The XP: Chapter 16

Volnado and Shizaboom were sitting in private box in the audience area of the tournament grounds watching two teams fight each other in order to advance to the next round. Wainright teleported into the box and took his empty seat. “The End of the World club is on their way to the Planes of judgement and Torcano’s new toon is being griefed over in Spirit Flats.” He explained to Volnado.

Volnado watched with a smile on his face as the two teams fought bitterly against each other. “Set the Planes of Judgement to run Judgement of the Soul. I want them out of this competition.” He instructed.

Wainright nodded and then teleported away.

Torcano crawled on the ground, his legs below the knees were bloody stumps. His pistols no more than half a body length away. He scrambled as fast as he could before a shot rang out, the bullet knocking his pistols further away from him. He droped his face almost into the dirt.

“Man that’s gotta be getting frustrating huh?” Vrage asked sarcastically. You’re all super determined and your weapons are so close.” He crouched down by the pistols in the dirt. “Come on buddy, just a little bit further.” Vrage stood up as Torcano pulled himself forward a few more inches. He pulled his pistol and shot Torcano twice in the back. “But then disaster! You’re getting slower and slower, you haven’t gained any skill points in almost an hour Torcano, all that precious time, gone. And this is your second life this hour, if you die again you loose a half hour just waiting to re-spawn.” He crouched down, his shadow looming over Torcano. He stuck his gun in the gaping hole in Torcano’s back. “Aren’t you worried that you friends will think you’ve abandoned them?” Vrage asked.

Torcano looked bored. “Grief all you want Vrage, this is nothing more than a silly game.” Torcano admitted.

Vrage smiled. “Ahhh, the justification of the natural born looser. Destined to beg at the feet of winners for the remaining shreds of their pathetic little lives.” Vrange kicked dirt in Torcano’s face.

Torcano wiped the dirt out of his eyes. “You have serious issues dude.” He replied, pulling himself forward a few more inches. Vrage put his boot on the back of Torcano’s neck and does a little jump hop to kill him off.

Fifteen minutes later Torcano faded back to life. Vrage was leaning against the railing of the old man’s porch. “You’ve been able to re-spawn for five minutes now. D’j’ou make a sandwich or something?” Vrage asked casually.

Torcano nodded. “I had the time so I figured what the hell right?” He dropped his hand onto the handle of his pistol.

Vrage looked at him with a smile on his face. “What are you doing Torcano?”

Torcano tightened his grip. “Finishing this quest.” He replied with determination.

Vrage laughed. “Oh sure, but not till the Guild Wars are over.”

Torcano rolled his eyes. “Is that what this is about?” He asked.

Vrage nodded. “Come on man! You had to know I was being paid to babysit you like this.” He confirmed. Both of them drew their weapons Torcano’s pistols were shot out of is hands cleanly. He made a dash for them and Vrage caught him with a third shot in the shoulder, which knocked him on his back. Vrage sauntered over and looked down at Torcano. “All that time as  Game Master sure didn’t improve your play Style. Not going to be much help to your friends if you can’t keep hold of your guns Torcano.” Vrage leveled the barrel of his gun right between Torcano’s eyes. “Should remember something my daddy always used to say.” Vrage’s statement was interrupted when a bullet tore through his chest. Catching him completely by surprise and stunning him completely.

Sezario Stepped out of the heat waves in the distance and slung his rifle over his back with one hand and pulled a pistol from his side with the other. “A place for everything.” Sezario said now standing over Vrage stunned on the ground. “And everything in its place.” He finished while leveling his pistol at Vrage’s face.

“You’re dead meat noob!” Vrage yelled, still unable to move.

Sezario smiled. “That’s going to be a lot more threatening when I hear it again in ten minutes.” He pulled the trigger and Vrage disappeared. He then turned his attention to Torcano a held out his hand to help Torcano get to his feet.

Torcano took his hand and stood up. “Thanks, I owe you one.” He said.

Sezario smiled and shook his head. “No problem, I’m allergic to douche bags and he was messing with my sinuses something fierce. You need to be long gone by the time he gets back.” Sezario said nodding to the old man. Torcano nodded, picked up his guns, turned in the quest and headed off into the afternoon heat waves in the distance.

