Chapter 35

"Are you sure about this? Wasting our time is not something I recommend." The first of two men entered the house while glancing back over his shoulder.

"Completely. She's there and has been for some time now." The second man that entered shut the door behind him quietly. The first who had entered removed a hooded cloak and tossed it onto the couch. A long blade swung freely on his hip as he turned towards the second man.

"If you're right then you'll be rich, but if you're wrong…well…let's hope you're not wrong." The man with the sword threatened.

"She's there Kurt I swear it."

Jayce and Jemza glanced at each other as they pressed their backs against the wall on either side of the doorway. Her hand gripped the handle of the poisoned dagger tightly while Jayce carefully slid his sword out of the scabbard. There was a single window leading outside, but opening it and getting out would almost assuredly cause noise. The only doorway was the one leading into the living area where the two men now conversed. In essence, they were trapped.

"I've been looking for her for quite some time now. I knew she would cause trouble. I wanted to kill her back then, and now look where we are. Never underestimate a woman scorned Artemis. It always comes back to bite you." Kurt dropped onto the couch kicking his boots up onto the coffee table.

"She hasn't been idle either. Her group has been hitting your contacts regularly. They broke into the Wright estate just the other night. She's getting bolder by the minute."

"She lacks the strength to oppose us directly so she sends her goons out to create minor problems. I'll pay her a visit and correct her attitude." Jayce shook his head slowly as Jemza bit down hard fighting the urge to dive through the doorway. He didn't blame her, but the dark red cursor above both men's heads gave him pause. These were dangerous opponents for their current level. Two on one they could potentially prevail, but the odds were even and there would be a good chance they would die.

"You're not going to kill her?" The other man named Artemis put a foot up on the table and leaned against his knee.

"Of course I'm going to kill her, but why make it that simple? That wouldn't send the proper message to people like her. I have so much more planned for her. I want to enjoy every moment of it." Kurt chuckled wickedly running a finger over the pommel of his sword.

"Once you confirm my info is sound, when can I expect payment?" Artemis pushed off the table standing up straight.

"I'll go tomorrow evening. If everything checks out then you'll have it the next morning. It will be delivered in the same way you're familiar with."

"I understand, I'll wait for you there. Good night." Artemis bowed and turned to leave, but Kurt quickly sat straight waving a hand.

"Hey! At least stay and have a drink with me before you leave. We have much to celebrate so no need to rush out so quickly. Come, I have glasses in the kitchen." Kurt quickly stood and ushered Artemis to follow him into the only other room in this house. They disappeared into the doorway and Jayce shifted across from where he stood moving next to Jemza.

"We need to go, now." Jayce kept his voice as low as possible taking her wrist in his hand.

"Go? We can't go now. Did you hear them? He's going to kill Rose." She yanked her arm back, breaking his grasp.

"Tomorrow is what he said. We aren't in a position to do anything about it right now. We are at a disadvantage in here. You saw their cursors right? We attack them now and we will die." He didn't know how much time they had, but this might be the only opportunity to sneak out the window.

"Then we could never take them on and we should just let Rose die? Is that what you are saying?" Desperation was creeping into her voice and her eyes showed the same. This was exactly what Jayce had been worried about. It took a different level of discipline and patience for this line of work and if Jemza couldn't manage everything would fall apart.

"We create a situation for our own advantage. This is not that situation. We got what we needed for now and the plan has been compromised. We need to get out of here, regroup, and figure out our next step."

"Did you open that window?"

"No, why?" Jayce could hear the two men talking from the kitchen and realized that he had not closed the window behind him when they first entered the house. He looked back at Jemza pleading for her to listen.

"We won't let her die. Please, just trust me." Something clicked into place for her and her grip on the dagger loosened. With a nod she turned and quickly moved towards the window. She pushed up on the pane slowly lifting it to allow them an exit.

"I don't think I left that open. One sec I'll be right back." Kurt's voice was a bit louder now. He was coming towards them as Jemza, using her high agility stat, slipped through the open window making no sound at all. Her hand popped back through the window and Jayce took it carefully passing through the threshold as well until he was outside. Just as he hit the ground Jemza reached up and returned the window back to how it was before they left. She dropped to the grass as Kurt entered the room and looked around suspiciously.

"Everything alright?" Artemis's voice called from across the house. Kurt stood in front of the window looking out towards the savannah. After a few moments of looking he turned away from the window and walked away.

"Yeah, I'm just losing my mind I guess. Shut that window in there will you?" Jemza, who was pressed against the house directly below the window holding her breath, finally let the air out and breathed. Jayce grabbed her hand and pulled her up. He led her past a few houses until they reached the edge of town. A few dozen yards away from the nearest house he found an overgrown section of savannah with grass taller than their height.

"Here, catch your breath we're good." Jayce let her hand go and took a few deep breaths himself. Jemza looked back towards the town still worried that they might be followed.

"They didn't see us?" She fell to a knee putting a hand over her chest. The last fifteen minutes or so had been terrifying, but at the same time she couldn't deny the excitement that accompanied it.

"No, we got lucky. I almost cost us everything leaving that window open. That was stupid."

