Milo talking with Belinda: The raw rewrite with bonus 2k words! (Patreon)

Round two of this chapter. Some changes were made based on feedback. As usual, when I go back to a chapter, more words were generated. Take a look (Ignore typos) and give me some more comments. This chapter is now up to 4200 words. I'll be doing one more edit of this chapter before it's finished.

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Milo was regretting meeting at this place; he had too many uncomfortable memories associated with it. They'd won a huge battle, but at the time, he had been hurt so badly that he'd just wandered off to feed his growing cheese addiction and been captured by the Slaver. When he returned, he was self absorbed in fixing his head and trying to understand what had happened. Finding Limburger Hollow had been good for him. He was much better now, more confident and better trained in his abilities. Most importantly, he was free to go where he wanted.

But the ordeal on the airship would haunt him. He was very glad Philistron was dead and that he'd helped kill him. He had met no one else in the game who was so cruel and inhuman. That the Slaver had been created by a human player, not the AI running the game, was ironic. The whole encounter had been like being in hell, but he'd learned so many new things and, in the end, helped people. He needed to focus on that. Freeing the clan of halflings and children from the city, and everyone else in those cages. And the two people trapped with him and tortured by Philistron. He thought about them from time to time. Wally's revelation about that somewhere in the world there might be people like him had been shocking. He'd denied it at first, but slowly unwrapped the idea. There could have been another batch created. If so, they were strangers and could be friends or foes. He had a tendency to paranoia, but some of his siblings, like Bork, had been consumed by it. That would make them dangerous.

A small part of him considered the idea of it being some of his family. Deaths could be faked. He had gone back over the reports about the deaths of each of his family members. The early reports were brutal. 'Subject 4G dead of seizure, body disposed of by incineration. Subject 4J dead from unknown causes. The autopsy showed a possible stroke. Body sectioned and sold to {redacted} for research.' His own was interesting. He was listed as 'Subject 4M lost in transit, assumed dead.' It was the file with the last report that he went over again and again. There was little information. 'Subjects 4A, 4B, 4N, 4O and 4Z dead from vehicular wreck, explosion, and subsequent fire. Remains of bodies consumed by fire found in the wreckage of vehicle used in the escape confirm deaths.'

They would have been very smart and capable by then, and able to work flawlessly as a team. The plan seemed simplistic. He started a new investigation, focusing on every person who had worked at that facility, and followed them for years. He found three people who seemed very well off for their jobs. Each year on a day near the anniversary of his family's death, a fairly large chunk of money was deposited into the accounts of each of the three men.

If Wally was correct, and someone was using the same tools as he used, tools which left tell-tale signs only detectable by an AI, if might be his family. If they were unaware they were leaving clues, Wally might be able to get information on their whereabouts and what they were working on. Someone using those tools had cleaned out the majority of Victor's assets that were invested in Syllabary. Milo had taken the rest of his money, leaving Victor broke and on the run. Wally would alert him if the A.I. found anything. Milo wondered if he had already met two of them.

It would be a strange coincidence, but they fit the profile of what Milo would expect in his siblings, and he had large doubts those were two of Victors employees using the specially programmed pods. Firstly, based on the strange quest, if one person was logging in to use a special character, why not all 37? Only three of the special pods had been used. The others had been found in different countries, linked to thousands of Mark 2 pods. Secondly, they had been smart. He'd argued with them, especially the cat. All three of them were crazed and in withdrawal from their individual drugs. But they were smart enough to converse in code that would be difficult for a highly intelligent person to follow, and impossible for a normal person. They were too good at it, even considering they'd been there for weeks. Wally could find no record of them. They never logged back in. That was smart, or paranoid. If that had been part of his family, he would be insanely happy to find them. But for now, he'd wait for Wally to complete his search. He hoped it was them that had stolen Victor's money. He deserved it.

It wasn't lost on him that he might have created his own problem with Victor. The aging mobster had traded in every favor he was owed, thrown every criminal he knew to the wolves, and taken a deal in the US with witness protection. And now he was laying low near his last remaining relative. Milo didn't feel it was any coincidence that Belinda would inherit a large amount of money soon.

That brought him back to today's problem: Belinda. He wanted to help her. He had to warn her. She'd asked for help with her medical problems. But could he trust her? It wasn't just about him. If Victor found out Milo was alive, he might come after him, especially if he suspected that Milo had taken some of his money. Milo could run and hide, but his life in the habitat would be as a hidden fugitive again. Butch and his family would be at risk as well. He could yell for help from Wally and Steven, but he wasn't sure what they could do. It was a bad situation with too many variables and something Milo would do almost anything to avoid.

