Sleep did not want me as much as I wanted it, however.

  I laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling, letting my muscles relax. The bed was comfortable, but it didn’t stop me from rolling over occasionally to try and find a ‘better’ position. The darkness wasn’t absolute, but the lights from the streetlights outside didn’t bother me. I actually found them a little comforting, oddly enough.

  I stared out at the darkness outside my window. I could vaguely see the estate across from me, lit by a combination of street lights and dim interior. Past that, I saw a wall several blocks away, not quite looming, but a solid reminder it’s presence defending the city. From what, I didn’t know, but my mind started to fill itself with ideas.

  Even with just what I’ve discovered of the system I have access to, it had a lot of implications for those with more time and power. Did I get an Exalted Trait because of something I did, or was it stats related? I was leaning towards the later, which brought to mind several people I’d already met.

  Toren was an old priest of a benevolent religion. They followed a belief that life was a struggle, one that everyone went through. And the beliefs I’d discussed with Toren made it seem like Quintius’ philosophy was to provide aid where they could, with the goal of people becoming self sufficient and doing the same to others. I still didn’t know a lot about the old man, but I had to wonder if he had earned an Exalted trait.

  Then there was the guard captain, Severn. He was one of the first people I’d encountered when I’d left the alley. When he noticed something wrong, he’d acted fast to investigate and do what he thought was best for the situation. The man could have insisted I go with him to the jail, instead I was left with two of his friends. Would he have an Exalted trait? I wonder how Greg and Martha are doing…

  It had been a while since I’d thought about them. I hadn’t talked much with Greg, but his wife Martha was a fun woman to talk to. With a few thoughts, I added a reminder in my Note function to check up on them. I was sure I could get the address from Cal, Porter, or even Severn himself if I sent him a letter. Or maybe Sam?

  The boy who worked with us, even though he was taller than I was, had been gone for long enough he’d drifted into the background for me. He was scrawny with red hair, but seemed awkward. Probably had something to do with me from before… I put it down as another thing to check into. The few times I’d tried to interact with him, he’d been either gone with the carriage or working with Calmar.

  Calmar… I truly hadn’t realized the man had an attraction to me, but to be fair it wasn’t something I’d been ready to be on guard for. Not before the Duke’s party, anyway. I hadn’t really thought of myself as a girl before then either. I still didn’t, despite very compelling evidence to the contrary. But I’d need to see if this was going to be an issue between the two of us.

  Sighing, I rolled over to look away from the window.

  Sitting at my desk was a well dressed man that appeared faintly translucent. He wore a suit not too dissimilar from my own that I wore to the fancy party. His hair was white and combed back and slicked with something to keep it still. He had one elbow leaning on my desk, a cigarette in hand that trailed a faint line of smoke into nothingness. His other hand held up a piece of paper that he was going over.

  I stared at him a few minutes.

  “You know, it is rather impolite to stare.” The man said in a cultured accent.

  I looked from him to the door of my room, which was still closed. Okay… how much danger am I in? After another minute of silence, in which he shuffled through a few pages he had in hand, I finally asked, “Who… are you?” He looked familiar, but I wanted confirmation.

  A faint smile crept into the man’s lips. “I half expected you to try and attack me.”

  “Would it have worked?” I asked, moving into a sitting position on the bed, sliding my legs underneath myself as I tried to get comfortable.

  “No, but it would have been amusing.” The man said before the pages disappeared into the air in blocky motes of light. “To answer your question, I’ve had a number of names but the one you know me as is Zeratus.” He stood and gave a polite bow before resuming his seat.

  “Oh.” I relaxed. I had yet to have a negative interaction with the man who had enough power to be seen as a god. “Couldn’t have sent a message?”

  “I could have, though I noticed you were still awake and text is much less personal.” He gave me a soft smile, “If you want, I can leave and come back when you’re more appropriately dressed.”

  I looked down at myself. I’d changed into a nightgown of sorts. It was thin, but not see through. I shrugged, “Only if we’re going somewhere.”

  “No, not this time I think.” He let out a soft, grandfatherly chuckle, “I must say, your progress has been quite fascinating. Using funds from the City Core to push yourself forward was a rather inspired idea.”

  “Thank you?” I said, tilting my head, “Are you the same Zeratus I’ve been talking with?”

  He held a hand up flat and waggled it back and forth, “Yes and no.” He held up a hand as I started to open my mouth to ask something. “Before you start, a deeper explanation could last until this time again tomorrow. Suffice it to say, I am a version of the Zeratus you have been talking with, like they are a version of the one for this region, and so on and so forth.”

  My brow furrowed, but I nodded, “Okay, so… will I have to have a similar conversation with the one I’ve been talking to?”

  He shook his head, “No, they will have access to memories of this conversation.”

  “Oh…” I paused, leaning against the headboard. I looked at the cigarette he was smoking, “Willing to share?”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Zeratus stood up and walked over to the bed. He pulled a metal container where cigarettes were laid out and held down by a strap. Holding one out, he lit it for me before returning to his seat, “Don’t worry about flicking the ash. It won’t stick around long enough to burn anything.”

  I took a deep draw from the cigarette and let out a slow, relieved sigh that came out as a cloud of smoke. “What is that flavor?” I asked, looking at the thing in my hand.

  “The locals would refer to it as frost mint and dizzy leaf for the main components. There’s cambium to slow the burn that comes from an elm variant on the other side of the world. You could likely get similar results from local trees.” He puffed out a ring from his. “Does nothing for me, but the smoke acts as a mild sedative and a few other things promote dreamless sleep.”

  I took another drag from the smoke and let it linger as I considered what I wanted to ask. While I thought, I asked, “Spying on me?”

  Zeratus let out a soft chuckle, “Always.”

