Disclaimer: I do not own Phantasy Star or the characters in this selection!! (Unless they are of my own original work)

Rolf Landale in:

A Little Reassurance

Maybe things could have been going better. For the first time since I had set foot outside of Paseo, I was feeling a little down. I was losing confidence in my ability as an agent. But I couldn't let it affect my companions.

Could Nei sense it? After living with me for only several months, I realized we were really close. Leaning against a wall, she gazed unhappily from me, to the view outside from the window. Even if she couldn't sense my grief, I knew that she was feeling it herself. It would take a completely insensitive person to witness what we had without feeling any sadness. They say Nei isn't human, but if they could only see the emotion in her eyes, I'm sure people would begin to understand and stop treating her as an outcast.

On the other hand, Rudo was completely at ease, or at least appeared to be. With a meaningless expression on his face, his fingers worked quickly at the shotgun shells in his hand as he loaded them into the chamber. He was always examining his weapons when we took time to rest. I guess when you use a gun, you have to make sure that its in top condition when the time comes to fire it. But to work on his weapons now? Was he completely heartless?

Of course he wasn't, or at least I choose to believe he isn't. He once told me his story, about how he wasn't there for his wife and child when they were killed. Beyond that hardened expression, there was sadness. But he does a good job of hiding sadness, I guess. He wouldn't have joined Nei and I if he were heartless.

We rescued Teim and delivered her to her father Darum just to watch them both die together. Maybe I could have done more… but in the end, I was powerless to stop them. Its funny, the lengths that people go to protect their family. Darum turned to a life of crime and murder just for his daughter's sake. A life of violence is dangerous, and in the end, it backfired and he killed the only thing that had meaning to him. After that, it was his own life he sacrificed. I guess that is something that I can't possibly understand without a real family to bond with.

What we needed at this point was a little reassurance before moving on. So I decided to convince them everything was fine.

I cleared my throat. "Rough day…" I began awkwardly.

Nei's sad glance returned to me. Rudo, however, didn't look up but acknowledged my statement with a short nod.

"What we need is a little time off. You know, time to gather stronger weapons. Buy helpful items. Maybe do a little research about the Bio-Systems lab at the library in central tower. I know we've been in a rush, but maybe we could be better prepared before we set out for Oputa again."

Nei nodded slowly, but continued to stare blankly. I got the feeling that maybe I had tried to hard. Maybe time off would just give us time to think about our failures. Maybe we needed to erase the failure by moving on and completing the mission.

Rudo finished loading his shotgun and cocked the massive weapon. "A good plan. But our journey is perilous and we face impossible odds for three people. Perhaps we should seek additional personnel," he suggested.

Of course he was right. I had thought about it before. Three of us, up against thousands upon thousands of bio-monsters with a mindset to kill us all. I wasn't afraid but…

knock knock knock.

A soft knock at the door! The three of us (including Rudo) all jerked up in surprise.

A little reassurance? I'll take it.