I don't own anything except Victor Corvin, James MacPherson, and Tamara Klein


By the time chaos, Ziggy, Shion, and I returned to the Elsa, it seemed that Cherenkov was already there. We found him in Ziggy's maintenance room, where MOMO was trying to treat his wounds. "That's enough," he said as we entered.

"But-" MOMO protested.

"Commander Cherenkov!" Shion said. "What happened?"

"I, uh, I was cornered by some, uh, street punks. But they started to fight amongst themselves, so I was able to escape." Cherenkov sounded flustered.

Pretty good story, Commander, but that sounded to me like something you came up with on a moment's notice. What really happened?

"You're injured," Shion said.

"It's not very bad," the commander replied.

"That's not true!" MOMO retorted. "I've been trying to treat his wounds, but he won't let me!"

He waved a hand. "I'm just not a big fan of nanosurgery."

I glanced at him sharply. "Not a big fan of nanosurgery"? Could he be...?

"Then you prefer natural healing?"

"Uh, no, it's just..."

I touched Shion's arm. "Let it go. It's not really important, anyway." I jerked my head toward the door. "I'm heading for the restaurant. Anybody coming with me?"

"Something up, Victor?" chaos asked.

"Yeah. I need something to drink, preferably alcoholic."

chaos blinked. "You, needing a drink? This, I've got to see."


Shion also tagged along; she knew me well enough to know that something strange was going on. As I tossed off my first drink, she spoke. "Okay, Victor, what's going on? In three and a half years, I've never seen you so much as touch anything alcoholic."

"Actually," I said, pouring myself another shot, "if it weren't for all the danger about, I'd be tempted to get drunk. I've had a really bad day."

"Klein?" chaos asked.

"Yeah." I settled in at a table. "Tamara Klein. That was a bit of a shock."

"How close were you, Victor?" Shion queried.

"We met in T.C. 2654," I said, apparently oblivious to the question. "On Third Jerusalem, one of the old capital worlds. Tamara was just a new Immortal back then; her first death was only a week before I found her. Another Immortal was about to behead her when I showed up and saved her life." I sipped. "It was my first experience as a teacher; for two thousand years before that, I'd only been concerned with my own hide. But I took Tamara in, trained her in Immortal combat. Her blade was from my own collection, a meter-long curved katana that once belonged to a Japanese Immortal who fell to my sword. She was a quick study, too. Not quite my equal, but that was only because I had more experience."

"So Mittler was telling the truth when he called her your pupil?"

"Yeah." I downed the rest of my drink. "The only one I've ever had. And, unlike most master-apprentice among Immortals, we stuck together after she finished her training. For nearly two millennia, we traveled together, fighting the same battles. Until T.C. 4473, when we got caught in a civil war on Keltia. Not normally a big deal for us; we'd fought side-by-side through hundreds of wars. But this time, I caught missile with a dud warhead in my chest, and we had to bug out. Unfortunately, the universe is very vast, and I had no more contact with Tamara until today. For three centuries, I was unable to locate her, no matter how hard I tried. And when she finally found me..." I glanced up. "Before you ask, that bloody German was right when he called Tamara my girlfriend, too. We got very close, over the years, and I am going to make MacPherson rot for eternity for her murder."

"I'm sorry, Vic," Shion said. "But are you sure she's dead?"

"Not certain," I conceded. "But I don't think anything else is at all likely. If nothing else, Tamara would have called back. After three hundred years, you don't just give up when your comm system goes down."

"I guess you're right. By the way, Vic, I completed the trace."

I sat up straight. "Really? Where did her call come from?"

She shook her head in confusion. "That's the strange thing. It was from the Kukai Foundation. If your friend was there, why couldn't you find out from your contacts?"

"That's a very good question, Shion..." I thought for a moment. "If Gaignun knew, I would think he'd have let me know, unless... Could anyone else have been able to tap the call?"

"I guess... You think Kukai didn't tell you because it might be intercepted?"

I shook my head. "Not exactly. I think Tamara was laying low, to avoid notice, but then decided she had to warn me. It would explain why Gaignun didn't know." A thought struck. "Could you get me a link into the system her call came from? If I can gain access to Tamara's files, I could try direct-linking to check it."

I hardly noticed chaos' quiet departure. "Sure, Victor," Shion replied. "But I thought you hated direct-linking."

"I do. But I'm willing to do whatever it takes to find out what happened to her."

