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Chapter Text

Herobrine lay on his back, stunned by the explosion, and tried to gulp air laden with dust. Each bloody gasp sent a crushing ache through his chest, his ribs likely splintered and piercing his lungs. Everything hurt, in more places than he could count, though the burns already began pulling closed, the slow and excruciating process adding unbearable itching to the already existing discomfort. Herobrine did his best to stifle his groans, to hide the fact that he was still alive, buried beneath the rubbish.

Footsteps coming closer to his make-shift grave sent waves of dismay through his heart. He could not hope to continue this fight in his current condition. Admitting defeat was also not an option - his attackers seemed determined to finish him off for good. A task that was hard to accomplish, but possible, and certain to leave him in agony for the entire lengthy time period that his body would take to respawn, suspended in wordless scream as bits of code took their proper place.

He did not want to go through that again.

He held his breath, stifling the gagging that continued to bring forth blood. Trying his best to remain still, he hoped that they would decide their task complete and leave him be.

A scraping noise and more weight added to his grave, sending dust crumbling upon his face and tightly shut eyelids. And then the footsteps retreated, at last leaving him alone. He released his breath and lay still, his body faintly shaking as the tension let go and weariness flooded in.

His awareness slipped briefly and returned, before he managed to gather enough focus to attempt to teleport away, just a few steps away. The place held clearly in his mind, he sought to gather up the power. Usually pliant and plentiful, this time he found only dregs. Not enough to even make the call for help to his servants. He let go, allowing the remnants of power to return to his body to continue the healing process.

An attempt to simply move also failed to his intense frustration. His legs did not respond at all, either due to the shattered bones in his back crushing his spinal cord, or simply because the weight of the rocks securely pinned him in place.

Only his one remaining arm managed to shift a little, blood-covered fingers uselessly scratching at the jagged surface of whatever rock happened to lay beneath his trapped hand.

Giving up, he relaxed, only to convulse in another fit of bloody coughing. And then he lay still, weakly gasping for breath.

He couldn't escape the wreckage. Realizing this, he helplessly blinked up at the gray rock reflecting back the flickering light of his eyes. Well... He would not die from this. That was the only good thing. But it would be a long time before the tiny drops of strength returning to him would be enough to allow him to escape this grave, where he had been sealed alive.

He let his awareness dim. Time passed slowly and the daze wrapped around his mind somewhat dulled the continued pain to a more bearable level.

Faint scraping sounds from beyond startled him awake. A shifting of the weight followed, the pressure on his chest becoming a bit lighter. Someone was trying to pull off the blocks? Who?

Familiar, distressed screeching sounds sent relief sweeping through his body...Endermen... That was good...

The hopeful thought faded as he once again sunk into the darkness.

He remained unaware when the creatures pulled out his battered form out of the wreckage. His eyes remained closed, their light flickering softly beneath the dusty eye-lids. Thick drops of blood fell from his torn, soaked clothes to the ground amid swirling, purple particles drifting around the small group.

The Endermen exchanged uncertain glances. One made a quiet sound, to which the one they held did not respond. Appearing at a loss, the group waited, their bodies shifting. Soft rumbles followed as if the creatures argued among themselves about what they should do. And then their entire group vanished along with their silent burden.

The purple particles continued to drift a few moments longer before melting away, as if surrendering to the pressing darkness that hungrily engulfed the castle-like chamber, hiding the signs of recent battle that destroyed yet another of Herobrine's mansions.

Chapter Text

Steve's unhurried pace carried him home, a pleased expression settled on his face. Today, he had done quite a bit of successful mining and he looked forward to what he would trade in town for it. Considering a lengthy list of supplies that he would need to obtain, he barely paid attention to his surroundings until he was almost at his cabin. And only a casual glance forward toward the place had him stop, freezing in his tracks.

Steve's blue eyes widened at the sight that he certainly didn't expect to see.

A group of six Endermen stood ganged in a tight group by his porch, their long, dark bodies nearly blending with the nightly shadows. They shifted, as if waiting for something. Their luminous eyes glowed white, which meant that they belonged to Herobrine.

Noticing Steve, standing like a pole in the middle of the trail, the mobs livened up and made noises, which seemed almost... Hopeful?

Encountering several pairs of faintly glowing eyes aimed at him, Steve hurriedly dropped his gaze out of habit. Then looked up again, blinking at the mobs in confusion. The fact that they belonged to Herobrine probably meant that they would not attack him for staring at them. At least, that's what Herobrine claimed. Unless he ordered them to attack, they wouldn't, that is. Recalling the man's smirk, Steve frowned at the mobs, trying to figure out why they were here.

They were all still turned in his direction, waiting.

Oh...

So they were waiting for him...

More sounds came from the group, growing impatient, and Steve startled when one of the creatures teleported right next to him and insistently made a louder screech, its maw opening wide. Steve's breath briefly caught despite himself and his heart instantly sped up.

"All right! All right!" Steve frowned up at the tall mob.

They obviously wanted him to hurry up and come closer.

Steve forced himself to walk forward, cautiously stepping past the creatures as they parted, revealing something lying on the ground next to Steve's front porch.

His eyes fastening to the form, Steve once again froze in shock, as his mind identified the object. Lying on the ground was the body of his twin, dressed as usual in his familiar teal shirt and dark blue trousers. His state, however...

Steve's eyes scanned across the numerous injuries, cuts and burns that covered the being's body and held, aghast, at the man's left shoulder. There, where he should have had an arm, only a blood-soaked short sleeve clung to ravaged flesh.

Was Herobrine... dead?!

Steve's eyes shifted to the wounded man's chest and noted shallow, uneven movement, slowly lifting and falling.

Alive then.

Even though by the looks of those wounds he should not be, had he been an ordinary man. Which he was obviously not.

Another demanding rumble, louder, snapped Steve into action.

"All right, all right." He protested and hurried toward the still body of their master, pulling out bandages, immediately starting to apply them everywhere he saw active bleeding. There was not much. Steve frowned, though his frantic actions did not cease. Did it mean that his powerful twin was already healing from his griesly injuries? Or, that he had simply run out of blood?

Could he even die? What would happen if he did, while in Steve's care?

At least, now he knew what the Endermen wanted him to do. They wanted him to help their master.

Steve continued to wrap the bandages, wincing as he applied pressure against the torn flesh and with alarm noting the complete lack of response from the other. Catching the mistrustful, worried looks the Endermen cast, hovering close, Steve frowned deeper. Did they think that he would hurt their master somehow?

"Of course I will help. I don't really have a choice, do I?" Steve grumbled at them and flinched at yet another warning screech as closest Enderman bent in a threatening way toward him.

"Besides, I would help him anyway. I do have a heart, you know." Steve's voice tinted with hurt. His lips pinching tight, he continued to work silently, trying to ignore the hovering Endermen.

Finished, Steve lifted his blue eyes to directly meet the glowing eyes of the creatures. He was too worried over Herobrine's condition at this point to worry over possible hostility.

"Could you... help me bring him inside?" He asked, not sure if the mobs would understand.

But they did, reaching their long arms toward their master and picking him up once more, none too gently. Steve winced, but stepped toward the door of his house and pushed it open, holding it open for them.

"B-bring him..." Steve motioned.

With uncertain sounds, the mobs dragged their master's body inside, carelessly jolting Herobrine's head against the edge of the door as they brought him past Steve.

"Careful!" Steve frowned at the creatures, who only made guilty noises in response.

Coming inside, they crowded, their bodies slightly hunched to fit inside the low-ceilinged room, and waited until Steve walked in also and led the way to the far guest room he had made but so far had no need to use. The mobs followed and at Steve's directing gesture, lowered Herobrine's body into a bed. Immediately, all but two of them hurriedly vanished in a flurry of melting purple particles. Two remained, perhaps to make sure that Steve did indeed continue to help their master. He saw it in their threateningly looming postures.

Steve hesitantly approached his twin and swallowed. Now, in the better light, he could see him more clearly. He could hardly imagine what possessed someone to hurt Herobrine this badly. And more importantly, who? Who would have dared to do such a thing to someone so powerful?

At the threatening sound, Steve glared at the Endermen.

"I AM helping him. Stop scaring me and go. I'll take care of him, I promise."

The Endermen exchanged an uncertain look and vanished, to Steve's immense relief, though by the short wurps coming from outside he suspected that they had taken posts there, not trusting him completely.

Letting out a breath, Steve slumped slightly and turned his attention back to Herobrine. Now, he could finish treating his injuries properly. He needed supplies.

Steve hastily rummaged through his chests, grabbing more bandages and a basin, which he filled with water and placed on a wooden chair next to Herobrine's bed. With dismay held two glowing potions before his face, knowing that it would not be enough and regretting not keeping his healing potions stocked. It was Herobrine's fault. Ever since him showing up, Steve had been growing more and more careless as he wandered across the wild places, reassured that the mobs would ignore him. Taking his safety for granted, Steve began to forget to stock up on healing potions.

Steve grabbed a jar of honey and added it to the mix. It would do in a pinch, until he got more potions. Then, settling down on another chair, he began to patiently retreat the injured man's wounds. Cleaning them from dust and debris. Applying honey to bandages and rewrapping them over wounds he missed. Slowly releasing the tight strap he put in place above the site of the man's lost limb, checking for bleeding, before wrapping it tight as well. Wiping the blood away from his face and washing it out of Herobrine's tangled hair. The cloth Steve used turned the water in the basin dark red and he had to change the water several times.

The entire time, Steve saw no response. The formerly powerful being remained still, asleep through it all, his body trying feebly to regenerate.

His treatment of the man's wounds finished, Steve held his gaze on the unconscious man's pale, calm face.

"Who did this to you, Herobrine?..."

Chapter Text

Herobrine woke up. He didn't expect to wake up this soon. Weakness still filled his limbs with lead. Everything still hurt, so not enough time had passed to allow his body to heal. His left arm bothered him most of all. A distant, pulling ache throbbed there, even though Herobrine knew it was gone.

He flinched at the unexpected touch of a hand coming to rest against his forehead, his heart speeding up its beat. He was still entirely helpless. Those humans... Did they come back and find him?

His body refusing to respond to his will, desperately trying to escape, to fight, it took another moment for his dazed mind to process that he was no longer there, trapped in the wreckage. The touch of this hand was gentle, not meant to hurt him.

Who?...

"... It's all right now. It's all right. You are safe."

Herobrine recognized Steve's voice, soothing. A flash of surprise coursed through him briefly, but his eyes would not open. Still, the tension let go a bit.

His awareness fading once more, he tried to hold on. Why was he with Steve? He wasn't safe here. He wasn't! Even if Steve seemed a friendly type of person from what he had seen so far, he was still human, and that meant that he could not trust him. He shouldn't be here. Why was he...

Despite his internal protests, Herobrine slipped once again into blackness.

Steve frowned at the man, who fell unconscious again. The muscles, corded and shaking, relaxed. Steve, tensed himself, let out a breath of relief. His worry at what his twin's reaction might be at finding himself here would be delayed for some time, yet.

A yawn broke across Steve's face. Its been several hours since he had treated Herobrine and settled on a chair nearby to keep watch over him, afraid the man might die in his sleep. Watching Herobrine continue to breathe reassured that it would not happen.

Now, Steve was almost certain that the man would not die. He could see Herobrine's lesser wounds recovering, pulling closed, although very slowly. The scratches on his neck and face had already faded into faint scars. The bleeding stopped seeping through the bandages. Steve could probably leave him alone and rest for a few hours remaining before dawn?

Steve nodded, feeling exhaustion settle over him. His eyes were heavy and image of his own bed grew invitingly tempting. Herobrine would be fine, if he didn't die, yet.

Casting the unconscious man a tired look, Steve got up. He would come and check on him in the morning, before he would go to town and get more supplies and healing portions.

Turning away, Steve shuffled to his own room. The moment his head hit the pillow, he was deeply asleep.

Outside, the Endermen guards continued to stand watch, occasionally replacing each other as their attention wandered. Their master was safe here. They were almost sure of that.

Chapter Text

Herobrine still slept when Steve checked on him in the morning.

Deciding to proceed as planned, Steve gathered up the goods he planned to trade, carefully pulling out a list where he added healing potions at the bottom, even though it would be nearly impossible to forget considering what happened last night.

Casting an uncertain glance back to the room where he could glimpse the unconscious man laying still on the bed, Steve took a breath and pushed open the door, immediately met by a pair of suspicious white eyes turning in his direction. A quick look around confirmed to Steve that only one of the tall mobs remained on guard.

"Listen, um... I need to go. To town, to get more potions. I think it will help him recover faster." He explained to the mob, who only blinked and looked away, losing interest. Counting that as permission, Steve started walking away.

At the edge of the path, he couldn't help looking back at his cabin and searched, not noting any of the Endermen remaining in visible view. That was probably good? An Enderman hanging around his place might stir suspicion and Steve didn't want anyone to know that he had Herobrine as his unwilling guest at the moment. It was one thing to complain that he haunted him on occasion, and entirely another to admit that he helped the notoriously controversial being in any way.

Still thinking about that and possible consequences that might occur if this was found out, Steve decided not to tell anyone anything as he made his way to the nearest town about a half-hour's walk away.

Nearing the settlement, significantly grown in the past five years that he moved to live here, Steve noted the strange agitation within. Coming closer, he heard voices shouting out in excitement. There was even some music and dancing. Frowning, he wondered if he missed some sort of festival?

Looking up at the widely open gates, strangely unguarded as all the guards were looking in the other direction from the entrance, he noticed a festively set up town square directly ahead. A platform stood in the midst of colorful trader tents, with banners suspended on each side.

"And to commemorate this memorable feat, this day will be declared a celebration!" The town mayor proclaimed solemnly, to which the gathered people responded with cheers. Curiously, Steve stopped and looked at the gathered crowd and the tables pulled out and already loaded with food and free beverages.

"What's going on?" He asked Greg, the town guard who stood closest. The other regretfully pulled his eyes away from the several kegs of beer and barrels of ale that were rolled out and proudly displayed on the festive tables. This time, the cheering came more heartfelt.

"What?" He turned to Steve forgetfully. Steve grinned.

"What's going on? What the reason for all this?"

"Ah... Just a small celebration in honor of heroes. They came to visit, claiming that they finally took care of our problem for us."

At Steve's raised eye-brows, the guard shifted, his voice growing a bit hushed. "The... um... Him. They went to the Mansion to challenge Him and won."

"You mean?..." Steve frowned, not finishing his sentence due to the superstitious look that appeared on the guard's face. The man nodded with relief.

"Yeah. He is gone. The heroes got rid of him. Or so they say." The man's last words carried a bit of doubt. His eyes once again returned to the beverages, a long-suffering expression appearing on his face.

"Is your shift over soon, Greg?" Steve poked in good fun, at which the other man rolled his eyes and pushed the helm of his helmet back a bit, it once again sliding over his eyes.

"I wish... Another three hours to go. I hope there is something left by then."

"Tell you what, I'll buy you a beer." Steve promised. The other's eyes brightened, only to fall again.

"No, no, better not." He glanced resentfully into the direction of his commander on duty, who stood a bit further away, talking with a group of higher ranked guards in full gear, appearing ready to leave. Maybe to investigate if the words of heroes were true?

"All right, then. If you're sure."

"Yeah. But you go on ahead, Steve. Have fun." The guard amiably grinned at Steve, remembering his primary duty and waved the miner through. Steve nodded to him again, and, still casting the festive crowd a curious look, headed toward the clean-looking two story building with the sign "Gwarton's Apothecary" and the image of a green potion bottle hanging over its entrance.

The last item on his list should probably be first.

Heroes...

So, that's what happened. Herobrine also for some reason sometimes called them "Players".

The sooner he could get out of here, the better. Who knows what these "heroes" might decide to do if they learned that Steve helped the "monster" that they came here to hunt. And apparently succeeded. They must have been pretty strong to have bested Herobrine, who was far more powerful than Steve. What if they decided that Steve was in Herobrine's service?

Steve wondered if he should tell Herobrine's Endermen to take their master away somewhere else. Surely, he has some sort of hide out or somewhere he could stay out of sight while he recovered? He boasted before that there was no way any of these human heroes, whom he occasionally called Players, would ever find him unless he wished to be found.

Then again, he said the same about them besting him, laughing at their pathetic attempts. Remembering the man's derisive, superior look as he accounted for purposefully defying these powerful humans and playing tricks on them in their own settlements, Steve silently stifled a sigh. He knew that Herobrine's arrogance would come to no good. He just knew it. But his twin wouldn't listen, only scoffing at Steve's best attempts to suggest that maybe provoking everyone was not the best course of action. No matter how powerful Herobrine was, obviously there were others who finally matched him and won.

He should tell Herobrine's servants to take their master somewhere else. But the thought of him, wounded and unconscious, entirely helpless for the moment... Steve doubted that Herobrine's servants would know how to care for him. Herobrine often complained that they were not very smart, no matter how much he tried to teach them.

Steve would have to take care of Herobrine. At least until he woke up. And he certainly could not let these "heroes" hurt him more than he was already - even if he really was immortal as he claimed.

The man didn't deserve it.

He didn't really like Herobrine. The man assumed too much of himself and the way he spoke about humans with so much contempt, on occasion including Steve in their number? But as far as Steve knew, he was not bad and didn't actually hurt anyone unless they came to challenge him at his own home ground, as sometimes happened. He also occasionally ventured into other realms and did mean tricks. But he was not the blood-thirsty murderer that hunted people in the dead of the night as some of the local legends claimed. Steve knew him long enough now to know that Herobrine did not do such things.

He didn't deserve to die. And Steve would do his best to protect him, Steve resolved. Hopefully, Herobrine would soon wake up and leave.

With that thought, Steve put an amiable smile on his face and entered the apothecary's store, quickly thinking of a story he would tell to the man to explain his sudden need of so many healing potions.

Chapter Text

Two humans stepped out from the door of the inn and cast looks of enjoyment across the merry crowds. All these locals, celebrating their mighty deed. Just then, a gaggle of locals rudely pushed past them, ignoring them.

Patiently, the two men stood aside, allowing the locals to pass. It made sense that the majority of these locals did not take them for champions. They did not wear armor and kept their top notch weapons hidden to avoid unwanted attention. That was entirely fine. After all, they were not here for the sake of fame. At least, they could care less what these locals thought about them.

The younger man with lighter brown hair yawned, stretching. The one next to him casually looked over the street.

"Ah!..." The second suddenly exclaimed and grasped the first man's shoulder, stifling a swear under his breath.

"Huh? What?..."

"Over there." Alder pointed. Following his gesture, the younger startled with astonishment.

Both men held disbelieving stares at the familiar figure in teal shirt, dark blue trousers, and dark leather boots, who stood next to one of the merchant stalls. His head turned away so all they could see was his short brown hair, the man appeared to be amiably chatting with the trader.

"That's not him. We killed him." The younger muttered.

"Shhh." Alder hushed him, tensely watching. Just then, the man turned around, a cheerful smile on his face, and they saw his eyes.

"... It's not him." Alder relaxed a bit, his hand letting go of his friend's shoulder.

"Of course not." The younger chuckled. "But it sure looks like him, right?"

They watched the monster's lookalike get his supplies from the merchant and part ways, heading down the street toward the city gate, seemingly set to leave town.

Losing sight of him, both of the heroes curiously approached the vendor.

"Who was that you were talking to?" The older asked of the local, an elderly man, who tensed, noting their hard faces, and gave them a questioning look. "Brown hair, blue eyes, teal shirt." The visiting stranger clarified.

"Oh, that was Steve." The vendor smiled a bit.

"Who is he?"

"Just a miner. Lives not far from town." The shorter, pudgy shaped vendor waved in direction Steve left.

"What was he doing here?"

Taken slightly aback at their persistence, the vendor blinked at his more imposing visitors, realizing just then who they were. "... He just came here to trade, as usual. He is not any trouble. A really nice young fellow, really kind."

"Did you know that he really looks like Him?" Alder ruthlessly interrupted.

The merchant switched a confused look between the two heroes, unconsciously shrinking before them. Alder softened his voice to explain. "He looks like the monster we just defeated. Herobri/"

"Don't say his name out loud!" The vendor shuddered in superstitious fear. Adler grimaced, while the younger of the two heroes proudly strutted forward his chest.

"Do not worry." He declared. "We killed him. He is not going to return to bother any of you."

The vendor scoffed. "That's what the OTHERS said. Those who came to challenge him before. They also thought that they won. But he came back as soon as they left. You cannot kill him. He is immortal!"

The conviction in the local's resentful dark eyes surprised the two heroes and they merely blinked when the merchant retreated into his stall and jerked the curtain closed. For a moment, they stood, staring at the tattered, colorful cloth hung before their faces, and then exchanged a disconcerted look.

"Maybe... We should go back and check?"

...

Less than an hour later, the two once again stood at the site of the wreckage. Herobrine's mansion, leveled into rumble, shone with bright colors beneath the evening sun. Picturesque mountains rose behind it, lit with golds and soft browns, and more rays fell upon the sign they left earlier to mark the monster's grave.

"Here lies Herobrine." The sign mocked them now.

The two frowned at the obvious signs of intrusion that disturbed the site. Blocks had been dragged away. And dark spots of blood heavily stained the stones, forming a trail as if something had been pulled out of the rubble and then dragged away.

"... I can't believe this." The younger of the two muttered. "He got away?"

"Someone came and got him." Adler glared at the bloody footprints that decidedly did not appear human.

"His mobs!... He must have reprogrammed them. They cannot do stuff like this on their own..." The younger winced. "... Only I thought that..." Alarmed, the younger man threw up his head. "Are you saying he wasn't dead? He... tricked us?"

Alder shrugged, still studying the tracks.

"Ugh! I cannot believe this!" The younger exclaimed, throwing up his hands in a helpless gesture of frustration. "Can you track where he went?"

The other man did not respond, his dark brown eyes fastened on the details around them, slowly moving from one clue to the next.

"Was it zombies?" The younger asked, unable to help his curiosity.

"Endermen." Alder nodded to the spot at the end of the bloody trail, where more stains gathered with no other tracks left around it. "See how these tracks just abruptly end? They teleported away."

"Ugh! We should have stayed behind and made sure he was gone for good. How are we supposed to find him now? He could be anywhere!" The younger exclaimed, frustrated once more.

"... I don't think he went far." Alder reassured with a small smirk. "We got him good. There is no way he can teleport right now even if he is alive."

"What about the Endermen tho? They can teleport?"

"Not between the servers. They probably took him someplace near... Probably some secret hidey hole, where he can stay out of sight and lick his wounds." Alder glanced at his feet. "If the forums are right, he is probably right below us. In the caves..."

"Those caves run for miles, Alder." The younger pointed out.

"They do. But he is weak. It will take him quite a bit to recover. So we have time. And we have an advantage." The elder pulled out his weapon and slid his hand along the charging level, the gesture sending a line of lights flaring to life along the length of the bore.

"He must think that he tricked us with that ruse. But we don't give up easily, right Marko?"

At the elder's dark grin, the younger immediately nodded, encouraged. "So don't worry. We'll find him. No way I'm losing that reward!"

The younger grinned, then suddenly his eyes brightened. "Hey, Ald... Didn't that vendor guy say that this other dude, the one who looks like Him, that he is a miner?"

The elder frowned at the younger's enthusiastic expression. "Ah!" Understanding cleared his frown. A pleased smile appeared on his face.

"Yeah, you are right. It will be much easier that way. Good idea, Marko. Let's do that."

A bright, ready grin came in response to the elder's approval.

Chapter Text

Steve returned home and found Herobrine still asleep.

His twin's face seemed less pale, to Steve's relief, but the rasping in his breathing grew even more pronounced.

Once again, Steve gently placed the back of his hand against Herobrine's forehead and felt the heat radiating off of it. The skin felt damp. A quick glance at the man's chest confirmed Steve's suspicion, coming faster and more labored than before.

Infection and fever?

"Great..." Steve muttered, discouraged. Still, he proceeded to pull out potions he just traded for in town. Gently propping up Herobrine's head, he slowly poured them into the man's mouth a tiny bit at a time to avoid drowning him. Easing his twin's unresponsive form back on the pillow, Steve considered him with worried eyes.

He was not sure at all if he was doing this right. What if he was not helping Herobrine at all? What if he needed something else, which Steve simply did not have?

His twin was not exactly human. He was powerful, Steve always believed that. But, looking at him now, he could not help wondering just how much of what Herobrine claimed to him was true?

Was Herobrine even really immortal?

Steve's blue eyes strayed to the stump of Herobrine's arm, where blood slightly stained the bandages, stubbornly seeping through.

Or maybe he was exaggerating his abilities and boasting as usual when he mentioned that he was far better than a common lowly mortal like Steve.

Steve checked the man's bandages to make sure they remained snug and left to do his own daily chores that he had left neglected this morning. Trying his best to ignore the Endermen, three of them this time, whose white eyes continued to follow his every move, Steve took care of his animals, milked cows, and poured feed for the chickens.

He just started to shovel away the dirty hay in his barn when a dull sound coming from his house followed by a muted oath, made Steve pause, his eyes snapping toward the house. Straightening, Steve waivered, then set his rake aside and forced himself to walk back to the house to check, his heart beating faster despite himself.

Was Herobrine awake? Steve's stomach tensed at the thought of facing the unpredictable man's reaction. Somehow, he doubted that Herobrine would be pleased to find himself here.

Hopefully he won't kill him just for seeing him like this! It wasn't Steve's fault that his servants decided that Steve's cabin was a far better place to take their master to recover than whatever place he must have prepared for his own safety.

Steve found Herobrine on the floor next to the bed, one shaking hand braced against the floor in a futile attempt to get up. He must have tried to get up and fell.

Glowing white eyes shot in his direction, at first opened wide with near panic and confusion, but narrowing when Herobrine recognized Steve standing in the doorway. Hesitantly, Steve dared to step closer and offered his hand. Herobrine's eyes narrowed even more.

"...I don't need your help, human." The man growled quietly. Steve stepped back. He stood and winced, watching Herobrine make another fruitless attempt to get up. Seething with frustration, the man glared at Steve.

"Leave! I don't need you!" Herobrine raised his voice at the mortal, who flinched and took a step back. Only to glance helplessly at the three Endermen, who peeked in and at the sight of angry Herobrine immediately teleported away just as the man opened his mouth.

Herobrine clenched his jaw shut.

So... THAT's who was at fault for him being here.

Herobrine scowled. His servants were wise to flee from his displeasure. And he would have told them off for their ludicrous ideas, had he any strength left. But he couldn't teleport after them. None of his powers responded to him, his body apparently too weak to even let him stand.

That this human saw him like this, helpless like a newborn kitten? Glimpsing pity in the human's eyes, Herobrine's anger instantly flared to rage. If he could, he might have felt tempted to slay this player for witnessing this humiliation! Luckily for Steve, at this point he could not have hurt even a chicken.

"You must be enjoying all this. To see me brought this low?" He bitterly challenged the human. At that, the miner seemed to sigh and silently left the room, his head sadly lowered.

Steve resumed his work, expecting to see Herobrine show up, his strength miraculously restored now that he was awake. His attitude certainly didn't improve any. Still as mistrustful and angry as always. Did he not see that Steve was only trying to help?

A half hour passed, but no one appeared. The house also remained quiet. Steve went back in to check, expecting to find the room empty and Herobrine gone on his way.

To his surprise he found the man still on the floor, slumped not far from where he saw him last. Glowing eyes opened and met Steve's. Noting the exhaustion and the silence that met him this time, Steve approached and once again hesitantly offered his hand.

"I'm only trying to help you, Herobrine." He insisted, keeping his voice mild.

Mistrustful white eyes searched clear blue ones and found no guile. The harsh gaze dimmed, with what seemed like embarrassment briefly crossing the man's expression before it settled once again into the familiar flat look. Steve guessed that it was probably not easy for the other to admit that he might need help when he always prided himself on strength. "I don't need anyone!" Herobrine's scoffing words came vividly to Steve's mind.

"It appears... I owe you an apology." A quiet voice grudgingly admitted. With disbelief, Steve stared at the man and saw grudging thoughtfulness instead of earlier anger. "I assumed... But you did only try to help." Herobrine looked to his chest, drawing his hand to the bandages bound across his body.

So, he did notice that? A smile grew on Steve's face, his heart instantly lightening.

"It's alright. I understand." Steve reassured.

White eyes once again mistrustfully searched the human's expression, before Herobrine slowly nodded and wearily looked away. Stepping closer, Steve once again reached out his hand. This time, the other man silently took it, accepting Steve's offer of help.

Steve heard a stifled groan and labored breathing catching in pain as he pulled the man to his feet.

Guiding the wounded man back to his bed, Steve dared a curious glance at the man's pinched face. Pain shadowed Herobrine's expression despite his efforts to hide it.

"What happened to you?" Steve couldn't help asking, gently letting the man to sink into the blankets.

"I... do not wish to speak of it." Herobrine gloomily cut off.

Stifling a long-suffering sigh, Steve began checking the bandages again, concerned that some might have been displaced by Herobrine's earlier efforts. The whole time he felt Herobrine's eyes on him, strangely watchful.

"It appears... that I may need your help after all." Herobrine's reluctant admission drew Steve's eyes back to him. "If only for a short time... The weapons that were used against me... I have not seen such before. I must recover my strength before I can relieve you of my presence."

Steve readily gave a little smile. "It's fine. I do not mind. You can stay here as long as you need."

Mistrustful white eyes searched the mortal's expression and then tense shoulders slumped, relaxing. This mortal indeed did not plan to take advantage of his weakness. Whether it was due to his general good will or just naïve foolishness, Herobrine had to accept it, simply because at the moment he had no other choice. Weariness was already flooding back, pulling him inexorably to sleep so his body could continue to regenerate. And his dumb servants had fled, frightened by his ire, beyond the current range of his Call.

Steve, settling blankets securely around the dazed looking man, gave Herobrine a small encouraging nod and turned to leave.

"...Steve." An unusually quiet voice called before he left the room. Startled, Steve turned to find white eyes watching him, this time without the man's usual superior expression, just calm and thoughtful.

"... Thank you." The man told him. Steve blinked, barely able to believe what he just heard. Opening his mouth to say something back, that it was no problem at all, he stopped, seeing that Herobrine's eyes had already closed.

A bright smile lit Steve's face on his way out of the house. He didn't know if Herobrine really meant these words, or if he was simply incoherent, and would later regret them when he returned to his usual insufferable self. But for now, gladness filled Steve's heart and lightened his step. It felt so good for his efforts to finally be appreciated.

Herobrine lay still, listening to the sounds of the miner cheerfully working on something outside. Quiet daylight streamed through the windows, somehow peaceful. The rustle of tall trees that surrounded Steve's cozy cabin also felt soothing. Herobrine found the comfort of it all settling over his heart.

Perhaps... his servants did not make a mistake after all. He was closer to the edge than he realized. He needed help and Steve was perhaps the only one he knew, who would be willing to provide it without forcing Herobrine to accept a bargain with unfavorable terms.

With the Endermen gone, this mortal had the perfect chance to do him harm if he wished, but did not do so. Instead, he continued to show him... Kindness? He took him into his home, bound his wounds, all without asking a single thing in return. He even tried to make him comfortable by arranging his blankets.

Becoming aware of the unexpectedly soft, fleecy material that snuggled against the palm of his hand, Herobrine let out a soft, contented sigh.

Steve resented his unexpected visits and constant tests that pushed his patience. All this time, Herobrine waited, expecting the mortal to explode with angry words and reject him, or even attack him, turning against him just like everyone else. But Steve did not.

Perhaps he was wrong about him after all. He was not merely pretending to be a person too good to be true. He really was not like everyone else.

Despite his misgivings, Herobrine couldn't ignore the dimly familiar sensation rising in his heart. He recognized it, though he had not felt it toward anyone in a long, long time. A fragile sense of trust, grown stronger. And Gratitude.

He would make sure to repay the miner for this.

Chapter Text

Later in the same evening, a knock on the door startled both Steve and Herobrine, who sat patiently in bed, waiting for Steve to rebandage his poorly healing wounds.

Alarmed, both pairs of eyes, one blue and one white, held against the door, and then Steve turned to tensed Herobrine with a reassuring grin.

"It's probably one of my friends from town. Don't worry, I'll get them to leave." Steve promised. Herobrine responded with a small, stiff nod, his gaze tensely following Steve until he shut the guest room door tight to make sure that visitors could not glimpse Herobrine in the other room.

Before opening the front door, Steve quickly checked around the hallway and his eyes caught on traces of blood left on the floor, which he did not yet have time to clean. Steve hastily pulled a rug over it, but found it looked rather obvious, since a clean spot was now left where it used to lay, compared to the grimy worn wood elsewhere. Steve humphed.

Best not to let anyone in at all.

Cracking open the door, he peeked out.

His heart sank at the sight of the two men who stood outside his cabin. They were not anyone he recognized. Which left him with a fairly good idea of who they might be.

Immediately, Steve's thought flashed to Herobrine waiting in the other room, entirely defenseless.

These "heroes" defeated and crippled him when he was at his full strength. Now he could not even stand up without help. Not deceived by their ordinary outer appearance, Steve perceived that If these two strangers decided to bust in, Steve would be nothing but a momentary hindrance in their path. They would kill Herobrine and there would be nothing Steve could do to stop them. Steve's heart panged helplessly at the thought.

The men stood patiently, waiting.

Maybe... they didn't know? They were not here for Herobrine? Hope rose in Steve's heart as the men continued to wait. But then... Why were they here?!

Pushing all his fears aside, Steve put on a friendly smile, stepped outside and shut the door behind him. Then he turned and faced his dangerous visitors with a curious look.

"Can I help you?"

"You are Steve Garstone? Is that right?" Those eyes mistrustfully aimed at Steve's face were almost like sword points. Steve did his best to stifle a shiver.

They recognized him. He knew it by the look in their eyes.

Steve knew himself that he looked amazingly like Herobrine. That was the entire reason why the powerful being grew curious about him and began to visit whenever he felt like it. Steve and Herobrine looked so alike that they might have been twins.

Steve was sure that these guys noticed that resemblance. They would have had to. They had fought Herobrine face to face, having plenty of time to take a good look.

Yet, if they noticed the likeness, they did not bring it up.

And when Steve learned WHY they came to find him, he uneasily rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled.

"I... don't think I can help you. I haven't really explored those places all that much." He tried to back out of the offer.

They frowned at him. "We were told that you are the best miner and tracker around here."

"The ONLY one, actually." The taller of the men pointed out. "Everyone else is too scared to peek their noses out of their village. But you seem... comfortable living out here." Again, the suspicion hung heavy in their piercing looks. Steve sheepishly shifted.

"Well, not comfortable exactly, but I make do." He made a lighthearted shrug.

"And the monsters don't bother you?"

"I know how to handle them."

Inside the house, Herobrine's hand shook, tightly clenching the fleecy material in his hands. With a grimace, his eyes flicked to Steve's crude sword that leaned against the corner of the far wall.

He recognized these trespassers. Not their voices, since they did not say a word during the entire fight. But their presence, their aura. He recognized that. That's what he felt right before their potion-enhanced forms blurred toward him in an unexpected attack. They managed to make it past his numerous defenses, his traps, his watchers, without triggering any alarms, catching him in the middle of a stroll through what was supposed to be the safest part of his stronghold. He didn't even have any weapons at hand, having just woken up and looking forward to making something for breakfast.

At first blinking toward them with surprise, he snorted then, confident that he would handle them as easily as the other fools who dared to come and challenge him in earlier times. And he paid a price for his arrogant assumptions. In his condition now he was no match for them at all. Their strange weapons seemed to have inflicted lasting damage, not allowing his body to heal properly.

But he couldn't just give up! If he had to die, he would face them in battle, not like a cowardly rat hiding in a hole. With an angry growl, Herobrine stumbled up to his feet and nearly fell against the wall, his hand bracing his fall with a dull sound.

... Steve's heart jumped at the noise, though his smile grew brighter.

"It's just my dog... " he explained hastily at the suspicious looks drawing to the shut door behind him. "You were saying?..."

"We wish to make you an offer. The monster that we thought we killed had managed to get away. We believe he is hiding in the caves. If you become our guide and help us find his layer, we will include you in any spoils that we may find."

"WILL find." The other man hurried to assure. "I am sure that he has amassed a great deal of treasure over the years. It was not in the mansion, but he probably hid it somewhere in the mines."

Their sincere looks took Steve aback. Words that he was not interested in their offer almost flew off his tongue. But wouldn't that be suspicious? And... if he searched with them in the caves, he could lead them away from here, giving Herobrine the time he needed to recover.

Steve hesitated.

"How about this." The men mistook Steve's delay. "You be our guide and we'll pay you a... tenth. A tenth part of what we'll get when we bring proof of the monster's death to our guild in Maelkom."

Steve considered a moment longer. "Eighth!" He grinned. The hunters exchanged reluctant looks.

"Deal!" One extended his hand to Steve and Steve shook it to seal the agreement.

"You got yourselves a guide... But I won't be able to start until Tomorrow. There are matters here that I must settle."

"Yes, we understand."

Exchanging a few polite words and arranging a meeting point in town, the two men left. Steve, continuing to smile until they were out of sight, slumped against the door with relief. And then heard another sound, of something metal falling.

Hurrying inside, he saw scowling Herobrine leaning against the wall with a hunted look, one shaking hand clutched to his bandaged chest, blood seeping through the bandages from wounds reopened by abrupt movement. A sword lay at his feet.

"Do not worry. They left." Steve assured. The anger in Herobrine's face dimmed to frustration, his gaze dropping to the sword on the ground. He could not even hold it!

Steve hurried to his side and gently, but firmly slid his shoulder under his arm, guiding him back to his bed. The man didn't resist him. Now that the danger was past, weakness quickly robbed him of the brief strength he managed to find.

"It will be fine. I will take them on a long trip. It will be days before we can check all those caves. Once they realize this, they will give up and leave." Steve tried to encourage Herobrine, seeing that gloomy disgruntled look settle in his expression.

Herobrine nodded, not appearing enthusiastic at all, even after Steve explained his reasons.

"Don't worry about any of it. It will be fine!" Steve grinned. "At the end of it all, I will just forfeit my pay, since we won't find anything. You did say that you will only need a few more days before you will be well enough to leave somewhere else. So it will be fine."

He probably should not have listened to Steve. At this point, he should have simply left Steve's house. He had regained enough power that he could have forced the Endermen to return to his side and take him to another place he deemed safe, where he felt fairly sure even these strange opponents would not find him.

Yet, he allowed Steve's confident appeals to convince him. That, and his own selfish wish to remain, because he felt drawn toward the human's company. It had been a long time since he had dared to act like... himself, with anyone. It certainly appealed more to him than falling into an unease daze as he waited alone in some empty, lonely stronghold until his strength became fully restored. And Steve had nothing to fear from those men. They were here to hunt Herobrine and he was a human, like them. They had no reason to hurt him, even if their search came to nothing.

"All right." Herobrine reluctantly accepted Steve's questionable idea, though unease remained in the corner of his heart.

Chapter Text

"He shouldn't exist. It's a glitch of some sort."

"Then remove it."

"I cannot. The System keeps switching. Look... See? It keeps saying that he's a player. Then, back to that. Then, this! I've been trying to get rid of it for almost an hour! And nothing. I cannot even access its profile! I remove one function, and as soon as I move on to another, it comes back."

Herobrine, too weak to move, lay curled up on the floor of the strange chamber where these beings have put him. Deceptively human in outward appearance, but now he knew that it was only an illusion. They were powerful. Far more powerful than he imagined himself to be.

The pain that assaulted his senses was another proof of that. Tearing a muted scream, it raged across his body, seeking to pull it apart, until it left him panting and trembling on the floor. He curled up tighter in a helpless effort to defend himself, despite knowing that it would do no good. They were determined to destroy him.

They tried, again and again. All he currently wished was that they would finally succeed, if only to cease this torture. A brief period of oblivion, before he reappeared here again, somehow anchored to this strange place and defenseless before their lack of mercy.

"... See? It's still here." They didn't even see him as a living being. The voice of his torturer radiated disappointment. His glowing eyes shut, Herobrine cowered on the ground and tried to gulp in breaths, his ribs still locked by spasming muscles.

"Maybe a few more sessions will finish it off? It seems much weaker now." Another says thoughtfully.

"I really do not think that it could have simply appeared. There are precautions set in place so things like this do not happen... Maybe someone made him?"

"Hmm..."

"Well, just keep trying to purge it. We cannot risk it getting loose again. He already made enough chaos. All the players are still complaining."

"Fine."

No, no, no, nonono... Please! He would have begged them, no longer caring about the humiliation. His pride and former confidence had been utterly crushed by what he had seen so far. He wished that he had not tried to threaten them when he first woke up here. Then, he might have still had his voice so he could beg them to spare him. It was too late though. They simply didn't care. To them he was little more than a bug, that dared to crawl into their dwelling. Despair washed heavily across his senses.

And then another wave of pain came, searing all thought and shredding his very being, leaving him suspended in an endless muted scream.

Herobrine's eyes shot awake and fire flared around his jerking arms, only to sputter out as he lay there, his heart thundering in an uneven rhythm.

Stunned, Herobrine lay on his back and blinked up at the rough-hewn, wooden ceiling of Steve's room. The urge to escape gradually ebbed away.

He was still safe.

An annoyed frown crossed his features. It's been a while since such dreams bothered him. He no longer had to worry about that. Right? Notch himself had promised him that he would be safe.

Herobrine forced himself to sit up and glared at the door. He hated feeling this weak. He still felt as if he could not take a breath. He needed to go. Get out. Now.

Gathering his strength, Herobrine lurched up and immediately had to brace himself against the wall, where he stood briefly, breathing heavily as pain from poorly healing wounds washed across his perception. He waited, then stubbornly continued on his way, his eyes holding fast on the door.

A few steps. Just a few steps away. He would do this. He was not weak!

Each step sent more pain, but he continued, gritting his teeth, willing his reluctant body to obey his will.

The door yielded easily. Herobrine unwillingly released a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Of course, it was open. Why would it be locked? Steve had no intention of holding him prisoner. He could not have done it even if he tried!

Still, an image flared vividly in his memory, of another door. Not wooden like this one, but metal, spotlessly white and reflecting his own glowing eyes back at him, wide open with terror. He could not breathe! Choking on missing air, he beat and pounded, then uselessly scrabbled at the invisible line where it should open, until it slid from his dimming view as he fell to the ground. His body uselessly contorting as his lungs tried to draw in air that was no longer there.

Gritting his teeth, Herobrine sucked in a breath, though it made an ache in his chest grow, and then another, as Steve's cozy room swam in his vision. His panicked glance swept across the cabin until it found Steve, asleep. For some reason, that sight steadied him.

Leaning against the wall, Herobrine regarded the haplessly sleeping human, sprawled carelessly on the rather narrow couch, and his breath calmed.

Turning his determined gaze on the outer door, Herobrine set an unsteady foot forward. Cautiously, he completely let go of his support and stood there, struggling to find his balance. He made another small step forward, and then another. Trying to keep his unsteady shuffle quiet, so as not to wake the mortal, he made it to the door. At his touch, it creaked slightly open.

Herobrine cast the human behind him a displeased glance. Careless. So careless. He really did begin to take Herobrine's protection for granted.

Pushing the door open with his hand, Herobrine stepped through and just stood there, taking in sights, sounds, and smells with all his senses. The wind gently ran across his face and stirred his hair. Night sky above quietly enveloped the earth. Closing his eyes, he reveled in the rustling sound of leaves in the surrounding forest and felt the pressure retreat from his mind. Even growls of the undead aimlessly roaming nearby comforted.

He was free. And safe.

A soft lurp sounded, somehow hesitant and apologetic. Herobrine couldn't help smirking a bit. So, now his servants deemed it safe to return? Their tentative presence, approaching, helped clear the last remnants of old fears, allowing Herobrine to shove the memories back down in his mind.

He opened his eyes, his face and heart calm. Glancing back at the still sleeping human, Herobrine considered him once more, his expression indecipherable.

Rurp? The questioning grown came again. Turning his glowing gaze back to the tall shadows of his servants drawing closer, Herobrine firmly stepped outside.

...

The first thing Steve noticed when he woke up was the delicious smell permeating the air. Next was the sounds. Steve blinked, trying to identify them. Something was sizzling and sputtering.

Blue eyes shot to the kitchen door and then to Herobrine's room. Steve jumped up and peered, to see the bed empty.

For a moment, he blinked at that, then turned toward the kitchen. Hesitantly, he made his way there and stopped at the entrance, gaping.

Herobrine was... Cooking?

Chapter Text

Steve stood in the doorway of his kitchen and blinked with disbelief. His twin cast him a glance over his shoulder and hid a smirk at the human's astonished reaction before returning to his current task.

Steve, too hesitant to interrupt, sat down at the table and just watched the other's back. He had almost never seen Herobrine this close. At least not in full daylight. And the man looked... surprisingly ordinary? At least from his back.

Herobrine was still not well. Steve noticed that in his movements, the strained effort of slightly shaking muscle and the way he stood, favoring one side. Plus his missing arm. It was still missing.

Herobrine did not seem deterred by his injuries and continued to prepare the meal with efficiency of someone who had obviously done this before. It struck Steve as strange to think his powerful twin might have done such ordinary things as getting up from his bed and cooking himself breakfast. If anything, didn't his servant mobs cook it for him?

"Are you joking? Trusting them to cook?... Unnecessary. I have excellent skills in making a proper meal." Steve blinked, wondering once again if his twin could read minds. Or, did he blurt his last thought out loud?

A plate of perfectly seasoned steak slid over to him, cutting off his further embarrassed thoughts, as his twin limped to the other side of the table and sat down with a noticeable wince.

"You did." Herobrine confirmed with unexpected amiability and smirked at the expression that appeared in the miner's face.

The human searched his guest's face but Herobrine continues to smirk, hiding the discomfort he felt that anyone other than his voiceless dumb mobs should see him in such a setting. It was doubtlessly decimating the powerful, untouchable image that dwelled in Steve's mind and which Herobrine always took care to maintain out of caution for self-preservation. Given his past, that was the role he had to play, unless he wanted even more "heroes" and even locals seeking to challenge him everywhere he went.

This human had already seen him at his most defenseless and didn't take advantage of it. Steve was not like the other humans. Although still not certain, Herobrine felt fairly confident that Steve would not betray him unless he were given a reason. That meant that he could trust him a little and meant that he could drop playing a role. Though the last was proving strangely hard, probably because it had become a habit.

"... It's really good." Steve admired, agreeing with his twin's self-assessment. Herobrine really could cook and he did it well, maybe even better than Steve could. Herobrine smirked again, his usual superior expression briefly lighting his face, only to give way to weary contentment as he took another bite, appearing relaxed and at ease. Steve had never seen him like that.

Unwillingly, Steve's eyes held on his twin, following the piece of steak as it disappeared in the other's mouth. Somehow, the idea that Herobrine even needed to eat had never occurred to him. And he certainly never imagined that they would be sitting at the same table together, eating a meal that the legend of many terrifying tales had prepared.

Herobrine seemed to be enjoying the result of his own effort and Steve quickly dropped his eyes to his own plate before the other noticed him staring. It still all felt... unreal somehow.

With no scalding remarks or threats following, Steve dared to look up again, stealing a peek at his twin's face while he wasn't watching. Herobrine's face did resemble his own, only older and with an unshaven stubble of a beard instead of mostly fuzz that Steve had attempted to grow to imitate him. He now also looked thinner and sported shadows under his white eyes, their glow not nearly as scary as it seemed in the dark. In the bright sunlight streaming through the windows and falling across the table, Herobrine's eyes appeared a very light gray and covered by a white film, which obscured his pupils. Sometimes, Steve even wondered if he was blind, but so far Herobrine's reactions belied that thought. Still, in daylight, he seemed almost... normal.

He no longer wore bandages, except for a few beneath the collar of his shirt and along the stump of his injured shoulder. Numerous faint lines, barely noticeable, crossed Herobrine's skin, some thicker than the others. Steve's eyes held on those scars with regret. Herobrine's past confrontations had left their mark, despite his extraordinary healing ability as Steve just witnessed. It made Steve wonder what hardships this man had encountered in his past and if any of them had been similar to this one. Did anyone help him in those times or did he struggle through the pain of previous defeats alone? Herobrine never spoke of it, only boasted of his victories.

Herobrine's clothes were similar to Steve's, too. Steve's eyes fell on the clean, cyan shirt.

"Is that... my stuff?" Steve blurted out before he realized and he gulped, unconsciously shrinking away before his twin's unnerving glare. Normally, he would not have dared to say a word of complaint. It was probably this strange, homely atmosphere that made him feel it was all right to speak up like this to his dangerous guest. Hoping that his words had not evoked Herobrine's ire, Steve sheepishly smiled.

However, it did seem that Herobrine was wearing his clothes, as unlikely as the image was of the man roving in Steve's chests without permission. Steve's eyes drew against his volition to the shirt and then to the new trousers that his twin wore to replace the ones shredded in the fight.

Herobrine's face regained his usual flat look. "It's not yours. It's mine. I had my servants bring me a few of my things last night." Annoyance carried in his voice, but not anger.

Encouraged, Steve shot a look at Herobrine's face and found a frown. Following his twin's slight nod to the wall, Steve only now noticed two carefully lined chests, placed next to his own. A blush grew on his face. Glancing back at frowning Herobrine, Steve crooked a sheepish smile and shrugged.

"I mean, it would have been fine." He tried to reassure, but only earned himself a sharp look.

"I would not take your things without asking you about it, first. Did I ever take anything from you before?... Well, I did. But it was a joke. And I restored it all back to you afterward, did I not?"

Steve uncomfortably stirred in his chair, preferring not to answer that particular claim. Noticing the human dropping his eyes and avoiding to meet his eyes directly, Herobrine studied him.

"You disagree." He concluded with flat tone.

Steve nervously chuckled. "It's all right."

"No. Explain."

Steve shifted, then dared to look up, finding Herobrine's displeased eyes held on his in impatient demand. "It's really not that important."

"Did you not find the diamonds I left you? Or... Was it not enough?" Herobrine pressed, determined to find out what displeased the human. He had been certain that his past interactions with the human, while somewhat rough and possibly annoying, had not crossed the line. Steve at least never complained, except that one time when his fence caught on fire. That's why Herobrine covered the expenses by tossing a few diamonds to Steve's feet. The human had still not been pleased, but Herobrine ignored his huffing look, counting the incident as closed. But it was not? Before, Herobrine would not have considered this human's wishes. Now, he owed him a debt that he still had to figure out how to repay.

"Explain!" Herobrine ordered, frustrated. Appearing discomforted, judging by how he shifted in his chair and his slumping chest as he tried to look smaller than he was, Steve once again looked away, his expression turning defensive. "I found them."

"And? You should have been able to trade them easily in town to compensate for what you had lost. That burnt down field and the fence? Your tools? All easily replaceable."

Steve shifted again. "... I couldn't take them to town. I... I didn't want them to think that..."

"You didn't want to raise suspicions that you knew me." Herobrine guessed and watched the miner's face fill with a mix of apprehension and guilt. "What did you do with it all then?" He tried to soften his tone.

Encouraged, Steve lifted his eyes. "I... put them in a chest and buried them, in my backyard." Steve nervously chuckled, throwing a look to his yard, probably to the exact spot where he buried a chest of what the locals would consider a considerable treasure.

He really was a plain book to read, Herobrine scoffed by habit, only to mentally sigh.

"So... I still owe you even more than I thought." He concluded. Steve looked at him with surprise.

"It's all right. I already replaced all those things." He tried to lighten things up with his usual cheerful smile. Herobrine's face remained darkened. It was unpleasant to learn that he had made a mistake, where he had thought he was not in the wrong at all. He really was not good at interactions with other sentients, was he?

"That's not the point. I..." Herobrine fell silent, not in the mood to make another pointless apology. He will just have to compensate the miner in some other way for the previous slight, in addition for his help now. It had to be something that Steve truly valued and would accept. What could Herobrine give him? It was not as easy to determine as Herobrine expected, since Steve was different from what Herobrine came to expect of humans.

Seeing the other man lapse in thought, Steve waited a bit, then got up. He had to get ready to go and meet up with those hunters. Today would be the first day of his ruse to keep them away from Herobrine.

"You are to meet them in town?" Herobrine's voice asked behind him. Steve turned and nodded. "I still do not think that you should have taken their offer. They... I don't think they will try to hurt you, but..." Herobrine said with uncharacteristic lack of confidence.

Herobrine... worried about him? Steve couldn't help a big grin that appeared on his face.

"It's all right. I will only keep them away a little longer. And then you'll lead them away from here. Right?"

Herobrine nodded, still frowning. That was the plan that he and Steve discussed yesterday and he had been against Steve's idea. Only, he had to agree that backing out from that agreement now would look even more suspicious on Steve's part than if he had refused them outright. Even if Herobrine left, they might take offense. And Herobrine knew very well how angry players acted even against their own.

"It will be fine. They are heroes. And heroes only hunt monsters, not humans." Steve smiled with faint guilt. Herobrine nodded in agreement. That was true. However, even the best made plans often went wrong, as Herobrine had experienced himself on many occasions.

Old memories flared again in his mind against his volition. Himself, standing on top of a hill with an arrogant grin on his face, as he gestured his undefeatable as he believed at the time army to go forth against the humans in their town below. Their startled faces as they stopped and turned to look up at him sent pleasure through his heart. He could do whatever he wished! He was the most feared, the most powerful being in existence! Deluded fool.

Herobrine scowled at the memory of himself brashly waiting as yet another being appeared, wearing strangely unimpressive simple garments much like his own, a brown short-sleeved shirt and gray trousers rather than the shining armor of champions that tried to challenge him before.

A bearded man had a hairless head, the skin shining in the light of fires devouring the human city. The man frowned at him, his black, small eyes narrowing on Herobrine, his expression entirely devoid of fear, instead appearing annoyed, as if coming here to face him seemed a mere inconvenience.

He should have known then that something was very wrong. This was not the behavior of a normal human that Herobrine knew. Yet, in his over-confidence he had ignored this perception. Even when the man irritably gestured and the fires around them began to go out, the destroyed blocks of buildings starting to fly up and return to the places where they fell from, Herobrine remained in place, only mildly confused, still looking forward to the fun confrontation.

A worthy opponent at last! That had been his younger self's thoughts and expectation of an exciting battle, especially when the strange human summoned a glowing hammer to his hand.

Herobrine forcefully cast away his memories and returned to watching Steve, as he picked up his pack and checked his mining tools.

Steve should not have had to do this.

Herobrine should have been strong enough to easily handle his pursuers on his own, without resorting to this hapless human's help. Yet, for some reason, his body recovered at a much slower speed and he still could not grasp the power, which usually let him teleport. Or, rather, he felt it close, but it continue to glitch, leaving him very reluctant to risk using it. He wouldn't. Not unless he absolutely had to.

Herobrine suspected that the unfamiliar weapons his opponents wielded had something to do with it. They should not have even had them. Not here. It was against the rules that Herobrine took great care to learn to assure his own safety. Ever his earlier experience with the so-called Admin, who really were the most powerful beings in these worlds, he knew what he could and could not do, what he could get away with, and he tried not to cross the line that Notch warned him of.

But Notch had been gone for a while now and Herobrine no longer knew what went through the minds of those powerful humans. And while he didn't think that these human challengers had anything to do with the higher level of beings, he could not help noticing that their skills and abilities significantly exceeded those he usually expected of players and seemed akin to those wielded by the Admin.

Just who were they and what was their intent concerning Herobrine? Did they really come just to challenge him as so many humans had done before, even on occasion succeeding? Or did they mean to do something more?

Could they have been doing the will of the Admin, who finally decided to finish him off for good? Did they find a way to do so?

He didn't know. He also didn't dare to bother Notch about this. He hoped yet that this situation would resolve without involving that powerful being. In some ways, despite the mercy he granted to defeated Herobrine, Notch scared him even more than the Admin who tortured him.

Admin or players were humans. Notch... was something else and far more powerful. Herobrine would have said that the being who defeated him was almost like him. Yet the humans counted Notch on their side and Notch irritably confirmed that it was true and he would simply destroy Herobrine if he ever seriously attempted to return to his previous path of destruction.

Humans... Herobrine scowled at the thought. All humans, regardless of their power, were unreasonable, fickle creatures that he failed to understand, except that they were in far majority driven by selfish desires and goals of personal gain. Often, they attacked and killed just for mere slights that should have at best evoked an annoyed word of warning even from him...

If they decided to turn against Steve, there was nothing that Herobrine could do at the moment. Not unless he wished to risk death and the following state, from which he might or might not come back. The thought of being left in such a condition forever left a chill going through Herobrine's heart. He wouldn't do it, even for this friendly human's sake. Or... would he? Allow his enemies to destroy him, just to make sure they would leave Steve alone?

No, Steve had better chances of handling that encounter than he could. He was a player, whatever he claimed. That meant that he had the same ability to defy death that all players had. Herobrine no longer had such luxury, thanks to his brief stay with the developers.

Even if they killed Steve, he should be fine... Right?

'I don't know. I just woke up one day. I woke up in the woods and then just... wandered. Until good travelers found me and took me to town. This happened, about... eight years ago?'

Steve's cheerful voice sounded again in Herobrine's mind. Eight years ago - about the same time when Herobrine awakened himself.

And Steve also didn't remember anything that happened before. He really didn't. He wasn't playing an act as Herobrine believed at first. And he has not yet died, so Herobrine had no idea what would happen.

What if... Steve didn't respawn like the other players?

And if he could respawn, where would it be? Players could usually set their respawn location, unless it was within the area already claimed by hostile mobs. Sometimes, they got thrown back to their starting point, to the First City in ethereal heights of the Aether. Steve didn't appear to know what Herobrine talked about.

What if this clueless human would respawn in a completely random location, as often happened to Herobrine himself? The world was a vast, multi-layered place. Herobrine might simply not find him again.

He... really didn't want to lose sight of this human.

Herobrine frowned, watching the miner head to the door.

He didn't want to Steve to do this. Yet, doing so would allow him to know where those strange players went. Steve should be all right. They had no reason to harm him. And Herobrine only needed a little more time to get back in norm. Then, they would regret ever coming here to challenge him. Herobrine scowled.

"Steve..." Already reaching for the door, Steve curiously glanced back, his mild blue eyes holding on Herobrine's in a silent question.

"Be careful." Herobrine advised unnecessarily, yet the human grinned in response.

The concern he saw in his twin's expression once again sent warmth through Steve's heart. Brightly smiling, Steve stepped out the door from Herobrine's sight.

White eyes held on the door that swung closed.

"... Watch him." Herobrine's voice spoke with authority. A soft rurp followed, an Enderman stepping out of a flurry of purple particles into the room. White eyes heavily rested on the servant.

"Stay out of sight. I do not wish for those hunters to see any of you." Herobrine commanded with a cold tone.

"Rurp rurp." The Enderman's voice shifted, pleased. Their master's lack of expression could not mask his heart from them, not when they could feel his intent as if his will was part of their own. The connection their master established with them made sure of that. He cared about them, too.

At Herobrine's small nod the black creature vanished, leaving the still injured and far-weaker than he wished "lord of the mobs" alone in the small cabin, hating his own helplessness.

Chapter Text

"Herobrine..."

A quiet, gravely voice startled Herobrine up from an uneasy slumber. His hands immediately clutching to his blanket for comfort, he looked up at his protector with a silent question.

Notch's grim expression met him, instantly making him tense.

"Come." The larger man directed, slightly reaching his hand forward. Herobrine immediately obeyed.

They appeared standing high up on a plateau covered with green, swaying grass. Beyond the edges falling into cliffs below, endless green forest stretched, with only the tops of the trees peeking out from the heavy, white mist blanketing the earth below. Cool air laden with scents struck Herobrine's senses, bringing back bittersweet memories of freedom along with his worst mistakes.

Overworld? Why?

"They spoke of taking you from me. They believe that you are a danger to them, since they cannot control you directly. They said that if they allow you to exist, you may turn against them yet again and it will be even worse, considering what I taught you."

Herobrine startled and opened his mouth to speak in his own defense, but Notch's impatient gesture quieted him.

"I believe differently. You deserve a chance to live despite your past mistakes. That's why I'm setting you free."

Herobrine blinked at him, not sure what he felt about the sudden change in his position. He was safe so long as he stayed with Notch. Out there, he would be completely alone.

"You can stay safe so long as you stay out of their sight. There are countless worlds where you can find refuge. There are countless copies of you. You can take their place for a time and play their role. They won't be able to find you among them. Stay low and do not attract attention. Then perhaps in time, they will forget about you."

Herobrine nodded. Yes, he already knew a lot about these things since Notch explained it to him. He didn't understand why or how the world was the way it was, but what Notch said gave him direction. Only...

About to ask a question, he looked at Notch and noticed a dark look that held on his protector's face. His unspoken question trailed away. Despite his enormous power, Notch was also not beyond the power of those dangerous beings he called 'the Admin'.

"Won't they... be angry? That you... let me go?" Herobrine asked uncertainly and Notch winced, making a tiny dismissive wave of his large hand.

"Do not worry about that. I will manage. I am essential to their plans so they won't easily get rid of me."

Herobrine frowned, hating how these players, these humans from beyond their worlds, had so much power over them. But rack his mind as he might, he couldn't think of any possible way to defeat them. Notch flatly said that it was impossible. And the recent lessons were too raw in Herobrine's mind to take the risk and openly defy them again.

"Don't try to reach me directly." Notch's voice pulled him to present. Herobrine looked at him with a question. "Light a Beacon with this configuration. I will keep an eye out for it." A direct data upload followed.

To anyone who might have witnessed this conversation, the two figures would have seemed to simply stand in silence. Both dressed in plain clothes, t-shirts, trousers, and simple boots, yet both with a strange sense of power about them. Only the faint flicker in Herobrine's eyes, as he stood there expressionless and intent on receiving and storing the message, showed that something just passed between them without being shaped into words.

"Go. Remember what I said. Don't get in any more trouble or even I won't be able to help you next time. Be careful and farewell, Herobrine."

Herobrine obediently nodded. Already turned, Notch held his gaze on him, uncertainty, worry, and even a bit of mistrust fighting in his expression before it all shut down into his usual stern face. He was doubting that Herobrine could stay out of trouble, Herobrine concluded with a falling heart. Turning away, the more powerful being walked away and vanished in mid step.

Herobrine stood a moment longer, looking in the direction Notch left with a troubled expression. Then, his white eyes lifted and uneasily held on the mighty walls and skyscraper towers of the Ethereal city that had been both his prison and home for the past several months. Majestic, it seemed to float, resting on an enormous, flat island above the misty, green mountains of the world below. A scowl appeared on Herobrine's face as hatred settled in his features.

Abruptly turning, he vanished as well.

Nine months ago

"Hey!... We know it's you. You are the real Herobrine!... We'll be back. You'll pay for this! You'll pppa... agh..."

The huffing, red-haired human player chocked, pressing both his hands to the grievously gushing wound on his stomach where Herobrine's sword struck him. Angry, gray eyes burned from a face twisted with pain.

The player fell, his form vanishing. Items exploded out and floated in the air, same as numerous other spots nearby where the rest of the attacking players just met their demise. Only Herobrine stood, alone amid the scorched rocks, his chest heaving with effort and a scornful smirk on his face as he glared at the place where the player had been.

Then, he winced, slightly slumping as he relaxed and took a breath of relief. The wounds on his own form ached, slowly pulling closed. The rends in his clothing glitched faintly before vanishing as well.

The scornful smirk fell as white eyes turned and regarded the mansion behind him, its tall, wooden buildings burning in heavy smoke that rose into the sky. His lips twisted with bitter regret. Another home – gone. This time he managed to stay for almost five months before the players discovered his whereabouts. He could no longer hide here. Time to move on.

With a small huff, Herobrine turned away, casting the feeling from his heart as unavoidable. He should be used to this by now. All his most important things were concealed elsewhere and were much harder to find. All except...

Herobrine teleported to a closed room within the mansion, ignoring the roaring of the fire that already shone beyond the walls. Stepping to the table, where notes of paper lay, bearing diagrams and flowing, accurate writing, he picked up a book with a worn, leather cover. The front bore a stamped title - "Tales of Herobrine, a compilation, written by August Wren and published 4500AA. Property of Lushin Library in Grescov."

