RELAY || Virtual Reality AU

4

Two kilometres really wasn't all that far, when you got right down to it. It was the distance which civilians were recommended to cover on foot each day, whether on a treadmill or along the tunnels. Technically, walking it was a requirement for Heroes, as part of maintaining their license.

In reality, of course—as was the case for almost every other Pro Hero Toshinori knew—a few add-ons running in the background dispensed with the need for distractions such as that. Reorientation took too long these days, particularly with the virus attached to his avatar complicating things. The more dead hours he could dispense with, the more time he had to both do his job and find a successor.

All of which made perfect sense right up until he found himself marching along a dusty tunnel by the light of a solitary lantern, wondering when exactly his body had gotten this out of shape. Were legs meant to feel so heavy? Was his heart supposed to pound away like that, thumping loud enough that he was half convinced the boy marching cheerfully beside him could hear it too?

It was almost a relief when the boy started talking, although Toshinori couldn't say he was in a position to fully appreciate what he was saying. Something about the power cuts...or the trams, perhaps. The words faded into a sort of background chatter which Toshinori didn't mean to tune out, really he didn't, but it was hard to focus past the effort of putting one foot in front of the other. Suddenly he was glad the boy didn't know who he was. Toshinori wasn't sure he could stand the shame if someone saw him hobbling along like this.

The boy kept pace with him without question though, slow as the going was. By the looks of him he could have gone a lot faster. If he'd had the breath, Toshinori would have expressed his thanks for that courtesy, and how matter-of-factly it had been offered. He resolved to make sure the kid knew how appreciative he was when they arrived, and kept his head down, dragging his feet to keep going.

It wasn't just the fatigue. The near-death experience with All For One had taken its toll in other respects, too. Too much pain or trauma experienced inside virtual reality left scars, albeit invisible ones. After years of working in spite of the virus which had half crippled him, phantom pains were Toshinori's constant companion. He'd been told they should recede if he stopped logging in, but he'd also been told that there wasn't much precedent to his situation. It was anyone's guess what state his body would be in by the time the year was out, let alone when—

"Hey, um, I know you said you were fine, but you're kinda staring off into space a little bit now and I hope you don't mind me saying this but I'm a little worried you're not going to make it? I mean! I mean make it walking , not—not...it's okay I don't think you're gonna die or anything, just..."

Toshinori flinched and the boy winced as well, looking away from where he'd come to a halt ahead of him, eyes so wide with concern that they looked almost as though they were about to pop right out. Damn, when had they even stopped?

"I'm fine," Toshinori mumbled, but the lie wasn't fooling anyone. He sighed. Might as well admit it. "I get the ghost-pains, kid. It's locking up my leg, that's all. How far have we got to go?"

"Well, I hope you don't mind me saying this, but...I mean I pretty much think the answer is 'too far', for you at least," the boy said. His face crumpled. "If I were stronger I could help support your weight but—"

"Kid, you are not carrying me down this tunnel," Toshinori said firmly. "I'm not even being prideful here—I'm thin, sure, but last checkup I clocked in at almost 220 centimetres. I walk with the stoop because, frankly, I got sick of hitting my head on doors all the damn time."

"Oh, I know," the boy said. "I could tell you were taller than you first appeared, and, well, I figured that would make you heavier than I could lift, even if that were our last option—but actually I was thinking that...um..." He cleared his throat, shrugging. "Well, I've walked down these tunnels a lot, so I know where I'm going. I was going to say that I can leave you the lantern and go get help on my own. There's usually a cart at each tram stop—that's what they'd use to get to us if there were anyone around to do the proper recovery anyway , and they have some manually powered lights so even if the power is out at the stop, I can—"

"You're planning to walk in the dark? "

The lantern's shadows wobbled as the boy marched over to the wall and held up their only source of light.

"There should be a mark somewhere...Ah!" He pointed to another squiggle which Toshinori would never have paid the slightest bit of notice to otherwise. "We're about halfway now. It's just a kilometre, and there isn't much of a curve from here, so if the lights are on, as soon as my eyes adjust to the dark I should be able to see the stop just fine. I've done it before when I forgot to charge my lantern, so it's really not a problem for me. I can go and get help, and you can sit here with the light and that way you'll be easier to find when I come back."

Every fibre of Toshinori's being objected to the plan. It just wasn't right to send a boy off into the dark like that. Gods above, he was meant to be a Hero, wasn't he? How the tables had turned. Rescued by a civilian who—however indirectly—he had sworn to protect.

He didn't get a chance to protest. Before he had time to work his way past staring, aghast, the boy had settled the lantern at his feet and backtracked off into the dark.

"Don't worry, I won't be long!" he called when he was little more than a shadow, waving confidently.

He vanished into nothingness a few seconds later, with only the fading tramp of his feet as he marched along to tell Toshinori that he hadn't simply disappeared altogether.

This definitely hadn't been what he had envisaged when he'd set out that morning.