Tunnel Rat

Chapter 236: A Place with Uncomfortable Memories

Milo was regretting meeting at this place; he had too many uncomfortable memories associated with it. They'd won a huge battle, but at the time, he had been hurt so badly that he'd just wandered off to feed his growing cheese addiction and been captured by the Slaver Mage. When he returned, he was self-absorbed and only focused on fixing his head, regaining his bones, and trying to understand what had happened. It took time to recover from that. Finding Limburger Hollow had been good for him. He was much better now, more confident, and better trained in his abilities. Most importantly, he was free to go where he wanted.

But the ordeal on the airship would haunt him. He was very glad Philistron was dead and that he'd helped kill him. He had met no one else in the game who was so cruel and inhuman. That the Slaver had been created by a human player, not the AI running the game, was ironic. The anti-AI groups always talked about AI being 'inhuman.' The whole encounter had been like being in hell, but he'd learned so many new things and, in the end, helped people. He needed to focus on that. Freeing the clan of halflings and children from the city and everyone else in those cages. And the two people trapped with him and tortured by Philistron. He thought about them from time to time. Wally's revelation that there might be people like him somewhere in the world had been shocking. He'd denied it at first but slowly unwrapped the idea. There could have been another batch created. If so, they were strangers and could be friends or foes. He had a tendency to paranoia, but some of his siblings, like Bork, had been consumed by it. That would make them dangerous.

A small part of him considered the idea of it being some of his family. Deaths could be faked. He had gone back over the reports about the deaths of each of his family members. The early reports were brutal. 'Subject 4G dead of seizure, body disposed of by incineration. Subject 4J died from unknown causes. The autopsy showed a possible stroke. Body sectioned and sold to {redacted} for research.' His own was interesting. He was listed as 'Subject 4M lost in transit, assumed dead.' It was the file with the last report that he went over again and again. There was little information. 'Subjects 4A, 4B, 4N, 4O, and 4Z dead from vehicular wreck, explosion, and subsequent fire. Remains of bodies consumed by fire found in the wreckage of vehicle used in the escape confirm deaths.'

They would have been very smart and capable by then and could work flawlessly as a team. Yet, their escape plan seemed simplistic. He started a new investigation, focusing on every person who had worked at that facility and followed them for years. He found three people who seemed very well off for their jobs. Each year, on a day near the anniversary of his family's death, a fairly large chunk of money was deposited into the accounts of each of the three men.

If Wally was correct, and someone was using the same tools he used, tools which left tell-tale signs only detectable by an AI, it might be his family. If they were unaware they were leaving clues, Wally might be able to get information on their whereabouts and what they were working on. Someone using those tools had cleaned out the majority of Victor's assets that were invested in Syllabary. Milo had taken the rest of his money, leaving Victor broke and on the run. Wally would alert him if the A.I. found anything. Milo wondered if he had already met two of them.

It would be a strange coincidence, but they fit the profile of what Milo would expect in his siblings, and he had large doubts those were two of Victor's employees using the specially programmed pods. Firstly, based on the strange quest, if one person was logging in to use a special character, why not all 37? Only three of the special pods had been used. The others had been found in different countries, linked to thousands of Mark 2 pods. Secondly, they had been smart. He'd argued with them, especially the cat. All three of them were crazed and in withdrawal from their individual drugs. But they were smart enough to converse using a code that would be difficult for a highly intelligent person to follow and impossible for a normal person. They were too good at it, even considering they'd been there for weeks. Wally could find no record of them. They never logged back in. That was smart or paranoid. If that had been part of his family, he would be insanely happy to find them. But for now, he'd wait for Wally to complete his search. He hoped it was them who had stolen Victor's money. He deserved it.

It wasn't lost on him that he might have created his problem with Victor. The aging mobster had traded in every favor he was owed, thrown every criminal he knew to the wolves, and taken a deal in the US with witness protection. And now he was laying low near his last remaining relative. Milo didn't feel it was any coincidence that Belinda would inherit a large amount of money soon.

That brought him back to today's problem: Belinda. He wanted to help her. He had to warn her. She'd asked for help with her medical issues. But could he trust her? It wasn't just about him. If Victor found out Milo was alive, he would come after him, especially if he suspected Milo had taken some of his money. Milo could run and hide, but his life in the habitat would be like a hidden fugitive again. Butch and his family would be at risk as well. He could yell for help from Wally and Steven, but he wasn't sure what they could do. It was a bad situation with too many variables and something Milo would do almost anything to avoid.

Belinda had no trouble descending into the mines. The miners knew her, and she'd often come down here to heal injuries and set broken bones. Good relations smoothed out potential problems when she came down here with groups to explore caverns and kill monsters for experience. Several people asked if she needed an escort, but she thanked them and said no. The monument put up marking the defeat of the World Boss was only a quarter mile into the mines, along the largest cavern. It was a convenient meeting spot for adventuring groups. The mining guild had hired a stone sculptor to create a model of Uthneragrubban and a large plaque commemorating the battle. She had such great memories from that fight. Everything had been so awesome, and she'd been someone important, not just a healer who tossed out band-aids. Everyone who had been in that battle talked about it all the time. Winning an un-winnable battle had been the game's high point for almost everyone. And Milo had been right in the middle of it, designing the trap for the boss. The place must hold special memories for him, too.

She was a little nervous about talking with Milo. She didn't understand him, and the more she thought about him, the more confused she was. Something had him tied in knots and barely able to speak. He was really worried about something. Her first guess was her Uncle Victor. She knew he'd done some bad things before he retired, and he was very possessive of her. Victor and John had been arguing a lot lately about her medical care, going to see her friends and even her gloves. John wanted her to borrow them. "Just a loan, just for a little bit." She'd hid them instead, leaving them with Min, and then screamed at John for a day when her arms hurt and didn't work right. Uncle Victor used that as a wedge, encouraging her to keep what was hers. She was happy to have him on her side but sensed it was more about opposing her stepfather.

And the fight over her name. John had papers he wanted to submit, changing her name permanently to Sabbatino. That went over poorly with Victor, and she wasn't sure at all what she wanted. Seimovich was the family name. Her mother had kept it when she got married. Belinda wanted to use the family name when she turned 18. But John was being clingy, saying he was afraid of losing her. It was extremely tiring. And how crazy Daddy acted made her wonder if that might be part of the Milo problem. Her dad was in charge of Manpower, and they were hiring everyone they could in the habitat. Many parents were working long hours. Butch and Brad had talked about working for her dad as soon as possible. That would really break up their group.

She was sure they could work everything out if she got Milo to open up. She saw him sitting cross-legged on the ground with his back to the wall. It was hard to miss him in that glaring orange tunic with all the tears and patches. She walked up and sat down next to him. "Hi, how are things in the dark caves of doom?"

He smiled a little. "Not bad; I like it in the caves. I know most of the rules down here. I'm not as good up in the city, and I think I'd freak out if I had to deal with being on the surface much.

"Sort of like the habitat? You don't mix with a lot of people there, do you?"

"Nope. It's why I'm so bad with people. I get tied up in knots, and it's hard to talk sometimes."

Belinda bumped him with her shoulder. "Yeah, I've noticed. I think that's why we're here today. You ready to talk some things over?"

Milo looked around the cave, then at where the boss had died. Maybe it wasn't such a bad spot after all. If you were going to talk about uncomfortable things, why ruin a good place? He took a deep breath and prepared himself for another tough battle, mostly with himself.

"Sure, time to talk."