Belinda had no trouble descending into the mines. The miners knew her, and she'd often come down here to heal injuries and set broken bones. Good relations smoothed out potential problems when she came down here with groups to explore caverns and kill monsters for experience. Several people asked if she needed an escort but she thanked them and said no. The monument put up marking the defeat of the World Boss was only quarter mile into the mines, along the largest cavern. It was a convenient meeting spot for adventuring groups. The mining guild had hired a stone sculptor to create a model of Uthneragrubban, and a large plaque commemorating the battle.

She was a little nervous about talking with Milo. Something had the boy tied in knots and barely able to speak. He was really worried about something. Her first guess was her Uncle Victor. She knew he'd done some bad things before he retired and he was very possessive of her. Victor and John had been arguing a lot lately about her medical care, going to see her friends, even her gloves. John wanted her to "loan him, just for a little bit" her gloves. She'd hid them instead, leaving them with Min, and then screamed at him for a day when her arms hurt and didn't work right. Uncle Victor used that as a wedge, baking her on keeping what was hers. She was happy to have him on her side but sensed it was more about opposing her step-father.

And the fight over her name. John had papers he wanted to submit, changing her name permanently to Sabbatino. That went over poorly with Victor, and she wasn't sure at all. Seimovich was the family name. Her mother had kept it when she was married. She wanted to use the family name when she turned 18. But John was being clingy, saying he was afraid of losing her. It was extremely tiring. And how crazy daddy was acting made her wonder if that might be part of the Milo problem. Her dad was in charge of Manpower, and they were hiring everyone they could in the habitat. Many Parents were working long hours. Butch and Brad had talked about working for her dad as soon as they could. That would really break up their group.

She was sure if she got Milo to open up, that they could work everything out. She saw him sitting cross-legged on the ground with his back to the wall. It was hard to miss him in that glaring orange tunic with all the tears and patches. She walked up and sat down next to him. "Hi, how are things in the dark caves of doom?"

He looked at her, shrugged, and said, "Hi."

With opening statements out of the way, Belinda and Milo settled down to an awkward silence. Finally, after sitting in quietly for a moment, it became apparent to Belinda that she'd have to start poking at him and try to figure out what was going on in his head. "I'm guessing you know something about my Uncle Victor? And that worries you. Or is it something else."

Milo took a deep breath. "He's certainly part of it. I know a lot about your Great Uncle, Victor Seimovich, and what he's done. You can find out a lot about him with a good computer and few hours of searching. How much do you know about him?"

She shrugged her shoulders, glad she'd guessed right. "I know he isn't the best person. No, ignore that. He's a bad person, but he's always been good to me. I heard a lot about him when I was younger. He talked with people on the phone or to his employees that followed him around. Always in Russian, and they just assumed I didn't understand. It was a fun game I played, at least until I understood what he was talking about. At some point I think he realized I could understand a lot of what was said, and he was more careful. It's not something I ever talked to him about, and the one time I asked John, he just said, 'We don't talk about what Uncle Victor does.' After that, it became something I knew about, but it didn't affect me."

"But if you're worried that he's in the habitat, don't be. He hardly leaves his apartment. Something big happened before he came here, and he's being very careful about where he goes."

Milo picked up a rock, considered how useless throwing rocks at a stalactite was, and threw it anyway. "Let me tell you about the last bad thing he did, and you judge if we have to worry. When the new game started, he had places all over the world where he put people in pods to work in the game and sell their labor. But not the new pods, the old crappy ones that could kill people. The people he used were desperate. Refugees, people from habitats, and people accused of crimes that he paid bail on. It was a huge operation, with tens of thousands of people. The old Mark 2 pods were bad when they were new, and you can't legally used them because of the flaws. People were dying everyday working for him."

Belinda was staring at him. "Victor did that? What happened?"

"The authorities found out. They saved a lot of people. And found a lot of bodies. One of those places was in the bottom of this hab. It could have Big Butch, or any of our friends in those pods, dying so Victor could make  money. And Victor and the people working for him didn't care. So yeah, I worry that he's here. You should too."

"I'm not saying I don't believe you, but it's hard for me to understand that someone would do that."

"You don't have to take my word for it. I sent you the files as a message in the game. Their nested inside twenty layers of memes about kittens, dumb jokes, and pictures of Butch and Brad sleeping while Min decorated them with a pink marker. Tell me what you think."

Belinda spent a minute finding the message and going through layers of stupid cat pictures. The first two newspaper article and a report from Interpol were enough to convince her.

