Aacek saw Betrayer Suilka still seated at his/her/its table. He waved at the creature and mouthed, “Thank you.” He saw Pamral still seated at the same table. Excited at the prospect of choosing a class and then levelling up a skill, Aacek walked over to him.

  Just as he was about to sit, Aacek saw Amuna enter the inn. Only, Aacek didn't recognise her right away. She wore a scarlet scarf around her head. She was dressed in a glittering ruby-red gown. He saw glowing hilts of two swords behind her shoulders.

  Aacek headed toward the door and was about to call her name when he saw her title and name: Lady in the Scarlet Scarf Aesira, lvl 85.

  Litss? Is that really you? Are you alive? But who is Aesira?

  His mind full of these thoughts, he walked to her. She smiled as soon as she saw him.

  And then,

  You are out of Realm Time. You can reenter The Realm when you have accumulated enough Realm Time.

  Thank you for choosing to side with The Realm. See you soon.

  A message flashed in front of his eyes, with time standing still again. As soon as he had read the last word, he saw darkness and nothing else.

  “That is what happened, Amuna. I woke up after that or should I say, I was transported back to our world?”

  Amuna looked at him for a good ten seconds before responding. “Again, I will say, it was interesting to say the least.”

  The first rays of sunlight made their way into the room through the gaps in their curtains. They had gone back to the bedroom while Aacek was narrating his experience.

  Aacek waited.

  “It might have been just a very vivid dream, Aacek. You might be missing your video games.”

  Aacek shook his head. “It just did not feel like a dream, Amuna. It was far too real. I don't know what to make of it really.

  “I have so many questions right now!

  "For a moment, I thought that lady I saw at the end was really you.”

  Amuna guffawed. “I am not playing any nightime games, dear boy.”

  Aacek smiled. “Well, I was excited at the prospect of playing alongside you. Do you suppose Litss is alive somehow? From what Surkena told us, was it not apparent that she died saving humanity from the algae?”

  “Yeah. That much was clear. Maybe it was not even Litss you saw. You did say that her title was Lady in the Scarlet Scarf, but her name was Aesira. Maybe anyone can earn the title of Lady in the Scarlet Scarf!”

  “Maybe. She did look like you though. And that smile, Amuna. I am sure she recognised me. She must be Litss!”

  Amuna said nothing for some time. “We are discussing all this as if it happened really, Aacek. Like I said, it might have been just a dream.”

  “OK. There's nothing I can do about it now. I was excited about choosing a class, you know. I was hoping there would be a necromancer or some summoning class. That's the class I used to play the most back when I was playing such games.”

  Amuna laughed again. “Men and your games!”

  “Lots of women are, were I mean, professional gamers, Amuna.”

  “I know, I know, am just pulling your leg.”

  “I know too. I am just playing along.”

  Amuna's eyes widened a little suddenly. “You said you met a character named Merry, didn't you?”

  Aacek nodded. “The character who opened the door when I went back to the Dancing Tiger to hand my quest in? Yes. What of it?”

  “Do you know anyone named Merry?”

  Aacek paused a few seconds and said, “No, I don't think so.”

  “We usually dream about people we know, don't we? I am not so sure but I think I have never dreamed about an unknown person.”

  “I don't know, Amuna. I am sure we bring new characters to life in our dreams; though, even I can't remember dreaming about a total unknown person.” Aacek laughed as he finished.

  “Yeah right. Litss and your dreams?”

  “See? Those were not dreams really, right? She was trying to communicate with me back then.”

  “Right. So, I remember the name Merry. There was a girl who used to work in the Digital Security department in our office. She worked with Martin. I am sure her name was Merry.”

  Aacek's eyes went wide this time. “Hmm. This is interesting. So, do you suppose real people are playing this game and it's not just a dream?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “We'll have to find out.” Amuna gestured towards the light streaming in. “Are you not going to work today? Remember, I am coming with you today?”

  “I do remember. I'll go check on the vapour condenser to see if we have enough water to wipe ourselves clean first.”

  They had built a contraption to convert water vapour in the soil and air to liquid water using plastic sheets. They had dug holes in their backyard and placed plastic containers in the holes. Then they covered the hole and the adjoining grass covered ground with a plastic sheet, making sure the hole and the center of the sheet were at a lower level than the edge of the sheet. This allowed the condensed water on the underside of the sheet to drip into the container at the center.

  By using multiple plastic sheets over multiple holes, they barely collected enough water to boil and use for drinking. Sometimes there was enough to dip a cloth in it and wipe themselves clean. They could not afford luxuries like taking a shower with the limited amount of water at their disposal.

  “Today is a wipe yourself day. Hooray!” Aacek came shouting after checking the containers. “We can also wipe each other clean, you know,” he said and winked at Amuna.

  “I missed these deers, dear,” Amuna said.

  A couple of spotted deers stood behind the Champak trees on the right side of the road and watched them with their curious brown eyes.

  “They are not even running away now,” she continued.

  Aacek nodded. “Yeah, the other day, one let me pat its head. They have gotten a lot bolder.

  “Except when it is dark. They seem to be afraid of something. Or they might just be sleeping.”

  Amuna looked at Aacek's eyes and she understood immediately what he was getting at. “Are you saying there are predators around now?”