University of Console Heroics: Chapter 16

It wasn’t quite time for students to be panicking over their finals so the library is lightly attended by its usual full semester residents. Most at their own tables where they have been all semester, claiming their space in preparation for the rest of the student body to realize the campus library is a genuinely useful resource. Clay and faith were sitting together at a large table. Their books and study materials had long since intertwined and become quite the mess. Clay had spent most of his evening reading from the last chapter of his psychology text, taking notes and highlighting important passages. Faith had her book open but was flipping through flash cards, testing herself on the contents of the previous chapter. Clay finished highlighting a sentence and looked over at Faith as she flipped through card after card. Reading them silently to herself, then flipping each to check her answer and moving the card to the back of the pile. Almost without thinking he reached over and drew a neon yellow line on her arm. Causing her to glance at him over her the top of her cards. He is trying not to smile and failing miserably and before he registers her movement she has her own pink highlighter out and they are locked in a silly game of highlighter tag.

Clay got a hold of both her wrists and tried to give her a stern look. “We should be studying young lady.” He said in his deepest ‘adult’ voice. She twisted her wrist and drew a long pink line on his hand. Their battle began again.

Their table wasn’t far from the fiction section of the library, Where Tanya had been wandering the stacks looking for the library intern from her analysis paralysis class. She found them instead. Her mind immediately started counting broken rules she was witnessing and she felt herself getting angry until she saw the Rho Sigma Gamma patch on his backpack and her field of vision went red.

Faith and Clay were still playing with each other, and the fight had gotten ridiculous as attempted tickling had gotten involved. The temperature at the table dropped five degrees when Tanya approached. “Faith?” She asked with mock surprise.

Faith looked at her and dropped the game as if she had touched a hot burner. “Tanya, Um, Hi, What’s up?” She asked feigning ignorance.

Tanya’s facial expression fit like a cheap Halloween mask. Her smile was painted on and didn’t match the rage in her eyes. She shot Faith a look that landed somewhere between psycho murderer and Stepford Wife. “I’m not, interrupting anything, am I?” She asked with all the intensity of a grease fire that’s just hit a second burner.

Faith put her highlighter down on the table and shook her head. “No, no of course not, not at all Tanya.” She said, moving her chair away from Clay.

Faith repainted her smile which only made her look crazier and looked at Clay. “Can I steal her for just a second then?” It was structured like a question but sounded like a rattle snake warning him off. “Just need to chat with you for a moment dear.” She said looking back at Faith.

Faith quickly grabbed her purse and stood up. “I’ll be right back.” She said without breaking the gaze Tanya had her locked into.

Tanya held the glare and piggybacked on Faith’s comment. “Won’t steal her for more than a minute or two.”

The girls quickly and quietly disappeared into the fiction section. Clay was left, sitting awkwardly by himself. In front of studying he no longer had any interest in.

The second the girls were out of ear shot Tanya spun on Faith. “What the Hell was that Faith?” She spat.

Faith was no longer hiding her annoyance. “None of your business Tanya.” She fired back.

The shred of composure that Tanya had was beginning to fade. “When it comes to the sisterhood everything is my business.” She hissed.

Fury was boiling behind Faith’s eyes now. “You never wanted anything to do with me before we came to college, what makes you think that being in the same sorority would create a stronger bond than the biological one you’ve turned your nose up at.” She spat.

The judgement slid off Tanya like she was coated in Teflon. “As a member of Nu Tau Delta every sister, including you, has the responsibility of maintaining our image on this campus. I don’t know why mom thought the sorority would somehow make you care about how the world sees you when you have never, not once cared about your personal image. Faith that person is not a part of the Nu Tau Delta lifestyle. You may not care in the least about that lifestyle but as long as I am president of the sorority you will abide by the guidelines of the sisterhood. You aren’t just damaging your own reputation here.”

Faith was barely keeping her rage in check during Tanya’s speech. “Really Tanya?” She replied. “I’m the one putting our precious reputation in danger?” She continued. “Then please tell me why I keep hearing that Nu Tau Delta means Never Turn Down a guy, because it sounds more like I’m pulling us out of the mud.” The slap was like lightening. Faith knew it was coming and was still shocked when it hit her cheek. By the time she registered the pain her face was turned to the side.

Tanya leaned in to whisper in Faith’s ear. “Unless you want me to call mom and have her yank your spoiled, judgmental ass out of this school I’d watch that mouth of yours. No one speaks negatively about Nu Tau Delta, nobody.” Her voice had the same tone as a revving table saw and it made Faith flinch. She nodded quickly. Having finally made her point Tanya collected herself. “Now, as your big sister I am willing to forget what I just heard, if, you are willing to go before the chapter to apologies and recommit yourself to the sisterhood.”