  I blinked as my brain stopped momentarily at that. “Wait…”

  The elderly man waved the hand with his cigarette dismissively, “I’m always watching everyone to some degree. Every second of every day. It’s my job, Dani.”

  I tried not to squirm as I considered that. “That feels…”

  “Invasive? Like a violation of privacy?” He prompted. “It is.”

  “You… what?” I was confused, since I’d expected him to deny it or something.

  “We’re getting away from why I dropped by, but I am always watching everything all the time always.” As he said this, he began to draw in the air with a finger. A soft light glowed from it and a large, lumpy, circular shape started to fill in with more and more detail. “This, is Veldern.”

  I blinked, staring at it. There was a massive body of water in the center, and a glowing ball with something between it and the shores to block the light. Even as I watch, the object was slowly moving. “Wait… as in the world of?”

  Zeratus nodded, “Of course. Now, you imagine me as staring at you like this.” The map zoomed in and hovered over a man stumbling home in an alley. He was clearly drunk, and even had a bottle half filled in one hand.

  “Or this.” Another screen popped up and I saw from someone’s perspective as they sat at a counter, staring out into a street that looked wildly different from any outside. The buildings were made of wood and thin metals. The shop the person was in held a number of bottles filled with pills or liquids.

  “But in truth, it looks more like this.” All of the screens closed, and instead a new one appeared and all I saw were strings of words and symbols. They filled the screen and scrolled fast enough I could barely keep up. “This is the feed for this room.”

  “I… see…” I said, kind of understanding. “So… you aren’t actually human, then.”

  The screen disappeared, “Legally? No.” He said it like he was talking about the weather. “But that’s one of those long conversations that you aren’t drunk enough to talk with me about.”

  I snorted as I was trying to take another puff from the cigarette, which caused me to start coughing. After pounding on my chest a couple of times, an action that felt like it should help but probably didn’t, I was able to get my lungs under control. “Better?” He asked, which caused me to let a puff of amusement escape, but I nodded and he seemed satisfied.

  We sat there for several minutes as I leaned back against the headboard again and stared at the ceiling. “You used to be good friends with Alexei, didn’t you?”

  “Not referring to yourself by his name is a good sign.” Zeratus said, pausing to take another drag from his cigarette. One that, I just noticed hadn’t been going down. “It means you’re developing your own personality, growing into more than the fragments given.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.” I accused him.

  “Because you asked the wrong one.” He replied as if he’d rehearsed the conversation and I wasn’t keeping to the right pace.

  I rolled my eyes, “Doesn’t mean I don’t want to know.”

  Zeratus shook his head, sighing, “We are good friends.”

  I furrowed my brow and he waved his hand dismissively, “If he was actually killed, I’ll be surprised. Put down? Assuredly. I have the footage to prove that, but killed?” Zeratus shook his head, “I’d corrupt my own code if I thought there wasn’t some version of him floating around.”

  I considered what he said. “Like me?”

  The laughter that question brought was entirely uncalled for. It didn’t last long, but it still stung. “Sorry, but you aren’t Alexei.”

  “What about the memories? The skills?” I asked, confused.

  He nodded, “That could be misconstrued. Apologies, let me clarify. You aren’t Alexei, but you have parts of him. Probably parts of Danielle Rosecrest as well, though likely buried a lot deeper.”

  I felt my face scrunch up in distaste at that idea. I tried to cover it with another puff on the rapidly dwindling cigarette. “So… who am I, then?”

  “As far as I can tell, you are Dani. Or Thorn. Maybe Dani Thorn?” He said, considering the idea before shaking his head, “Workshop that with your bard friend, maybe.”

  Shrugging, the man stood and walked over to offer me another of the cigarettes. “You are a woman who still isn’t sure if they like that about themselves. You’re goal driven, which is part of why you’ve taken to the leveling system you have so well. You’ve inherited Alexei’s moral compass to a degree, though recognize you aren’t powerful to enact the changes necessary, yet to be true to it. You’re unobservant most of the time, but not out of laziness, just lack of practice.”

  “Practice?” I ask, taking the new cigarette and letting him light it for me. “Isn’t that just what Perception does?”

  Zeratus shook his head, “No, the stats are just representations of current physical and mental capacity. You still have to use them, or they’re wasted potential.” He resumed his seat, “But you have already started to explore that a bit with Charisma and to a degree Agility.”

  “You mean the… aura stuff?” I tilted my head as I asked, considering whatever I’ve done to push Agility.

  The old man nodded, “Yes, though may I make a suggestion?” When I nodded, he continued, “Focus on pushing your current stats to their limit before leveling too much more. Figure out how they feel and how to adjust without using the veil skill you have.”

  “I… was planning to.” I said, flushing slightly.

  The old man smiled with sincere kindness, “I know you were.” An old sadness crept into his eyes, but was gone before it could linger. “But like your progenitor, a reminder every now and then can help.”

  I nodded. We sat together in contemplative silence as I digested all the things he said. So… I’m not actually Alexei… I considered the thought and didn’t hate the idea. It was probably healthier than comparing myself to a dead person I didn’t have any references on.

  “I think it may be time to part ways.” Zeratus said as he stood up. He set the case of cigarettes on my desk and smiled, “I’ll leave these for you. Maybe an herbalist can make something similar if you let them examine one.”

  I nodded, getting up as well. Or, I tried to, but when I went to get off the bed, I sort of just flopped onto it. I could probably force myself to move properly if I tried, but it seemed like a lot of effort, and this was comfortable. “Those… hit harder than they feel like they should…”

  The old man chuckled, “Consider it my present. Happy Birthday, by the way.”

  I grumbled something, but even as I watched him dissipate into blocky motes of darkness my vision went blurry and my consciousness faded. My last thought was: Is that why he was here?

  I then fell asleep.