  “I haven't heard any tigers as yet. I hope they don't come up this far north, but they will eventually follow the prey, Amuna. If the deer are here, it will not be long before the tigers follow,” Aacek said.

  Amuna looked at Aacek again. He seemed to be deciding whether to tell her something or not. “Spill it, Aacek.”

  “I don't want to scare you but yesterday evening, when I left work, there was a moment when I thought something or someone was watching me. I can't say for sure, but it did spook me out. I assumed it must have been a deer and walked on.”

  Amuna looked concerned now. “It could've been a predator, human or animal. Right?”

  Aacek nodded and did not say anything more.

  They walked in silence for a few minutes, savouring the creamy smell of the Champaka flowers. The creepers grew across the crumbling cement roads, carpeting them; they grew on the trees and arched from one tree to another and even across the tops of the trees from one side of the street to the other, forming a living, breathing, green canopy overhead. In some places, the growth was thick enough to block a substantial amount of sunlight. When they passed under one such thick overgrowth and the temperature felt noticeably cooler, Amuna wondered how the crepers were able to connect across, from right to left over their heads. Oh, the wonders of nature!

  She saw Aacek stop in his tracks and then run to a spot to their left. “Aacek, what is it?”

  Aacek put a finger to his lips. Amuna approached him as silently as possible. He was kneeling over a deer which lay on the grass next to the cement road. Its chest rose and fell in a rapid cycle. When Amuna got closer, she saw a gash on the gentle creature's neck. Blood oozed and spurted from the wound. The blood had coloured the surrounding grass a dark red.

  Aacek looked around them and back at the dying deer. Amuna looked at its eyes, they just stared back, they were not even blinking. Amuna was close to tears herself when she saw a tear flow down Aacek's cheek. He stroked the animal's head gently and the deer responded by making licking movements. Aacek opened his backpack and brought out two things: a bottle of water and a knife.

  Amuna locked eyes with Aacek and shook her head. Tears streamed down her face; she could no longer control them. “Aacek, no. We won't have any water left. Besides, the animal is probably dying a painless death anyway.”

  Aacek shook his head. “I can't see it suffer any longer, Amuna.” He opened the metal bottle and held up the deer's head and let some water drip into its mouth. The deer lapped it up quickly and looked at them.

  Amuna turned her face away but she heard a soft squelch and the cessation of the animal's laboured breathing.

  “I am no vet but I don't think an animal did that. It didn't look like a claw or bite mark.”

  Amuna nodded. “Yeah. Do you think it is a knife wound?”

  “Could be,” Aacek said.

  Amuna could see that he was still disturbed by what he had seen and done. “Aacek, do you think he is back?”

  “I have been thinking the same, Amuna. I thought about him yesterday evening when I thought someone or something was sneaking up on me.

  “It has been almost six months since Markena attempted to kill you in the Western Forest, Amuna. We haven’t seen him since. Maybe he has come to try his luck again. I can’t really tell.

  “Or it might have been just some hungry person who has not been able to grow enough vegetables. Maybe they took advantage of the trusting deer and decided to kill one to eat.”

  Amuna kept walking and mulled everything over. “We can hide and watch what happens to the deer corpse!”

  “We could, but we need to get to my workplace, too. Patients might be waiting. Besides, I don’t think I can handle looking at the unfortunate deer for so long, Amuna. Let’s go.”

  They had walked another two hundred meters when they chanced upon their friends living nearby.

  “Out for a morning walk, are we?” asked a tall, well-built man. His big brown eyes hinted at thoughts far older than his body made him seem to be. His face was clean-shaven, and his track pants and black sweatshirt hid the abundance of body hair well.

  “Smirt, Anvuu. How are you? No, not out for a walk. I am accompanying Aacek to his clinic today.”

  Smirt’s partner, Anvuu, the Prime Minister of the state of mainland Setra before everything went south, was a strict-looking woman (though a lot of that strictness had faded away after the Fall), with bright blue eyes. She wore grey track pants and a grey sweatshirt.

  Smirt had worked under her as the Head of Digital Security, but he had gone beyond his job description and had guided them to safety on many occasions. They owed their lives to him and were grateful that they had survived when a third of the world’s population had died in the sonic bomb attacks orchestrated by Markena and the algae. The remainder of the population had since started calling the fall of the world’s governments and the attacks by the algae (not many people knew about Markena) the Fall.

  In the aftermath of the Fall, Smirt and his long-time friend Surkena had revealed their true identities.

  “Hey Anvuu, Smirt. Nice to see you guys,” Aacek said.

  “We are good. Aacek is the one who is looking downcast on this bright morning,” Anvuu remarked.

  Aacek smiled weakly. “I am ok. It’s nothing.”

  Amuna held Aacek’s hands and explained to Anvuu and Smirt what had happened.

  “I haven’t come across any such incidents since the Fall, Amuna. I am glad you ended its suffering quickly, Aacek,” Smirt said. “You guys go on; we were on our way to see how far along the construction of the community well had come. Now we will check this deer and see if anyone comes to pick up its body.

  “We’ll discuss what we find out later. Anyway, we are due to meet in Brum and Bisena’s house tomorrow for the weekly meeting.”

  Amuna looked at Aacek and arched her eyebrows. Aacek shook his head almost imperceptibly. Amuna understood. It was not time yet to tell them about his dream.

  “Well then, let’s all be on our way. See you tomorrow,” Anvuu said.