Breaking the Rules Pt. 07

Breaking the Rules takes place in an RPG universe, and is the sequel to Bending the Rules. To understand the characters and how the world works, please start from Part 1 of either series. Not based on any particular gaming franchise or storyline, but there may be guest appearances.

If you pirate a VR game, does it disable the headset for one eye?

*****

"Hey, Ace. Spare a moment?"

"OK, but just the one. Ekene's gonna show me what she found in an old shipwreck that used to have a shark living in it. Killed it herself, you know. I gave her the spear."

"Great. I know this is gonna sound stupid, but can you run a message to Mesi in person?"

"Be weird, knowing what the betting pool on her is up to, but... hey, keeps life interesting. Don't you have a lyena that can run errands for you, though?"

"Yes, but he can't enter town proper. I need you to reach her during her shift."

"Oh. Tomorrow morning OK? Rush service is extra."

"Well..."

"Kidding. I've got a discount at the travel service; I'll go soon. I just want to show Ekene something I got today first."

"You two are something else. Honestly, I get the appeal for you, now - but what does she get out of it?"

Ace shrugged. "I'm still figuring out some of the harder concepts in her language. It's going to be a while before I can properly answer that. My guess, though; she wants to learn the lore. She was up near the beach because something about living on dry land is fascinating to her, and I'm thinking it's the books, which as you might guess don't last long in the ocean. Do you know, she can do long division in her head? Can't show her work, because the merfolk don't have paper or a written language, but she's sharp as a razor. I think I'm gonna start writing some of my exploits down when I go off on some big quest, so she can read them when I'm away. She's picking up numbers and letters like crazy. Already knows most of the words, so it's just a matter of writing it and showing her. I swear, if she could join a faction, D'Shemil would snap her up in a heartbeat. Everything that she went through, and she's the one they call a monster."

"Man. Not human enough, right?"

"Yeah. Sucks, but those are the Rules. What can you do?"

"Break 'em."

"...what on earth are you talking about? I'm going to be quite upset if you call down lightning at the ocean near my girlfriend."

"No, no. Say I start a faction. If I can accept her..."

"Hmm, tricky. I don't know what all a new faction gets to establish. Hasn't been a changeup in ages."

"What, that's a thing? You know about that? I thought they just morphed into a new one. Rebranded, or whatever."

"Heh. Let's just say a friend of mine had a good plunder at an old defunct faction's expense once or twice. Two guesses how he found out about it."

"Memoires."

"Close."

"Surviving relatives?"

"You got it. There was this guy he visited once. No heirs, pushing a hundred years old. Had this oral tradition passed down several generations about an old hideaway up in the mountains. He did a job for him, and as payment the old man told about his ancestor hiding some loot up there awhile back. His emergency stash, in case some thief cleaned him out or whatever. Ironically, he'd never used it and finally it was a thief that got there and got it all, my friend specifically. Had an old journal too; hard to read but no two ways about it, things change when a new faction comes around."

"Don't suppose he's still got the journal."

"No. Freak rainstorm came up while he was running around following up on the details and destroyed it; ink ran, pages stuck together, the works. Sun was still out, and he was very concerned about certain auditory accompaniment. I think you know what I mean."

"Thunder?" Nuru said, grimacing and thinking about where lightning often came from- the Rules Lawyers, or someone above them. The only person that could conjure that force of nature.

"Yep. And he stopped asking questions after that, so he said. Disavowed the whole story when he sobered up, but I know better."

"Understandable, I probably would too. Well, something to think about."

"That's me warning you, by the way. Only time you'll hear it from me: tread softly. You can only beat the odds for so long."

"Thanks, Ace."

Nuru wrote a note to Mesi and passed it over.

Have Dayo come meet me as soon as possible. Tell no one. Nuru.

"Not even gonna make it hard for me to read?"

"Read? No. Understand? Maybe."

"This another one of your head games? I've reconstructed the timeline of things, by the way. I know you didn't know Furaha as well as you let me think early on, you clever bastard. You learned about her from me, didn't you?"

Nuru grinned. "Here she comes."

Ace turned and held his arms open as Ekene surged up out of the water; she hugged Ace in a watery embrace and waved over his shoulder at Nuru. Ace had the presence of mind, Nuru was happy to notice, to first tuck the message into a scroll case attached to his belt which kept it dry. He slipped away before Ace got done showing off his little treasure, and remembered that Nuru hadn't answered the question about how he'd learned about Furaha.