"Oh my god! That's horrible. The report showed a stack of bodies in a freezer in Poland and all the survivors look so thin." She stood and paced. Milo gave her time.

She stopped and looked at him, panic in her eyes. "Wait! Daddy is doing the same thing! The idea behind Manpower is people in pods working for the corporations! Is he involved with Victor?"

"I think Victor found out about what John was planning to do with Manpower, and copied it using illegal pods, forced labor, and hacked logins. John makes some money renting labor. Victor made a 100 times as much and had a bigger operation. He killed people while making a profit."

"It's safe?"

"You step dad is doing something similar, but safe and legal. He has to use Mark 7 pods. They people instead of killing them. And the workers have a contract. I'm not worried about Manpower. I'm worried about Victor Seimovich and you."

Belinda smiled. "I'm flattered that you're worried about me. But Victor won't hurt me, I'm the only family Uncle Victor has. And I can handle Daddy. We argue, but I can usually get my way eventually."

Milo sighed and tossed another rock. Belinda grew restless.

"Talk to me. Why are you worried about me?"

Milo sighed. The damned knots weren't going to cut themselves. "You turn eighteen soon. What happens then?"

"That's why you don't have to worry about me! My trust funds have enough money in them that I can live independently and take care of myself!" That day couldn't come fast enough for her.

Milo turned to her and thought hard about what he would say. "And what if, for medical reasons, a court declares that you aren't capable of handling that much money? That for your own good, you need a permanent guardian? Someone who can now access your trust funds and care for you. Maybe John. Maybe Victor. What then?"

She'd thought a little about that. "If daddy tries that, I'll fight him. A broken body doesn't mean a broken mind. I've passed enough courses by now to have a college degree if I wanted. A court would see that." Milo was staring at her, waiting, hoping she'd see the problem. "You're worried about Uncle Victor? Aren't you? He's not my guardian; Daddy is. Why would Victor get involved?"

"Because Victor is a bad man, trapped in a bad spot, and he needs your money to get back his power. His money is gone; yours isn't. With enough money, he can make all his troubles disappear and be back in business. Don't think of him as Uncle Victor. Think of him as someone who lets people die of starvation while trapped inside faulty pods. And worse. Don't underestimate him."

Eyes wide, she shook her head back and forth. "No, that doesn't make sense! I don't have that much money! Daddy has control of most of it now, and I don't care. When I get the ten million dollars in my trust funds, I can do what I want. But that's nothing compared to what Victor used to talk about. He laughed at 'mere millionaires'; he had billions before he lost it."

"Your father is lying to you. Victor is lying to you. Maybe for good reasons? I'm not good at how family and money work. I'm still figuring that out. But there are records of financial transactions that give hints. Even at a low estimate, your father was worth 150 billion dollars when he died. Your mother was even richer. You are the only heir and get it all when you turn 18. Unless someone decides you aren't competent."

Belinda leaned back against the rock wall, thinking. That was a stupid amount of money. Was he telling the truth? Probably. She was conscious of how controlling her stepfather was and how little contact she had with people outside her bodyguards and doctors. He had moved them a lot, and she'd lost the few friends she had made. She could only hang out with her new friends because Eric had pushed Daddy hard to keep his promises. Now that she thought about it, he didn't even like her being online in the game lately. The more she thought about how he was acting lately, the more she got angry. It was just like him to do this. Keep control of her and keep secrets.

"But how would he do that? I have doctors and nurses that would testify to my competence. Wouldn't they, or are you saying Daddy would pay them to say I wasn't?"

Milo let out a deep breath after thinking for a moment. "I don't want to scare you, but you have to understand what could happen. Declaring you mentally incompetent would be tough. All a judge has to do is talk to you. But what if something happens to you physically? You get worse. Have a mysterious relapse. Go into a coma? They control your records. They could show that your physically unable to care for yourself. You've lived in different countries. What happens when some night you disappear, and we don't know where you are? All they have to do is add a drug to your pod to knock you out, and they could move you like a piece of cargo where ever they need. Pay a judge or a government to side with them, and you never wake up. It's been done before. I know of people it's been done to."

The bottom dropped out of Belinda's world. She hadn't played in weeks because of a problem with her new drugs, and now she wondered. She got better, then worse, in a constant cycle. Was it real? Or were they using drugs to control her? It sounded crazy and paranoid.

Milo continued. "Now, take that scenario and keep going. Who knows you? Who could sound an alarm about a missing heiress and something suspicious happening? How hard would it be to get rid of some people living in a habitat? Who would notice? It would be tempting to Victor, and that's who I'm worried about, to cover his tracks, just like he's done before. But John might do it too."