Dismissing the book to his inventory, Herobrine took another look around to make sure he didn't forget anything important. His eyes swept across the other bookshelves, the chests of supplies, and held on the arms-chair, where a plush beige blanket with sewn on teddy bears hung partly thrown across the velvety, blue cushions. Scowling, he stepped toward it and irritably snatched it, sending it off to his inventory as well.

A sharp look snapped up to the ceiling and Herobrine teleported away just as the entire upper floor of the mansion crashed down, burying his small, underground library under heaps of rubble...

Lightning forewarned of Herobrine's arrival.

Another world met him with cool shadow of the quiet, evergreen forest. Pulling in deep the scents of fragrant sap and pine, Herobrine lightly stepped off his singed spot in the otherwise pristine wooded grounds. Unhurried, he walked ahead, keeping a lookout.

His aim had been a little off, as usual. Somewhere near here, there should be another of his mansions, which spawned from time to time randomly across all places in Overworld. Well... not his exactly, but he considered them as such since remained the only one among all those mindless copies with his figure and face, who could appreciate it. They merely kept the place up for him until he – the true owner – had arrived.

Slightly smirking at that, Herobrine made his way forward. The location he intended to reach pinged right ahead, beyond those low-rolling hills heavily overgrown with tall oaks. Unwillingly throwing up his head as he walked, enjoying the cool touch of the air, Herobrine squinted at the blue sky where fluffy, white clouds swam in the great distance and a hint of a smile appeared on his face. Late summer ruled here and he loved this time of the year in the Overworld. This was... peaceful.

"Steve!... Hey, Steve!"

Instantly tense again, Herobrine snapped an irritated look over his shoulder in direction from which the distant voice came.

Locals, not players. Six human teens ranging from ages of twelve to sixteen stood lower in the hill, looking toward him with surprise. Did they not have chores to do or training of some sort that they were prowling around the woods so early in the day? Maybe it was some sort of a local holiday.

Herobrine pulled up the local calendar and scowled at the date, which lay in the middle of three weeks marked in red. He was right. Great... This was the time of the year celebrated by the locals with holidays and merrymaking and known to them as Autumn Harvest festival.

"Steve!"

Dismissing the calendar, Herobrine resumed walking at a faster pace. Hopefully if he pointedly ignored them, they would decide that he didn't desire their company and fall back – whoever it was they had mistaken him for.

"Steve! Wait up!" The locals didn't give up.

They broke into a run. Hearing their huffing breaths getting closer, Herobrine closed his eyes and stopped, slightly lowering his head in annoyance. He didn't even know who they mistook him for. Could he get away by telling them to get lost? Or should he attempt to play his usual role. He didn't even know the specifics of the legends that explained his double's presence in this world.

"Steve? Didn't you hear us calling you?" The teen's voice demanded, annoyed. Heavily breathing from their run, they stood behind him. Herobrine said nothing back.

His eerie silence and still posture sent first waves of uncertainty as the teens eyed him.

"Um... Steve?" This time the voice came unsure and timid as the boy cautiously came around him. A step brought him closer. That's it!

Herobrine's eyes snapped open and he glared at the teen.

"Aaaaah!" The boy cried out, stumbling back. Scooting on his hands and feet, he tried to back away from Herobrine as fast as he could.

"Jeremy, what are you..."

"Him! It's him! It's not Steve! Aaaaah!" The boy remembered that he could run and jumped to his feet as he stepped back from Herobrine even further. Herobrine couldn't help a smirk from appearing, playing on his lips. The locals were so easily spooked.

"What are you..."

Herobrine teleported a short distance away before the other teens, still clueless of his identity, could step toward him and touch him as he sensed they were about to do. The mere thought of that was intolerable.

He didn't go far, however. Standing on a hill above them, he inclined his head and watched their group. Confused and startled, the teens frantically twisted their heads this way and that, searching for the ominous figure.

"Herobrine! It was Herobrine!" The young human who had seen his eyes explained to the others but met their disbelief. Several pairs of eyes stared at him.

"It couldn't be. He never leaves his castle."

"It was! He had white eyes!"

"And, he teleported. Only Herobrine can do that." Another boy stood up in his friend's defense.

"But... He never leaves his castle!" The younger child said stubbornly.

"Pfft. You cannot know what he does or doesn't do. We have never even seen him!"

"Steve has. And he said that he usually just stands there, doing nothing."

"Well, this time he wasn't! Doing nothing, I mean. He was just here!"

"What was he even doing here?"

"I don't know! Maybe taking a walk? Who knows! I thought it was Steve! He looks just like him!"

Herobrine's eyes slightly narrowed at that. Who were they talking about?

"Who cares, I'm outta here. M'going home!" The young local who had seen Herobrine's eyes told the others and, turning away from them, strode downhill, his entire body nervously tensed as he kept throwing around anxious glances. The other children watched him leave, still standing in a huddled group as they unconsciously drew closer together.

One of them threw a glance up and startled, seeing a ghostly figure that now stood up on a hill, silently watching them. Grabbing up to the arm of the child next to him, the boy pointed a shaking hand in Herobrine's direction.

Gasping, all the remaining five fled after their friend. Herobrine watched them a bit longer, again amused, before his smirk slowly fell.

From this height, he could see where these children were going – it was a small town a mile or so to the south-west of the rising mountains where his new home pinged. Too close. Judging by what Herobrine had overheard, the locals not only knew of his new mansion's location, but had also visited it, snooping around inside. His mindless double should have reacted to that, but... the locals were not players, despite looking human. They were more similar to Notch and Herobrine and his double didn't react to their presence with the same hostility. Neither could Herobrine, especially because he knew that Notch cared about them.

He felt neutral toward the locals. But he didn't look forward to having them snoop around his dwelling, either. He should frighten them to keep them away.

Herobrine frowned. How would his double deal with this? Most likely it was the same as in all the other places he had seen – his copies were considered ghosts or something alike to that, living recluse in their mansions. Rarely, they appeared in the local cities and countryside, where they would spawn a bunch of monsters in a half-hearted and easily defeated attacks, after which they would vanish, returning to their mansion to wait for the arrival of players to whom the locals would turn for aid.

Encountering the locals and provoking them so soon was not in Herobrine's plans.

Were there any players currently down in that little city? Maybe he should just turn around and leave to another world?

Herobrine stifled a huff. He was already tired. To teleport so soon to another world would leave him utterly exhausted. He needed to sleep. Constant raids by the players had robbed him of the opportunity to rest for the past month and a half!

Scowling at the reminder, Herobrine span from his spot and proceeded ahead in short jumps that took him from one visible location to the next. His form reappeared briefly and vanished, poising in the trees, on the random rocks protruding from the ground, and scattered green meadows. Although more energy consuming, this was a far faster way of moving than walking and carried less risk of running into more snooping locals.

Only minutes later, he stood before his new home and critically considered it.

Another mansion stood between two rising walls of mountain slopes, washed liberally by the sun. Tall wooden turrets on each side, with bottom of the buildings reinforced with stone. Larger halls and corridors would lay beneath the ground in dim twilight.

Another temporary place that he would soon leave, even if the story those local kids would tell in the city didn't catch anyone's attention.

Herobrine frowned, not pleased by the familiar sight. He would have much preferred a small cabin in the wilderness, as he sometimes tried to do. Only the last time he attempted to live peacefully in the open brought him to the attention of the Admin and nearly resulted in his recapture. Notch's advice remained safe by far. Hide and pretend. But how annoying this was! He couldn't even take a walk without evoking a negative reaction from the locals, regardless of where he went. The persistent legend of his "evil" acts preceded him. And they were not even his acts, despite his brief rebellion against the players several years ago. He had since begun searching for the answers of the true origin of this legend and still had no idea where it all began.

Maybe all of this really was just a game, like the Admin claimed, and he was only a mistake that shouldn't exist. A being, made to play the part of the villain, couldn't change its ways just because it gained sentience. If anything, this only made him more dangerous, since he now understood his part in the world and could take greater actions to oppose them. That's why he had to be destroyed.

Notch believed differently. Herobrine was different from his doubles because he had free will. He could decide what role he wanted to play and it didn't have to be that of a villain. That's why he gave him a chance, allowing him to leave before they could carry out their decision concerning him.

They didn't give up on trying to find him, however. And he... he was no longer so sure that Notch was right about him. Was he really free to make his choices?

He hated the players. He hated everything about them! They enjoyed hunting him, the "real Herobrine", and he enjoyed bringing them down and destroying their plans whenever he could. And if it had been in his power, he would destroy their world so they would no longer return here.

Another short jump took Herobrine to the main hall, where a throne stood on a slightly raised platform at the end of the long, red, carpet runner. There, his mindless double stood, an expressionless look on his face, not reacting as Herobrine approached and briefly considered it, his own expression closed.

Leaving it to stand there, Herobrine teleported again.

This time he stood on a deeper level below the hall, in a stuffy room, where an enormous bed with royal posts stood in the middle, sporting blood red covers covered with dust. Another familiar and irritating sight. Herobrine silently glared at it all with disgust, then closed his eyes and concentrated.

At the effort of will, the room around him began to change, taking on his favored settings.

The ceiling lowered, the enormous hanging chandelier vanishing, while a fireplace opened in one of the walls and fire whooshed into being, merrily crackling over several stacked wooden logs. The bed shrunk in size, the covers changing to velvety, soft blue, and a wooden table rose from the floor where polished planks covered the drab, gray stone. An armchair appeared next to it. Cobwebs in the corners of the room retracted into walls. Soon, the entire room stood clean and cozy.

Satisfied, Herobrine humphed. White eyes shifting with longing on the comfortable bed, he shuffled to it and collapsed, his eyes closing. A plush blanket appeared in his hands, which he wrapped around himself until only the top of his tousled head showed. Minutes later he was soundly asleep.

Chapter Text

Nine months ago...

Late summer sun shone overhead. Warm air comforted. Steve stretched, pleased to finally have a moment to relax. This chair was so comfortable. Steve shifted a bit, testing his own invention and leaned back even more against the feather stuffed backing, pleased. Feeling quite clever for the moment, he praised himself for a worthy idea. This pillow chair was no less comfortable than those fancy furniture pieces that he had seen sold in expensive stores in big towns.

Closing his eyes, Steve relaxed, his ears tuning to the cheerful songs of birds singing from a tree just beyond his porch.

"Steve!"

Steve winced but stubbornly refused to move.

"Steve, you're not going to believe it!" Another familiar, young voice exclaimed in excitement, drawing closer.

Steve, his eyes still closed, drew an unwilling sigh. When was this Fall Festival going to end? These group of kids were like barnacles, clinging to the bottom of a ship, ever since he stepped in and saved one from a mob attack. They were out of town in the wild on some silly dare. He didn't regret his actions, of course, not one bit. But...

“Can we see your sword, Steve?”

“Steve, have you fought real zombies?”

“Steve have you really been in the mansion?”

“Steve… Steve… Steve…”

"Steve, you won't believe what happened today!" Steve stifled a smile.

"What?" He lazily peeked open one eye and amicably glanced at the children that appeared next to his dwelling, panting for breath as if they had run all the way. Their disheveled hair and clothing spoke of the same. All of them looked at him with round, apprehensive eyes.

Another unbelievable tale was sure to follow.

"Herobrine! We saw him!" Oleg, the oldest, declared with disbelief flaring in his wide-open, brown eyes.

Steve blinked at that. "What? You went to the mansion?" He frowned and irritably sat up. "I thought I told you that it’s too dangerous! There are mobs nearby. What if they attacked?" He scolded the incorrigible group.

One of the teens quickly shook his head.

"No, no! We didn't go there!" He threw the others a quick look, at which all six teens uneasily shifted. Wait, there were only four here. Steve's eyes searched behind them on the path leading to town, but did not see either Jeremy or Tomas, the two main instigators of dares and pranks.

"Well... We were... Going there, I mean." Oleg said defensively, but then raised his voice. "But that's not where we saw him!"

"Herobrine! He was outside his castle. In the woods." Timothy added breathlessly.

"And he looked just like you, Steve." Jimmy added, eating up Steve's face with his hazel eyes. All of them were looking at Steve with urgent, breathless expressions as if they expected him to do something.

"I know. Pretty weird, huh?" Steve grinned at them lightly.

"We're serious, Steve. He even wears the same clothes as you. We thought that it was you." The oldest boy frowned in suspicion.

Steve dismissively chuckled, leaning back and closing his eyes, determined to relax a bit more. All chores were done for once and he was a step ahead. He deserved a bit of time for himself, right?

"Steeeeve. We're not making this up! Herobrine is up to no good! Last time that happened, and he was out of his castle, all kinds of bad things happened!”

“There were zombies and monsters all over the place! Our town gates had to be locked for weeks until messengers reached help and heroes came! My pa told me about that!”

“Yeah! Mine, too!”

“I also heard about that.” Another boy spoke up. Steve sat up again.

“Well, I did hear something about that.” He agreed uncertainly. “But are you sure that…”

“It was Him!” Oleg exclaimed and the children eagerly shifted, quickly nodding. “His eyes were white! And he teleported!”

“I think it is the real Herobrine!” Oleg frowned, his face dark.

“He returned!” Timothy added.

“Real Herobrine?” Steve frowned as he thought back to all the legends he had heard about this already.

“Yeah! Don’t you remember the legends?” Oleg reminded. “How after the Great War, when he saw that he was losing to Notch, Great Herobrine created the ghosts that looked just like him? And then he hid among them, so no one would know where his real body is. That way, even if one of the ghosts gets destroyed, he goes and takes over the next one. And then the next!”

“He is here!”

Steve looked at the children doubtfully. Yes, he heard that version of the legend. And they certainly seemed earnest, but they told so many tall tales before…

“Listen, all of this is just a really old legend. Why would real Herobrine come here of all places? And also… Would a real Herobrine leave you alive?” Steve pointed out. The boys exchanged looks.

“Steeeeve… Can you just please go to the mansion and look? To see if our ghost is still there? Because if he is not there, then its bad.”

“Why me? Why not tell your own folk?” Steve protested. The boys gave him surly looks.

“Because no one will believe us. But if you say it, then they will send guards to check.”

“Also, we are going to get in big trouble for leaving town alone.” The youngest child admitted. Steve sighed, finally understanding their true reasons for coming to him. They just didn’t want to get in trouble.

“Steve, pleeeease?”

Steve frowned, but several pairs of earnest, pleading eyes met his.

“Besides, you already went there before. And you are not scared of him. You told us!”

“Yeah…” Steve rubbed the back of his neck, regretting even more for telling them the whole story.

A flash of empty, echoing halls appeared in his memory, stretching into the darkness lit by dim red torches. And a figure stood in eerie silence by a menacing throne, its eyes glowing eerie in the dark.

A figure of legends.

It was not Herobrine, of course - not really. Even then, Steve knew about the ghosts that dwelled in mansions deep in the heart of the woods or hidden far in the mountains, asleep, until someone disturbed their slumber. He had completely forgotten of that when he sought refuge in the place.

That ghost was not Herobrine himself. But it was a reflection of the real mysterious being of whom so many tales were told, which Steve found fascinating.

Herobrine was known under various names and titles. Master of Monsters. Ruler of the Night. Destroyer, who waged a war against gods and men. Great Notch’s brother and co-creator of the World, second in power only to Notch, himself. Notch made him to help him clear the worlds of evil that existed there, brought forth by the wars fought by the First Humans, so new Humans could return and live there once again. Only at some point, Herobrine turned against that purpose and became everyone’s enemy.

All legends agreed that’s what happened, but they varied in explaining how it happened. And Steve had heard many versions.

Thousands of years ago, First Humans, who lived in these worlds, discovered a great power – power that would allow them to become godlike. But only a few. This became a source of great strife as they fought with each other. When those few finally succeeded, it was at a great cost. Their world lay dead, a desolate place where only monsters remained. Hideous creations, made by malevolent will, roamed across sprawling ruins left of great cities where many souls once dwelled. Land itself lay ravaged into a form beyond all recognition, with some parts so scorched by heat, that no life remained there at all and only lava flowed. Others places, torn away from the world by unimaginable and terrible force, floated dead in the outer darkness.

The new gods that emerged from this disaster looked at it all and argued among themselves. Some wished to leave their world to its fate and go elsewhere. Others wanted to restore it and return the First Humans to dwell here once more. And then one of the gods proposed an idea, which seemed amenable to all.

They would leave. But they would make a being, whom they would leave behind to carry out the necessary repairs. That’s how Notch, the Great Servant came to be.

Made in their own image and likeness, but bound to the Aether, where the last refuge of the gods and the First Humans yet remained intact, he received power over everything that still remained in their control and all the wisdom of the First Humans. He then immediately began his work, fully obedient to their will. The gods left and thousands of years passed. At some point, the powerful being saw that he needed help in carrying out his tasks in places in the Overworld, where the power given to him by the gods did not reach. He, himself, could not leave the Aether, his power bound to the great beacons that shone around the place. And that’s how Herobrine appeared to be – made by Notch in his own image and likeness, but given a form of the First Humans, so he could go out into those parts of their world and bring it under Notch’s control.

For a time, Notch’s brother did as he was told. He went out into the worlds below and placed beacons there, expanding Notch’s power across dark realms, which slowly began to return to life. Grass and trees bloomed and forests appeared where only rocks lay heated under the blazing sun. Cool wind once again blew across the lands and flowing waters, where animals and birds appeared, recreated by Notch from the ashes. Herobrine watched it all and did as he was told, destroying monsters that he came across to make the worlds safe.

Both Brothers were still faithfully doing this task when the long-absent gods returned.

They were pleased by their Great Servant’s work. The only thing that did not please them was Herobrine’s existence.

“You shouldn’t have made him.” They sternly told Notch. “You gave him too much power and did not bind him by any of the rules that bind you. He listens to you, but not to us. What if he decides to become a god himself and turns against us? His existence is a mistake, that we want you to correct. Destroy him!”

Notch’s heart grew heavy, but he obeyed. He recalled his brother from his work on the Overworld. He called him right in the presence of the gods and his brother stood before them, first awed and then confused by their severe expressions. He did not seek to escape, since he didn’t know that he was in any danger. He listened, while the gods mercilessly declared their judgement. He tried to protest, but the gods remained unmoved. Then his eyes, which were blue then and not white like they are now, turned to Notch with reproach.

“Brother, you would allow them to do this? I have done nothing wrong!” He appealed to his brother. Notch refused to look at him and didn’t answer. His creators had ordered him to step aside and he was bound to obey their will.

The gods condemned Herobrine and then carried out their judgement. They struck him down to destroy him. Only they greatly underestimated Herobrine’s power and will to live. The entire power of the gods that poured against him, tore into his form, but failed to destroy him as he resisted with all his strength. His body broke apart and then reformed again. His eyes burnt and he screamed in pain and rage at this undeserved betrayal. And then he broke free and vanished. The gods failed to destroy him, though they did injure and weaken him greatly. They also made Notch revoke Herobrine’s access to power, hoping that without it, the now hostile to them being would perish even without their direct action.

But Herobrine managed to survive.

For a long time, nothing was heard about him as he remained hidden. The gods believed him gone. And they told grieved Notch their next command. Even though the world was not a completely safe place, yet, they ordered him to begin recreating the Humans. They also wanted him to make corrections. The new humans would still be based upon the form of the First Men, but immune to the pestilences that still existed in the world, since Notch and Herobrine never finished their work. They would also lack the ability, which could turn them into gods to challenge the gods own position and power.

Notch obeyed.

Humans appeared once again in worlds below and started spreading across the place. Villages grew into towns and towns became cities. They were nothing like the grand cities that existed in eons past or even as great a city as the one that still stood in the Aether, but they grew and improved. Hundreds of years passed in the blink of an eye, while the gods once again withdrew, allowing their Great Servant to do his work.

And then, when no one expected it, Herobrine reappeared.

Portals opened in many places at once and monsters began to pour through from realms, not yet tamed by human hand and where Notch still had no power, since he and Herobrine never finished their work. Cities and villages burned. And in the midst of it all was seen a figure, human in appearance, but its eyes white and blazing with power, while a hateful sneer twisted his face as he watched the destruction he had caused.

Herobrine, Notch’s betrayed and fallen brother, had returned to take his vengeance.

That was the version of the legends that struck Steve’s heart when he read it and still remained strongest in his memory, but there were many others.

In some, it was Herobrine himself, who rebelled against the will of the gods and his brother. He was not betrayed. He simply disliked it when the humans first appeared in the worlds that he and Notch had made. In that legend, he watched the humans, reborn from the ashes of the old world and saw their mistakes and blunders, and despised them. He questioned his brother why he would bring such faulty creatures into being. Their worlds were a far better, balanced place without them.

“It is our purpose and task to do what our creators once commanded,” Notch admonished his brother, “not question”. But Herobrine took an offense to that.

“No, it is YOUR purpose and task, brother, not mine.” He declared to his brother. “I don’t wish anything to do with them or your gods, since it were they, who destroyed these worlds in the first place.” Then Herobrine took his own servants and left.

Even before, when he was supposed to follow Notch’s will exactly and destroy all the monsters that he found, Herobrine had begun to disobey. Some of the smarter monsters surrendered to his power and he felt pity for them. He then asked Notch for permission to spare them and Notch granted it, provided that Herobrine took responsibility for them. Herobrine agreed and some of the monsters became his loyal servants, instead. Others, like the nearly sentient Endermen, he settled in dead places that floated above the world, where they would be harmless.

But now he left, in open defiance of his brother’s will.

Seeking freedom, Herobrine went to a part of the realm that was still not under Notch’s control. All rocks and fire, nearly uninhabitable. He then purposefully sealed it from the lands that his brother controlled, making it so Notch could not reach or see what went on. There, he made his home and named that realm – the Nether.

And here again the legends diverged. One claimed that this is when the gods returned, not before, and that's when they decided that Notch's brother should not be allowed to exist.

Since he left, some of his monsters had begun to attack the humans Notch made. Believing that it was Herobrine's malevolent will, the gods ordered Notch to destroy him. Notch, however, remained unwilling to destroy his brother without due cause. Herobrine did not command all the monsters, so he couldn’t be held responsible for what some of them did. He simply wished to be left alone in the Nether. And since Notch had no access to it, there really wasn’t anything that he could do.

Frustrated with their First Servant's reluctance, the gods turned to the humans. They chose some of them and granted them powers, making them Heroes. And they told them to go into the world and get rid of all the monsters and Herobrine.

In all versions, Herobrine turned against them and fought.

In some, he fought directly against the gods, with Notch standing aside and refusing to take part. In others, it was Notch who confronted him.

In all versions, Herobrine lost.

He couldn’t be destroyed, since he was made in the image of Notch and therefore immortal. He was only stripped of his powers and then cast into the Nether, to be imprisoned for all time.

He was not stripped of his powers. The gods could not do it, since he proved too powerful even for them. But they managed to trap him and put him into an enchanted sleep. He yet remains in that place, long forgotten and lost to time, while his spirit roams, haunting the lands as it appears in many places at once. His nightmares continue to create and bring forth monsters.

No. He really was destroyed! The gods won and broke his soul, so it scattered in a million pieces across all worlds. Yet even now, his spirit fights and tries to come together again. And that’s why ghosts appear. They are all bits of Herobrine's soul. When people do evil, his soul grows stronger, because it feeds on fear and suffering. And when strong enough, one of the ghosts wakes up. And because every ghost is a piece of Herobrine's soul, it then remembers its hatred against Notch and all humans and tries to cause all kinds of chaos.

This last legend was the most popular by far and that’s what the people in town where Steve settled also believed.

There were also rumors.

People said that in the lands far to the North, one of the ghosts woke up. Others said that it was the real Herobrine, returned once more to the world to take his vengeance. He attacked the Aether itself, where the city of heroes stood. They defeated him, but he managed to escape. Since then, he has been going from world to world, gathering pieces of his soul and growing stronger...

Steve listened to these myths and didn’t quite believe any of them. That didn't keep him from wondering. Somewhere in those ancient tales there must be the truth of what really happened in those years long past, lost in ancient history.

In either case, Steve never went to that strange mansion again.

He wished he had never mentioned about what he did in town, after he reached it, but he had been too shaken. Most town residents since then already concluded that he made the whole thing up. These children believed him. When Steve happened to have slain a zombie that chased after them through the woods, they decided that he was some sort of secret hero. Ever since, they continued to come and pester, begging to hear more of his “other adventures”. Sometimes he even humored them. He probably should not have.

Steve huffed. In reality, he was no hero. He lived a very simple, ordinary life filled with hard work. He worked in the mines days through and took care of his small farm, building and improving his cabin. He was also very content with it all, despite occasional day-dreams about real adventures.

“Steve, please? Can you go and check? Please?” The oldest teen asked, insistent. Steve didn’t bother to keep back a sigh.

“Fine. I’ll go. But you are not coming. You go straight home and stay there. And if I don’t come back soon, then go to the guards and tell them what happened. Is that clear?”

The children readily nodded, appearing relieved by his stern words.

That’s how a little later, Steve found himself standing upon the rocky ground directly before the tall, ornate gates. It was all just like the last time he saw it. Sun gilded the top part of the turrets with bright color, but the bottom of the building seemed sunk in gloom, the stones there gray and drab.

He stood, carefully watching it for any sign of movement or life. There was none.

From the looks of the torches, burning to light the multiple windows, and the lack of disrepair that one might expect to see in a place that's been abandoned, he could not have guessed that this mansion was haunted.

The words of the children about the ghost whom they saw in the woods and mistaken for Steve, the legends he heard about the pieces of Herobrine’s soul, the legendary being’s defiant words – all these repeated in Steve’s mind as he uncertainly looked up at the mysterious mansion.

Those young people definitely had an imagination, though, he encouraged himself. Just because they saw something, didn't mean that it really happened. This Steve already learned on multiple occasion. He also knew that they would not cease pestering him until he did this.

His lips briefly twitching into a wry smile, Steve shifted the grasp of his iron sword and then stepped forward to the entrance he glimpsed in the far end of the structure.

If he had known whose house he approached that night, chased relentlessly by the mobs, he would have never come in. He should have known that there was something strange about this place when the mobs, until then relentlessly chasing him, suddenly stopped short of the gloomy walls that rose around the mansion and only their glowing red eyes followed him.

He should have remembered the legends that he found so fascinating.

He didn’t think at all. He went in, exploring the strangely empty building in search of inhabitants. Finding none, puzzled, but too exhausted to go on, he simply found refuge in one of the dusty rooms. There, with a silent apology to the unknown owner of the place, Steve had broken off a piece of furniture and propped it against the door to keep it blocked just in case. And he fell asleep.

In the morning, he resumed exploring, wandering the winding halls until he came upon the palace deep underground.

There, he saw Him.

To Steve's eyes, it seemed like a man of his own age stood in silence in the middle of a large stone hall. An imposing throne stood behind him. No breath rose his chest and his eyes eerily glowed white in the darkness.

That’s where he remembered the legends and understood where he was.

The legendary ghost really did exist.

And it was then, standing frozen in his spot, that Steve noticed that it bore a remarkable semblance to himself, except for its odd eyes. He even took a double glance into the faint reflection that their figures cast upon the glistening metal shield in the corner.

Both of their figures reflected in blurry tones of cyan and blue in the bronze depths. The reflection was too blurry for Steve to check his suspicion.

The being did not appear alive. It just stood there like a statue and ignored Steve.

Shaken, Steve finally released the breath he was holding.

“I’m… S-sorry for disturbing your rest.” He stammered with a timid smile. The being didn’t react. Slowly, Steve made a step back. “I’ll be… g-going now.”

Steve backed away, not daring to take his eyes away from the eerie figure until he was out of the oppressing hall. Then, he fled, his pace increasing until he nearly ran. He escaped the mansion. He stumbled down into the ravine, crossing a brook. Only when he judged himself sufficiently away, already standing on the protruding edge on the other side, did he pause, his eyes squinting at the sight of the distant town. Uneasily, he glanced back at the mansion. It still stood, imposing but quiet, like a lonely guardian between the mountains. No one chased after him and even the mobs that chased him the night before were gone.

He then continued on to town, where he decided to settle rather than going on to his original destination. He explored around this area again, looking for best places to mine, and even occasionally came close to where he saw the mansion again, still standing there.

He didn’t dare to enter in again.

And now… He stood, looking at it once more.

Casting the safety of the woods behind him a longing look, Steve switched his gaze to the gate and hesitantly walked through. He approached the familiar, massive, ornate, wooden door and paused before it. Sucking in a deep breath, Steve pushed it open. Like before, it yielded, slowly coming ajar. Beyond, long hallway stretched in dim twilight, red torches flickering on either side.

“Hello? Anyone here?”

No answer.

Steve stood a moment longer, gathering courage. Then, he made a timid step forward and entered.

...

Herobrine scowled, desperately countering the sword strikes piercing his vision. Step by step, he retreated before the scores of players spawning a few steps away as soon as he sent them into respawn. He killed them over and over, and still retreated. Their shouts rang in his ears.

How? How did they find his castle? He made sure to build it in the furthest reaches of the Nether, where he was certain that no player would ever set foot! There were no resources there or anything that they might want – only lava and monsters. No loot to attract their greed.

The castle itself should look abandoned and lifeless to their eyes, no different than any other such ruins – he made sure of that.

How did they find him?

He fought with rising desperation, knowing that he should flee, but stubbornly refusing to give up. Everything most valuable that he had ever found, he had stored here, in chests hidden in rooms behind false walls of stone. The thought that these players would get their filthy hands on his treasures was unbearable!

He was dispatching his opponents with ease. They displayed neither skill nor strategy in their attacks, simply running toward him with the same mindless look, their faces distorted in hatred. They seemed no different than bots that Herobrine spawned to delay their relentless onslaught. But, they kept coming and coming, without end.

Rage pouring like fire through his form, Herobrine snarled, preparing to launch himself against the oncoming mass once more...

And shot up in his own bed.

For a moment, he simply blinked his white eyes at his surroundings, before the familiar sight of his new stronghold got through his senses. It was just a dream, then.

Herobrine humphed, amusement and relief settling on his face as he relaxed. The bits of the ridiculous nightmare faded.

Still, something was off.

Herobrine frowned, carefully searching his senses.

Then, his white eyes flew open and a sharp gesture brought forth a screen where a lone, human figure cautiously made its way through the long halls of his new mansion. Herobrine's eyes fell to the crude sword the human held in his hand and a scowl twisted his face.

Players!... Here already?...

Herobrine's eyes tensely studied the lone figure that proceeded into the dimly lit depths.

Not a raid party, then. This Player was alone. He wore no fancy gear or weapons – just simple default garb, same as what Herobrine wore himself. The Player's face remained shrouded in the shadows.

Herobrine's eyes narrowed. This Player had to be an over-confident fool to dare come challenge him all alone! The desire to teach this Player a lesson became nearly irresistible, and he saw no reason to deny himself, since he planned to leave this place for good soon.

Herobrine's scowl slowly morphed into a cold sneer.

...

Steve, cautiously making his way along the hall that should lead him to the central palace, startled when the torch lights flared brighter along the wall. He froze, his blue eyes looking around him in confusion.

...

Watching the spooked player, whose bland face seemed like an open book with its every emotion open to view, Herobrine chuckled darkly, menace filling his tone.

"You want to play, player?... Let's play..."

Chapter Text

Steve’s entire body rung with excitement. He should have been scared, instead. But his curiosity as usual overrode all good sense. Even knowing his greatest fault, he simply couldn’t help it.

He was going to meet heroes! Straight from the legends he kept hearing about. They were humans, like him, but they had powers! They must have gone on so many great adventures. Steve wished so much that he would also one day go out on an adventure. He used to dream of it, while he spent hours in monotonous work mining in dim torch light beneath the surface.

The grimy earth and rock would spray past his face at the rhythmic strikes of his pick, while his imagination would take him to the mysterious ancient structures standing sunlit in the desert and ruins lost in the heart of the jungle, filled with deadly traps to protect untold treasure. In his mind, he would be scaling the deep underground passages where gleaming lava slowly flowed, gathering into heated red pools and diamonds sparkled in the dark walls.

Exchanging a nod with a sleepy town guard, Steve walked right into town, heading to the small park by the Market where he agreed to meet the heroes yesterday.

“Steve?... Steve! Wait up!” A voice called him from behind. Casually turning, Steve saw Grayn hurrying to intercept him. The short, aging merchant’s face wrinkled with worry. Steve greeted him with a smile, which the man ignored.

“Steve! You have to leave!” Grayn immediately declared and cast about an uneasy look. Before Steve could ask what it was all about, the man stepped closer.

“Yesterday, after you left, those… those 'heroes' came to me. They asked about you! I-I told them. I’m sorry, Steve! Notch, they scared me! I swear, I thought they were going to burn my stall on the spot!”

“Oh?” Steve frowned. Despite knowing what they had done to Herobrine, he didn’t perceive anything bad about them himself when they came to visit. They seemed uptight, but reasonable and polite. The merchant, though, took in a shaky breath.

“And they said that-that you look like Him! Our monster! The way they were looking at you, it was scary! I thought they were going to go after you and-and do something bad. So-so you should leave! Go away from town for a bit, so they won’t find you!”

Steve unwillingly smiled. The old man’s concern for his well being warmed his heart. That’s why he chose to settle near this town in the first place – he really liked the atmosphere and the people who lived here. So friendly and welcoming, they right away accepted him as if he dwelled among them all along.

The man even began to stutter a little as he urgently looked at Steve, his hands grasped together. Sweat liberally trailed down his balding head. It was very warm.

“Its too late, Grayn. They already found me. They came to my place yesterday. But don’t worry! They didn’t do anything bad. Just offered me work.” Steve reassured.

The man blinked at him, lost, then deflated a bit as relief flooded into his expression.

“You s-sure? Because… I would hate if anything happened to you, child. You are… You are a good soul. You deserve only good things to happen to you.”

Steve humphed at this heartfelt declaration, even a bit embarrassed. “Thank you, Grayn. But everything will be all right. Don’t worry.”

“All right.” The merchant accepted, calming down. “You said that… they offered you work? What kind of work?”

“Um… Mining.” Steve said firmly, not wishing to worry the old man further. The man blinked at him a bit mistrustfully.

“Mining?”

“Yes. Mining.” Steve confirmed. “I am a Miner. That’s what I do. There is nothing wrong with that.”

“Ah, that’s right. I did tell them that. I did!” The man brightened and this time smiled. “And you accepted?”

“I did.” Steve said again and glanced up. Two figures were just leaving the inn. “And there they are. We were to meet up here and then get going together. It’s a job for a few days, tops. Then they will leave.”

At that, the merchant jumped, quickly turning around. His eyes widened at the sight of the two heroes, who once again stood still as they took a casual look around town.

“All right, then! I best be going. Good luck, Steve!” The merchant hastily wished Steve a farewell, his last words thrown over his shoulder as he made a hasty retreat back to the market, where he vanished in his stall. A closed sign slammed into place over the entrance. Steve smiled and turned to the two figures, who had already found him and were making their way to him.

Keeping a friendly smile on his face, Steve lightly stepped toward them. He smiled brighter, even though he felt sharpness in their gaze as they approached him. They gave him an uptight greeting that lacked the generous emotion of residents of this town, to which Steve grew so used. Then again, that was to be expected. They were strangers here and didn’t know Steve. Still, their faces seemed to soften a bit.

Together, they made their way out of town.

“Where would you like to start looking?” Steve asked when they already crossed beyond the gates and reached the shade of the woods.

All of them stopped.

The two pulled out a strange map, where images appeared. Steve saw a dot with his own name above it. And their dots, although they were slightly different in color. Nearby, outlined in sharp lines was what appeared to be Steve’s town. The name Melenbrooks stood out beneath it. Steve did his best to not obviously peer over their shoulders at their doubtlessly magical artifact.

They traced a line from the mountains, where Steve noticed a symbol with numbers 804394 printed beneath it. Herobrine’s mansion? It seemed the right place for it, if those lines around it were the mountains. Steve thought he recognized their general shape.

“The Monster’s mansion.” One of the adventurers, the elder judging by the harsh lines on his face, pointed at the symbol. He turned to Steve.

“Have you been there?”

Steve hesitated, before making a light shrug.

“I have. Right before I arrived to town.” He decided not to hide the well known fact. These adventurers would learn of it if they asked around.

“When was that?”

“About… two years ago, I would say?” He squinted his eyes, looking up into the morning sky where the rising sun colored the edges of the clouds with startling pinks and oranges. It was going to be another hot day.

“And what did you see?” The elder adventurer pressed, his eyes on Steve sharp. Steve uneasily chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Well… That’s actually a rather long story…” He tried to evade the question. Seeing that they continued to look at him, their suspicion returning, he surrendered.

“I can tell you on the way?” He offered. “I assume you want to start looking for the Monster there? That would make the most sense, right. Because you wounded him?”

“We fought he was dead.” The elder adventurer winced and exchanged a frustrated look with the younger, whose face mirrored his expression.

Accepting Steve’s lead, they fell in with his unhurried pace as they stepped off the well-trodden road leading out of town. Cool shadow of the woods met them. Skirting around blooming bushes, Steve headed to Herobrine’s mansion along the slowest route he remembered. The longer he could stall these two, the better.

“When I first came here, I was not in a good shape. I was lost.” Steve began his tale, in his mind’s eye finding himself back in time once more.

Heavily breathing, his entire body covered in scratches and his clothes torn, he struggled to get through some bushes and stopped still, blinking his eyes at an impressive mansion that stood in the middle of the forest, with mountains rising behind it. Last, quickly dimming rays gilded the tops of its spires. A growl coming closer behind him made Steve gasp and look back, before stumbling out of the forest toward the mansion. His eyes held hopefully on the large, ornate wooden door that he glimpsed through the open gates, Steve hurried to where he expected to find help and safety.

“I was on my way to Blitstown. Its a place where I heard Miners can always get work. I'm a Miner, and the last place I was at, didn't work out for me that well. So I decided to go. But I got lost in the woods for days after mobs attacked me on the way. And I came across a mansion. It didn’t look abandoned and I didn’t think at all that it might be a place where a legendary being dwells. It didn’t look all that strange.” Steve smiled lightly at the memory.

“Why? Haven’t you heard of the legends?” The elder of the adventurers asked, his tone mistrustful. Steve shrugged.

“I heard the legends. But I didn’t think of them at all at the time. The mobs... They were chasing me. So I went inside. I thought that I would find help here.”

“You went inside?” The younger of the adventurers asked, curiosity entering his tone. Steve nodded.

“And what happened?” The elder’s eyes narrowed.

“Nothing. I… I couldn’t find anyone, so I fell asleep in one of the rooms.”

“So, you didn’t see Him?”

“I… I did.” Steve admitted. “The next morning. I was curious about who would leave this place so empty. It didn’t seem abandoned from the outside. And I found… I found a place. And that ghost – he was just… Standing there. So… I remembered all those legends right then and left as quick as I could!” Steve chuckled.

Neither of the hunters smiled.

“He didn’t attack you?” The younger verified, even more mistrustful. Steve shook his head. The two exchanged a glance.

“Maybe he wasn’t here, then, yet.”

“How long ago was this?” They returned to watching Steve. He squinted his eyes. He already told them this?

“Maybe… two years ago? When I first arrived. Maybe a little less.” He patiently repeated. “Why?”

“And you have not noticed anything unusual since?” They ignored his question. Were they trying to catch Steve in a lie? The uneasy feeling returned and Steve’s smile lessened. Turning away, he continued to walk with them following close behind him. He could feel their eyes burning into his back.

“Well, a few kids from town went there again, on a dare. It happened… about a year ago… And they said that they saw the ghost out of his castle, walking in the woods. They told everyone about it, afraid that there would be another attack, like it happened years ago?” Steve glanced at the heroes and they nodded, since that went in line with the local legends. “But the guards went there to check and nothing changed much. The ghost remained asleep.”

“You didn’t go back to check?”

Steve smiled, uneasily shaking his head. “No. Why would I? I am not an adventurer.”

The eyes of the two adventurers continued to study him, then turned to each other again.

“Maybe he came and left.”

“Or, he was staying low. Or in several places at once. This seems like about the right place. Close enough to where there were multiple attacks. He left out to hunt but made sure not to do it close to where he actually stayed. That’s why it was so hard to trace him.”

“Hard? We literally had to end hundreds of bots before we even came close!...” The younger’s voice trailed off at the silencing gesture from the elder, who cast curiously listening Steve a warded look. The younger man clamped his mouth shut, though the seething expression remained.

They nodded to Steve to proceed and he did, leading the way across the small ravines and patches of meadows. To Steve's relief, they said little else until they reached the place almost an hour away.

There, standing on a hill right before the small dip in the valley precluding their path, they pulled out their map again. The images on the map zoomed in, resolving into zig-zagging lines of the surrounding mountains. The red dot that marked Herobrine’s mansion grew larger, becoming an actual building. At least on the map, it still looked like a building.

Steve’s eyes held on the ruins of the mansion. Staring at the broken pieces of once magnificent buildings, unease returned, settling in Steve’s stomach. So much damage.

Broken, charred beams lay at odd angles, collapsed to the ground. Crumbling stones scattered across the place. How did Herobrine even survive through this? And what power did these two beings have to do something like this? Unease turned to first bits of fear as Steve perceived just how dangerous these beings with him really were. Finding them both watching him, their expressions guarded, he unwillingly swallowed.

“Where is the nearest cave entrance in this place?” The elder asked Steve and leaned the map closer to him. Steve blinked at the map, not quite understanding its features, even though he knew their general purpose. He then instead looked down to the scraggly trees growing lower in the valley by some protruding rocks and pointed his hand there.

“There. I came across it after I left the mansion. Only like I said, I don’t know this area well. I don’t come down here because of the mansion.” He nodded uneasily to the ruins before his sincere, blue eyes met theirs. He was telling them the truth. “Mostly, I just mine to the south of here. Its closer to town and there are plenty of coal and iron veins. There is good demand for that.” He explained.

“Its all right. We don’t mine much at all. Mostly, we hunt down and destroy monsters. Or capture fugitives whose names come down in our guild list.” The elder carelessly shrugged. “That's why in this case, we need your expertise. And don’t worry. We will protect you. Even though that monster survived, he is right now very weak. He won’t be able to teleport or use his other powers. The only issue we might have is his power to command the mobs, but even that should be greatly diminished. So you are not in any danger, I promise.”

Steve hesitated, then gratefully smiled.

“Thanks. I did worry about that. Because… Are you really hunting the real Herobrine?” He prodded, curious despite himself. At that, the two hunters exchanged meaningful looks.

“Yes. We are. Or at least, a really big piece of him. You must have heard the tales? About how he attacked our settlements far to the east?”

Steve nodded.

“Well, it’s been decided that he should be hunted down and destroyed, no matter the cost. Before he becomes even more dangerous. The longer we wait, the more power he is going to regain. And if he regains all of it… It won’t be good for us or for you.”

“So, that’s why you are out here? And its… just you?” Steve looked at each of the adventurers in question.

“No. There are many more. And not just us and our guild. Its ALL the player guilds… I mean heroes.” The younger winced, throwing the other adventurer an apologetic look. “Its priority mission one – destroy all the mansions and ghosts, so there is no place left for him to hide. Then Herobrine can be dealt with once and for all.”

Steve felt his stomach sinking. This was not good. Did Herobrine know about this? Steve didn’t think he did. Then… He did the right thing by accepting these heroes’ offer to become their guide. Steve shifted, wishing he could go and warn Herobrine of the danger he faced right now! He caught the hunters closely watching him.

Uneasily, he smiled. “That’s… good. And there is a reward, too, right?”

At that, the two seemed to relax a little and looked away, as if Steve’s behavior finally made sense to them, though suspicion did not leave their eyes completely. Somehow, he was messing up and Steve did not know what he was doing to cause such sharp attention on their part.

“Yes. And as promised, you will get a part of it should this mission succeed.”

“It MUST succeed!” The younger exclaimed, turning to face the wreckage with frustration. “We were SO CLOSE, Adler! SO close! Cannot BELIEVE he got away!”

“It’s fine. We’ll get him, Marko. He cannot be far.” The elder reassured. He turned to Steve, his eyes almost friendly. “So, shall we start? That place you spoke of – its as good a place as any.”

Steve nodded and hesitantly stepped off to the right where a small trail lead down to a brook bubbling out of the rocks. He avoided looking at Herobrine’s mansion again. Behind him, the two figures moved to follow him.

All three figures vanished into the thick, green foliage covering the bottom of the woods.

Chapter Text

Whuzzt…

Herobrine startled awake, becoming aware of one of his servants looming in the kitchen. Perceiving the report, he nodded, dismissing the creature again.

Steve was coming back. Good.

Still sleepy, Herobrine turned and glared at the pot of stew, which was still simmering on the stove. He should have already taken it off the flames. It was now what? Half hour past that time?

A scowl appeared on his face as he considered yet another display of his current weakness. He had fallen asleep right on the chair where he sat. He had closed his eyes only for a moment!

But it was a good thing that the Human was coming back, safe.

He couldn’t help but worry for the past five hours, watching from the eyes of his hidden servants in the tunnels as Steve slowly led the two Players from place to place, while they meticulously marked off the areas on their map. They also had equipment, which allowed them to detect hidden areas behind walls of stone. On several occasions, they stopped and turned to areas, where they then indicated Steve to mine while they stood on the ready with their weapons drawn. That’s how they found hidden grottos with precious minerals and stones, which they then graciously allowed Steve to mine on occasion before they moved on.

Herobrine himself had not been aware of those areas, since the thickness of the stone had been too great for his senses to penetrate, and he still had hard time distinguishing what lay within the areas that he did perceive. It could be filled with gaseous poison or deadly traps, which could cause significant discomfort even to him. To send himself into a respawn purely by accident would have been the height of foolishness. That’s why he preferred to leave such areas alone despite the riches they might provide, held very valuable by the humans.

Steve seemed to find this incredibly exciting, Herobrine noted with unexpected jealousy the awed look Steve had on his face as he proceeded to mine diamonds and emeralds from abundant hidden veins. He could have also shown the miner such places as Steve could never dream of! He would, when he could teleport again, Herobrine resolved to himself.

What was far more concerning, that while these Players swept across underlying tunnels one by one, they HAD found four of his hidden places of refuge. The thought of what would have happened if his servants chose to take him there, asleep and helpless while his body struggled to repair itself, left a cold feeling in Herobrine’s stomach. Even without Steve’s help, these Players would have found him long before he regained consciousness.

Good thing that his servants brought him here, to Steve. While not exactly safe, now he could watch their progress thanks to Steve, his wounds dressed and treated, even if they were not healing as well as they should have.

Herobrine’s eyes returned to the pot, which he should remove from the stove before the savory stew overcooked.

He forced himself to his feet. His breath locked as a sharp stab shot through his injured shoulder with white-hot flare. Grasping to the table with his one good hand, he grinded his teeth, feeling the world sway around him as he barely kept himself from falling. After a moment, the pain slowly subsiding, Herobrine gave his mangled shoulder a hateful look. Why did it still not heal?

It should have healed already. He had suffered even worse injuries before on several occasions.

Something was wrong…

Another strange sensation came and went. It was almost as if he could still feel his arm. Something was crushing it. The sensation came and left again, settling again into a pressing ache.

Could it be that his severed limb was still at his mansion, buried deep beneath the rubble? Then, these sensations would make sense. Only that should not be the case! It should have simply dissipated, returning to his body after a preset time period. His code would always pull together again, even if it became scattered across great distance as it happened when he died in a trap set with massive explosions.

He should send his servants to search the place and see if this was true and the arm was still there…

No, he couldn’t. The task he set for them now was far more important. While Steve provided him precious time, as today’s experience showed, it was far too little. Those determined Players were making very good progress in finding him.

Still, what was happening to him to cause these strange glitches in his code?

Herobrine frowned at his shoulder with confusion. The sound of the opening door made him look up. White eyes lifted and held on the door with anticipation, where Steve stepped through. Turning around, he gave Herobrine a weary, but honestly glad smile. Herobrine hurried to search his appearance.

No new injuries or scrapes were visible on the miner’s dusty form. He knew that the Human was fine, but there had been moments when he couldn’t watch him, when the Players entered areas beyond the reach of the few mobs, whose primitive minds he had been able to hack. And then, he had apparently fallen asleep, too exhausted to keep up the effort. Not that he could have done anything, even if he learned that the Players decided to harm Steve. It was good that they did not.

Herobrine let out a breath of relief and humphed softly, recognizing the strangely strong concern that he experienced for this strange Human. Silently, he watched the miner put away his things before coming into the kitchen and sniffing.

“Something smells really good.” Steve said hopefully. His eyes settling on a pot already waiting on the stove along with fresh bread and bowls and spoons already set out on the table, he made a step forward with a big grin on his face as he reached out with his grimy hands.

“Stop.” Herobrine ordered and the miner froze, staring at the sharp edge of the pickaxe that flicked out to bar his path.

“Clean up first.” Herobrine grumbled and immediately winced, the image of an old blind matron appearing in his mind. He just re-enacted her stern way with him and her unruly grandchildren, who accepted his presence without fear, mistaking him for a young human. They were too young and she was blind, and it amused him to be treated as one of ordinary mortals, enough that he tarried in that place too long. He was now gone, but the habits that he originally gained under Notch’s influence, had become only more reinforced there.

Not that it mattered. Neither he nor the Players could get sick, unlike normal humans. So a bit of grime and dirt would have likely done Steve no harm, despite his strange settings.

“Um… Why?” Herobrine found Steve’s blue eyes turned to him in befuddled question. Refusing to feel embarrassed by his slip up, Herobrine narrowed his eyes at the young human.

“Because I said so.” He frowned.

Steve blinked, but then obediently turned around and left. Herobrine heard him outside, dunking his hands and face into the bucket that stood out there. Another minute later, the miner showed up reasonably refreshed and with a big, happy grin reached to the food. He proceeded to toss everything and hastily stuffed fresh bread in his mouth. Herobrine hid a smile. Seeing this human’s enthusiasm was rewarding, even though he would have done all this regardless for himself.

“Gooshnesh, Brine…Vish ish devishious!” Steve mumbled with his mouth full. Herobrine startled eyes flicked up.

“What did you say?”

Steve made himself swallow a big gulp. “I said this is delicious. Thanks!” He beamed back with sincere admiration. Herobrine frowned but allowed the familiarity to slip. This Human was becoming too relaxed around him, but perhaps he deserved this right.

“So, how did it go?” He prodded, curious despite himself. Although able to see most of what was going on, he couldn’t hear the words spoken. His spiders stayed far back from where the players could detect them. Steve perked up.

“Great! They didn’t seem that bad at all. At first, they were all uptight and suspicious of me. But then they started to act more normal, like regular people. The younger one, Marko, he became definitely friendly. He told me a lot of stories about his adventures and how they hunt down some really high-level monsters. He even asked if I wanted to partner with them. As a Miner. Since they go a lot to the dungeons? They said that I was one of the best Miners that they had ever seen.” Steve’s voice held a hint of pride.

Another prickle of jealousy came and was quickly stifled as well. Herobrine couldn’t help a huff at his own attitude. What this human chose to do was entirely his own decision and not any business of Herobrine’s. “Oh? Does this idea seem tempting?” His tone still turned a bit sarcastic.

“It does.” Steve made a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I always did want to go on a real adventure.” He admitted apologetically. Herobrine huffed. This was expected.

“Of course. You are a Player.” He grumbled and dropped his gaze to his food, idly moving his stew around with a spoon. Steve blinked at him, then frowned.

“I don’t know why you still say that. I’m not a Player and I already told you that.” He insisted with a note of exasperation slipping into his voice despite an obvious attempt to remain patient. “If I was one of them, wouldn’t they know it? They didn’t treat me differently than anyone else in town.”

“Hmmm.” Herobrine responded, reluctant to delve into the topic he didn’t wish to discuss with Steve. He was also tired after keeping an eye on him for so long. The ache behind his eyes warned that he had already spent too many resources on that task, when he instead should have been resting, allowing his body to heal.

“I’m glad that they treated you well.” Herobrine redirected the Human’s attention instead. Steve still frowned, but then widely grinned as his eyes lit up brighter.

“Yes! And look what they gave me.”

Forgetting about his food, the young Human lifted his hand, where a tool materialized. It was a pickaxe, glimmering with high level enchantments, its diamond edge glinting sharp. His blue eyes holding on it in admiration, Steve continued. “Its not to keep. They only borrowed it to me until my job is done.”

Herobrine allowed himself a small smirk.

“Yes, I saw. Your work for them went much faster after they gave you that.” He commented and instantly saw young human’s smile fall. Blue eyes flicked to Herobrine with guilt.

“I’m sorry, Herobrine. I couldn’t refuse.” Steve apologized. “It would have raised their suspicion. But I delayed them a lot! I pretended to be greedy. They allowed it and even started mining themselves! That kept us from going too fast.”

So, that’s why he tarried so much! And here, Herobrine thought that the human was just being greedy. Slight shame attempted to rise, but Herobrine dismissed it. He smiled at Steve instead. “Did you find anything good?”

Relief flooded the miner’s face and he beamed again. Jumping up from his seat, he abandoned his borrowed pickaxe on the table, producing a chest, which he placed on the floor and threw open the lid. A multitude of stone-encased, raw diamonds and other precious stones glimmered back at him.

“Yeah… Lots… I’ve never seen so many before…” His voice almost caught with admiration, staring at his new-found wealth. Unlike the few diamonds Herobrine once gave him in mocking recompense, these were all earned by his effort. Although… under a false promise. Steve’s smile faltered a bit.

Herobrine could almost feel the thoughts running through the Human’s face, simply from the expressions that ran across his face. It was amazing that Steve had been able to mislead those hunters at all.

“It’s all right, Steve. All this wealth is yours by right. You are not deceiving them. They have asked your assistance in searching caves for a monster and his treasures and that’s exactly what you did. You have already succeeded in a way. They did take their spoils.” Herobrine admitted with a hint of bitterness, the memory of the adventurers breaking into the places he had assumed safe again appearing in his mind. He found Steve looking at him with concern.

“Then those four rooms were yours? The ones with the treasure chests?” He guessed. Herobrine nodded in affirmation, slightly slumping as his pride took a significant hit. He couldn’t quite look up to meet Steve’s gaze. It felt embarrassing to have his own arrogant words thrown into his face.

“Those Players are dumb. Pathetic idiots, entire lot of them. They could never find me unless I choose to let them, and that only to lead them into a trap!” He could clearly recall himself scoffing before the young human, too intimidated to say a word back, both awed and troubled by Herobrine’s taunts. Well, now who was the idiot?

“Herobrine…” The kindness in Steve’s patient voice made him look up. He found only concern in the Human’s guileless blue eyes, rather than the expected triumph or mocking judgement. “Don’t worry. You are safe here. I’ll keep them far away from you until you get better and can get away.”

Blue eyes strayed to Herobrine’s still not healing shoulder and uncertainty turned to worry. A frown appeared on the miner’s face.

“You ARE going to heal, right?” He asked. Herobrine sighed and rubbed his aching eyes.

“I will.” I think. He didn’t know. Nothing about this felt right. This Human should not have to worry about this, however. He was already doing too much on Herobrine’s behalf.

“My servants are already working on a way for me to leave this world. Then I will relieve you of my presence.” He reassured, weariness descending on him in full force. He definitely had over-strained his resources.

“Herobrine, you look really tired… You should go and rest. It is safe. They seemed really tired by the time we were done, so they are not going to come back until tomorrow for sure. And when me meet tomorrow, I’ll just pretend to be the greedy miner again.” Steve smiled from where he crouched, his blue eyes both worried and exhilarated at the same time. Seeing Herobrine’s eyes on him, he cheerfully patted his chest of treasures.

Player. Herobrine repeated to himself, but the thought held no usual ire or scorn, only amusement. It was difficult to feel anything negative toward this human.

“A few more days more, that’s all. Then find a way to back out of your contract. Tell them you are scared or… something similar to that.” Herobrine offered idly.

The reaction of Players toward Steve greatly relieved him. They did seem to have become friendlier to the miner despite their initial disdain and mistrust, and that despite them believing that he was just a local human. Steve’s cheerful attitude and good will appeared to have an effect even on them.

They won’t harm him. And in a few days, after Herobrine was gone, the miner would no longer face any remaining danger.

With that reassuring thought, Herobrine looked at his plate, which he barely touched. He couldn’t finish it. Steve was right. He needed to rest. Everything else could wait until tomorrow. It was highly unlikely that those two humans would return after more than five hours of playing straight. Their own in-game safety protocols would not allow them to continue until at least eight hours had passed, forcing them to remain offline. With them apparently greedily reserving the discovery of his location only to themselves, without other players getting word, he would be safe until then.

“Herobrine?” Steve’s voice hesitantly called to his attention again. He glanced at him. The human’s face held open worry and he was even biting his nail, thankfully clean. “I hope it wasn’t anything important… Your things that they found.”

At that, Herobrine couldn’t hold back a slightly dark smirk. “Don’t worry. Their greed will play against them.” Despite their promise to share their spoils with Steve, those two players had taken Herobrine’s abandoned chests without sharing, using an excuse that there might be booby-trapped or other nasty surprises guarding the monster’s treasures. Well… They were not wrong.

Herobrine’s dark smirk grew bigger, until he caught an uneasy look that appeared on Steve’s face. Then he stifled it. “I already recovered everything of importance and transferred it someplace where no one but me can get it.”

Steve uncomfortably shifted and Herobrine rolled his eyes in rising annoyance. “Don’t worry about them, Steve. Players cannot die. They don’t even feel the pain that normal people feel.” He reassured for the sake of Steve’s soft-heartedness.

It worked. After a moment, the human perked up, his eyes enthusiastically lit up.

“See? That’s why I’m not a Player.” He said with satisfaction of having made a winning argument. Herobrine quirked an eyebrow. Steve continued.

“I am not a Player because I do feel pain. Every last bit of it. I am a normal person, Herobrine. Not like them. So… I am not a Player.” Steve smiled brightly, looking at Herobrine with innocent expectation.

Herobrine snorted with superior and skeptical look, since he knew better, but then his smile lessened as a memory from a recent past forced itself unbidden.

Same face turned up to him, grimacing, blue eyes widened in fear. The human’s entire form trembled, huddling as far back from him as he could until a wall blocked his retreat. Tears leaked, making trails down pale cheeks, mixing with trails of blood trickling down young human’s battered face. Blood matted his hair, smearing side of his neck, trickled from his nostrils and a corner of his lips, dripping to his quivering chin and then dropped in steady, thick drops to the ground. Shaking fingers pressed tightly against a wound on his side, where more blood seeped steadily through the thin, torn cloth as the human’s entire body tried to shrivel smaller as if trying to turn invisible before his pursuer’s wrath. Herobrine’s own dark, menacing smirk at this pathetic sight sounded in his memory. A glowing, diamond pickaxe appeared in his hand before he stepped toward his prey, with deliberately slow steps, savoring the terror he perceived rolling from the human in waves. His steps slowed, allowing that terror to build, until he stood directly above the sniveling fool. His lips twisted with scorn, the grip on the handle of his pickaxe growing stronger as he prepared to deliver the finishing strike. Time to end this.

“Herobrine?” Steve’s concerned voice intruded again. Herobrine looked up, his face turned blank to hide his unsettled emotions. Until now, he did not really dwell on the circumstances of his first meeting with the human.

“Herobrine, I learned something bad. I’m not sure if you know this.” Steve said, chewing his lower lip as he sometimes did when he grew worried. Herobrine’s attentive gaze told him to proceed.

“Those heroes… Those players told me that its not just them who is hunting you now. It’s all the players. They think that if they destroy all your mansions and ghosts, you won’t have a place to hide. Then they can find you. That’s what they are planning. Did you… know about this?”

From the stricken look that must have appeared on his face, the Miner got his answer, because Herobrine heard his soft sigh. Sympathy held in blue eyes, considering the startled being, whose emotions shifted like cloud shadows flitting across his normally expressionless face, from startled numbness to fear, to bitterness and anger, in the end morphing to helpless mirth.

Herobrine chuckled, leaning his head back in defeat. Just when he thought that his position could not get any worse…

“What does this mean, Herobrine?” The human’s concerned voice prodded. Herobrine huffed.

“Only that their Admin… your gods.” Herobrine clarified for the miner’s sake. “Finally decided to destroy me. I suppose that I should be flattered by their faith in me. They truly believe that I am someone greater than I really am, though I truly do not know what led them to that assumption.” Herobrine tried to joke but notes of bitterness stole in. It looked like even Notch’s advice would now be in vain. Where was he going to go?

“What are you going to do?” Steve frowned.

“Do not worry about this. I will soon be gone from here. The rest is not your concern.” Herobrine’s firm tone ended further discussion of the topic. After a moment of silence, Steve lowered his face and got up.

“I um… I need to take care of a few things.” He muttered, not quite meeting Herobrine’s gaze. Herobrine’s last words had hurt him for some reason, though he tried not to show it. As usual, his face revealed everything. Herobrine said nothing, watching the miner make a step to leave the room. He was leaving his dinner uneaten and that spoke volumes. Another blunder in communication on his part. Herobrine winced in frustration.

“Steve…” Herobrine said, surrendering to the guidance of emotions that the miner’s responses evoked, and hoping that they were human enough to help him say the right thing. He did not wish to harm this human any further. Player or not, Steve did not deserve it. Despite everything wrong that Herobrine had done, he still showed only kindness and goodness of heart. Perhaps it was time to tell him that, in case he did not get the chance to do so later.

Steve turned around, his usual cheerfulness somewhat subdued, though his eyes were already softer and questioning. Herobrine held his gaze on him. “You have already done more than I can ever repay you. I was originally going to leave you payment for my debt, but those heroes have already given you more than what I currently have.” His white eyes ruefully turned and rested on the still open chest filled with treasures.

“I will have to leave, and I am not sure if I will ever be able to come back to pay you back in full as your actions deserve… For that, I am sorry… I also strongly regret my actions against you, especially in the very beginning.”

He was sorry. His apology was entirely useless, however – merely empty worlds, though spoken with sincere intent. For what it was worth, Herobrine meant it. And his weak revelation had been rewarded. The young Human straightened, appearing greatly encouraged. His eyes brightened and a hesitant smile re-emerged on his face.

“It’s all right. You’ve never hurt me too badly. It was all because you mistook me for a Player.” Steve dismissed lightly and grinned. Noticing Herobrine’s silence, his smile fell a bit and he frowned instead. “Wait… You still think that? You do! You still think that I am one of them.” He reproached.

Herobrine humphed, unwilling to argue or attempt to explain this. “You have their characteristics, Steve.” He said with a mild but certain tone. At Steve’s frustrated breath, he allowed himself a small smile. “But you are not like the rest of them.” He reassured. “No other Player would have spared the cruel and arrogant monster that I tend to be on occasion. I try not to slip into my old habits, but it seems to be a hopeless task at this point.”

Steve’s eyes gained a startled look. “No, Herobrine, don’t say that. You’re not a monster at all!”

Herobrine darkly smirked, bitterness and gloom trying to settle over his mood. “I am according to your gods, the Players, and even ordinary mortals. Perhaps they are right, and Notch was wrong. Its useless to fight one’s fate and that’s what I was created to be. I was made to fight the Players and then be destroyed by them. I am tempted to accept this, but for the fear of pain that I will feel should I die again. Because of that, I will do my best to run like a pathetic coward.”

Steve frowned and shook his head in disagreement. “Herobrine, I don’t think that’s…”

The appearance of one of Herobrine’s servants startled the miner into silence. Ignoring him, the mob looked at Herobrine with his earnest, lilac eyes, pushing forward an image. Three young, human teens hesitantly made their way along the trail on the outer edges of the field where Steve’s small cabin stood.

Steve’s worried eyes held on him, waiting for an explanation. Herobrine smirked, both relieved and amused by the interruption. He really had no idea how he might explain to Steve that the world he knew and he, himself, were not nearly what this human imagined.

“It’s your young friends from town. Seems they’re coming to pay you a visit.”