*****

"Tusa, I need your take on that guy from yesterday. How does he strike you?"

[He is very focused. Much like a hunter, he keeps his prize in mind, and pursues it with regard to little else.]

"Anything seem off to you? Anything wrong about him?"

[He smells of death.]

"Well, he is a necromancer."

[He raises others. Who has raised him?]

"You mean... he's undead?"

[I could not draw too close, yet I am almost certain. The smell does not just cling, it emanates from him.]

"That sounds like something a person should tell you on introduction, especially if we're talking about explaining his powers of undeath."

Tusa just stared at him.

"Right, OK, no further opinion on your side?"

[I dislike the spoiling of meat that necromancy involves. I can say little for or against his social merits among two-leggers.]

"That's very helpful, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything else. We're done for today, thank you."

The lyena loped away, eager to sink his teeth into something fresh.

*****

Nuru scanned through the code book until his eyes drooped. He woke up early the next morning and finished; Furaha hadn't come home again. He went by the library to drop it back off.

"Hey beautiful," he said.

Furaha groaned and sat up in the chair. "Don't lie to me, I know I look like hell."

"You look like sex warmed over," Nuru grinned. "Besides, one of my best friends is from hell."

"I'll never know why the 'sloppy seconds' look is considered attractive," Furaha said. "Shouldn't 'prim and pristine' be better?"

"Sloppy seconds with a smile on her face means she was into it, and that means I've got good things to look forward to. Pristine means she's got something to lose and might think twice."

"I thought the uncertainty and the chase was half the fun."

"The chase, certainly. I personally like to know that I'm not wasting my time before I get started, but it doesn't have to mean she's an easy catch."

"I'll remember that," Furaha said, face softening although not quite smiling. "You taking off?"

"With or without Dayo, yes. If they show up shortly, I want them to get introduced so we can all work together. If not, I've got some shopping that's overdue so I'll have to let you two sort it out between yourselves. I trust you both completely. The Chosen and the Spectrum don't have issues with each other, right?"

"Nothing recent. There were some territorial scuffles awhile back. The Chosen lost, licked their wounds, and I think we're on decent terms now. Certainly better than either of us have with any High Faction."

"Even the White Lily?"

"They don't count. Everybody needs healers, that's their whole angle."

"Not sure the Chosen have any healers, or interest in them, actually. Well, I'll let you get back to it."

"Nuh uh. Get back here."

Nuru turned back, raising an eyebrow. Furaha grasped at him, and yanked him over when she caught his arm.

"Mmph! Mmmm." The kiss took Nuru by surprise, but he relaxed into it.

"So you don't forget me," Furaha explained.

"Like that's even possible," Nuru said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm serious," she said. "Don't go disappearing on me."

"So am I. I've got places to be, but I feel like you're one of the few people I can really tell everything. It's such a relief compared to the rest of the world that's out to get me. Plus, that contest was rigged, and I challenge you to another."

"I agree. Bring your best moves, I've got a surprise for you next time."

"Oh, my. Looking forward to that."

"You say that now," Furaha said, a dangerous gleam in her eye.

"Well sure, you're sleepy, what have I got to worry about?"

"Nothing, I suppose. Nothing at all. I'm not sure why I even said anything."

She gave him a sleepy, smokey side-eye, and turned back to a pile of papers that had smeared across the table.

Nuru blinked a couple times. "Good, then. See you soon."

"Bye!"

He walked out, head spinning.

(Is she serious? I can't tell if she's just fucking with me.)

/Of course she's getting into your head, quite intentionally. It doesn't mean she isn't up to something else. I dare say she is, and I think I like it./

(What is it?)

/Let me worry about that. You concentrate on staying alive. Go do your shopping./

"...Sure."

A passing workman looked at him funny. Nuru shook his head at the lapse in using his internal voice and kept walking.

*****

Nuru called Tusa and, while waiting for him to arrive, collected some broken boxes and other knicknacks from the shore and went looking for a bit of land which he could easily describe by a distinctive formation of trees, but which had no other obvious value or purpose. He laid out the assortment of stuff in a line.

"!Fassada Girma! You know what each of these things are?"

[Human rubbish.]

"Sure, they are useless now, but- you know what they're called?"

The feliform looked away noncommittally.