Faith slowly turned back to face Tanya, she wiped a tear off her cheek and smeared her mascara slightly. Tanya clicked her tongue. “Oh honey, we need to get you cleaned up. Come on, let’s go say goodbye to your friend and we’ll get some ice on that cheek also.

Faith was more intimidated by the now sickeningly sweetness Tanya was exuding than she was by her fury. She followed behind her sister quickly and quietly as they headed back to the table. When they got back to the table she immediately began to pack her bag.

Clay instantly saw the redness on her cheek, as well as the sadness in her eyes. “Are you ok?” He asked softly while moving closer to her. She moved away from him and shook her head at the same time. Clay looked to Tanya who flashed him a poisonously sweet smile. Clay ignored her and turned back to Faith. “Faith what’s going on?” He asked, trying to look in her eyes. She avoided his gaze and zipped up her bag and slid it over her shoulders. Walked over and stood a step behind and step to the right of Tanya, wanting desperately to leave the library.

Tanya didn’t move. “Say it.” She hissed at her sister.

Faith’s shoulders slumped and she reluctantly made eye contact with Clay. “I, I don’t want to see you again Clay. It’s, not working out between us. Please just, leave me alone.” Her voice was barely above a whisper and wavered like she could cry at any second.

Clay nodded dumbly and sat back down for no other reason than the air conditioning pushed him off his feet.

Pleased with the exchange Tanya made her way out of the library and Faith followed one step behind and to the right.

Shades of Justice: Chapter 20

The light from the teleport faded leaving the Shades in a dark command Center. Gordon had his glasses in his hand and was the first to realize something wasn’t right. “ Technarious?” He called out to the empty room.

Kelly took her glasses off and looked around the destroyed room. “What happened here?” She asked.

“Something very bad.” The voice from the teleport message replied from under one of the blinking consoles. The voice belonged to a guy who looked to a decade or two older than the Shades. He crawled out from under the console with a set of silver sunglasses that had light beaming from the lenses in one hand, and a multi tool in his other hand. The shades took a weary step backwards which did not go unnoticed. “Before you kids get physical, my name is Mark, I’m the transition Shade.” He held up the glasses as evidence.

“Transition Shade?” Dante asked.

“The member of the last group that drew the short straw and remains available to handle any issues that might arise before Technarious and Lumarion are able to assemble a new team.” Warren guessed.

Mark Pointed at Warren. “Got it in one.” He confirmed. “My Shade designation is Liquid Silver.. Sorry we had to meet like this.” He waved at the destroyed command center. The light from his glasses ran over Lumarion’s wall which was shattered in several places.

“What happened here?” Sonya asked.

Mark tested a few of the buttons on the console he had been under and got no reaction. “Isn’t it obvious?” He asked. “Someone broke in and ransacked the place. I haven’t been able to bring up anything other than the teleporter and that fried after I brought you guys in. Technarious and Lumarion are gone, although they were able to set off an alarm for me before they left or were taken.

Kelly stepped forward. “How are we supposed to find them? She asked. "Blinding light is destroyed, I’m shocked out glasses were able to safely teleport us honestly.

Mark looked at Lumarion’s shattered wall. “Look, I’m not going to lie, this isn’t the best situation in the world, but the best thing we can do right now is solve one problem at a time. First things first we have to get some sort of functionality in the command center back online. Then we can recompile Blinding Light and start looking for any clues or trails that Tenchnarious or Lumarion may have left.” Mark explained.

Gordon nodded. “We literally have no better option than to trust you, but I swear if you are lying to us I will make it my life’s mission to hunt you down and end you.” Gordon stated with no bravado. “How can I help” He finished.

Mark smiled. “I think we’re going to get a long just fine.” Lets start by assessing the total state of the damage here so we know how much work we have ahead of us.” He decided.

Immediately the others moved into action. 

Blood and Profit: Chapter 43

The Starseeds led Mew and Eamon to a clearing deep within the jungle. The leaves in this area had landed in a near perfect circle creating an opening in the canopy that the light poured through. In what looked to be the center of the clearing there was a single leaf ship that had been buried almost completely in the ground. Already starting to sprout the beginnings of something that would dwarf the rest of the forest around it.

Eamon’s communicator gave off a chime and he checked the messages he had received. “Great.” He said in mixture of joy and frustration.

Mew turned away from the new growth in the center of the circle of light to reply to her brother. “What now?” She asked.

He was furiously typing a reply to something he had read. “Kepi has given the senate the information we sent her. They are currently debating their next move. I also have a message from the Senate leaders demanding my immediate return to the capitol.” He explained without looking up from his device.