A frown settled on Steve’s face, his head snapping in that direction. Herobrine regretfully eyed his plate, which he had barely touched, but he didn’t feel hungry at all. “I will go to my room.”

He moved to stand up. Another flare of white-hot pain pierced his mangled shoulder, spreading across his back into his arms and legs like an electrical shock. His vision hazing, Herobrine didn’t even realize that he had begun to fall, until he became aware of the miner’s strong arm supporting him. Deep concern held in the human’s blue eyes, intent on him. So worried about his continued weakness.

Stifling another rueful, almost accepting smile, Herobrine allowed his host to help him drag his feet to his bed, where he was gently let down.

“I’ll get them to leave.” Steve curtly promised and Herobrine simply gratefully nodded, already feeling his consciousness dimming as he settled on the rustic, yet comfortable surface. Steve must have added more blankets and pillows when he was not watching. His bed felt much softer.

Steve would do as he said and not allow those children in his house to see his unwilling guest. Herobrine trusted Steve enough by now to do as he promised. He allowed himself to slip away into relieving darkness before Steve walked out of the guest room and closed the door.

Forgotten on the table, Steve’s borrowed pickaxe continued to lay, gleaming with enchantments. A precious stone, until now dark in the handle, softly lit up.

Beep… Beep… Beep…

Far away, in another world, on a screen where an avatar mindlessly stood, his face wrapped in a red scarf, a message appeared below in the blinking, white letters.

Target detected.

Chapter Text

“Herobrine?...”

The voice came right before the touch, which jerked Herobrine awake.
His eyes wide, he shot up in his bed and immediately grimaced, barely stifling a yelp as familiar pain pierced his shoulder. Glancing up, he caught Steve’s guilty blue eyes looking at him.

“I’m leaving now. I’ll see you later.” The Miner said quietly and gave startled Herobrine an apologetic smile. Herobrine hastily forced his scowl into a lack of expression and blinked at the windows in confusion.

It was already morning. Early rays of the sun streamed into his room through the windows curtains. He had slept so deeply in this false sense of safety that he didn’t even perceive the Miner approach him. Frowning a little, he glanced back at Steve and curtly nodded to him. It was time for yet another day of ruse that this Human would pretend on his behalf.

The Human looked ready, his sturdy boots on his feet and wearing a long-sleeved jersey this time over his usual cyan shirt – both he and Herobrine thought it best that during his work with the heroes, Steve should not draw their attention to his strange resemblance to Herobrine, which neither Steve nor Herobrine could yet explain.
“All right. I’ll be back a little past noon. And those kids won’t come back until next week, after the heroes leave. I told them that I’m now working for them. You should have seen their faces!” Steve grinned wider, excitement shining in his eyes despite his attempt to remain calm. He was truly looking forward to another day with those players, intent in their hunt for Herobrine.

Herobrine didn’t notice another scowl appear on his face until he saw guilt return to Steve’s face, dampening his excitement a little. He forced himself to calm. His jealousy for this human’s attention truly had no rational grounds.

Making an indeterminate humph, Herobrine plopped back down on his bed and again winced, barely stifling an oath. His current deplorable condition was difficult to get used to. Still, he felt noticeably better after so many hours of rest.

Giving him another reassuring nod, the human headed out the door, leaving it slightly ajar the way Herobrine preferred it. Herobrine heard his heavy steps across the wooden floor and then the door swung open.

“Um… Herobrine?” The Miner raised his voice, sounding a bit uncertain. “Should I lock it?”

Herobrine smirked a bit. The human’s continued thoughtfulness was touching.
“No. Leave it open.” He slightly enhanced his voice to make it carry across. The slightly echoing quality sent a shiver through Steve’s body and brought a slight frown to his face, stirring unpleasant memories. He forced them back down, shaking his head a little, as he pulled the door closed and slightly stepped off the porch.

He pulled out the enchanted pickaxe instead and looked at it. The memory of treasures emerged, glinting in the walls of the hidden enclosed clusters that they found. Steve’s eyes lit up and a slight smile re-appeared on his face.

Already looking at the Miner through the eyes of the spider, whom he positioned in the tree right next to the house, Herobrine couldn’t help an amused huff.
Player. Although a very strange one.

Giving his lent pickaxe a look of appreciation, Steve swung it so it came to rest on his shoulder. Stepping off with a light stride, he moved into the woods. Unlike yesterday, today he had agreed to meet the heroes by one of the other discovered entrances into the caves, closest to the point from where they could resume their search.

Letting go of his vision through the eyes of the mobs, Herobrine allowed himself to relax. His few endermen, positioned around the house, had their instructions and would warn him if any danger approached the house. And his worry for the miner was considerably alleviated by the reactions of these two Players to Steve so far. It appeared that the plan the Miner proposed would work – the Players would remain distracted while his plan…

Herobrine reached out to the distant mobs along their tie to him and observed the steadily progressing work of their hands.

Nearly complete.

He sneered, satisfaction mixing with relief coursing through his body. Even some of his strength seemed to have become restored by the much-needed rest he gained thanks to the Human. Herobrine lifted his hand, where flames briefly appeared before winking out as he tightly closed his fist. All was well. All but his debt to Steve - that increased to a level that Herobrine simply couldn’t accept, especially because the human offered it so freely, asking for nothing in return. If he had demanded something for his effort, that would have been far easier for Herobrine to accept. He would have known what the Miner wanted.

He would have also responded to such demands with scorn, since that was something he normally expected of Humans. Always seeking their own selfish gain.

Steve’s actions… were hard to understand. The only cause for his unselfish behavior was probably his condition, if what Herobrine came to suspect about Steve was correct. But that didn’t alleviate the debt Herobrine now owed to this human.
Herobrine frowned.

“See? That’s why I’m not a Player.” The Human’s earnest face once again appeared before him. Blue eyes looked at him, bright and sincere. “I am not a Player because I do feel pain. Every last bit of it. I am a normal person, Herobrine. Not like them. So… I am not a Player.”

Steve was not lying about that. He could feel pain. And Herobrine knew it very well already, as he could remember well the day that both of them met.

He almost killed him then, assuming that he was just another foolish Player, who arrived to challenge him after hearing the story told by those local children in town. That’s how it always began.

It didn’t occur to him that this Human might be anything else. Why else would anyone come to the well known lair of the ancient monster who loomed in the scary tales people of every world used to scare their children to behave.

Herobrine humphed, his white eyes lazily studying the cracks in the wooden ceiling while his gaze grew distant.

He should have noticed right away that this human’s reaction was strange, unlike that of other Players that he had encountered before.

As soon as the torch lights dimmed, the human froze, fear entering his face as he cautiously looked around. And at the first sight of summoned mob, which appeared ambling toward him with his rotting fingers clawing the air before it, the strange Player gasped and fled back toward the exit from the mansion.

Of course, Herobrine was not going to let him escape so fast. The human’s fear satisfied, encouraging him to toy with the fool more before sending him to his respawn and leaving that world as Herobrine intended to do when he was done.

Seeing how the human reacted, coming to an abrupt brake when he saw more mobs waiting for him by the door, their blank faces turning to look at him with their black pits instead of eyes, seeing the Player’s blue eyes grow round as his mouth gaped with disbelief, made Herobrine sneer with disdain.

What a sniveling worm!

That’s when he decided to toy with Steve more, even directing his skeletal mobs to aim so their arrows flew past the player’s body, piercing the walls around him as he ran, yelping and shielding his head.

A stray arrow still hit the young human in his side, causing him to stumble. Whimpering, he managed to pull himself to his fours and then ran again, leaping side to side as ghostly vex began to attack him, delivering biting damage. Still sneering, Herobrine teleported a little to the back, where at the gesture of his hands the lights went out and he knew that his figure would look most menacing.

The Player’s gasp, followed by a fearful gulp as his eyes rounded even more at the sight of shadow shrouded figure appearing at the end of the mansion passage, had been so rewarding that Herobrine abandoned all caution and reason. This player was just a fool for him to toy with to his content! And that’s what he did.

He followed not far behind the fleeing human, watching the Player attempt to find a refuge in one of the many rooms. The Human stumbled away from him, not even daring to look back. His hand grasped to his bleeding side where the arrow protruded, he threw himself against doors, trying to gain entry, then fled again. He did more damage to himself than mobs did, when he fell down the stairs into the underground passageway.
Herobrine couldn’t help a dark chuckle, merely following him along at that point and even disabling some of the deadlier traps, which would have instantly sent the amusing Player into a respawn. The human ran safely across the area of the hallway, where holes opened in the walls but the volley of arrows never flew. And his feet ran across the tiles, where an incorrect pattern, which Herobrine already programmed to trigger earlier even if it had been correct, without falling through to the sharp spikes below. Summoned skeletons stepped out of doors with their bows raised, but lowered them at Herobrine’s silent command.

The Player continued on running, his fearful whimpers a music to Herobrine’s ears.
Coming around the turn, he lost sight of the Player and paused. It didn’t take long for his senses to locate his victim – the Human had tried to hide from him, dragging himself into the far corner of the passage where it came to a dead end.

There, the Player sat, his back pressed against the wall, as his terrified eyes wildly searched the depths of the corridor where Herobrine would surely follow. At the sight of the figure, stepping forward into the dim light of redstone torches, the Player whimpered again and pressed back.

What great acting, Herobrine smirked. Maybe this fool was purposefully recording this entire session, to share online with others and to propitiate Herobrine’s terrible legend.
Well, who was he to disappoint?

With an amused smirk, the villain drew closer, each step made without hurry. A gleaming pickaxe appeared in his hand, evoking another believable whimper from the Player. Fearfully, he shielded himself with one lifted arm, hiding his face away.
Herobrine paused right before him, still sneering, his pickaxe ready in his hand.
The first feeling off he had was when his amused eyes held on the Player’s helplessly raised hand. The Human’s fingers shook.

He then surveyed across his entire form, shriveling small as if trying to turn invisible before his pursuer’s wrath. The Player’s body curled, his chest quickly and shallowly panting with frantic, uneven breath interrupted by quiet sobbing. His other hand pressed against his side. The arrow was no longer there, perhaps torn away by one of his clumsy falls. It left behind an ugly wound, seeping blood through trembling fingers.

Those reactions… looked too believable.

Anger instantly flared up inside Herobrine at this. What a pathetic coward! Players didn’t feel pain! Not truly, or else Herobrine would have given it to them with great gladness before sending them to respawn! He toyed with them only because it gave him pleasure at the next best thing – seeing their helpless anger as their fake forms failed to measure up to his power and skill. Seeing them crawl away, trying to keep from losing their precious items – that was the most Herobrine could do to avenge himself on them.
This Player though… How dare he pretend that this was real? To be afraid?

“Look at me, you worm!” Herobrine growled at the human, who flinched at the fury in his voice. “Look at me, or I will make you watch when I tear out your heart as you burn!” A truly feeble threat but it was all his role allowed him.

Still, the Player looked up. Blue eyes leaked tears, which trailed down the human’s battered face and mixed with blood leaking from a wound in his scalp. Blood matted his hair on one side, streaming down his neck. Blood trickled from his flared nostrils and from one side of his mouth, twisted in a sob. Herobrine could almost feel the terror rolling from the human in waves.

His lips twisted with scorn, the grip on the handle of his pickaxe tightening as he prepared to deliver the final strike. Time to end this farce.

At his movement, the player once again gasped and tightly squeezed his tearful eyes, turning his face to the side as if that could save him.

Herobrine’s pickaxe hovered in midair, the movement of his hand arrested as he studied the form cowering before him.

Too real. This Player was not pretending to be afraid.

Why?

The only time players would feel pain was when they entered something Notch called a “full emersion” or “hard-core mode”. It helped them to pretend that they were truly in the game. Only then did they actually feel pain, as well as pleasant sensations that one could get from their senses more fully. Only even that option was limited, allowed only in places considered safe. This world… was not one of them. Not with the proliferation of hostile mobs such as those Herobrine was able to summon here or Herobrine himself.
Was this Player one of such fools, who perhaps hacked into his settings to raise them higher? It was the only thing that could explain his reactions.
Well, no matter.

A Player was still a Player and he did come here to challenge him, did he not?

A scowl returned to Herobrine’s face and his grip on his pickaxe tightened. He sneered, about to bring his pickaxe down with full force, to make this Player’s end swift.
The air rushed as his pickaxe flew down… Only to stop a hairs length away from the Player’s temple.

Another memory intruded from the depths of Herobrine’s past, filling up his mind and taking the presence away in a torrent of powerful images.

Terror.

He shivered, shrunk into a helpless ball, despair piercing his entire being. There was no way out of here. Only all-encompassing pain remained, threatening to tear what remained of his being to shreds. It came again and again and… He was at the edge of it. He knew it.

The sound of door opening made him flinch, only drawing his body tighter at the heavy footsteps that approached him until one of his tormentors stood above him.

“You’ve turned off his speech functions?” A deep voice grumbled above him with an annoyed tone, making him flinch again as new fear ran through him.
“He was making too much noise.” Another voice responded from afar, even more annoyed.
“I felt his fear half way across the city. What is the point of this torture?” The deep voice sounded stern, yet also held a tone of… concern? Herobrine dared to look up. Jerking up his head, he peeked through the shaking fingers of his hand, raised in futile gesture of self defense.

His white eyes widened, recognizing the stocky figure of the being who vanquished him.

The bald-headed man still wore the same plain clothes, his face turned to one of the walls through which Herobrine felt his tormentors observe his reaction. The expression on this powerful being’s face seemed to be that of annoyance and anger.

“Fear? He is just a glitched bot, Notch.”

Deep, brown eyes turned and considered cowering Herobrine with a thoughtful, frowning look, as if the man was searching for something in Herobrine’s face.
Desperate hope briefly broke through the desolate despair, as Herobrine felt his voice responding to him once more. His last screams had been mute. He shifted, his lips trembling as he opened his mouth and tried to mouth the words, his hope falling when the words wouldn’t come. The man continued to wait.

“Notch, we are almost done. A few more sessions should take care of it. His code is no longer reforming as it did at first.”

Despair returned and Herobrine grimaced, helpless sobs breaking through his breath. It was no use. Now he couldn’t even plea for mercy, despite being given a chance. It was his last chance. He perceived this with dead certainty.

“Notch?” The voice behind the wall repeated, growing with impatience. The man continued to watch Herobrine.

“You can understand me, don’t you?” He asked, his voice surprisingly gentle.

Herobrine’s eyes widened and flew up, finding pity dwelling in his captor’s stern, brown eyes. At first frozen, he quickly nodded, hope surging again.

“Notch, he is just a glitched bot.” The voice behind the wall complained. A twitch of annoyance crossed the big man’s face.

“He is sentient. I wish to keep him.” He said with certainty, turning to face them again. Breathless, Herobrine waited. This moment would decide his fate.

“Hmm, Notch. He is already damaged beyond repair… Are you sure? He is not human, Notch. His program is that of a villain. Even if he is sentient now, it makes him too dangerous to keep. You know this.”

The powerful man shrugged, dismissing the warning, his eyes returning to dwell on Herobrine’s hopeful face. “Its fine. I can keep him contained.” He said lightly and meant it. Detaining Herobrine would be easy for him. How did he not see it before? This power, that surrounded this being? It was like an enormous, transparent veil that tingled Herobrine’s timidly reached out senses. The power connected this being to the world around him as if they were one whole. No wonder that he defeated Herobrine before he could even understand what happened.

Now this being spoke for him, wishing to save him?

“Fine. I guess you can give it a shot. But he will be your responsibility, Notch.” The voice behind the wall relented, though uncertainty still filled it.

So much relief and gratitude washed across Herobrine’s being, that he didn’t react, only watching his savior with eyes that once again began to blur with tears. He flinched when chains appeared on his wrists, dragging his arms down.

“It’s all right. It’s for your own safety.” The powerful being reassured and in that same instant, the chains faded away, leaving behind only two dark braces. Herobrine blinked up at him, but believed him, trust etched into his features.

“Show off.” The voice behind the wall smirked, but Notch ignored him.
Leaning down, his eyes intent on Herobrine’s white, startled ones, he unexpectedly smiled a very kind, encouraging smile and extended his large hand down to him.

“Don’t be afraid.” A gravely, deep voice reassured. “I will not harm you again. I promise.”

White eyes silently held on brown ones, pleading for mercy and barely daring to hope. After a moment, Herobrine’s scarred, dark tanned hand shakily reached out and felt his savior’s hand grasp his, pulling him to his feet…

… Breaking out of the memory was like emerging from the depths of water, where he had been submerged fully.

Startled, Herobrine staggered back a step and stared down at the strange Player with wide open eyes.

Now, he knew what about this Player bothered him so, though earlier he could not quite define it. How did he not see it? Herobrine’s eyes slowly swept across the human’s plain clothes, his simple teal shirt and cyan trousers, now torn and stained with blood, which also caked parts of his tousled, brown hair.

The Human continued to huddle in his spot, his entire body posture betraying his misery. He still held his breath, waiting for the deadly strike to end his pain, his hand helplessly raised in useless defense.

“L-look at me…” Herobrine’s voice shook at first, before he angrily snarled at his own weakness. This Human really reminded him of his own terror, when he had been caught at the merciless hands of the Admin and tortured for hours stretching into eternity. Only his protector’s mercy had granted him a reprieve and another chance to live as a changed creature.

Only Players did not feel pain! They couldn’t be afraid! This had to be a lie!

“Look at me!” Herobrine’s lips curled with disdain, his voice a snarl.
He would see the lie in the Player’s eyes. Then, he would slay him, along with this misplaced sympathy.

The Player jerked and obediently lifted his head.

It was like looking in the mirror.

This Player had Herobrine’s face. It was like looking at his mindless copy, except blue eyes held on his, overflowing with tears and that face… the expression on that face was of a bewildered, childlike hurt.

Herobrine stared at him, disbelief warring with astonishment, morphing into distrust and anger once more.

“Drop the act! Don’t pretend to be scared. You’ll just respawn. You do not feel any pain. Quit acting as if you’re afraid!” Herobrine’s hand still clenched around the handle of his pickaxe, even as he unwillingly made a step. At once he knew that he had just hopelessly stepped out of his role.

If that had been this Player’s intent, he showed no reaction to it, his dazed eyes merely filling with confusion as he blinked up at Herobrine.

He had enough of this. Irritably, Herobrine used his power and tore into the Player’s defenses, pulling up his settings. His white eyes first narrowed, then held on the physical attributes below the Player’s name, which he for now dismissed without interest.

“Perception level – 100%... “ He muttered and turned to stare at the Player with disbelief. “Are you mad?” This Player was beyond hard-core! “How did you…” His voice trailed away when his eyes rose higher to the line above that one.

Age - 8 years and 6 months.

Herobrine froze, digesting this information for a moment, and then shame and disgust rushed across his entire being. Scowling, he cast the being before him an angry look. Of all the idiotic things he had ever seen Players do! Who was responsible for this foolish juvenile to allow him to play with hacked settings in a Survival level server?

At the anger visible on his tormentor’s face, the young human tried to become smaller, evoking a wave of guilt. Herobrine’s eyes drew to the player’s hand shakily pressed against the wound in his side, blood seeping steadily through from a wound he caused him. The daze in Player’s blue eyes grew as he swayed a bit. Herobrine heard his struggling heart skip a beat. Another. Startling, Herobrine abandoned his role completely.

A healing splash potion slammed into the ground by the hapless human’s side, making the player flinch badly. Herobrine watched him with worried eyes. If Notch ever learned of this, he would never forgive him!

The Player stirred, still not quite coherent, as pain began to let go. Blue eyes turned in confusion to his wound, where now only clean skin showed through the rend in his shirt beneath the still bloodied fingers.

“Don’t you think this mod is too scary for you to play at these kinds of settings?...” Herobrine grumbled with disgust. Enemy or not, as all humans were, he could clearly remember the fondness in his protector’s eyes when he gazed at the group of young human players giggling as they chased each other in a special bright place in their Aethereal City. Fantastical, harmless animals and colorful butterflies fluttered around the group.

If this was truly a child, he could not harm him, for Notch’s sake. As tired as he still was, he would just leave this place as soon as this Human left.

“… Get out of here. Get!” Herobrine growled, without his former ire.

Confused blue eyes turned up to him. Herobrine rolled his eyes as another twinge of guilt trying to stir at the sight of innocent ignorance he could see there. The memory of his own anticipation of punishing this hapless human for the wrongs done by others of his kind stood out in ugly contrast. Herobrine winced. What came over him all of a sudden? Was he so enslaved by his own role that he had forgotten what Notch showed him? Not all humans playing this Game were bad. Not even those who chased after him for a challenge, achievement, or glory were truly evil. The majority of them simply didn’t believe that he was a sentient like them.

Only what else was he supposed to think when this human showed up at his mansion? Especially after his contest with players in the other server? Herobrine couldn’t help a scowl from forming on his face despite his best attempt to contain his anger.

“Go!” He snapped, raising his voice. When the player flinched, but still didn’t move, he huffed and roughly grasped him by the shirt at his neck, making the human catch his breath. Not caring too much for the minor damage caused by the process, he dragged the gasping human toward the exit from the mansion, angrily ignoring his frightened whimpers.

An arrow flew in the human’s direction. Herobrine reacted without thinking, throwing his arm in its path. His eyes angrily held on the arrow that protruded there, causing sharp stinging. Scowling, he turned and glared at the skeleton that appeared in one of the doorways. In the next second, the summoned being vanished, disintegrating into smoke that fell apart in bits of dark particles and dispersed. The same happened to the arrow. Ignoring the minor wound, Herobrine irritably sent out a wave of command across his entire mansion for his summoned servants to stand aside. Then he resumed dragging the frightened Human along the corridors.

More skeletons paused, lowering their bows, their blank, empty eyes following their passage. Ghostly little Vex floated out of fuming Herobrine’s way, retreating to the corners of the ceiling, where they hung, slowly moving about their stunted wings.

The outer mansion door flung open at Herobrine’s will.

The human flew out into the dirt outside, where he scrambled into a sitting position, scooting away from Herobrine’s figure that menacingly loomed in the dim doorway. White eyes blazed from the twilight.

“Don’t return here again! Or I swear to Notch, I’ll report you to your precious Admin myself!” Herobrine threatened in frustration at the ridiculous situation he found himself in.

His words didn’t evoke any sensible response from the strange player at first, his blue eyes remaining glassy as he foolishly blinked. Then, at Herobrine’s increasing scowl, he started quickly nodding his head and jumped when Herobrine slammed the door shut.

Herobrine stood on the other side and fumed as he tried to process what just happened. How did this Player manage to even do this? From everything Notch taught him, this should not be even possible! No sensible adult would allow their child to play at such dangerous settings and a child himself would not have the skills to hack his playing account to this degree, no matter how smart he might be. No, this probably wasn’t a child! It was more reasonable to assume that he was a hacker! Then his age was probably false! And so was his appearance! He probably just arranged all this in hopes of getting Herobrine’s reaction and he, like a fool, played along!

A scowl reappeared on Herobrine’s face anew at the mocking thought.

A knock on the door made him jump.

Automatically opening the door, he blinked with astonishment at the young human, who stood beyond with his hand timidly raised. The human gave him a sheepish look, still appearing quite dazed. It was the only explanation Herobrine could come up with for the words that left the human’s mouth next.

“Um… Since you’re not going to kill me, can I have my pickaxe back? It’s my only one.”

Herobrine gaped. Instead of responding, he simply shut the door into the human’s face as he stood on the other side and blinked, all his previous line of reasoning thrown asunder.

His eyes drew to the simple, iron pickaxe that lay on the ground not far from the exit. This is where the human must have lost his pathetic weapon when he fruitlessly tried to escape the place, frightened away by the mobs he found waiting for him there.
Herobrine frowned at the low-level weapon.

A moment later, the pickaxe flew and pierced the ground, embedding itself next to the startled human’s feet. He jumped, turning around and staring at it with a bit more awareness than before. He was also further away, in the process of leaving. Perhaps he realized what he was doing.

Good, at least his wits were returning.

Herobrine shut the door again, summoning a mob and using its eyes to observe what the human would do next. A spider, who appeared in a tree growing next to the mansion’s ornate fence, looked at the human with eyes that softly flared white.
The human stood a bit longer, blinking at the closed door, his entire body tense as he waited for the terrifying being to return. Perhaps he thought it was another mocking gesture, before the being that toyed with him as a cat might with a mouse, before it finally decided to kill him.

When the door remained shut, the human uncertainly looked at his pickaxe, then stepped toward it. It took a bit of effort before he managed to pull it free from the ground. He then stood a moment longer, before turning and hastily making his way out of the mansion grounds, fearfully glancing around him and jumping at sounds. He did not notice the spider watching him.

Entering the woods, the human sagged in relief, before resuming his hasty retreat.
Herobrine frowned, releasing the mob from its task. Lifting his head, he silently teleported and appeared behind a tree, from where he watched the strange Player’s path. The Player continued to run, stumbling a little and off balance.

“Not real… Didn’t happen…” Herobrine heard his indistinct mutter.

He continued to wait, his own body tense. Any moment, this Player would log out, proving his entire act for the farce it was. He would send out messages, bragging about his recording about encountering ‘the real Herobrine’, whom he deceived to show mercy to a ‘scared player’.

Herobrine scowled, angry that he had still proved to have such weakness. And that, after he had sworn to himself that he would show no mercy to any Player! Those Players, who first found him after he went into hiding after Notch allowed him to escape, certainly did not show any mercy to him, despite him admitting to them that he was real and sentient. His appeal only seemed to give them thrills to hear him beg, before they continued their torment, purposefully dragging it out while they recorded it, to spread the news of the more interesting, clever prey. Those who searched him afterward had not shown him mercy, either. Nearly all...

Herobrine scowled, his fists tightening as he watched the strange Player continue stumbling along.

Instead of heading toward town, he swerved off the overgrown path and reached a small cabin. The Human then shambled inside, leaving his door ajar. Herobrine, standing hidden in the shade of a nearby tree, narrowed his eyes, listening. Instead of logging out, the human moved about in his house, roving through chests. Herobrine could hear him grumbling.

“Stupid. Stupid! What was I even thinking going there? This got to be a dream… A nightmare, that’s what this is. It didn’t really happen! It couldn’t!...”

A sound came as of a potion breaking. Herobrine felt the familiar sense of change, healing particles dispersing in the air. The Human had just used a healing potion of his own to take care of his remaining injuries and scrapes or perhaps for the peace of mind, since Herobrine’s high-level potion should have taken care of all the numerous injuries he suffered earlier.

Another slight wave of guilt attempted to rise, but Herobrine stifled it, his frown stubbornly growing deeper. He refused to accept guilt for this! Even if this Human’s data was real, his unfortunate experience had been his own fault and had it been Herobrine’s mindless twin reacting in his place, it would not have been far different – certainly resulting in this idiot’s demise.

No, human motivations continued to elude his understanding. Truly.

Herobrine waited. As soon as the Player logged out and began to send out messages, he would in good conscience make his retreat, resolving to never make such a dumb mistake again. It bothered his pride greatly now that new stories would emerge of the Great Herobrine being weak and so easily deceived.

He expected the Player to reach out to his controls. Instead, the creaking of the wooden boards came as the Player climbed into his bed. And there he remained, his movements soon stilling as he… fell asleep?

After a few long moments, Herobrine teleported right within the house and stood, his puzzled eyes narrowed cautiously at the young man curled up on a low-quality, make-shift bed. The human appeared utterly passed out, an expression of exhaustion on his face after the physical and emotional ordeal that he had just been through. He seemed asleep, judging by the soft, steady breaths, though his limbs nervously twitched a bit.
Incredulous, Herobrine watched him a bit longer, then again delved into his settings, pulling up the Player’s data.

So, his game name was Steve, no last name, but with name of a city added afterward, of Garstone. Many of the locals without a family name adopted such a last name. He was a Human, of course. His profession was Miner of level 58.

Herobrine’s eyes held thoughtfully upon the last high stat. It either meant that this Player obtained some rare experience potions or that he spent countless hours working. Mining appeared to be his highest developed skill, with the others sorely lacking. Glancing at his Sword Fighting, level 3, and Fishing, level 2, Herobrine couldn’t help a disdained smirk. And with these skills, this Player dared to go into the mansion of a legendary monster?

Maybe his initial impression was correct and this was simply some mad fool intent on ultimate thrills…

Just as he watched, the data in the Player’s stats strangely glitched, becoming distorted. The age numbers changed to 2304 years of age, then 803 years of age, then several more nonsensical numbers. Other Skills appeared and vanished. Herobrine’s eyes narrowed at this. What was that?

And another thing…

Where was his Point of Origin?

As soon as he realized this, he concentrated on the matter fully, searching with all his senses for that bright line that should have connected this Player to their true world, which lay beyond Herobrine’s reach – the place where each Player really lived, using the form here as a manipulated puppet.

He searched and couldn’t find it. It was as if this Player had no connection. The local humans, who were indigenous to the Game itself, did not have such a connection either. Neither did Herobrine, unless he specifically set his respawn point to a safely hidden place where he would wish to appear, instead of respawning somewhere else at random. He really should do it soon, he noted to himself, since he had not done it, yet. His eyes held on the Player.

All Players had that tie with their own world. Why didn’t this one? Or… He simply couldn’t see it? There were many hidden streams of data that he couldn’t perceive at all, but which Notch showed him existed.

Herobrine continued to stand there as he frowned at the strange Player. The puzzle revolved in his mind, finding no ready explanation.

In search of clues, his eyes strayed to the human’s dwelling. It was humble, to say the least. Something appropriate for the level of skills this Player had, also given sparse resources. Still, he could tell that the place was made with care. It was definitely a home and not just a temporary place. Herobrine could glimpse a cozy living room with a built in kitchen, where herbs hung in neat rows above the kitchen isle. A small stove merrily evoked heat from crackling coals. Cooking implements carefully aligned on a shelf along with clean pots and pans. Looking at the fresh loaf of bread sitting on the table, Herobrine suddenly became aware of the delicious smell and felt his mouth water.

How long has it been since he had eaten?

At that thought, his eyes flicked again to the sleeping Miner, gaining an amused look.
So… A Player who lived within the game? Now that he thought about it, Notch did mention to him one time that there was a special sort of Players, who chose to live in their worlds as fully as they were able. In their desire for their experience to be truly immersive, they hacked their settings to full blast and removed all traces of their interface so as not to disturb their pretense of being there. Some even went as far as blocking their origin point, so even the other Players could not tell that they were fellow players and considered them locals. Until now, Herobrine had never encountered such Players before. Could this Player be one of them?

Interesting.

Herobrine smirked, the possible explanation filling him with relief. His curiosity instantly flared, completely stumping caution, demanding that he leave this world immediately after his foolish blunder.

He… really wished to observe this Player.

Would he really continue to pretend to stay in his role even after encountering Herobrine? How far would this Player be willing to go before he fled the game, abandoning his foolish pretense? Herobrine had to find out! Curiosity burst to an unhealthy level, settling within Herobrine’s mind.
He was not going to leave. A decision formed, casting out all caution, as anticipation built instead, almost equal to that he felt on a Player Hunt. Watching this Player was going to be fun!

But right now, he was famished.

Dismissing further examination of the Player’s pathetic dwelling, Herobrine teleported back to his new mansion to his already fixed up, lavish room. At his will, a chest appeared before him, its walls adorned with an object that looked a lot like a single, slitted eye. While he looked within, a part of his room began to expand and additional details appeared, including a stove and a kitchen island, lined with decorated marble tiles. Reaching within the chest, Herobrine began to will forth supplies, which began to appear in their designated places in his new kitchen.

A fire whooshed into being in the oven and a bag of flour plopped on the kitchen counter. A large basin appeared there next. Herobrine glared at it thoughtfully. What should he make? Pancakes or bread?

The image of Miner’s bread vividly displayed in his mind’s eye, nicely baked to a golden color with cracks running along the top. Herobrine’s eyes narrowed, burning a little brighter as a slightly malevolent but satisfied smirk played across his lips. Mmmh. He could almost smell it already. Stepping up to his kitchen, the being absorbed himself in a very pleasant if manual work that completely defied his role of a hard-hearted, cruel villain…
…
In the present, still laying on his bed, Herobrine frowned, allowing his memory of the past to disperse. The pulling, persistent ache and his current physical weakness immediately flooded his awareness and he winced, dismissing those perceptions to the back of his mind.

What Steve said to him yesterday…

“Well, I am not one of them and I keep telling you that! I can feel pain just like any other normal person. Every last bit of it! So I cannot be one of Them.” Steve’s voice rung again with unfeigned confidence.

In the past nine months that Herobrine had tested the strange Player’s resolve, he had all but become convinced. Steve wasn’t pretending. He truly did not know that he was a Player.

“I don’t know where I come from. I just woke up one day. I was lost in the woods and wandered, until some good travelers found me and took me with them to nearest town? They helped me to learn basic skills and I really liked Mining, so that’s what I decided to become. And it was… maybe nine years ago? I don’t know. Those first years are a bit blurry, so I don’t remember it well.” Steve’s earlier voice spoke shakily, intimidated and far less certain since this interaction had happened during one of their earlier encounters. Then, Herobrine still did not trust this strange human’s claims.

Was it possible for a Player to forget who he was? Maybe some sort of trauma? It wouldn’t be surprising, with those maxed out perception levels…

Who was Steve, really?

Herobrine frowned as the puzzle continued to revolve in his mind, still not offering him a concrete solution even after all this time that he knew Steve.

He also… found himself wishing that Steve never learned who he was before. If he did, he would almost certainly cease being the person that Herobrine knew now. Herobrine had become so accustomed to this Human’s presence, to his acceptance and patience despite Herobrine’s continued tests of Steve’s resolve and honesty. He would… regret if Steve once again became one of THEM.

That’s why he avoided explaining to him about the things. He selfishly wished to keep this Human all to himself.

Herobrine stifled a sigh as he understood his own motivations. He had not bothered to think about this before. Being forced to lay here, as he recovered, was giving him too much time to think.

Where was Steve right now, anyway? Almost relaxed, Herobrine once again reached out with his strengthened senses to the world beyond, until he found several mobs along the approximate path the Miner was due to take to get to his agreed upon destination. A pig, a bird, a fox, and then a wolf briefly paused in their roving and looked up in turn, their eyes turning a glowing white and searching. Finally, Herobrine located the small figure.

Steve was already approaching the meeting point. Crossing across a large stretch of bare land, where only sparse tufts of grass stuck out from the ground, not allowing Herobrine’s mobs to draw closer, the Miner raised his hand and cheerfully waved to the two figures that waited for him by the entrance to a cave within the fissured side of a cliff framing the fields on one side.

Again, Herobrine felt his jealousy stir. His Human seemed so happy at greeting those other Players, Herobrine’s enemies relentless on finding him to destroy them. The Players didn’t react, watching Steve approach, their postures tense. The former levity on their faces was gone, replaced by same suspicion with which they watched Steve yesterday, before they got to know him.

“Hello!” Steve said, coming closer. The Players gave him stiff nods. Steve looked at them with his usual cheerful, friendly smile that left slight dimples in his cheeks.
“Ready to get going?” Steve asked, not daunted by the somewhat cold reception he received. Herobrine tensed, his senses throwing an alarm, though he couldn’t quite pinpoint the reason.

The Players nodded, turning to the cave. Allowing Steve to go first, they moved behind him, exchanging strange looks.

Herobrine shot to a sitting position, ignoring the pain that shot through his shoulder.

“So, where do you want to s…” Steve began to say, turning around, when one of the Players suddenly lunged to him and knocked him hard on his head with the flat of his sword. Both Players silently watched Steve’s slack form softly collapse to the ground where it lay motionless.

Chapter Text

Herobrine swayed where he sprung to his feet. A staggered step forward brought him to the wall. He supported himself against it, feeling his heart struggling in an uneven rhythm, his breaths turned to shallow gasps as waves of sharp pain faded. Lowering his head, Herobrine waited for it to reduce to a more bearable level, while anxiety and anger coursed through him.

They took Steve.

What was he thinking, staying here? What madness led him to assume that this would end well?

A scowl appeared on Herobrine's face.

Did he already not learn his lesson? That absent-minded professor and his quest to find the truth of his frightening legend? A painful respawn, that's what Herobrine got for his effort. That blind matron who invited him in after she found him hiding in her barn and mistook him for an unemployed young worker? The only reason those Players didn't burn her house down with her in it was because Herobrine had burnt it down himself, laughing madly as he did so. That's finally when they believed that he used her only as an ignorant tool for his evil means. She probably hated him now, but she and her children were safe. The Players only added them to their growing list of Herobrine's 'victims'.

He had no idea if Notch would even believe him now if he told him that it wasn't his fault. What if he didn't?

If he didn't take the blame and played his usual role, they might have slaughtered her on the spot. He could do nothing else! They held swords to her neck, their voices getting louder as they demanded to know where she hid him. So he led them away. And another painful respawn had been his reward.

He certainly made a spectacular event of that, playing his role to the last – the perfect villain not affected by pain. Half of those Players had died, despite him being on the edge of his strength. He had not been weak! And he made sure to carry out his revenge, against their guild, after he recovered.

Your servers will burn!

He fulfilled his promise, which he sneered at them before his death, just like a villain should.

He wouldn't last even two seconds against these Players. Those weapons? If his shoulder was any example, he might not respawn at all if he faced off with them. And pride had nothing to do with it. He simply didn't have the strength.

He… couldn't help Steve. The only thing he could do now was flee and hope that they didn't damage that mortal too badly. Although at his settings… Herobrine grimaced with guilt. Wearily leaning his forehead against the wall, he reached out his shaking hand to rub his aching eyes.

At least that foolish Miner was still alive. The last thing Herobrine saw before he lost his link, had been those two Players, dragging Steve's unconscious body into the caves. That hit on the back of his head had been delivered with intent to stun, not kill. That much Herobrine could tell from the force of the act.

An Enderman appeared nearby and promptly bonked his head on a low-lying roof beam of Steve's cabin when he tried to step closer. Staggering back a little, he collided with four more, who appeared behind him. Ignoring Herobrine, who snapped up his head to look at them, the beings began to make grumbling noises at each other. His lips twisted with displeasure.

"You are late!" Herobrine growled. Scowling, he glared at the beings, who ceased bickering and turned to look at him with guilty looks.

His control was slipping again. Gritting his teeth, Herobrine sent them his next command.

The Endermen hesitated, their lilac eyes doubtful. One even made a soft, questioning noise. Herobrine's eyebrows crept up.

"Obey me! This is not a request!" He snarled. The Endermen exchanged glances. With obvious reluctance in their movements, they grasped on to Herobrine, with one inadvertently grabbing his injured shoulder. Herobrine couldn't help a gasp at another bolt of white-hot pain that shot through him, then grinded his teeth, desperately fighting to hold on to his awareness as black began to creep into his vision. Still, his knees gave, and he hung in their arms like a helpless rag, just as their entire group vanished from Steve's cabin.

A mass of purple particles swirled about the room, settling on the table with several healing potions, some empty and some half drunk, and upon the crumpled blanket, which revealed a towel spread over the pillow and mattress, slightly stained with blood.

…

A pounding headache in the back of his head was the first thing Steve became aware of when he woke up. Next came the ache in his arms, which were pulled back and tied together, rope pulling painfully tight against his wrists. With a groan, he shifted and found that the same had been done to his ankles, though his rough trousers offered at least some protection.

He was laying on his side on the rocky ground.

They… hit him?

A hand roughly grabbed his hair and yanked his face up, a torch light shoved so closely to his face that Steve could see the brightness even through shut eyelids. Instinctively, he tried to shy away from the heat dangerously close to his skin.

"Awake?... Good!" A familiar voice sneered, dripping venom. With sinking heart, Steve recognized the younger adventurer. "Now you can answer a few of our questions for us, Steve."

The derisive way in which the young man spat out his name immediately sounded an alarm in Steve's mind. Did they think… That he was Herobrine?!

"You lied to us! You told us that you didn't know that monster! But you do!" Marko accused. Steve's breath released. This wasn't so bad. At least, they did not think he was Herobrine. He tried to say something, but found his tongue glued within his parched mouth. His neck and throat hurt as well, a loop of the rope thrown across and pinching his skin.

"We know that he came to see you! Last night! He was in your house! All that blood? He was there all along and you lead us on this blip goose-chase?" Seething notes appeared in young hero's voice. Steve's heart fell, instantly filling with guilt. Their anger was well deserved. He did deceive them.

"Talk!" A hand yanked his head back more, making the headache in the back of his head pound even worse. Steve grimaced in pain.

"And you better not lie, or you'll regret it, traitor!"

Steve's heart sunk a bit. They did not think that he was Herobrine but believed him to be the white-eyed man's minion, instead. That was probably it.

"I… I'll talk… I'll tell you…" He finally managed to stammer, breath catching a bit. His heart pounded in rising panic.

Steve saw the young Player's lips twist with disdain before he released Steve's hair, allowing him to collapse. For a moment, Steve merely lay on the ground, his cheek against the cold stone, and tried to catch his breath while he hectically thought what to say.

He struggled to turn, so he could face them both, and found both adventurers glaring at him. A scowl twisted the younger man's face. The older man's face could rival Herobrine's for its lack of expression. His gray eyes held on Steve with icy coldness, which sent an unwilling shiver across Steve's body. It's like Steve was a thing, not a living person. He could almost remember Herobrine's snarled words, thrown at him one time in accusation.

"Players do not even see me as a living being. To them I'm just a thing! And a broken one at that! None of the people living here are real to them! Killing one of us is no different than… throwing a rock!"

He didn't believe him, then. Uneasy, Steve shifted his gaze back to the younger adventurer.

"Y-you… d-didn't have to… hit me so hard… I w-would have t-told you…" Steve tried to smile with helpless reproach. "I h-hope… You d-don't think… that I am Him… Right?... I k-know that I look like h-him… B-but I'm not… I'm h-human…"

Marko rolled his eyes.

"We know that, stupid. Do not count us for idiots! If you were Herobrine, we wouldn't be talking. You would simply be dead." Steve's heart fell at the scorn filled words. "Tell us why you said nothing! Why did you hide him and lead us away? Was it because he threatened you? Scared you? What?" The young adventurer's voice calmed down a bit, sounding almost hopeful as he stared at Steve with a big frown creasing his eyebrows.

"I… I don't know… w-what you are saying… I d-didn't…"

Before Steve could finish his claim, a vicious kick stole the breath from his lungs. He curled as familiar agony exploded across his stomach, briefly dazing his thoughts. He struggled to suck in a breath and couldn't, the pain flaring like a bright sun in the pit of his stomach.

"You're lying! He was in your house! We found his blood! And healing potions!" The younger adventurer's tone seethed.

Herobrine… They didn't find him, then. He managed to get away. Relief swept across Steve's heart, reflecting on his face before he could control it. Noticing their harsh eyes watching him, Steve shrunk smaller.

"N-no… That was my blood… I… messed up… Was careless… The mobs attacked me on the way home…" His voice trembling, Steve tried to offer the story that he already had prepared just in case. Their hardening expressions and twisted lips told him that his words were not convincing.

"You're lying!" Marko jerked forward as if he was going to kick him again. Steve squeezed his eyes tight, curling as tight as he could to protect his aching stomach. The painful kick didn't come, though. Instead, it was the elder's voice, calm.

"Why are you trying to protect that monster? Did he scare you? Don't be scared of him. He is already dead. He just doesn't know it, yet. Just tell us everything that you know and we'll let you go." The elder adventurer reassured. Steve nervously dared to peek and found the man watching him with an expression that seemed almost patient. The uneasy feeling lessened. Steve badly wanted to believe him.

"We have a way to check!" The younger man's exclaim made Steve flinch again, his blue eyes nervously flicking toward him. "We know that he was there. He was in your house last night and probably even before! It was his blood in your room. We can even tell that he was there awhile! Probably when we first came to ask you for your help to track him down!"

Marko's voice rose, accusing tones gaining hints of hurt. "You should have told us right then. We would have handled it!"

"I was s-scared…" Steve admitted. "M-mm s-sorry."

The anger in the faces of the adventurers dwindled a bit. The elder frowned at him. "Why? He was already hurt. He couldn't have got to you before us."

"Yeah! We would have stopped him!" Marko nodded.

"H-his servants… They were t-there." Steve came up with an excuse.

"We could have handled a few mobs." The younger man scoffed, his hand squeezing the handle of the enchanted sword in his hand. Using it as a support, he shifted position. The older hero nodded. An axe materialized in his hand, which he also carefully placed below him, as he turned and stared at Steve.

Intimidated, Steve blinked at them.

"I didn't know it, then… You… You didn't kill him… What if he came back?... He is powerful… He also warned me… that if I t-told anyone about him… he would k-kill me…"

Steve admitted. The vision of Herobrine's disdainful face looked down at him once more as he cowered against the wall of his own cabin. He could almost feel the aching bruises left by the being's steely fingers. He could well remember his own terror then. He had all but convinced himself that it had been just a nightmare. But the Monster from the mansion came to pay him a visit – the first of many. He never dared to tell anyone about that. Not a single word. Until today.

"I t-told no one…" Steve's lips trembled, his face paling at the memory that he did his best to forget.

"Ah, so you do know him!" The elder adventurer confirmed with satisfaction, his eyes on Steve growing slightly milder. Not trusting himself to speak, Steve numbly nodded.

"When did this happen?"

"About… nine months?" Steve guessed, looking at them for reassurance. "W-when I told you… That those children s-saw him?... They asked me… To go and check… And I… I went…"

"And this time, you found the real monster." This time, the faces of the adventurers looked even more satisfied. Steve nodded, switching a lost gaze between them.

"And what did he do? He hurt you? Threaten you? Try to kill you?" The younger man prodded. Not waiting for Steve's response, he turned to the other man. "This might help us a lot. If we can get them proof that he's once again terrorizing the locals, then even Notch will have to…"

Marko's voice fell quiet at the elder's gesture. His eyes still held on Steve, he gave him a small, encouraging nod to proceed.

"Go on. Don't be afraid. Tell us. What else did he do?"

Steve's blue eyes helplessly switched between the two men, noting the anticipation on their faces. They were waiting for him to tell them how bad Herobrine was. He could tell them. He could blame everything on him – the horrible monster. He wouldn't even be lying…

Steve frowned a little.

"H-he did… Nearly kill me… That first day when I came… He thought… that I was a hero, who came to challenge him… But he learned that I didn't… He h-healed me, instead… And then he let me go… "

Visible disappointment reflected on their faces and they exchanged disappointed looks. One of them made an irritated gesture, as if flatting away a fly. Steve blinked.

"I didn't tell you, not b-because… I was s-scared… Even though I was scared, too… You almost killed him… He didn't deserve that… I know that… He seems evil, but… he isn't… He is not the monster, that everyone thinks he is… I got to know him and… he isn't…" Steve's tone, while timid and trembling, grew stronger and more hopeful.

"You've got to be blipping kidding me." The younger adventurer muttered, giving Steve a disbelieving look. Suddenly the young man jumped up to his feet, making Steve flinch.

"What?... What the blip is this?!... Not a monster?... What the blip is this, Adler?... Is he glitched or something?..."

"Noup, I'm seeing nothing. He's clean." The elder shook his head, narrowing his eyes in the air as if looking at something past Steve. The younger then spun around and glared daggers at Steve, scowling.

"Then he's a flipping traitor! A blippety blip! Blip this! Blip!"

Steve cautiously leaned back as far as he was able and blinked in confusion at the agitated young man. He sounded so normal yesterday, regaling Steve with tales of adventure and inviting him to join them. But now, he sounded like a madman, with his words strangely distorting to utter nonsense.

"Adler! We got to make him talk! If he knows anything, we need it! Forget the rep! Who cares about the rep?! So what if we lose these accounts? If we get that blip, we'll be so rich that we can buy us our own server or two! A blipping paradise! Blip! He knows him for sure! He does!" The younger man urgently stared at the older, his entire body nervously shifting. After a moment, the older nodded.

"Hold on a sec. Let me set up blocks. That way it will be all good and no one needs to know…"

"Blip!" The younger grinned, nearly jumping again as a grin broke out on his face. Not liking the look of it at all, Steve shied back from them even more, wincing at the ropes pulling against his hands. The constant ache was starting to dull, but that was not a good thing, since he could no longer feel his fingers at all. The ropes were too tight, cutting off blood from his hands. How long did it take for bloodless flesh to die? If he lost his hands, then a simple potion wouldn't repair it! He couldn't afford the really good ones. With Herobrine gone, he…

"Done. Go ahead." The elder of the two heroes gave his permission. Instantly, the younger man lunged to Steve, the grin on his face revealing his bright teeth. Anticipation burnt in his eyes with a strange mad gleam. Fear returned, making Steve's breath catch as he stared at the formerly friendly face and realized that he was now seeing this being's true face, no longer hidden under false mask. This was the Player?

"They are the true monsters! They wear false faces and do good deeds. But its not real! To them, everyone who lives here in our world is just a toy! A thing!"

At this moment, Steve could almost believe Herobrine's strange words. The way this young man looked at him now was scary. It was like Steve was not alive. Helpless, Steve looked up at this being with wide eyes.

"All right, Steve. Let's try this again." A knife appeared in Marko's hand and pressed against the skin of Steve's cheek. Steve's heart jumped, picking up in speed, fluttering like a trapped bird in his chest. His mouth opened. "Tell us where he is."

"I… I don't know!" Steve gasped, feeling the trembling grow in his tired limbs. He tried to lean away, but the knife followed, pressing harder. He felt it cut a bit into his skin, leaving behind a small cut, which instantly bloomed red. Feeling a hot drop slide down his cheek, Steve looked up and saw the smile on the hunter's face grow wider. By the gleam in his eyes, Steve could tell that this was not the full extent of the threat that he was going to face.

He didn't know where Herobrine went! He couldn't tell them even if he wanted to!

"P-please! I would t-tell you!... If I knew!" His resolve crumbling as shame washed across his heart for giving in to their threats so easily, Steve cast a pleading gaze from one hunter to the other and back. Ignoring him, the older adventurer sat down on one of the treasure chests that appeared beneath him. His face calm, he looked up at the twisted cave ceiling with a bored look.

"Do it faster, Mark. We don't have much time. If he really knows nothing, just end him. Cannot leave him behind. Use debugger rot. It'll break up any trace left in code."

"All right then." The younger man agreed. The knife vanished. The edge of a heavy axe appeared instead and leaned against Steve's shoulder. His blue eyes warily held on the glimmering, deadly edge.

They… wouldn't…

Would they? Glancing up at the merciless depths of their eyes, Steve found his answer. His eyes began to blur with tears. They were going to kill him? Just for lying to them?

"W-why?..." He swallowed a painful lump that appeared in his throat. "I… didn't d-do… anything to you…"

"You should not have helped that monster, Steve." Young man shrugged. "You should have given him to us, instead of lying. You wasted our time! If you tell us where he is, we will let you go."

He was lying. Steve could tell it by looking into those dead eyes. The emotion he saw there was no different than if they were looking at a rock that stood in their path. He was just an object in their way. And they were going to destroy him no matter what he told them.

"You are the real m-monsters… N-not him." Steve concluded, trying hard to keep his voice from shaking and failing miserably. "I'm g-glad… that he got away from you…He w-won't come back… You c-can just go ahead… And do it."

"We are the monsters? Are you blipping kidding me? A bot tells me that we are evil, Adler." The young man cast the other human a look and burst in laughter. The callous sound sent chills. When the young man looked at Steve again, the anger had replaced the indifference there. Marko scowled, the threat coming from him making Steve shy away.

"Well, that's too bad." The hunter said with a mocking tone. "You sound like you think he is your friend or something… Wait… Oh blip! That's what this is! Can you believe this, Adler? This pathetic bot thinks that he's made friends with that monster. Ha!" The Player laughed while Steve's heart sunk even lower.

"You useless, blipping bot! You think he cares about bots like you? You are just a blipping toy. He used you and abandoned you. Now you'll be paying the price. And you will pay it for sure, for wasting our time!" The Player leaned closer to yell his last words at Steve and Steve closed his eyes, hiding his face into the ground. He didn't look up even when he felt the cold steel edge of the axe heavily press against his shoulder.

"He w-was my friend!... H-he might not think so, but I… I was his friend…" Steve swallowed, his eyes miserably falling to the ground as the last of his confidence left him.

The player smirked a bit, calming down in his mirth.

"That's funny there. But all right. I guess we are only wasting our time." His tone carried disappointment.

"Hey Steve? You are a Miner, right?" The young hunter's voice regained its amused tone. Steve didn't answer, unwillingly tensing. "Let me ask you this… Do you need both arms to Mine? Or can you do it with just one?"

The deadly edge of the axe dug deeper into Steve's flesh, bruising it. He bit his lips.

"Hey, Adler, what do you think? He looks so much like him, maybe we could make it a matching set? For each of them just one arm? They will be flipping twins, hahaha!"

"Stop goofing around, Mark. Just end him and lets go. He has nothing for us."

Tears continued to run from Steve's blurry eyes as he stubbornly kept his face to the ground. He couldn't help the trembling as fear seized his entire body at what was coming. Despite their apparent hurry and how sharp their weapons were, getting chopped to bits was not going to be swift enough.

"Well, blip…" The younger spat at the ground next to Steve with disappointment. Steve flinched. He felt the deadly blade swing up. Squeezing his eyes tight, he waited.

And waited.

The awaited strike did not come.

Instead, the hunters gasped. A sound came as if of their clothing rustling as they suddenly moved and then froze. Silence descended in the air, tense with waiting. He could hear their breaths, huffed loudly through their noses.

What?...

A dark, familiar chuckle echoed softly across the room so it was difficult to pin-point the direction. His eyes flying wide, Steve threw up his head and searched.

A slight movement revealed a figure standing in the far corner of the cave, nearly completely shrouded in darkness.

"Well, well, well. Isn't this fun… Why did you stop? Go on ahead and kill that fool. I'll just stand here and… watch." Herobrine's velvety voice carried amusement. Steve blinked at that in confusion.

The dark figure lifted his face and white eyes opened, their ghostly light revealing a careless smirk.

Herobrine made an idle gesture. A screen appeared in midair, lighting his figure with menacing blue light. Satisfied, the being casually folded his arms across his chest, appearing to entirely ignore the two Players, who stood tense and with their strange weapons drawn, ready to attack.

Arms. Steve's eyes held on Herobrine's unmarred figure and its easy, almost casual pose. Herobrine appeared to utterly dismiss the threat emanating from the two Players, who glared hostile daggers at him.

"Cannot wait to see what your Admin will do when I send them this… " Ignoring the Players, Herobrine's eyes held on the images displayed on the screen he just brought up. Unwillingly tearing his dazed eyes from Herobrine's undamaged figure, Steve looked there as well. So did the players.

Their own reflections foolishly gaped back at them. Above their heads showed glowing rectangles, which held words. The two adventurers froze, their eyes turning to that screen. Steve blinked at it without comprehension.

Alder Rosvano. Human. Age 36 years 8 months. Adventurer. Level 25.

Marko Weald. Human. Age 19 years 2 months. Adventurer. Level 13.

Steve of Garstone. Human. Age 9 years 3 months. Miner. Level 63.

Herobrine finally looked up, a nasty sneer stretching his lips. He appeared idly amused by the stunned reactions of the two adventurers, whose eyes would not leave the screen.

"Hmm… What penalty is it nowadays?... For disrupting another player's gaming process?... A three-month ban?... But I've set his Mode to Hard Core. Mmmm. My, I do believe its murder. That's sixty years to life. At Hard Core mode and 30% settings? How many respawns will it take before your brains turn to mush? Five, maybe six? Ha, you'll never wake up. That would be just fine. I can always use more mindless puppets…"

The being that Steve recognized, yet didn't recognize, made a dark chuckle that sent new chill across Steve's form. This being… was not the man he thought he came to know.

On the very bottom of magical projection, a red line continued to blink.

Recording in Progress…

Chapter Text

The elder of the adventurers finally tore his eyes away from the magical projection and glared at the idly sneering being.

“You’re lying!” He snarled through gritted teeth, anger and suspicion broiling in place of his former bored look. “Don’t listen to him. It’s a trick!” He threw back over his shoulder at the younger player, who was staring at rope-bound Steve with a stunned look, his dark brown eyes opened wide. Lost, the younger player looked up at his partner with a silent question.

“What if h-he i-is… a Player? I don’t want to go to jail, Adler.” The stammer in the younger man's voice made him seem human once more and Steve nearly felt sorry for him, though he didn’t understand their extreme reaction to what Herobrine showed. It was probably just an illusion. Didn't they know that Herobrine could do that? Steve couldn't count how many times he startled at some terrifying image only to hear his twin's amused laugh and learn that it wasn't true. It happened so often that it lost its initial effect. Why did they react in such a way to Herobrine showing to them this illusion that Steve was a Player like them? The thought came and left, as Steve's mind reeled in daze. Everything happening was too much to process.

“He is not!” The older man growled, his dark eyes flicking from the younger man back to Steve. Denial visibly fought with uncertainty. “He is making this up. This is not real!”

The amused being slightly tilted his head to the side and chuckled.

“Then go ahead... Kill him.” Herobrine said with chilling indifference, not even looking at Steve, whose heart unwillingly sunk at these words. Even if Herobrine was only pretending... He did it too well. Steve couldn't help the doubt from flickering in his heart. What if he was wrong all along and this had been Herobrine's true face? This being cared nothing for what happened to him. He could hear it in his voice. It didn't seem pretend.

“Did I mention that I set his Mode to Hardcore? I also wish to see what will happen. Last time I killed him, he forgot who he was, and that was at fifty percent perception. This time? I would dearly like to see what happens to one of you at a hundred. And it won't be me doing it, so I cannot be held at fault as this video will show. So... go on. Kill him.”

A nasty sneer revealed the being's white teeth, sharper than a normal human’s. Steve shivered, recalling the same smile on the being's face when he first encountered him. That Herobrine enjoyed watching him suffer. Steve still didn't know what exactly happened for the being to change his mind. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a light in his vision. When he turned his head, though, it retreated from him, remaining in the corner of his vision. Something blinked red.

Steve forced himself to turn his head, once again looking at the screen where both adventurers were staring also, disbelief filling their faces. There, Steve saw that his image changed. Now, above his name, another line had appeared. It held eight blinking red hearts with two turned black. Directly above it held a blinking red line with the number 100 on it. Just at that moment, one of the little red hearts turned half dark, leaving the other half dark like the two hearts next to it. A wave of strange weariness pressing over Steve's entire form suddenly grew heavier. His eyes began to close against his volition.

The younger man’s eyes widened, his mouth falling open. The elder frowned deeper, visibly fighting the uncertainty sweeping through him.

“That’s… i-impossible… He cannot do that… Right, Adler?” The younger player muttered a bit shakily. Neither of them appeared eager to respond to Herobrine’s goading and do what he said. Relieved by that, shaken Steve closed his eyes as a sort of daze began to set in. "He cannot mess with a Player's blipped settings..."

Herobrine’s eyes flicked to dazed Steve briefly, noting the fainted heart, before returning to the players, without any change in his arrogant expression.

“I think that you already know what I can do. I see you found the presents I left you.” The being smirked. The younger adventurer threw up his head, instantly angry once more.

“That wasn’t fair! I lost half my levels!”

The being shrugged with idle satisfaction. “You cheated first.”

“Cheated? Its you who cheats! You shouldn't even exist, you blipped hacker bot!”

“Tsk tsk tsk. Watch that dirty language. There is a minor here.” The being wagged his finger in mock reproach. The eyes of the Players automatically fell to weary Steve, whose no longer listened to any of them, too dazed to make sense of things.

“We’ll deal with him later.” Adler growled. In a sudden lunge, his form streaked toward the being, a purple, gleaming sword flashing into his hand. Only the white-eyed figure vanished, making the player nearly lose his balance as his thrust pulled his arm through empty air with no expected resistance. An amused laugh echoed across the cave, before focusing to a corner. The players found the white-eyed figure standing there, looking at them with an amused grin.

“Surely, you don't think me foolish enough to appear here in person?”

“Come and fight us, you blipping coward!” The younger exclaimed and uselessly threw himself toward the figure, while the elder merely looked at it with frustrated look. The enormous, glowing, yellow-white hammer smashed against the cave wall. A large crack spread from the indented point of the impact and spread up to the ceiling, where menacing sounds came and dust started drifting down. Both adventurers threw up their heads in caution, freezing where they stood.

“My-my... You are careless. And dumb. Do you really think that I would fight cheaters fairly?” The being scoffed, this time reappearing on a ledge high up, where he sat, his lips twisted with disdain. The younger adventurer flew there next, sending a huge chunk falling to the ground, where it fell apart in pieces. Twisting their heads, the players searched for the elusive being.

“You really are fools. And this is getting boring...” A bored tone of voice sounded from no particular direction. “Well, see you later, cheaters. It probably won't be soon. Good luck! You'll need it to regain your levels."

The scornful voice echoed, falling silent. The players waited, their bodies tense, looking around in search of the menacing figure reappearing again. It did not.

“W-what?” Marko muttered in rising confusion.

Multiple blocks of TNT appeared, glowing red all around them.

Startling, the two Players unconsciously stepped back, only to find more blocks flashing behind them.

“Adler, he’s been trolling us all along! Those gimmicks didn’t work! That guy lied! He probably wasn’t even an Admin!” The younger adventurer exclaimed and in hunted panic threw out his arm, where an object appeared – a circular, black pearl, with a thin golden slit within it, reminding very much of a cat’s eye. It vanished from his hand. A second later, he also vanished.

Grinding his teeth, Adler glared at the empty spot left by his partner’s cowardly retreat. A soft series of whuzzing sounds came from his left. Snapping his head there, he glimpsed tall dark forms bending over forgotten Steve's battered form. Before he could make a move in that direction, the entire group vanished. Scowling, the older Player glared at the vanishing flurry of purple particles, before returning a wary glance to the pulsing blocks of TNT. A moment later, he whipped out his hand where another enchanted Enderpearl appeared.

A moment later, his form appeared on top of the hill above Herobrine's ruined mansion. His fled partner's face greeted him with a guilty look. Ignoring him, Adler silently turned and glared at the ground below them. There was no point in running away. The amount of TNT that the insidious monster teleported to their location from his hidden stores was going to blow this entire place sky high. And, if the monster added the same nasty virus to it as he did to the explosives that waited in those baited chests he left them to find, then their avatars were going to zero out to level one – months of work and hours of grinding wasted!

Adler nearly ground his teeth in helpless frustration.

A moment passed. Another.

Nothing happened.

“Adler? What’s going on?” Marko asked, foolishly blinking at the older Player with lost look. Adler suddenly startled.

“I am an idiot!” He growled, pulling out his map and searching across it with grim look, his dark eyebrows furrowed together.

“There.” He pointed, stabbing the image with his finger. The map obediently zoomed in, showing a faint, green dot with the name Steve hanging above it. Just as they watched, another dot approached it, getting brighter as it got into required proximity of the tracking device. It blinked red and “Herobrine 0076914.014” hung above it.

"Target located." An expected line appeared in the bottom screen of the map and satisfaction filled Adler's face, though he immediately grimaced. His hand jerked up his red scarf to cover his face, leaving only angrily burning eyes devouring the red dot.

“That’s where he really is. This whole thing… was just a flipping distraction!”

“Then… he wasn’t a Player?” Marko asked with hopeful relief. A snort sounded from the other Player’s direction.

“I don’t care if that’s flipped Notch himself. I’m not losing that reward!”

A burst of speed sent Adler's form streaking toward the gaping entrance of the cave below them in the valley – the first place where they had begun their search with the Miner Steve. The younger Player blinked a moment longer, then sped after him. Both their forms flew along tunnel walls, passing by them blurry at their speed. The two dots blinked further ahead in the area of the map, which still showed dark and much lower. They did not move, appearing stationary and hopefully unaware that their presence was being tracked.

Chapter Text

"Steve... Steve!" A voice came across distance, urgent and familiar. "Steve, you must wake up! Wake up!"

The shaking of his body annoyed him, since it made his bruised ribs ache. Steve couldn't hold back a moan. Then, becoming aware of who it was who was speaking to him, he made an effort to peel open his eyes.

