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It’s been another year now. Leif knows his own name, and responds to it.
Isavet has taken quite a liking to him. She doesn’t quite understand what
Talus did, but she knows he was a bad boy, and seems to be trying to
compensate for him. Ronan and Gia often talk about how close they might have
been to Talus doing something to her. They grew up together as
babies, so he never would have seen her as a threat to his status, but he
might have held hate against her for some other reason. They don’t know what
was going on in his head. They never will, and they have decided to take
this as a blessing. For the most part, they don’t talk about Talus at all,
especially not openly.
Ronan’s mind drifts outside the dome when he’s alone, often towards Talus’
new place on Varkas Reflex. He thinks about him from time to time, wondering
how he’s doing. He’s probably having the time of his life. A significant
portion of the population chooses such a life on purpose, and stays forever.
Ronan could get everything he has here in there, but it wouldn’t feel right.
He would always know it’s not real. He’s clearly not the only one. It’s why
Castlebourne is the fastest growing colony in the galaxy, when it really
should be Varkas Reflex, or it shouldn’t matter since you can technically do
VR anywhere. One day, Castlebourne may sport the highest population of all.
That will be an interesting time. According to projections, he will be done
with this particular simulated experience by then, but who knows? The winds
could shift.
They’re thinking of moving, just to separate themselves from the community.
It has grown since they first arrived. A few other people have settled land
near their farm. And they all know what happened, to some degree, so the
looks Ronan and Gia get can be really uncomfortable, and take them out of
the Norse experience. It wouldn’t be narratively unreasonable either. People
moved all the time in this culture. But there’s one thing that would be hard
to take with them. Ronan isn’t sure if he wants it, though.
“I think we should do it,” Gia says. “I think we should take it with us. You
built that very nice wagon for us. If we moved far up to another beach, it
wouldn’t be too difficult of a trip. It will take us several days
regardless.”
Ronan keeps staring at it. “I built this house around this door. I did it
for Mayumi. I did it for...” He trails off, not wanting to say his name.
“It’s our door now,” Gia points out. “It may be worth more than
anything else we have combined. Some rich person was very upset, but has had
nearly a decade to get over it. But the fact that you’re agonizing over it
leads me to believe that you’re ready?”
Ronan looks at his wife now. “I think I’m ready. It’s time. This phase of
our lives is over. How does Isavet feel about it? Is she attached to this
house?”
“She might want to leave more than any of us,” Gia explains. “She may
understand more about what happened to Leif than we thought. I catch her
sometimes, staring at his crib when he’s not in it. She moves it to where it
was when...” She trails off too. “Vith can’t find a wife here. We should
look somewhere else.”
Ronan chuckles. “Vith doesn’t want a wife.”
“He does if he wants to stay immersed,” Gia says.
“He may not want to do that either,” Ronan calculates. “He’s changed more
than any of us in some ways. He may be ready to leave too, but go in a
different direction.”
“Well, we’ll let him decide that, and I won’t ask him about it. You
shouldn’t either. Now come on, we are not packing up today. Dinner is almost
ready.”
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