RoR3 -Ch9-

“I’ll be honest,” Ryker said and then waved a hand at the white nothing around them. Two chairs appeared a moment later. “From the very beginning, I suspected War might do something like this.

“After all, as you yourself realized, she is the literal living breathing aspect of war. The more war there is, the more embattled the world is, the stronger she is. Right now… most of the world is at war in one way or another. There really isn’t many locations that isn’t fighting someone else.

“More than a few times I briefly considered changing her. Modifying the makeup of her portfolio or just her. Her as a person that is.”

Warner took the seat that was closer to him as Ryker did the same thing.

“But that would’ve defeated the purpose. Just as War had the potential to betray us, she would be the one to make the end-game all the easier,” continued Ryker with a shake of his head. “It isn’t… fair… to her, but I put something in her that will force her to respond as I will her to. There’s nothing she can do to stop it, either. She’d have to kill herself, send her soul on to be cleansed, wait for it to be reborn, then die again, just for it to be removed from her.

“And that little piece of her is what I need for her to be useful to me. Because as much as I want to claim I’m innocent of the crimes you’ve judged Miles for, it’s not as if I haven’t done similar things myself.”

“I don’t sense the same injustice from you,” disagreed Warner with a firm shake of his head. “You do have some injustice to you but your far more weighed down by your righteous behavior.

“Miles… Miles only lives to fight, kill, and do battle with his perceived enemies. Or at least, he was for far too long to ever clear his fate of wrongdoing. He and War are very similar.”

Clicking his tongue, Ryker looked down to his shoes. Warner only now noticed they looked like runners from his own world.

“That Campbell line… like hanging onto an rabid dog. Could bite you if you’re not holding onto it right. Should you sic it on your enemies, be sure you won’t regret anything it does because once you let go there’s no going back,” muttered Ryker. He raised his gaze back up to Warner. “But that’s neither here nor there. With War, there isn’t much you can do. Do your best to avoid her. Realistically speaking, you’re not strong enough to take her on directly.”

“Kinda seems like she’s the one who came for me. She found me somewhere I wouldn’t expect anyone to find me,” complained Warner.

“I mean, she’s War. She knows where all participants are in a war,” Ryker said with a laugh. “You’re at war with those who would commit injustice. She is easily the worst of the worst. Of course she knows where you are. Almost at all times.”

“Goodie. So how am I supposed to avoid her?”

“Do what you did previously. Disparage her. Don’t engage her. Let her grind her gears and get her engine hot, all for nothing. She’ll get frustrated or bored, then move off.”

“Or, you know, kill me out of hand.”

“Unlikely, though it is possible. It should be fine.”

Warner rolled his eyes at that. He could distinct remember that this man had a problem at times when it came to empathizing with other people.

“Anyways. It was good to see you Warner. I probably won’t be able to appear like this again but it was worth seeing you when you called out to me,” Ryker said with a wide and earnest smile. “I’ll put you back into your own world now at your home. Along with your car.

“Remember… just try to lay low if possible. It’ll be over relatively soon. Just gotta survive to the end of it.”

Before Warner could respond, he found himself sitting in his living room.

Across from him was Inger who had a very bored look on her face. She was idly flipping through the channels on the tv.

No one else was around.

“Ah, I’ve returned,” Warner announced when Inger’s head started to turn his way. “Did I miss anything?”

Staring at him with wide eyes, the beautiful Valkryja didn’t seem to know how to process his appearance. Her breath was caught in her chest and to Warner she looked a lot like a landed fish, just with her mouth closed.

“I… didn’t even hear you come in,” she said then set the remote down. “No. Nothing really going on here. Everything is relatively calm as far as I can tell.

“Daria is upstairs speaking with Dayine. Ylva and Maya haven’t returned yet.”

“Right, then I’ll go visit Lauren after I check in with Daria,” Warner said coming to a decision.