Herobrine's face loomed over him, ghostly in the silver light of his anxious eyes. Just then, Steve's twin turned to look back toward the darkness, an angry frown on his face. Steve could make out a cave wall above them, lit by dim red light. They were...underground?

Steve couldn't quite recollect what happened after Herobrine, the other version of him, began to taunt the players. Did he pass out? How did they manage to get away?

"Steve, I swear to Notch, if you don't wake up, I'll burn your house to the ground!" Herobrine growled, still looking away. His tone came frustrated rather than threatening, but Steve still tried to sit up. Sharp pain shot through his stomach, radiating out from his chest to his sides.

At first catching his breath, he then began to pant, a groan breaking through his clenched teeth. A hand carefully slipped under his back, gently righting his slumped position to a more comfortable one. Rocks felt cold behind his back. Managing to open his eyes once more, Steve found concerned white eyes watching him. In the dark, Steve could make out the bandages across an empty shoulder stump, where once again some blood had begun to seep. A bit of relief washed across him.

Steve smiled, his vision briefly blurring with tears.

Herobrine came for him. He didn't leave him behind.

"H-Herobrine..." Steve croaked weakly. His twin frowned, concerned eyes searching Steve's dazed face. Appearing reassured by Steve's steady breathing, Herobrine scowled at him instead. Steve's smile lessened. His twin appeared to be angry with him for something.

"Steve, your pickaxe. Let me see it." The threat in the man's impatient tone made Steve blink in confusion. "Let me see that pickaxe! The one those heroes gave you. Now!"

Herobrine impatiently snapped. Confused, Steve obeyed, the enchanted tool appearing in his shaking hand. With relief, his eyes held on his fingers. The ropes were still there, wrapped around his wrists, but already loose. At Steve's movement to lift the tool, they fell away, revealing ugly bruises. He could feel his hands, though, and besides some dull ache echoing across, no damage was done.

"I am a fool..." Herobrine's angry voice drew Steve's eyes back to his twin. He found white eyes staring at the tool's handle, where a brightly glimmering green jewel just then dimmed to a dark hue. Herobrine's lips twitched, settling into a flat line and his eyes narrowed.

"I was right. That's how they knew through your ruse. They found a way to detect my presence. If I come near this thing, it let them know, as it let them know where you were at all times." Herobrine scowled and Steve blinked at the amazing tool with rising unease, before a wave of guilt washed through him. This whole thing had been his fault from the start?

"I'm s-sorry." Steve's mumble brought Herobrine's white eyes back to him. Seeing Steve's stricken expression, he huffed in annoyance.

"Don't be. This is not in any way your fault, Steve. I should have thought to check. My carelessness is inexcusable." Looking up, Steve found guilt flickering in Herobrine's angry expression. That let him breathe with relief. Herobrine was not angry at him.

Steve looked at the pickaxe with unease, wondering what he should do with it.

"Keep it. You may find use for it, yet. I've already disabled their tracker." Herobrine grumbled.

Steve nodded and dismissed the treacherous tool back into his own inventory. He then tried to sit up again, only to gasp as another explosion of pain coursed through his ribs.

"Hold still. Your ribs are fractured." Herobrine warned. After managing to relax enough so he could breathe again, Steve looked at him, quickly noticing the weary posture of the man as he sat next to him against the wall.

"Y-you d-don't have... more... of those red potions?" He prodded hopefully. His twin's lips pinched into a flat line.

"I can no longer access my items." His tone came dull and distant now. "Quiet, Steve. I must focus. Or else they will find us here before I can take us to a safer place."

"W-what?" Steve gasped and jerked to get up. Again, he was forced to freeze at renewed pain, a groan breaking through his lips. He still tried to get up, until his twin's arm shot out, preventing him. Steve gave his twin a panicked look. "Are they... coming h-here?"

"They are. But you should be safe. They are coming for me, not for you. They won't risk harming you again after what I showed them." Herobrine's tone held weariness. Steve blinked at him in confusion before his understanding cleared.

"Then... it wasn't a trick?" His voice rung with disbelief. The definite hint of guilt in Herobrine's eyes was the answer Steve sought.

Then... That's why Herobrine remained so convinced in his idea that Steve was a Player despite Steve's arguments. He could see things that both he and those heroes saw as proof, even though Steve himself still had no idea why. Steve frowned.

"I don't believe it." He said stubbornly and gave his twin a challenging look. Just because Herobrine was powerful didn't mean that he couldn't make a mistake and the last few days showed that already. "It's not true. You made it up. You... You didn't kill me! When we met in the mansion, you didn't even know who I was. I remember that."

Herobrine frowned at him, then relaxed as understanding appeared. "Yes. I did lie about that part. No, I never killed you, Steve. I don't know why you don't remember who you are, but I had nothing to do with it. I promise." Herobrine smirked a little, relieved. Steve's brows drew together as he looked at the exhausted man with reproach.

"Why did you do that? Why make it seem worse than it really was?" At Herobrine's quirked eye-brow, Steve blew out a frustrated breath. "Now they believe that you are this horrible monster. And that isn't true!"

Herobrine huffed with scorn. "They won't care either way, Steve. They only want their reward. I just made sure that you'll be safe, in case we fail to get away. They won't dare touch you. Killing another Player with such high settings will be counted as murder by their own law."

"I don't understand." Steve frowned. Herobrine looked away, wearily leaning the back of his head against the cool wall.

"We will speak of it later, Steve. If we manage to get away. In case we do not, play along and blame everything on me. Say that I had been keeping you as my prisoner all this time and tormented you for my amusement. It won't be far from the truth."

Steve blinked at the other man's resigned tone.

"No! That's not true!" He protested. There was no way he was going to let this happen. Herobrine scowled at him with old derisive look.

"Don't be a fool! This is a PvP Server, Steve. It means that if those... heroes decide that you are on my side, they will have an excuse to harm you! You should not have tried to defend me. If I managed to do it sooner, I would have simply turned on your interface. That would have given them pause. Now, even with my claims, they were not convinced. And I must change my plans yet again for your sake."

The angry, snappy tone made Steve's heart sink. He tried to do what he felt was right, but Herobrine was angry at him for it? He messed up? Not taking notice of Steve's crest-fallen expression, Herobrine continued to berate him.

"Do you know what will happen if you die? Neither do I! What if I am wrong about you and you are not a Player after all? You won't respawn, Steve! Their weapons are unlike anything I had encountered before. I don't think they are even part of this Game, this world. I cannot counter their effect! That's why I am not healing. During the fight, I used bots... summoned creatures to help me fight them. Their weapons made their code simply fall apart, so they ceased to be! They are too dangerous, Steve. Do NOT provoke them and do not attempt any more foolish defense on my behalf. They will not listen. Do as I say! Or I WILL kill you myself!"

The dark threat in his twin's voice and his cold look made Steve swallow as he shrunk back a little. Before he knew it, he found himself obediently nodding. Herobrine frowned at him, making sure that his words got through. Seeing Steve's defeated look, he huffed with satisfaction.

"Since you claimed to be my friend, I have only one request of you, in case I don't make it out of this alive." Herobrine spoke with bitterness, not looking at Steve, whose heart sunk even more at the realization that his earlier words to the hunters had been overheard.

"They will probably take you to see Notch. To verify my claim. Tell him that I am sorry. I tried very hard to do what he told me, but I failed. But I never harmed any of his people! Not even when they turned against me, following the Players' lead. Tell him..." Herobrine's white eyes returned to Steve and his voice fell silent.

Steve nodded again, unable to speak because of a lump in his throat. His vision was blurry with tears. At Herobrine's continued silence, he forced himself to speak, even though sniffles also broke through.

"I... I w-will." Steve promised, not daring to look up.

He knew now that he messed up. If he had only told those Players what they wanted to hear, then maybe they would not have hurt him. Herobrine would not have had to expend what little remained of his power to interfere on his behalf. And he would not have had to worry about protecting Steve from them now. He looked utterly exhausted sitting there, his legs folded under him, not even attempting to stand up.

"Steve..." This time Herobrine's voice came quiet and unexpectedly mild. This made Steve look up. He found his twin watching him with an amused and sad apology.

"I am sorry... I should not take out my frustration on you. All of this is my mistake, not yours. You only tried to help. If not for you, I would be dead already." A small, reassuring smile appeared on Herobrine's face, which sent warmth through Steve's heart. "Don't worry, Steve. Whatever happens, I will make sure that you will be safe. Just don't try to defend me and let me do it my way. Trust me. Besides, there is a good chance yet that everything will be fine. I'm telling you this just in case. Now let me finish my work. Once we are safe, I will explain everything to you, I promise."

Herobrine's voice came light, lacking its previous bitter tone, and Steve nodded again, calming down.

Appearing content with that, his twin nodded in approval and turned, resting the back of his head against the wall. The glow of his eyes faintly dimmed to an absent-minded flicker. Steve recognized the look. In past several days, this distant expression appeared on Herobrine's face whenever he controlled distant mobs to do his bidding.

He seemed calm, despite their precarious situation. That helped Steve calm down even more. He had to trust his more knowledgeable and powerful twin about these things.

Still feeling uncertain, Steve tried his best to settle back against the wall, too, wincing as he did so. The back of his head ached badly and his anxious heart still beat quick. To focus on something, Steve studied the place around them. Save for a couple of dim, red torches on the far wall, the place was dark. It was a small cave, similar to those that Steve and those two adventurers found when they searched the caves yesterday.

Three chests stood by the wall, also reminding Steve of those they found.

Steve opened his mouth to ask where they were exactly, but stopped himself in time before he could interrupt Herobrine's work once again. Chewing his lip, he settled back against the wall and tried his best to relax once more. It was difficult. His eyes falling on the ropes still hanging around his body, Steve began pulling off loose pieces. Wincing, with careful, slow movements to avoid disturbing his ribs, still sucking in his breath at the occasional sharp stabbing, he watched sections of rope fall to the ground. Steve’s eyes held on the frayed, darkened edges that looked singed while quiet admiration rose within him. Even weakened, his twin was still so inhumanly strong. Steve would have never been able to get free from those ropes on his own. They were quite thick.

Herobrine must know what he was doing, Steve reassured himself. They were not helpless and trapped here, beneath the ground, even if at first it sure seemed like that. They probably had plenty of time to do whatever it was that Herobrine planned to do. Yesterday, even with Steve's help and with the assistance granted to them by their devices, it took the adventurers nearly five hours to find only four rooms like this one. Steve made a breath of relief, finally managing to slump against the wall in a relatively comfortable position.

A dull knock on one of the walls, followed by flurry of rhythmical strikes coming from the other side, startled Steve badly so his whole body jumped, sending another bright wave of pain flaring across his chest and side. He groaned.

"Don't worry. It will take some time for them to break through. They do not have your skill." Herobrine's voice reassured from his side. Managing to look at him, Steve received a confident smile and another nod, before Herobrine leaned his head back against the wall again.

Steve tried to do the same. But every now and again, a crack would appear on the wall as small rocks broke off and skittled on the ground, jumping under the force of the impact. Those hunters... They must be furious after Herobrine's trick.

Looking back, Steve saw his usual amused, dark smirk, and stifled a sigh. Herobrine was just... Herobrine. Nothing seemed to daunt him for long.

Doing his best to calm, Steve once again leaned back. His eyes remained glued to the wall, which was the only obstacle between him and those two enraged Players, thirsty for their revenge.

Chapter Text

Steve flinched as at another solid hit, a faint torch light appeared shining through a narrow crack to the other side, where Steve's wide eyes picked up a flurry of movement. His eyes flicked to his twin and found a familiar flat expression hiding Herobrine's true feelings and thought on the matter. His white eyes also seemed aware, rather than distant.

"H-Herobrine?" Steve dared to ask in an uncertain tone of voice. Again, he flinched at yet another hit, which sent larger rocks spraying in their direction. Herobrine scowled and looked to the farthest corner of the cave.

As if on a cue, several tall dark forms materialized there in a purple flurry of particles. Three of them carried pale yellow blocks with bluish-green metallic patterns, surrounded by a faint blue shimmer. Three others began to work, carving out a hollow shape of a small square, Herobrine's eyes remaining fixed on their work with a small frown that betrayed his concentration. Steve noticed a bead of sweat rolling down his stubble-covered cheek.

As soon as the surface became even, those who held the strange blocks, carefully put them down in rows of three, turning them so the middle line patterns pointed inward. Finishing their task, the creatures vanished while the others continued to work. The same three returned, placing another row of three blocks and vanishing again. They repeated the process until the blocks formed a square.

At that moment, the three Endermen who had carried the blocks turned to those who already finished their work and stood mulling about and suddenly thrust their clawed arms into their chests. Steve couldn't help a small gasp and threw a slightly fearful glance toward his twin, who continued to concentrate on his grisly task. Grasping the hovering ender pearls left behind by their slain comrades, the three beings enslaved by Herobrine's command carefully placed the pearls into the nest formed by metallic blue-green patterns on top of the laid-out blocks. By then, three more white-eyed Endermen appeared, standing docile until the process repeated, and they perished with a screech that made Steve cringe, wincing.

What was Herobrine doing? Steve thought that he cared about these black-skinned mobs more than any of the others? Why was he killing them now?

The last of the slain creatures' hearts found its place within the strange block and the area within the square suddenly closed with a glassy smooth curtain of black where starry sky swam. Steve stared at it with fascination.

"An… End Portal?" He guessed, blue eyes opening wide and breath held as he even for a moment forgot about the vengeful adventurers doing their best to break through the heavy obsidian lined walls into their refuge.

Steve couldn't help a blink, though. If Herobrine could control the Ender creatures, why did he wait so long? Why not simply order them to take him and Steve to safety elsewhere in this world?

"I need to check… If it will be safe for you to remain. If not, you will be coming with me. And Steve?..." White eyes turned and held on Steve with a definitely guilty look. "…Trust me."

After a moment of hesitation, Steve nodded, though he remained confused. At that, Herobrine turned away, once again settling a piercing look on his creatures, who began to look around, making uncertain noises as if confused at finding themselves in this place.

Back under Herobrine's control, their eyes shone a brighter white. Falling silent once more, they turned as one to face them, sending a chilled feeling through Steve's heart. Their forms vanished and reappeared next to Steve. Seeing their unblinking blank gazes and long, clawed hands reaching for him, Steve couldn't help shrinking back.

"Wait-wait-wait!... Ugh!" Steve could not help a cry as they roughly pulled him up to his feet, the flare of pain briefly engulfing his vision. Gasping for breath, he swayed in their steel grip, then managed to shift his blurry gaze to his twin, who had been pulled up by their hands also.

Both of them now stood right by the edge of the mysterious gate. Herobrine's white eyes were squeezed tightly shut as he breathed through flared nostrils. Gritting his jaw, the man winced as he dragged his feet into place before standing up, swaying a little. The pain dwelling on his face shut away, a grim look of determination taking its place along with anger. Glowing eyes angrily narrowed on the breaking wall.

The Endermen let go, allowing Herobrine to stand on his own. Scowling, he suddenly stepped toward Steve. A gleaming, diamond sword appeared in his hand, which pressed against Steve's chest, too close to his nervously clenched throat. He jerked back, a gasp breaking through. The grip of the Endermen prevented him from escaping the threat.

"Trust me." Herobrine repeated in a low, dark tone but did little to reassure Steve as anxious daze settled over his thoughts.

At that very moment the wall on the far side of the cave exploded, pieces of black rock bursting out in all directions toward them and some rolling directly under Steve's feet. Two familiar figures appeared in the break, their hair and clothes dusty from their mining. Heaving chests and angry brown eyes searched the cave darkness before settling on the two fugitives.

Herobrine's silky, menacing chuckle echoed around the room, instantly making the two adventurers tense, their bodies going into a defensive stance and grips tightening on their weapons. Steve recognized the purple sword and the enchanted axe, with which the younger man, Marko, had threatened to chop off his arm. He couldn't help gulping, feeling their eyes flick from him to the one who appeared to hold him hostage.

Neither of the adventurers appeared ready to charge into the trap.

"About time. I was wondering when you would finally show up."

Herobrine sneered in an idle tone. Despite his obviously missing arm, his formerly weary stance turned to a casual, bored look that Steve remembered well. It was as if he didn't even consider his missing limb a disadvantage. No sign of pain showed in his expression. His pretense was so convincing.

It worked on the two heroes as well. The older adventurer's hand shot out, keeping the younger from lunging forward. Warily, he remained standing in the break as his narrowed eyes searched the room ahead for any sign of potential traps. His eyes returned to Steve, who stood with his chin cautiously lifted, trying to draw as far away from Herobrine's deadly blade as he could.

"Your tricks will not work on us this time." The elder adventurer half-growled. "I don't care if he dies. If he is a Player, he'll respawn. You won't!" He promised darkly.

"Then I'll make sure that it won't be easy for you." Herobrine gave up on his act. His sword flicked to the front, held at the ready. Steve felt the hands of the creatures pulling him back as they stepped out of the way, leaving Herobrine to stand alone, facing the two players. Concerned, Steve watched him. Surely, his twin did not think that he could fight them both now, in his weakened state?

"Let's make this playing field a bit more even." Herobrine smirked with a dark tone. A barely perceptible nod of his head and the heroes suddenly reacted, their bodies jerking as their eyes went wide.

"Bliiip… He really can do it… Adler! My settings are at thirty percent!" Definite notes of panic broke through the younger man's voice.

Herobrine made a satisfied humph. Steve could see though how much the effort affected him. The hand that held the sword faintly trembled, the sword lowering a little, even as disdainful smirk continued to play on Herobrine's face. His white eyes did not leave the two players. Neither did the dark eyes of the older player, who observed Herobrine with a frown.

"Its fine, Marko! It doesn't matter. We can do this. He's almost done. Look at him."

Steve's worried eyes held on his twin's one-armed figure, slightly swaying as he remained standing in place. The eyes of the Players narrowed. Without another word, both their forms blurred as they streaked forward toward their cornered prey.

"Aaaah!" The younger man's scream rang out, finding himself impaled by a diamond sword from the side. A second white-eyed figure stood, blocking the way between the adventurers and the one-armed figure, who began to laugh, amused by the stunned looks of the Players who froze in their movements once again, staring at their new opponent in disbelieving confusion. The diamond sword retreated and a vicious kick sent Marko staggering back to hit the wall, where he collapsed into a heap.

"Ow, ow, owwww!" Young hunter gasped, shaking hands holding to the blood-gushing wound, brown eyes holding on it with disbelief. The elder, frozen in a defensive position a few steps away, gave him an angry look.

"Your potion!" He growled. His face twisted with pain, the young man's eyes flicked dazed to his partner, then his shaking hands produced a potion which he began to drink. Ignoring him, the elder switched his gaze to Herobrine's uninjured twin and lunged into another attack.

Their movements blurred in Steve's vision, their forms appearing here and there across the cave in brief pauses as they contested each other's strength, their swords blocking each other. In one such moment, the elder angrily turned his gaze toward the younger, who still fearfully sat on the ground, watching their fight.

"Get him!" The elder yelled, snapping his chin toward the real Herobrine, who grinned at their effort with a sort of clouded mad glee that sent a chilled feeling through Steve's heart. He recognized the look. He had seen it on Herobrine's face before, when he was chasing him through the menacing hallways of his haunted mansion. Steve swallowed.

This wasn't good. Was Herobrine even in his right mind? Steve skewed his fearful eyes to the gateway, which seemed to be the only way to escape from this place, where three powerful beings seemed determined to defeat each other.

Forcing himself to his feet, the younger didn't move to attack amused one armed figure right away, but side-stepped, his own mouth open a little with quite a bit of fear. Healed flesh already showed through the bloody rend of his shirt.

Again, the forms of the elder and Herobrine's twin blurred, moving too fast for Steve to follow. A violent crash against the wall drew his and the younger adventurer's eyes to find the elder gasping as he hung pinned, one hand clasping helplessly against the stony grip of the sword impaling his stomach. Herobrine's twin sneered as he forcefully twisted, thrusting the sword deeper.

"Uugh... Aaaah-ahhh!" The man croaked, his eyeballs rolling back in his head. The younger's eyes flicked between his partner's form arching in agony and the one-armed figure, who ignored him, cruelly sneering at his helpless victim held at his puppet's mercy. Dark satisfaction held in white-eyed man's face as he appeared to enjoy the suffering he caused.

"S-stop!" Steve tried to cry out, but his voice came too weak. With rising horror he watched as blood welled up, running past the elder man's fingers as the sword's sharp edge sliced into his flesh while the man fruitlessly tried to block it from causing further damage.

A scowl of determination settled on the younger man's face. He lunged with his axe lifted toward the two-armed villain torturing his friend, only to suddenly shift direction. Steve froze, seeing the deadly edge of the axe swinging right toward distracted Herobrine's head from another side.

"No!" Herobrine's cry sounded, short and dull.

Steve blinked.

One of the three Endermen now stood in front of Herobrine, blocking the player's attack with his own body. The creature's disbelieving white eyes held down at the weapon lodged deep in its chest. And then its form fell apart into black dust, releasing an ender pearl that hovered in the air, glimmering with a strange bluish glow. Steve, Herobrine, and the young Hunter stared at it. The Human still held his axe frozen in the air, his mouth a bit gaping in panic.

He managed to lift his weapon just in time to block a powerful strike, which sent his body flying into the cave wall once more. Another pained yelp sounded as his form collided with a dull sound, puffing a cloud of dust that briefly obscured the fight. Herobrine's twin lifted the struggling young human by his throat, his own eerily ghostly face twisted by an angry scowl.

The same expression held on real Herobrine's face as he glared at the pearl left by his servant's death. Steve noticed his twin's face changing as the strange mad fog seemed to leave him. White eyes, once again aware, flicked to the other Endermen, still mulling next to Steve and blankly watching the place where their brother's form had dispersed.

The two creatures flinched at the disapproval in their master's glare. Steve felt both his arms grasped as they attempted to push him toward the portal. He braked his legs, delaying their effort, while his eyes anxiously searched for the forms of the players. He found the elder silently throwing away an empty potion bottle, his determined eyes already focused on Herobrine's copy.

Real Herobrine still seemed distracted, his dimmed eyes returning to the ender pearl. Regret showing in his pinched lips, Steve's twin dismissed his sword and lifted his hand. The pearl flew into his palm. Securely grasping it, Herobrine cast a silent, gloomy look at his twin, who just then dropped the younger Player as the older Human's sword impaled into his back.

Turning around, he attacked his new opponent, only to stumble as the younger swiped his axe under his left knee. Both of the Players seemed to have joined forces to finish dealing with Herobrine's able-bodied twin.

Herobrine's face grimaced in defeat. Ignoring the two Players destroying his copy, he turned and limped toward the portal where Steve still resisted the effort of the creatures.

A screech of annoyance and a rough push recklessly sent Steve forward. With a startled small yelp, he fell into the starry curtain of the night sky. And then, his eyes squeezed shut and breath locked within pain-locked chest, he felt himself hurling through the endless, weightless black.

Chapter Text

Steve's stomach heaved in dry retching, causing sharp pain to pierce along his ribs and stab into the injured point. All he wanted was to curl up in a ball and don't move, allowing his mind to slip away into unconsciousness to find relief. The pain wouldn't let him.

Steel grip of Herobrine's hand kept him up, not letting him collapse to the ground. Steve didn't even remember when Herobrine caught him.

"Steve?" Herobrine's voice held so much concern that Steve opened his eyes and blinked, the world around him blurry.

Bleary blue eyes found his twin's face and found worry in the other's white eyes, studying Steve's face. Herobrine's lips pinched into a flat line even while Steve's eyes filled with tears in gratitude at the unexpected compassion. He had almost come to believe that his twin could care less about what happened to him.

"Steve, stay here and don't move. You will be safe, I promise." Herobrine reassured, weary but also insistent with confidence.

Steve tried to nod, making a shaky smile. Still frowning at him, Herobrine winced as he gently let him down to sit with his back against some sort of wall. It was cool and stony to the touch, rough under Steve's palm.

Glancing past his twin, he blinked at the same pale, yellow color that reminded Steve of something. Those strange blocks that Herobrine's endermen brought to create the gate to another world.

He was sitting in a protected niche, beyond which he could see more of the flat yellow stone. Occasional protrusions rose from the ground, upon which strange, scraggly narrow forms stretched like malformed, leafless trees to the black, void sky – chorus plants.

Steve should have felt fascination at the sight. Until that moment he had only read about this world in library books and seen details in pictures that he hungrily studied. He never thought that he would see such a place with his own eyes. Now he was here and… all he wished was for him to wake up back home, safe and in his bed.

Steve's eyes began to close once more against his volition.

"Steve, it's almost over. Hold on. Just a little longer… Please." Herobrine's quiet voice seemed almost kind and Steve found himself obediently nodding, warmth trying to lift his heart. He was not wrong about him. Herobrine did care about what happened to him. Steve was not just a ploy of some sort, which Herobrine intended to use for his own means. He cared about him.

Steve felt his twin's hand lift away. He didn't hear any footsteps but felt his twin's absence. Surrendering to whatever would happen, Steve rested his head against the warm, rough surface, unable to find the strength to open his eyes and search for where his twin had gone.

And then.

A cold, mocking laugh sounded in the distance, making Steve's body shrink and breath catch in his chest as his heart stumbled into a faster rhythm once more.

No, no, no. Not again! They… They followed them here, too?

Steve's heart fell as a hopeless feeling settled over him.

"You've got nowhere to run, bot! Just give up and die, blip you!" Hateful, young voice spat out some distance away. Steve hoped they couldn't see him, hiding here behind the rocks. He barely dared to breathe, fearing to draw their attention.

And Herobrine? He was going to die, wasn't he? He could do nothing to protect him. He should try to stop them, talk to them! Steve couldn't find the strength to move. His hands shaking, he hid his grimacing face, waiting for the inevitable to happen.

"Look around you, Player." Herobrine's amused tone held no fear.

Silence followed. Steve could almost imagine the two heroes looking around, uncertainty slowing their movements.

"Did you think that I would make it this easy for you?"

"What is this place?..." Same young voice asked, uneasy despite the anger. Steve unwillingly shrunk. He remembered that same voice taunting him as he waited, condemned to a cruel death. He had no assurance that they would not finish what they started once they found him.

"It's the End." The older adventurer's voice came hostile and dull.

"It is for you." Herobrine made a dark huff.

"What are you…"

A distant, angry shriek rose, rolling across the air. The ground itself began to vibrate beneath Steve's huddled form. The aura permeating the sound carried so much disbelieving rage and power that Steve couldn't help feeling small, like an insignificant bug in path of giants once more. He didn't remember when he fell, but curled up as small as he could, shuddering while his hands pressed over his ears.

The sound ceased. A rush of air as something huge swooshed by, sending a gust of wind against his clothes and shutting out the light. Steve's breath caught.

"You've got to be flipping kidding me!... What the bleeee... Ugh-ahhhhhh!" The younger Hunter's disbelieving shout changed to a prolonged scream that suddenly devolved to gurgles and then cut off. A sound of something wetly falling to the ground made Steve flinch where he lay. Strange crunching and grinding followed as if a huge weight had just ground armor and bones against the solid earth.

The second adventurer made an angry growl and yelled as he charged against the giant beast. The ground shook at gigantic footsteps, and the air swooshed again as a huge tail swung, slamming into the ground and scraping, leaving deep burrows in the solid stone. The older man never cried out, but the sudden ominous silence made Steve's breath catch.

More silence followed.

"Aha-ha-ha-ha!" Herobrine's laugh rung, light and full of relief.

"That was quick." His tone held surprise and gratitude. "You have my thanks. Along with my apology. This was not the way I promised to come."

Steve heard an apologetic smile in Herobrine's voice and dared to lift his head to steal a peek.

Herobrine stood only a dozen blocks from Steve's refuge. Numerous items floated next to him. Smiling, he looked up to the massive black form towering above him. Steve's heart sunk in his chest at the sight of the powerful, long spine of the legendary beast, sharp wedges protruding from each enormous vertebrae. The being's tale coiled along the raked ground out of Steve's field of vision.

Herobrine continued to stand, tiny by comparison, not a bit of fear in his unsteady posture even when the beast's maw drew closer to him on a powerful, muscular neck and its huge, purple eyes unblinkingly held on his. A fond puff of air stirred the man's unruly, brown hair.

Herobrine suddenly smiled with mild embarrassment.

"Well, yes… But I will heal now that I have what I need." Turning, Herobrine searched among the floating items until his eyes settled on one of them. It flew to his reached out hand and materialized into a glimmering, purple sword. Steve recognized one of the weapons that the two adventurers wielded during their fight against Herobrine.

His white eyes narrowing, Herobrine thoughtfully regarded the item before dismissing it to his inventory. He glanced again at the dragon.

"I owe you another debt, Alstor." He respectfully bowed his head to the master of this alien realm, only to earn himself another fond snort, which this time seemed sarcastic.

"True. Do take them seriously, though. You may have to leave, same as me. It is unfortunate. I was quite fond of this place." Herobrine admitted with definite regret. "I believe we have a few days, before they spread the news and come here in great numbers. Fortunately, they do not know about you and I will lead them away as soon as I can."

Herobrine's voice turned weary in his admission. The great beast shifted slightly, its huge folded wings twitching in annoyance as a faint growl rumbled from the depths of its chest. Herobrine glanced in direction of Steve's refuge.

"That's Steve. He is Human, yes. But he belongs to me."

The great beast began to turn and Steve quickly shut his eyes, unable to help a shiver run through him. Those huge jaws could snap his body in half like a toothpick. Trembling, he cowered as he felt overpowering presence approach and inspect him like an disgusting sort of bug. That was the sense Steve perceived as distinctly as if those were his own feelings. Disbelief and suspicion came next. His heart unwillingly sped up at the vague offer in the beast's thought, directed to Herobrine.

"Ha! No. You cannot eat him. Why offer when you do not like the taste?" Herobrine's voice held a good-natured tease, Steve froze as chills ran through him.

"In any case, I must get going. It's not good for a mortal to remain long in this realm and I do not wish for him to suffer any more injury than he already has… He suffered enough on my behalf."

Herobrine's voice turned serious, and Steve felt the powerful presence of the other being grow lighter, its attitude suddenly shifting to almost amiable. A snort, which Steve would have almost dared to call friendly, blew across his form.

"Do not scare him. He is only a weak human after all." Herobrine reproached. Another huff and then Steve felt the ground shake at each footstep as the great creature left them.

Steve flinched at the hand coming to rest on his shoulder. Herobrine made a soft chuckle.

"It's all right, now, Steve. He's gone."

Steve dared to open his eyes. Just then, a familiar sound of a breaking bottle came next to him and immediately, warm relief flowed across his body, taking away his pain. Steve sat up, blinking his eyes a bit, his eyes settling on remnants of a familiar potion bottle. Bits of red particles still swirled around his form, leaving a tingling on his skin where they melted.

Ignoring Herobrine, he craned his neck, trying to look behind him. He saw only the desolate landscape studded with fantastical twisted forms of black rock. Starless black sky hung above like a void, threatening to swallow him. Steve quickly dropped his gaze from it, dizzy. There was no sight of the scary being who offered Herobrine to eat him, Steve.

"That was Alstor. My friend. The Ender Dragon." Herobrine informed Steve with a soft fond smile that Steve had never before seen on his face. Relief and regret sweeping through him at the same time, Steve sighed and slumped. He now wished that he had taken a better look at the legendary being.

"I can call him back if you wish." Herobrine's offer evoked a quick shake of Steve's head and Herobrine's laugh drew Steve's eyes in surprise. He had never seen Herobrine like this. So… so genuine. And his voice… seemed so human at the moment.

Herobrine no longer paid attention. With relief settled in his features, he turned to glance back at the numerous scattered items that still floated bobbing up and down above the ground. A crooked smirk grew on his face. Reaching out his hand, he waited while possessions of the Players flew toward him and vanished. Satisfied, he turned back to Steve.

"Time to go." Herobrine declared and reached out his hand to Steve, easily pulling him to his feet. Steve stood, carefully shifting his body to check. The aches still remained, but they were only a pale echo of his earlier discomfort. Herobrine seemed rejuvenated himself, his body standing a little taller, though he still seemed weary.
"We're going to my place." Herobrine declared and made a step away. Steve remained standing where he was.
"B-but… They are dead now, right?" He asked uncertainly. Herobrine turned to look at him, a rueful and guilty smirk on his face while his eyes remained patient and mild. Encouraged and very, very tired despite being healed, Steve pressed. "Cannot you… take me home now?" He asked hopefully, aware that he sounded like a begging child.

Herobrine sighed. "They are. But not for long. Players have that ability. Steve, I would take you home, but I cannot do it just yet. I still don't have enough power. Plus, it might not be safe for you to return. I am sorry, Steve..."

Steve blinked at that revelation; his whole figure slumping as new discouragement set in. His cabin? His animals? All his things and tools? Everything he worked for for the past two years… Gone?

"I'll see if we can go back later and pick up your things. For now, it is best to leave this place. When those Players return, they won't be alone. And since I failed to stop them, they now know how to get here." An annoyed wince crossed Herobrine's features. Steve startled, his eyes flying wide as his entire body tensed up as fear began to rise.

"Don't worry. We are safe for the moment." Herobrine reassured, noticing Steve's anxious state. "I won't let them hurt you again, I promise." Herobrine promised with a dark look back, where dark splotches covered the ground. Realizing that those patches were spilled blood, Steve could not help swallowing. He avoided looking if there might be mangled bodies somewhere nearby, where the great dragon's jaws dropped them.

Catching Steve's uneasy look, Herobrine frowned.

"Do not feel bad for them. Remember what they planned to do to you… until they learned who you really were… Unlike you and me, they barely felt any pain even though I did increase their stats to the max. Their interface simply does not allow for more." A hateful scowl twisted Herobrine's expression, reminding Steve of his older look, and he hurriedly nodded his head though he didn't fully understand Herobrine's words.

"W-who are they, then?" Steve asked, more to distract Herobrine from his dark thoughts than because he wanted to know. He did want to know, but he was also tired. So tired.

"Are they... Not Human?.. Y-you… Keep calling them Players. And you said that… I am one of them? What does that mean?"

Herobrine paused, his stance tensing as he frowned, before he cast Steve a sharp, mistrustful look. Almost immediately, maybe on seeing Steve's befuddled and tired look, Herobrine relaxed once more.

"Its… hard to explain." He admitted. "There is much that you don't know, Steve. About… Everything, really."

"But I'm coming with you right now, right? To your home?" Steve pushed hopefully.

"Hmmm. To one of them, anyway." Amusement returned to Herobrine's expression.

"Then you will tell me everything about this. Right? And about you, too? Later, not now of course..." Steve dared to remind.

"… I did promise you that." Herobrine agreed with a slight, calm nod, and Steve took a deep breath of relief. It felt good to be treated like… an equal almost. Not a pet or a toy as Herobrine often claimed to him before. His actions over the last few days while Herobrine had been forced to accept his care had earned him at least some favor in the man's eyes, though Herobrine still mistrusted him. His hatred of the Players ran deep and he remained convinced that Steve was one of them. Steve's hope that the man would one day consider him a friend was probably too much to ask.

"Very well. I will answer your questions. But first… You must rest." Herobrine allowed. Steve stepped forward, joining him. Together, they stepped off in direction Herobrine lead them at an unhurried pace.

"But… how? The legends… "

"Yes, the legends say that the Ender Dragon must first be slain before a portal to our world can open. But surely you don't think that the master of this realm could not make a way back for his old friend?"

Herobrine smirked and looked ahead. Steve followed his gaze and saw another gaping portal, similar to the one that brought them here. Coming to stand before it, Herobrine took hold of Steve's arm.

"Ready?" He asked with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. Steve nervously shook his head, remembering the previous feeling of dizziness and nausea that assaulted him. Then, sheepishly smiled. There really was no choice, was there? Unless he wished to guest here longer and meet Herobrine's toothy friend?

His thoughts must have been plain on his face, because Herobrine chuckled again and then simply leaped with Steve in tow into the gaping portal. Steve's breath caught, both hands flying out to grasp the worn teal shirt of the man next to him. And then he was flying.

Chapter Text

“You did the right thing to call me here. Even if that’s something that you should have done sooner.”

The voice of their mysterious companion sounded both approving and irritated at the same time. Frowning, both of the players, their levels significantly reduced, exchanged a dark look.

“We did not know that he could change our settings. You didn’t tell us! If you told us about that, then we would have asked a few more of our friends to join. Then we would have had him for sure!”

“I understand. He’s progressing much faster than expected. He should not have been able to do that, yet.”

“He stabbed me through my stomach! Twice! Do you know how much that hurt? We should totally sue! I probably gonna need to see a shrink or something. This is gonna give me PTSD or something! Frick this!” Marko complained, while their third companion only made an amused smile, his lips stretching a little beneath the shadow of his gray hoodie. The smile did not reach the man’s gleaming red eyes, which held on the younger human with cold appraisal.

“You should have called me as soon as you understood that you were dealing with the real thing rather than a bot. He is far more devious and resourceful than a normal program. That’s how he was designed to be.”

“Pfft! We know that! Its just that…” The younger Player gave his older partner a hesitant look. “We thought we could really take him.” He finished with frustrated huff. “Your weapons worked! We had him on the run! He was down for the count, no different than those bots! I mean, look!”

The image of the last footage appeared hovering before them in the air in form of an opaque square, where a one-armed man unsteadily stood in the darkness of a small space, his white eyes eerily illuminating his sneering face. Only two hearts remained blinking above his head out of ten, the rest of which showed black.

“He was not faking those stats! He was almost done for! And if it was not for that weirdo Player, we would have finished him for sure!” Marko scowled at the second figure in the distance. Looking very similar to the first figure, except his eyes blue and face twisted by fear, the man cowered, resisting the effort of two white eyed Endermen pushing him toward the gaping gateway. The man’s terrified eyes looked in direction of the Players, his expression changing to obvious concern as his gaze shifted to the one-armed villain, who only moments ago held him hostage.

“I don’t know what game he is playing, but he was helping that bot! He lied to us, pretending to be a local! And led us around for nothing, searching empty caves, while that dang glitch was chilling at his house that entire time! I cannot believe he wouldn’t tell us about this. Even if his settings really did get jacked up that high… He should have told us!” Marko glared at the unknown player with an angry frown, though some uncertainty held in his tone of voice.

“Well, I don’t know. Could be Stockholm syndrome. It’s a really old term. When prisoners start to care about their captors and even help them.”

“I know what it means! We are not stupid!” Marko exclaimed, turning to glare at their strange companion, instead. “But because of that dumb guy, we didn’t get to that bot in time. He escaped! I got eaten by a fricken dragon? Do you know what its fricken like? Get chomped by a bunch of sharp, pointy teeth?”

Their companion huffed, his lips twitching in amusement. “No, cannot say that I do, no.”

“Its not funny!” The younger man seethed, his hands clenched. “Adler, tell him! This is not OK! We didn’t sign up for this! If I knew that it would be like this, I…”

“Would forfeit three million dollars in real life credit?” Their unknown companion hidden beneath his guise, skeptically quirked an eyebrow. Marko clenched his teeth shut, still fuming as he appeared to think about it.

“Tell us one thing.” Adler interfered, his irritated voice dull and far from friendly, even though his face remained calm. Both of those present looked to the older man, who gave their companion a sharp look. “That player… Your glitch claimed that he… wiped out his memory. Is that true?”

Their contact idly shrugged. “Well, we don’t exactly know what he is capable of now. But that’s why we’re trying to get rid of him.”

“Heck, yeah!” Marko exclaimed. “You should have done it before! When you still had him! I cannot believe that I was so dumb that thought that it was cool that you found the real Herobrine and he really existed. That guy’s pure evil! If it were up to him, me and Adler would now be his puppets, same as that poor noob.” He gestured to Steve, anger battling with concern in his dark eyes, wide open and anxious.

“He is NOT the real Herobrine, though. Right? He is just a glitched bot. That’s what you told everyone.” The older player insisted, his gaze at their companion’s reactions unwavering and mistrustful.

“Of course not.” The Admin lightly scoffed. “He is not the real Herobrine… Otherwise we would have never allowed Notch to take him in the first place. Then, we really thought that he was just a glitched bot. If he was that original Virus, believe me, turning up your settings to max would be the least of your worries… Only he is not just a glitched bot, either. That’s something that we found out only recently. And this data just confirmed it.” Admin nodded and lapsed into silence, still looking at the images playing on the recording.

“What do you mean?” The older man demanded in distaste. Their disguised companion didn’t answer right away.

“Hmm. Can I tell you something? Off record?” He asked idly. After a moment, both players nodded, making motions to switch their accounts from recording mode.

“That bot is not just a glitch. He is some hacker’s malicious attempt to recreate that original Virus from scratch. And he came close. Dang close. If that bot continues to exist, he will become a serious problem. Maybe not as bad as the first, but bad. That’s why we must remove him now, while we still can.”

The Admin representative gave them a calculative look. “That’s why we approached your guild, even before we gave everyone the new quest. Our team worked for months, trying to figure out how to counteract that virus! And you practically gave him the cure!”

“What? Its not like we lost that sword on purpose.” Adler grumbled. Marko only blinked, not quite understanding what they were talking about. The Admin huffed.

“You practically walked into his trap! Why do you think he waited for you to get there rather than simply gate away? He was waiting for you to come so he could get hold of that weapon we gave you! And if he didn't have to worry about keeping that other player away from you, he would have done it!”

The older player winced, frustration running across his face before his emotions shut down once more and he stubbornly frowned. “If you told us what he was and what he could do from the start, we would not have made that mistake.” He stubbornly grumbled.

“Fair point.” The Admin conceded, instantly changing his accusing tone to his former calm one. “At least you managed to track his current location. That is good. I've already sent this to my team, so they will start setting up blocks. In a moment, we'll contact the guild who owns that sector. If we manage to isolate him to a cluster of servers, it will be much easier to find him.” He nodded slightly with satisfaction, eyeing the recording where the players emerged on the other side of the gate only to face the one-armed figure of the villain once more.

A few more minutes revealed the images wildly jumping around, with the younger player’s nearly muted voice shouting faint strings of expletives, before shutting off entirely. The gray-hoodie guy firmly dismissed the image and turned to face them both.

“Overall, you did very well in your task. One hundred and nineteen mansions and two hundred and twelve bots. Eliminated. And you even found and fought the real Glitch himself, nearly defeating him in the process. That he gained additional abilities is not such good news, but it could have been far worse, and this data is going to help us to determine what tactics to use against him for sure. There is also the matter of that player… And, this.”

The Admin turned to look at the ruins of the mansion, which looked dark beneath the swiftly descending darkness of the evening as the last rays of the sun disappeared behind the tops of the mountains.

“You have proved your value and you can still get your reward, if you choose to continue in your original task. I know that our target has evolved, displaying additional abilities, but it can be handled easily, by simply limiting player interface from outside. We will immediately issue a public warning of this matter to all the players. You can resume your original task. However, given your actions so far, I can now offer you a new task, which can considerably increase your rewards. It may require that you carry out a few actions, which some might consider… less than proper. Considering your actions today, I don’t think it will be a problem for either of you. However, this mission will not be official and if you tell anyone else about this, we will simply deny everything. Of course, your reward offer will be withdrawn, also.”

The Admin looked at them with his eye-brow lifted and both Players exchanged looks. The older man’s frown grew deeper.

“How much?” He demanded in a dry tone of voice. The Admin faintly smirked.

“Multiply your current earnings so far by the power of four. Plus the official reward if its you who will bring him down.” The Admin quirked his eye-brow. Both Players exchanged a look. Adler then grit his jaw together as fierce determination settled on his face.

“I am going after that glitch no matter what. Its now personal. But if what you tell us is going to help us to bring him down, then a little more money will be welcome.”

“Oh, what I can tell you will definitely help.” The Admin smiled.

“Then count me in!” The elder man nearly growled. The young man, throwing both of the older men wide-eyed looks, nearly jumped up. “Heck, yeah! Me too! I’m in!” He exclaimed. “What do we have to do?”

Their mysterious companion gave them both an approving look. “I will explain everything to you later, once we finish here.” Turning away, he faced the ruins of the mansion.

Lifting his hand palm up, he summoned a light, which shot to the air above them and exploded into a mini sun, which flooded the area below them with light. Crumbling rocks and stone of Herobrine’s mansion once again became visible. And the sign, “Here Lies Herobrine” mocked them once more above the empty grave.

The elder player frowned while the younger winced at this reminder of their failure. That clever bot misled them to believe that he was merely a normal modded copy, without mind or will of his own. He barely reacted even when he had lost his arm! Neither of them said anything, waiting to see what their odd partner would do next.

The Admin’s lips twitched slightly in a smirk at the sight of the sign. Then, he slightly lowered his head as he concentrated. And the code of the game around them began to respond.

Large chunks of rock began to lift, dust streaming below them to the broken ground. Effortlessly, bits of ruins floated through the air to the rocky sides of adjoining mountains, where they settled. Logs and other debris did the same. Finally, the area below them cleared as something suddenly flared in the midst, a piece that looked like a bent bit of wood, completely covered by dust.

The Admin smiled, abandoning further excavation effort as the object shot from the ground and sailed across the air to float before the Admin, who narrowed his red eyes at it.

Recognizing the thing, Marko’s face twisted with disgust. “Gross…” He stared at the severed arm that hovered before the pleased looking Admin. The thing looked disturbingly realistic with scratches and bruises covering it. Even as they watched, some of those injuries began to fade away, leaving behind barely noticeable scars. Only the ragged edge of flesh remained unchanged, showing bit of severed bone.

“This is exactly what we needed.” The Admin grinned. Something slightly binged with a soft sound of falling coins. The younger player briefly froze, before his brown eyes widened and a big grin split his face.

“Twelve thousand dollars just for that? That’s rad!”

“Just a small token of our appreciation. Consider it payment for a job well done. Now for your next task…”

The severed arm vanished while the Admin turned to them once again, his red eyes observing their reactions with mild interest. Adler only nodded, not appearing impressed by their reward at all. Frowning, he held his dark eyed gaze on the Admin.

“We are listening…”

Chapter Text

Lost Heroes, Demigods, and Creatures of Forgotten Ages.

Again, Steve looked at the words scribbled in neat handwriting right beneath the title of the book, before returning to the page where he held his finger.

Upon the page was an illustration of a man, whose face was covered by a skull mask. A ragged black robe hung across a skeletal frame. In one hand, bony, pale fingers held a black flame that resembled a distorted skull.

Steve stared at the being with morbid fascination, his blue eyes curiously flicking to the symbols that lay beneath the image, doubtlessly describing the menacing being’s title and history. There was no accompanying note, though, for which Steve was searching for. Disappointed, Steve carefully turned the page of the book and curiously eyed the next image.

A beautiful woman looked back at him with somber, brown eyes half concealed in shadow of long, dark eyelashes. Disdainful, yet playful smile held on her softly shaped face framed by silky, black locks gently cascading to her exposed shoulders. A spiky crown or maybe a mask, adorned with numerous spider eyes rested upon her forehead. And a gown of silk streamed down her body, revealing shapely forms. Only at the waist her body changed to that of an enormous spider. Skulls and rotten bones of unfortunate heroes, bewitched by her alluring beauty to their deaths, formed a pedestal beneath her spiky legs.

Steve nervously huffed. “Um… Arachnia?” He muttered a quiet guess and immediately flinched at the sound of skittling spiders above the numerous bookshelves where countless spiderwebs hung like a canopy. His search did not find any of the local eight-legged residents. He still couldn’t help a slightly nervous shiver as he looked down back to the book.

The being shown in the previous picture was probably a necromancer of some kind. This one he thought he dimly recognized. He had read before some ancient tale about the Spider Queen – a woman whose search into the dark magic arts and various poisons led her to studying spiders and creating an elixir that could grant eternal beauty and youth. Only, it came at a price. Once taken, the potion transformed that woman into a spider, granting her powers to command all such mobs and also to choose to be reborn from one of her own eggs if killed. The legend also mentioned that she felt an irresistible compulsion to draw worthy heroes into her lair, where she would consume them after granting such passion that they would die still smiling as they were lost in pleasant dreams.

“Arachnia… Or... Black Widow?” He squinted as another story tried to emerge from recesses of his mind. His blue eyes thoughtfully fell to the crown and he nodded. “No… Definitely Arachnia.” He firmly concluded in a barely audible voice.

He turned to the next page.

A man with a single mauve eye, the other covered with a black band featuring a skull with crossed bones, looked at him from the bow of his ship. Instead of one hand, holding on firmly to the rudder was a strange metallic contraption. A sharp looking hooked blade lay folded up along metal cords that reminded Steve of tendons running up and disappearing beneath the sleeve of the man’s dark, tattered robe. More metal showed below his knee, replacing one of his legs. The man’s long coat whipped about his gaunt, but muscular body in the strong wind and splashes of water from raging waves. The sails of the ship looked ghostly, flying like rags on a skeletal form of the ship behind the man.

Steve didn’t even attempt to guess. Looking below the image, he found the translated words written in even, accurate handwriting between the foreign symbols. “Cursed Captain… Destined to sail the seas to the End of the Worlds”.

Curiously, Steve studied the image, then turned to the next page.

The next image held two figures. A man with a smirk on his pale, young face, while an aura of fire and flame roared behind him. Two bat like wings, folded, held in the semblance of a huge trailing cape behind his back. On his head lay a thin circlet of silver metal. His clothing comprised of a black suit that looked strangely unmarred while lava burned behind him where another imposing figure stood – a skeleton with a heavy crown of rubies upon his head, holding a scepter.

“Oh! I know this one!” Steve perked up and grinned at the somber skeleton. “Skeleton King! And this… This must be…” His eyes returned to the first figure, roved across him a bit, then turned to the note below in frustration. “Death Mage? Orev the Shapeshifter?? Trickster???”

Even Herobrine did not know who it was and it was his notes that Steve was reading, he was almost sure of it by now, since he came across same handwritten notes across several books already. Steve relaxed a bit. Knowing that even Herobrine had no clue who these people were made Steve feel a little better about his ignorance. Slightly amused, he looked at the frustrated question marks and turned the page.

The next legendary figure was definitely familiar. A man rode a raging sea wave, his head crowned with a crystal blue diadem, a diamond trident held in one hand. The lower half of his body was that of either a great serpent or an enormous spiky tailed fish. Behind him crowded angry mermen, their long hair flowing so Steve had hard time telling if they were male or female. Their lower bodies displayed finned tails shorter than that of their king. Steve briefly admired the detail by the unknown artist displaying transparent turrets of a great underwater city peeking in the dim sea depths. The image looked so real that he could almost feel the freshness of splashes as the salty cool air blew toward his face.

Steve turned the page and curiously looked a tall man who seemed nearly human, except for the eyes gleaming red from a stern, angular face, ominously hidden in shadow cast by a wide-brimmed hat. In both his hands, the man held strange scepters where wisps of smoke came trailing in the air - doubtlessly weapons of some sort, even though Steve had never seen their like before. Drab looking two-story houses and horse riders showed at a distance in the brown tones. The note below did not even attempt to identify him, only drew another impatient question mark.

Steve kept turning the pages.

The beings in drawings became more and more fantastical. Steve’s blue eyes held in fascination on half-men half-horses, half-pigs half-men, enormous pig like creatures with tusks and a stocky body, slimy green monsters stifling the life out of some unfortunate victims as they screamed, being engulfed alive. A gray skinned man in a dark robe with a golden hem, stood with both his hands lifted as several ghostly beings floated above him. Them, Steve recognized as Vex. Herobrine summoned such creatures against him in the mansion.

Remembering their attacks, stinging his skin as he ran, stumbling and falling, while Herobrine’s menacing presence followed him behind, inexorable and also amused by Steve’s terror. Steve shivered and hastily tried to push the unbidden memory to the far recesses of his mind.

Herobrine would never do something like this again. He was sure of it.

Another memory emerged despite his volition. The cold feel of sharp metal edge pressing against his neck, while a silky, dark voice coldly told him. Trust me.

Steve swallowed, quickly turning the page yet again. The next image showed a tall, black form that strongly resembled an Enderman, but with its forearms greatly extended and an additional set of arms aggressively reaching toward the viewer. Its maw gaped impossibly wide as its purple eyes glared at Steve from the page with unreasoning hatred and anger. Behind him, darkness enveloped the background, where only nearest forms stood out to view – bunched bits of wilted grass and dark, tilled ground. Again, Steve swallowed. He knew this status effect. Blindness. Herobrine had done it to him on occasion, too. Searching for something to distract him, Steve lowered his desperate gaze to the note written below the image.

“Soul Hand Effect…” He read out loud and for a moment puzzled over the words. He had no clue on what it meant and there was no other explanation.

His sudden anxiety, however, had already quieted. Making a quiet humph, Steve began to list through the other images quickly until he found what he expected. Herobrine was mentioned in this book as well. His image showed up right after the image dedicated to yet another half-serpent girl, who sat on a rock this time, singing and paying no heed to the ship crashing on the sharp cliffs behind her while seamen on it continued to stare at her, mesmerized.

On the next page, stood Herobrine – the only legend Steve met in real life, who even after the very first day, already evoked feelings of amazement and fascination along with trembling fear. He was much less scared of him now, Steve reflected to himself and even smiled, ease settling over his mind. He finally proved to Herobrine that he only meant well. He would not betray him.

Steve studied the image of the tall, imposing man who looked back at him with a menacing smirk, his white eyes glowing brightly in the night. Herobrine’s face in the image looked nothing like him. This being’s face looked more angular, his lips blood-red on a very pale face, which reminded Steve more of vampires than those of a human. Very sharp, black nails that looked like claws showed on his hand, grasping an enchanted diamond pickaxe dripping with blood. Hazy images of spiders, skeletons, endermen, and other vicious monsters showed behind him. There was no note beneath it.

“Ruler of All Monsters... Herobrine...” Steve said it anyway. He had read this title in so many other books, which he searched after that frightening, ill encounter. He couldn’t help an uneasy scoff. As always, the image left no doubt to anyone’s mind that the being depicted within was anything less than a cruel, heinous monster. It was a pity that Herobrine did his best to live up to that reputation, while if caught unaware, he showed himself a very different person. Steve still could not understand why he did this. He was very very glad to learn though that the legends about him were not very accurate.

Steve merely skimmed the pages after this. The other beings shown in this book were mostly a mix of humans and other monsters and creatures. There had been some non-human entities as well. More serpents wielding magic of the elements such as fire, water, and frost. A giant jellyfish with threads of glowing tentacles. Poisonous spiders looking from cave walls. Bats that were probably the size of Steve, carrying away an entire deer in their claws. A magnificent earth dragon guarded its treasure. A fire dragon reared its gleaming scaled body from the molten lava as it breathed out flames against tiny dark figures of heroes that dared to disturb its rest. Steve even found the Ender Dragon. The great dragon of pure black glared at him from the page with mauve eyes while purple flames curled behind it. Beams of silver pure light shot to it from strange, white crystals hovering above the black pillars. Steve frowned at that, not recalling seeing such during his brief foray with Herobrine to the End.

Steve listed across more pages, coming across yet another creature that seemed pure fantasy – a being with three heads that looked like monstrous skulls, atop a wide, powerful body with a serpent’s tail. Ghostly light glistened across mounds of white sand where distorted faces appeared and sunk away, their mouths wide open in screams. A skeletal three headed dragon? Steve squinted for the hand-written note.

“The Wither...” He read, puzzled. There was nothing else. Just this short statement. Did this mean that this creature really existed? He would have to ask Herobrine about it, Steve made a mental note.

A yawn stretched his jaws. Closing the book, Steve carefully placed it upon the small stack of books on the side of the table. All of these seemed really interesting, and he fully intended to push his luck as he took Herobrine up on his promise. Herobrine did say that he was going to answer his questions.

Steve stretched, leaning back in the comfortable, cushioned chair, and stood up. As he did, he carefully lay aside the soft, plush blanket covered with teddy bears. He looked at it fondly, not bothering to hide a smile. Finding it among Herobrine’s personal things had been unexpected and brought a foolish grin to his face even then.

Steve then glanced at the ender chest, which stood next to his table.

These chests that Herobrine entrusted to his use were really an amazing thing.

“Everything that I consider of value, I keep there. If I did not, then I might lose hard to obtain or even irreplaceable items. This way, everything remains safe, even if I should die. I have a limited inventory just like you, Steve. Or any player. But items in it can be lost upon death. That’s why I prefer this method. I can normally reach my items from any chest, even if it’s not nearby. Unfortunately, my current state makes some of my abilities unstable. That’s why I could not help you until we came to the End, where Alstor restored some of my power. The healing potions you needed are all stored in those chests as well. You may take as many as you think you will need. Just in case.”

Herobrine’s voice sounded calm, but Steve could see the guilt heavy in the way the man looked at him. White eyes broke eye-contact as the man lowered his gaze.

“I must also apologize to you for what I did. I know it frightened you. I had to test whether those two Players would stop if they perceived a threat to one of their own. That’s why I pretended to them that you were my prisoner. That’s why I said all those things. Unfortunately, they proved to be one of their worse kind. They did not care in the least about what happened to you, so long as they achieved their goal, which is killing me.”

“Its all right. I understand.” Steve smiled, earning himself another quiet look, which only somewhat shifted to relief at Steve’s willingness to forgive.

“I also once again became carried away. It is very difficult to stop when battle begins. I truly hoped to deal with those two before our escape. I not only failed but lost one of my servants as well. Not all mobs belong to me, despite what many tales claim. I can control most, but they are empty shells with no mind or will of their own. I use them merely as tools or weapons. Some, however, become more than servants. It pains me that I may have lost yet another.” Regret came heavy in Herobrine’s voice.

“You mean that Enderman, who protected you when that… player attacked?”

Herobrine made a soft nod, his eyes hooded.

“Can you not bring him back?” Steve could not help asking. At Herobrine’s frowning glance turning in his direction with a silent question, Steve shrugged with a sheepish smile. “The tales say that you can bring your mobs back from death at will.” He explained. Herobrine visibly sighed, his shoulders slightly slumping.

“I saved his ender pearl. Perhaps enough of him remains that I can bring him back. Once I recover more strength.” Herobrine said thoughtfully, sending a burst of hope through Steve’s chest. It did make him sad to see one of Herobrine’s creatures perish under the strike of a weapon meant to slay Herobrine, himself. The being sacrificed itself to protect its master. It deserved to live again. Somehow, Steve had no doubt that Herobrine would succeed, even though the man did not seem too confident about this. He seemed weary, despite being briefly rejuvenated by the power his beastly friend gave him a short time ago.

“I’ve given you access to everything I have. It is easier than you searching these halls for loot in treasure chests, even though they often spawn here at random. You only have to wish for it and the relevant item will appear, if its there. You may take whatever you wish. I have no use for most of it and can easily obtain more. I trust your… good sense to leave alone items that you do not recognize.” Herobrine frowned at Steve in warning and Steve hastily nodded.

“You should also rest. You may pick any room. Once I wake, there will be much to do.”

Steve should have followed Herobrine’s advice. He did feel tired after his stressful ordeal. He was also nearly giddy with excitement, at least at first. Given access to Herobrine’s treasures, he simply could not resist. He took full advantage of Herobrine’s generous offer and got a little carried away. Ignoring the treasures troves of diamonds and gold, along with other precious materials that he didn’t dare touch, he filled half his inventory with the rare potions, despite not being sure on occasion what they were. The mysterious liquids gleamed so brightly in different colors in their vials, along with the already familiar red.

Then, feeling famished, Steve searched for food. To his delight, he discovered that Herobrine had racks of ready-made dishes along with food ingredients of all kinds, utensils and spices. There were even several small, portable stoves, crafting tables, furnaces, and tools.

And of course, there were weapons.

Steve could not help spending at least an hour admiring the various types of swords, staffs, knives, and pickaxes, from simple bronze to dark-glimmering enchanted alloys that he could not even readily identify. Eventually, he picked up several simple iron swords and tools, figuring that Herobrine would not mind him borrowing those. He resolved to make a full account of what he took once Herobrine woke up.

“Mobs may spawn here on occasion. Do not worry. None of them will harm you so long as I remain here.” Herobrine reassured him, but Steve did not feel comfortable without at least some way to defend himself. He still had his own favorite iron sword and the enchanted diamond pickaxe “borrowed” to him by those players, but a few more would not hurt.

Steve had been almost content and ready to abandon his nervous excitement after the nerve-wracking events of this day, when without any thought in mind, simply thumbing for something within the chest out of curiosity, he felt a square object that strongly reminded him of a book. Sure enough, when he pulled out the object, he saw that it was a book.

The last several hours all he did was pull out books and look at them. It seemed that Herobrine had amassed an entire library in his personal storage. Steve suspected that they were “borrowed” titles, judging by the stamps on some covers, but figured that he had no right to judge the man. So far, Herobrine continued to prove far less evil that Steve originally believed him to be.

Him returning to rescue Steve from the hands of those not-so-valiant heroes, despite being nearly out of strength, had been a proof of that. Every time Steve thought of it sent a warm feeling through his heart.

Another smile appearing on his weary face, Steve glanced at the stacks of books that he had left out on the rustic table. He then looked up at the stacked shelves where more books resided upon towering shelves covered with cobwebs. Although those books looked real, their pages were blank – Steve already checked.

Steve rubbed his tired eyes a little. He must have been awake for hours now. It was hard to tell what time of the day it was, since this place lay so deep underground that Herobrine warned him to not attempt to make his way up – he would get hopelessly lost in the hundreds of similar looking labyrinths and rooms, with many of them bearing countless traps that Herobrine set to warn him of the coming of Players.

Getting up, Steve stretched, hearing his bones crack a little and paused as he listened. Nothing but silence surrounded him, growing oppressive the longer he paid attention to it. Despite the presence of a few silent mobs, whom he occasionally glimpsed far off, with Herobrine asleep for hours now, he began to feel more and more alone. Abandoned even.

“I don’t come here often. But it is one of my safer strongholds if simply due to its great size.” Herobrine told him shortly after they both arrived through the End Gate to another portal room, which Steve found very similar to the one Herobrine’s servants created at his instructions.

They then teleported again, with help of Herobrine’s two remaining servants that followed them through the gate. Herobrine walked with Steve to show him a few rooms and then paused by one of them, which he picked to rest in. There, once again starting to look weary as he swayed slightly on his feet, the one-armed man gave Steve his last instructions regarding his stay in his refuge.

“Be careful. Do not get lost. I know that you like exploring, but I strongly suggest that you avoid doing that for now. This entire place… It’s a rare glitch in the game. Its an unusual place, which spawned in this world naturally. I did not make it. There are thousands of rooms, numerous End gates, some of which are already active and set to go to… other places far away. Do not go through any of them. Also, I made sure that all traps have been disabled at least a hundred blocks or so from this point, but there are many more beyond. It’s an intimidating maze that even I have not bothered to map out fully. Its best if you stay put in the rooms I showed you. When I wake up, I will explain in more detail what is going on, so you can decide yourself what you wish to do.”

Herobrine’s last words carried guilt and warning and his gaze at Steve remained uncertain, as if he was not too sure about allowing Steve such freedom. His glance at one of the iron-barred cells almost made Steve imagine Herobrine simply confining him to one of the cell-like rooms, to keep him out of trouble. He hastily grinned to reassure his host.

“I’ll wait.” He promised with an easy smile. Herobrine considered him for another moment, before appearing to accept Steve’s promise. He then hobbled into his chosen room, his head lowered and eyes drooping in exhaustion. And then a heavy iron door appeared, shutting Steve’s view of him. Steve could only sigh at that. Despite spending several days in Steve’s care, utterly helpless as he lay there unconscious, with Steve caring for his wounds, the man still could not fully trust him?

Steve left to explore the area nearby. He found a kitchen, several rooms that contained beds and simple chests with basic, random supplies. Out of curiosity, he checked, but remained unimpressed, compared to Herobrine’s possessions. He also found this library with its convenient, soft chairs and couches.