"Alright, Victor, if you're sure..." She stood. "Once we've left the Dock Colony, I can set things up from the Elsa's U.M.N. port easily enough."

I smiled for the first time since Tamara's call had been cut off. "Thanks, Shion." I stood and put an arm around her shoulders. "I appreciate it."


The trace was delayed by routine maintenance on KOS-MOS; whatever my current problems may have been, I was still a Vector engineer, and KOS-MOS took precedence, for the time being.

Afterwards, I spent some time on the catapult deck, running through a karate kata; I held the highest rank possible in that and several other martial arts, having had a great deal of time to perfect my technique. One of the arts was one I had created, centuries before, and remained one of only a very few practitioners of it. I have never had much interest in teaching, and besides which, only an Immortal was even capable of most of it.

My balance was thrown off when the ship suddenly shook, causing me to hit the deck hard enough to knock the wind out of me. The moment I was back on my feet, I was heading for the Bridge.

Shion arrived at the same time. "What's going on!?"

KOS-MOS turned from her position near the forward viewport. "Something is affecting the ship from outside hyperspace," she said calmly.

"What's that mean?" MOMO asked.

"Something is trying to come into contact with the ship." KOS-MOS paused, apparently analyzing data. "If this persists, we will be dragged out of hyperspace."

"What's this?" MOMO wondered aloud. "I sense..." Her hands began to glow.

As did Shion's. "Huh? What!?"

"What in space...?" I leaned over one of the Bridge consoles and brought up a status screen. "Hyperdrive is going down. Gate-out in less than ten seconds!"

The hyperspace column collapsed around us. Waiting for us were... "Gnosis!" Shion gasped. She turned to KOS-MOS. "KOS-MOS, ultra-wide range Hilbert Effect!"

"Roger. Activating Hilbert Effect." A portion of her visor slid over the android's face, and the odd, unreal-appearing Hilbert waves spread out, achieving a range of several AUs.

"That's amazing!" MOMO said. "Even an amplified system should only achieve a range of a hundred kilometers!"

"Fluctuations in the gravity field!" Tony shouted. "We're being pulled in!" And there was a flash...


When consciousness returned, I was lying on some kind of wet, soft ground. "What in space...?" I pulled myself to my feet. "Shion... chaos... you guys are all here, too?"

"I sense..." MOMO began. "Yes, I'm sure of it. We're inside a Gnosis!"

"Inside a Gnosis...?" Shion repeated. Then her jaw dropped. "Huh!?"

"To date, the only Gnosis of this size on record is the one called 'Cathedral Ship," KOS-MOS said. "This Gnosis is approximately sixteen thousand kilometers in diameter."

"That's bad," I muttered. "But where are Allen and the others?"

"I'm detecting a signal," KOS-MOS said.

"A signal? Is it the Elsa?"

"Affirmative. It is coming from a location approximately ten kilometers from our current position."

"Not too far," Ziggy said. "We should be able to make it."

"Stay here or find the Elsa," Shion mused. "I'm worried about Allen and the others."

"Then let's find them," I said grimly. "I've heard what happens to people who have too much contact with Gnosis, and I'm not inclined to become like them." I drew my USP and slapped in a hollowpoint magazine. "I'm going to kill anything that gets between us and home."

"Victor, behind you!" At chaos' warning, I spun, firing a single shot just in time to kill a Gnosis before it could hit me.

"Like that," I said calmly, straightening. "Shall we go?"


The journey through the enormous Gnosis known as the Cathedral Ship was tense and dangerous. Gnosis of types previously unknown were everywhere, and every one of them seemed determined to kill us. In order to conserve ammunition, I switched to my blade early on.

"What is it the Gnosis want?" Shion wondered, torching one with her MWS. "Are they even sentient?"

"A good question," Ziggy replied. "But hardly relevant to our current situation."

"That's true," I said, hacking a fairy to pieces. "But an opponent is easier to face when you know its motivations. Of course, that's probably why humans have killed so many of each other of the years. Or at least part of it." I dodged to the right, blocking a unicorn horn and bisecting the creature.

Fortunately, most of the Gnosis were of little threat, and we made steady progress through the belly of the beast. "Now I know how Jonah felt, after being swallowed by a whale," I muttered. "Except this thing is about a hundred times the size of a mere whale."

"What's that?" Shion said abruptly. She pointed at the wall.

It was a sign. "It's written in English!" MOMO said. "But what is it doing here?"

