the game

ken

i make my way to the other base. katie wanted to know why i was leaving. i hate that she already thinks i'm a traitor. maybe i'm not the right person for the job but the thought of quitting kills me.

it's that thought that brings me to the meeting room of the level.

"so ken, you have a few more chances to bring her to us, if you don't there will be consequences," there's no ceremony in the words. they are cold and hard. everyone is here staring at me. kassie, kally, veronica kelly.

"do not disappoint us," veronica hisses. i nod.

i am excused from the meeting soon after and told to make the moments count. there's this desperation behind the meetings that has grown exponentially as we level up. the sense of urgency that war always brings is riding on the outcome. i see it too, a bloody horizon where property and power are redistributed.

but if i do catch her. if she's taken from this place forever how will i survive? is my death the cost of freedom for so many others? am i the gateway to the future that gets sacrificed on the way.

the forest i run through here isn't as dense as the forest from level one. i weave through the trees in a rhythm less dance. i feel the wind on my skin. have i been going easy on her? but every time i think back my mind is filled with the same bleak thought. she's never trusted me and she will never let herself.

but why?

and that is the question rolling through my mind as i search for her. why won't she let me in? i have done everything to give her confidence so why won't she let me in?

i freeze. in the distance i make out the base but something is wrong. bodies are writhing on the inside against each other. i see a flash of electric blue. katie. what did she do?

i can't help myself from sprinting. everything is pulling me towards her. through the doors there is a tangle of human flesh. just what happened while i was gone? i race through the mangle of bodies up the stairs to the second floor.

i stop. there are bodies lying everywhere and katie stands alone in the center. she is covered in what must be blood and a litany of bruises.

"they ganged up on me again," her face is stone cold as usual except her eyes. her eyes are filled to the brim with glittering emotions. but what are these emotions? she doesn't look happy to have killed so many alasians but they did her so much harm. it doesn't make sense.

"why do you look sad?" i barely register the words leaving my lips. she blinks and the windows to her soul shut.

"death should never be a happy moment out of respect for the one you've killed," she isn't looking me in the eye.

"they'll regenerate," i laugh. "what's the point in crying over your enemies?"

"compassion is the knife that cuts the enemy in two, understanding is power," and then she turns around and walks away. i rush towards her. she turns around, alarmed. i gulp. what did i want to say? but i find myself trapped in her eyes, not my own thoughts as she waits.

but nothing leaves my lips.

"if we're done here i have to go see if amy is okay," she's turning away again. i reach forwards and grab her wrist.

"i'll help. let me help. let me be your friend. yeah?" the words fall out of my mouth like water and they burn like acid. why do they burn so bad?

this makes her laugh.

"alright, and you're giving up on pursuing me?" she crosses her arms humorously.

i gulp. this is the only way that i'll get close to her trusting me.

"only until you trust me," i decide. she steps forward.

"that's a tall order," she's inches from my face.

"then it's about time i start earning it," finally. i see it. i see the band of hope in the distance. if i can just get close enough for her to let her guard down i can take her out.

piece of cake.