Jade
"Jade! Open the door!" Peridot called out. "Damn it, Jade, open the damn door!" He called again, and I hid under my blanket, covering my ears with my pillow. "Please, Sis, open up... How long were you planning to keep this secret?"
"...Idiot, of course I was never going to tell you anything," I replied, not even knowing why.
"You- Seriously- I can't believe it," my twin brother grumbled from the other side of the door. "You really intended to keep up that charade forever?! Spending all day locked in your room, and dragging me around inside a video game at night for the rest of our lives?!"
"Yeah, so what?! Why do you even care?!" I threw the blanket aside and walked to the bedroom door, my vision blurred by tears. I shouted, staring at the wood of the door: "You just wanted to kill me, didn't you! Did you really think I'd do a complete 180 just because you killed my character, you idiot?! That I'd put on a suit, get a job, and everything would be fine because of it?! Well, I'm not going to, damn it! I'm not going to change, I don't want to change, I don't want to go back to how things were! I don't... want to go back to that time." Biting my lip in anger at my stupid brother, that stupid game, my stupid old job, and my stupid self, I concluded: "Yeah, you're right, I'm an irresponsible egoist, and I only care about what's good for me. I want my brother that was my partner back!"
"...Tomorrow night, when I get back from work... I'm going to prove you wrong."
Oh well, whatever. It's not that bad, really.
"Guhuhu... Guhuhu!" I wiped away my tears, laughing. "Alright. I'll see you in Vanguard! Your disgusting, lazy, and manipulative sister! Your worst enemy! Show me your worst, Legiano!"
▲○X■
"'We won'?" the woman with long, tangled red hair repeated mockingly, her back turned to me. She took a long drag from the cigar in her hand before answering: "Like hell we did. We survived, that's what happened. We just stayed alive long enough for the enemy to self-destruct. Get that through your head, and don't let those politicians fool you, kid."
She was telling the truth; I knew it. The power gap between us and the enemy was so vast that they had confidently announced the date and time of their attack on Rio de Janeiro well in advance, giving us enough time to muster the entire Brazilian Navy, the city police force, and a good chunk of the Army and Air Force to defend the city, only to annihilate our forces with just two MECHA units: Elvis and M.J.
The pilots weren't much, actors more than warriors, but they were the ultimate VIPs, piloting some of the most powerful war machines ever designed. The clash left over 180,000 combatants dead, with another 200,000 civilian casualties resulting directly or indirectly from the battle.
I knew all that, and yet...
"E-Even so, we did our part. We crushed so many convoys, burned down so many bases, destroyed Elvis himself, so-!"
"So what?!" the woman snapped, turning toward me; she was wearing a military vest with nothing underneath.
She slid down the mound of heads where she'd been watching City Hall burn and strode toward me with heavy steps. During the Rare War, we used to crush the heads of the dead and steal their dog tags to hinder identification and shatter the invaders' morale, but things were a bit different then: we were fighting separatist traitors, and she wanted those dead soldiers identified, which is why she left only the head behind.
That arrogant bitch, how could she...?! And on our birthday, of all days!
"You wretch, your son is behind enemy lines right now, so let me-!"
"Smack!" Her slap sent me sprawling to the ground.
"Gurgh!" I grunted, my lips and cheek still bleeding from the blow, as my mother hauled me up by the collar of my jumpsuit.
"You brat, raise your voice to me again, and I'll whip your back until it's raw meat." She wasn't kidding. "That brat was an idiot and did it to himself. Besides, he's easily replaceable." Letting go of me, my mother walked toward the massive white mecha with a skull-like head: White Death, one of the Four Protectors alongside my own Green Hell.
"Replaced...?" I repeated, incredulous. I looked at my father, a weary-eyed man of mixed race, but he avoided my gaze, silently offering an ashtray to my mother instead.
"That's right. So spare me the nonsense and get back to work. Now that the gringos have finally cleared out, we have to deal with the traitors who think they can carve up the country however they please and tear the republic apart," she concluded, climbing into the pilot's cockpit.
"...Yes, ma'am. I'll get back to work immediately," I promised, clawing at the blood-soaked concrete of that ruined plaza so hard my fingernails snapped.
"Haaah!" I sat up, alone in my dark room, my hands dry and uninjured. "Just a dream..." I sat on the edge of the bed, recalling that night.