Belinda nodded. It hadn't seemed real before, just like something in a movie. Now? She felt horrible. She'd heard Victor talk of making people disappear.

"You're worried Victor will come after you, and Butch, and all the rest. I can see that. But I promise. I PROMISE I'll do anything I can not to let that happen! I won't let Victor do something to you." She came close to him and suddenly hugged him. "Please believe me; I won't let them hurt anyone." Milo stiffened for a moment, then hugged her back awkwardly.

"And I promise to not let them do anything to you." The moment ended and they backed away from each other, and sat back down, facing each other this time. I milo thought he was getting a breather, he was wrong.

"There's more, isn't there."  If he was just worried about warning her about Victor, he could have done without all the drama. And there were too many odd things happening. ClawMaster, an unknown company that trusted Milo with a half dozen ultra-expensive sets of gloves.  The new school, Butch and Mama getting jobs, money for the people testing the gloves. Milo was in the middle of it all.
She knew so little about him, but some of what she knew didn't make sense. He was smarter than she was but younger. He should have been on one of the professional gaming teams, but he lived in the habitat. And then the Claw Master deal. How had he learned about the company? And he understood what the gloves did and how they worked. Most people in the hab couldn't program a food processor. She knew she couldn't.

"You're hiding a lot of things, aren't you?"

Milo threw a rock at a stalactite and then another.

"Right. Not talking again. Got it. You warned me about Victor and Daddy and what they might do to declare me incompetent to manage my money. I get it. But there's more. A lot more! What's the problem and why won't you talk to me? Is it something about Claw Master? Some sort of NDA? I'm not going to say anything. I've only got six friends in the whole damned world, and you're one of them. I'm not going to betray your trust!"

Milo set down the next rock. "No lies. Promise?"

"Yes. I promise. No lies."

"Your Dad and your doctors are hiding your medical records. ClawMaster asked for them after I told them about how the gloves helped you. The files they saw said you were totally healthy. Your pod is sending fake data. Your stepfather has to know about that. Do you know of any reason they might be doing that?"

"No. I can't. And I don't even know what's really wrong with me. I've asked, and Daddy always says it's unhealthy for me to think about it. That's such bullshit! I deserve to know. I hate him, I think I really do. He's trying to keep me from having friends and from playing games. He tried to get my gloves. I love my gloves!" She sat down and cried for a minute, then looked up at Milo. "You're right. I need to worry about John. He wants to be in control." She paused, gathering her thoughts.

"So what do I do? You have more to say; I know you do. You have friends outside the habitat; it's obvious. You work for ClawMaster, know how the gloves work, and got to pick your team of play testers. Did you plan to get me on your team from the start?"

"NO!, I mean, some of that is true, but I didn't know you were Belinda...I mean, that you were the Belinda I knew in the game. I saw it on the monitor and freaked out a little. I don't like surprises like that. It had been a long day and I needed to be alone, and then that guy attacked me and tried to steal my gloves."

"What? What guy? Why didn't you say something before?" Anger replaced everything else she was feeling.

Milo shrugged. "The guy that hassled me at the start of the day. He cornered me in the bathroom. I knocked him down and left."

Belinda took a deep breath and drove down the anger. She had to think. "John must have told him to get a pair. The other companies were really upset at losing. Which means they might come after Butch, Min, and the others. This just gets worse and worse. Can ClawMaster help? I'm sure they don't want John getting a pair of gloves."

"I think they can. They helped me. They straightened out the adoption process and are the ones setting up the school. They might be able to help you as well. But this part is tricky. I can't tell you who they are. That's their secret, not mine. But they already want to help you. We need to get your medical records. It would help if I could look at the pod you use. Do you trust me on that? If I can get your medical records to my friends, they can tell you the truth. Then we can find out how the gloves help."

Belinda's face broke out into a smile. "Yes, I trust you with that. And I have a great idea how to give you a look at my pod. Daddy promised me a clubhouse and a party. I'm going to find Uncle Eric and get him on board with my idea, and all of you can come over to my place to play games, eat cheesy-chili-corn-dogs and play the video games we won. Daddy doesn't like the idea, so I won't ask him this time. It will be great!"

Milo nodded to her. "That works." He'd been planning to sneak through the tunnels into her section and do the work after he jiggled the security cameras. He was a little disappointed, actually, but her plan had food and games.

She stood up and reached out a hand to him. "I like this; let's keep talking. But I'm starving. There are some places to eat by the docks; we can have a nice lunch together. We can even have some fun on the way. There's a gang war going on, and I hear people are looking for you. I need a good fight to work out some frustrations."