The two brothers were looking around the furniture store looking for a bed that they could buy Jordan.
"Oh oh, pick that. I like the size of it, and the pillows look amazing."
Jordan and Riven were looking at the queen-size bed. It seemed a bit flashy with lights being around the bed's frame. The two knew why Jordan wanted this, remembering that it was basically pitch dark, so he needed some form of light. But when the two looked at the price, they realized they didn't have enough units to afford it. Riven then started typing on his wristwatch.
"What are you doing?" Jordan asked beside him.
"Asking Harkel to see if he can send me some units."
"I'll pay for it," a voice called out behind them. The two turned around and saw Damien standing there.
"Mr. Wright, what are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same question. Why do students need a bed when we give you one in your own dorm?"
"One of our friends said the dorm bed was uncomfortable, so we decided to buy a bed from here, and they're fancy, so they want this."
"Hmm, but like I said, I'll buy it for you as compensation."
"Compensation?" Riven questioned.
"I couldn't help but overhear some students talking about your little fight with Samantha and how you got your ass kicked and put in the nurse's office."
Riven's eye twitched in annoyance. "I wouldn't say I got my ass 'kicked.' I said it wasn't even a loss, and she took just as much damage as I did."
"Yet you ended up in the emergency office, and she walked out just fine."
"Are you gonna buy the bed or not?" Riven was getting annoyed at Damien.
"Yeah, bye, but it's your job to put it together and to carry it back wherever you're going to take it."
Damien then walked away from the two. They both then waited, then started to follow him.
"Hey, Riven."
"Yeah, I know. It's most likely he's been following us this entire time, maybe ever since you and me left the training room or ever since I left the school."
"Probably when I went down here to get some burritos for us." Then Jordan facepalmed himself. "Which you and C Jordan ate all of them."
Riven had a question after hearing his brother's words. "C Jordan?"
"Yeah, short for clone Jordan, obviously. We can't keep calling him Jordan, or we're going to get confused by each other, especially the others when they have to find out about him."
"It's not really our choice to name you, so what do you want to be called?"
"Hmm." The voice was thinking in their heads. "Oh, I got it—Jordy."
"Jordy? The nickname we had as a kid. I haven't been called that in ages."
"That's exactly why it's not you who is being called that," Riven said with a cheeky smile.
"You know who was the person that gave me that nickname." Riven's smile disappeared hearing Jordy's words. "Do you guys ever think we'll see Kalder again?"
"Her name isn't Kalder, it's—" But Riven stopped himself as a memory of a man staring at him with a killing instinct made him stop his next words. "I don't know," Riven finally responded.
"The real question, how long can we keep acting awkward around Skye without her suspecting something," Jordan joined in.
"I wouldn't say I'm acting awkward, it's just you."
"Wait a minute, how come you never knew Skye was a Zale? Shouldn't her name have been shown in your system?"
"No, her name had always showed up as 'Skye Vank.'"
"Had?"
"After I found out, the system had, I guess you could say, an update. It changed her name from Skye Vank to Skye Zale. What do you think, Jordy, since you're in the system itself?"
"What I think is the system is limited to your own information or what you know. You never knew Skye was a Zale, yet when you did, it changed. But then that wouldn't explain the Vorrak. We never knew what it was, but the system said no one knows what it is, yet it did."
"Correct, clone me. It said no one in the human race has ever encountered it before."
"So wait, would that mean—" But Riven's thoughts were stopped as Damien walked up.
"Are you two just going to stand there looking into space, or are you going to come on?"
The two walked up towards Damien, who teleported them back to Wren's training room with a bed next to them.
"There you go, a new bed."
"Mr. Wright, if you don't mind me asking, why are you doing this?"
Damien turned to the two and started rubbing the back of his head. "I'm going around helping out some of the first years. I know a lot of you are going through a tough time, so I thought doing this will allow you to get some of your minds straight and allow you to focus more and to greet your parents with the same smile you had when you left."
"What about the students who died? How are you going to help their families?" Jordan questioned.
Something that Riven found funny was Jordy asked the same question in his mind.
"The academy will go to the homes of all the deceased students and teachers alike, and if we have them, we'll give them their body as well as a wealthy compensation that should hold their families up for a little while."
"You're doing this for the public view of yourself," Riven said, seeming like he put it all together.
"Not me. Darius thought if we didn't do this, we would lose a line of rich families, and instead those families would try to put their kids into camp instead of the academy. So we'll do this to convince them to stay."
"But even if that happens, the academy loses a lot of its funding. Wouldn't it? So what's the end goal? Do you think the government will rise up and try to force the families to give you more money?"
"Come on, I thought you were the smart one out of the twins."
Riven took offense to his words. "I can be smart as well."
"Of course we're not planning that. The families wouldn't go for it. Most likely they would try to fight back, and most likely they would win. And even if we did win, which is almost impossible, our forces would thin out to the point where a small guild could take us out, and that is a risk that Darius would not want to take."
"But that answer still doesn't answer my question. After you do this, how will the academy get their money back? Will you sell equipment, get rid of some of your teachers and securities?"
"I do not know. Darius planned something to accomplish getting our funds back in some kind of way, but knowing that man, it involves him and his pride."
After saying those words, Damien then disappeared.
Riven then started to examine the bed, but he realized something.
"Ugh, I have to go down to the city again for a portable generator or charger. The bed needs a plug."
"I really don't feel like walking to it. Can you just teleport there and get it?"
"Fine, but you owe me, Jordan, two things." Riven then disappeared as Jordan started dragging the bed in the training room.
After a few minutes, Riven returned with a large generator and what seemed to be a heater.
"Alright, moment of truth." Riven then put the bed in the system, same for the other things that he brought for his clone brother. As it entered, it disappeared as well. "So, how is it in there, Jordy?"
"It feels good. I mean, there is still a lingering coldness, but it's alright."
"That's good." Jordan smiled.
Riven and Jordan once again locked up Wren's training room and started walking away. When they made it to their dorm, they saw Harkel and Joey waiting for them.
"Finally, we've been waiting all day," Harkel said as riven then threw him a bag of food that he brought while he was down in the city getting the generator, which harkel and Joey started to chew on. Riven then jumped on his bed, with Jordan doing the same in his own bed.
"What's up with you two?" Joey questioned with his mouth full.
"We'll tell you guys tomorrow," Riven grumbled as he fell asleep.
Three hours passed.
Riven then woke up in a dark area.
"Where am I?"
Riven started looking around, where he saw a familiar-looking bed and someone lying on it.
"Wait, that bed and a dark space, and if I'm not wrong, that's Jordan. Does this mean I'm in the system—and that's Jordy?"
Riven then saw a prompt.
[System: A foreign entity has appeared in your system. Would you like to remove it? Y/N]
Riven's eyes widened. "Is it asking me if I want to remove Jordy? But why now? Jordy's been in the system ever since the outing, so why are you asking this now?"
The black-haired boy then got his answer.
[System: The foreign entity is evolving, and the effect it can bring to the system is unknown. System advises the user to remove the foreign entity. Y/N]
Riven looked at his choices, then at Jordy, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Riven immediately clicked no.
"Jordy may be a clone, but that doesn't change the fact that he's based off my brother. Doing this is basically me killing him, and I'll never do that to my family. I'll never let anyone or anything take my family away, not again." Riven then felt himself weakening, and he collapsed.