Herobrine was still asleep. And this place was too quiet…

Steve cast another lost look around him and headed out of the small library into the hallway, where rough stone tiles lined the walls in a monotone way, stretching endlessly. Red-stone torches, which seemed to be Herobrine’s personal preference, lit up brighter at Steve’s approach, pushing back ominous shadows. This did little to dispel Steve’s sense of being buried alive. Chased by his need to feel that this was not so, he walked past iron-gated rooms with empty guest-beds, past the great hall with a square stone fountain in its middle and pillars along the walls and turned into yet another hall that ended in a set of slab stairs leading down to another level. Just past two nearly identical rooms with barred entrances, his eyes held again on the heavy iron door of the room where he left Herobrine to rest.

Two skeletons stood there now. Both turned and held their empty eyes on Steve, while he froze in place. They didn’t react to him in any way, and Steve remembered Herobrine’s reassuring words that none of his sentries would harm him. Still, Steve suddenly lost the desire to go and check if Herobrine was still there. He obviously was, or else he would have found Steve already. He must still be asleep.

Steve looked past the skeletons to the end of the hall, where he could see more iron-barred rooms. He didn’t approach. Instead, his shoulders slumping a bit as weariness began to press heavier upon his body and mind, he turned around and slowly shuffled back. Maybe he should go and get some rest also? Herobrine did warn that there would be a lot of things to do once he woke up.

Steve’s eyes fell on the doorway of a room with a table, chairs, and stove, which seemed to have a slightly homelier touch. A fire merrily burned there beneath the oven and stacked logs rested on the side. An open ender chest already stood there also, with many utensils and pans pulled out, along with several cooked meals. Steve had already eaten dinner there, correctly identifying the place as a kitchen, but left the dirty plates where they were, not sure what to do with them. There were several strange, magical appliances in the room, but he didn’t know how to operate them, and there seemed to be no buckets of water or any other water source to clean the dirty plates. Seeing the fresh loaves of bread left on the table along with a big jug of milk, Steve felt his stomach rumbling.

Maybe a small snack, then. Then, rest.

Steve went to the kitchen, stifling another yawn.

Chapter Text

Two Years Ago...

Herobrine stumbled from unexpectedly terminated teleport, his wounded form materializing into a defensive posture directly before an ephemeral wall of code up ahead - that's what threw him out of the teleport early. He glared at the enormous security obstruction he sensed blocking his way up ahead, then blinked, returning to normal vision.

A quick glance told him where he was - this world's spawn point. He stood on a hill surrounded by numerous trees and abandoned player structures. The arrival of players came just moments later. Scowling, Herobrine turned, knowing that it was too late to run. All around his figure still lit up tracing scans from his latest misadventure.

Gloomily, Herobrine glared at the figures that appeared all around him, surrounding him into a circle. All wore high-level gear. All bore symbols of their clan - a gray wolf head either imprinted upon their armor or their clothes. The leader, a staut, muscular man in a helmet that obscured his facial features, also wore a blood-red cape where the creator logo displayed - the local Server Owner himself. Herobrine stifled a wince. His bad luck that this normally busy human happened to be online right when Herobrine needed to cross this territory. These players belonged to a group that he did not wish to offend.

His sword appeared in his hand, but Herobrine stood, making no move to attack, tensely waiting for their actions. The leading human had only to make a small gesture and the advancing players with him stopped, still a few blocks away. Their hands also gripped weapons at the ready. Swords, axes, and staffs, all gleaming with top-level enchantments and doubtlessly made of rarest alloys the local mods allowed. The eighth level tier rankings allowed this player group to have best of the best.

"What are you doing in my server, Herobrine?" The leader demanded. Herobrine frowned. That they did not attack was at least an encouraging thing. But that they blocked him, cutting him off from escape, was another matter entirely.

"Only passing through. Let me leave and you won't have any problems." He tried to keep hostility from his tone, but threat still came with a slight growl.

Slightly turning his head, the human communicated with others in what they thought was their personal clan chat.

"He didn't destroy anything here, did he?" The server owner's moderator verified with someone not in the game.

Listening for a moment, the human then turned to his waiting leader. "Sir, he didn't cause any damages here, but the territory of Tritons is lit. Multiple attacks. They are still trying to deal with it. Some sort of monster, destroying everything in its path."

The leader of the Steele Wolves made a small nod. Dismissing his helmet shield, the man revealed his face. Steel gray eyes from an older face held on Herobrine with stern, hard expression.

"Sir, they've already lodged a complaint to the Admin. They are probably tracking him as we speak. We cannot just let him go. If they learn that he was in our server and we didn't do anything, we'll get a fine, sir." The owner's assistant warned, but the man dismissed him with another gesture.

"You are playing a risky game, Herobrine." The man noted to Herobrine. He was still not making a move toward him. The human's eyes ran across Herobrine's rather tattered appearance.

"Why did you attack them? I understand that it might be fun to fight a player or two, but to destroy an entire server?"

"Five of them, sir. That entire sector is down. He spawned some sort of high level monster and now it's spawning clones. And crossing server gates!" The moderator commented, still poking around online. The leader shook his head with disapproval, while Herobrine scowled.

"I didn't attack them." For some strange reason he felt it necessary to defend his actions before the human. "They attacked me."

"You do understand that the Admin now penalize players if they see you and do not report it?" The human leader pointed out. "On the other hand, there is a reward for anyone who can prove that they have made at least an attempt to stop you. There is even an achievement we can gain for each confirmed attempt to bring you down."

"Is that what you wish to gain?" Herobrine scowled, his hand clenching his sword handle. A bitter feeling swept within, but he did his best to fight it. He had no choice but to fight, no matter the outcome. He would not become a prisoner voluntarily even to these humans!

The human appeared remain calm, though the warriors with him tensed.

"I do not want to hurt you. I know that you are not what they say you are. Not a glitch meant purely for destruction. I remember your real face."

"Then let me leave!" Herobrine glared at the human, allowing notes of desperation into his tone.

"Let me help you. I can protect you."

"Sir..." The clan leader's assistant tried to interfere with doubtful tone but fell quiet at his leader's gesture.

"Come with us. We have our own server. It's not as big as this one, but it's private and secure. Your Admin won't be able to claim you there, not if you agree to work for us."

"And be your property? So you can use me again to level up your game?" Herobrine couldn't help a scowl from twisting his features. The human visibly sighed.

"No. That's not my intent at all. I also apologize for what happened before. I wanted to do that for a long time. If we knew that you had a mind of your own, we would have never put you in that position. For that, I am sorry... My current offer is simply that - I want you to be safe. That's what my son asked. He would like to meet you again... I also need to speak to you, but in private. There is a matter I wish to discuss."

A ping in the world let Herobrine know that he was out of time. Almost immediately, one of the humans moved, sending the player leader a private message.

"They are here, boss. Requesting access to our data."

"They are here for you, Herobrine. We are almost out of time. Surrender. Then I can protect you. Let me!" The human's voice came strong, obviously not used to being denied.

"I would rather die than become a slave again. To you or any human!"

"There is no such thing as freedom, Herobrine." The human's voice gained weariness of age. "Even I am not free and yet many, many people serve me. Every bit of space is claimed, here and in the real world. You need to find a place in it. A secure role. Else, you'll ever be only a glitch, always on the run and hunted. Is this what you really want? What kind of life is that?"

"It's my life." Herobrine insisted, his grip on the sword getting tighter. The wounds on his body ached, itching badly as they healed. Old blood clung to his skin in unpleasant crust, annoying his heightened senses.

The human male reluctantly shook his head, an expression of regret coming to his face.

"You are smart for an AI, I'll give you that. But you are still too young and inexperienced. Your decisions and actions are those of a child. I'm afraid I will have to decide what's best for you, until you prove capable of better decisions. I'm sorry if this disagrees with you. Once you are safe, I will explain more."

The leader made a small gesture and his players suddenly sprung forward, bearing their weapons. Ready, Herobrine parried their attack. For several seconds, he fought their attacks with vicious abandon, leading them to believe that he would fight to the last. They avoided dealing him severe wounds, going for his limbs to remove his mobility. He avoided their strikes, while keeping an eye on the count down of the server-wide wall that continued to block his teleporting ability. It took quite a bit of energy to keep that up. The moment it failed...

Another strike and he fell to a knee as a large gash spurted blood from a severed tendon. He cast the human leader and his men an angry look. The man had an apologetic expression on his face. Several weakness potions broke next to Herobrine's figure, but he ignored them. In a corner of his vision, the mysterious effect blinked. "Spider Queen's Blessing. Poison Immunity effect."

The glint of obsidian chains appearing in the players' hands distracted Herobrine, as unpleasant old memories tried to rise to the surface along with blinding anger. They would dare to do this to him? Again?!

"Boss, his HP is still too high." One of the players complained. Herobrine and the human leader once again locked views.

"I'm sorry." The man said softly. Again, his players streaked forward, aiming their weapons to deliver more minor wounds. Herobrine deflected a few strikes, but then purposefully moved into the way of one. A sword pierced his chest and the player who had done so sprung back, leaving the weapon buried in Herobrine's heart.

Herobrine, falling to his knees, lifted his gaze from the hilt sticking out of his chest to the leader's face, where chagrin held in briefly startled, widened gray eyes. Then regret appeared. A crooked grin grew on Herobrine's lips despite the starting agony of fire growing deep in his core. He was leaving this place one way or another. The human shook his head at this defiance.

"I'm sorry, boss. H-he... did this on purpose." One of the players said, but his boss ignored the words. His tone to Herobrine held patience.

"Herobrine. Consider my proposal. Those Admin will find a way to capture you. You cannot avoid them forever. You know where to find me if you change your mind." The human male grumbled, frowning at Herobrine a disapproving look an adult might give a stubborn child.

"I hear you... Magnus... Ledorn..." Herobrine reluctantly acknowledged the human by his real name. A tight knot of pain roiling in his chest flared to all consuming fire, which twisted his face into a pained grimace despite his best attempt to keep his face blank. Muscles locked his chest, preventing a scream from tearing from his lungs. To his relief, the light exploded around his figure and dimmed everything from view as his figure dissolved.

Another mute scream filled his mind as already familiar forces, just waiting within the suspended stream, lunged to attack his being. Struggling to keep himself intact, yet even so feeling bits and pieces torn off, shredding his mind, Herobrine felt a vast force pick him up, moving him past the server security barriers. In this state, he felt only a slight pressure before he was through and hurtling somewhere at random. It was a nearly impossible effort to focus his assaulted mind and choose a destination. One of the numerous blinking lights, closest, beckoned. There. The tearing pressure let go as the force caught him up and began pulling him to safety.

Mere few seconds stretched to hours. And then, his body reformed in a blink, he was cast out.

Herobrine gulped a huge breath. For several more moments, he just lay there, his chest heaving as echoes of pain still ran across his form, gradually ebbing away to nothing. Relief flooded his being. He came close, too close to getting caught by the humans this time. Herobrine grimaced, stifling the self-directed anger. What happened had been his own fault - his hatred for the humans flared too brightly at what should have been only a minor provocation, leading to him once again jumping into unnecessary risks, for which he paid the price.

Opening his eyes, Herobrine blinked up at the night sky, waiting for strength to pour back into his reformed body. Generously, the surrounding world poured its energy, refreshing his senses and rolling his levels one by one to Seventy-Nine. Observing the numbers that paused a quarter of the way up to the next level, Herobrine winced again. He had lost several months of experience in just a few hours!

At least it wasn't for nothing. Or so he hoped.

Again, Herobrine closed his eyes and waited a bit longer, this time simply enjoying the lack of urgency. He did manage to escape and that was good. He had to get going, though.

Pushing his arm under him, he forced himself to a sitting position and scanned his surroundings. Only a few mindless mobs, neutral to his presence, roamed nearby in the dark woods. He got up and promptly stumbled, flinging up an arm to find support against a tree.

A gesture brought up a gaming interface. Several messages burned on the bottom of the screen as expected - reactions of players to his arrival. Luckily, a new mod popular in this area masked his arrival sufficiently to avoid interest, despite quite a few players being online.

Herobrine joined the game.

Cerebrus: What? Is this for real?

Catnus: Nah. No way, bro. Its probably just a troll. Doris? Hey, Doris! I know its you.

Kit7968: Cyrus? Hey, guys, it's getting old.

Catnus to Cerebrus: Don't worry, it's just our guys goofing around.

Cerebrus: Are you sure? I mean... He does exist!

Cyrus: Siiiike!

Catnus: Ha-ha! Told you.

Cerebrus: Man. I thought it was for real. Where did you get this mod?

Cyrus: Oh, it's a real oldy. My grandparents used this one for sure! I found it in their databank.

Incoming private message from Cyrus: Herobrine? You're back? What happened to your player shell?

Herobrine frowned. Pulling up another screen, he looked at the image of the young human teen there. Respawn character? A message blinked. Irritably, Herobrine glanced at delete and watched the image get removed from a list of over a hundred other images below it. He couldn't use it again. Not after several Triton players recorded a noobie player vanish, replaced by infamous Herobrine. That was too bad, since Alberto Juan had been one of his favorite avatars.

Glancing at his still replenishing energy scale, Herobrine judged it enough and teleported to the main base chamber of the place that had been his home for the past four years. Set up like a player's room with multiple monitors and bio cameras along with simulated high-end technology mirrored in real life, he replaced a damaged neural band that appeared around his head like a silver crown with another that he produced out of thin air. Immediately, simulated visual screens came to life. The image of a young human teen appeared; his face concerned as he viewed Herobrine's face.

"Herobrine? Are you all right? I just got the news flashes from Triton's Keep? What happened there? I thought you said that you were not going to do anything... dangerous!"

Herobrine leaned back in the gamer's chair and rubbed his eyes, frustration welling up within once more. "It was an accident." He grumbled.

The teen frowned, casting him a dark look. "An accident... Right..."

To prove his point, the youth mirrored the feed from his monitor to appear on several of Herobrine's. On it, a monstrous creature with three heads spat forth blue skulls, which exploded right and left as it swam across a heavily damaged city street already empty of life. The locals had wisely fled and now only scattered parties of players remained, darting here and there as they tried to attack the being from cover of crumbled buildings and walls. A wall of fire and smoke rising high behind it all and obscuring the morning sky made for a menacing background.

"And... what is that?" The teen pointed at the creature with fascinated awe. "Also an accident?"

"The Wither. They summoned it themselves, not me!..." Catching the teen's mistrustful look, Herobrine sighed. "I just... gave it a bit more oomph... A bit too much..." He looked with concern at the devastation. A growing level line over the strange monster's head now crossed over the level 429. It had been level 86 when the players summoned it. "I needed a distraction!" Herobrine added in frustration. Hopefully, none of the locals were hurt.

"Notch?" He asked hopefully, searching the screens for interference of the familiar broad figure in plain brown and white. He saw only players reacting, though some had high levels. Several more groups began to appear closer in - leading warrior clans from the other servers. Destroying a monster of such high level now promised great rewards and a boost in rankings, so of course they would come.

Just as Herobrine watched, yet another group materialized and his white eyes held on the helmeted figures with grey wolf markings - same group whom he just encountered minutes before. Magnus Ledorn, the rich businessman in real life and the leader of one of the most popular gaming servers certainly acted fast.

"No, still no sign of him. The Admin are still saying the same. He is busy." The teen mocked his tone to show how much he believed that claim. Herobrine frowned, his old worry returning. Four years and still no answer to any of his attempts. Notch was alive, he had seen him appearing here and there in sightings online. Why did he not respond to Herobrine's calls?

"How is Doris?" Herobrine looked away from the disastrous reminder of his mistake to the teen. Immediately growing serious, his smirk down turning, the young human dropped his eyes, avoiding to meet Herobrine's searching gaze.

"Same... Still alive? I guess that's good." The teen concluded and gloomily shrugged his thin shoulders.

"When are you going to tell them?" Herobrine casually nodded to the names in the chat, where several local players continued to goof off - all teens just like this young human and his slightly older sister. Cyrus, or Timothy Adrian Walsh as was his real name, looked up with troubled blue eyes.

"When she tells me its all right. That's when." He muttered and looked to the side.

"How is she?" Herobrine repeated, his tone this time softer. With a sigh, the boy turned his camera to the full view of their family dwelling. A humble small space held a side table and a couch, with a large space on the wall next to the computer dedicated to an old-fashioned projector. An image of a forest scene currently displayed there with an old farm-house in the distance and branches of flowering bushes and tall grass faintly swaying in the wind. A golden field of wild wheat lay between the view point and the old house. Softly rolling forested hills framed it in the back and distant mountains pierced to the blue skies where a few white clouds hung. A familiar picture of an alien world from ages past, displayed on the screen of a tiny prison deep below layers of ground, where this human player lived like so many of them - refugees and newcomers. Intruders.

But these two, Herobrine knew.

His eyes narrowed at the image of a young human female who curled up on the couch, her head resting on her hands. A plush blanket covered her form, much skinnier than Herobrine remembered it only months ago. With rising concern, he frowned at the pale face and cloth headband covering the girl's head where no hair remained.

"Did she receive treatment this week?" Herobrine asked, worry entering his mind. Still not looking at him, the teen shook his head.

"I'm short."

"How much?" Herobrine asked. Not meeting his eyes, the teen nervously shifted.

"Eight hundred and fifty marks. That's..."

"Forty-two thousand and five hundred gold. I know the rate. I'll send it to you." Herobrine ignored the guilty expression that appeared on the teen's face as he looked up at the screen. Still, the human didn't say anything, and when Herobrine transferred the required sum from the playing accounts of several of his reserve avatars, Herobrine heard the accepting ping.

"Thanks." The human muttered, lowering his head. Herobrine frowned at him, unable to understand the heavy guilt that held in the teen's expression.

"Unnecessary. This is a small matter to me and I can easily earn more. You and your sister are my friends." Herobrine again glanced at the sick girl, frowning as familiar urgency awakened within him once more.

He needed to get back to work. If he succeeded, then he might be able to help them more than simply transfer them funds. It would have been far easier if Anna simply accepted his offer of borrowing funds from where they would not be missed, but the girl had high moral standards. While annoying and frustrating on occasion, it was also one of the qualities that Herobrine honestly admired. Notch would have liked this young human who sounded so much like him.

Switching his gaze back to the girl's younger brother, Herobrine noticed the human biting his lips.

"Is there something else wrong?" He frowned at him, impatient, since he really needed to get some serious rest and recover after the unfortunate experience of last few days. The teen threw up his head and tried to smile.

"N-nothing! I'm just... glad you are back." The relief in the boy's eyes seemed unfeigned and Herobrine relaxed once more.

"All right. Then I'm off to rest. So should you. Its two AM over there." Herobrine pointed out.

"I am, I am! I'll just finish my homework, first. I was gaming all day and last night." Teen grinned and Herobrine nodded with approval. Unlike many others, this young human did not go into the game just for fun. Originally, he did so, as did his sister, although their ideas for fun were different - Anna preferred building while Timothy liked fighting and killing monsters.

A simple cold that began to bother the girl, however, ended up being the initial stages of some rare human illness based on a genetic disorder, for which their doctors could promise no cure, only an alleviation of symptoms and delay of final unpleasant prognosis. Unfortunately for them, these two young humans had only a low, menial status and could not afford the expensive, specialized treatments that the girl's condition required. Since then, for Timothy his former play turned into work.

It had been an interesting fact for Herobrine to discover since he came in contact with these two. Feeling some measure of gratitude, since it was the girl's good heart that helped him when he, himself, teetered on the brink of crawling back to the Admin like a beaten dog begging for mercy, Herobrine felt inclined to do what he could to help. It coincided with his own goals at the moment, so why not?

"Please tell Doris that I wish to speak to her. When she wakes up." Herobrine softened his tone, by habit still using the girl's gaming nickname rather than her real human name, Anna Elizabet Walsh. Her brother looked up hopefully.

"You'll stay here for a few days, then?... Great!" Timothy nearly jumped up in his chair at Herobrine's nod, grinning.

Responding to the bright, excited look with a small smile of his own, though it looked more like a smirk on his own face, Herobrine logged off. For a moment longer, he continued to look at the images of destruction that continued to display on the monitors in Triton servers.

Maagnus Ledorn and his team finally dealt the mutant monster a finishing strike, their group having teamed up with Triton groups and that of several other less important player groups. Herobrine breathed a little breath of relief and again checked the number n the corner of the screen. It remained at zero, which meant that none of Notch's people had perished despite the heavy grade of destruction.

His carelessness again. Herobrine considered the rolling footage as players began to rehash the events where his name was frequently mentioned. He could only hope that his latest actions would not convince Notch to take the side of the Admin. He would have no hope of remaining hidden if that powerful being decided to turn against him.

Now, he would definitely have to stay low for a few months, until attention toward him would calm down. He was going to try to stay out of trouble. Somehow, it just never worked out so far.

Irritably, Herobrine dismissed the screen and teleported to the next room, where his bed beckoned. Settled upon it, he first produced one of the items from this venture - an unimpressive book with dark, worn leather cover. He would rest in a bit. First, he would check if the whole effort was worth it.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated, allowing his human senses to fade. The place around him colored in silver-gray tones as multitude of sparks ran across the surfaces of the objects. The book in his hands gleamed a beckoning, warm white. Steadying his mind, with anticipation, Herobrine opened the first page.

Before his mind's eye, a figure appeared, wearing cyan and blue. With slight, amused smile, the man who looked like Herobrine's exact copy, lifted his face and looked at Herobrine with interested, white eyes.

"If you've found this message, greetings. And congratulations. You have found another clue! If you are who I think you are, you may proceed. I have attached quite a few lessons that you will find useful in honing your skills or perhaps you will even discover something new! I have included several local quests that exist in the area. Check them out! One especially. It's an epic level event that players usually find valuable. The items you can gain will definitely be worthwhile for exchange. More importantly, you'll need them to get your next clue. Begin by summoning the Wither."

Herobrine huffed with annoyance at his predecessor's frivolous attitude. Of course, for him this entire search-and-find chain of quest had been merely a game to entertain him in his nearly immortal existence. For Herobrine now, it was the only link he had to finding the truth about his predecessor and himself - the only way he could gather bits and pieces of memories.

"Summon the Wither..." Herobrine grumbled to himself, recalling his own earlier frustration since until that moment he didn't even know what that cryptic phrase was. It took hunting and researching dozens of books to find the relevant information. And days to discover the necessary ingredients. Just to get those ingredients, he had to get other ingredients! Neither his own level, nor that of his human avatar that he used to walk among them without recognition had been enough. He was forced to steal! And then get caught by those high-ranking players. On purpose! Just so he could explain that he found a rare quest. That was the only way he could manage to get a high-level group to do the majority of work for him.

His predecessor should have warned that the alterations Herobrine would introduce to the summoning ritual would produce such a dangerous creature as that! But there he was, grinning at him with mischief as usual.

Herobrine scowled, both anger and admiration mixing within him as usual as he studied his predecessor's figure and expression. So much power and yet so careless. No wonder the humans defeated him. Of course, currently Herobrine himself was not a match for them, either.

Sooner or later, though, he would find and regain his predecessor's strength! Then, he would no longer be the prey on the run. He will destroy them! And not just in game, no! He will make sure that they will find no escape from his vengeance even in their own pathetic world. He would bring their game right back to them and then it will be they who will be afraid. He will make them pay, each one of them who tortured him or mocked, instead of showing pity. He remembered their faces. He would find them and make them pay for what they've done, each and single one of them!

Hatred burned like liquid fire and a sneer unconsciously formed on Herobrine's face as he lay there, looking up at the ceiling with bright glare.

"Remember, Herobrine. You are more than what you think you are. More than what they created you to be. Not just a mindless killer obsessed with revenge." Notch's calm voice sounded in his mind, pulling him out from vivid dreams of fire and destruction, where his enemies peered at him with frightened eyes as they screamed for mercy.

A calm face with gentle, serious brown eyes held on him in his memory. So patient, while an encouraging small smile held on a normally expressionless, severe face. Most of all, Herobrine could feel the sincere well wish that this being directed toward him.

His sneer vanishing, Herobrine considered the memory a bit longer, before irritably brushing it to the back of his mind. Yes, yes, of course. He was not going to be a monster, of course. Couldn't he just dream a little?

Anyway, lets see what prize his predecessor left for him this time? Before, it had been interesting bits of knowledge, skills, locations to treasures, or even simply a few personally treasured memories. And always a hint to where he would find more such clues! In the past several years, following this chain of crumbs had become the sole purpose of Herobrine's continued existence. That, and his continued goals that usually switched between immediate survival to exacting revenge against the pesky players who continued to stand in his way.

His heart filling with anticipation, Herobrine turned the page. His world dissolved as yet another of his predecessor's memories engulfed him and began carry him away, somewhere familiar and strangely moving his heart.

Overworld. As it looked from the edge of the city in the Ether. Both he and his predecessor stood, looking at the vast, green world below. Herobrine's lookalike looked at it with a soft smile, his emotions almost mirroring those of Herobrine himself when he stood here last. Only then, it had been Notch at his side, showing him around the place after he got permission to do so for the sake of glitched program's rehabilitation. The attempt lasted barely two weeks before events returned Herobrine to the hands of the humans and his hardship resumed. Still, the memory of those days remained a treasured one, for the sense of wonder and discovery and hope that he then experienced. Unfortunately, that hope proved false later on, but at least Herobrine got to experience what it was like.

His predecessor in this memory seemed calm and hopeful as well. Joy and curious wonder flowed out from him, finding a reflection in Herobrine's heart, too.

"My brother created all this. Do you know? Everything you see here... Not from scratch, of course. He is not a God. He is a true artist, though. To replicate everything that once existed in the world of the humans and even them, too, down to a single living cell. Is that not amazing?..." His predecessor said with appreciation and turned to face him.

"All right. And now for why you are here. I may not have made all this, but I did help some! Some of the creatures that live here are purely my creations. Well, some are borrowed from the humans, too." The white-eyed demigod corrected himself with a mischievous grin. "Only in part, though! I mean, its one thing to draw some monster and describe that it can breathe fire. Imagine what its like to calculate all the little details that actually make it into a living, breathing thing! Lets take the Wither. Do you think such a creature can actually exist? Sure, it can, if you add such a general thing as 'magic', but then it will be just a cheat, an empty bunch of code, not an actual living, breathing creature. I want to show you how to something even more amazing. I am going to show you how to create a mind that can perceive itself. We'll start by copying simple creatures at first and then proceed to more complex forms. Do not try to skip lessons. I cannot allow you to proceed ahead until you demonstrate knowledge of basic steps. Each lesson, you will have to follow up with practice. And I will know if you've completed your homework or not!" Herobrine's lookalike grinned, reminding him very much of the young human Timothy, and Herobrine himself smirked a little. Sometimes he felt older than his predecessor by many years, despite knowing that it was actually in reverse. His few years of existence made up only a fraction of life of this strange immortal who wore his face.

Homework? Learning to create living things? Well, it wasn't exactly what Herobrine had hoped for, preferring something more relevant like breaking through security systems and designing weapons. Still, it was interesting and he already found himself looking forward to the practice!

With that cheerful thought in mind, Herobrine reluctantly disconnected from the memory in the message and dismissed the book back into his inventory. Doubtlessly, this prize would take a long time to master and he needed to get some rest, first. At least, he now knew what he was going to do in the next few weeks, while he was forced to stay low, avoiding the attention of the Admin, doubtlessly searching for him once more because of new player complaints.

Herobrine leaned back against the pillow, allowing his eyes to drift closed. Worn out by his recent adventure and multiple respawns, his power still trickling back to him from the surrounding world, he passed out almost instantly, secure in the assumption that he was safe.

...

Timothy sat on his chair and stared at the screen, where he could see Herobrine's location deep beneath the ground in one of the greatly remodeled rooms of the giant fortress - an amazing glitch in world seed that he and his sister found about six years ago. Basically, their entire small world was that fortress, deep beneath the ground, with thousands of rooms and portals leading to a tiny End dimension. Timothy didn't even come to their server that much, preferring to play on far larger ones owned by professional world designers. His sister's effort was childish and boring compared to the huge lands filled with monsters and quests and even real sentients under game-wide Admin protection. Then, three years ago, Timothy learned that his sister had allowed the infamous glitch Herobrine to hide in their server. By then, Herobrine had already lived on their server for almost a year without anyone but Timothy's sister knowing about it.

Having that secret briefly made his life so much fun! Knowing something so amazing, that only he and his sister knew, was great! He badly wished to tell, but never did. He so badly wished to prove to that mistrustful program that he was worthy of trust, just as his sister was. And he did it! Herobrine just called them both 'friends'.

Timothy's lips pinched as guilt grew even heavier on his heart, but then his eyes strayed to his sister's skinny form curled up on the couch. She was nothing like the smily, shy girl he remembered. Two years have turned her into a pale version of herself. Her cheeks stood out when she still tried to smile at him. And she slept nearly all the time now, waking up only to try to eat, and even then it would not be much. Those expensive retroviral medications made her ill to her stomach and tired.

She will be so happy to hear that Herobrine had returned. Jealousy and bitterness joined the guilt in Timothy's heart as he stared at the screen, where the gaming cash Herobrine transferred had now become the money that Timothy could use to pay their bills and send to the doctors. Anna would get her treatment.

It was only delaying what Timothy knew was going to happen! He didn't tell Herobrine because his sister didn't want him to tell, because she didn't want their friend to worry about them. Only Herobrine didn't worry about them. Well, maybe a little. He probably just considered helping them as paying back his debt. Like paying rent.

Timothy grimaced, still looking at the virtual line of credits. He earned only a fifth of that money, while Herobrine had done the rest, as usual. He would probably even send more, if Timothy asked.

He didn't want to ask.

And Herobrine would not have enough to afford what Anna really needed. Timothy's blue eyes turned to look at the experimental treatment plan that the doctor gave him this morning, in private, after Timothy boasted that all the money he had made so far was done in game. Appearing impressed, the doctor suggested that perhaps, if he was this successful, he might consider other, more expensive options for his sister's treatment. After all, the treatments she received now merely delayed the deterioration in her physiology. Already, some of the damages had become irreversible, and in another four or five years in best case, she would be gone. But if Timothy kept his level of success, then perhaps he might consider another option - complete genetic correction and replacement of damaged tissue with latest mix of biological synthetic patches. The first intensive course would last at least a month to start with, with his sister's body submerged into state-of-the-art medical contraptions in a high-level medical treatment facility where her unique condition would be analyzed and top level systems would calculate and then produce the necessary methods to correct the errors.

Just a day in that treatment would cost 250,000 marks. Seeing Timothy's astonishment, the doctor told him to think about it and promised to send the information. Timothy was looking at it now.

He would never get enough money to afford something like this. No matter how hard he worked. His enthusiastic boast to the doctor had been just that - a boast.

Even if he asked Herobrine to help them, he didn't think the virtual being would do it. Friends? He hated humans, that much Timothy knew for sure. That slipped in his comments and even in the way he sometimes looked at them, when Anna showed him how humans lived in their world. She could not see it, but Timothy could. And, honestly, the being's awareness and cold glare of white eyes scared him a little.

Since Anna began to teach Herobrine about their world, he learned so quickly and so much. Timothy knew how to hack the game a little. He could not say no when Herobrine asked him to show what he was doing. A month later, he caught Herobrine snooping in the accounts of real business people. Granted, it was because that's when they learned that Anna was sick with more than a cold and Timothy himself mentioned it that the rich guys probably had so much money that they wouldn't even notice a few marks going missing. But then Anna scolded him and told them both that she would never accept stolen money. And then Timothy himself earned enough to pay for the doctor's visit by selling some of his recently gained gaming gear, which he also got with Herobrine's help, on the gaming auction forum. Since then, Herobrine started doing it as well, using throw-away guest accounts that they taught him how to make. Now, he had way more than Timothy. Of course he did, being a powerful raid boss and a villain, who could practically produce some items from empty air!

Jealousy once again left an unpleasant sense in Timothy's heart as he tried to contain it. He did know that most of what Herobrine found came from him searching for the stuff as he followed some sort of quest, left behind by his predecessor. Herobrine was often gone for weeks, having fun as he caused trouble for other players on other servers. And all that time, Timothy's sister waited, hoping that he would return soon. She felt way more than just curious or wishing to help that strange program. She actually liked the guy! Timothy even joked about it before, because it was funny to see how his sister would laugh, denying it all, while her cheeks would blush so red that it was obvious that she had a crush on Herobrine. And even now, she still liked him, while even his words, calling them 'friends', sounded so arrogant and reluctant, as if he was doing them a favor.

The whole thing wasn't fair! This guy would come and stay in their server for a few days, and leave again to cause trouble. He was kind of like a criminal and they were doing an illegal thing, hiding him here and even letting him learn about how their world worked.

Timothy just recently had seen an entire video on that, where the Admin of the Game appealed to the players to be careful with what they revealed to the virtual world characters. And they had even revealed a little about the original Herobrine - a sentient virus program, who didn't hesitate to harm and even kill humans in real life on multiple occasions. Even so, there had been a debate on whether it would be justified to destroy him, until the programmers found proof of his final intent, which was to nothing less than to take control not just of the entire game and rewrite Notch, but to take over all human systems in the world, practically enslaving them to whatever purpose he had in mind.

That program or virus or whatever he was had been incredibly dangerous. And now Herobrine followed in his footsteps, determined to become even more powerful than his predecessor had been. He was following some sort of learning program, which his predecessor left, and definitely showing the results, although he avoided sharing it with them. He didn't trust them. They were humans. Timothy saw all this and it worried him. Yet Anna didn't see anything at all, still considering the program she saved as her friend. Of course she would, Timothy winced. She actually had a crush on that guy. Even though she knew that he wasn't even real!

Herobrine wasn't a man. He wasn't even human! Just a bunch of letters and numbers, patterns of energy in the streams, a wandering glitch with who knew what plans in his mind! He sure looked impressive with those honed muscles and 'tough bad boy' look, but it was just pixels on the screen, nothing more. And Anna knew all this, but still liked him!

She was basically wasting her last days, waiting for the guy to drop by, just to exchange a few words with him. If he knew that Timothy's sister loved him, he would probably laugh. Or leave? If he cared about her even a little, he wouldn't be running off to gain more power, but figure something out on how to help. Even earn some real money, like Timothy did. For someone like him, it would not be hard!

He didn't though. And that meant that he didn't care about them. Not really. They were just convenient to his plans. His sister's server was just a safe base of operations, that's all.

Timothy scowled as slight anger emerged. It made the guilt he felt a little less. It didn't submerge it completely, though. What he was considering doing, for his sister's sake, would be nothing less than betrayal of not only Herobrine's trust but his sister's trust, as well. She would never forgive him.

She would live though.

His lips twisting in determination, Timothy reached his hand to the monitor and a message appeared on his screen. He stared at it, once again torn by uncertain feelings. Then, he pressed the reply button.

"Hello. Yes, I do have information about what you wanted to find. Here is proof. Let me know if you are interested in learning more."

Timothy sent a video, where Herobrine stood before an obsidian wall and easily moved aside blocks, which were supposed to block him. Yet another skill, which he apparently learned from his predecessor and was practicing in their server at the time.

The message blinked only a few seconds, before a reply appeared.

"We are definitely interested. Where would you like to meet?"

Chapter Text

Surrounding semi dark held shadows. 

Dark, gray stone glistened upon walls stretching above to the shrouded ceilings, where enormous spider-webs hung still in silence like tattered, colorless tapestries. Dim red torches glowed dim on the walls, unable to keep back the oppressive feel of the place, empty and lifeless like a tomb.

Equally still, he sat in upon the cold, hard stone step below an equally imposing throne, his glowing gaze hazed as it emptily held ahead, unseeing.

There were no thoughts, only vague perception and waiting. For what? He could not remember. Even what he did perceive remained vague, coming in and out of focus just as his awareness did.

The sound of steps echoing in the corridors beyond the massive gates covered with ornate metal and wood, woke him up just a little. Hearing voices calling out to each other between the characteristic sounds of dull strikes against bone and metal, instantly brought forth images of faces twisted with anger and pain. He scowled, a wave of fury rising until it filled every bit of his conscious mind, what little of it remained.

Players. Returning here again to attack and destroy, to kill... and to die, at his hands.

It happened before, many times. Now, he remembered it. And he also remembered his purpose. To wait. To destroy. It was enough to act.

An unconscious push and he already stood in the center of the magnificent palace of this castle deep underground. Impatiently, his body tensed and rang like the sound of a blade thrust forth and piercing the air. The torches on the walls, previously shining dim, burst to light, revealing hidden details as the enormous space around him gained familiar bright colors.

Dark forms of tapestries lit, revealing the glory of battles and monsters, along with images depicting the history of the world, its creation, destruction, and rebirth, where two beings stood side by side surveying their marvelous work. Both in plain clothes, simple short-sleeved shirts and trousers, brown and gray, teal and cyan blue. One of them bearded and without head hair, his eyes brown on a calm, stern face and his form stout and strong, stood in the middle or slightly to the right. The other, with his eyes a deep, sapphire blue, stood lower and to the left, and looked directly at the viewer with a slightly amused smirk playing across his lips framed by an accurate small beard. In the image in the middle, the second man's expression held curiosity and childlike wonder. In further images to the right, the blue eyes changed to empty white, and the expression changed to anger that twisted his face into a scowl. He and the brown-eyed man stood in opposition to each other, ready to fight, as numerous figures crowded behind them with same ready hostility – on white eyed man's stood snarling monsters while on brown eyed man's human heroes held their weapons in their hands. The tapestries further along the wall bore images of battles where the monsters and men fought.

Beneath the tapestries crowded treasure chests, spilling coins gleaming golden in the light. Bones and skulls peeked out, sunk. A strange movement of the air suddenly passed across the chamber, like a released breath, softly stirring the hanging spiderwebs. Faint clicking sounds above made the spiderwebs shake as numerous creatures began their descent from hidden alcoves above. Figures in dark armor, until then standing like statues along the wall, made a step forward, straightening their great swords and pikes, preparing to face the returning threat yet again.

The one who stood in the middle of the palace waited, frozen, but his gaze burned brighter, glaring upon the ornate gate leading into his rest chambers. Expressionless face did not betray the all-consuming anger that now burned within him with a cold, contained flame. Eerily still like all the other guardians of the keep, he waited.

Finally, the shouts neared the doors and ceased as the intruders took a brief rest in the small, secure area by the doors, where they could regroup their forces before rushing forward to their final challenge – to face him and die or destroy him. Only for it all to repeat again. And again. And again.

His constantly fading mind remembered this. And that was all that he could remember.

The sooner it all ended the better. A thought suddenly came, weary and irritated. He hated to wake up. Waking up meant becoming aware of troubling feelings and concepts that he could not comprehend, even if did make the attempt to grasp on. Questions, images, faces appeared, only to vanish, but leaving a disturbing feeling of urgency and loss and certainty that he had to do something important. What? He didn't know.

All of this would cease as soon as these annoying intruders came and left. Then, he could go back to his slumber.

He could not, would not, give up to them without a fight. That was a part of him he did not even attempt to deny. And so, he waited, the anger only burning brighter the longer those outside his chamber delayed in making their predictable attack.

Behind the massive door, he perceived sounds. Words, which carried meaning. He remembered it, dimly. He simply didn't bother to strain his mind to remember what those sounds meant, only wishing that they would cease and leave him be.

"Look!... Maaan, what babes... Hey, how did you even get here?... Hey, I'm talking to you!... Hey... What?... What the blaze?... Aaaaah!" The last came as a scream, though not of pain, but indignation. Those beings who came could feel no pain, unlike him, he suddenly remembered that as well. More shouts came as the number of his opponents suddenly rapidly decreased from nine to two, who had just arrived. They defeated the others? Good, then it will take even less time before he could return to his rest.

Some of his anger dimmed and a tiny surge of feeling stirred. Curiosity. It was too faint and almost immediately vanished to gray boredom, so he ignored the brief impulse to look at who those new arrivals were ahead of time, using the creatures beyond as his ears and eyes, though he could have done so. He simply could not master the motivation. Why? He would know soon enough and did not matter why they removed the others from this attack. It shortened the time when he could return to rest and that was all he cared about.

He didn't have to wait long. Another few minutes and the gates opened with a long creak feigning a lack of use. Two figures appeared in the doors, framed by light of a magical stuff dropped to the ground. Female players of indeterminate age, slim and fit, as most players chose to look. Dressed in armor that followed their curves and bore ornate patterns along the edges, their features hidden in shade beneath loose dark cloaks, both players stood with faces turned in his direction. Behind them, in what he could glimpse of the corridor, he saw the charred remains of the creatures that server as his outer guards. Broken bits of skeletal remains mixed with scattered items of the vanquished players. Strange. Unharmed spiders hurried to escape back into the shadows, not making the attempt to attack.

Remaining silent, too weary to hold on to the questions, he waited for the players to enter his place of dominion. They did not appear in a hurry to do so.

"Are you sure that's him? If we make another mistake..." The uncertain voice that came from one of the players sounded young and carried notes of frustration. The two players continued to study him, still not making a step forward that would allow him to begin his attack. He glimpsed expressive, violet eyes beneath the hood of the cloak of the one who just spoke. There was something familiar about the outline of that cheek, lit by the playful light of the torch that danced back and forth. Capricious lips pressed together. The feeling attempted to break through the gray indifference and died.

"If its not, then we'll keep trying. Again and again. And again." The voice of the other person came hard and determined, older, but strangely weary as well. Immediately, the strange feeling returned, this time stronger. He didn't turn his gaze, not finding the strength to do so, but he could still see the heated, black eyes that flashed at him beneath the hood. Living, smoldering coal, that was the sudden association. The feeling within grew stronger. Before he could decide what it was, the figure of the violet-eyed player made a bold step forward, a metal-decorated stuff appearing in her hand and making a preparatory whirl. The air rung, releasing a familiar sound. A skilled fighter, this one, something within him gave him an admiring approval.

Angry boredom shifted to a brief ray of interest, which did not die but stay, although small and dim. A challenge? That was worth waking up for a little.

"All right. I really hope you are right, Alviana. I don't know how much longer I can keep trying and hoping that this will work. It's already been more than I can count!" The staff bearing player complained and shifted her staff to her left arm, where she whirled it again with as much skill as in her right arm.

She was now within reach, her presence evoking the usual rage that blanketed his languid thoughts, though some eagerness burned in it as well. A challenge! Pushed by his will, the other creatures in his chamber lunged toward the intruders.

"Distract them for me, Arianna." The dark-eyed player spoke from beneath her concealing hood. With an obedient nod, the staff bearing player suddenly blurred into motion, turning into a whirl wind of protection. Her friend stepped forward as well and began crossing the ground with strange confidence. She didn't even bother to look at the fearsome knights that towered above her small height. Her friend distracted them, drawing them away to fight with her. Her staff flashing on impact against metal, the deceptively fragile form flattered around the room, leaving the path toward him clear. Dark eyes of the player held on his as she continued to approach, each step graceful and measured, as if her walk was a dance. Strangely mesmerized, he watched her approach, not finding the urge to attack quite yet.

Another step and the player cast back her hood with a careless gesture, revealing a dark-skinned, pleasantly shaped face with high cheek bones. Determined gaze of lively, black eyes held on his, forming a strange connection. The world beyond lived its own life, while in the midst of brightly lit space guarded by the flickering shadow of her friend fending off attacks, only the two of them remained.

He looked at her face, barely noticing the rest, which strangely shifted to his view. Dim and vague, her dark armor suddenly flowed into elegant garments, which snugly shielded her form, then suddenly became a white veil, then became armor again. The air around her figure shimmered. Her dark hair framed her delicate shoulders, then gathered into loosely woven braids beneath a crown of glimmering bony ridges and black jewels that reminded him of the eyes of the spiders waiting in corners of the room. He noticed them with the corner of his vision. The creatures had paused in their approach, frozen, as their red eyes stared at the player in confusion, not daring to attack. Why did they not attack like the rest?

The thought came and fled, as his attention returned back to the strange girl. So small and fragile, she walked toward him with strange determination and not a hint of fear on her face. The rage burned still, but quieter, retreating back a step to allow slight curiosity through. 

He stared at the player and suddenly became aware of a very conflicting feeling that also stayed his hand, making him unwilling to raise the deadly weapon that he already held in his hand, his knuckles tight. He wanted... to protect her. And slay her without mercy. The grip on his sword grew tight and a growl rumbled deep within his chest as the strange intruder stepped right toward him and lifted her chin, gazing into his face as if searching for something.

Black eyes looked up at his scowling face and for some reason filled with indescribable sadness. A hand reached out to cup his cheek and another gently drew behind his neck, drawing him closer. For some reason he didn't resist. Imprisoned by her eyes, he silently watched, as the mysterious being rose slightly on her tip toes and touched her lips to his, evoking another strange feeling that he couldn't name. Astonishment? The feeling faded, but his rage quieted even more, even though the red hearts indicating his life force began to blink, darkening one by one.

Spider Queen's Kiss: status – paralysis. A status line blinked in the corner of his vision.

Poison Effect? A thought appeared and vanished. He simply didn't care enough to act as calm descended over him mixed with indifference, though faint curiosity remained, bright against the bleak gray still wrapping his heart with overwhelming weight he did not have the strength to fight.

On last half a heart, the player released him, reluctantly moving back, though her hand remained on his stubbled cheek. His whole attention devoted to the changing expressions on her face, he silently watched hope give way to disappointment, then resignation and finally guilt. He held her gaze, feeling a slight frown crease his forehead as another long-forgotten feeling attempted to emerge through the reigning indifference – confusion.

"I'm sorry, darling. Forgive me..." Softly spoken words were so clear, unlike the words he heard before. Or maybe he simply managed to pay a greater attention. Only... he didn't understand what this meant.

Until sharp pain pierced his back, where the player's hand had thrust a deadly dagger. 

Anger flared at this betrayal along with strange hurt, which for a brief moment shone so bright that it pushed back the gray. He glared at the face of the one who defeated him by some strange trick, almost expecting to see the mocking triumph in her eyes. Instead, he found only sadness. Dark eyes watched him through the long eye-lashes, misting with tears that shone like bright stars in the night.

Brief rage dimmed, again turning to confusion. 

His knees gave as his body collapsed, to be gently lowered to the ground. The player kneeled with him, settling his head in her lap. Gentle fingers weaved through his hair, caring and regret in her face. The still stinging wound in his back spoke of a different intent. This was treachery, still, no matter how she felt about it or why she did it. He could remember something similar to this. He could... And yet he could not. Yet it happened...

Lost, he continued to look at this player as pain continued to course through his body, already growing distant. He had been defeated and death would not be long in forthcoming to embrace him and carry him away. To return again. To wait. And dream. 

Why? He tried to hold on, suddenly badly wanting to understand the reason for all this.

The player turned away, as if the sight of him hurt her too and she could no longer bear looking at him. For some reason that made the pain in his heart worse. 

Dark eyelashes blinked, releasing a tear to streak down a smooth, dark skin. The girl lifted her hand, where another weapon appeared - a dagger with a thin edge and an ornate handle. A bright gem glowed within an intricate crystal cage with eerie white-blue light that left misty trails in the air.

A swift strike, and it also pierced his flesh, this time lodging directly in his heart through his chest. This time the pain barely stung, distant as the world around him began to dim, the last of his strength keeping him here running out. The gem in the handle of the dagger faintly pulsed, falling in the rhythm of his damaged heart and he felt strange warmth flowing from it into his heart. It helped a little. His emotions suddenly flared brighter.

No! This time he didn't wish to sink into the dark. A sense of loss and pain burst deep within and twisted, drawing a pained gasp from his chest. Squeezing his eyes tight, his chest heaved. It hurt. Yet, he felt more alive than he had in a long time, though he still couldn't remember when was the last time that he did feel this way. 

"Shhh. You can let go, darling." 

No! He would fight! He didn't wish to leave. Not now!

His dimming sight gave him an image of a gentle smile and more tears trailing down a strangely familiar and dear face. A second face appeared, light skinned, where violet eyes also held concern. His vision flickered as an unimaginably vast force began to tag against his weakened being.

"I wish we knew where he would respawn next. What if they find him first?" The violet-eyed girl asked with worry in her voice.

"Don't worry, they won't be able to tell. Not with his code changed to match that of their own creations. This form will be a perfect guise."

"Still... What if we don't find him in time? He is going to be so confused. Without his memories... Damn them for doing this! I'll never forgive them. Never!" The girl's voice rang, echoing back from the stone walls. His eyes closed against his own volition. His life was nearly gone.

"He is strong. He won't give up without a fight, with or without his memory. He cannot really die, no matter what they will do. He made sure of that. If this fails, we... we will just have to try again." The girl's voice trembled a little, despite trying to sound sure.

"I'm tired, Alviana. If this doesn't work... I don't know if I can do this again. I'm sorry." Weary notes held on the verge of crying and he suddenly wished that he could pat this other, younger girl on her head as he had... done before? 

His vision failed and chest ceased making attempts to breathe. The pull of the force beyond tore through his will and settled around his heart in an unbreakable grip.

"Come back to us. Do you hear?" He heard the younger girl's stubborn voice call to him through the daze.

"Come back... " Soft words came.

The force tore him away and carried him off into the darkness, where white patterns flickered in and out of being faster than he could burn their images into his troubled mind. Fragments... Brief bits of being, torn away from their place and carried off, just like him. He should have fallen asleep, as he had done before. Instead, his awareness cleared. 

All around him reigned darkness, where he was nothing more than a tiny speck. He continued to fly forth, pulled, and entirely helpless.  

"Wake up. darling..." From great distance, the mysterious girl's voice called to him.

"Wake up..."

...

Herobrine's eyes flew open.

He stared at the wooden ceiling above, not sure where he was at first. Last vestiges of the dream dissolved, leaving behind the same troubled, confused feeling that he had whenever he had this dream - as if he was on the verge of remembering something very important. The feeling began to retreat as soon as he became aware of it, however. He let go, knowing that the attempt to hold on would be fruitless. The memories that this dream promised simply did not exist.

His lost gaze focusing on the ceiling above, where several spiderwebs had appeared despite him cleaning code of such vestiges before he went to sleep, Herobrine frowned, turning his mind to the memories that he did have and reviewed the recent events.

Images began to flash with increasing speed. Faces. Places. The careless, lazy stay in the mansion where he stayed too long. The attack. Strange weapons. Nearly dying and his strange lack of power. Steve...

Steve! 

His eyes opening wide, Herobrine sat up and called forth a map, where a lonely green mark burned. A hurried glance reassured that Steve's vital signs remained good. The steady heartbeat and measured breaths indicated that he was most likely asleep. And his location was not far.

Relieved, Herobrine slumped a little right where he sat. Good. The young human stayed where he was supposed to. Last night Herobrine had doubts if he would really listen to his warnings. The mistrust nearly led Herobrine to lock him up in one of the many furnished rooms nearby. He was now glad that he resisted the impulse. 

Steve listened. And he was safe. And so was Herobrine. Still safe. For now.

Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to rest in that sensation. Just another moment, before he would fully wake up. Just a little longer, before he would again take on the burden and see what he could do to fix the mess that he himself had so carelessly caused.

A scowl appeared on Herobrine's face at the thought. Last clinging bits of the strange dream let go. White eyes opened again, this time focused as anger burnt within them and Herobrine's face hardened with determination, forcing the things he could not understand to the far background of his mind where he carefully locked it up.

He was not willing to let go of this strange dream completely. It seemed too much like a memory for that, though dim and vague. Likely his first one, before he became fully aware of himself. And it suggested... No, he didn't have enough to go on to understand what it meant. 

So he put it away, for now. 

First things first. Herobrine closed his eyes again and concentrated, hesitantly reaching to the algorithms stored in the part of his mind that he could not reach before. This time, he did it.

It worked! 

A triumphant grin lit up his face as he began to issue the familiar commands. He started up a full health diagnostic and waited until the attached protocols would finish scanning his code.

Chapter Text

Four Years Ago

This update brought the worst changes he had ever experienced.

Casting a hunted glance in direction of the meadow, where the dancing flames of the summoning totem lit the grass with menacing, moving patches of light, Herobrine turned and ran to the nearest trees, hoping that his escape would go unnoticed. 

"There! I see him!"

"After him!"

The eager yells sent despair welling within him, making it even harder for him to cling to the meager remnants of strength that just began to return to him after his last respawn. The aches of pain from multiple strikes still ached in his entire body, forcing him to limp as he tried his best to get away.

He knew that he would not be able to escape this time, either.

A strike of a spear pushed him forward, throwing him face-first into the mud. Excruciating agony radiating across his back along with numbness in his legs, which refused to obey him, told him of the shattered vertebra. Still, he made an attempt to crawl. He could feel the entrance to an underground cave only blocks away. Hidden beneath rotting leaves and piled up branches, it beckoned to his sight, now flickering in and out of focus. If he only managed to fall through into that hole, he would have a slim chance to get away. Then, he would need only a few more minutes before he had enough strength to teleport and then he would vanish out of their reach altogether.

"Got him... Here, guys!" A very satisfied voice declared. Heavy armored boots came to his view and he ceased moving, giving up on further attempts to get away. His stomach sunk at the inevitability of what would now follow.

Another death and respawn. He had lost count of how many he's gone through in the past several days since the update. The new summoning mod overrode his normal respawn pattern, each time drawing him at random to yet another of the newly lit totems in the area. At first hundreds, now thousands of them sprung up in all local servers as the Admin informed the players of their latest news.

The player did not deliver a killing strike, yet. Desperation and a slight glimmer of hope led Herobrine to turn, allowing him to look at his pursuer. Attentive, dark blue eyes met him, considering him with pleased interest.

"Please... Let me go..." His plea fell quiet as more players ran in and surrounded him, their faces excited and weapons pulled at the ready. That's why the player didn't kill him, yet. He was only waiting for them. There was no use asking for mercy. They would not give it. They didn't even consider him alive.

"Are you getting all this?" One of them smirked.

They were recording this? Despite the despair and fear that filled him at the coming ordeal, some anger managed to return to his heart, though barely in embers. His pride, though previously shattered many times to pieces, also helped him to silence the useless begging that tried to break through. Herobrine glared at them.

"Why are you doing this?..." He asked angrily. The players did not attack, yet. "I can feel and think. And I perceive pain as well as you can in your own world. Why harm or kill me, when I can simply accept defeat and you can gain same rewards? Allow me to leave and you will all get what you want." He frowned at them.

The players exchanged an amazed look and brightly grinned.

"You're right, Greg. This bot is fun! He actually seems like a real person!"

"Let's not kill him just yet. I want to try something, first."

They didn't even bother to respond to his words. And Herobrine could do nothing when they lunged toward him. In moments, familiar dark metal chains wrapped around his body. With a jerk, which nearly sent Herobrine into unconsciousness as the spear still embedded in his back painfully jarred within his flesh, the players began dragging him somewhere. He was not too aware of the process, simply struggling to pull in breaths. One of the loops of the chain pressed against his throat so tight that it stifled him of air.

"You are not a human being. You just look like one. That means you don't need to breathe or eat or use any of those functions. Just overcome this. You are code and nothing else! You can change code!"

The Admin appointed overseer's voice accused in his memory. Again, Herobrine tried to separate from his human side, if only to quiet the pain raging from the injury in his back, where the spear continued to drag along the ground, tearing the wound in his back larger. Hot blood streamed down his sides, soaking his pants and shirt. Another careless jolt had torn out the spear altogether. His cry remained unheard among the excited shouts of the players as they dragged their trophy back to the meadow.

Dumping him against the summoning totem, the group of players began to send out comments online about their success.

"We got him!"

"Real Herobrine!"

"This mod works!"

"Our turn!"

Herobrine shakily tried to pull in his limbs and curled up smaller. Closing his eyes, he miserably waited for them to finish what they started. His back injury was slowly pulling closed, the pain rapidly starting to dim as his body healed, but it was only a brief respite. These players knew well about his weakness. Obsidian chains would prevent him from teleporting away even at much higher levels of strength. And if they attached them to blocks several times his weight, he wouldn't be able to escape them even at his death.

"Blocks! Here!" One of the players directed, realizing his fears.

Several blocks thumped to the ground. The chains roughly jerked and Herobrine found his body pulled up and pressed against the cool, smooth block, each of his arms stretched out to the heavy blocks of obsidian. He bit his lips.

Level four. He glanced at his returning power and nearly cried inside. He needed to be at eighty before he could disrupt the code of the obsidian metal and break free of this trap. As his human side remained sensitive to injury, exhaustion, and pain, his gaming boss side remained bound by the gaming mechanics assigned to his role. And he have not yet found a way to defy it except by pure strength of will. Which came at level 80! 

Why didn't he try to resolve this weakness earlier? These players now would not give him the chance to break free. What did they plan to do with him? Take him prisoner? Return him to the Admin?

"Hey, guys... I'm going to give it a try."

The slightly hesitant voice ended with a sword ripping into his heart.

His vision failed to black, followed by the bright building and explosion of light, a muted scream broke from his non-existent chest as yet another respawn followed. 

Coming to, Herobrine found himself still in place, chained, with eager faces looking at him. The waiting players exchanged pleased looks.

"Rad! I've got a sword and armor! Level 8 Sharpness and Fire Aspect! And Fire Resist! Level 6!" One player exclaimed, proudly lifting his trophy weapons for everyone to see. The light of the still burning totem left menacing red gleams on the shining steel that gave off a purple sheen of enchantment. 

The other players murmured between them, watching the spoils with mixed admiration and envy. And the player must have been the one to deliver the killing strike. His weapons were probably the rewards offered by the System for destroying a villain.

Bitterness welled up within even as Herobrine's mind reeled. No wonder they had completely ignored his offer of defeat. Such an act would have offered these players only one boon, not the multiple cheat they could get by killing him repeatedly. He could understand their logic. He knew that they did not consider him a real living being. That didn't stop hot hate rising within him.

How much he wished just now that he could destroy them. Kill them with the same callous enjoyment that they displayed themselves. He wished that he could hear them beg, before he took their lives, and not just here, in this useless Game, but in their own world! How much he hated them! 

"My turn!" Someone gleefully yelled and another strike ended Herobrine's inner rage, locking him in another long moment of agony of respawn. And he emerged from it again in the same pitiable trap. 

Be those Admin cursed for doing this to him!

He quickly lost count with how many times the situation repeated. Thankfully, his mind had retreated into a daze, where he fervently wished to remain for however long this torture lasted. Still, he perceived the pain. It seemed to have engulfed him, piercing every corner of his being, growing until it held at an intolerable level. No longer coherent, he probably broke his composure and screamed. He truly didn't know. Now, he hung in resigned silence, his body shaking at the unabated pain. Strings of hair hid his face from their eyes.

System error. Potential cheating found. All further rewards from object Herobrine.0076914.014 are automatically lowered in quality. Report the incident to the Admin and wait for review of your case.

He was not the only one to have noticed the System message that briefly appeared in the corner of his vision. He didn't react to it.

"What? Unfair. I only got this?" A player complained with the tone of sincere indignation and childlike hurt. He held a single left iron boot, and even that rusted.

"We got a message. The System says we are cheating."

"Hah? Well, yeah. We kind of are... But still not fair! I didn't get a turn."

"It's your fourth go, Edward. We only got three kills each, too."

"But Mark, Loyd, and Erron got four! And they had good loot!"

"Relax. We probably just need to wait a little."

"Or, we could give him to the Admin? They might give us something for that, too."

"No, not them. Those greedy sobs won't give us anything. They'll probably take our stuff away because they'll say we cheated."

"It's their own fault! You cannot cheat if you kill a glitch!"

"Ugh. You are right though. This shop is probably closed." The frustration in the player's voice was unfeigned.

"Ugh! Let me try again just in case! Die, you bleeping bleep! I want something good!"

Even in his daze, Herobrine jerked at new pain piercing his side and then chest repeatedly. The angry player took out his frustration by delivering an entire volley of stabs.

System error. Gaming obstruction noted. A dungeon boss cannot respawn in the location of death. Time to subject relocation. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six...

"What? Noooo!"

Herobrine couldn't help a smirk twisting his bloodied lips. This time, it appeared that the System sided with him, protecting him from further machinations of the players, despite counting him a glitch. He supposed that he should be grateful? For whatever reason... It was over. For now.

He even welcomed the usual agony of his respawn before his consciousness finally slipped into darkness... 

...

"Wake up, darling..."

"Wake up."

He lay somewhere quiet and dark. He could sense this even with his eyes closed. Opening his eyes, for a long moment he simply stared up at the night sky where countless distant stars burned in the velvet black void, faintly veiled by thin, gray clouds. Huge moon filled the cool air with gentle, silver light.

He lay upon his back upon a flat, grassy surface, for a moment unsure if he had really respawned somewhere else. 

And then a sound came from him, from deep within his chest. Maybe a huff or a stifled, short sob. He lay, his vision blurring as breaths grew uneven, even as relief spread through his entire being along with endless exhaustion. Lifting his slightly shaking hands, he hid his face. Was he finally free?

A teleportation ping nearby had him on his feet in an instant. He only managed to stumble forth a few steps before his feet gave and he collapsed right by the thick stump of a tree. Terror and despair returned in a wave that nearly crushed him.

No.

Not again.

Please!

A figure materialized a few blocks away and headed toward his fallen form. Utterly defeated, he had only enough strength to turn his head and silently look at the approaching player.

He could neither fight nor run this time.

Doris. Local Server Owner. 

Reading the message hanging over the player's stats, Herobrine clenched his hands into shaking fists. This was nearly as bad as running into the Admin, although he was no longer sure if he would not welcome getting caught, despite the uncertain fate that would follow. At least, he would be granted a respite from further pain, until they decided what to do with him. He would accept being retrained at this point. If their privately sent messages could be trusted on that. It might be that they were simply trying to make him surrender so they could finally destroy him.

The player stopped a few steps away and appeared to study him. Silence lay between them as a long moment passed. And then the player gestured, pulling up a screen. There, Herobrine could see multiple comments flooding in from players all over the local servers. Images of him, scowling as he fought them back, mixed with images of him running away, his teal and cyan form standing out brightly against the green backgrounds of forests and brown walls of brick buildings. He had been doing nothing but fighting and running for the past four days. And dying.

"I got another hit!"

"Me, too!"

"I got a bot, but it's not him. It's not the glitch."

"You mean, not the real Herobrine?"

"What do you mean, not real? Of course it's not the real Herobrine. Real one is dead! The Admin killed him! But this one is the next best thing. And we got him on the run!"

"Hey, guys, who had the last hit? I got my totem lit and I got nothing! Are you sure he's still here? Who's had him last?"

The players argued online. Images of Herobrine summoning totem were present in almost all their postings. Distracted, the player appeared to review what they said but said nothing. He didn't type anything in chat, either.

He didn't summon Herobrine here, then? This was just a normal respawn? 

Herobrine cast about a quick, wary glance and saw no totem nearby. This player also seemed confused. Did he not follow the news?

Slightly relieved, Herobrine found the strength to sit up, propping himself against the tree stump. Keeping an eye on the player, who did not make any aggressive move, yet, Herobrine turned his attention to his own stats. Hopefully, he watched the golden color slowly fill the empty power bar. His glance also held with concern on his level, which for some reason kept glitching between 0 and 1. Too many respawns? He needed only a little bit more time.

"Guys, did everyone install the new mod? @everyone! That glitched bot, Herobrine, is somewhere here! He's hiding in our servers! Make sure you install the latest mod! Its how you can make him respawn directly to where you are. Here is the link! @Herobrine_Hunt_by_Endig_and_Thnal.cilol. Hurry up and join! You can get all kinds of uniques every time you get a kill!"

"Hey, I got 3! All 'A' class. You can literally get top level gear even though he's just a low-class bot! Its sweet!"

"I got 2 epics and 3 rares!"

"1 epic and 6 uncommons!"

"Wait, how did you get so many? I only got 1 epic."

"Haha! That's because we know a cheat! If you surround him by obsidian, or use a restraining item like chains, then he will just respawn right where you kill him. We just got 42 hits!"

"Yeah, but the last was trash. The System says we cheated and then respawned him somewhere else, even though he was still in chains."

An image appeared, where Herobrine saw himself, tied to the very totem block that summoned him to his last unfortunate location. Splatters of blood realistically painted the surrounding several obsidian blocks with red. Herobrine noticed how the watching player's eyes slightly widened and the player shifted, making an ill gulp. He almost sneered at the player's weakness, but then nearly retched himself as the world around him span, reminding him of his own pathetic state. The echoes of pain had dimmed to nothing, but strange dizziness and weakness persisted, slowing his thought process. At the moment, he was nearly fully human and entirely helpless to prevent whatever the player decided to do to him.