“Uhm, leave them be?” asked Inger, looking pained but also hopeful. “They’re working things out. Dayine is very… angry… at what she did to herself. Though she also blames Daria to a degree. You showing up will only exacerbate it.”

There was a buzz from the phone in his pocket. He’d clearly just received a text message.

That would be Daria telling me everything is fine.

If I opened my phone, read the message, and asked her to text me again if everything was fine, what woul—

Another buzz came from Warner’s phone that was most assuredly in response to his thoughts.

Pulling out his phone he glanced at it.

Two messages from “Fruit-Loop”. Looking at them he saw exactly what he expected. Her telling him to go see Lauren and that everything is fine. They’d talk about Ryker later.

The second message being that yes, everything really was fine.

“Okay, see ya,” Warner said and stood up. He hadn’t actually been planning on going and seeing Lauren but he suddenly wanted to get away from everyone else.

To be alone and think.

A drive to Aelia’s house sounded perfect. That was just enough time to let his brain sort a couple things out, but not long enough to get him trapped in a thinking loop.

“Uhm, can I go with you?” asked Inger, getting to her feet as well. “I promise I can be a non-entity if you’re just looking for peace and quiet. You shouldn’t be going alone anywhere, however.”

Huh. After War popped up, she’s not wrong, I guess.

“Sure, let’s go,” Warner allowed.

***

“Lovely home,” murmured Inger, looking out at the rather large house they were coming up to. “This is Aelia’s?”

“One of them, yeah. She owns more than a few from what I can gather. Some are fronts, some aren’t. This one is where she actually lives,” murmured Warner and killed the engine after putting it in park.

This was the first thing Inger had said since they’d left the house. She’d been true to her word and just let him think to himself. Even when they’d stopped at the gas station to buy a few things and gas she hadn’t said anything.

The only words she’d said at all was to the clerk when she’d bought herself an energy drink.

In the end Warner hadn’t managed to come with anything useful despite Inger sticking to her word.

All he’d managed to do though was convince himself to stay away from War, talk to Daria when he got home, and figure out how they were supposed to handle this. If the world was likely coming to a screeching halt soon, it’d be best if they got out of the way.

Warner started heading for the door, still contemplating everything he’d found out.

Inger drifted over beside him and was moving along on his right. Dressed in casual clothes she moved with a liquid grace. It made her look more like a predator passing through brushes than a woman in an urban environment.

Before Warner reached the door it opened. Revealing Lauren standing in the doorway.

“Hello,” said the Were from where she stood, looking confused. “Is something wrong? Did something… something happen to Aelia?”

“Nope,” Warner said with a grin. Reaching into his coat pocket he pulled out a pouch of beef jerky he’d purchased on the way here just for this moment. “Also, I brought you a snack. I wasn’t sure what your favorite flavor was so I just went with teriyaki.”

Lauren’s face scrunched up in a weird look, then she grinned when Warner stopped in front of her. Reaching out she took the pouch, tore the top of it off and stuck her hand in immediately.

His aunt Tiffany had once told him beef jerky was something every single Were that came from a carnivore background loved. There was no use in trying to eat it by yourself if you had some and a friend or family member who was a Were was around.

In fact, even a Were stranger would possibly come up to you to ask for a piece if you had some.

Lauren moved away from the door having pushed a large piece of the jerky into her mouth and started chewing. The young woman inviting them in without actually doing so.

“How ya feeling?” Warner asked, entering the home. “Daria made it sound like you were on the back-end of it and were recovering nicely at this point.”

“Yeah, just tired,” Lauren said around a mouth-full of food. “Worn out but doing fine. I never expected there to be Were only viruses that you get once. I mean, wouldn’t they have vaccines for it since it’s a one time thing? Like chicken pox or whatever.”

Warner grinned. He remembered getting chicken pox as a kid. It was as surprise to him that he was able to get Maya a vaccine for it.

“I mean, dunno what to tell ya. Maybe you want to go into Para-Science,” Warner said while Inger closed the door behind him after having entered. “I hear that’s a big field and it’s only going to get bigger now that the world knows of the Para world.”