"All right, all right. I don't know if this is the best way to do this - but if you can remember what each of these are so I can describe them, you'll be able to come back here and retrieve something just by the description, right?"

The lyena fell over and started batting at the knotted remains of a fishing net.

"I'll take that as a, 'yes but I'm bored and I don't feel like it today or possibly ever again'. Sound right?"

[We've barely killed anything. And you didn't let me eat it all. We keep avoiding all the fun.]

"I know. I'm behind on my EXP growth, too. But that's all gonna change when Dayo gets here."

[Won't she spoil the meat too?]

"Dayo goes by 'they', not 'she'."

[She has the smell of a 'she'. I care not what she does with the parts, or how she covers them.]

"I guess your language doesn't really grasp the full nuance of pronouns. I'll just tell Dayo you're being physically descriptive if it comes up. Anyway, I need to level up if I'm going to be anything besides helpless, so off we'll go. I bet we can gather some prey animal souls and you can have some of it left over. We're sure to have some good battles to whet your appetite."

[What of yesterday's companion?]

"He'll not be coming with us, ever again if I can help it."

[I am glad our instincts agree.]

"You didn't like him? Why didn't you say so when I asked?"

[It is not for me to make your decisions. I have made an oath to follow your direction, if only in the broadest terms. Swaying your perception would break that oath.]

"I think you're safe if I'm asking you directly. But I appreciate your pursuit of the highest honor."

[I am relieved that you are not offended. Misunderstanding was a grave concern of mine in making the oath originally.]

"I'm sure you make your father proud. If I ever see him again, I'll tell him so."

[Actions will please me more than words.]

"Alright, find something to munch on and I'll be back in a bit."

Nuru walked back into the port, and went to stand at the docks, staring out into the water. After awhile he became concerned, and turned back to the library. He found a stack of books scattered across the floor, Dayo standing with scythe pointed at Furaha, who was holding one hand with the other gingerly, and glaring daggers.

"What... uh... ladies, er, Dayo and Furaha, er... everybody just stay calm. What's going on?"

He stepped in between them, holding his hands out as if to smother a literal fire. Furaha all but fell over laughing, and Dayo grappled him from behind in a tight hug, now empty-handed of any weapons.

"Uhhhh..." he said, now more confused that ever.

"Oh gods... oh gods below the look on your face!" Furaha cackled, leaning over to pick up the books on the floor.

"Missed you," Dayo murmered into his neck.

"I missed you too. Dayo, what the heck was that?"

"We were just here, talking, explaining how we know you. She got it in her head that it would be funny if you came in thinking we were fighting about something. So when I saw you coming, she dropped a stack of books on the floor and we acted-"

"Like it was a standoff!" Furaha finished, flexing her wrist that was not hurt.

"Clearly you're not that sleep deprived after all," Nuru said.

"Oh, I'm feeling it, but I can scheme in my sleep, even if I'm sleeping standing up," Furaha said.

"And that, Dayo, is how I managed to slip out the gate with the Rules Lawyers themselves opposed to it," Nuru said.

"High praise coming from this devious lech," Dayo said, rubbing a knuckle into Nuru's scalp.

"Oi! Knock that off!" Nuru said, squirming free.

"You don't know the half of his lechery," Furaha said. "Nuru, did you really give a high vampiress a three-hole salute with your dick, at the Zoo?"

Dayo looked like their eyes were trying to pop out of their head.

"What?" Nuru said defensively. "I was bored. Her date bailed... well, got kicked out. He'd already paid for both of them, I just delivered the happy ending for her evening. Rule four, the customer is always right."

"Tatenda's beside himself with shock at the reports," Furaha said. "I don't even know what to tell him."

"Look, I told him I am looking for 'specific people'," Nuru said. "He didn't believe me when I told him sexy was the 'specific' that I meant. Maybe now he does."

"I still can't believe you even kept the shirt clean, and folded it up after you," Furaha continued, "after the vampiress had her nice underthings all left behind when she walked out in her birthday set. It's fantastically scandalous."

"I know I broke the rules. If there's any pay left after they're done deducting for it, he can have the rest."

"You really have no idea what that gift is worth. Nuru, the owner of that club is getting swamped with secret requests. He's probably going to start an extremely exclusive party, invite-only, where the feeding happens with no sexualized vocalization prohibition. No actual sex will be allowed the first time mind you, but from what Tatenda said, he's expecting it might go that way the second or third time."