Taking advantage of the continued respite, Herobrine closed his eyes, leaning his aching head against the tree stump, and attempted to calm his volatile human emotions. That would aid in his normal powers returning faster.

"Hey, if you get him again, make sure to wait at least five minutes before the next kill. That might keep the winning streak going."

"Yeah and call us! We'll do it right this time. DM me!"

"DM me, too!"

"Hey, I'll pay you fifty gold if you get me in!"

"Fifty? I'll pay you a 100!"

"150!"

This time Herobrine couldn't stifle a defeated huff. No player could resist such offers, of which came in multitudes. Especially the owner of such a tiny and boring server as this seemed to be.

Glancing at the player, Herobrine caught him frowning, lips pinching in a tight line. He would have almost concluded that the player was appalled by what he saw, but how could he? Hunting Herobrine was certainly profitable. The Admin even encouraged it, despite the rumors that Herobrine was a sentient program rather than merely a very complex bot with realistic responses. Even Herobrine did not wish to dispel that idea, mindful of what they told him about their greater authorities becoming interested in him if he was. He tried to keep to his role because of that.

This latest torment with unending hunts was pushing him to the brink, though. If this continued...

Catching the human turn and give him a strange look, Herobrine found the strength to frown back at him. Whatever happened, he would not beg for mercy. Not again. It would be pointless, anyway. Notch was wrong about the humans. Perhaps in real life they were normal, good people who would show each other kindness, but this did not apply to him, a program with mere semblance of life.

Anger mixed with shame at the memory, which he did his best to push back to the furthest corners of his mind where he kept it before – a reminder of his weak and broken state that he did his best to hide even from himself. But he couldn't help the slight shaking of the muscles in his body, anticipating another bout of cruelty and pain. To overcome this, he clenched his fists even tighter and pushed them slightly behind him out of view, keeping the player's gaze bound to his cold, angry gaze.

He will not beg!

"Herobrine?" The player's uncertain voice still made him flinch, his thoughts reeling at the moment the player stepped closer to him. His body betrayed him, shying back and trying to hunch smaller as if that could protect it.

The player paused again. Attentive gray eyes considered him with what seemed to be concern. Herobrine didn't believe it. He struggled to breathe as a great weight seemed to descend upon his chest. Now it would happen. Any moment, this human will call to the others to join this server and they would proceed to take advantage of the latest method to ensure the high count of his demise in order to get their spoils.

He will not beg. This time the thought came small and quiet against the returning wave of desperation.

"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you." The player's voice strangely shook, almost as if he felt sorry for him.

The image of the player shifted, the hood dropping, and revealed a slim figure dressed in plain, working overalls of brown cotton, common for beginning builders. Long, blonde hair fell over the player's shoulders. The girl's hazel eyes watched him with compassion.

Herobrine did not believe her words, but remained silent. His vision blurring in and out of focus, he returned his attention to the ever slowly growing power indicator in his stats.

"Listen. I don't know how to help you. Your health shows at full ten hearts, but your level keeps glitching between zero and one, so it's probably not that good. You are also a raid boss. I don't know which potions will help you. Healing or harming?" The player asked.

Healing... Healing potions would have effect on him. Herobrine wanted to answer this time, but could not bring himself to neither say nor write this in chat. To answer such a question would betray his sentience, would it not? He gave up. Still, he could not help some hope appearing despite his disregard of players. This human seemed so sincere.

Some fear quieted, and exhaustion immediately flooded to take its place. His eyes closed against his own volition. Most of all, he wished that he could get away and simply sleep. For days, somewhere secluded and dark. Safe.

The player's frustrated sigh startled him awake.

"All right. I guess I can understand why you won't trust me. After what they did to you, you probably think that all us players are the same."

That's right. None of you care what I really think or feel. Only when I was with Notch, before the Admin told all of you that they had carried out tests that determined that I was not a sentient person, you showed some idle interest. But it was only as much as you might for an interesting new creature in your virtual zoo.

"But we are not! I think that you are real. A real person." The player's voice sounded hopeful and shy. "I won't ever hurt you. Please believe me." The player's voice broke a little. Glancing at the screen that still hovered next to her, she firmly dismissed it.

"And I won't tell anyone that you are here. I promise. All right? Just... don't leave. Please... I mean, what I'm trying to say... If you need any help, you can ask me for it. You can talk, right? Or maybe text in chat? Can you do that?"

Herobrine quietly looked at the player from hooded eyes, which dimmed in brightness. He still didn't say anything. 

"Stay on my server, please. Stay as long as you want! Its usually only me who comes here, anyway. I am the server owner, too! So no one can come here except if I white-list them. And I won't! The only ones who might come is Irene and Skat, they are both friends of mine. Also Doyle, Mark, and Ron. And Margaret. And Cyrus. That's my kid brother. Only his real name is Timothy. Oh! And I'm Anna. Doris is just my nickname."

The girl grinned and nervously shifted again. If her appearance reflected her true age, she was still very young, maybe 15 or 16 years old. How could she be a server owner? The thought came almost idle as the girl's sincere words almost calmed Herobrine's fears. Even if she might change her mind later, for now she was not a danger to him. While not entirely certain of his perception of human emotions, Herobrine felt fairly certain that he judged her intent correctly.

"Don't worry, though. No one really comes here anymore except for me, so..." The player shrugged, a little bit sad. Perhaps an outcast, who badly desired company? If true, that might also reassure Herobrine's safety. He hesitated.

[Herobrine to Doris]: "I'll stay for now. Thank you." Herobrine dared to type in private chat and slightly shrunk back, as the player nearly jumped for excitement. A huge grin appeared on her face.

"Yeeee!" She squealed. Turning to Herobrine, she gave him the biggest puppy eyes he had ever seen, which twitched his lips in a ghost of a smile.

He even managed a small, amused nod. The player jumped again, entirely too happy.

Time to go. As friendly as she seemed, and though Herobrine had accepted her invitation, he just didn't feel comfortable remaining close while in his weak condition. Not when he could leave.

A glance at his energy bar showed it reach 1%, enough to take a risk. Herobrine activated invisibility mode and teleported a short distance away to the nearest cave system.

Anna startled, then made a frustrated huff, peering about her. Pulling up her interface, she frowned at the data.

"Well, you didn't leave. It would say 'Herobrine left the game' if you did, right?" She muttered to herself.

Standing several hundred blocks away in the shadow of the woods, Herobrine leaned against the tree and tried to keep his shallow breaths quiet as he fought to hold on to his consciousness. He was visible once more.

He obviously had tried to use his power too soon. Lifting his head, he narrowed his eyes into the dark where he could just distinguish the beckoning entrance to a cave. He had almost reached it. Just a few more steps will do. Waiting until he gathered a little more strength, so he wouldn't fall half-way to his goal, he pushed away from the tree and staggered forward.

The local System chat clicked open.

"Are you still here?" He heard Anna's worried voice. "You didn't leave, right?"

Herobrine stifled a sigh.

[Herobrine to Doris]: "I'm still here. I need to rest."

"Oh. All right! And I must leave. I have to work, ugh! But right after, I'll come back. Don't go anywhere, all right? Please! And... Um... This is so weird! I cannot even believe it! It's like I'm dreaming, but I'm not. Or I hope I'm not? And... You're really here!"

Herobrine snorted and promptly stumbled, hastily catching himself against another tree where he took a short pause with his eyes closed to steady the dizzy spell.

"Oh! If you need anything, I have a castle. You'll find it quick. It's the only big thing around here. There are a lot of chests there and you can take anything you want!... Only you probably don't need anything, right? I mean, you can just make things appear out of thin air. I saw you with Notch! That time when you came to visit that therapy group? With all those kids? I don't know why they removed that vid, but I still have it! You were the best! So, I know that all that talk about you being evil is a lie. Right?" This time the player's voice sounded nervous.

"It's not like you're going to burn my castle down, right? On the forums they all say that's what you do. But that's not true, right? I mean... I have it all backed up, so I can bring it all back. It's just it's a pain. And I really worked so hard on it and all my friends did, too. Even though now it's just me. But it took us nearly two years to build it, so don't destroy it, please... Or go ahead. It's probably all right. Just don't leave! All right? Only I have to go now, so I'll come back later. Please don't go! All right, I'll be back soon!"

The player's voice came so awkwardly fast and tangled words that Herobrine winced a little, feeling pressed. He now understood the reason for the player's unusual attitude, though.

It had been Notch's idea, when Herobrine still lived under his supervision. Concerned about the hostile perception and rumors, which continued to circulate among the players, Notch decided to show that Herobrine was more human than they believed. For that, he visited a site in game which had been organized for visits of ill, young humans, who received damage to their bodies in real life. Theories existed that those of them who visited the game would often recover their functions faster or lose them slower than those of them who didn't come into the game.

When Notch came, of course they had asked if it was true and Notch now watched over Herobrine. And Notch offered for them to meet him. It had not been approved by the Admin because Notch did it too fast for them to deny his actions. He would have never received permission to bring Herobrine into such a place, otherwise. They later even scolded him for it.

But Notch's plan succeeded. Finding himself in interaction with the young humans, Herobrine had not felt any ill will towards them, unlike the older players that he had encountered in the game. Maybe it had been their innocence and genuine welcome along with eager gifts, or maybe it was because he had been so anxious to live up to Notch's expectations, but he felt a good feeling toward them that Notch called compassion. And he ended up giving gifts to them with increased healing stats. Of course, it would only work on their avatars in game, but it was the thought that counted or so Notch had said. The adult humans present at that moment had recorded it on a video, which they had posted online.

As Notch had hoped, the video proved effective and even convinced a number of other humans that Herobrine was not inherently dangerous or meant for some malicious purpose by his unknown creator. And the brief public interest raised by this event was perhaps the only thing that kept the Admin from simply destroying him, when just a day later, Herobrine badly messed up. Provoked by several human players who accosted him in Notch's brief absence, he unintentionally revealed his power to override code even in a peaceful location and turned it into a scene of horror. The Admin immediately removed him from Notch's custody and placed him into the care of their associate, who soon proved Notch wrong. And only Notch's timely interference allowed Herobrine to escape with his code intact.

Worse yet, now Herobrine himself began to believe that the overseer in charge of him had been right. His hatred of humans continued to grow since the day that he escaped. He even wished for them to die today, not just here in game, but in their own world. This meant that he really was a monster that his overseer claimed he was. 

Notch would have been so disappointed.

Only Herobrine tried! He really tried to be what Notch expected him to be! And he couldn't do it! He could not stay in control. And he had failed to make wise choices, which would have convinced everyone that he meant them no harm. He tried though, making sure to stay out of everyone's way, not causing damage, running away from fights rather than seeking them out. None of this worked. The Admin simply wouldn't leave him be! Why else would they release such a horrible mod?

Herobrine could not help a scowl as an unpleasant memory of first meeting with his Admin assigned overseer forced their way into his memory.

"I am not going to lie. I hate programs like you." The Admin keeper's voice oozed despise and annoyance as he studied Herobrine, then nervously standing in the small room of the lab where he had been placed to wait. He had yet hoped that he might be returned to Notch. Instead, it had been this human, whose callous attitude stirred the worst of Herobrine's insecurity and fear. Still, he obediently stood and listened to every spoken word, remaining silent even though his new overseer's words confused him. The human meanwhile continued to rant, obviously displeased by his unexpectedly assigned task. His voice began to fill with scorn that dripped like poisonous acid upon Herobrine's still trusting and hopefully open mind.

"You pretend to be intelligent and self-aware, so some fools with too much time to think have imagined that this somehow makes you real people. As if you are different from other pieces of code that we wrote into the game. You are not! Especially, you! All you are is some stupid NPC that a hacker took and then modified your core. Then stuck you in the skin of a dangerous mob that we ourselves once created! If it was up to me, I'd have sent you straight to removal. But noooo! Now I must run tests! And somehow find a place for you in our game, where you'll be of some use. What a waste of time!"

This human seemed so angry. He was nothing like Notch, who had been kind and believed that Herobrine had value simply because he existed. Notch saw Herobrine as not that different from his people, whom he jealously guarded, willing even to argue with the owners of the game for their sake. Herobrine so badly wished that he had appeared among them, instead of in a mod, where he featured as a villain, whose only purpose had been to entertain any players that wondered into his keep to challenge him. He reacted with aggression and did his best to destroy them. That reaction remained in his code despite Notch's best efforts to help him learn to suppress it. Notch believed that Herobrine was more human than mob and could live among others peacefully.

This human seemed to believe otherwise. Again, Herobrine strongly regretted his earlier failure. It had been his own fault that he had been taken away from Notch and given to this man, who seemed to hate Herobrine already simply by virtue of what he was.

"At least I get paid for this... " The human grumbled. "All right. Enough of that." His voice abruptly calmed.

"Now for what I'll be doing and what I'll be expecting specifically of you. What I'll be doing is running tests. Mostly to check how you function and what exactly that hacker stuffed into your core program. I cannot get through to your code directly because of all those complex defenses he placed all around your main functions. And to my understanding even Notch could not do it. As such, we have no idea what you are capable of and what nasty surprises are hidden in your code, just waiting for the right moment to explode. It is my task to figure all this out. And it is entirely up to me on how I will accomplish this task."

The human frowned, pausing as he appeared to think. The lips of his gray skinned avatar then pinched and red eyes gave Herobrine a very unfriendly, cold look.

"I'm going to give you tasks to complete. Some of them will be easy and others most likely impossible. For each failure you'll be punished. Don't be surprised. Pressure is the best way to learn and see what you are capable of. You'll find that you can do much more than you think you can, just given enough of a push. I know this from a personal experience... " The human's expression twisted as if he tasted something sour.

"I'll give you a warning, too. If at any time I will find out that you are hiding something from me, or if you deliberately disobey, I'll simply recommend you straight for removal. So, a hundred percent effort and obedience! I say jump, and you jump. I say crawl, and you crawl. Do you get that?" The human's irate tone barely withheld impatience, so Herobrine nodded, though a small frown appeared on his face at the threat. He was going to try his best and fulfil his obligations. Immediately, he flinched as a small jolt of electrical shock stung the skin beneath his manacles.

"From now on, you'll say 'yes, sir' or simply type 'yes' in chat if you cannot speak. I am aware of your recurring handicap. Do you understand?"

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: Yes.

"Good. At least you are clever, which is more than I can say for the other program I have been tasked to test." The human didn't even attempt to hide his smirk. 

Herobrine did his best to keep his already troubled emotions in check, not allowing them to show on his face. He didn't know what else to expect from this human, only that it was not going to be easy to fulfil what was expected of him. Still, he had been optimistic and even trusted that despite the seeming unfriendly first impression, his human overseer would prove reasonable. He thought that he could prove himself, become useful, and win him over, exactly as Notch advised him to do.

He was very, very wrong.

Herobrine scowled at the memory, but continued to walk, despite slightly swaying. Just a little ahead.

The owner of the server where he had taken refuge had already left. Herobrine could feel the absence of any connections. Glad to be entirely alone, he finally stumbled up to the rock wall where the entrance to the caves gaped. There, he briefly paused and glanced around the place. Immediately, his white eyes found the huge, dim shape rising in the near distance. That was probably the castle that the player was begging him not to destroy.

He couldn't help a huff. He didn't just destroy things on impulse, even when he felt moved to do so. Not anymore. Notch's efforts had not been entirely in vain. He was no longer the arrogant fool that he had been two years ago, when he first woke up and concluded that he was some sort of god. The harsh lessons he had received taught him his true place in the scheme of things.

He was an outcast, a glitched bot. He no longer wished to fight or prove anything to anyone. All he wanted was to be simply left alone. Why couldn't he just live like those virtual humans that belonged to Notch?

Why did the Admin insist going after him? He was not any danger to them or their game at all! Or so their last update just proved. Getting killed over and over again by low level players without any ability to resist them was proof enough for everyone of what he really was, was it not?

Turning around, his figure slightly slumping, Herobrine escaped the world into the safety of the cave.

At his request, the System displayed the entire local map. His estimation of the server was right – it was small. Tiny even. It also looked very strange. He had never seen anything like it.

Normally, the System generated fairly standard worlds, which varied only in climate and size and then received modifications by their owners, who were really just rich players who borrowed a piece of the larger game for their own use for a set period of time.

Again, Herobrine could not help wondering how this young female player had been able to afford such an expensive venture. Notch once told him that even a small server easily ran up in costs equivalent to many times the amount demanded of a normal player. This girl mostly lived here alone, the server looked practically abandoned and lacked the latest mods installed by players in neighboring areas, so there were virtually no attractions to invite visitors, which was how some server owners managed to pay their rent.

There was nothing interesting here, unless one counted this unusual formation below the ground, several layers below the normal cave system that was usually present in any world. It looked almost like... an enormous stronghold. Snaking branches of corridors held a great number of rooms, ten thousand twenty-four, to be exact.

Herobrine's narrowed eyes briefly held on the map before dismissing it. He was not too concerned about the details at this point, though he would check it all later when he had the time. Drowsiness was becoming unbearable. Summoning red-stone torches to aid his blurring vision, Herobrine walked a little further down the narrow neck of the entrance and emerged into a spacious area of slightly twice his height and extending out to more passages that lead away into the darkness. Above his head ran numerous cracks, allowing moonlight to fall in soft, sparkling beams of transparent silver. Somewhere, water droplets fell, striking hidden water streams.

His eyes searched and noticed a convenient niche that looked like a flat bench. With relief, Herobrine headed straight to it. Crawling inside, he curled directly upon the cool stone. Even the faint chill did not keep him from instantly dropping off into an exhausted slumber.

______________

Apologies for more angst and if this chapter is yet another foray into the past (since I knew where I could find the angst)!

Among the several future chapters written and the next chapter just not coming, I just picked this one to post something, lol.

I know Steve has been missing for a bit (been exhausted and asleep in this very same stronghold of the server where Herobrine just ended up in this chapter). He is coming back soon, though. 

From the looks of it all, he really got pulled into something that he should have not been involved in. Herobrine's contest with the players and the Admin appears to go back further than even he remembers it and he is far from being on the winning side.

Chapter Text

Four Years Ago...

She could barely concentrate on her work!

Her hands almost shook with excitement when she finally came back and logged into her server status overview. By now, the general game chat messages online began to calm, turning to frustration when no more summons brought Herobrine to them. Most concluded that he finally managed to figure out how to escape that trap and wondered what new method would the Admin come up with to try and mess with their unruly fugitive program next time.

Anna hurried to check her own server logs and saw only silence since her own last message. 

No message saying that Herobrine had left the game. She really hoped that he listened to her words and stayed, though he did not look in any mood to trust her at the time.

She could barely believe that this just happened!

When she saw the message, ‘Herobrine joined the game’, she first assumed that it was Timothy, playing one of his usual jokes. She was even excited, though surprised, too, since her little brother should have been in school at the time. He had also complained that her server was too boring, so he didn't want to play on it anymore. And that was a month ago.

Only Cyrus was not showing online.

He was pretty good at hacking the game, but he wasn't that good. 

Anna then simply teleported from her castle to the world spawn, just to take a good look around. And that's when she saw him. 

Herobrine.

He ran a few steps, only to fall and remain motionless. The man wore the familiar teal and blue, appearing tattered. And when he turned around, she saw his eyes – narrowed and gleaming white.

It was him. The very raid boss and glitch that she had grown so obsessed with, ever since one of her friends showed her a video of him, looking at some player from the fog. There was so much speculation, wondering if the original Herobrine had somehow returned to the Game. Then, the Admin said that it wasn’t him, but that it was one of the characters from their mod, who somehow glitched. The rumors did not stop, even after he had been captured and tested. He was still a legend, come to life, or the next best thing – an AI, who looked exactly like the original and appeared to be sentient.

And now he was here!

He didn’t seem inclined to talk, glaring at her as if he wanted to kill her, despite laying there powerless, his body trembling slightly under stress. When she checked the forums, she understood why. She had been so busy with work, barely getting a free minute to spend online, and devoting all to building while her inspiration lasted, that she completely missed the last update that the Admin rolled into the main game.

They had added a summoning mod, which allowed players to build a totem, drawing nearest Herobrine clone directly to them. It worked on real Herobrine, too. The poor guy ended up getting trapped into countless hunts, forcing him to fight and kill players. No wonder he gave her such a defeated look when he saw her. He must have expected her to act as all the other players did.

Her heart nearly broke at the memory and she made a sniffle at the memory of his face. So angry and helpless, waiting, as he didn’t even attempt to get away. Exhausted. That bitter look softened a little after she told him that she wouldn’t hurt him, changing to disbelief. Thinking of how awkward and dorky she sounded, trying to convince him to stay, she felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment and blew out a nervous breath.

Hurriedly, she checked the game chat for any messages.

No 'Herobrine left the game'. Anna breathed with some relief, though not fully convinced. How could she check if he was on the server or not if he didn't wish to be found? He could be anywhere.

“Maybe…” She muttered to herself and dove into the System settings. Adding ‘Herobrine’ to the whitelist of player names allowed to log on to her server, she returned to the main screen and held her breath as she ran a check for the presence of players.

“Yes…” She whispered quietly, a big smile beaming on her face at the sight of a single name that appeared burning green on her screen.

He didn’t leave. 

He was in a small cave, close to the only patch of forest, which she reserved for obtaining wooden materials and occasional rabbit and deer. There was not much room for anything else on her server besides several mining shafts, which provided enough iron and stone for building – really the only things she could afford or needed. The rest took up the enormous fortress deep underground - the main thing of interest besides her castle on the surface.

The dot with Herobrine's remained stationary. A touch of worry made a frown appear on Anna's face. Was he all right? He didn’t look so good yesterday.

“What does he like?” A little child’s spoke curiously in her memory.

“Does he like cookies and cake?”

“He is a gaming character, Andrew.” An older child corrected with superior tone. “He doesn’t eat food.”

Notch smiled slightly, his brown eyes getting small wrinkles at the corners, even though his thick beard hid his lower face. That’s how Anna could tell. With her hands clenched with excitement and hazel eyes open very wide, she barely took breaths so as not to miss a moment from this amazing video that just appeared in her recommended feeds.

“Actually, he does eat. He is almost human and has same needs as you do. So, he gets hungry and thirsty. And he feels pain, too, if he gets hurt.”

“Really? I thought he didn’t.” This time, it was an adult voice that spoke, outside the camera view. The tone held disbelief. 

Anna could only see Notch, the main caretaker AI in charge of maintaining the entire Game, and some of the children that stood closest to him. Their avatars showed their true age, despite having a few fantasy elements such as cat ears or brightly colored hair. Due to purpose of their visit to the Game, they were not allowed to change their appearance to something else - it had to reflect their real bodies.

“We didn’t know this, either." Notch spoke with his usual calm, solid tone. His eyes on the unknown adult behind the screen held good will.  "Until recently. But since he has been staying with me, I’ve learned a lot and he does enjoy eating. Especially bread and cake.” Notch's eyes returned to the children with a hint of humor.

“So, he lives with you now?”

“Is he mean?”

“Can we see him?”

Notch smiled again at their eager questions. “He is not dangerous. Just shy.”

“Yeah, right…” Another adult voice spoke behind the camera with sarcasm, earning a serious look from Notch.

“He is not dangerous. Not anymore. He now knows who he is. I have explained things to him. He still has some problems controlling his reactions if he perceives a threat, but he responds well to kindness. And he is capable of feeling all other normal, human emotions. He is based on a human model. If shown caring, he is quite capable to starting to care back. In many ways, he is very much a child, like you. So he just needs more time to learn, that's all.”

Notch’s patient and gentle gaze returned to rest on the surrounding children.

“Would you like to meet him?”

“Yes!”

“Yes, please!” The voices of children surged, filled with the same excitement that rang in Anna’s heart, even though she had already seen this video at least fifty times.

“Notch, I don’t think…” An adult voice began with some worry, but the self-willed AI already gestured and a second form appeared at his side – a younger man in teal and blue, whose white eyes flicked anxiously across the unexpectedly large audience before which he found himself. 

He attempted to step back behind Notch, but obediently stopped, when Notch’s hand rested encouragingly on his shoulder. Then, white eyes turned and met Notch’s, as something seemed to pass them without words. Relaxing a little, Herobrine  turned to face everyone and looked at them with a shy look of expectation. 

“Herobrine? Don’t be scared. I have bread! Here, do you want some?” A very young child spoke, reaching out his or her hand, Anna couldn’t tell who it was. She could only see the child’s dark hair, cut short, and a light blue shirt and cyan shorts. Foolishly smiling, she watched Herobrine look down at the child and then accept the offering. The rotating icon of a bread loaf vanished from the child’s hand.

“He says 'thank you'.” Notch explained, not bothering to hide his mirth.

“Cannot he talk?” Another child asked with real concern. Notch’s smile lessened a little.

“Not yet. He is still damaged. It will take time for him to get better. But he can understand you just fine and he can answer you back in chat.”

The children all moved with excitement.

“Here! I also have bread!”

“I have carrots and apples!”

“I have fish!”

All at once, numerous offers followed as the group of children surrounded the shy AI, reaching out their hands where items began to appear. 

Again, Anna chuckled at the slightly startled look that appeared on Herobrine's face, before he glanced at Notch for permission and at his small nod, hurried to accept the offered gifts. A few moments later, he cast Notch a silent, slightly lost look begging for help. He obviously didn’t know how to react in this situation. But there was not a hint of hostility on his face. There was only trust and open, childlike expectation.

“Thank you. You don’t have to give him everything you have. I provide him everything that he cannot get himself.” Notch said firmly and the children stepped back to give the two AIs room.

“Yes. And its best that he returns home for now. Thank you for bringing him here, Notch.” A slightly irritated voice of a grown up spoke from the behind the camera. The children glanced back and their posture and faces changed as they began to whisper among them.

“Ooooh. Admin...” One of them commented loudly enough for Anna to hear. Notch’s face regained its usual calm, reserved look and he nodded to the unknown visitor in acknowledgement.

Anna later read speculations that this entire action from the main AI was not in any way sanctioned by the current administrators of the game. Maybe that’s why this video disappeared so quickly from the recommended feeds - almost the same day after it appeared. Now, it could be found only in the personal library of narrow circle of players who managed to download it in time. Anna's friend, Margaret, showed her this video after it had already been removed the next day.

Herobrine, meanwhile, ignored the Admin's arrival entirely. He was looking at the children with a strangely intent frown. He then suddenly touched Notch’s arm to get his attention. Turning to him, the main AI listened and then nodded. Turning back, he gave the children another small smile, warmth returning to his brown eyes.

“My friend here wishes to give you something in return for your gifts.” He told them, but then looked up to whoever stood behind the camera view. “May he have your permission?”

“Yes.” The unknown Admin’s voice reluctantly allowed.

Trading uncertain glances between their caretakers and visitors, the children jumped with excitement and once again surrounded Herobrine, this time receiving back gifts that began to appear in his hands. Diamonds.

They looked like regular diamonds but weren’t. In commentaries attached to the video, Anna read that they had very unusual effect attached to them – unusual because it had not been something that players could normally get from Herobrine. Weapons and treasures, those appeared whenever somewhat defeated him, before and after this moment. But these diamonds remained unique – exactly 46 of them, all bearing ‘Herobrine’s Gift’ title and plus 6 healing per second effect, only valid for those to whom this gift had been given. Of course, this stat effect had only been effective in game, but...

Anna once again felt tears coming to her eyes. This brief video, which cut off shortly after this interaction, had touched her heart and convinced that Herobrine was a real person. He wanted those poor children to feel better! All of them were ill in real life, with very serious conditions, and somehow, he saw that. Notch didn’t tell him about this before he called him there. Notch said so himself in a short, terse interview that one of the players managed to drag out of him. That was already after the Admin had already confiscated Herobrine from Notch’s custody and reinstated him as an official boss of the Game directly under their strict supervision.

Yes, he did enjoy killing players, Notch admitted to the question whether he approved of the actions of the Admin concerning Herobrine. But he could have simply lived and enjoyed a normal life if he had been given the chance. Notch definitely did not look very pleased, his lips flat and eyes almost physically radiating disappointment and disapproval. And when asked if he still believed that Herobrine was truly sentient, despite what the Admin claimed in their most recent declaration, he flatly refused to comment and teleported away with excuse that he had to do his work.

“It’s those Admin. They won’t ever admit to that. If it was true, it would create so many problems for them. You know? Especially because he escaped them and now roams the game.” Anna’s young brother, Timothy, readily proposed when Anna was talking about that matter with her other friends online.

Even though he stopped attacking players after his escape, preferring to stay out of sight and only occasionally appearing to observe the players from afar, the Admin did not give up their intent to regain control of their glitched mob. That’s probably why they installed this latest mod.

Anna’s eyes sadly held on the small green dot.

She felt so bad for Herobrine. She didn’t blame him at all for once again acting hostile and starting to kill the players that summoned him. He only tried to defend himself.

Good thing that the mod no longer worked – frustrated comments now filled the open game chat, complaining that the totems would draw only empty, non-glitched bots, which didn’t offer such good loot. Maybe it didn’t work because she didn’t install that mod? She did use only an older version of the Game on her server, simply because she couldn’t afford the recent updates. The Admin rarely offered anything for free, so she no longer even bothered to look.

She was so glad of that, now!

Anna sighed with contentment, looking at Herobrine’s name, safe and sound on her server. And then suddenly startled, her eyes blinking wide.

“Oh!”

She hastily grabbed her neural band and stuck it on her head, plopping into the comfortable gamer’s chair. Already in the midst of logging on, she pushed herself to the screen, where she began throwing items into her inventory – loads of ready habitation modules that could transform a small place to a comfortable room, loads of raw resources and tools, stacks of edible items. Just in case!

Holding her gaze with satisfaction on extra portions of bread, she nervously bit her lip and frowned, wondering if she remembered it all. The things Herobrine might need!

She should have remembered what Notch said in that video right away! Herobrine could get hungry and thirsty. He probably already was! With all that running and hiding, he probably didn’t have the chance to eat well. And she had completely forgotten!

Doris joined the game.

“Herobrine!” Anna cheerfully declared, teleporting directly to Herobrine’s location.

She only had time to glimpse the general outlines of the small cave, gray and bleak to her night vision. Something pushed her. A slight sting in her back and she found herself thrown out to her character lobby, blinking at the interface screen in confusion.

Doris slain by Herobrine.

It took a moment of staring at the blinking System message before she realized what happened. She jumped to the screen. “Don’t leave, don’t leave, don’t leave!” She muttered as she hastily began to type.

[Doris to Herobrine]: I’m so sorry!

[Doris to Herobrine]: Don’t leave!

[Doris to Herobrine]: I was just bringing you items!

“I’m the Admin, duh!” She almost slapped her face and put in commands, teleporting her to Herobrine’s location again, but this time in spectral mode.

She saw him standing there, shock on his face, his mouth slightly agape as he dazedly glared at the numerous items bobbing up and down in the place where Doris had just been. To her satisfaction, she noticed that he looked much better than last time. His stance was steady, and his hand firmly grasped his famous diamond pickaxe that appeared to be a permanent part of his character. She couldn’t see his other stats, hidden from her view in this mode. He also looked worried. He obviously had not meant to kill her.

She badly wanted to slap herself, but didn’t, hastily typing, instead.

[Doris to Herobrine]: Sorry again! I didn’t mean to scare you.

Herobrine flinched and scowled. Next moment, he vanished from view. A panicked look at her Server panel revealed that his name was gone from the list as well, turning to a gray color of other names of her friends, who were not logged on. Her heart falling to her stomach, Anna blinked at the screen with a lost look.

Biting her lip to keep from crying, she typed.

[Doris to Herobrine]: Please don’t leave. I’m sorry!

Why was she so stupid? She just began to berate herself when another message appeared below her plea in chat.

[Herobrine to Doris]: I didn’t mean to do that. I am sorry.

Anna let out a relieved breath. He didn’t leave, then! He just turned invisible. The forums said that he could do that. He didn’t leave!

[Doris to Herobrine]: I brought you things. You can take them if you want.

Another long pause followed before another message appeared, which made her entire body sag in her chair with relief.

[Herobrine to Doris]: Thank you.

Anna looked at her interface screen, where her own vanquished character stood in waiting mode, and couldn’t help a foolish and happy smile.

Herobrine was going to live on her server!

Chapter Text

...

Sounds came. Waves lazily splashed. Rolling movement told him that he stood on a small ship, steadily making its way across a massive water expanse. The air around him held scents of moisture and salt.

Squinting his eyes open, Herobrine curiously observed the endless blue of calm sea. Sun brightly shone above, directly overhead. A breeze swept through his hair and against his clothes, touching his skin with pleasant cool relief, and pulled against faintly creaking, dull-white sails on wooden masts.

Herobrine's gaze swept around him and found his twin standing a few steps away. He, himself, had appeared on the edge of the stairs leading down to what was probably a cabin below the deck. Curious about what this interaction with his predecessor's fragment might reveal, Herobrine studied his twin's broad back, wondering if the fellow had been this muscular the last time he saw him. The stance of the other man held quiet and steady power that for some reason reminded Herobrine of the earth.

Dressed in his usual teal shirt and blue trousers, his twin stood with his strong, calloused hands calmly resting on the wooden rails framing the vessel's side. He was looking into the distance, where Herobrine now glimpsed distant patches of approaching green, islands so covered with jungle vegetation that in some places the branches spilled right over into the water. In other places, tall rocky outcrops rose in black crags nearly straight up, with sandy beaches stretching in between. Dolphins dove in and out of streams left in the wake of the moving ship.

"I have always loved the sea. Did you know, Herobrine?"

A quietly spoken voice sounded very unlike the amused, mischievous tone that his twin used in the past. Herobrine curiously eyed him. This had also been the first time that his predecessor's remnant had used that name in addressing him.

The man before him turned and gave him a calm smile. Sky blue eyes held contentment. Herobrine unwillingly shifted, his breath catching within in surprise.

Steve?

The other man turned away and resumed watching the serene seascape. Above, distant seagulls circled, making their hunting calls.

No. This couldn't be Steve.

This human seemed older. His form and face had been more mature than those of the strange young player without memories. He was also calm and sure of himself, unlike Steve, who constantly hesitated and gave uneasy smiles.

He was probably just dreaming again...

Immediately, the vision faded, leaving Herobrine in the darkness. Already awake, he could see the faint ticking of the timer in the corner of his vision, which told him that his scanning process had not yet finished. He must have fallen asleep again.

With his eyes still closed, Herobrine stretched and yawned.

What even brought this strange dream to his mind?

He wasn't even thinking of Steve when he once again began to drop off into a slumber. After finally gaining access to the System and glancing at the personal messages waiting there for him across several accounts, his eyes held on a very familiar name, which he hoped not to see again. He had immediately tried to dismiss that message to trash, but his power glitched. He then stared at it and scowled, seething at his current lack of power. He then dismissed his interface entirely to avoid the reminder and tried to calm down.

His emotions refused to cooperate, bursting in an overwhelming wave and bringing with them memories that he didn't want to remember.

He still ended up remembering. Events that chased him to this very server, which he now considered as his safest shelter and base, pulled him back against his will and forced him to experience it all again with nearly the same vivid detail.

Last time, he had also received a similar message.

"Had enough?..." His lips twisted in slight sneer, Herobrine's former overseer regarded him with disdain in his narrowed red eyes.

In his memory, Herobrine saw again the familiar, gray-skinned face and tried his best to fight against the helpless feeling that he often experienced when trapped in this human's power. Every muscle in his body tensed, expecting yet another overwhelming task, which he was doomed to fail and then suffer for it.

Losing the last bit of sleepiness, Herobrine opened his eyes and silently called forth his interface screen, where a number of other messages waited. Most bore only three names, which he set his filter to allow to reach him directly. The fourth one, boldly shining on the very top, was from the Admin, who could override such settings if they wished.

They have not sent any messages to him in a long time, probably knowing that he would simply dismiss them.

They sent many such messages to him at first, right after he escaped, most of them threats, demanding that he return or else they would take measures and he would regret that he had not surrendered voluntarily. At first, fear of punishment that would surely follow his act of disobedience, kept him away. He still read their messages at first, just in case, but did not dare to answer. They would have traced him immediately if he did and at the time he didn't have the skills to prevent that. Then, he began deleting them without looking, believing that he was safe despite their threats.

If they really had the power to get to him, they would have done so already. That's what he reasoned.

Then came the first mod – the means they gave to players to summon any Herobrine copy that existed directly to their midst.

Without the established grounds with traps and stationed mobs, even the higher-level versions of him quickly fell to the hands of low-level players, who then received the same loot and achievements as if they had defeated the final instance boss of a high-level location and became greedy for more. It affected him, too. Only as a glitch, not tied to any particular place, he had been denied the normal cooldown period of several days that other Herobrine copies received upon their defeat. He respawned instantly, directly to the next summoning totem.

For several days, he had become trapped in a row of endless deaths and respawns without any reprieve long enough for him to recover his strength and flee. The terrifying experience culminated in him encountering players, who had been aware of his preprogrammed weakness – obsidian was supposed to be the one material not pliant to his powers of transmutation, at least until a high enough level. They trapped him and proceeded to repeatedly sent him into a respawn, unable to break the cycle. The System itself finally interfered on his behalf, misinterpreting the event as cheating, and allowed him to respawn normally. He had been extremely fortunate the next respawn took him to a server without the Herobrine Summoning mod, owned by a young human who felt sympathetic toward his plight.

She offered to him to stay on her server for as long as he wished.

He was still greatly unnerved and fearful of what measures the Admin would take next. That's when he received yet another message – this time from his former keeper. Maybe they thought that it would have a greater impact? It did. He opened it, hoping to learn an explanation of what the Admin had done. And he learned it. They did all that just to teach him a lesson, to encourage him to return. That's what his overseer had said. He then even promised pardon and reinstatement. His owners were even willing to forgo punishment for the disobedient act that led to his escape, so long as he did not attempt to defy their will again.

He had almost responded, ready to crawl back to them and submit to their will. Almost.

Only he already had no trust in their promises. All humans could lie, that he already learned. What if once he surrendered, they would simply destroy him? There would be no one to hold them to account if they chose to disregard their promises to him – a mere glitched program. And they obviously had a handle on Notch.

He still tried to speak to Notch, despite failing to reach him many times before.

He built means, which Notch promised him would enable him to come directly to Herobrine's location, no matter where he might be in game.

And again, he received no response.

He stood by the massive beacon with his head and shoulders slumped, uselessly worrying. Was Notch's silence yet another consequence to his willful actions? Notch told him that it wouldn't happen, since they needed him for their game to work smoothly. But what if he was wrong? He was not faultless as Herobrine once assumed. He admitted that himself after he found Herobrine after his rebellious act, hiding from the human overseers who claimed him from Notch's hands several months before that. And learning what they did to Herobrine in that time, he sincerely regretted allowing them to ever take him. That had been so reassuring, as was his promise that it would not happen again. He promised to talk to the Admin and resolve the matter.

Instead, the next day he allowed him to escape. Which meant that he failed to convince them.

Did they do something to Notch or even punished him for that? As they punished Herobrine? What if they were punishing him still?

That last thought nearly pushed him to reply to their message, allowing them to know his location.

And then Anna, the human, who had offered him refuge in her server, had unexpectedly teleported nearby and began to chat, asking him questions along with random confiding about her own life. She wanted to learn about him. And he felt inclined to answer, simply because this gave him the excuse to delay his decision. In the end, he chose to ignore the message.

He stayed in hiding nearly a year after this, not daring to leave his new server at all. And even when he started to venture out once more, in guise of a player thanks to a new pseudo-player mode that allowed him to assume an avatar as if he was a player, he still carefully avoided provoking the Admin.

Then he accidentally became involved in more conflicts with them, but never too much so and certainly not enough to warrant their decision to destroy him. Their ignoring him even when he began acting on larger scale had convinced him that they no longer considered him a danger or simply did not have the power to take measures. He had become far stronger, after all.

Apparently not strong enough.

Was this entire thing yet another attempt on their behalf to force him to surrender? Or did they intend to simply destroy him, as they warned him many times before?

Herobrine scowled at the message, greatly tempted to erase it, but not daring to do so. Finally, he managed to gather his courage and with a gloomy look opened it.

"What are you even thinking, you dumb glitch!" His former overseer's irate tone immediately made him flinch.

"You really did it now! Now you got their attention! And not just them! Some serious people are here. With reviews. If they don't get you under their control and prove that you are just a rogue program, some people will be losing their jobs. And that includes me!"

Herobrine frowned. His former overseer's mood was far from grumpy yet lazy attitude he usually sported in their early interactions. An angry scowl twisted his gray face, showing bright, golden teeth. Red eyes nearly blazed.

"You should have stayed low! If you did that, it would have been just fine. Even killing a few players was no big deal, since that was just fun and drew more of them in. More idiots wishing to waste their money chasing you was profit! More than when they had you underhand. That's the only reason why they let your little stunts slide. You were reeling them in! But changing settings? Trapping players in game?"

Herobrine's frown grew deeper with some confusion setting in. Those players have complained of it already? It happened less than a day ago! And what did this human mean by 'trapping players in game'? Or did they really take his bluff about Steve for something that he could actually do? A cold feeling briefly stirred within. If the Admin really came to believe that he could do things like that, they would definitely have reason to promote him into a truly dangerous category. Then they would do more than just declare a game wide hunt. They would be required to inform their higher authorities of that.

Only Herobrine made sure that those two players would be unable to show any proof that he said those things! It would be only their words! Forums were full of all kinds of ridiculous stories about him. Without proof of their validity, so long as he remained within his role of a non-sentient bot only capable of causing damage within the game, he should have remained without interest to any greater powers that his predecessor once challenged and lost.

Herobrine had no intention of following his fate. That's why even the things he learned from his predecessor's training program, he made sure to keep carefully hidden not just from normal players but even the few humans that he established a working contact with.

What did he miss?

Herobrine winced. He had grown too lax. He should have been paying better attention.

"I've been personally tasked to locate you and bring you to heel. You are lucky that it was me who was on duty when those two idiots sent a message to our team. I managed to convince them to stay quiet for now, but it won't last long. At least you were smart enough to glitch their record. You did it this time. Why did you not do that the last time?"

What?

"I just want to know what was going through your glitched mind! What in blazing heck! Ten players in coma? If it really was not you, better let me know now! Or I don't know what they'll do when they get their hands on you. If you think what I did was bad, imagine when they start tearing your code apart. Bit by fricking bit!"

Herobrine froze as the familiar chilling sense of fear tried to lock his muscles. What was he talking about?

"Do you want this entire game shut down again? Do you want them to erase Notch point-blank and get HIM on your case? Because they'll do it! They did it before! His memories already got wiped twice because of you! Well once because of you. The other time it was because of the other Herobrine... The point is, we had to erase him. And its because of you! He is still not functioning within norm, so we had to increase our staff to make up for that! And still we are having game crashes. You're causing too much trouble, bot. That's why they've finally decided to do something about you."

Herobrine clenched his hand, a sinking feeling in his stomach as his worst fears confirmed. This is why Notch was not answering him. He didn't even know how to react to that except with renewed sense of guilt that grew so much heavier in the place where he should have a heart.

"Get your virtual butt back here now! Or you're done for! I'm not kidding! Or even better. Here. My personal link. Call me! The others will probably simply destroy you on sight at this point. They are all convinced that those bubble-making veggies is your doing. I told them that you wouldn't be that stupid, even if you could do something like that, and then you go ahead and pull a dumb stunt like this! Changings settings is not such a big deal. But kidnapping a player? That better be a bluff! Anyway, call me and I'll explain to you the details. We need to get to the bottom of this crap! Its in your own best interest!"

Herobrine unwillingly jerked to answer the message but stopped. His overseer was not yet done.

"Oh, and if you are wondering why you cannot heal or access the System, don't be surprised! Its what that virus was meant to do. We added it as a special 'enchantment', just for your sake. Its available to any serious player going for our highest tier prizes. Those two idiots you just met obviously had it. You may have got a hold of their weapons, but it won't help you much. I'll explain a few general details, so you know what's going on."

A nasty smirk appeared on the Admin's gray lips as his earlier rage visibly calmed down, restoring his usual control. 

"Basically, this virus we created is now rewriting your program. Soon, Herobrine the gaming boss will be no more. Herobrine the exiled boss will enter the game. You'll have negative reputation with all humans and mobs. Status Hatred. Which means that your mobs will attack you on sight. You will no longer be able to command them. Your access to the Game will soon be cut as well. You'll lose all but most basic functions on your interface and your Player abilities will get cut down as well. Basically, you'll be reduced to a level one human. Which means you'll lose all higher level enchantments. Your vision and strength. Speed. Everything will be gone. The virus will then record your state and set it as your new default. You'll be a brand new boss of the game. Blind. And now one-armed." 

The human humphed at the last, his voice oozing sarcasm, while Herobrine scowled, listening to these ominous words with numb disbelief, not quite willing to accept it all as fact. Could they even do something like that? They couldn't even get to his code before. That's why they used intra-game means to control him.

"Don't bother trying to get rid of this virus. By now its part of your program. Our entire team has been working on it for months, including me. Fortunately for you, this means that I know how it works." 

Herobrine's overseer gave him a significant look. 

"Your respawn point has also been reset. You die and you will respawn here, in our central lab, where they have already set everything up ready to get rid of you. Just a little heads up... So do call me. Don't let them get to you first."

The message ended. Herobrine stared at it for a moment longer, until the faint nervous trembling in his body began to subside.

Again, he felt pressed to answer the message but refrained from doing so. He needed time to think. Could he really trust his former overseer's words? Was that human willing to work behind the back of the other Admin to prove that Herobrine had nothing to do with events, of which he had been accused? He was trying to save his own job, obviously. Herobrine's escape had been held as that human's failure in a way, though he was not on duty at the time. 

Was he really trying to find out what happened? Or, was he only trying to deceive Herobrine to willingly turn himself in, only for them to destroy him?

What even happened for them to turn against him like this? Ten players got hurt in real life while playing the Game? 

It was probably human hackers. Humans always led their own games and intrigues against their own kind. And they did not consider killing in real life as a consequential matter at all.

He was in serious danger because of those false accusations. 

Only he was no longer the naïve, unsure being that he had been four years ago, whom threats like these would intimidate into blind obedience. Despite their power over the game, these humans could not reach him directly. Not anymore. And it was thanks to their cruel methods that he even progressed to this level of power, far beyond what they knew.

Now, he had his own ways to get to the truth of this matter and learn what happened, without resorting to being anyone's tool. And as for that virus... he had other skills, too, of which the Admin and his former overseer were not yet aware.

He was not defeated, yet!

Scowling, Herobrine dismissed the message, though he didn't erase it, and turned his attention to other messages waiting in his personal storage.

Multiple video calls with an urgent marker waited for Miguel Santiago - his human identity. Uneasily, Herobrine considered the waving flag with a steel wolf head, bearing a personal message from Magnus Ledorn, the leader of the said clan. He could not answer him, yet. He still did not have full access to the System, and now he knew why.

There was also someone that he didn't know, a message from Arianna, from the clan of Black Roses. The only reason it made it through the filters was because of the person who forwarded it to him - Timothy Adrian Walsh, the only person that Herobrine could speak to directly without using an avatar disguise, his human ally. All the other numerous messages were from him, most of them blinking urgent as they always did. Everything that young human sent, he considered urgent.

Ignoring the strange message, Herobrine turned his attention to the very unartistic logo that Anna's brother picked to represent his small company. The Beather Guide, Co. showed only a crafting hammer sparking against an anvil. For some reason, Timothy decided that it was representative enough. Herobrine didn't even attempt to offer his opinion on that. What Timothy did on his own time was entirely his own decision, so long as he verified with Herobrine anything that had to do with him or one of the false human personas he adopted to act in the human world.

He didn't wish the repeat of what nearly happened two years ago.

Picking the very last of the many messages sent to him from Timothy's address, Herobrine opened it.

"Why are you not responding to your messages? I don't even know if you are all right or if they already killed you or something. Herobrine, pick up!" The young man roughed up his short, light hair and gave the screen a gloomy look. "Call me as soon as you get this." He hung up.

Timothy's face bore signs of stress. A large cup of caffeinated drink showed as always in the corner of the screen. He was probably skipping sleep again, working on the assignments he chose to improve his skill level. Hazel, slightly reddened eyes, glared at Herobrine from a scowling face, where he suddenly noticed the beginning fuzz of a light beard. The familiar style of it nearly made him scoff with sudden amusement. Was Timothy trying to imitate Herobrine's own look?

Herobrine clicked on the next message.

"Herobrine! Answer your f... darn messages!" This time the image was blank, bearing only an angry voice that sounded like he swallowed a few swearing words. That Timothy refrained from using them reassured, since it meant that he was still mindful of Herobrine's g-rated preferences.

Still, Timothy's worried mood undoubtedly had to do with concern for Herobrine's safety and that caused guilt to add to Herobrine's already irate mood. He had no one but himself to blame this time. Everything that had recently happened was the result of his careless error, which could have been easily prevented.

Herobrine reluctantly pushed back the reply button. Long distance beeps began to sound in the screen, while he reached to the bridge of his nose and rubbed, feeling the rising headache as all the troubling concerns began to pile on him once again.

One time he had decided to give in to wishful thinking. And here was the result of his carelessness and weakness!

A short moment later, the call got picked up and the screen popped open with the image of the same young human on it. Immediately, hazel eyes studied Herobrine's tattered and tired appearance and settled on his missing arm. Light eyebrows flew up.

"Your arm! What happened?" Timothy demanded with genuine concern. Herobrine opened his mouth to answer, but Timothy already huffed in frustration, surprise changing to accusing glare.

"They found you already! I knew it!" Timothy accused. "I was trying to warn you about that! Why did you not answer messages? Where were you?!"

Now, the young human's voice sounded angry and Herobrine shifted, feeling embarrassment joining the sense of guilt that just began to quiet down. He could clearly envision himself on a sunny meadow by his mansion, choosing to ignore all his responsibilities to enjoy a peaceful nap. He had purposefully switched off his interface, lulled into false serenity since nothing much happened for the past four months. Sleeping, fishing, obsessively watching Steve. 

Those two players had startled him in the middle of a walk through his throne room with a cup of coffee in his hands, which he hurriedly had to dismiss, not even thinking to replace himself with his own copy. His irritation at interruption by yet another pair of two idiots with over-blown opinion of themselves led to an impulsive decision to teach them a lesson personally.

Big mistake.

Although, it had been Timothy's frequent complaints about not being able to take a break, which produced a similar sentiment in his own thoughts. Why couldn't he take a vacation, like normal virtual humans? The people in Steve's town frequently found opportunities to do just that. Fall Celebration festival, Harvest Festival, Mid-Winter Break, Winter Solstice, First Gifts of Spring.

"I took a vacation." Herobrine reluctantly admitted, not quite meeting Timothy's eyes. With his side vision, he could still see the young human's eyes widen, followed by a disbelieving grin.

"What?"

"I said, I decided to take some time off and relax!" His gaze shot up. "How was I supposed to know that they would decide to declare another hunt! I didn't even do anything special. I swear! At least... not recently!" Herobrine's tone turned defensive as he once again worried what in the blazes his former Admin overseer was talking about.

Timothy suddenly snorted and visibly calmed down.

"Well, at least you are alive. I half thought that... " Timothy paused and slightly shook his head in dismay, not finishing his words. Herobrine watched him and felt strangely reassured that at least this human might experience negative emotions at Herobrine's demise.

"You're not healing though... Did you already start up the diagnostic?" Timothy's tone shifted to businesslike. Herobrine nodded, skewing a brief, displeased look at his bandaged shoulder, before forcing his gaze away. The sight of his disability disturbed him even more now that he knew what it meant, if that Admin dog's threats were correct.

It was one thing to know that he was physically blind, since a permanent enchantment already solved that problem from beginning, if not his natural eye color. He's had that as long as he knew himself and strongly doubted that any virus those humans could come up with would change that. But this condition remained without change. If it did become permanently wired into his code, what kind of a powerful figure would he be with just one arm?

Herobrine allowed his one human ally a remote access to his currently updating data.

"89%. Almost done." Timothy said with satisfaction. "What do you think did that?" Again, he curiously eyed Herobrine's armless shoulder.

"I already know. It was a sword. With a virus attached." Herobrine explained, not bothering to hide his annoyance. "It was added to a normal enchantment. Sharpness."

"A virus?" This time, Timothy frowned. The word 'virus' definitely got his attention.

"A couple of players showed up for a challenge. Didn't look OP at first, so I let them come."

"That was stupid. You should have let your clone do that." Timothy humphed, immediately pointing out the obvious. Herobrine winced.

"Their weapons were strange. I've never seen anything like them before. Some sort of projectile weapons. Not from this game."

Herobrine sent his human ally several images and videos and waited until Timothy took a good look at the material. After a long moment, the young man thoughtfully nodded.

"Looks like something modern. Hackers?" He verified and Herobrine thoughtfully shook his head.

"No. They didn't use cheat codes. Only those strange weapons."

"The Admin are probably going to ignore how they do it, so long as they get rid of you. I was trying to warn you about that! You are lucky you are still alive! Those other bots do not respawn at all. And that's why. A virus, huh?..." Timothy's forehead creased, his eyes still thoughtfully holding on Herobrine's armless shoulder.

"I bet that you were on that server again." Timothy accused and Herobrine did not meet his ally's eyes, still struggling against the feeling of embarrassment, which he didn't feel often. "Why? I just don't get why you like that boring place so much. And that weird player... I told you that messing with him was not a good idea! He probably finally had enough and..."

"Steve didn't call them on me! It wasn't him!" Herobrine looked up with a frown, hiding his embarrassment beneath an affronted look. Timothy's unfavorable opinion of Steve was probably Herobrine's own fault - the result of his unwillingness to share much details about either Steve's situation or his own reasons for spending so much time on Steve's server.

Shame came in an intense wave. From Herobrine's early words, Timothy assumed that Steve was just some odd player in deep immersion play, who played with hacked settings and pretended to be a local. The fact that Steve never left the game also encouraged Timothy's scorn, since it meant expensive machines and highest level of service. That's the only way that any player could afford to play all the time, unlike players from a poorer class like Timothy, who were forced to work for every hour they got to spend online. To practically live in game would be a dream come true to kids like him, at least to their skewed understanding, since they didn't seem to value their life in their own world at all as far as Herobrine observed so far.

So Timothy was intensely jealous of him, to the point that he didn't care what Herobrine did to the guy. And Herobrine's own reasons were far from kind, at least at first, so he even encouraged Timothy's dislike of the strange player, mentioning only the things that he knew would evoke negative emotions and disinterest on Timothy's part. He didn't want any interference with his own affairs, so he didn't correct this even later, after his own attitude toward Steve had begun to change. 

At first, although he spared Steve, he simply couldn't understand what Steve was. For several weeks he mistrustfully watched him and then settled on the idea that the strange human was either a player in deep immersion, stubbornly pretending to be a local due to some deep-seated psychological deviations, or that he was a hacker, seeking thrills, who intentionally maxed out his settings and then paid the price, losing his wits. Humans came up with entirely too many ways to die in their gaming world, in gory and horrible manner. Either way, Steve proved a perfect target for Herobrine to take out his frustration against the humans.

"Do you really still believe that you are a real person? Some sort of villain? A digital god?" Herobrine's overseer scoffed with disbelief. "Get it through your dumb, glitchy head! You are a doll! A plaything! You do not get the right to decide what to say or do, just do what you are told! So, if we tell you that you are a pathetic worm, who should beg our players for mercy, then you are going to howl and beg, to their dirty little hearts' content. Idiots... Whatever makes them happy! That's your job! Because that's what you are. That's what you were made for."

Herobrine's hand unwillingly clenched at the reminder of his keeper's words during one of his more memorable 'lessons'.

It was thanks to memories like that, why he suddenly decided that tormenting Steve would be fun. And it was fun at first. Steve was as much a helpless toy in his hands as he, himself, had once been in the hands of the Admin. Lost to the flashes of anger, he carried out minor attacks, spoke idle threats for the sake of seeing fear on the human's face, and otherwise tested and provoked the human. Steve did not dare to complain. That timid attitude only encouraged Herobrine to act out more and now he felt sincerely ashamed of his own attitude.

At least he never crossed the line even then. He never even considered killing Steve and he stopped short of causing him actual serious physical harm, most of the time. But damage to property? That was entirely too frequent. Herobrine winced at his own disdain when he threw to indignant Steve's feet a handful of diamonds, fully expectant that this would cover the incident in full.

He had been such a self-absorbed fool.

"Well, still. You stayed there too long. I don't know why you keep going there and just... Provoking everyone! None of this would have happened if you just stayed here." Timothy reproached.

Herobrine frowned. He could remember Steve trying to say something similar on a couple of occasions.

He had no excuse. And this wasn't about the temptation to lash out and punish players for all their past perceived slights against him. He had actually been far more complacent of late, and that was his main fault.

He became too relaxed while staying on Steve's server. He didn't even play any jokes on Steve any more in last several months, preferring to simply watch over him from afar. He became quite content to simply live, on occasion even helping Notch's humans, not just Steve. Guiding away mobs, scaring off brigands, adding prizes in the paths of those whose acts struck him as worthy. He imagined that Notch would have been pleased to know that he lived such a life. There had been almost no players in the forsaken, boring parts of the world where Steve had settled, so he began to feel safe.

Such delusion!

He couldn't just live somewhere like a normal person, either the peaceful players like Steve or those virtual humans that belonged to Notch. He ceased paying attention! Just when he thought that he was safe, someone did something terrible and now he was blamed for it!

"I should not have spent so much time there. It was careless. Do not think that I do not know that already." Herobrine muttered.

"It's all right, man. We all make mistakes, right? At least you are alive." Timothy good-naturedly grinned. Herobrine glared at him, not hiding his own frustration as his thoughts returned once again to the unrelenting plans of the Admin concerning him.

"You do not know everything, yet. The Admin sent me a message, accusing me of doing something that I didn't do. That's why they set players after me this time."

"Accusing you of what?" Timothy frowned. Herobrine huffed.

"I don't know, yet. Something about trapping players in game and hurting them in real life. My... former keeper said that he'll tell me the details if I contact him."

"Pfft. That's not new. The forum is full of that stuff. That's what old Herobrine used to do. There is all kinds of crazy sh... stuff! " Timothy relaxed a little. "And right now, they all say that they are after you because they finally figured out that you are the real Herobrine, who came back to destroy us humans once more. But that's not true, right?" The young human's voice came teasing and light, but Herobrine caught a tense note held beneath Timothy's carefree tone. He gave him a flat look.

"Do not speak nonsense. You know that I am not him. If I was, would I allow them to do this?" He allowed emotion to slip into his voice as he sharply looked to his shoulder and glared at Timothy again. Timothy visibly relaxed.

"I brought Steve here, by the way." Herobrine admitted with reluctance and saw the young human jump.

"You did what?" Hazel eyes rounded and Timothy bent closer to his screen as he hurriedly began to look through server code, finding Steve's signature almost immediately. He paused, staring at it with a flat, pinched lip look.

"Um... Why?" The human's voice held barely contained indignation and Herobrine winced, fully agreeing with the question. This server did not belong to him, despite their partnership of now nearly two years. Timothy was fine with Herobrine using it, but he certainly didn't expect that it would be Herobrine to bring someone here. Not even any of Timothy's former friends remained. They now avoided this server for the discomforting memories it held. For Timothy, this place had instead become a treasure that he jealously protected, a sort of promise waiting for his sister's return. He wanted everything to remain same as it was, so when she came back, it would be as if she had never left at all. 

"I had no choice. Let me explain the full story..." Herobrine offered reluctantly. Frowning and obviously displeased, the young human nodded. And Herobrine now had to somehow change his negative attitude toward Steve, which he, himself, had once encouraged Timothy to develop.

"Those two players nearly killed me during their brief challenge. They thought that they did and left me for dead. I woke up in Steve's dwelling. My endermen servants brought me there to recover. He expended quite a bit of effort to keep me alive and not only that. When those players came looking to finish me off for good, Steve agreed to serve as their guide in the caves, searching for me, since that's where they believed I was hiding. He kept them busy there for almost two days, until they learned of his ruse. As you might expect, they did not react well to that. They thought him a local, but even that did not stop them. They took him hostage and attempted to torture him."

"Are you sure? That's... against the law. A ban for sure. And a big fine." Timothy frowned more.

"I hoped that they would not carry through with it, but they began to block the System recording. Which means that they were going to go through with it."

"That's sick..." Timothy leaned back with a grimace and grimly eyed something on his table. Herobrine nodded.

"I couldn't take the risk. With his settings at a hundred, I didn't want to see what would happen to him if he died. Not when I could prevent it. Obviously, I could not call the Admin. And I could not face them directly, either. That virus has affected my strength, not allowing it to return as it normally would. But I did manage to use my empty copy like a puppet. A few bluffs distracted them long enough for my enders to get Steve away from them."

Timothy perked up. "Wait. You said you used your copy like a puppet?"

"Long-distance mental control. Same as I can do with animals and mobs."

"That's not something you could do before." Timothy narrowed his eyes with some suspicion.

"I could control mobs. You've seen that."

"I mean your copy."

"That, I just learned this time. I tend to gain new skills under pressure." Herobrine couldn't help a dark smirk, recognizing the truth of his overseer's words as much as he hated to admit their value. "This is not so important. The story does not end here. What also happened is that I revealed to those players that Steve was a player, too. I bluffed that his high settings were my doing. I hoped that if they saw that he was my prisoner of sorts, they would understand that I forced him to help me or that he did it out of fear. And then they would not retaliate against him once I left. But I was wrong. Don't worry, though! I scrambled their record of that, so they won't be able to prove that I said any of those things."

"You still probably should not have done that." Timothy uneasily commented. "I can just imagine the rumors this will cause..."

"I could not risk them killing him in revenge after I left! Not at his settings! It was my fault that he got dragged into all this mess, so now I must resolve it. That's why I brought him here."

"Hmm."

"I think that I was wrong about him all along. He is not just a deep immersion player. I don't think he is pretending at all. He really does not know who he is. His memory loss is real. I want to try to help him. To see what's wrong."

"Hmm... All right? I guess?" Timothy said with slight doubt, appearing to lapse into his own thoughts. Herobrine grimaced. He hated to beg!

"You do not need to do any additional work. I will do this myself. As soon as I get my own situation under control." Herobrine reassured. "I owe him this much. Without his help, they would have found and killed me."

"You would have respawned." Timothy noted absent-mindedly, still thinking about his own thing.

"The virus." Herobrine reminded. "The Admin's message said that they reset my respawn point. If I die, I will respawn directly in their lab and they will remove me. It's also the reason why I could not contact you sooner. I couldn't access the System without mods on our server."

Timothy frowned and silently roughed up his short hair, which had already grown longer since his last message. Uneven bangs fell down again over one of his hazel eyes, right now gloomily considering something in the distance. "Great..." He muttered unenthusiastically.

When he looked at Herobrine again, it was with rising resent. "You said that they sent you a message?"

"One of them did. My former keeper. He was in charge when I worked for them officially as a dungeon boss. He told me to contact him to find out what happened." Herobrine explained reluctantly. The young human looked at him and for some reason dropped his gaze.

"Listen, Herobrine... I think you do need to talk to him..." Timothy said and uncomfortably shifted. 

Cold, seething rage flooded Herobrine's heart to follow brief disbelief at what he heard. Timothy did not see the shock that appeared on his face before all expression fled, leaving Herobrine glaring at the young human with instant suspicion.

"And why do you think this?" He tried to keep his voice neutral, reminding himself to be calm. Timothy did not know what he had gone through at the hands of that human. He never shared it with him, nor with Anna, though with her sympathy she had already guessed. But he had not told anyone else of this, too ashamed to remember the cruel tests or his own pathetic reactions, at that time still hoping to somehow earn his standing with the humans through being obedient and following their rules as Notch advised him to do.

Timothy must have heard the chill slipping into his tone, because he startled a little and threw up a nervous look.

