Lucas, however, only recalled one thing about Kegan: that he had died alone. His possessions had been taken from him without him noticing, cobwebs had grown and were scattered across everything, and, in his madness, he had lost all those close to him. Lucas’s ability to relate to Kegan’s loss and suffering let him not only sympathize with the man but also empathize.

I’ve done the same, Lucas thought, considering how empty the room felt and how it mirrored his own apartment’s completely barren interior. Aside from the pod and a place to eat a meal, he had kept nothing. He had gotten rid of everything he could when he moved from the home he had shared with his wife back to the tiny apartment they had first lived in when they started the company.

“You still with me, Lucas?” Xun Guan asked.

Lucas didn’t know if she had been talking or not while he was caught up in his own thoughts. He felt bad about it, but she didn’t give him a chance to apologize for dozing off in a conversation. “Good. Now, since you’re back with me, we need to cover the points. I think the best would be to start with what class you’re going to want to play.”

“Right.” Lucas remembered that was the first of the three things that she had said they needed to tackle. It was also one of the reasons why the fight with Kegan was much more difficult than it should have been. “Well, what classes can I train for now since I’m in the Imperium? And can my associates access the classes too?”

“Do they mind giving up their right to join the rebellion and progress normally?” Xun Guan asked.

“Probably not.”

“Then the sky's the limit. Tell me what you need, and I’ll be sure to find an appropriate class that will suit you. The top trainers are in Dray von Maidbanger’s town, but I should be able to bring them out to your town given enough time,” she explained.

“I see . . .” Lucas thought about what class he wanted for a minute, recalling his struggle with Kegan. “Well, for starters, I need anything suiting a mercenary or a “cool” melee type for my fox-tailed crewmate—”

“Wait, what?” Xun Guan did a little take as she heard Lucas mention Bonnie. “You have a Were-Fox with you?”

“Yes,” Lucas answered, actually enjoying Xun Guan’s surprised expression.

“She does know that you’re part of the Imperium, right? Like, the people that will be in charge of oppressing her race. Right?”

Lucas shrugged. “She knows, and she doesn’t care. Is it going to be a problem in terms of getting her a trainer though?”

“No,” Xun Guan sighed. “No problem at all. I’ll find someone willing to train a non-Human, but that’s just weird. I’ll never understand some players. You’d think that, if she was going to play a non-Human, she’d at least stand up for non-Human causes.”