"It doesn't seem to be attached to the wall," Shion murmured. "Doesn't it look more like a part of the wall itself?"

I froze, spotting another sign imbedded in the Gnosis. "No way!"

"Victor? What is it?' chaos asked.

"We just found out what happened to Ariadne," I whispered. "The Gnosis absorbed it."

"How is that possible?" Ziggy asked.

"This 'Cathedral Ship' is bigger than some planets, Ziggy. It's not inconceivable." I smiled humorlessly. "Besides, I'm living proof that there are simply some things that cannot be explained by science."

As we continued, we came across more and more debris that could be identified as being from Ariadne, including an entire shopping mall. There was still some food there, but I wasn't inclined to try it. After it had been in a Gnosis' stomach for a while, it was probably inedible at best. At worst... Well, I didn't even want to think about what could be worse.


Ten kilometers may not sound like much, but when there is no straight line to your destination, and there are hostile monsters running loose, ten kilometers turns into twenty, taking us nearly four hours to navigate.

The sight that greeted us at the center was bizarre, and made my jaw drop. A building stood there, looking remarkably like the Original Zohar sealed on Old Miltia. Is this what happened to Ariadne? Was someone using the Emulator the Woglinde picked up for some kind of experiment, and it just went wrong?

"Was is that?" Shion asked.

"I don't know," chaos replied, voice hushed. "A building, or maybe some kind of device?"

"KOS-MOS, where is the Elsa now?"

"Location unknown. I have lost its signal," KOS-MOS reported.

Shion turned. "Lost...?" Her eyes betrayed her nervousness.

"The Gnosis' gravimetric field has become unstable near the center," KOS-MOS explained. "The last known coordinates point to a location approximately three hundred meters below our current position."

"That's pretty close," MOMO said. "Shall we go?"

"I just hope the Elsa isn't in the same condition as the wreckage around here," Shion said.

"What about us? Are we gonna end up like that, too?"

She knelt. "We'll be sure to get out of here before that happens," she told MOMO reassuringly. Still, it didn't sound like she believed it herself.

But I did. "Yes, we will. And if anything tries to stop us, they'll have to deal with me first."


Once inside the structure, it was a simple matter of reactivating the elevator system before we could go down. Of course, there were several more Gnosis along the way, but they were easily dispatched.

Once on the lower level, we were greeted by yet another surprising sight. "Look over there," chaos said.

"The Zohar!?" Shion exclaimed. "But what's it doing here!?"

"I have calculated that there is a 99.99998% probability that this is the Zohar Emulator that was stored aboard the Woglinde," KOS-MOS reported.

"An emulator...?" Shion turned to the android. "You mean a real one exists somewhere else?"

"Affirmative."

"'Affirmative'? KOS-MOS, how do you know that? I never stored any information like that in your main databank."

Another voice broke in unexpectedly. "You... you're the creator of that thing, and yet you didn't even know that?"

"Commander Cherenkov!?" It was indeed the commander limping toward us. "Are you all right? Let's get out of-" Shion broke off, as Cherenkov's body turned transparent. "Commander...?"

Cherenkov groaned. "Escape? What are you talking about? You think you'll survive... through something like this?" He staggered to the control panel in front of the Emulator. "Yes... I was the one responsible for the disappearance of the planet Ariadne... That was the real reason behind the deployment of Vector, and the military. They were really only pawns..."

I stepped forward. "Then I was right! You are with the U-TIC Organization!"

He continued, oblivious to my comment. "But, in spite of all that-" I never found out what was in spite of what, for Cherenkov broke off and started screaming. "Stay away from me! You... You were the ones who rejected me! So why are you bothering me now!?"

"What's happening to him!?" Shion gasped.

"All lepton, hadron, tachyon, and graviton scans read negative," KOS-MOS said after a moment.

"Then, what is it that we're seeing!?"

Supernatural forces seemed to be at work around Cherenkov, bright lights weaving about him and then finally slamming into him. He was lifted off his feet, floating before the Zohar, and then his form vanished, replaced by something far larger and uglier.

"What the blazes is that!?" I demanded of no one.

"I sense... It's a Gnosis!" MOMO gasped.

I cursed. "Then I guess it's time to fight!" I turned slightly. "Shion, stay behind me. I'll protect you." She didn't seem to be in any shape to fight, so I positioned myself between her and the Gnosis Cherenkov had become. Drawing my USP, I replaced the magazine with explosive rounds, the better to damage the thick hide.

