Raym kept his eyes on Seroh's, as he told what he knew of Vail. Then Seroh went on in a calm, sorrowful, storyteller's voice:
"Yes — I first met him face to face when he was around your age, Raym. He was a thoroughly isolated person then, gloomy and deeply sorrowful. But ever since he found you..."
He paused a moment, his voice softening:
"I feel as though Vail's spirit has been returned to him, as though you pulled the old Vail out and gave him back to what he used to be. Well, let's see... that day was some time after that incident, specifically... about fourteen years ago, I think. I may not remember exactly..."
A quiet, secluded village on a sunny, peaceful day. Two young men, both seventeen, are strolling along...
The first is someone we've come to know well. The other is a slightly frail boy, with thick, neatly kept hair and a radiant face, as though brimming with hope and life and positivity...
The second boy breaks into a sprint, and shouts in a loud voice:
"Come on, Vail! You don't want to be the loser, do you???"
Vail shouts back at him from behind:
"Better than tripping and looking like a fool, Linus..."
The boy called Linus is annoyed by this, and gives him a look of disappointment, saying:
"What a fun-killer you are..."
Vail cuts in, shouting:
"And where's the fun in falling flat and looking like a lunatic in front of everyone???"
Linus smiles at him, and says:
"No, you idiot — the fun is in the risk that comes with it. You run, you get there faster... but you might fall, you might trip. And that's where the fun is."
Vail gives him a look beyond words, and says, his voice full of disappointment:
"That is a pure gambler's mindset..."
Some time passes until Linus and Vail reach the edge of the wide village, where it looks out over a large province near a recently built facility, rumored to be an SI prison.
Vail sighs as he talks to Linus, and says in a quiet voice:
"How much time do you think we have left???"
Linus's expression changes suddenly, and he lowers his head. The moment Vail notices, he has already turned to him, his expression switched at once to a smile of hope, and he says, a broad smile spreading across his face:
"That doesn't matter... I lived today, and that's enough. And every day I get to live, I'll be happy with it. I won't let something unknown like this cloud every single day."
And suddenly Vail feels that the person before him is someone impossible to understand. This isn't something you hear from anyone these days. And he finds himself smiling with a similar hope, saying only one word:
"Right..."
Some time passes as they gaze at the horizon. Only quiet moments, no words, no sound.
Suddenly Vail shifts his posture, and says to Linus in a serious voice:
"Well... what if this doesn't happen??? What if we stopped them??? What if we asked for help???"
Linus gives Vail a strange look, as if he'd said something wrong, then says:
"Hey, Vail, lower your voice... you don't mean..."
But Vail cuts him off:
"I won't lower it! I'm here, willing to put my life on the line so that we might live always. And yes, I mean them in particular... those heroes who refused this injustice and fight despite their small numbers and the gap in strength."
Linus keeps staring at Vail, and says:
"Hey, Vail, you know they're about to attack us at any moment. They're hunting for them, and you want to ask for their help??? It's like handing them a reason to destroy us, and serving them up on a golden platter."
Then he adds, with a bitter sarcasm:
"Well done — you've killed two birds with one stone. But guess what? We're the two birds."
Vail is offended by his reply, and turns to the opposite side, saying to him:
"But that isn't like you... you're the one who loves risk. We ask them for help: they might save us, or they might be exposed and we all get killed."
Linus looks at Vail with a serious look, and says:
"Vail, you're gambling with many lives. This isn't something to risk!!!"
Vail shouts back at him in a loud voice:
"We'll be killed either way!!! Don't you realize that you're alive today because someone was too lazy to search here??? Do you want to fight with a lesser chance of dying, or die a certain death???"
Then he says firmly, his eyes steady:
"You know something, Linus? I won't ask for their help... I'll join them!!!"