"I almost jumped out there and attacked when he was talking about Rose. If you weren't there I would have done something far more stupid. How do you ignore your emotions like that?" Jayce forced a grim smile and shrugged in response.

"I don't know, it just gets easier the more you do it I guess. I've never been in a situation like this though. This is a VRMMO so it's a lot more lifelike than other games I've played."

"So, how then? You were able to calmly and rationally assess the situation and make the intelligent call. To me they were part of the quest, placed there for us to fight. I didn't even take into consideration just how high a level they were." She fell back onto her rear bringing her knees up to her chest.

"This type of work relies on picking your targets. If there's even the smallest of doubts then you avoid the confrontation. Sometimes that means letting them get away for now. We still have time." He tried to explain how his thought process worked, but wasn't sure if she could see past the disappointment of letting Kurt go for now.

"We still need more information from him. He works with or for someone else. Maybe a larger group."

"The bigger problem is that Artemis guy. He will be expecting payment in two days. It doesn't matter if we get answers from Kurt if Artemis doesn't receive his payment. They'll know that something is going on and this will get a lot more complicated." Jemza seemed to sink even lower hearing what Jayce said.

"I didn't think of that. What do we do?"

"There's only one thing we can do. There's another obstacle in the way now. Artemis creates unknown variables that we can't account for. So, we remove the obstacle." Jemza looked up at him raising her eyebrows.

"Kill him?" Jayce nodded in response.

"Look out through there. We can still see the street from here. We wait until Artemis leaves and we follow him. If we're lucky he leaves town and we ambush him. Then we deal with Kurt. It ties off the most loose ends and buys us more time." Jemza followed the direction he pointed and although it was a bit far she could see the front door of Kurt's house.

"What about his level?" The plan was sound, but his cursor still placed him well above their level. The risk was still great.

"We agreed to not look back right? We'll do this and we'll make it." Jemza laid down on her back staring up at the stars through the grass lacing her hands behind her head.

"You sound confident." Jayce sat beside her and looked up at the same stars.

"There's people fighting in the dungeon that leads to the boss of this floor. Maybe not right this moment, but there will be. They are doing it to save everyone in this game and that's a level of courage that I don't think I will ever match. Some of those guys are probably just kids, but when this is all over it will be them who truly saved our lives. I'll never be that kind of person. I don't have the strength to save everyone even if I wanted to. So, I decided to focus on saving one person. I'm confident I can manage it if it's just one person." He kept staring up at the stars, the silence of the savannah surrounding them.

"Sounds romantic, who's the lucky person?" Jemza turned towards him grinning.

"Just some girl." Jayce made it a point to sound as nonchalant as possible.

"Argo?" Jayce coughed shaking his head back and forth in response to her question.

"I get the feeling Argo can take care of herself a lot more than her appearance shows." Jayce turned so he could watch the street where Kurt's house was.

"It's still a tall order to take on the responsibility of trying to save someone. Maybe she doesn't want to be saved." The pair didn't look at each other, but kept their eyes focused on the town ahead.

"Maybe she's been waiting to be saved for so long that she no longer thinks she ever will be." Her focus broke and she turned her head towards him watching as he continued to wait for Artemis.

"A girl like that would be hard to deal with. She's probably stubborn from being on her own for so long. Chances are she wouldn't know how to open up to someone like you. There might be a fear of how you would react. Then again I don't know if you'd even notice any of that because she probably hides it really well." Now Jayce did turn and meet her eyes as she spoke.

"What would I have to do to show her that she could open up?"

"I don't know. Maybe something impulsive to show her how you feel? Words only go so far."

"That's risky, she tends to be violent." Jayce laughed quietly as Jemza reached up to her face and pulled her mask down.

"Then you need to decide if she's worth the risk." This was a moment that Jayce didn't want to screw up. Things between them lately had been playfully awkward at best, but this was different. He felt like this might be the first step towards breaking down some of the walls she had placed. The only other real concern was that the game itself worked against them. If there was a way around it neither Jemza nor he knew about it. She had mentioned that Rose could help, but who knew what that meant and if it was true?

"She is." He knew what would happen, but didn't care. An opportunity like this didn't happen all the time and maybe she needed something tangible to know how he felt. Even if the game fought back at least she would know he was serious. She would know that he was willing to take that risk even if it meant enduring another blow from the Anti-Harassment System. He pulled his own mask down, and grabbed the back of her head pulling her forward.

The game would register instantly that physical contact with another player not of a combat sort had been initiated. A warning would appear in front of Jemza requesting her consent to directly teleport Jayce to the Black Iron Palace prison. She could press the button or verbally accept and he would disappear. If she did nothing then the system would forcibly push him away much like last time. He was confident she wouldn't accept the command, but prepared for the violent shove the system would give him.

The two stared, wide eyed at each other in shock. Neither one dared to move after the first few breaths went by. No window appeared in front of Jemza's vision and the energy that was used to shove Jayce away last time never came. Why had the system failed to activate this time? What was different about now compared to before? Neither Jayce nor Jemza could understand what had just happened. Both knew what should happen, and yet amidst the silence of the savannah the system allowed it. Jemza couldn't stop a tear from falling down her cheek as she threw her arms around his neck pressing her mouth harder against his.