"Commander, that can't be you!" Shion choked.

"Calm down, Shion. We'll handle it." I turned to the other fighters. "Ziggy, chaos, let's go. KOS-MOS, give it all you've got." KOS-MOS orders placed her primarily under Shion's command, but she also obeyed me, as long as my orders did not conflict with Shion's.

"Affirmative. Setting output to 80% for all combat systems."

"Good." Anything stronger than that ran the risk of causing a breach in the Cathedral Ship's outer skin. "Then let's do it!"

"Ready! Lunar Seal!"

Following on the heels of chaos' attack, Ziggy rushed forward, attacking one of the smaller Gnosis with his cybernetic legs.

"Charging. R-Blade!" KOS-MOS wiped out the other small target instantly, and was then knocked backwards by the Cherenkov-Gnosis.

I didn't worry about her; KOS-MOS was built to take it. Instead, I opened fire on Ziggy's target, firing three shots into it, then shifting aim to pump seven more into the Gargoyle.

The Gargoyle literally broadcast its next move, using yet another strange ability of the strange creatures known as Gnosis. "Hell's Lance!"

"Ugh!" I flew backwards into the wall, with a wound to my jugular vein. A little to the side, and I would have been permanently dead, with my head severed. As it was, I could only hope that the wound healed before I could die temporarily; this was one fight where my absence could prove fatal to the entire group. Especially Shion...

Who was promptly standing over me. "Open Ether circuit!" I hadn't known before that she had skill in Ether, but I was grateful. Her healing powers sealed the gaping wound and got me back on my feet. "You okay, Victor?"

"Yeah. Thanks." I pulled Lady Vivamus from its scabbard. "Be careful."

"You be careful, Victor. You're bearing the brunt of this."

"Yeah, maybe I am. But I do what I must." I charged back into the battle, sweeping my blade at the Gargoyle's right foreleg. "Take this!"

"Ready! Heaven's Wrath!"

"Charging. R-Drill!"

"Meteor Strike!"

Slowly but surely, we were winning this battle, inflicting dozens of wounds on the monster Cherenkov had become.

Then suddenly, it was over. The Gnosis disintegrated before our eyes, bathed in the light from the Zohar Emulator. We had won.

I noticed then the glazed look in Shion's eyes. "Shion? Are you okay?" I knelt beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Shion?"

She finally looked up. "What just happened? Where's Commander Cherenkov?"

"Shion."

She grabbed my hand. "Tell me, Victor! Surely we didn't!"

"Shion." I held her. "The truth isn't always a pleasant thing to know."

As Shion sobbed, MOMO turned to Ziggy. "Ziggy, did something happen?" When the cyborg didn't respond, MOMO looked worried. "Ziggy...?"

"It's... not something you need to worry about, MOMO." But Ziggy's eyes looked haunted; when I glanced at him for a moment, I wondered if something like this had happened to him before.

But I was more worried about Shion. Maybe chaos wasn't so far off after all, I thought. But now isn't the time to think about that. Once we're somewhere safer...

KOS-MOS' voice broke into my thoughts. "The boundaries between phenomena are dissipating," she said. "If this continues, this spatial location will disappear."

No kidding; the gravity vanished a moment later. "This isn't good!" I kept one hand on Shion's arm, making sure she didn't drift away.

Space was already becoming visible, and I was beginning to doubt that we would survive. Then MOMO spoke. "Look! Over there!"

It was the Elsa. "Heyyy, Ms. Vector! You still alive!?"

"Chiefff! Are you alright!?"

"Captain! Allen!"

The Elsa's catapult deck was already opening. "Let's just hope it closes this time," I muttered. "This would be a really bad time for an electrical problem."


Not long after coming aboard, it was clear that the Elsa was trying to escape from the Gnosis, and having problems.

"Do you think we'll be all right?" MOMO asked nervously. "There were so many Gnosis when we transferred in."

"They destroyed an entire Federation fleet," Shion replied. "It would be wiser to flee than fight."

I guess we'll find out when we get to the Bridge," I said. "We can't tell much from here."

We hurried to the Bridge, and I didn't notice that KOS-MOS wasn't with us when we arrived. The situation looked dire. "What are we gonna do now!?" Matthews demanded. Then there was an incredible array of blue streaks tearing into the Gnosis. "The Durandal!?"

"You got it!" The voice came over the comm, and I grinned as I recognized it.