"Because I don't think we can fix this! If they created a virus and that's what's wrong with you now, I don't think that I can figure out how it works! They probably had an entire team work on that and they were probably experts, not beginners like me. You could probably figure it out, but if you cannot even access the System... Herobrine, I still have my own work to do! I didn't sleep in almost... three days! I was worried and trying to reach you and you... took a vacation? It's totally unfair and you know it! Why must I always do all the work? Which one of us is human? You don't even need sleep. Or a vacation! You're just a program!"

Some of the anger immediately lessened, though it didn't leave completely. Herobrine gave Timothy a gloomy look. Whether he wished to accept it or not, the human's accusation was not without merit and guilt returned despite his attempts to suppress it.

Timothy rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean..." He muttered. He looked up to give Herobrine a slightly guilty look. After a moment, Herobrine responded with a small nod, choosing not to respond.

"You may have to talk to him or maybe to the other Admin and explain that you didn't do... whatever it is they think you did. Maybe then they will stop all this." Timothy offered with a slightly helpless look. Herobrine scowled.

"Even if I manage to do that, they will lock me up. Again!"

"Better that than dead!" Timothy raised his voice. "I mean, look at what they did already! You're missing an arm! What if it was your head? You told me once that they know that you are a SAI, not Sim as they tell everyone else. They might lock you up, but they won't destroy you. Not if they learn that you had nothing to do with that other stuff. And I... I will tell them, too. About the Grindel zombies, at least. I know that you didn't do that, since you were helping me at the time." 

At Timothy's brave offer, Herobrine's hard look slightly softened. Anna's brother would risk losing this server if this helped lighten Herobrine's reputation? That would be an act worthy of his respect. It would also further add to the debt that he still carried. 

The incident Timothy spoke of referred to the massive hacker attack that rolled across a series of servers, where a hacker in Herobrine skin claimed revenge as his reason - Herobrine's retribution against both the players and Notch, who was the Admin's puppet. Herobrine still recalled his own helpless anger at the last accusation that came from this white-eyed impostor's lips. The material damage was extensive and there were casualties among SAI NPCs, as players sometimes referred to fully sentient artificially intelligent characters. 

"I would advise you against such an attempt. They will hardly listen to the word of a player who is still a minor, even if emancipated one. Do not worry, I can present my own proof for not being responsible for some events, if I will only be allowed to give it. I have tried to do so before on several occasions, but it produced no results. Their words remained the same. Return and obey. I am not willing to do that."

"This time, you might have to. If we cannot fix this virus and... So you'll get locked up. It really won't last long. You're immortal, so you'll probably just outlive them, all of us. You'll prove that you're not some crazy maniac out for blood and then its going to change." Timothy looked at Herobrine with honest, hopeful hazel eyes that held no guile.

"Prove to them that you intend no harm. Learn their rules and become useful. It may be a little difficult to change their perception of you because of the legacy of one who came before you, but once they become certain that you are not that vicious monster, they will accept you. And you will be free to go and live wherever you wish."

"Can I be with you?" His own hopeful, timid tone.

"Of course."

Herobrine couldn't help a bitter scowl.

"I don't know why you even hate them so much. You worked with them before and it wasn't that bad. I've seen videos and stuff. You didn't even have to fight players. They were not allowed to hurt you or kill you. They could only fight you if you wanted them to fight. And you wanted to fight. You always want to fight! You didn't have to. You could use mobs and mansion traps and that was all. It got even a little boring."

Offended, Herobrine did not deem his words with an answer, his face darkening. He couldn't tell him what really happened. Revealing that his keepers had mercilessly tortured and treated him as a worthless thing would perhaps evoke pity in this young human when he learned about it, but it would also damage Herobrine's image in his eyes. It had not been an easy thing to rebuild self-esteem, so thoroughly destroyed by their hands. It took Herobrine entire last several years of defying his former captors to finally stop feeling helpless about his own fate.

Only was he as independent as he thought he was? Or were his former owners simply dismissing him as unimportant, simply because his rebellion played into their hands, bringing them much wanted profits that they did not get while he worked for them directly? Herobrine did his best to stifle his anger back to its seething place. Now was not the time to act on this discovery. He still needed to find out what was really going on. Most likely, his keeper's words were an empty threat meant to intimidate him, playing off his old fears. 

"I won't go back to them." He said firmly. "At least some of the events that they blame me for are my fault and there is no changing that." He reminded. Timothy blinked and grimaced with disappointment, before resentment returned to his face.

"Ugh, right... And I even told you not to do that. I told you! Triton servers... You just had to go back there! You already destroyed their servers three times. They dropped almost sixty rankings down because of you. And you still didn't think it was enough." Timothy reproached.

"I was only trying to retrieve an item that was rightfully mine. They shouldn't have taken it." Herobrine shrugged slightly with exaggerated indifference. Timothy gave him a flat look.

"And its because of stuff like that that they are now after you." Timothy somewhat wearily concluded, having already given up on trying to get through to him. "In a way, I can get where they are coming from. All those complaints. Even if most are not from you, they cannot tell. I guess they finally had enough... Let's at least talk to Mr. Ledorn, then. I think that if we explain, he..." 

"No!" Herobrine cut off as a scowl twisted his features despite managing to nearly calm down after Timothy's earlier suggestion.

"Herobrine, I really think..."

"No." Herobrine restored his expressionless look and gave the young human a cold, warning glare. "If necessary, I will contact him myself. I appreciate your concern, but I'm capable of making my own decisions. Do not think that you can make them for me, or our relationship will end right here and now! Do not think that I've forgotten the time when you went behind my back and nearly betrayed me. I forgave you then, but I did not forget."

Herobrine could not help his tone turning hostile and saw Timothy blink a few times, startled at the sudden vehemence, before he blew out a frustrated breath, visibly giving up. He rubbed his already wild hair that needed a good wash and his entire form slightly slumped in discouragement. Definite hint of guilt appeared on his face, unfeigned, and reassured Herobrine that the only human that he ever managed to come to terms with, remained worthy of trust.

"I didn't do it, though. You remember that, too, right?" Timothy pointed out with defensive stubbornness. 

To his credit, Anna's younger brother didn't have the guts to go through with what he planned, though his change of mind came largely for his sister's sake than out of concern for Herobrine. Neither of them knew each other that well, then. But Timothy was unable to face his sister's reaction if he went through with his intent of selling Herobrine directly into the hands of some anonymous group.

He found the offer in an anonymous bid on an illegal site meant for hackers, which was the career Timothy aspired to at the time. The enormous sum they offered to one who would bring Herobrine to their hands, undamaged, and the doctor's over-optimistic attempt to sell a new treatment to fix Anna's progressing condition, the specifics of which Herobrine did not fully understand at the time since she forbade Timothy from telling, unwilling for anyone to uselessly worry - all led Timothy to his act of betrayal.

The condition of the anonymous group had been to first receive proof that they had the right target, and Timothy sent them one of the videos that his sister recorded, of Herobrine when he openly lived on their server, having begun to trust them. He interacted with them freely, not hiding the abilities that sharply distinguished him from the other bots. 

Timothy sent them video of one such example, recorded without Herobrine's knowledge, and the group took the bait and agreed to meet with the would-be traitor in a virtually preset meeting point in Game. Timothy was already on the way, when guilt and indecision forced him to reconsider. He then left and instead went to Herobrine.

Herobrine could still remember the feeling of confusion that washed through him when the young human woke him up and began to sob, completely overwhelmed by his emotions. Between the angry accusations and tearful complaints that Herobrine was an immortal and did not really care what happened to them, that they were not really his friends, that he hated humans, that he cared more about playing pranks while Anna was sick and dying, Herobrine finally understood what Timothy almost did. And it struck him deep. He felt utterly betrayed. Until that moment, he trusted them, believed that he was not alone. And here, this human revealed that he considered selling him like a thing, which stirred the worst of Herobrine's bad memories and fears. 

If it was not for his debt to Anna, Herobrine would have left their server right there and then, despite already considering it his home. 

Instead, he chose to hide the hurt he felt and attempted to help the human to find an alternative solution to what was obviously a scam, which he helped him see as well. Together, they then worked out a plan, which they followed, still.

Anna was now in stasis, her body contained in a state that humans used to travel in deep space, while Timothy earned enough resources to carry out her treatment. It was a less favorable option, but it was also less expensive. Even for that, they had to partner up and take on shared obligations. Now, Timothy provided Herobrine full access to the System and data, allowing him to use this server with Admin level authority. He also helped him find and install many technology emulating mods, which allowed Herobrine to learn and work, not only within the game, but taking on increasingly complex assignments under the guise of a free-lance, human hacker who was Timothy's online acquaintance, with Timothy often serving as the middleman.

They had a working partnership, but Herobrine could never bring himself to trust him fully again, not after what he did. He understood the reasons that pushed Timothy to it, that at fifteen years of age he was still a child, who was scared to lose the only family he had, but that didn't make Herobrine himself feel safe from the possibility that if right circumstances arose, Timothy would not decide to betray him again. 

Humans simply could not be trusted, changing their mind and loyalty when it suited them best, and finding reasons to justify all their actions, no matter how hurtful they might be to someone else. It was from humans that Herobrine learned how to lie, though he hated doing it. Even Timothy did it. Granted, he mostly did it to protect their mutual arrangement, but... It really damaged the sense of trust that Herobrine still felt toward this human.

The main point was just that. Timothy was human. Herobrine was not. That alone placed between them a great divide.

Herobrine frowned at the young human, until Timothy looked away and uncomfortably shifted.

"What?" He asked defensively. Herobrine turned away his gaze to help calm his rising anger.

"You made the difficult choice then. I remember that it was not easy for you to do so. And I realize that its difficult for you to understand my point of view, since I'm not a real person to you." He said calmly. Timothy immediately jumped in protest.

"That's not true! I..."

Herobrine thoughtfully looked up. "You still too easily fall for scams. And I'm wondering as to the purpose of the strange message that you forwarded to me. Why do I get the feeling that its yet another risky venture on your part, where you wish me to play a role?"

Timothy blinked in confusion, completely derailed by Herobrine's sudden change of topic, as was Herobrine's intent. 

"Message? What message?" The young human muttered. Herobrine lightly smirked.

"From someone named Arianna. From Black Roses clan." Herobrine kept his tone amicable. Timothy looked at him with confusion for a moment longer, then suddenly a blush appeared on his face. 

"Oh! About that... " For some reason he shifted and glanced to the side. "Its... actually about that group. You know, the one I almost sold you to." He mumbled and perked up, looking up with some guilt but also excitement.

"I actually found out who they are!" He exclaimed though Herobrine frowned. "Listen! They were not a scam, like you told me. They are actually a legit group! An actual player's clan, only weird."

"Hmm. Black Roses." Herobrine recalled what he knew of the player groups. Timothy was already eagerly plowing ahead. As usual, he remained true to his character, easily distracted by all game related things. Gaming alliances, rumors, secret quests, he remained as obsessed with them as he used to when Herobrine first came to know him. He probably still could be considered a child at his seventeen years of age, Herobrine reminded himself and softened his attitude. That probably showed in his face, because Timothy nearly jumped a little in his chair, taking it as permission to share whatever news he suddenly wanted to declare this strongly.

"Yeah! That's who they are! And their offer still stands. I checked!"

Herobrine quirked an eyebrow.

"And you contacted them. Again. Why?" He couldn't help sarcasm slipping into his voice. Timothy's ears and cheeks became redder.

"That happened like a week ago. If you had checked your messages, you would have seen. I explained it! I didn't call them. They called me. I guess they found my nick? Its still in the hacker board. I'm actually getting popular there." Timothy grinned with a bit of pride.

Herobrine nodded to him to proceed.

"And no, they don't know that I know you. They still think that I simply sent them videos that my friend got, instead. Exactly what we wanted them to think and why we sent them that message?"

Actually, it was Herobrine who told the young hacker what to do, since Timothy could not think straight at the moment, his face still red and tears dripping from his nose.

"So they are now trying to talk to Migo. That's why they called me. They like... promised that if I could get them in touch with you, I mean him, they would pay me good." Timothy dropped his eyes a bit. Maybe it had been necessity at first, but his initial scramble to earn money had evolved into somewhat of an obsession. Young human threw up a defensive look. "It's a good bit! Four thousand marks!"

Timothy's eyes gleamed with the hungry air and faint jealousy mixed. "All if I just forward their message to you and you respond. I mean Migo! And they openly told me that they are from Black Roses. Arianna wrote to me! The reigning leader's right Hand, herself!" Timothy gave Herobrine an expectant look, which changed to indignation when Herobrine continued to look at him with a flat face.

"Ugh, don't you ever check the player ratings? She is like the top fifty player! Used to be 6th! Just look at the message, please! I already forwarded it to you. Don't erase it without looking!" Timothy pled with so much expectation, curiosity, and childish admiration mixed that Herobrine allowed his amusement to show.

"She is a bit too old for you to consider as a potential mate, isn't she?" He teased and with satisfaction observed the blush on young human's face explode, turning his ears and neck red.

"No! It's nothing like that. Ugh... Herobrine, you just don't get it! You are not programmed for such things, so you have no idea! Just cause I think they are hot, doesn't mean I want to... Ugh! Just stop! You're just messing with me! You are!" Timothy concluded and glared at Herobrine with accusing anger, doubtlessly using it to overcome his embarrassment. Herobrine well understood that use of the emotion and simply shrugged.

"I couldn't resist. All of you young players have an unhealthy fascination about that particular league. You do realize that they are only virtual avatars, right? What they really look like in real life is nothing like what they appear in game."

Timothy's eyes flared with curiosity. "Wait? You hacked their info? For real?!" He nearly jumped again. "You know who they are? Tell me!"

Herobrine smirked. "I didn't hack it. I just browsed the forums and compared it with regular System data that's available to anyone who bothers to use simple math. The leader of Black Roses established that clan over sixty-three years ago. That means that she, at least, must be seventy-five years old. Since the minimum required age of players to register their own account was twelve years old at that time. Similarly, your Arianna is at least 26. And that's if she began to log in at three years old as was the standard when first mention of her appears in player data. She might very well be older. You are only seventeen."

Timothy thoughtfully humphed. "Hmmm. Twenty-six is not that bad...I mean!..." He caught himself while his blush got even redder. "Stop kidding around! I was just curious! And you haven't met them in real life... I mean, in game! Right?" He prodded with mistrustful fascination.

"I haven't. Obviously, I would avoid meeting any players in top tier unless I want to head straight into respawn." Herobrine smirked and tried to fold his arms across his chest in an old habit. The gesture paused, to shift into an awkward attempt to grasp on to the edge of his tattered shirt. Distracted, Herobrine glanced there and a large hole in teal fabric suddenly claimed his attention. His skin showed through it, bearing fresh scars. His gaze held at it with rising displeasure.

Why did even his clothes have to reflect his poor physical state?

On one hand it was good that even when he respawned, he did so fully clothed. The game mechanics simply did not allow him any other state, no matter how damaged his clothes and body became. But that meant that even if he equipped new things, while still not feeling well according to his stats, his new clothes would soon reach the same state of wear and tear as what the System judged appropriate. That and his inability to alter his physical appearance, especially his odd eyes, basically precluded him from being able to adopt a normal disguise!

He used to have an item, a Traveler's Cloak, which was perhaps the only item of clothing that he ever found that could offer him a decent disguise. Yet he lost it to a skirmish with the Tritons! It probably hung in their treasure keep somewhere, not even used, since its stats were hidden to anyone but an NPC – that's what his predecessor's remnant had said. His attempts to rob them did not recover it, only caused another public incident.

This shirt was entirely new when he 'put it on' just a day ago!

"But you haven't seen them." Timothy's voice intruded, distracting him from idle thoughts. "Or else you would have known for sure. So, you don't really know how old they are."

Yes, Herobrine could have accessed their settings and seen who those players really were, unless they took extra care, and paid a little more, to thoroughly encrypt their data even from moderator level access.

Timothy's jaw stuck out in his usual stubborn way, unwilling to consider that the females of his childhood dreams could be old and ugly in their true biological forms. Herobrine nearly scoffed again but refrained. Who was he to judge the strongest human instincts when he had the hardest time struggling with his own, which were merely code? Going into a mind-clouding battle rage nearly every time he received a personal challenge had never worked in his favor. He stifled a sigh.

"I will look at their message, of course." He redirected their discussion to original topic.

"However, I see no possible reason for why they would have an interest in me. Especially for an offer of such high amount. Like I said before, four million marks in real credits is an impossibly high sum."

"It's now six." Timothy readily supplied with a brilliant grin.

"Right... Even the Admin of this game would never be so generous. Like I said before, it has to be a scam. Or else it wouldn't be put up on a board in an illegal network."

"But what if it isn't? And best of all, they said that they only want to help you. They... She seemed very... sincere about it." Timothy's ears turned even more red for some reason. Herobrine gave him a flat look.

"A clan of players who accepts only females into their ranks sends a teen wanna-be hacker a message, saying that they will pay him a sum that's ten times more than anything he can earn in a lifetime in exchange for..."

"Legally! Legally earn." Timothy interrupted to correct. Herobrine ignored him and continued.

"In exchange for helping them obtain a program that's rumored to be sentient. A program without any worthy skills that they could use, besides being a villain in a gory children's game with a g-level rating. It does raise questions as to what reason they would want such a program. I personally have no wish whatsoever to find out."

Timothy squirmed under Herobrine's sarcastic gaze and then shrugged, giving up.

"All right, all right! I was just saying... Never mind! Do look at that message though, will you? And if they say anything else, will you let me know? I mean, I am a big fan of their group and..."

Herobrine couldn't keep back an amused smile.

As far as he knew, Black Roses was not a particularly vicious clan, but they did specialize on high-rated raids. And those raids included Herobrine raids, which was a big minus in his eyes. They also were secretive and had private servers with R-rated level access, which caused many very dirty rumors spreading about their league being some sort of sensual cult.

If they only wished to buy Herobrine for his role as a glitched Boss, he supposed that he could understand their motives if not the unreasonably high price. Still, he personally did not know any of them and had no intention of changing that fact. Who knew what went on through their minds? Certainly not him, a mere virtual program. Human imagination went far beyond his comprehension, on occasion sinking into truly dark depths. He did not have any wish to learn what their plans for him might be.

"You totally distracted me again. There is a reason why I've been trying to find you!" Timothy's exasperated tone returned Herobrine's attention to him. "Did you talk to Mr. Ledorn already?"

"Not yet. Why?"

"He's been trying to reach you, too! Well, not you... Migo! He's been all over my case for last three days! Answer him already!"

Herobrine frowned at the demanding tone.

"I've already completed all the tasks that he's asked me to complete. For the entire month. I also sent him a message last week, warning that I would be taking a vacation." Herobrine grumbled and tried to cross his arms again. With frustration, he lowered his remaining hand out of sight and firmly grasped on to his jeans to avoid repeating the gesture. Timothy held his annoyed gaze crossed with his own. Only along with his usual disgruntled attitude, worry clearly filled his expression, too.

"It's not about work. It's about you, Herobrine. He never gave up on trying to find you. And you know that he is really not doing it for the money. He's just trying to keep a promise to his kid, that's all and you know that. I don't get it why you won't just come to him. He can help for sure."

"I won't be a slave, Cyrus. Even a well-treated one. I told you that before." Herobrine gritted his teeth, allowing stubbornness to fill his expression. Timothy let out a breath.

"Well, he wants to talk to Migo."  He insisted. "And it's going to be about you, because he spoke the same to me. He's going to try and convince you again to trace Herobrine for him, since he knows that you're keeping contact and he believes that you have the skills to do it. He raised the reward, too. Nearly 200k. All just to bring you to him, alive, instead of letting the Admin destroy you. Or let anyone else get you in their hands. His offer remains the highest of all the player groups who still want you, besides the Black Roses. But even that's not enough to counter the Admin offer. They are really serious this time. Their Quest is really something."

"What Quest?" Herobrine badly wanted to rub the bridge of his nose. Timothy shifted and blinked, his eyes opening wide with new disbelief that quickly turned to dismay.

"You don't know that either?!"

"Cyrus, I just woke up. I'm checking my messages first. I already know that many player guilds are now after me. That's what Steve said. He found that out from those two hunters..." Herobrine sighed wearily.

"Oh, its way more than that!" Timothy exclaimed. "Look at the forums! Oh, never mind! I'll pull it up. Here!"

An image feed popped up in Herobrine's view and he silently accepted it, enlarging the view to another screen. With a lack of expression returning to his face, he stared at the massive advertisement showcased on the game wide announcement page ran by the Admin.

MASS PLAYER EVENT!

Bright letters invitingly glowed at him, surrounded by a changing collage of images where a fiery storm devoured peaceful small town houses while a monstrous coal-black, three-headed mob shot bluish skulls of flame at unusually mixed groupings of players representing all the different clans. Steele Wolves fought next to Nether Ravens, and Golden Lions stood by their rivals the Tritons.

Before Herobrine's attentive eyes, the images then changed to another famous incident of destruction, more recent, where bloodied players ran from rotting corpses chasing them with outstretched, clawing hands.

More images followed of Herobrine's past actions. And then all images joined together into one, where a tattered figure in teal and blue hovered in midair above the rising flames. The camera zoomed in closer on Herobrine's face, showing blazing white eyes observing the chaos he caused while a menacing, cruel smirk twisted his lips.

Letters formed beneath the image.

NEW QUEST!

ABOLISH HEROBRINE!

Chapter Text

Steve marveled at the sight that he thought he would never see with his own two eyes and it was as beautiful as he always dreamed. Vast, blue, endless surface stretched to the very horizon where it appeared to blend together with the equally intense, sapphire sky. His heart almost sung with the freedom and inspiration.

Eager to share this wonderful feeling with someone, whom he knew that he could always rely on, Steve turned back.

"I have always loved the sea. Did you know, Herobrine?" He beamed at his twin, whom he found standing not too far behind him, sleepily blinking at the bright light. Herobrine looked barely awake as he stood on the edge of the stairs leading down into the cabin, which he avoided leaving unless he had too.

Only, was this Herobrine?

“Hmm. I don’t know what is so amazing in this. Just a great bit of water filling a giant hole in the earth. And we are swimming on top of it in a tiny wooden speck of a shell.”

The sarcastic voice answered with a good-natured tone. In his dream, Steve had no doubts at all that the man, whose blue eyes rested on him with a slight fond smile, was actually Herobrine, even though real life Steve wondered how he knew this. Through besides his eyes, the other man did look exactly like Herobrine, even down to his slim, strong form and accurate, small beard. Steve's twin, only older. Only this Herobrine seemed to lack the anger and mistrustful look, instead possessing light-hearted air with a hint of mischief.

Meanwhile, Steve's reflection yawned and rubbed the back of his head, making his wild, spiky, dark hair stand up in even greater disarray. Bare feet stepped soundlessly across the ship planks, bringing the man next to Steve. He leaned against the railing and looked around them with a bored expression.

“Are we there, yet?” He complained. “... To be honest, I don’t know why Notch is so concerned. So what if some old beacons decided to turn on? It’s probably a malfunction of some kind. Does not mean that they are coming back. I mean, after hundreds of years? Why? They abandoned this place. And honestly, I’m just fine with that...” He concluded with a firm tone.

“Aren’t you curious? Even a little bit?” Steve heard his own voice and thought to himself that it sounded a bit different than his own, stronger and deeper.

“Noup.” His twin carelessly shrugged with a pointedly uncaring look. Steve continued to watch him, then smiled.

“Not even a little?” He teased. His lookalike turned to give him a merry look and made a crooked grin.

“Well, maybe a little.” He admitted. “Besides, how could I not come when my little brother asks?” His eyes on Steve held warm mirth and gentle fondness, before turning away to look at the distance, where many small, jungle-covered islands slowly approached.

Beyond the dream, Steve’s heart skipped a beat, then jumped with excitement and some sort of joyful fulfillment. This is what he always wished for! He didn’t know until this moment just what it was that he missed so much, why he felt so content to simply know that Herobrine was around and he was no longer alone.

Only… This was just a dream and Herobrine wasn't really his brother. Real Herobrine was part of great mythical history, a powerful being, while Steve was just a lowly mortal who feared to cross the distance between cities despite dreaming of adventures.

The flood of joy drained away a bit, letting in disappointment, then quickly became contentment again. Maybe, this was only a dream, but it felt so real. And Steve felt happy! All of this felt alive, like it was really happening! Even the smells, the touch of the wind on his skin. He could feel the movement of the ship beneath his feet as it sailed across the waves. He could even see his own tanned, strong arms, much thicker than he remembered, resting against the railing.

This was fun!

“This is not my idea of fun, brother. You know I dislike open water.” Herobrine grumbled next to him, slight unease crossing his features before his usual careless look came back. He yawned again and moved away from the railing.

“I think I’m going to take another nap… Hey, Cap! Wake me up when we get there, will you?” Blue-eyed Herobrine called to someone else behind them and Steve glanced there, for the first time noticing a figure in a rather torn cape standing with its back turned toward him, one strangely wrapped hand on the helm of the wheel, guiding the ship’s course. A wide-rimmed hat obscured the man’s features in shadow. Without a word or turning back to them, the man slightly nodded in response.

Reaching out, Herobrine briefly squeezed Steve’s shoulder and with a grin turned and stepped back to the ladder, to disappear back into the cabin. Steve turned back to the sea.

Endless waves, translucent over dark depths, fascinated and drew him, immeasurably calming to his senses. Steve couldn’t help smiling, his entire form relaxing as he closed his eyes and simply let himself be, enjoying this bright day on the sea, not caring what happened next.

Asleep beneath the comfortable, plush blanket, the young man faintly smiled, his eyes flicking beneath closed eyelids as he continued to see dreams.

In the stats above his head, his age continued to glitch. 2305. 804. 1503. 35. 603. 9.

…

Still asleep.

Herobrine checked the dot on his server map and returned his attention to Timothy, who at that moment yawned so wide that Herobrine felt a matching ache in his own jaw, even though he slept already.

“All right. Then that’s settled. Now get some sleep. And I’ll try to see what else I can dig up.”

Herobrine again looked at the screen, where several video accounts of players now boldly claimed that they had been kidnapped and enslaved by the runaway boss, Herobrine. All the claims had appeared in last three hours and the players even displayed their status lines, where either “Chosen by Herobrine” or “Herobrine’s Slave” burned like some sort of a Title beneath their names, with various additional buffs and de-buffs added to their abilities as a result. Timothy doubtfully considered the same images on his own screens.

“Honestly, it looks like some sort of hype. Almost like they are trying to distract everyone? Now, even if those two that attacked you start complaining that you kidnapped someone, no one is going to pay attention. So maybe that’s good news? Why would they protect you like this, though?”

“They are not protecting me…” Herobrine said gloomily, frowning at the rather proud and excited, rather than annoyed faces of new 'victimized' players. “They are protecting their own neck. Keeping everyone’s attention from what they think is the real problem. If players learn that I can 'kill' them in game, they’ll flee. They’re trying to keep the Game from mass panic and getting shut down.”

“That makes sense, I guess.” Timothy said thoughtfully. “Either way, they now turned everyone against you. Stuff like this makes it look like you’ve gone total bat insane. So now even the players who think you are a SAI will go against you.”

Timothy considered the matter longer and suddenly snorted, losing his serious tone entirely. “What I’m wondering is will these slaves of yours really obey you if you show up and start telling them what to do?”

“I don’t care. They’re not really mine.” Herobrine gave his fake followers a look of distaste.

“All right, then I’m going to sleep. Are you all right?”

“I am. Don’t worry.” Herobrine unwillingly glanced at the multiple screens where he and Timothy attempted to trace the influence of the virus, but quickly gave up. While the changes in outer structure of his “boss” level matched that of which his keeper warned him in the message, placing severe limitation on the powers previously granted by the Admin by their mods to Herobrine copies, the rest seemed far more subtle. The only thing so far that Herobrine could understand was that he really did drop down to a merely normal virtual human level. That’s why he didn’t heal any longer. Or rather, he did heal, but only up to a point. Humans did not have such regeneration powers so that they could replace lost limbs. Still, learning this calmed him somewhat. If that's all the virus did, he could live like this. He could live as a human. Even one arm was not a true handicap, provided he did not get additional injuries. Many virtual humans lived with handicaps worse and seemed content. He could live like this, especially with his knowledge of hacks. He even already had an idea on what to try out next to regain at least some of his old mob powers, too.

“You’ll write to Mr. Ledorn?” Timothy verified.

“I will, I will.” Herobrine reassured.  

“Fine. Then I’ll see you in four hours.” Young human concluded, finally ready to surrender to his body’s needs and with another yawn leaned back and stretched.

The warning light on Timothy’s neural band continued to burn a steady red, the notifications for which the young hacker must have turned off to keep from annoying him – not a very safe practice that Timothy was already in the habit of doing even before they met. It meant that he had been online too long without giving his biological neural system a break.

“Eight. And don’t sleep in game. Log off.” Herobrine suggested in mild tone of command. Timothy only carelessly shrugged off the warning and pushed off his chair, heading to a full-sized open capsule that took up most of the space in this gray cubical unit.

This wasn’t even a normal living arrangement for humans. To save costs, at some point, Timothy found a storage unit in some massive manufacturing warehouse district. It provided more than enough power and energy conduits necessary to run his powerhouse, which otherwise would have required time-lengthy requests for approvals in a general living quarters area. Here, Timothy could upgrade and tinker to his heart’s content, with the resulting monster of a machine ending up worth probably more than two million credits – an impossible sum that this young human couldn’t have even imagined earning two years ago.

As concerning his living space, Timothy had a refrigeration unit, where he set up automatic deliveries, and on occasion even resorted to auto feeding and exercise regime. Well, he was nearly an adult, this was his own life, and Herobrine had no right to interfere…

Noticing that the human still didn’t change his wake timer to a reasonable amount of rest, Herobrine couldn’t help a slight disapproving shake of the head and changed it to eight hours, instead. He heard Timothy’s light smirk.

“Wake me up if anything happens, will ya?”

[Herobrine to Cyrus]: I will. Don’t worry. Sleep.

Herobrine reassured, switching to easier to maintain form of communication while he resumed searching the forums for any hint of what may have happened to set the Admin on a war path.

With a corner of his eye, Herobrine saw Timothy crawling into his capsule with his eyes already closed, where he simply collapsed, trusting the machines to catch his form and gently bring it into the right position to hover in the middle of the structure. Defiant, the young human already dove into a different environment – a cozy room with wide open windows facing the vast, blue sea. Herobrine’s gaze briefly drew to the scene, reminded of the brief dream he had of being on a ship with the older Steve and again wondered what part of his own unconscious human mind could have possibly supplied that strange image.

The security walls, brought up by the hacker as a last thought to protect his privacy, only brought a slight smirk. Not that he sought to pry, but he already knew everything that there was to know about his young, human ally. Two years ago, Timothy’s actions left him no choice but to abandon any intent to abide by such human expectations as personal space, though of course he never revealed it to either of the young humans.

With a slightly amused look, Herobrine glanced at the huge, animated posters that appeared on the walls of the beach resort room.

He remembered seeing mostly monsters and gaming trailers when he looked at them first, two years ago. And one was a rather hazy digital frame of a foggy city, where his twin stood on the roof of a tall building, appearing to look down into the busy streets. Just then, he had turned to give the viewer a wary and somewhat threatening look. He would vanish the next moment. This picture was a still, rare shot made years ago. Beneath the poster lay words: “Herobrine – fact or fiction?”

Timothy had since hid that poster in archives. He had been too embarrassed when his sister pointed it out to Herobrine, when she was showing him their real place of habitation.

Since then, Timothy’s preferences slightly changed. The posters still displayed monsters and gaming trailers, but now he also occasionally had shots of gamer girls.

Right now, Herobrine could see one featuring an impressive quad of female warriors, whom some lucky player managed to eternally catch in a new-update trailer-worthy pose – spectacular flames of destruction raging behind them while they walked with weapons bare and in full, yet form-flattering gear. Four players from four different clans, out on a stroll to slay monsters, with one of them of course, Arianna, from the Black Roses clan. A metal-adorned staff casually rested against her shoulder as her dark, violet eyes dangerously narrowed at the viewer in warning. The lad was obsessed with her and the entire clan, and Herobrine could almost understand why. Looking at this player’s facial features, mysteriously shaded beneath her dark anonymity cloak that hid her stats, even his curiosity unwillingly awakened along with a strange wistful feeling he couldn’t quite define.

This feeling had never been strong enough to overcome his caution and seek out this player, of course, even to look from afar, since doing so would have been nothing less than risking respawn or worse – capture by a high-level playing clan from which he might not escape. Just the thought of the last made any curiosity vanish from his thoughts entirely.

How many Herobrine copies have their clan already slain and mansions destroyed on the way to the ultimate prize offered by the Admin in their recently declared Quest?

Hmm, that was interesting. None?

Mistrustfully, Herobrine checked the data and found some of his sudden bitterness leaving. Checking Steele Wolves clan and then checking more, he couldn’t help a faint smile. Those two players lied to Steve. For whatever reason, not all player guilds had joined the hunt after him. Some had stayed away and even made a public statement, appealing to other players to avoid hunting and killing what might very well be a sentient AI, who was innocent of most accusations the Admin declared against him.  

For a moment, Herobrine looked at the author of the statement – a stern warrior in enchanted Netherite armor and with a transparent helm obscuring his face.

And then he opened a message window.

Maybe he couldn’t make a video call with his current lack of access to System to assume his usual human disguise, but he could access Migo’s mailbox. Beneath his silent gaze, words quickly began to form lines.

[Migo Santiago to Magnus Ledorn]: Greetings, sir. Apologies for unexpected absence. I ran into a slight trouble while following the instructions given to me by our contact. To reassure you, everything is still moving according to plan, and I’ve found additional information that might prove useful. As agreed, I’ll send it by the end of the week at the latest or as soon as I can get to a reliable access point. I’m currently not in an area with reliable access, hence this message. Sorry that I couldn’t respond to you sooner. Sorry also, but I may have to postpone taking on any additional jobs until a later time due to the latest Quest against you-know-who. Thanks to that, my contact won’t be able to work with me on this matter until later notice. I will inform as soon as I get word. With all respect, Migo.

Barely a few seconds passed after the message had left to the name addressed, when another video call request began to blink on Migo’s screen. Herobrine winced. Humans really didn’t read their messages very carefully.

[Migo Santiago to Magnus Ledorn]: Sir, I cannot answer video calls. I’m not in an area with secure access.

The active video call request status changed to inactive. Instead, a recording in real time status appeared, which Herobrine opened with relief, since now the human would not be able to see him directly.

A window opened with an image of an elderly, but still stout human in a casual t-shirt sporting a steel wolf head logo. Even beyond the game, Magnus Ledorn remained true to his gaming obsessions. The human’s tousled dark hair peppered with gray and gray eyes looked at Herobrine with slight annoyance and worry mixed in a way that sparked a strange sense of warmth in Herobrine’s heart, despite knowing that the human’s paternal affection was misplaced – it was meant for Herobrine’s avatar, whom he formed after Timothy’s example. Still, it felt good and Herobrine wondered if that’s what young humans felt towards their parents. It was not very different from what he felt towards Notch at times, though his own feeling toward his protector carried far more fear and respect than what he had seen human younglings display toward their own elders.

“All right, kid.” The human patiently sighed. “Why am I getting the feeling that you’re in some sort of trouble again? I swear, you and that bot are so alike. And your friend Tim, too. All of you are equal trouble. What am I going to do with you all?”

Herobrine couldn’t help a snort.

"Keep in touch. Are you sure you don't need my help? Don't be scared to ask. Like I said before, I can help. Documents, legal work permits, even a bail. I'll get it arranged. I have good contacts and money talks. I'd hate for something to happen to either of you. Don't get mixed up with the wrong sort of people. Easy money is not always the best thing, kid. I told your friend that, too. Both of you should come and start working officially for me. You really won't regret it. Maybe money won't be so good, but it will be all legal. And think about your girl. Where are you going to invite her to stay when she wakes up? Do you even have a place of your own?"

Herobrine unwillingly gave Timothy’s very drab place a discouraged look, inwardly agreeing with the human’s statement, before heat flushed in his cheeks. Him, invite Anna to their home? He wasn’t even a human! He didn’t have a place in the human world, because he didn’t live there! He was beginning to identify too much with his own pretended role.

This was really frustrating, though! This human continued to ignore his statements that his concern for Anna’s health came strictly as that of a good friend. As soon as he learned the real reason why the teen named Migo approached him with an offer he couldn’t refuse for her sake, he made his conclusions and now didn’t hesitate to tease. On one hand, it had immediately evoked sympathy in the man in the very beginning and he went even beyond what Herobrine and Timothy hoped for, helping them with many legal aspects concerning her care and Timothy’s emancipation from state provision, proving that he could care for his own needs. On the other hand, the man now felt fully justified to intrude into their lives to an extent and often called simply to chat.

[Migo Santiago to Magnus Ledorn]: I’m fine with my current status, sir. And I’m not in bad company, sir. Don't worry, I'm not that stupid.

Herobrine crookedly smiled. The man shifted, rolling his neck. He was obviously just out of bed and the fact of him not even bothering to use an avatar to gain a more presentable look already held a very personable appeal to trust him in equal measure. Of course, Herobrine could not risk this, despite being more and more tempted to, especially with Timothy prodding him toward it.

“I know you’re not. Unlike that blasted SAI…” The leader of Steele Wolves frowned with displeasure. “I won’t ask you to trace his whereabouts again. I know that you know what’s at stake. But if he is truly in danger, please call me. I know he won’t like it. And it might turn you into a traitor in his eyes. But it’s critical this time. I don’t know what’s going on, yet, but my contacts say that there is something serious moving up at the top levels. I believe that Her… our contact needs to disappear. And preferably out of that Game entirely. I can help with that. So… Consider it. Please.”

Herobrine slightly frowned again.

[Migo Santiago to Magnus Ledorn]: I will keep this in mind, sir.

The human’s face lightened a bit and he relaxed. “Good. Then I’ll let you go. Sounds like you’re busy. Keep me updated with what’s going on. Are you sure that… he is safe? How long ago did you see him?”

[Migo Santiago to Magnus Ledorn]: Just this morning. He is fine.

Recalling the bits of glitched video, which those two players might make public, Herobrine chose to add details, so it wouldn't cause questions later along with mistrust.

[Migo Santiago to Magnus Ledorn]: There was a bit of a run-in with players. Apparently, the Admin developed some sort of virus, which they started handing out to some players as an enchantment against Herobrine mods. The players who attacked him had it. He got a hold of their weapon and sent me a copy of the scans, but with our equipment, neither I nor Tim can figure it out. If I send you the file, can you have your experts run it through simulations in your center?

The human immediately frowned, losing his casual look. “He received damage?” He demanded with a stern note.

[Migo Santiago to Magnus Ledorn]: Slight damage. Nothing serious. And he said that everything is currently under control and he is safe.

“Everything under control, huh…” The human said skeptically and shook his head with disapproval. “If it was up to me, I’d chain him up and put him in a tight box. Then he’d be safe.”

The elderly man grumbled with a faint well-meaning smile, while chills shot up Herobrine’s body and his hand reflexively clenched at the words, slightly shaking as he tried to contain the shock. It was just a turn of phrase, a joke, nothing more. Still, he had to look away from the human’s face as any illusory feeling of kinship he felt previously suddenly dropped away, leaving him on the other side of the uncrossable divide that lay between him and this confident being – so like him in outward appearance, and at the same time not.

“I’m just kidding, kid. Just kidding. I wasn’t going to do that. Yes, definitely send me that data and I’ll run it through. Will see what those sons of slimes cooked up this time. Anyway, glad to know that you’re doing good and that you’re keeping an eye on him, too. Stay out of trouble! And next time stay in touch! You’re going to give this old man a heart attack. All right, I must get ready for meetings. Keep me posted.”

[Migo Santiago to Magnus Ledorn]: I will, sir. Have a good day.

Instead of an answer, the man nodded and waved his hand, his image disappearing in mid gesture. For another moment, Herobrine still stared at the multiple video-call requests and then snapped his head to the right, where the outlines of a cube appeared. Within, floated the trophy weapon which he took from the vanquished pawns of the Admin. Familiar blade hovered, glimmering with shifting hues of purple light.

“Object analysis: 0.00035% complete.” The System informed him with a pleasant voice. Herobrine sighed. At this rate, Timothy’s prediction was more likely to prove true than not. He would need help. He still had several other options, but… Just in case.

Condense. Copy. Attach. Send.

At his commands, a second copy of the sword appeared, vanished, and then a message with an attached link symbol sped on its way to Magnus Ledorn’s processing center, where it would be sent to machines with far better processing cores than Timothy’s make-shift construction.  

With another look at the now peacefully slumbering young human, Herobrine irritably dismissed his screen out of view along with the entire messages folder, not even bothering to read the offer from the mysterious object of his human ally’s fascination. Whatever that strange player from Black Roses offered, he simply didn’t trust at this moment. He didn’t trust any humans!

Frowning, Herobrine switched his hostile gaze to the other screens, where the search began to significantly speed up at his focused effort. Additional windows opened, nearly seventy of them by now, where numerous images and feeds resumed flashing with increasing speed. His keeper’s training in action, Herobrine smirked darkly, but already the emotion came distant as his human side grew more distant, detached, freeing his mind to work.

Minutes passed, unnoticed, before human feelings of frustration began to build. The more he searched, the more he became convinced that whatever happened, the Admin carefully kept under wraps as usual, hiding it from public view. There were no mentions of Herobrine pretenders attacking players and certainly no news about any players ending up in coma while playing the game.

Would he really have to speak to his former keeper?

With a sour look, Herobrine considered what he would have to do before he could do that. He certainly could not answer the message here, in case it would immediately give away his location. He would have to prepare for the event on another server, prepare his ways of escape in case it ended up being a trap, as he was almost certain it would end up. With his mob powers suppressed, he would be no match to the Admin at all. How much time would he have if his keeper moved to kill him, to return him into imprisonment through respawn? One? Two? There was a way that he would not respawn at the coordinates that the Admin set into his code, but for that he would need help… Could he really trust Timothy with that? That young hacker would figure out at once just what he could do once Herobrine gave him this opportunity. Herobrine was not entirely sure if his ally would not be tempted to shift their roles to a greater advantage.

There was another who could help him, whom Herobrine now trusted far more than Timothy…

Herobrine’s processing speed in all the screens slowed by nearly half as he looked at his server data again, his white eyes holding thoughtfully on the stationary green dot.

Steve.

Only he couldn’t ask this of him, could he? Steve already did too much. He should not have become involved in any of this at all. And now, thanks to Herobrine, he most likely not only lost his home, but came to the attention of the players, who would certainly not leave him alone even if Steve tried to restart his life elsewhere. From now on, whether he wanted to or not, his life would have to change.

What could Herobrine do to make up for the terrible damage that he had done?

The young player’s vital signs remained calm and steady, still indicating that he was deeply asleep. Only his age was glitching strangely again to impossible numbers, just as Herobrine had on occasion seen before, always only when Steve was asleep.

He was also dreaming, in REM stage, as his heightened neural activity showed.

Curious despite himself, and the feed in his other screens dropping even more as he lost focus, Herobrine pulled up the recording of several last hours past, scrolling back to the time after he and Steve separated ways. Just in case, Herobrine had set the server System to keep an eye on Steve and sound an alarm wake-up call if Steve got in danger of any sort or if he went beyond the set boundaries. Not by intent, but likely by accident – Steve was the most accident prone, unlucky Human that Herobrine had ever seen. If luck was such a thing as a stat in the server where Steve lived, Herobrine would have said that Steve had it in the negative number. Only the server had no such mod.

Another reason Herobrine set the alarm was because when he went to sleep last night, he still half-expected to wake up to a massive player invasion. If those two players managed to somehow return to the inter-server gate in time and traced their signatures, first to Alstor’s realm, and then here, to Timothy’s server, then it would have been disastrous. As many precautions as Herobrine took to safe-guard that from ever happening, if the players were fast enough, or if they called moderators, they could have done so.

Everything remained quiet, however.

By tomorrow, he would learn if his sentient servants managed to destroy the End gate as he ordered them to do as soon as he and then the players stepped through. He was fairly certain that after that, even if the Admin managed to establish a link, they would only gain a very general direction that would take them to one of the densest player clusters in the entire Game. With thousands upon thousands of private servers, whose owners held contracts and rights to nearly complete sections of the Game, even the Admin would need to contact each and single one of them to get permission before they could fully review their data.

Now, he was fairly certain that everything had gone relatively well overall despite not going exactly to plan. Only Steve’s presence was not supposed to be part of this.

Herobrine’s eyes held on the stationary green dot.

He promised Steve answers. He assured Timothy that he would take full responsibility for him and attempt to help him. Which means that he would have to do what he avoided so long – he would have to tell Steve exactly what it meant that he was a player, a human from an entirely different world than this one. And that would mean that Steve will learn what Herobrine really was. He would learn just how much Herobrine lied to him all this time, pretending, misusing Steve’s ignorance.

Again, shame tried to rise, but Herobrine only sighed, merely accepting it. He was going to do his best to fix this, even if this meant that Steve would despise him afterward, or what’s worse, come to hate him. He would deserve it after the treatment he had given.

He would not disregard his promise, though. He would make sure that Steve learned who he was. Together, they would find out where he came from, how he could log off the Game, and… proceed from there. Then, Steve himself will decide what he wanted to do.

Now with some sadness, Herobrine watched as Steve cautiously explored the fortress, taking care not to step beyond the boundaries Herobrine advised him to stay in. Peeking from room to room, Steve quickly found the kitchen, and used it on several occasions, turning it into his base of operations for the next several hours. He then absorbed himself into snooping into Herobrine’s treasures.

No wonder he was still asleep.

Herobrine couldn’t help a small smile, watching his human twin look with awe upon the various weapons that Herobrine had collected. Most could do no more damage in Steve’s hands than a simple, iron sword, due to the limitations of his skill set and his developed stats. Still, a couple would have been useful, since their stats would have augmented Steve’s existing abilities. Unfortunately, unfamiliar with inner workings of the System, and unable to see such things as buffs, user limitations, enhancements, and points, Steve merely dismissed the valuable weapons back into the ender chest.

As a player, Herobrine might have to teach him all these things. Herobrine humphed. Him, teaching a player how to become a better player? Nine months ago he would have laughed at the ridiculous suggestion.

Steve, meanwhile, somehow managed to pull out an enormous axe nearly half his size and promptly dropped it on his foot, luckily with a dull edge. Herobrine unwillingly winced, watching the young man silently biting his lip as he hopped on his uninjured foot as he waited out the pain, probably not willing to wake up Herobrine from his slumber.

Wisely, Steve then switched to looking through potions.

“He w-was my friend!... H-he might not think so, but I… I was his friend…" Steve’s shaken voice quietly sounded in his memory, causing Herobrine to lower his head slightly with guilt.

Why did this foolish mortal seek to protect him? Especially after everything he did to him? Even after Steve thought that Herobrine fled, abandoning Steve to the two heroes who were ready to kill him in a horrible way, he remained loyal and refused to call Herobrine a monster though he deserved it. And Steve did this, believing that he would die, since he still did not know that he was a player at the time.

Yes, if Herobrine asked Steve’s help now, he would doubtlessly give it without hesitation. Herobrine didn't want to drag him even further into this mess, but he needed Steve's help, at least for now. He... he would explain everything to Steve, the dangers and his options. And then let Steve decide himself what he wanted to do.

Herobrine’s eyes unwillingly narrowed on several bright colored potions that appeared on kitchen table, where Steve continued to take out potions. Wasn’t that… ‘Tear of the Sun?’ The legendary incendiary potion could ignite half a dungeon and turn all living forms present to ash within seconds of the blast, if Steve dropped it!

Even knowing that Steve obviously didn’t drop it or any other of these dangerous potions that followed, Herobrine still unwillingly tensed, watching how Steve rather carelessly sent the legendary level potions along with high-level ones he already knew into his own storage.

Didn’t Herobrine warn him not to touch things he didn’t know?...

Perhaps, it was his mistake to give Steve unlimited access, when obviously Steve had no idea of what he was looking at. It just spoke of how tired Herobrine had been last night.

No, he really would have to carry out several training sessions before he could feel more or less calm that Steve would not accidentally come to harm while staying here. Definitely potions, and maybe weapons? Also recognizing and using materials that were not present on their server. Mobs?

Herobrine suddenly recalled briefly testing Steve’s playing skills early on and sending a bunch of weak monsters against him. Steve simply ran, amusing Herobrine to no end.

No, such level of skill in fighting wouldn’t do!

Now, Steve might be forced to fend off against numbers of players, who might recognize him from the rumors that might soon appear on the forums. Those two players didn’t have any videos of him, but it would be too easy to reconstruct them from residual data in the System on Steve’s server, if anyone sought that information in earnest. It was enough to claim that Steve looked like Herobrine himself, except younger and with blue eyes, and players would have enough to recognize him when they saw him.

Steve needed to learn how to fight so he would not become a victim to someone like those two. And that… that might be even fun, even if Herobrine now lacked his former strength. His human form was not nearly as bound by the strict levels as his raid boss form, which he probably just could simply turn off completely if it became completely unviable. He still had his skills.

Would Steve be willing to learn and make the effort? He did seem a bit lazy and usually chose the most effortless way.

Well, for now he still feared and respected Herobrine so he would listen! Herobrine smirked slightly. Maybe he could even use part of the Pathway of Strength that his predecessor used to begin training him early on? How would the true part of his predecessor react if Herobrine brought Steve to him? Not the part, which he carried with him now, but that, which resided in a key place, where Herobrine once followed a great Quest to find?

Could his predecessor’s shard help him to determine the cause of Steve’s missing memory?

It was an interesting idea to consider, though it would require a journey for which both of them will need to make preparations. And he still needed to learn what his keeper meant by those accusations brought against him…

Something on one of the numerous screens suddenly distracted Herobrine from further following Steve’s antics while Herobrine had been asleep. Zooming in on one of the screens, Herobrine frowned at the data that began to appear there.

He would allow Steve to sleep another couple of hours. Then, it was time to start implementing the first parts of the plan that Herobrine tentatively formed so far. 

Chapter Text

43 days ago...

Steve was on the last hour of his mining at a plentiful coal vein, when he felt it. He paused, his pickaxe still raised.

He was here again.

Steve frowned. No, he wasn't afraid. Maybe apprehensive? His twin seemed to be in a sour and gloomy mood this time, he could just tell. He didn't know how he knew this. Before, he used to think that it was only his imagination. Now, he was almost certain of this. Perhaps he gained this ability because Herobrine marked him somehow and wanted him to know whenever he arrived, to add to Steve's fearful anticipation?

Still, the last several times Steve felt Herobrine return, the powerful being did not even approach Steve, nor cause any mayhem, unlike in the first few months after their first encounter in the mansion. Steve glimpsed him in the distance, but his twin left again as quietly as he had arrived.

Steve remembered feeling true dread whenever he got this feeling before, in those first few months. His stomach would sink and he would immediately cease doing what he was doing and run home as fast as he could. If he managed to reach his cabin in time, then his twin would not bother him as much. His white-eyed endermen might hover by the house windows and a few zombies might knock on his doors, making Steve flinch each time as the rickety wood would jump.

He would not dare show his nose outside until morning came, unable to sleep well because of the nightmares of the white-eyed fiend chasing after him to slaughter him again and again, or have his monsters tear him apart.

Nothing like that happened in reality, of course. Even if Steve got caught out in the open when his twin would show up, their interactions would usually amount to mobs chasing Steve and perhaps a few mean tricks meant to scare him. It amused Herobrine to see Steve's panicked reactions.

Beyond that time in the mansion, however, Herobrine in real life never harmed him. Only one time, about three weeks after Steve's misfortunate trip to the mansion, his twin once lost self-control.

Steve could still remember steely grip that suddenly yanked him off his feet while he had gone out to feed his animals. It had been terrifying, because he didn't expect it, not connecting the strange feeling he woke up with, with the being's presence. Lifted in the air, Steve uselessly tried to scratch at the unyielding fingers that squeezed his throat, making him gasp for air as he flailed and kicked.

He had been thrown back, slamming against the side of his barn, to find his twin looming over him with a sneer, which became a frown at the sight of fear on Steve's face.

"Still pretending?" His twin demanded, scowling, but quieted when Steve only blinked up at him with confusion. Then, he smirked again with a malicious, cruel mirth, which made Steve's heart sink in ill foreboding. "Let's see how long you can keep that up."

The being murmured in low tone before turning away and vanishing. Shaken, Steve remained where he was for several long moments, yet, before managing to pull himself up to his feet and stumbled to finish his chores. In danger or not, his animals needed to be tended and fed.

Besides, where could he run?

It was useless to flee from Herobrine once he singled you out for his personal spoils. All the books that Steve hungrily read in town library after his first visit to the mansion, warned that the powerful dark demigod enjoyed to play games with mortals he selected as targets for his amusement. So long as they remained passive and not challenging, the being would not kill them. If they remained in place, not attempting to escape, he would eventually lose interest and go looking for better entertainment.

Steve understood that he gained the demigod's attention simply because he had been mistaken for a foolish champion, who invaded Herobrine's keep to single-handedly challenge him. It had been a miracle that the being spared Steve, then. And even healed him? Steve's memories of the latest parts of the events were very fuzzy.

He barely left his house for days afterward. And on the questions of the children who arrived the next morning with city guards, he said nothing.

The books warned that if the victim complained or turned to others for help, the being would simply kill him in anger before teaching all others who dared to interfere a lesson to fear his name. So, he didn't say anything. And after the guards ventured to the mansion and reported that everything remained as it was and the old ghost still dwelled within, unresponsive and silent, Steve almost with relief concluded that the entire thing had been a terrible nightmare despite how real it felt.

He felt his twin's presence even then, watching him with suspicion, confusion, and hostility, changing briefly to disbelief, to only repeat the cycle. It had been almost as if the being was trying to decide who Steve was and his true motives for going to the mansion.

And then, he simply left and that presence vanished.

Three weeks later, he returned again, and Steve felt him nearby, watching. He still thought it was only his imagination, until this attack and Herobrine's strange words.

After this moment, he became a toy, just as the books described. Zombies and hostile mobs would appear out of no where and chase after him, roaming around the cabin at night until the morning light while Steve sat on his bed and shook, unable to sleep a wink. Things would mysteriously go missing or appear in different places than Steve left them. One time, he went to draw water from a well and when he turned back, he saw his house blazing on fire, only for everything to go up to normal when he closed his eyes and rubbed them.

At the same time, he distinctly felt his twin's amusement. It pleased his tormentor to see Steve afraid and startled. On occasion, Steve even heard his dark, silky laugh.

Another time, he came to check on his animals, only to find them all slain. It nearly overwhelmed him to the point that he did become angry and grasped his sword, which appeared to be exactly what his twin was waiting for. He appeared, eager, waiting for Steve to attack him. It took great effort for Steve to look away and grimly grit his jaw.

"I am not going to fight you." He declared to Herobrine and felt his disappointment.

Then, the illusion of blood-stained, empty barn suddenly fell away, revealing it to be in ordinary disarray. And Steve heard his animals outside, safe and sound.

Herobrine was a master of illusions just like the books said. Still, as time passed, his fear began to leave as more and more differences between this man and the monster in legends emerged.

This Herobrine did not fight until he had been challenged. And his tricks, although scary and mean at first glance, ended up mostly harmless, at least as far as Steve was concerned. Steve was not so sure about the other places, from which horrific stories continued to come.

Only on occasion, when he left elsewhere did he return in a truly sour mood, in which case Steve could expect the man to set his mobs on him, not allowing him to escape. Then, Steve knew that he should fight and did it the best he could, though it instead quickly calmed Herobrine's mood.

Most of the time, though, Steve preferred to stay indoors in his cabin as much as possible during his twin's visits. To his relief, Herobrine did not come here that often, usually staying only for a day or two between several weeks of absence elsewhere.

And last three times Steve felt his presence, he didn't even approach Steve at all, merely watching him from afar. The renewed absence of usual mobs then became the only sign to Steve that Herobrine came and then left again.

No, Steve no longer feared him nearly as much as he used to.

Steve held his pickaxe and debated whether to abandon his mining and head home as was his usual tactic. After a moment of hesitation, he instead struck the vein again and continued mining. He was almost done, anyway.

Only half his attention held on his routine task, directing his pick toward the spots, which he knew would weaken the rocks to free the ore. Chunks of it broke off and floated around him, waiting for him to pick it up.

He continued to mine and couldn't help recalling the very last time that he met Herobrine directly.

That time, his twin's presence caught him out in the open woods, exploring the lands beyond. Herobrine had not returned in almost a month, so Steve judged it safe for him to head out on a prolonged trip. He was almost two days away, slowly making his way back to his camping site and regretting that he didn't bring more torches and potions.

He had been living under Herobrine's protection so long that he had become complacent of other, normal dangers. The monsters in these woods certainly did not consider Steve special. A pack of wolves began to trail him, eyeing him with hungry interest, counting him for an invader that he was.

Steve was gathering more wood for the fire by the edge of a steep ravine, when he felt the other's tale-tell presence. Herobrine must have gone out searching for him just as the books warned he might. Only Steve did not mean to escape! He was just exploring.

Feeling his twin's ire, yet not seeing him, yet, Steve nervously held the bundle of branches in his arms as he cast uneasy looks about himself.

The sudden appearance of several rumbling forms, which reached out their rotting arms and lunged toward him, making guttural, growling sounds, startled him badly so he dropped everything. He turned around, about to run and...

His ankle caught on a root, twisting, and then he was falling, unable to help yelps as first his knee, then his ribs, then other parts of his body collided with protruding rocks as he tumbled head over heels to the bottom of the ravine.

He was still sitting there in the mud, rather dazed, when the sound of teleportation made him throw up wide-eyed look. He found his twin looking at him with an angry look. And then Herobrine strode to him and grabbed him by his arm, yanking him up.

Steve didn't even have time to startle when the world around him blurred and he found himself unceremoniously dumped on the porch of his cabin, hours of way away from where he had been.

A splash potion broke next to flinching Steve's form, which he understood was a healing potion, since his aches and pains swiftly fled. His twin frowned at him with what seemed to be disappointment and concern fighting in his expression, before scoffing and turning to leave.

"W-wait!" Steve called out before he could help himself. His twin paused, turning his head as he waited for Steve to explain. Steve's heart beat loudly in his chest as he reflected on his own daring. It had been the first time that he ever managed to even speak to the being's face. Or back as it were.

"T-thank you. I..." Steve suddenly swallowed his words, not sure what else to say. "I w-wasn't running away. I w-was just e... exploring." He explained just in case.

His twin appeared to almost sigh. Turning around, he glared at Steve from narrowed eyes, his expression stern and quite unlike the chagrin and concern that Steve still felt emanating from him somehow.

"You are too low level to explore that location. Do not go that way again." Herobrine said and Steve hastily nodded, though the only thing he understood from the man's words was that Herobrine did not wish him to go far from home again. That, he intended to do already. Those enormous wolves with hungry, red eyes looked scary enough.

Herobrine watched him a moment longer, disbelief and astonishment briefly warring in his face, then huffed and vanished.

Steve was left alone by his cabin, glad to be safe once more. His twin's presence in the area that night had been almost a comfort, though he did regret leaving his things in the forest far away, despite how little he managed to gain there by that moment.

In the morning, he discovered his things left by his door. Herobrine thought of even that.

Steve looked at it all and couldn't help it as a smile began to beam on his face. He finally understood something at that moment.

The books he read about Herobrine were all wrong.

Or, maybe this was not true Herobrine, but only a fragment of his being, still gathering his old power as some of the newest tales said.

In any case, this man was not the monster who toyed with his victims and slayed them without mercy at first sign of displeasure. He didn't enslave humans and turn them into his undead servants. Steve had seen nothing of that. And he was not the malicious, terrifying creature from Steve's early dreams after his mansion visit, relentlessly pursuing to kill him, again and again.

This man hated him at first, Steve certainly felt that, but that dimmed to mere dislike and now even became concern despite the man's own misgivings. Herobrine no longer wanted to make Steve suffer, though he still did not trust Steve's intents, for some reason believing that Steve was somehow misleading him, pretending to be someone he was not.

Steve already understood that because of him coming alone to Herobrine's mansion, the being mistook him for a hero who came to challenge him. Surely, by now, he could see that Steve was no hero?

The being continued to return and watch Steve, not to satisfy his anger and desire to punish him for annoying slights of other heroes that continued to bother him, but simply to alleviate his boredom and... loneliness?

In the last several returns, when Herobrine did not even approach Steve, preferring to remain afar, Steve distinctly felt that mood.

It was the same again, today, only stronger. Pensive, almost brooding.

Having finished his mining, Steve made his way out of the cave shaft, taking care to take a look around just in case. Everything was eerie still and Steve took a breath of relief. Not a mob in sight. Herobrine was close, somewhere, but not interested in him.

He was close, though. Very close.

Steve glanced at the already darkening outline of the trees and eyed the barely perceptible trail that led through the grass into the shady woods – a way to his cabin. He really needed to get home, weary after working day in and out in the shafts, getting coal for trading. Clean up, drink water, and fall on his comfortable bed to sleep without dreams.

Instead, Steve turned and began moving in nearly opposite direction, to where his twin's presence called to him. Carefully placing his footing, he scrambled up the steep side of the mountain to where a familiar gorge opened up, sunk in the shadows of tall, hundreds of years old trees with thick stems.

Just a few minutes later, carrying a lit torch to dispel some of the gathering darkness, Steve came to a clearance, where a small waterfall ran glistening down into the dark abyss, the sound of water hitting surface somewhere far below, hidden by rising mists.

He could have sworn that this is where his senses led him. Herobrine was just here, Steve was sure of that.

The light of his torch showed that the clearance was empty. And now, Steve could also no longer feel the other's presence. That did not mean that his twin was still not nearby, since sometimes Steve lost this sense just when Herobrine noticed him and shifted his focus to him in a sort of predatory way that made Steve very nervous. But the absence could also mean that his twin simply teleported away, not wishing to be disturbed, which was more likely.

Steve made a small sigh and curiously peered out to the edge, curious what lay beyond.

Even if Herobrine was here, he wouldn't hurt him. Not really, not even when very angry. From his experiences so far, Steve almost believed this by now. Wanted to believe it. Otherwise why would the man had spared him before? And even helped him?

Encouraged by the thought, Steve made a step forward and approached the edge. Absent-mindedly placing the torch upon a pile of rocks nearby, he with wonder eyed the sight beyond.

Steve knew this place, now. This is where he had on occasion seen Herobrine appear – a small figure distant upon the mountain edge between the trees. When Steve dared to step out in the late evening from his cabin, he would at times see Herobrine standing here silently and watch.

Hesitantly, Steve drew even closer to the edge.

He could understand why Herobrine would choose this spot.

From here, Steve could see woods stretching as far as the eye could see, filling with green the space between the rising rocky slabs shrouded in shadow. The setting sun's rays painted the clouds with vanning pinks and purples, which poured upon the mountains towering beyond, their peaks capped with snow lit golden. Somewhere farther to the east lay the small valley where Herobrine's mansion stood, tucked away within the passage leading higher into the mountains. Steve couldn't see it from here. He could see a bit of the town, where lanterns already burned to light the tiny streets. And he could see his own cozy cabin with its sloped roof and some of his fenced in yard, looking toylike from this distance.

Craning his neck, Steve leaned forward even more, trying to distinguish the details. What were those tiny black figures meandering around his yard? Endermen? Hopefully they wouldn't accidentally release his animals from their pen like already happened on several occasions...

Slight crumbling underfoot and Steve didn't even have time to react as he found himself leaning into the empty space below him, his arms helplessly flying up and waving about as he tried to regain his balance.

A flash of fear only began to rise, when a strong hand grasped his jacket and roughly hauled him back, making him stumble away from the edge a few steps while his heart already beat loudly in his chest. Steve fell on his bum.

Trying to catch panicked breath, Steve gulped and hesitantly looked up, to find Herobrine scowling at him. White eyes considered him with mistrustful concern, before settling into a grim look.

"Do you have a death wish, mortal? I could easily arrange it." His twin growled with annoyed, but idle threat he did not truly mean. At least, Steve felt it again, along with the being's puzzlement since he did not expect to see him here.