“That’s a thought,” Lauren said and flopped down into Aelia’s couch. On the tv was a movie that’d been paused. Next to the couch was a cardboard box filled with tissues and the remnants of several snacks, drinks, and paper plates.

It looked like Lauren was living on the couch at the moment while recovering. Not that he could blame her. Warner did the same often when he was sick.

“Right? Get a masters in Para Science and get in now. You’ll be the first generation that gets to make the bridge between the two,” Warner said, taking a seat in a love-seat. Inger immediately joined him and leaned into him.

“It’s a good paying field,” offered Inger. “I’ve gone to college several times and have multiple degrees. It’s always interesting to see how much changes after several decades. I should go back again soon to see what’s been updated.

“Maybe we could go to college together for it. I wouldn’t mind having someone from your generation to help guide an old lady like me through it.”

Inger was grinning as she said it, clearly teasing but also making an honest offer to the other woman. Warner assumed she’d said it the way she did to make it sound more like a joke and a request, than an offer of assistance.

“Para science,” murmured Lauren, chewing away at yet another mouthful of jerky. “I mean… why not? Aelia said she’d pay for college for me so… it’s not like I can’t go where I want. But… what about Maya?”

“Don’t worry about her,” Warner said dismissively. He knew what Maya wanted to do. “Her plan is to get into law. Apparently her run in with the police… or drive in as she’d say if she was here, left her with a desire to pursue the legal field.”

“Well, considering her dad is Yellow-Eyes, justice and law seems obvious,” Lauren said with a chuckle. “Though, I wanted to ask you Mr. James—”

“Warner, uncle, or whatever else you choose. No Mr. James,” interrupted Warner. He had contemplated saying ‘dad’ but that seemed like a push too far. This young woman had just lost her parents. She wasn’t looking to replace them and he didn’t need to push her. “And I know you and Maya have talked about everything and what it means.

“Aelia is a partner to me. It’s very likely she’ll want kids at some point. That means you’ll have siblings in a way eventually. So we’ll need to break that ‘Mr. James’ thing now. Not allowed.”

Lauren froze and looked incredibly spooked. Her eyes dropped to the ground and she kept chewing, contemplating his words.

“Uhm… can I go with Uncle for now? I call Aelia auntie at times so it kinda fits,” whispered Lauren.

“Of course you can. All we want is for you to be happy and comfortable. That’s all,” Warner said and meant it. Lauren had been Maya’s best friend forever and had been there when Warner couldn’t. For Lauren, he’d bend the world to fit her needs.

“Anyways… I wanted to ask you Uncle u-uuhm… that is…”

“Just ask him, dear,” Inger said with a warm smile. “Whatever it is, just ask.”

Lauren sucked in a rapid breath.

“How do you know what really is just or what isn’t?” she asked suddenly. “I mean… whats just to a Were, is different than a ‘Pire, or a Hume. Then beyond that… what’s legal and illegal in different countries or on religion.

“Like… what if you went to the middle-east. You’d see a lot of people unjust over there because you’re from the ‘West’, right? So… how does that work, exactly?”

Warner felt like he’d just been hit by a truck and was sent to another world.

Her question was something he’d considered only the very edges of. Every time he’d contemplated it he’d felt like he was getting a headache. It was too much for a simple man like him to really consider.

“Honestly, I don’t know, Lauren,” answered Warner honestly. “My viewpoints… my upbringing… all tell me what is right and wrong. So you’re absolutely correct to wonder how I’d view other cultures.

“I had a very similar experience with a man who had done wrong, then worked tirelessly to fix it. To go above and beyond his heinous act and do far more good than he’d ever done wrong.

“At that time I wasn’t able to effectively judge him. It was too much for me. Even now I’m not absolutely sure if what I did was wrong or right.

“But to your question, I think if I planned on going anywhere I’d need to understand the law of that place first and foremost. How it works and what would be considered just and unjust. Because you’re right, my beliefs don’t have any more or less weight than another country’s.”