"The Durandal? That's the best news I've heard all day!" I stepped to the comm console. "Nice timing, Little Master! Though it would have been nice if you'd gotten to the Woglinde in time!"

"That you, Victor? Just be glad we got here at all!"

"Believe me, I am." According to everything we knew, the only way for an Immortal to die permanently was to lose his head, but the Gnosis were an unknown. It was possible that even I would have died from a whitening.

I watched in relief as the majestic Durandal, with her pointed prow and great wings rotating about her, tore into the Gnosis with her main guns.

"Who's Little Master?" Shion asked me quietly.

"The boss of the Kukai Foundation, along with Gaignun," I replied. "We go back a long way. Don't take him at face value, either. He may look like a twelve-year-old, but he's the second deadliest pistoleer alive and the best in the business with the Foundation."

"Second deadliest?" she asked with a chuckle. "You'd be the deadliest?"

I snorted in amusement. "Naturally. You think I've wasted four millennia? Even most Immortals don't have my experience." I squinted at the viewport. "I think our relief may have been a bit premature. There's literally millions of Gnosis out there; even the Durandal has a limit to how much she can fire before recharging." I dropped into a control chair. "Hammer, bring up the Elsa's guns. A little extra firepower never hurts."

"Roger!" A few keystrokes, and the weapons controls came alive at my fingertips.

"Been twenty years since I handled shipboard guns," I murmured, "but I still know how to shoot." I triggered a salvo at the Gnosis in our path, silently cursing the Elsa's lack of rear guns. "Come on, come on..."

"The Durandal's guns aren't slowing them down," the captain muttered. "What do we do now?"

Hammer abruptly sat up straight. "Huh? Hatch number 17 is open?" He glanced back at us. "Was anybody still down there?"

Shion and I glanced toward the Bridge hatch. "It's KOS-MOS! But what's she doing...?"

"I'll put it on the monitor!"

On the screen above Hammer's panel, KOS-MOS was clearly visible, using a cargo elevator to reach the outer hull. "KOS-MOS! KOS-MOS!" Shion called. "What are you doing!? There's too many for you to take on! You're not equipped to handle that great a number!"

Almost inaudible, so low that Shion apparently missed it, KOS-MOS spoke. "Shion... Will feeling pain make me... complete?" She raised her head, opening her eyes.

I froze at the sight. KOS-MOS' eyes were no longer red; instead, they were a bright blue, and there seemed to be emotion in her expression. "What was that? I can't hear you!" Shion said.

"The air is too thin for her voice to carry!"

As KOS-MOS floated away from the elevator and drifted toward the stern of the ship, I spoke quietly to Shion. "She asked if feeling pain would make her complete. I don't know what she meant."

She touched down just forward of the restaurant's viewport. For a moment, she just looked at the Gnosis, then KOS-MOS spread her arms, and something opened in her stomach region, while something else emerged from her back. A moment later, a beam fired from her, engulfing the Gnosis.

"What in space...!?" The Gnosis caught in the beam shredded; I can't think of another way to describe it. Then the blast appeared to retract, pulling the Gnosis into KOS-MOS' body.

Her eyes closed briefly, and when they opened, they were red once more.


Shion stared at the monitor. "Did... did that really just happen?"

Allen nodded. "Yeah. It appeared as if she absorbed the Gnosis."

"How can she have weaponry we don't even know about?" Then she shook her head. "No, that wasn't a weapon. That was..."

"Something impossible."

"Who cares if it's possible or not?" Matthews broke in. "She got rid of the Gnosis, didn't she?"

"Uh, Captain?" Hammer said. "Little Master's been buzzing us for a while."

"Huh? Oh, put him on."

As Matthews conferred with the Durandal's master, I heard Allen asking Hammer about him. But Shion and I were both still staring at the display. KOS-MOS was still standing there on the outer hull, with nothing in her appearance indicating that anything unusual had happened. "None of this makes sense," I said quietly. "You and I practically built KOS-MOS from scratch ourselves, and we never constructed anything like that. The only thing I know of with technology like that doesn't exist anymore."

"Kevin... Is this your hand at work?" Shion apparently didn't even realize she'd spoken aloud. "Is this the real KOS-MOS that you wished to create?"


The Elsa quickly docked with the much larger Durandal; after that battle, she wasn't in much shape to go anywhere.

We met Jr. on the Durandal's Bridge, from where he had directed the battle against the Gnosis. Looking at him, it was hard to realize that he was only 140 centimeters tall; he had enough self-confidence that he seemed at least half a meter taller.