One of the Starseeds touched Mew on her shoulder. She turned back toward the ring of light. “Eamon I don’t think we could leave right now even if we wanted to.” She said moving closer to the circle of light.

Eamon looked up from his communicator to see Mew being led into the open clearing. “Mew what are you doing? Don’t go near that thing!” He shouted.

“They haven’t done anything even remotely hostile since I landed here, they came here to save us, I need you to stop freaking out.” She said without looking back.

Two more Starseeds stepped up next to Eamon and walked him out into the clearing. “What is this thing anyway?” He asked. “You already have plenty of trees, why is this one so special?” He continued. “I mean, this tree’s going to be pretty big from the looks of it, so hey, yay you guys.” He nervously threw thumps up into the air. And his escorts stopped him next to his sister.

Mew shook her head. “Eamon, shut up.” She glared at him.

From every edge of the circle Starseeds emerged into the light. One by one reaching down and implanting their upper limbs into the ground causing the grass between them and the giant seedling to grow several inches the ground to spout hundreds of flowers. As more and more Starseeds pressed themselves into the dirt the seedling sprouts slowly but surely began to grow inch by inch until the seeding was now an impossibly thick intertwined grouping of vines that had begun to spout giant leaves.

When the tree stopped its growth the Starseeds retreated one by one until only one was left. It had discolored bark in the midsection area between its upper and lower limbs and Mew recognized that this was the Starseed crashed into her space station, the one she had rescued and brought down to the planet with her. For a second she got overly excited and ran up to give it a hug. “Oh my god you’re alive!” The Starseed did not return the hug and Mew let go quickly. “I’m sorry, you probably don’t know what hugging is do you?” She asked awkwardly.

The Starseed’s face appeared so that it could answer. Eamon had not seen any of the Starseeds with faces yet and promptly freaked out. “Why does it have a face now?” He shouted.

Mew sighed heavily. “They’re a psychic species Eamon. The little dream journey you took? The view from space? Their ‘faces’? All of that are ways they can communicate with species that cannot interface with their dark matter.” She explained.

“Dark matter?” Eamon asked.

The Starseed finally spoke. “These bodies are only one of the forms that we can exist in. Technically speaking there is no such thing as “we”. Only a singular consciousness that is made up of a living cloud of dense neurofibers. “we” are all the knowledge the cloud contains. Normally the cloud is not present in this phase space, but something about traveling through the ring with our escape pods has pulled a piece of the cloud with us. Now that our consciousness is physically present in this phase space it can be damaged and even destroyed. We must grow another elder tree that can phase shift before we lose "our mind" completely.”

Eamon had a completely blank look on his face. He looked to Mew. “I’m assuming that made sense to you.” He said.

She nodded. “I grasped the general concept, yeah.” She confirmed.

Eamon nodded. “Good cause when my bosses ask, you get to explain all of this. Tree ships, collective consciousness, psychic bonsai plants. Sexy fun time dirt rituals, everything that’s happened since I landed has been totally wacko fantasy dream time.” He ranted heading out of the clearing.

Mew smiled awkwardly at the Starseed. “Sorry about him.”

The Starseed shrugged.

Lidarion: Chapter 15

The next morning came far too quickly for Trent’s liking. He had talked with Brooke until she had begun to nod off. They walked together to the inn and gotten a room, where he slept fitfully. She had awoken early and they had decided to have breakfast and continue their conversation from the night before.

“Not long after you left my brother demanded that I wed the eldest son of the head of the banking clan. Neither of us were interested and yet they still held the wedding. Although when neither of us showed up to be married the event took a less than pleasant turn. My brother does not have the same ease of co-operation with the advisory council. He lives in constant fear of assassins and political plots. He is not the same person we knew when we were younger.” Brooke explained.

“I take it that the last thirteen years have been pretty bad then?” Trent asked.

Brooke nodded. “He trusts no one now. The council knows a madman when they see one and they have taken the time required to make sure his transition to figurehead is as peaceful and nonviolent as possible. They keep him wanting for nothing but manage most of the kingdom themselves. We have had lots of free time. Where my brother spent his in libraries hunting legends and fairy tales, I learned from any one that would teach me a martial or weapon art. I have not stepped foot in the throne room since the day you left. If he is not in the library he is there. He eats, and sleeps in that chair.” She finished explaining.

Trent looked out the window at the early morning sun. “Why do you, and why do the counsel still allow him to remain a figurehead?” He asked.