"Are they gonna call it a 'bleeding edge' party?" Dayo said.

"A missed opportunity if not," Furaha mused. "The Zoo has been a high-class establishment, I'm not sure how they're going to rebrand as something a little edgier, but I suppose that's why you pay so much to get in."

(Hey, you're not gonna believe this,) Nuru said with his internal voice, poking at Sanaa.

/Sure I am. You think that all was an accident? I Planted a lot of Suggestions that night. Couldn't pass up a chance to stir up some hormones. You obviously weren't watching your MP very closely while you boned; I needed most of it./

"Holy shit, that was you!?" Nuru said over his shoulder at the succubus, instinctively.

"Told you she's dangerous," Dayo said.

"I guess I'm less impressed with you now though, Nuru," Furaha said. "A little bit, at least, if you didn't know everything you were enabling. I mean, that was still a hell of an achievement."

"Yeah, I can't take complete credit," Nuru said. "Although as far as Tatenda's concerned, I totally will take all the credit for it, because I'm not telling him about her."

"Of course," Furaha said. "That information really shouldn't leave this room. Ace isn't going to be happy about the wards I've just laid on the building by the way- and was it ever expensive, might I add- but for proper confidentiality it's needed. It's not quite a prison level fortress, but I can ensure with a high degree of certainty that no one can hear or see anything happening here without me knowing they're around. And no smoke portals."

"Wow. You know, I never did ask you what your class is," Nuru said. "I just assumed a clerk. I feel embarrassed about that now, you're clearly more capable than that."

"I'm a mishmash of different things, but mainly a librarian. Subclass, data analyst," Furaha said.

"A data analyst that can lay her own wards," Nuru said.

"Like I said, a cross-class build. Political operatives often need a wide range of skills," she said. "And we keep a low profile, so I consider your mistake a compliment."

"Remind me never to introduce you to Mesi," Dayo said. "No offense intended. She's allergic to politics."

"I quite understand. I'm not a good person for decent people to know. Tch, there I go again, forgetting my positive affirmations. Still working on it, therapist," Furaha said, clasping her hands at the ceiling.

"Say, uh- you know what, nevermind," Dayo said.

"What?" Furaha said.

"No, forget I said anything," Dayo said, shoulders hunching as they withdrew mentally.

"Nuru, may I?" Furaha said.

"Uh... I have no idea what you're referring to," Nuru said.

"Look, you're the boss here, but we have a discipline problem. I don't want to overstep my bounds."

/Actually, I think I'm the boss. Don't let me give you the wrong impression./

"I'll let you know if you do," Nuru said, with both of them in mind.

(Really? I thought we were a partnership.)

/But are we exactly equal? I think not. I'm much older than you./

Furaha took a deep breath. "OK. Dayo, we're both adults. This is serious business we're doing here. We need to communicate openly, and freely. If we let suspicions or awkwardness get in the way, we're going to fail. I'm sure whatever it is you're wondering is pretty minor, and by itself it doesn't matter, but if we don't set proper habits at the beginning, we might as well give up and go our separate ways right now."

Dayo's face colored. "I- I'm just embarrassed to ask. How come you haven't taken over whatever organization it is that you're with?"

"Why have I been sandbagging, you mean? Because my boss - correction, the man who *calls himself* my boss- doesn't deserve my best effort. I can't be bothered to give him my absolute best, because he'd just waste it on self-aggrandisement and give me none of the credit. So I screw up sometimes, intentionally. He wants to think I'm inferior because I've got tits, and thus I give him exactly what he expects. If I hadn't, I'd never have had the time to arrange this total heist of Nuru's freedom. I've been waiting for the opportunity to branch out on my own, with the proper resources, and that's the first time I've done it."

"Damn, you too?" Dayo said. "What is it with men taking credit for things they didn't do?"

"Maybe I shouldn't say this, but I started the open communication discussion so I guess I'd better. I've had my eye out for you for awhile, Dayo," Furaha said. "Or my ear, more precisely."

"Me? Why? How?!" Dayo looked shocked, and a little hunted.

"Look, when I hear about a bunch of Jabu's boys suddenly complaining about 'Tumelo's new reaper witch' stealing souls out of their prize miniboss-class reanimated monsters and destroying them, I take notice. If Nuru hadn't come along, I'd have been putting out feelers to try to make contact with you. We've just, uh, saved some time. You and I, Dayo - we have a lot of help to give each other."