"Hey, Little Master," Matthews said. "We picked up a couple of passengers heading for Second Miltia while we were working. What do we do with them?"

"They're in pretty deep with something," Jr. said. "Well, your first priority should be to repair the Elsa. Why don't you get it fixed over at the Foundation? You won't get very far in that kind of shape."

I leaned against a bulkhead. "Long time no see, Jr. Still carrying antique guns around?"

"You're one to talk, Victor! You're an antique."

"Maybe."

Shion walked over. "I'm Shion Uzuki, from Vector Industries First R&D Division. Nice to... meet you... um..."

Jr. stuck out his hand. "Jr, Gaignun Jr. I got a real name, but let's leave it at that for right now."

"Then you're with the Kukai Foundation? From the Galactic Five Hundred's fastest growing corporations list?"

He waved a hand. "Ah, the business was meant to be a side thing. We never expected we'd hit it so big, though." Jr. grinned. "Maybe you guys oughta get some sleep. I'll show you around tomorrow."

I stood. "Probably a good idea. It's been a stressful day, what with Immortal's turning up dead, a duel on a dock colony, and being swallowed by a Gnosis." I stretched. "But first, I think I'll head to the park deck to unwind. Otherwise I'll never get any sleep." Nodding to Jr., I walked to the elevator. "So you in the morning."


The observation room on the Durandal's park deck had a phenomenal view of space, and I sat for a while on one of the benches, simply looking out into the great abyss of space. For the first time since the disaster on the Woglinde, I was truly able to relax. Unless we ran into another group of Gnosis like the last, the Durandal would handle it with ease.

I sighed, thinking of old friends and older enemies. MacPherson, you bastard... Why did you kill Tamara? She wasn't part of our feud. You didn't need to resort to that if you wanted to fight. Anytime, anyplace, I'm ready for you. But instead you had to kill my best friend, and thus make the greatest error of your life. I will kill you, no matter what.

I hardly noticed when Shion entered and sat beside me. For a time, which could have been minutes or even hours, neither of us spoke. Then she turned to me. "Is something wrong, Victor?"

"No, just thinking," I replied after a moment. "About friends, enemies, and the Game." For several minutes, I fell silent, then spoke, almost to myself. "Would you believe that James MacPherson and I were once comrades? Not we're the most bitter of enemies, but a long time ago, we were on the same side. It was during one of the early interstellar conflicts, millennia ago. We were on the same ship, fighting the same war. We weren't friends, but neither were we enemies then."

"What happened?"

"I found out that he had been using his position -he was an intelligence officer, then- to find other Immortals, their weaknesses, and their friends. He was using mortal intelligence as a weapon in the Game, and that violated the rules. Worse, he had a habit of killing mortal spies when they outlived their usefulness, despite the fact that they didn't even know what he was up to." I snorted. "Sometimes the deepest of grudges form from the simplest of things. That was when he became my enemy, but I didn't become his for another century. It seems that a female Immortal that challenged me and lost was MacPherson's lover, and he has hated me for it ever since."

"And then he took your arm, two years ago, and killed your friend?" Shion nodded slowly in understanding. "So that's why you hate him."

"Yeah. It wasn't personal until he took my arm, but after that, and Tamara..." I paused, looking out the viewport. "I'm sorry I didn't get to the lab in time to save Kevin."

She turned, surprised, and touched my shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, Victor. There was nothing you could have done. Don't blame yourself." She smiled. "And you did get there in time to save me."

"I guess I did, at that." I turned my head. "By the way, Shion, when we reach the Foundation, there's a restaurant I know of..."

Shion's smile widened. "Victor, are you asking me out?"

I smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Then I accept." She stood. "Go on, Victor, get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." She waved, then left.

"That's a good idea," I murmured. "But I think I'll sit here a little longer..." I trailed off, and I fell asleep.


Author's note: That chapter ended up being a lot longer than I expected. I hope that you like how I've done things.

As you can see, there is Victor/Shion romantic element, which I think I've handled rather better here than in the Story of the Diamond Dragoon. This makes rather more sense.

In Chapter 6, things will start getting more interesting, as the plot begins to come together. More of Victor's part in the Game will occur there, as well. I rather expect that this upcoming twist will be a surprise.

Thanks for the review; the more reviews, the more incentive for me to keep writing this. Let know what you think of this chapter. Solid Shark