She nodded. “The city and the thirteen families that came together to form the kingdom are old, you have known this your whole life. This system is what it is and while my brother is a nut he is a mostly harmless nut, so rather than dismantle a functioning system that is hundreds of generations old they will wait until he dies and one of the other families will take the throne just as mine did five generations ago. That is the way it has been and that is the way it will continue to be. I don't have the power or the desire to change it.” She replied.

Alex came into the dining area from the kitchen with tiny loaves of bread. “Just because you don’t choose to use the power you have earned, doesn’t mean it no longer exists. Young lady.” She chided.

Brooke smiled. “Is that any way to speak to the crown princess?” She asked sarcastically.

Alex nodded. “You already know that title doesn’t mean anything to me and even if it did, how much sway do you think you’d have over me having just admitted out loud that you don’t want it?” She shot back smartly.

“Jesus you two are loud.” Lisa said appearing at the bottom of the stairs leading to the second floor of the Inn. She looked at the two royal guards standing at the front door. “What are they doing here?” She asked.

Everyone looked at the guards. “They are here to escort us to our meeting with his royal highness the King of Lidarion.” Brooke answered.

Lisa looked confused. “Then why are they standing there silently?” She asked.

Brooke stood up and gave each of the guards a tiny roll from Alex’s stash.  Each guard thanked her as they accepted a roll. “They showed up almost an hour ago. They told us we were summoned. I told them you were still sleeping, they told me that the king would not wait patiently. I explained to them that he had been waiting thirteen years, another couple hours wouldn’t kill him so they could either pass the time with breakfast or pass the time unconscious.” She smiled at Lisa and held out the last of the rolls. “Breakfast before we go?” She asked warmly.

The XP: Chapter 15

The tournament colosseum is absolutely massive. Almost every player in the game is currently watching a match play out inside of it. The members of The End of The World Club however are loitering just outside the main entrance. Bob is pacing back and forth. The Matriarch is teaching Trart how to knit, Blackout is sitting against the building with his eyes closed trying to relax. Stygian is looking at the sky.

“What time is it?” Bob asked.

“Three minutes after the last time you asked.” Blackout replied without opening his eyes.

“So we have almost two hours till our first fight.” She said to herself. She notices Stygian looking at the sky. “Stygian what are you doing?” She asked.

“There’s a Shuster and Banes marathon on, they’re showing the arsonist cycle right now.” Stygian replies without moving.

Bob stops pacing. “You’re watching tv?” she asked.

“Yeah, we’ve got two hours to kill, so unless you want to run a dungeon or something I’ve got nothing better to do.” He replied.

Bob perked up at the mention of a dungeon. “That’s not a bad idea.” She said and started pacing again.

“Oblivion Sanctuary?” Blackout asked.

“Too easy, Trart could run it alone with his eyes closed.” Bob pointed out.

Blackout nodded. “Yeah but it’s got no lockout timer, it’s short, we’re guaranteed not to die, and one of us might get lucky and loot the Oblivion Key.” He explained.

Bob stopped pacing. “I still don’t think it exists.” Bob replied.

“What’s the Oblivion Key?” Stygian asked.

Trart turned away from watching The Matriarch knit. “The last expansion to the game was called ‘Legends and nightmares.’ It added a ton of content for all levels that required players to collect and decipher stories, to interact with the narratives of the world in a way that no other MMO had ever done before. Of Course the Data miners dug through the source code and found the names of items and all kinds of graphical clues and hints, but while they knew what was in the expansion they couldn’t discern the relationships of the things they were seeing, there were thousands of new items and interaction pathways. Most of it has been figured out by the players at this point but there is one thing that is still unconfirmed.” He was talking like he was telling the beginning of a ghost story. “The Oblivion key supposedly drops off the Overseer of Time in the Oblivion Sanctuary. But it’s not in his loot table, and no player has ever actually been able to prove they have the item in their inventory.” Trart explained.

“What does it let us access?” Stygian asked.

Trart smiled. “The plane of Judgement.” Trart smiled. “A dungeon that exactly five players have ever been in.”

Bob “The online wiki shows that five players have been tagged to the dungeon. Those five were most likely Game Masters. This is all speculation.” Bob chimed in.

The Matriarch put her knitting down. “I have it.” She said bluntly.

Everyone looked at her, including Stygian.

Bob was shocked. “Have what?” She asked skeptically.

The Matriarch’s knitting disappeared. “I’m one of the five.” She answered

Blackout stood up. “Prove it.” He demanded.

