was the amount of time he needed to get there. Poor guy probably thought I needed an update on the phone. It was going to be so much “fun” severing him from my life and probably more. There was a very real prospect that after tomorrow, I'd have to convert everything I had to virtual currency, leave my apartment, my job, and my university to go to some other random metropolis in the world. The prospect was real, and it terrified me.

“Is this what you wanted, Legion?” I asked, putting on my cleanest set of clothes.

There was a fifty-fifty chance that he was monitoring my room. As everyone in the present day and age, I didn't own any camera or microphone devices, though that wouldn't keep him from attaching a spy drone to the building's outside walls. Ironically, now that my life was on the verge of being destroyed, I had no choice but to complete the quest. Everything I owned, up to Twinkle itself, could be taken away at a moment's notice. If I completed the quest, at least I'd have two people looking out for me, three if I counted the mysterious psycho caller.

“Twinkle, what is the weather?” I asked out of habit. For a second, I almost hoped there would be a response, that the AI cat would give me the info in his annoying cheerful voice and Frankensteined reaction packs. The thought made me rush outside. By the time I remembered I hadn't taken my rain protection, I was a block away.

Great! I reached for my phone to check the time. My phone wasn't there either. Just great! The universe had decided to have one last go at me before the real shit started. According to national statistics, a third of the world's population had not used an AI companion in their life. A fifth had never used a cell phone. In the web-based cities of today, only newborns, criminals and weirdos didn't have a wearable device.

A thick smell of ozone filled the air. Most likely, I'd have to order a pack of antichem salts when I got home.

“Are you lost, miss?” a soft girl's voice asked. I turned towards it. A pair of teens—boy and girl—were standing on the street, casually looking at me. They were well kempt, dressed in matching clothes, with hairstyles that had gone out of fashion thirty years ago. They were also holding neon rosaries. “Do you need directions?”

My grandfather's humor kicked in. If he were here now, aware of everything that I'd gotten myself into, he'd nod a few times, hum, look at me with a serious expression and say, “You know you've hit a low in your life when random techno cultists mistake you for a tourist in your own city.”

“It's okay.” I smiled, still holding the mental image. “It's not safe to be on the street,” I added. Even so late at night, cars were a common thing.

“Saint Jeremy will protect us from all worldly harm,” the boy said, making a sign in the air with his rosary. “Also, the nearest car to reach us will take three minutes.” I looked closer at his hand. A palm phone was attached to it. “Need a map?”

“I'm a local.” The conversation was too stupid for me to leave. “What's the time?”

“Three minutes till the witching hour,” the boy replied.

“The first witching hour,” the girl specified.

“How many are there?” I crossed my arms.

“Two. One between midnight and one and another between three and four.”

There's some interesting and completely useless information. “Good to know,” I smiled. “See you around.” I added for no good reason. The next time I passed them, I wouldn't even notice. “Thanks for the help.”

As I was about to walk on, the girl came to me, and put something in my hands.

“You'll need this,” she said with a faint smile.

I looked down. She had given me a single-use rain protector—the same cheap type I could get from any third rate site, but with a custom logo of her sect.

“It might rain tonight,” she added and walked on. The boy soon joined her, nodding as he passed by.

Weirdos. First thing I was going to do when I got home was to throw it in the incinerator trash. That said, I held on to it. It would be stupid not to have a protector, even if it was from “Saint Jeremy.” They had said it was almost midnight, which meant I had around twenty minutes until my meeting. Putting the gift in my pocket, I rushed along the street.

Jeff was waiting for me in front of the store by the time I arrived. I had no idea what he had based his estimation on, and right now I didn't care. It felt nice seeing him, even if it spawned butterflies with razor wings in my stomach. To make things worse, I could tell by the look on Jeff's face he suspected what I might say.

“Hey,” I decided to play it neutral. “You got here fast.”

“I finished sooner than I thought,” he replied, avoiding looking me in the eyes. “I...” Jeff swallowed. “The phone is a bust. There's no record of it anywhere. Just the standard production junk: time, factory, distributor... I can try to go through the components, but I doubt I'll find anything. It's a virgin phone. Whoever gave it to you kissed a half a million goodbye to send you a message.”

“At least it's good to know Legion values me a lot,” I let out a false laugh. We both knew I wasn't fooling anyone. What Legion had done was the actions of a fanatic or someone who considered such amounts to be chump change. “Thanks for trying.”

“Yeah.” Jeff looked down. “That's not what you wanted to see me about, though.”

Damn it, Jeff! He had the terrible habit of being most insightful in the worst times. It just made what I was about to do more painful. Taking half a breath, I leaned on the wall next to him.

“I solved the quest riddle,” I said staring at the sky. The lights of the city made it look like a giant smudge of black ink. “I'm thinking of going for it.” In my mind, I had run through this conversation dozens of times. I had imagined myself explain what I was doing, complete with logic reasons, and arguments. All those words had vanished the moment I got here.

“Okay.” The reply was just as insightful. It was almost as if we had had this conversation a hundred times before. “Will you be okay?”

“No idea.” I went with the truth. “I think my information broker is in way over his head.” I hesitated whether to share Claire had hacked Twinkle. “Legion wants me to give up, a few others want me to go on, a rush kid I had teamed up with disappeared from the face of the net.” Not to mention that he and a few others betrayed me. “Plus there's a progamer set on killing me.”

“Kill you?!” Jeff jumped.

“In Vesperia.” I laughed again. This time it sounded more sincere.

“Oh.” Jeff relaxed a bit. “Want me to look into that?”

“No.” I'd taken enough advantage of him already. “She'll probably hire ten more. At this point, it is what it is, and there's nothing anyone could do. I should have listened to you when you warned me.” I waited for a response. “I guess now we know why people involved with the quest fall off the grid,” I went on when I saw Jeff wouldn't. “New life, new identity, new friends. All because of some dark web game.”

“What if you drop the game?” Jeff whispered.

“Against people who can track me down when I'm protected by a dark broker?” Not to mention the things that defied explanation. This entire day of my life had somehow been looped back on itself by someone who didn't like the outcome of me failing. “I don't have much choice. Completing the quest is the safe alternative. At least Legion hasn't gone nuclear on me.” Yet

“I can protect you.” He looked at me. “But that's not what you want.”

“No.” The word hurt like a knife being twisted in my gut. “I want to see what it's all about.”

The threats, the danger I would face, the money I owed: all were excuses. What I really wanted was to find out. Legion, why didn't you find me four days ago? I would have taken the money and forgotten all about it.

“I understand. So this is goodbye?”

“You make it sound like a breakup.” I forced a smile.

“Isn't it?”

“I don't know,” I lied. No matter what happened, it was unlikely I would see him again. Even if I did, things would be different. We might as well be strangers.

“You're still on the morning shift.” Jeff stepped away from the wall. “In case you change your mind. Also, if there's anything I can help you with, just...” He turned around, facing me. There weren't any tears in his eyes this time, but I knew perfectly well what he was feeling. “If you decide to come back—”

I didn't let him finish, grabbing his shirt with both hands and pulling him toward me. The action surprised him, though not enough to make him resist. I watched him close his eyes, as our lips met in our very first kiss.

This is my final farewell. I thought, as sensations enveloped me.