Shortly after that conversation with my mother, I stole Green Hell and rescued my twin brother, though I lost my mecha in combat, having fled before repairs were finished and without any support.
Normally, I would have been executed for treason, but as a "heroine," that wouldn't have played well for the nation's fragile image; so, I was kept under house arrest for two years, or at least, that's what I was told.
"Hmph!" Whatever, I glanced at the clock: 6:00 PM. "I have some bulshit to do" and since I wasn't hungry, I logged into Vanguard.
Game Over ☠
Peridot
The workday passed by me like a blur, a collage of disconnected images; I remembered hearing that Merlyn was absent, I remember staring at spreadsheets and documents for several minutes without really understanding what I was seeing, I remember my boss calling me out, and then the trip back.
"Jade..." I said, feeling the scars on the metal plates on my sides, from when my ribs popped out of my flesh, from when Elvis almost pulverized me, as it did with my friends right before my eyes, from when I neglected my duty. "This ends today," I turned off the shower.
▲○X■
When I logged back in, I was met by a throng of players and NPCs gathered in front of the imperial palace. Standing on a raised platform right before them, Norma was delivering a speech with a broad grin:
"...A disgrace to all colonists, that's what that woman is! A traitor to the empire, to the faith, to all faiths, and a wanted fugitive even among the criminal underworld!" Some NPCs roared their agreement. "She's a wanted woman with a bounty of a thousand gold coins on her head!" The players shouted, cheered, and fired shots into the air in a chaotic uproar. "I've made it my personal mission to crush that wretch. I spent the entire day investigating every escape route she might have taken, analyzing her strengths and weaknesses, assembling this subjugation force, and devising the perfect plan to take her down because, at the end of the day, she's no ordinary player. So..." Suddenly, and to my surprise, Norma pointed right at me, causing the crowd before her to part just as Moses parted the Red Sea. "Whose side are you on, Legiano, hero of the [Rare] [Class]?"
I furrowed my brow and clenched my fists.
"...Help me find her, and I'll put an end to this myself."
▲○X■
"Expedition leader, we didn't find any trace of her in the sewers," reported one of the members of the 'anti-Vinea force.'
"Understood. Rest with your men and await further orders near your tent." Norma didn't look as pleased as she had an hour ago when she was recruiting her team. She was staring at the map of the capital with a seriousness uncharacteristic of her usual persona. "What do you think? Nothing in the sewers, the city, or the ghettos; even the nearby jungle is empty. She couldn't have gone far, not when we established a perimeter so early on with the help of the Imperial forces."
"I don't think she's trying to run away."
"What do you mean?"
"That's simply not her style," I remarked, stepping closer to the map. "She has no problem fleeing if things get hairy, but she isn't the type to put her toys away just because someone told her to."
"She wants to finish this on her own terms, is that it?"
"She wants to finish it however she finds most entertaining. And in this case, that means having your head on a platter and bringing me to my knees somehow." I pointed to the heart of the capital, the palace itself. "That's where she's likely to show up."
"Sounds crazy." Norma narrowed her left eye, looking serious. Then, finally, she smiled and leaned back in her chair. "But I suppose you know her better than I do, after all. Let's do as you suggest and get into position. Any specific suggestions on how to defeat her?"
"Honestly, I don't know what to expect. She doesn't seem to have any specialty in this game; she hasn't even chosen a [Class] yet. But that's no reason to underestimate her. Vinea has better reflexes than anyone, and aside from high-[Level] players and NPCs, I don't think anyone could beat her in a duel."
"Hahaha!" "Maybe you're the one underestimating someone here... me." Norma brandished her incredibly powerful sacred weapon, and I could have sworn I saw the object glitch for a split second. "You don't get a [Legendary] [Class] for nothing, you know? Anyway, what about you? Want to join the front lines?"
The idea was tempting. However...
"I have other plans in mind."
Game Over ☠
Jade
"Mistress, they seem to have concentrated their forces at the Imperial Palace, but there are still plenty of patrols hunting for you all over the city," the imp warned as he returned to my shoulder. "How are you feeling, Mistress?"
"Better, thanks to you, Armadeiro," I said, stroking the imp's head as I stood up.
"Mistress, perhaps we should flee after all. You could disappear for a few days until your enemies disperse, maybe?"
"...No. There is nowhere left to run," I said, opening the [Classes] menu. "Now is the time to strike."