The matriarch stood up herself. Reached for a cord around her neck and pulled it from under her tunic, revealing a black iron key filled with twinkling stars that reflected in the eyes of the others. “You guys have no clue what you’re about to experience." She smiled. 

University of Console Heroics: Chapter 15

Bannister’s office had changed, or more accurately his office was reflecting the changes that had begun to show in him. His desk was still covered with a castle walls worth of essays, but on top of one of the corner stacks sat an old faded picture of two young men. One wearing denim overalls on top of a red shirt, the other wearing denim overalls over a green shirt. Bannister is writing an excessive amount of notes on the paper he is grading. There was a knock at his door and it broke his concentration. His hand froze, the tip of the pen hovered in midair, another knock at the door. He put the pen down, his train of thought long gone. “Come in.” He said. The door opened and Sanders walked into the office and sat in his usual chair after shutting the door. “Well this is a twist on the established pattern.” Banister remarked.

Sanders nodded silently and sunk into the chair. “I couldn’t wait until after class.” He explained.

Bannister gave a concerned look. “Are you ok? What’s wrong?” He asked.

Sanders shook his head. “I’ve been better, I’m dropping your class.” He admitted.

Bannister shook his head. “Not this close to finals you’re not.

Sanders stared at the wall of the desk, avoiding Banisters eye line. “It’s already done.”

Banister almost threw his pen. “Why would you do that to yourself?” He shouted.

Sanders burned holes in the wall of the desk. “Because I should never have signed up for this class in the first place. I just…I’m sorry. I’ve been a horrible person and horrible student this semester. It was wrong of me to pry into your life.” He confessed.

Bannister set his pen on the desk and sat back in his chair. “You done vilifying yourself?” He asked sarcastically.

Sanders eyes left the desk to look in surprise at Bannister. “What?” He asked.

Bannister sat forward and picked his pen up and tapped it a few times on the essay he was grading. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions. SO maybe the road to heaven is paved with bad ones.” He offered.

Sanders was lost. “What the hell does that mean?” He asked.

Bannister looked at the photo on his desk. “You may have been a pushy, attitudinal prick but you helped me more than you know.” He admitted.

Sanders looked at the photo. “So who’s important enough in your life to be immortalized on your desk?” He asked, picking up the photo and looking at it.

Bannister smiled. “It’s a friend of mine from my college days.” Bannister noticed that Sanders was frozen on the photo. “You sure you’re really ok?” He asked again.

Sanders broke away from the photo and nodded quickly. “Yeah, Yeah I’m fine.” He confirmed while still holding the photo. He cleared his throat and looked at it again. “You know my dad went here too.” Sanders started. Banister nodded. “He was an Adventure Studies Major. Ended up as a background spectator in a bunch of fighting games.” Sanders continued.

Bannister nodded. “That’s good, steady work.” He offered.

Sanders nodded. “Oh sure. But it’s not what he wanted to do with his life, not, who he was.” Sanders chose his words carefully. “He was so, happy, the day I got my acceptance letter from UCH. He pulled this big box of all his old university stuff.” For the first time Bannister realizes he is listening to Sanders and not the other way around. He quietly leans forward a little bit. “Sweatshirts and hoodies, all kinds of sports memorabilia.” Sanders reached out and put the photo back on the desk, the picture facing Bannister. “Photos.” He said looking at Bannister. Bannister looked at his photo knowing that the other print of it was in that box. “My parents got divorced this summer. Dad swears that he never meant to hurt us, and I’m know that he loves us, but he said that he couldn’t keep lying to himself. He spent his whole career doing work he hated, he married a woman he desperately wanted to love but never quite could. His whole life, my, our, whole life was one giant lie.” Bannister sat back quietly. “That’s when I First found out about you, the other guy in the photo. Dad’s “friend” from college. For the rest of the summer it burned inside of me, I didn’t know if I should be hurt, happy, mad, or sad. So I signed up for your class. Because I had to meet the man who knew who my father actually was.” Bannister scrunched up his chin for a second and chose not to speak. “Imagine my surprise when you turned out to be so bitter and broken that I thought maybe you were the wrong guy.” Bannister was trying not to cry now. “And so, here I sit. Unreasonably angry at my father, a man who has been reborn and is living the life he denied himself for decades, asking my friend and my professor to forgive me for deceiving him and doing more harm to him than my father could have ever done to me.” Sanders got up out of the chair and walked over to the door. “That’s why I should never have taken your class.” He opened the door and walked out of the office. “Good luck with finals professor.” His voice echoing down the hall as the door closed behind him.

Bannister tapped his pen and stared silently at his office door for a long time.