“Indeed a wise way to look at it,” agreed Inger. “After all, for me in my homeland, a duel is perfectly acceptable to settle a dispute. The winner was always right, even if they were actually wrong. But that was just and would be true justice.

“The justice of this country doesn’t coincide with my own sense of what is right and wrong. To assert that yours is the one true way to see justice would be ridiculous.”

Lauren looked even more confused now than before she asked the question.

Warner felt the same.

It was a deep question that couldn’t be answered without questioning the state of the world. That would ultimately devolve into a debate about religion as well.

Deciding to see what Warin had done, Warner accessed the man’s memories.

What he saw seemed to fit with what Warner had been thinking. That justice, like language, was dependent on the location and era. Things changed, evolved, and became other things with time.

“The previous holder of the right of retribution acted with whatever was codified in the land’s laws. Even if it was an unjust law, that was their law.

“Though that didn’t stop him from pursuing those who put an unjust law into the books and pronouncing them as unjust. Though he didn’t do that often and seemed to reserve it for only obvious situations. Where the law was even unjust within the context of the legal system in question.”

The more Warner dug through Warin’s memories and thoughts of similar situations, he found the man had also struggled with the situation. Debating endlessly at what point he should interfere and at what juncture.

“Warin struggled with it,” continued Warner after a pause. “He wasn’t sure either. While it isn’t a perfect answer, it was the best one he came up with as well. There truly is no black or white version of it that solves everything neatly.

“Life is messy and doesn’t give a damn how chaotic it all is. I wonder what the Architect would say about it. Or the Originator.”

“I never had the pleasure of meeting either of them,” Inger remarked sadly.

“I’ve met both,” Warner said absentmindedly. “The Originator is a bit of a… carefree spirit and an ass. He and the Architect get along quite well together. Very similar in many regards.

“The Originator is the heart of the operation where the Architect is the brains. If I had to guess what they’d say about it… well… the Originator would probably laugh and just yell, ‘That’s life!’ and think it was funny.

“The Architect would apologize for how he wasn’t able to make it more binary or easy to understand.”

Inger and Lauren were both watching Warner curiously now.

Realizing he’d said more than he should have, he just shrugged his shoulders.

“Architect made me personally with the Originator. I’m the replacement for Warin after all. I met them when they made me. Only got the memories back recently,” explained Warner. “And that’s—”

Warner’s phone vibrated in his pocket.

There was a chiming noise from Inger next to him.

Frowning, Warner pulled out his phone and looked to the screen.

It was a simple message from Daria to “turn on the news”.

“Lauren, could you turn on the news?” Warner asked, setting his phone down in his lap.

“Sure, no worries. What’s up?” asked the young woman as she grabbed the remote. Lifting it up she pointed it at the tv and flipped through the menus.

“No idea, Daria just wanted me to turn on the news.”

Several seconds of menu selecting and the news came on.

The sound was muted, but what they were looking at was obvious without it.

It looked almost like a war.

A number of people in military gear were running around and shooting at people in what looked like police uniforms and gear. There were armored vehicles as well firing almost indiscriminately.

Smoke was pouring out of several buildings and there was visible fire as well.

Except the location didn’t seem to be in the united states.

At the bottom was a simple tag-line that read, “multiple attacks across the world targeting military locations”.

“What the hell?” Warned asked no one.

Then the footage swapped to what looked to be the pentagon.

A great many soldiers were clashing with other soldiers in a different uniform. Full on firefights from cover as groups attacked, retreated, and maneuvered across the grounds.

“Holy shit,” muttered Lauren.

Damn. This is an attack on me personally, isn’t it?

This is War going after me as her enemy.

I can’t avoid her, can I?

“I have to go,” Warner said and stood up. He planned to head to the nearest military base. He imagined it was probably under direct attack.

“I’ll go with you,” Inger added, getting to her feet as well. “Call on Ylva. Daria will notify Dayine.”