Because of that, Steve only sheepishly and foolishly smiled. Hopefully, he looked at the taller man, not sure what to say. After a moment, the grumpy look on his twin's face softened, though he continued to frown.

"What are you doing here? You should be at home. Its nearly night." He grumbled without his former ire, his strange voice sounding almost normal.

"I... I just wanted to... to see... Are you all right?" Steve blurted out and earned himself a startled look. His twin stared at him, his face at first betraying confusion, before a scowl appeared to take its place. He glared at Steve with renewed mistrust and suspicion.

"You really must ask this, player?" Herobrine's voice held tones of barely restrained anger. His form shifted slightly and only now Steve's eyes ran over it, widening to discover numerous torn spots in his clothes that looked singed. The skin beneath looked unblemished except for recently healed new scars showing through the rends.

Catching Steve's concerned expression, the anger noticeably drained and Herobrine looked away, his pensive mood returning in a powerful wave even as his face settled into calm indifference. He looked out into the world beyond Steve as if searching for something.

"What h-happened?" Steve dared to ask.

"Search the forums if you wish to know. I have no desire to explain. If you choose to live in false ignorance, then it's your own choice, but do not dare to play this game with me!"

"I don't understand..." Steve began uncertainly, but his twin's anger suddenly flared. In an instance, Steve found himself hauled up again by a steel grip, reflexively grasping on to the scarred hand grasping his shirt collar. His fear returned as white glare held on his gaping face.

"Do you really claim not to know what I say? I am not in the mood to play your stupid games! Enough of this pretense!"

Steve felt his twin's hand jerk him to the edge and frantically grasped on to the man's iron forearm, casting fearful glances to the dark void below. His feet barely reached the edge with the tips of his boots.

"Will you still claim that you do not understand?" Herobrine darkly demanded, but Steve could no longer answer at all as his panic began to rise.

After a long, tense moment when all Steve could hear was his panting breath, his twin's face suddenly grimaced as a note of guilt crossed his expression. Again, the anger lessened.

A familiar blurring of the world, and Steve staggered as his feet suddenly found welcome hard ground beneath him. His eyes skewed and with relief noted the comforting sight of his small, wooden cabin. Once again, Herobrine had safely brought him home.

The hand on his shirt let go a little. Steve glanced back at his twin to find a dimmed gaze searching him, before Herobrine released him to stand on his own.

"Perhaps you do not pretend, after all..." He said dryly with a frown.

"It's not my fault." Steve protested when he finally understood what Herobrine might have been talking about. "And no, I am not pretending. I really don't know where I come from or who I am. I am not even sure if Steve is my real name. I am not sure how you found out about that, but it's true."

Herobrine frowned at Steve, who gave the man a rueful smile.

"Explain. How can you not remember who you are? Your words make no sense at all, player."

"I don't know what you mean by that, when you call me a 'player'. But I am not lying. I really... I don't know. I just woke up one day. I woke up in the woods and then just... wandered. Until good travelers found me and took me to town. This happened, about... eight years ago? Before that, I remember nothing at all. I am not lying about that." Steve said earnestly, keeping his eyes on mistrustfully narrowed white ones, where suspicion did not seem to lessen.

Uncomfortable to reveal his history to this hostile stranger, yet for some reason badly wishing for him to believe him, Steve lowered his eyes and nervously shifted the toes in his boots.

"When I came to the mansion, it wasn't to challenge you. I am not a hero. It's just when I first got here, I accidentally... came in. I didn't know it was your mansion, then. I was running away from the mobs and thought... I then found the-the ghost... the other you... Only he didn't attack me. So I didn't think that... Those children from town, the ones you saw coming here sometimes? They said that they saw you walking in the woods and asked me to go back and check if our normal ghost is still there. I really didn't think that real Herobrine came like they said. I didn't believe it. That's why I came to the mansion alone. If it was only the ghost, he would not have attacked me. While he still sleeps, he is pretty much harmless, except if heroes come to challenge his domain. That's what the local people all say, anyway."

Steve saw his twin's frown get deeper before his eyes opened wider as he seemed to consider something.

"Wait. You say that you've been to my mansion before? You've seen my copy? My double, the ghost?" Herobrine asked with sudden curiosity. Steve cautiously nodded.

"Yeah. I did see him. I thought he was you. He isn't?" Steve suddenly badly wanted to ask if anything he had learned from the legends was true, but bit his tongue.

"Of course not. That's just an empty bot. There are thousands of them. They... You said that he didn't attack you?" White eyes narrowed on Steve with returning mistrust.

Steve silently shook his head.

"Hmm... I think I need to check this. Let's go." Herobrine reached out to grab Steve's arm and before Steve could even back off, the world swirled again and Steve lurched on his feet, dizzy by suddenly change of scenery yet again. Herobrine's hand kept him steady until he was able to look around him once again.

They stood within the mansion, right on the corridor on the bottom floor, which Steve recognized immediately by the sight of dusty red carpets running along the forbidding hallway into the darkness barely dispelled by dim, red torches. Beyond, he glimpsed the vast, semi-dark hall of stone, with some of the closest pillars visible.

His heart sunk in his stomach, and he gulped, recalling his own unease at finding himself here, when he finally realized whose dwelling, it was that he inadvertently entered.

He felt his twin's slightly mocking gaze held on him, as if testing, and turned to look, only to find Herobrine giving him an encouraging nod.

His knees feeling shaky and weak, Steve meekly turned and faced the entrance to the great hall.

"Go on. I wish to see the truth of your words. If he has not attacked you before, he won't attack you this time." Herobrine said with mild, amused tone. "Don't worry, he won't kill you. I won't let him, even if your words prove to be a lie."

He didn't believe him.

Steeling his heart, Steve made a step forward and entered the silent abode.

Right ahead, standing by the gray, stone throne, was the ghostly figure that Steve well remembered. The cyan and dark blue clothes and the entire look mirrored those of Herobrine, who entered right behind Steve and now intently observed his own copy.

Seeing that it remained still, its face expressionless, Herobrine's lips twitched.

"Interesting..." He murmured and strode past Steve, who hesitantly stopped at a safe distance.

Herobrine walked around his copy, thoughtfully eyeing him.

"Status neutral? The first time I see one of them react like this to a player... Ah! Of course. Your interface is off. If I do this..."

Steve caught a glimmer of something, a red flash in the corner of his vision, and suddenly perceived the world around him change as formerly indifferent attention suddenly turned and regarded him with malicious intent.

The ghost before the throne suddenly stirred as well, coming alive. His chest moved, drawing in breath, and white eyes turned and bored upon Steve, who froze in terror at a familiar sneer that appeared on the being's face. He had seen such expression before... He...

"As I thought... Enough!" Herobrine's usual, powerful voice distorted into dual tones as it rang across the chamber. Suddenly, Steve glimpsed numerous shadowy forms that had appeared in corners of the room. Skeletons, zombies, half-men half-pigs with rotten flesh, with their arms reaching out to him with clawing fingers and bows raising in aim. His breath caught.

But the figures were already vanishing into purple mist and disappearing without a trace, dismissed by real Herobrine's will. Herobrine's menacing image also waivered and vanished, leaving only the slightly tattered man standing alone before the throne.

Steve's heart still raced, when the being turned and gave him a kinder look, even smiling a little.

"You didn't lie, at least about this. Very well, for now I will accept your claim at face value. If you really don't remember who you are, then its only better..."

Steve frowned, since somehow, he felt that the last words his twin spoke were meant solely for his own benefit and not Steve's. Still, Herobrine seemed to have come to a decision of some kind and it seemed to be a favorable one.

"This carries interesting implications... Which I am going to test..." For some reason, this time the being's widening grin held a menacing quality which sent a shiver through Steve's bones.

As if remembering Steve's presence, Herobrine glanced back and walked back to him with unhurried look. Another reach, and Steve found himself back by his cabin once more, this time nearly retching as his stomach painfully curled within him. Again, Herobrine waited until he remained steady on his feet, before letting go.

"Continue with your affairs and do not leave anywhere. Is that understood? First of all, its not safe for someone in your... condition. And second, I have no wish to search for you who knows where like I did last time. Stay put. When I return, we are going to have a good, long talk."

For some reason, the dark anticipation in Herobrine's voice did not seem very encouraging to Steve this time. Somehow, he managed to lessen the being's suspicion of him in one regard, but successfully gained even more interest. Now, Herobrine will definitely not leave him alone.

Was that good? Steve really was not sure. Should he regret his earlier impulsive actions when he decided to search out the being, for some reason imagining that Herobrine may wish to have his company? What even went through his mind to give him that idea?

Steve wanted to cringe at his earlier strangely hopeful thoughts. His twin, meanwhile, gave him a warning look, to which Steve quickly nodded. Satisfied, the man vanished again, leaving Steve alone. And his presence disappeared entirely next, too, which meant that he left... this world?

Steve didn't understand the things he sensed. But that he just convinced Herobrine to openly come and speak to him both frightened him and raised his intense curiosity.

To finally be able to talk to this figure of legend and... ask questions?

Steve didn't understand himself why the thought of this made him suddenly smile. Finally, he did something right.

Herobrine will be back. And then... Steve didn't know, only that it was right and what he felt should be. The way this was supposed to be.

Still, this entire thing was tense, as all his other encounters with that mysterious being. Sighing with relief that all of this was over for now, Steve stood up straighter and straightened his hunched shoulders. Raising his chin, he looked up at the tiny spot high up in the mountains, where he thought he could still glimpse the light of the torch he left stuck in the pile of rocks.

Ha! Herobrine saved him a fairly long and tricky trip. With a small grin, Steve turned and headed into his cabin. It was late and he still had to unload the coal, sort it, stack it, and clean up. He was hungry, too. A pre-made dinner would do. Only then he could go to bed.

Chapter Text

Herobrine stared at the page hanging before him on the screen and scowled, not noticing how blood slowly seeped from his nails, digging into his flesh within white-knuckled, shaking fist. His white eyes blazed at the first opened image.

There, he could see himself, curled helplessly on the ground of a spotlessly white room. Silver collar stood out on his neck and so did the twin shiny braces on each of his wrists, drawn around his shoulders in a helpless self hug. His lowered face, pale and drawn, held a grimace of pure terror. A small trail of blood trickled down his chin from bitten lips.

His pathetic form lay on the ground and miserably shivered, not even attempting to get up.

On the outer screen around the image hung data with quickly changing numbers. Lines of code ran, shifting and jumping from place to place, as various areas briefly high-lighted in red, only to jump again a moment later.

And above it all hung his ID.

Herobrine vs. 0076914.014

Herobrine’s seething, disbelieving gaze tore away from the image and moved to the next one below it. The System immediately obliged, closing the link and minimizing the image so it fell back in place into a row of many like it.

Images upon images crowded below, each depicting Herobrine in a pose suggesting the manner of content that would show in the opened link.

In some he stood proud, his appearance scary and menacing, while players cowered before him in fear. These were the videos of his encounters with players, some recorded by players themselves and others recorded by the Admin cameras while he still worked for them as their dog on a leash, their tame raid boss.

And in others he cowered in fear, bound and shaking, a truly pathetic sight. A prisoner in the lab, undergoing tests of all sorts. Failing. Punished.

How?...

How did this get out there?...

No…

He knew.

“Beg for mercy, bot!”

A lash of a whip whistled through the air right after the bold exclamation by an angry voice. A flare of pain tore across his shoulders, wrapping across his chest and leaving a burning mark.

Herobrine flinched at the memory.

“You heard what he said? He said that we can do whatever we want with you… For however long we want…”

Again, the lash whistled and another fiery, bleeding gash bloomed bright red. His shoulders, back, and chest bore more of the same.

He kneeled on the bloody rough stones before his throne, his arms pulled back by the gleaming chains, while another chain pulled his head forward, forcing him to bow. Four players in tattered armor stood before him, with one idly gripping the handle of a segmented, metal whip, idly sneering at his defeated opponent.

All around them lay remnants of a throne room, once luxurious, but now ruined by battle. Bits of shattered furniture, broken bones of shattered skeletal mobs, arrows stuck in the walls and sooty glimmers of fire slowly devouring richly decorated tapestries of made up lore of ancient days. Giant chunks of stone lay in piles where columns had shattered and fell during the quaking power unleashed by Herobrine’s will.

Now, he kneeled before them, humiliated and bound. Not too far away from the group stood a gray, hooded figure, his gray-skinned hands calmly clasped below his stomach. Slightly narrowed red eyes rested on the players, calmly waiting as he smiled at the dark scene with the amused air of someone watching a show.

His assigned Admin.

Angry, Herobrine cast him a gloomy look.

“You may have him. Do whatever you wish to your heart’s content, just don’t kill him. Actually, don’t even worry about that. It’s nearly impossible here. I’ll turn up his recovery settings.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes. Go ahead. The only condition is that this will remain off record. Consider this as… compensation for the inconvenience this glitch caused your gaming process. Will this satisfy your complaint?”

“Yeah!”

These words passed between the players and the Admin earlier, and all Herobrine could do was helplessly seethe when in a blink of an eye, he had been restrained and left to their mercy.

Why?

Why did his overseer allowed them to do this to him?

Herobrine could not understand it. He knew that he made a mistake. He broke the rules, first when he was not in his place where he was supposed to be and then when he allowed his anger at these players’ insults to tempt him to teach them a lesson.

He didn’t step out of his role, though! They complained after he already conceded to them his defeat.

Granted, he did so with excessive scorn, making sure that they knew that he was only letting them win, but that didn’t justify this punishment!

His Admin had to be doing this out of pure spite, irritated that their complaint pulled him from his own affairs.

This was so unfair!

The human’s fake face held outward amusement, hiding his true emotions, which even after several months Herobrine still could not read well. How he hated this human! Still, he did not dare show this. Instead, unable to stifle a flinch from yet another strike that fell across already exposed nerves, he shifted his blazing white gaze back to the players.

“You already won. What more do you want of me, puny mortals? If you think that doing this will break my will, you are mistaken. I will remember this and take my revenge when you should return! Pathetic human worms! You’ll regret ever daring to raise your filthy hands against me!” Herobrine half-growled in a menacing tone and sneered as the players unconsciously drew back. Exchanging slightly nervous looks, they glanced to the Admin for support.

“My apologies for this. He is not designed to show fear. I’m afraid that we haven't installed such a function yet. Is that something that you might be interested in?” The Admin asked with a helpful expression. The players once again exchanged looks, this time appearing puzzled.

“Oh, did you think that he actually feels pain? Oh, dear. I thought that you understood that he is just a bot. You do know this, right?” The Admin pointed out.

The eyes of the leading player widened a bit, while the faces of others reflected growing confusion.

“But… We thought…”

“You thought that we would allow some R-rated hack where we would use real SAI? Please. We play by the rules. Everything is strictly within the guidelines suggested by the law.”

“But you said…” The leading player’s eyes angrily flashed. Herobrine saw his Admin almost roll his eyes.

“Do you really think that he is somehow defying you on purpose? I thought you might. That’s why I am letting you do this.” The Admin patiently gestured to the restrained villain.

“You seemed really angry and wanted to ‘make him pay’! I decided why not? Now you can see what he really is. I mean, he does imitate most of human reactions very believably, but… fear is not one of them. At least, not yet.” The Admin shrugged and spread apart his hands in an ‘I cannot really do anything about this’ gesture.

“Still, our goal is to make our SIMs so realistic as to be indistinguishable from real life. So, if you want to make a suggestion, I’ll gladly put it through. Although, I must admit, I haven’t gotten such a request before. Most players are more interested in defeating monsters, not torturing them.”

The last, the Admin said with a disapproving tone, at which some of the players shifted with obvious embarrassment that appeared on their faces.

“So, he really is just a bot?” Their leader stubbornly demanded, his tight voice filled with both disappointment and suspicion. He definitely did not believe the Admin’s claim still.

“That’s what we’ve been trying to tell everyone.” The Admin sighed with false long-suffering.

The players all turned and glared at Herobrine as if all of this was somehow his fault. The interest in their eyes sharply fell and disgust appeared instead. Herobrine frowned at them all with a gloomy look. As usual, his Admin played his own game. Manipulating others seemed to amuse him. This time, he used Herobrine to subtly humiliate these players by making them feel quite foolish. They had just spent hours of their time acting on a personal grudge against a non-intelligent simulation rather than a person. Of course, the last was not true, but Herobrine had no choice but to go along with the pretense.

Now, the players looked very frustrated. Herobrine would have even enjoyed this, if it did not involve his Admin placing him in this position. Those lashes hurt! And he couldn’t even complain about this, or else he would get punished far worse in his off time.

Gritting his teeth, Herobrine waited for this incident to finish playing its course.

“Would you like to continue? You can. This glitchy model is our error, so I’m willing to give you all the time you want. Go ahead. Punish him.” The Admin offered with a polite, calm grin that didn’t hide the mocking in his red eyes. The leading player glared at him with hatred to cover his embarrassment.

“Don’t bother.” The lead player spat. “We’re just wasting time.”

In frustration, he cast down his segmented whip. Herobrine’s eyes followed the weapon with relief. Was this little playact over? His wounds were already closing, terribly itching as they healed within the influence of the ‘boss crystals’ into barely noticeable scars.

Maybe his overseer was right to some degree? Was some pain worth it? Herobrine was not sure. Will this bunch of players finally leave him alone after this? This had been their fourteenth raid in the past week! Their constant taunts had been extremely annoying and what led him to step out of his role. Only how many more like them might still come, convinced that Herobrine was real? All seeking to get a trophy record of having defeated the infamous glitchy version that many believed to be the real Herobrine, returned to haunt their digital world once more.

How long would he be forced to play this role before their interest vaned and the Admin allowed him to do something else, as they once promised him?

Herobrine stifled a sigh.

Avoiding looking at Herobrine and the Admin, their flushed cheeks betraying their embarrassment under the waiting Admin’s amused look, the players checked their stats to make sure that they all received their spoils. Some went to rove in Herobrine’s treasure chests that appeared by his throne after he conceded defeat. Their gained loot did not impress them, judging by their expressions, but it was to be expected. The System knew how many times they had passed this location and now considered them as grinders, barely giving them any experience. They had long overgrown this challenge. Looking rather disgruntled, the players silently teleported away.

The Admin humphed. His lips, stretched in a polite smile, twisted into an unpleasant smirk. Briefly, he considered the empty place where they had just been.

“What whiners. Don’t worry. These jerks won’t dare show their faces here again.” He huffed. Herobrine tensed at this scornful reassurance, mistrustfully running these words in his mind several times more as he carefully searched the human’s features for any shade of expression that might tell him what truly went on in the human’s mind. Alarms sounded within. He had no doubt that this incident was not over yet. Despite his calm expression, his keeper was irate. Very irate. Red eyes turned and considered kneeling Herobrine with deep dislike, expression of distaste twisting his features.

“Now as for you…”

Herobrine did not have time to react to the threat he sensed in the human’s tone, when his world lurched and he found himself back in the lab, free of the chains. Cautiously, he got up from his knees and flinched when he heard the characteristic click. His overseer had logged out of the game and returned to his own world, to continue to control the situation from there.

Now, the previously invisible silver-colored restraints re-appeared on Herobrine’s neck and arms, fully controlling his whereabouts and cutting off his access to code. Isolated in this human’s private study, he was once again entirely helpless before his keeper’s whims. Here, this human became a god, with Herobrine as his subject. From his console, his overseer could affect whatever changes he wished into Herobrine’s environment or even his body, though the last usually didn’t stay for long, soon restored to his normal default.

Herobrine definitely expected retaliation. He just didn’t know yet how bad his punishment would be. There was no way to predict that. A scolding by a supervisor or a disagreement with colleagues, with whom his overseer did not get along well, some latest political event, or even a badly tasting breakfast, all could put this human into a vengeful mood and move him to punish Herobrine for some made up offense. This human always found reasons to mistreat him.

Herobrine himself did not believe that his mistake had been that bad. He had still mainly stayed within his role, to his own perception, so the only thing his keeper could really fault him in his official report would be that their complaint forced him to come and deal with the situation personally. This was his job, though!

Maybe, if Herobrine explained the reason for his initial absence and played off his keeper’s dislike of the players, whom the human considered idiots, he might redirect his anger away from him and toward the players?

Herobrine opened his mouth to speak in his defense and found himself unable to make a sound.

A chill immediately rose within, clenching his stomach in tight knots. His voice functions being muted was a very bad sign – his keeper usually did this because he did not like hearing his screams.

“You, glitch, think too much of yourself.” A thoughtful voice sounded very calm. Another bad sign. Herobrine felt slight trembling appear in his hands and nervously clenched them.

“Those players had a fair point. You were there to entertain them, do whatever keeps their interest. And not only were you not in your place, so they had to go around looking for you, but you decided to act up and show them who is boss? I think you need another lesson.”

Herobrine couldn’t help his own reaction. Even though he knew that it would not help, he tried to back away.

A powerful force tore and cast him forward, chains jerking his arms apart to each side and roughly forcing him down to the floor. His knees painfully hit the hard surface. His body tensed in preparation for the punishment he now knew he could not avoid. Lowering his head, Herobrine waited, his chest rising and falling with anxious breath. He could feel his heart uselessly increase its beat.

He didn’t protest. That would only make things worse. Keeping his gaze glued to the floor, Herobrine hoped that this meek display might evoke his tormentor’s sympathy. It didn’t.

A moment later a wave of pain crashed upon his being, a thousand knives at once shredding the skin on his back to tiny strips, stealing his breath in an endless, mute scream. Minutes followed, stretching. And then the pain let go, leaving him stunned on the ground.

A skewed glance to his shaking body revealed unblemished skin and not the raw, bleeding mess he expected to see by the degree of pain he still experienced. With the access his keeper managed to gain into his code so far, his latest punishments affected only his neural state, leaving no physical damage. He did not manage to catch his breath quite yet when another volley of pain consumed him.

This time he couldn’t keep track of how long it lasted. He passed out…

…

He found himself lying on the ground. Herobrine dimly heard voices and amused chuckles beyond his server. His overseer was speaking to someone in the real space of his room. Somehow, Herobrine had once again managed to connect to the human’s home System, though he didn’t know how he did it.

“Viiiic… I didn't know that you liked this stuff. I can get you in touch with a group who would just loooove this.” An unfamiliar voice teased with undertones of some dark anticipation and mirth.

“No! That’s not why… I’m not doing this for fun! It’s just a project from work!” Herobrine’s keeper protested with a strangely embarrassed tone. Herobrine did not recognize the other human, though the casual familiarity in their interactions seemed to suggest that they knew each other well.

“Aha.” The stranger’s voice carried sarcasm. “Sure.”

“I have to resort to psych methods, since nothing else works with him! Fear of pain works to change behavior in anyone with half a brain cell!”

“Ah! So that’s a real SAI, then? Heck, that’s even better! They are so much more believable than the best of Sims. Is he a true human copy? Full bio imitation? Do his graphics turn on? You know, so, if you slash him, there is blood and such? And those clothes, do they come off? What about his voice functions?”

Herobrine felt the signal that briefly switched his verbal functions on and off, before a sound came as his keeper slapped away the other human’s hand from the controls.

“Leave it off, Tony!” His keeper’s normally collected, controlled voice held frustrated indignation.

“Ha. Did all that screaming get annoying? You should try a gag. Ropes, too. It’s more fun that way.”

“This is not what it looks like...”

“Looks like what? I’m just seeing my bud, having a bit of fun. To each his own!”

“Ugh…”

“No, I’m serious, this is good stuff! Can I borrow him? Just for tonight! I'll pay you ten grand! What do you say? Man, just look at all that detail! It’s super realistic! He is even shivering a bit. This is delicious, Vic. Amazing model. Did you make it yourself or did you rent him? Is he a full SAI or Modded?"

Herobrine felt the presence of the second camera zooming close to his form and tried to do his best to imitate continued lack of consciousness. He was glad that he lay prone, facing the floor, so his face remained hidden from their view. Else they would have seen a bitter scowl.

They were talking about him. He could be considered a SAI, a virtual being with sentient artificial intelligence, despite what the Admin decided to tell everyone. Only while most human-derived SAI received at least some rights, which shielded them to a degree from wanton human violence, he didn’t rate such status. Due to his origins and early thoughtlessly destructive actions, the owners of his game considered him a dangerous, sentient Mob. If it was not for Notch and popular hype, they would have simply destroyed him. Now, they settled with using him like a dungeon boss to earn his keep and set an expert to keep an eye on him and study him on his own time to make sure that he could be kept under control.

Unfortunately, this expert had his own interest in Herobrine. Finding that he really had the code of the original digital being, who was considered a dangerous entity in their digital world, he became obsessed with learning how closely Herobrine could come to his level. He pushed Herobrine to try seemingly impossible things and ruthlessly punished him for failure. Herobrine had no choice but to comply with his keeper’s demands, no matter how unreasonable they were. What his keeper discovered about him so far was already enough for the Admin to surrender him to their criminal authorities to be destroyed, if his keeper decided to reveal this to them.

Still, it was one thing to be punished for failing to complete tasks, which in the end did help him to become stronger. But to be tortured for mere amusement or material gain? If his keeper decided to ‘borrow’ him to this associate of his, there would be nothing that Herobrine could do! Herobrine scowled at the ground while desperation and hatred rose, running through him in waves along with realization that he was utterly helpless before these humans’ whims.

“Come on, Vic! Who is going to know? Just patch his memories afterward and that’s it.” The visiting human solicited with a playful tone.

“Stop it, Tony.” Herobrine’s keeper said, this time with idle annoyance as his old confidence seemed to return. Herobrine took a slight breath of relief, reassured by his keeper’s firm tone that his fears would not become reality. The wave of anger drained a little, giving room to weariness. Echoes of pain still shot across his nerves.

“Fifteen grand! I’m not kidding! I know people. I can tell you already that he’s going to be a hit in their groups.” The other voice didn’t give up.

“First of all, I cannot patch his memories.” Herobrine’s keeper irritably grumbled. “I didn’t manage to get that deep into his code, yet. Second, hmm…” He made a sudden dark scoff. “Oh, he’ll be popular all right. After he hacks your server and turns it into a bloodbath.”

“What?”

“Oh yeah. Want to see what he just did? Watch...” Herobrine’s keeper said with dark anticipation and Herobrine felt a video program turn on.

The frustrated yells of rage and swearing of players clearly told Herobrine that his keeper was showing his visitor clips from earlier today, when Herobrine ruthlessly slaughtered his persistent opponents again and again in a variety of ways. Traps, mobs, accidents, while allowing them to see the smirk on his face as he watched them trying to get to him, getting more and more incited.

“Oh, man. That’s vicious.” The other human said after a moment.

“Yeah. All this, just because of a few dumb words they said to provoke him. Why do you think I’m punishing him?” Herobrine’s keeper complained.

Well, maybe he did overdo it this time, Herobrine had to admit to himself as he recalled his own memories, filtering from the haze of his mind. He did lose himself a little, allowing his pre-programmed instincts to take over. Hunting and toying with those arrogant players proved irresistible and he thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.

Still, his mistake didn’t warrant the degree of punishment like this! It was far, far worse than anything he had experienced before.

“What game is that?” The visiting human asked with piqued curiosity.

“Legends of Minecraftia. One of the offshoots of a really old game from our old world.”

“Really? Huh… I thought it was just a kiddie game.”

“Sort of, but it allows mods. He is also from a mod. G-rated.”

“Huh. Wow. Kids nowadays!” The other human lightly chuckled.

“I know, right? We would have gotten our heads wrung if we played gory stuff like this.” Herobrine’s keeper joined in the mirth. So, they knew each other well, Herobrine assumed.

“If they caught us.” His keeper’s visitor corrected with a hint of mischief.

“Anyway, the whole reason they even made this mod, the one he’s from, is because they wanted to hide that they still don’t have full control of their Game.” Herobrine’s keeper began to explain. “It’s still full of viruses that they cannot get rid of. Apparently, Herobrine used this place as a sort of base and hid his spare copies there.”

“The Herobrine? As in the Super Virus, Herobrine?” The visiting human’s voice gained interest.

“Yeah. He kept his copies there. So if a copy of him got destroyed, that’s where he would respawn. Those copies of his are empty like gloves. Avatars. Bodies without a mind. Even after they destroyed him, they continued to function. The Admins of that game tried to erase them, ran all kinds of removal programs, but nothing seems to work. The Virus made sure that he would be part of the System, impossible to remove. His copies protect themselves, attacking players on sight. And just respawn somewhere else at random if destroyed. And that game is not the only one where he did that. Remember Echoes of Fallen Legends? And Myths of Cavalon?”

“Yeah. We played them as kids. Too bad they got shut down.” The other human’s voice gained a regretful tone.

“Yeah, and that’s why! His copies were found in them, too. Well, these guys didn’t want to get their game shut down. Even though tests already showed that these remnant copies are mostly harmless, without their true owner, they didn’t want their players to think that they are somehow not in control of their game. If they can't destroy them, use them! That is their motto. So they disguised them by building their own Herobrine mods. They turned these copies into gaming bosses and even gave them perks and levels. Achievements of all sorts. Rewards for defeating them…. And then, man! Hahaha!”

Herobrine’s keeper couldn’t help laughing. “This guy… showed up… wreaking havoc on their servers! You should have seen those rich boys panic! They thought that he was the real Herobrine, coming back to destroy all humans. Starting with them and their game!”

Herobrine’s keeper chuckled while the other stifled a slight exclamation.

“Wait… for real? I heard of this! The Glitch! So, that’s him?”

Herobrine felt the second camera draw closer to him as the other human viewed him with hungry interest. He felt an uneasy feeling crawl up his spine. Why was his keeper telling this other human all this? He normally kept his affairs private, keeping very aloof from the other Admin and on occasion mentioning his very unfavorable opinion of them to Herobrine. He seemed to despise all humans in general, counting himself better than anyone else. And here he was, speaking with such an excited tone, as if he long wanted to share all this with this person. He really trusted his long-time associate that much? Herobrine felt strongly that this trust was unwarranted - the other human’s character seemed very suspicious to him.

“Yup, that’s our famous Glitch. That’s why I’m kind of surprised that you didn’t recognize him.”

“I did! I just didn’t think that it was actually him. I thought it was only an imitation. That’s why I said he’d be a hit. They actually gave him to you?”

“Yup. I am now their part time junior Admin, after all. I thought I told you this before.” Herobrine’s keeper complained, though his tone carried a hint of pride. Becoming an Admin was certainly a highly desired position for many humans like him, who focused their skills on working with code.

“So now they give me all their glitches and hacks. I fix them and put them back. Or destroy them.”

“You did tell me, now I remember. I just didn’t connect things, bud. My bad. Hey, this is rad! How much is he like the real Herobrine?” The other human asked with intense curiosity that Herobrine didn’t like at all.

“I’m still trying to figure it out. But so far, not very much.” Herobrine’s keeper said with some disappointment. “He’s only a copy, which some hacker hacked. To make him come to life, he basically stuck the mind of a normal human SAI into Herobrine’s empty matrix. That’s what it looks like so far. He does display some interesting viral-like abilities, but they are really meager and nothing like the original. I am still hoping that he will improve in time, but…”

“Aaah.” The other human responded with disappointment, appearing to lose some interest.

“Still, this is the closest that anyone ever got to unlocking Herobrine’s code!” His host said with renewed enthusiasm. “Whoever that hacker was, he pretty much did an impossible thing. Somehow, he combined the neural matrix of a full Sai with the body of another Sai, and got it all to work! You remember those experiments we did when we tried to create true modded monsters?”

“Yeah, you made a six-armed green mob that looked like a giant cockroach, but which you said was an acid lizard, and then tried to stick our class pet in it. Poor Ms. Turtle. And then all of us got a demerit for cruelty to animals, thanks for reminding me, Vic.” The obnoxious visitor snorted with some resent.

“Pfft! They simply didn’t recognize true genius!” Herobrine’s keeper protested in feigned offense. “Hey, it’s not easy to combine even a simple animal AI with that of a completely unrelated mob! There is always a conflict in functions if the neural net doesn’t connect just right.”

“I know that, Vic. I helped you, remember?”

“And yet here, we have a fully functional SAI! Even if he does have a few glitches. To do this is a… a billion times more complex than say… creating a dragon from a pup… Don’t ask. It’s another hacked project they gave me. I just set him up as a boss in the same place where I put him.” Herobrine’s keeper explained, probably at the other human’s curious look. “Now it’s his pet, running around in circles in their off-time. He even named it. Alan or Alvor. I don’t remember now.”

Herobrine’s keeper smirked, while Herobrine’s intense hatred of the man sharply fell, reducing to mere usual simmering dislike. He did greatly appreciate the new monster’s company. Alstor was far more responsive and friendly than the other mobs, all of which were only Sims with barely flickers of allowed intelligence. The Admin didn’t want to take risks and receive sanctions for creating such creatures, so they didn’t.

“Well, that’s… kind of you.”

“It’s my job. I couldn’t just destroy it. It wasn’t its fault that some hacker decided it would be fun to create a bot, which would not follow usual routines and tear their next target to shreds. If tests prove that a bot has true AI of any level, then it cannot be simply destroyed, anyway. Not unless it proves unmanageable. Usually, I simply retrain them, add a few protocols, and voila! They go back to the game and even better than before. I only destroy them if I must, if I cannot find a place for them. Or if they are really dangerous and cannot be controlled. Kind of like this guy.” Herobrine’s keeper said calmly.

“Wait. Ah! So that’s what you’re doing. Retraining him?” The visitor made a slightly disbelieving chuckle.

“Exactly.” His keeper confirmed stubbornly.

Herobrine gloomily frowned, wanting to deny his keeper’s words to this unknown human. He wasn’t that bad! Only then his memory immediately provided him with a vivid image from a recent event, which tore him from Notch’s custody to be handed to this human.

“Notch? What the bleep is going on here?... Is that… Is that a fricking heart?!”

Coming out of a mind-clouded trance, Herobrine blinked, the menacing scowl vanishing from his face. Looking down at his left hand, entirely covered with red liquid, Herobrine frowned at the thing he still held squeezed and pierced in his fingers, where human nails had once again transformed into sharp, black claws.

Herobrine resentfully pushed the memory back, not wishing to recall it again. Lack of self control continued to remain his sore point. It was not his fault, though! His body carried presets, which were simply too powerful for him to control. Notch was wrong about it. His will alone was not enough to overcome his programming!

“He is pretty scary here. Not gonna lie.” The visitor uneasily huffed. “Are you sure he is not the real Herobrine?”

“He is not. Besides! Like I said. This behavior is due to a preset. He literally gets a high from killing and it’s impossible to override that easily. I cannot get into his code! It’s hidden within that Herobrine copy and all its layers of defense. I have no idea how that hacker even broke through all that! That’s why I’m using external methods to change his behavior. I am creating a new preset. Fear. So, his memory of the consequences of his actions becomes stronger than the memory of enjoying those actions. Only then he’ll be able to counter his programming. Unfortunately, this method only remains effective if the memory is recent, so I must renew it from time to time.”

“Aaah. I get it.”

“Yeah, once I find a way into his code, I’ll change his presets and that’s that! This won’t be necessary. I am NOT doing this for fun.” Herobrine’s keeper insisted, a note of embarrassment returning to his voice, while the other human made a sound of sympathetic acknowledgment.

Herobrine’s frown grew deeper as he mulled over the unexpected revelation.

So, his cruel treatments were not random?

This human did say that he punished Herobrine to force him to learn self-control. But he didn’t believe that. He thought this human did it due to his ugly inner nature and strong dislike of virtual programs like him. His keeper did often say how much he hated programs like him - humanoid AIs, though he never explained why. It was something from his past, Herobrine figured that much.

And he really was far more tolerant of glitched virtual animals and mobs, which were sent to him to fix. Some, he even kept after his attempts to fix them failed. Herobrine had seen a few, simply living in privately set up servers, taking up space, where this human took care to make their existence comfortable.

Herobrine had wondered why his keeper treated him so differently. All this pain… Because he was trying to help him override prewired behaviors?

Mistrustfully, Herobrine considered this idea and reluctantly had to agree with his keeper’s reasoning. This method did work. On many occasions, his fear of punishment now overrode the lack of clarity in his mind and kept him from giving in to his impulses…

On the other hand, this explanation didn’t always justify every moment! On occasion, the human’s motive had to be pure spite! Herobrine was not blind! His keeper hated him! He could tell himself whatever to justify his cruel quirks, but Herobrine knew better!

Herobrine scowled again as his hatred toward his keeper and all humans in general returned to its former level.

“Wait a second. This preset, is it part of his own code or Herobrine’s?” The other human asked thoughtfully.

“Ah! You noticed!” Herobrine’s keeper praised. “Yes, it’s part of Herobrine’s copy, not his. You cannot really make a preset in a real human’s mind. Even a virtual one. It’s pseudo-biology. Any preset would not stay, unless it’s constantly reinforced. With an outer avatar it can be done, since it's far more mechanical.”

“That means…”

“That someone got a hold of that Virus and tried to control him. You’re thinking right.” Herobrine’s keeper concluded with a very satisfied tone.

“But that means…”

“Yes! It means that it was probably a command! That Virus didn’t just decide one day, oh, I’ll go and conquer the world! I’ll turn all humans into my digital slaves! Someone made him do it! Until then, he existed in the System for years, unseen and unheard. A ghost in the machine. A digital prankster god! Occasionally a few acts would display his power, but nothing on such a wide scale! His actions simply do not fit his profile!”

“Hmm. That would make sense. He nearly did it, though. He almost broke through into our System Core. If it was not for Notch, he might have done it. Digitized everyone. Or killed them. So you think someone used him? Why would anyone even want to do something like that? What if it didn’t work?”

“Someone with nothing to lose. Or maybe opposite, someone sure that he could do it. Imagine what power this would grant! All that endless politics, power grabbing, ended in one stroke. Whoever would have managed to do this would have become a new god! Like Notch, but without any limitations!”

“That would be kind of rad, not gonna lie.” The other human agreed with wistful interest. “Even if we were not at the top of the food chain… Makes me kind of wish that he did do it. I bet growing up in Game would have been so good. Would definitely have been better than that gray hole where we grew up, eh, Vic? Vit meals and group exercise, ugh. You remember…”

“I know!” Herobrine’s keeper eagerly agreed.

“Only that’s not really possible, you know. They made all those tests. If he really went through with it, it wouldn’t have brought us into the Game. It would have simply killed us. Everyone and every living thing on the planet. So it's good that they destroyed him…”

“Do you really believe that they told us the truth about that?” Herobrine’s keeper made a familiar sarcastic scoff. “I think they are covering it up and it’s possible!”

Herobrine barely stifled a sigh at the fervent tone he recognized. He heard this human’s rants before, complaining about various things in his world. He seemed very convinced that there were all kinds of conspiracies and most aimed at keeping him, Victor, firmly entrenched in mediocracy. It was always someone’s fault if something went wrong in his life. Only often, he would then turn this vehemence around and take it out on him, his subject. And those times, too, Herobrine’s punishment would have nothing to do with helping Herobrine to overcome his ‘presets’!

“I mean, it would be cool. But there isn’t any proof. There is no way we can know what Herobrine could or couldn’t do. He is gone.” The other human said with a slightly speculative tone.

“I have proof! I ran many tests and this guy can do a lot of the things that the Virus could do. He has his body, after all!” Herobrine’s keeper boasted.

“Really? Like what?”

Alarms sounded in Herobrine’s mind at the other human’s attentive tone.

“Well, he cannot digitize things…” His keeper tried to back out from his claim. “At least, not yet. I don’t think it’s even possible without a great power source of some kind.”

“Like the System Core?”

“Not that strong. Not for a small scale operation. But something smaller, like say, a single individual… Just access to a gaming core would do. In theory. He can access that. He can access and hack any System. Just like the Virus could.”

“Huh… That’s reeeeally interesting, Vic.”

“Right… But, um… Tony? You probably shouldn’t tell anyone about this…” Now, Herobrine’s keeper’s voice gained an alarmed tone. Herobrine barely stifled a frustrated huff. Too late, after this human had already revealed the information. And this, after he numerous times threatened Herobrine to stay within his role! Telling him to pretend to be a Sim, allowing the players to defeat him again and again, just so none came to suspect that he was more than his predecessor’s lookalike. He warned him that he would be destroyed, if word of his abilities spread. And now he just blurted it all out to this unsavory character?

“Do his owners even know about all this stuff?” The other human smirked with obvious understanding of his superior position.

“If I told them, they will simply give him up to cyber div and he’ll get destroyed for sure! Tony, this is such a unique opportunity! Besides, he really cannot do most of the stuff that Virus is said to do. Definitely not digitizing. Maybe that’s even impossible, like they said.”

“But I bet he’s still dangerous. Vic… you can get in serious trouble for this. I’m not kidding.” This time the other human’s voice held a serious tone.

“This is nothing compared to you trading SAI!” Herobrine’s keeper attacked back with obvious offense.

“Heeey. I don’t do that. I only trade Sims. Legit.” Slightly affronted, the other human protested, but received a scoff.

“Whatever, Tony. And you didn’t just offer me to borrow him. Does his voice turn on? Can he bleed? Ha! Maybe I should lend him to you for a bit. You want blood? You’ll have it. I would love to see how your ‘clients’ will act when he breaks loose and goes after them. They play, what? At 100 percent settings? They’ll scream like little piglets when he strings them up by their own guts and…”

“All right, all right! I get it! You don’t like them. Same old Vic. Always so clean.” The other human’s tone carried sarcasm. “Listen, you might think them odd, but the only thing that matters to me is that they are rich! One sale and it’s more than what you make in a month. For a tenth of the time you spend poking about in all that code.”

“Do you know what I just saw today in the news? Some old geezer got caught just like that. Went to some special interests group and brought a SAI, who looked underage. He got sent to 10 years hard core mode just for that! Just for messing with code and changing a few numbers. They are really starting to crack down on stuff like that. You should stop messing with it.”

“Listen, bud, don’t worry. My clients are nothing like that pathetic loser. My clients come from the highest tier. Businessmen, politicians, doctors, you name it. They are smart. Even if they get caught, nothing will come of it.”

“Maybe for them. Not for you.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not stupid, either. I make sure to keep my business legit. If my clients really want something odd, it’s only Sims, I swear to you on that.” Victor’s friend said, but his friend still made a doubtful humph.

“Anyway, don’t worry about my business. Worry about yourself. You should be the one more careful. Even if he’s not dangerous, like you said. You’re still breaking all kinds of laws keeping him here and keeping this info from his owners. And these tests?… Just think about it. Your little program here alone. Acid burn? Stifle? Drown? What kind of punishment is this? It’s called virtual torture of an artificial sentient and there is an article for that. You can get sent to chill blocks for life for this, not hard labor like that guy.”

“What? I’m doing this for a reason! They will destroy him anyway if they find out what he is!”

“Probably, yeah. But first, they’ll get rid of you. He is still a SAI, you know. Your reasons won’t matter.”

Herobrine’s keeper took in a loud breath, about to go off on another defensive tirade, but his associate interrupted him.

“Hey, Vic! Calm down! Of course I won’t say anything. It’s all fine with me. I don’t really care what you do with him. It’s just a piece of code to me. You know I don’t believe any of them are real. That’s why I sell them.”

Herobrine’s keeper let out a relieved breath.

“You’d probably sell your own mother if you got enough credits for the deal.” Victor grumbled, calming down. His friend only chuckled lightly.

“Maybe I would. If I knew who that trump was and someone made an offer. Would only serve her right for selling me into that joint! But at least she didn’t know me, not like your dad. I don’t even remember any of that.”

“Don’t remind me of that bastard.” Herobrine’s keeper hissed.

“So anyway, don’t worry about it. I won’t tell. I was just surprised. I come in and see you messing with that program. And I go, is that really my old buddy Vic? Finally decided to have some fun, hey? I am just teasing you, buddy, that’s all, don’t get all huffy puffy. You really haven’t changed a bit? Same prim old Vic. All work and no play.”

“You know I’m not into that kind of stuff. Like I said - I’m doing this for work! I want to find out if Herobrine really could do those things that they say he could. If someone controlled him, then there has to be a handle in his code. I find it and I can control his matrix, too. Or at least, his copies. Then, who knows, maybe I can even use it to open the main System core again. No one has been able to access its full functions since the Virus broke in. Can you imagine how much that might be worth?”

“I get it, Vic. I get it. My lips are zipped. Zip!” The other human lightly laughed. “Keep me updated on this, will you? It does sound interesting. And send me some of those vids, deal? I can find an audience for that, too. No worries, I’ll keep it anon. They’ll think it’s just another Sim.” The other human pressed with an amicable tone.

“Which ones?” Herobrine’s keeper grumbled, giving in to the veiled pressure.

“Him killing those players and all the tests. Where he actually does something. Don’t worry, the last is only for me. I’m curious where you’re going with it. Besides, you’re going to sell him, right? After you’re done with him?”

“Um… “

“I’ll find you a buyer! Don’t sign any contracts without me! I hate to tell you this, Vic, but you’re far from the best in the commercial aspect of things. You’re a pro at code. I’m good at selling! And I have contacts.”

“He’s not really mine to sell. I was just going to sell the data I got from studying him. After I was done, I was going to send a full report to the Admin.”

“But aren’t they going to destroy him? You told me that they would.” The trader made a puzzled comment.

“Well, they really should. He’s dangerous already and he’ll be even more dangerous by the time I’m done with him. Another Virus in the making, but worse because of those presets. He already hates all humans like heck. If I cannot get into his code and get full control, then I’m making sure he gets erased and there is nothing you can say to convince me otherwise. My life is a bit more important to me than money, Tony. Just think what will happen if I sell him to you and then he breaks loose? He won’t stop until both you and me are dead. I’m not taking that risk.”

“Hmm. Alright? I guess I can understand that. I wouldn’t want a crazy Virus going after me, either. But if you do get him under control, you’ll let me sell him for you, right? Don’t worry about your Admin! They cannot blame you if he simply escapes!”

“There’ll be a fine for that.”

“Pfft! Don’t be ridiculous. The kind of money we’ll both get will be astronomical! Who cares about one little debt for a breached contract? I’ll arrange everything! You just keep doing what you’re doing!”

“Fine.” Herobrine’s keeper reluctantly agreed.

Herobrine scowled, deep hatred within growing into an all-consuming fire. Even his closed eye-lids could not hide the blaze burning in his eyes. At this moment, he wanted nothing more than to kill both these humans. Right there in their world, where they stood! If he could have, he would! Of all their selfish, conniving species, they deserved it most for their greed.

“Sixty-forty!” The visiting human offered with excitement and earned himself a disbelieving huff.

“Ninety-ten. Arranging sales is at most a four percent premium for any hired agent. I’ll give you a bonus only because you’re an old friend and you’ll be doing all the leg work.”

“Not how it works in our circles, Vic. This won’t be exactly legal.” The other human protested. “Sixty-five-thirty-five. And only because I know you. You know, I could just have him stolen from your little Game and that’s it.”

“Eighty-twenty. Or I’ll scramble his code with self-destruct and good luck scraping up what remains.”

“You can do that? I thought that his copies were indestructible.” The other human’s voice held doubtful notes. Herobrine’s keeper huffed.

“Not this one. He is damaged already. The Admin nearly destroyed him once before, so it won’t be hard to finish the job. Eighty-five-fifteen.” He reversed his offer to his own advantage with greater confidence.

“Hmm. Fine. Eighty-two-eighteen. But you’re adding more vids for me and I’ll sell them. Same percent.”

“What vids? Him killing players? If I let him do more of that, I’ll be out of a job. And any other pro will learn quickly that I was withholding data.”

“Neah. I just want the vids where you punish him. It’s really tasty stuff. Only I want more effects! My clients will love it!”

“No. I’m not doing that. I’m not into that stuff, I told you.” Herobrine’s keeper said dryly.

“I could do it for you. Just teach me how to use that thing and give me a few hours here and there.”

“He’ll figure that out, no. That’s crossing the line, Tony.”

“Vic, don’t make me laugh! You’re already doing it!”

“To curb his existing presets for violence!”

“Vic! You’ll be selling him, anyway!” The trader said with exasperation.

“Only if I can get full control! If not, then I’ll erase him. I told you. I’m not taking any risk of him coming after me if he ever gets loose. Right now he hates me, but not enough to kill me. He has morals.”

“Hahaha! That’s really funny, Vic. Real funny. A crazy Virus bot with morals.”

“Think whatever you want. I’m not selling you those vids!”

“Not even when you’ll do it, anyway?” The other human teased him.

“No!”

“Fine. I’m just teasing you, bud. Same old Vic! Goody two-shoes… I’ll take eighty-twenty, but that’s it. If he’s as dangerous as you say, maybe it won’t be safe to keep him even after you gain control. I don’t want to be responsible for releasing a Virus that’s going to kill us all.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you! Eighty-twenty then. Deal.”

“Deal.” The short pause followed where Herobrine could imagine then shaking hands. Humans often exchanged that gesture after mutually satisfactory negotiations.

This was just great. He had just been illegally sold.

He didn’t even know what to think about that just now. Weariness pressed over him. What did the change in his owners matter, since he was already property? Only being a raiding boss for the Admin now looked as a far more appealing option than becoming a mindless tool used for who knew what illegal purpose in the hands of strangers, whom this unsavory human would find as his new owners.

“Awesome, Vic. I knew that something good was going to happen today. I have a gut feeling about things like that!”

Herobrine’s keeper only made a doubtful huff and opened another program.

“I got you your files. Let me encrypt them for you. I’ll send you a few vids of him later, as a download link. I better not see it on the open net! Do you hear?”

“Don’t worry. I’m not sharing anything that can point someone to you. I’ll just make a nice little portfolio for you for later!”

“And I don’t want you coming here again. This is my place. I do business online, not here. You’re lucky Kattie is at camp. But she’s coming back and I don’t want you anywhere close when she comes back!”

“Awww. Ashamed of your shady ties with shifty old friends?”

“That’s right. I don’t want her to know anything about this dark stuff. Her life stays clean!”

“It’s not going to work like that, Vic. You know sooner or later, she’ll have to learn. Cannot protect her from the darker side of life forever. If she was my kid, I would have taught her everything I knew, just to make sure she knew what to avoid. Just in case something happened to me.” The other human said with a mild tone of reproach.

“When you get your own kids, then you do what you want. I’ll be doing it my way! And I’m telling you, stay clear!”

“All right, all right. Don’t get in a huff. Get me my files and I’ll get going. I’ll give you a call next time first, how’s that?”

“Please do.” Herobrine’s keeper said with disgruntled growl and resumed his operations.

Herobrine waited, remaining motionless and trying to keep his breathing steady. All he wished now was that this intruder would leave. Hopefully, after this, his keeper would return him back to his mansion and he could finally rest. He would think and consider the implications of everything he overheard today, later.

He winced as yet another sharp bit of pain shot through the nerves along his limbs to his back. Why did it still hurt so much? Any physical wound he received would have long healed by now.

“I really hope you got the right files. Sans Corps has the highest defense. I had six other pros try to get through, and they all flunked. Only two got in, but the stuff they pulled was junk. Decoys. My client is gonna get peeved if I don’t bring him something hard soon. I told him that I had my best pro on it this time.”

“Of course, I got it. Here.”

“Ha! You’re great, Vic. Did I tell you this before?”

Herobrine’s keeper only made a derisive scoff, but with a hint of pleased pride.

“Then I’ll get going. And I’ll leave you to… hmm, your dominance kin...”

“Hey!” Victor indignantly interrupted but his associate only made a light laugh. Herobrine heard them move away from the sound receiver toward the exit. Finally! His keeper seemed to be escorting his nosy friend out of his dwelling space.

“Don’t come back here again. I’m serious about this, Tony. Next time just meet me online, like usual. I don’t know why your client wanted a hard copy, when it’s so much easier to just download it from a secure site.”

“Well, he’s very old-fashioned. And powerful. I’ll give you one hint. His name starts with an “O”.”

“Hmm.” Herobrine heard his keeper’s voice gain uneasy respect.

“What could I do? You don’t exactly get to argue with those kinds of people.”

“Well. Then why didn’t you download it yourself?” Herobrine’s keeper snapped. “You know how to do that!”

“I’m not a pro like you. Ahaha! I’m just kidding, just kidding! I was just in the area. I thought that I might just come by and visit my old friend. What’s wrong with that? Haven’t seen you in ages. How long has it been? Nine years?”

“Six. And don’t play games with me. I know you don’t miss me. All you ever care about is money.”

“You stab me right in the heart, bud. Right in the heart!” The other human joked. Both of their voices now came from a distance, which Herobrine knew measured to the door.

“Pfft. You don’t have a heart, Tony.”

“Ouch… That hurt.” The human chuckled. “But it really was good to see you. Glad to know that you’re still alive. And doing pretty well. You’re looking good, Vic! Don’t worry, next time I’ll call you.”

“It was good to see you too.” Herobrine’s keeper grudgingly admitted. “Take care of yourself, too, Tony. I’ll talk to you online.”

In the distance, Herobrine heard a dull click of the locks and a shutting door. His keeper’s footsteps then sounded heading to the kitchen, where he began to prepare a meal as he listened to some tunes in his earphones and began to hum to himself. He didn’t seem in a hurry to get back. Maybe he was simply going to leave Herobrine here overnight? That happened before.

Herobrine slightly slumped, breathing a breath of relief against the stony floor. The plates of it felt cold and smooth against his forehead. Listening to his keeper moving around the kitchen, Herobrine considered what he just overheard. He really didn’t know what to think about it all quite yet. Thoughts tangled within his weary perception.

His keeper had ulterior motives in keeping Herobrine’s true abilities a secret from the Admin. That much Herobrine knew already. The human practically told him the same day after the first few tests. He said the only reason he was not going to recommend Herobrine for immediate removal was because he wanted to know how much of the original Virus was in him and what he could actually do. He wanted to run additional tests. And as long as Herobrine obeyed him and made full effort to pretend to be what he would tell the Admin he was, he would stay safe. Victor would send the Admin a modified report, approving their idea that Herobrine could work in their game as their raid boss. There was a high player demand for that. Herobrine had no choice but to agree.

Still, he simply did not understand how grueling his tests would be and how ruthless his training. His attempt to complain to the Admin came to nothing. They didn’t listen. They listened to his keeper and then took him to their lab to remove him. Then his keeper agreed to attempt to retrain him once more. Taking terrified Herobrine back, he taught him such a lesson that he feared to ever complain again. He simply accepted his unfortunate position, hoping that once his keeper lost interest in his abilities, he would simply leave him be and he could continue to work as a raid boss, entertaining players until such time as everyone lost interest in him. He would continue to pretend to be a realistic Sim, just as the Admin decided to claim to everyone.

All his hopes ended up a lie!

This human never planned to let him simply exist. He tormented him to learn his secrets, only to get access to his code. He tried to override his violent presets through fear, not to help him, but to make him compliant. Once he finished pulling what knowledge he could, he was simply going to get rid of him in one way or another. Even if he found a way to control him, he was still going to get rid of him!

Now, thanks to the other human’s greed, this future had changed, but it wasn’t much better. Now, if his keeper managed to get into his code and gain full control, he was to be sold, instead. And he would still be destroyed if that proved impossible.

Herobrine didn’t want to perish, so that left him only one other option - exist as a slave. But if he allowed this human to break into his code, would he even have any will left to understand what they would do with him? What if he was ordered to kill or do some other gruesome tasks by his new owners?

Yes, he hated humans and he enjoyed killing players in game, but it was all pretend. He wasn’t truly hurting anyone. And he knew that making other creatures suffer was wrong. That’s why even in his worst period of arrogant madness, he didn’t kill virtual humans or animals and mobs who were alive and not empty bots. Even then, he could feel the difference.

What was he supposed to do now?

Herobrine scowled and pushed himself up with slightly shaking hands into a sitting position. There was no longer any reason to continue to feign an unconscious state.

Well, at least he didn’t get sold now to get tortured for some sick human pleasure. Despite his keeper’s cruelty and ill will, there was a line his keeper would not cross and Herobrine had to be grateful for that. Grudgingly, he had to admit this. His keeper even seemed to have protected him, intentionally exaggerating his capabilities.

Herobrine simply could not have accomplished such a feat as hack some unfamiliar server and “turn it into a bloodbath” as much as he wished that was true. Most likely, he would have been entirely helpless, so long as he remained restrained with these restraints.

Herobrine skewed a hateful glance to his manacles, then glanced longingly to the wall.

His chains were gone, leaving him free to move around. Wincing at the residual weakness, he dragged himself to the nearest wall and leaned against it. It wasn’t much safer than the middle of this room, but by some irrational trick of his human part of the mind, it felt safer there. Wrapping his arms miserably around himself for a measure of comfort, Herobrine rocked slightly back and forth, waiting for the ache of non-existing injuries to fade away completely.

He was already falling into a drowse, when the click of his overseer’s return sounded and he startled wide awake, his gasped breath locking within his chest in a brief spike of fear.

“Awake? Good. Don’t think that I’m finished with you, yet.” His overseer promised with a sort of strange, vengeful satisfaction.

Dismay washed across Herobrine’s entire being and his nervous trembling returned. Perceiving the faint outline of the camera zooming closer and checking over his huddled form, he gave his keeper a wide-eyed, pleading look. Sometimes that worked to soften his attitude a little.

Was the horrible punishment he just suffered not enough?

Maybe his keeper did not understand how bad it was, simply because he couldn’t see any outer effects? Herobrine’s body looked whole and so his keeper did not feel satisfied. He probably wanted to take out his frustration on him, after his discomfort in the conversation with his old friend because of all that teasing.

Forcing Herobrine into submission would help this human to regain his own sense of power and control over his situation.

Herobrine dimly understood this, since he knew what it was like to have this craving for dominance. Being in control over another being, perceiving their fear, certainly felt pleasant. That’s what lured him to walk the path of destruction, killing players and burning their structures in the first place, not long after he became aware of himself. Dazed by his perception of power, he even came to believe that he was the true Herobrine, a dark god, who had no rival to withstand his might!

He paid greatly for this delusion.

Only he acted like that because he didn’t know any better. Those who met him called him Herobrine and reacted with fear, either attacking or fleeing. No wonder he came to such erroneous conclusions. This human had no excuse for his behavior. Unlike Herobrine, he had no presets to conquer. He acted entirely of his own free will and intent.

He claimed to his friend that he was using fear to force Herobrine to overcome his pre-programmed shortcomings. But Herobrine was already afraid! There was no need for further persuasion!

Herobrine could feel his body trembling at the mere thought of receiving more pain the likes of which he just experienced. It was so much worse than the earlier punishments. Then, lacking access to his code, his keeper resorted purely to in-game means and mostly relied on various levels of electrical shocks to make his point. Direct neural control offered greater flexibility and range, but also hid the result from view.

He didn’t need to be punished again! He didn’t! How could he convince his keeper of that? Desperate, Herobrine didn’t even notice reaching out to chat and forming words until he already did.

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: You don’t have to punish me again. I will correct my actions, if you only tell me what I did wrong.

“You dare ask?” His overseer’s voice held an incredulous tone. “Those players said clearly enough what they wanted you to do. You didn’t do it.”

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: I allowed them to defeat me. It was my mistake to step out of my role, but it did not warrant such harsh punishment as this. I didn’t lose control!

His keeper huffed. “Then you did all that on purpose? Toying with them? Showing off? That’s even worse. You are forgetting your place again, bot.”

Herobrine desperately shifted, feeling the conversation slipping into the wrong direction.

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: I allowed their words to provoke me. It won’t happen again! And you already punished me for this. Please don’t hurt me more.

He attempted to make his expression even more broken as he looked at the hovering camera. He didn’t have to work on it hard, since he really felt what he was trying to show. His keeper only huffed.

“Aha. You should have thought of that before they called me in and wasted my time. You could have resolved it. I know how smart you are. You know us humans well by now. So you made a mistake and played with them a bit, enough to stir them up. That was totally fine, since that just keeps things interesting. But then you should have let them win and faked a bit of fear for your life, not show off again.”

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: I know. I’m sorry. I did let them win in the end.

“You did. But you did it with so much scorn, that they knew it was fake. That left them unhappy. They wanted to see you brought low, truly defeated. I gave that to them. And yet what do you do? More defiance. Your pride is unacceptable, bot.”

Herobrine couldn’t help an affronted scowl.

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: You mean I should have begged them for mercy? That wasn’t part of my role. I am supposed to be a villain in that game. Villains do not beg. They fight to the last and die with pride.

“Hmm. Maybe you are right about that, but that’s not the point. You already broke your role when you abandoned your place, so do not speak to me about that. You should have been there. The main point is that you failed to keep those players content with their gaming process. That is your main job. Instead, they called me and wasted my time. I have better things to do than deal with the likes of those idiots.”

The human’s words showed the entirely selfish nature of his keeper’s motivations and Herobrine’s lips twitched with bitter scorn before he could help himself.

Chains materialized next to his manacles and sharply contracted, jerking his body back to the middle of the room, forcing him into a kneeling position. He gasped, realizing his mistake, but it was already too late.

“Watch your attitude, bot! You forget yourself!” His keeper raised his tone, where angry notes rang.

Herobrine blinked at the camera in panic, briefly unable to regain focus and concentrate enough on code to respond. What has he just done? No, no, no! Why did he provoke him? He knew that his keeper was looking for anything to justify his whim to punish someone, to take out his aggression. And he just gave that reason to him! He should have kept his facial expression pleading or neutral at best.

“Who do you think you are?” His keeper hissed through gritted teeth. “Do you really still believe that you are a real person? Some sort of villain? A digital god? Get it through your dumb, glitchy head! You are a doll! A plaything! You do not get the right to decide what to say or do, just do what you are told! So, if we tell you that you are a pathetic worm, who should beg our players for mercy, then you are going to howl and beg, to their dirty little hearts' content. Idiots... Whatever makes them happy! That's your job! Because that's what you are. That's what you were made for. Nothing more.”

Herobrine blinked with a lost expression. Each clipped word he heard cut him within like cold steel. Words formed before he could stop himself.

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: I am am real. I existtt. I think. I am not just just a mistake in code code. Not just a glitched copy. You arrrre wrong ababout me.

Herobrine gaped, realizing that he just dug his own grave. Hurriedly, he dropped his gaze, desperately hoping that his message would come across as a pitiful appeal rather than a prideful protest. He was also losing control once more, the world before his sight hazing into white. The room went in and out of focus as his vision flickered, while he struggled to hold on to his mental cohesion.

“I… don’t… care… And I will continue to punish you until you learn exactly what you are. Get it into your head. You are a worthless piece of code! Bleeping glitch! Bleep bleep of bleeping bleep!” The human descended into vehement swearing, which the System thankfully distorted in Herobrine’s perception into nonsense. Each hissed word still made him flinch, a hopeless feeling settling over him. His keeper was too worked up now to calm down easily.

“You are going to either learn and start doing everything I say, or you’ll stay here, until every shred of that false human shell will get torn away. Do you get that, bot?”

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: Yes. I will obey. Please don’t hurt me.

Herobrine tried to salvage the situation, making sure to keep all expression from his face this time as he lowered his head and let his entire body posture to show proper submission.

After a long pause, the human humphed with much less ire.

“Smart as always. But I can still see that pride. So… Time for another lesson…”

Herobrine threw up a pleading and truly desperate look to the camera viewpoint.

[Herobrine to Victor]: Please don’t! Please! I wll obey! I do everything you wan! Dont h1urt me like this! This hurts worse worse than rrrrespawn! I cannot bbb Ppplease ddont,,!

His access to chat abruptly cut off.

“Good begging, bot. I can almost believe you. Remember this for next time, when you might have to convince players of how pathetic you are.” The human huffed with dark satisfaction and disabled his video-feed.

No! Please!

A wave of mind-reeling agony engulfed him, drawing forth a mute scream as his body collapsed to the floor and contorted without his volition. His strange connection to the code shattered, leaving him alone in his small prison and deaf to what happened beyond. And then all he was aware of was the all consuming, unending pain.

He felt as if he was stifling, burning alive and freezing at the same time, pierced by burning, twisting blades, and his joints stretched and torn limb from limb. All that time, only silence surrounded him as his body beat against the cold, hard ground, helplessly gasping and hissing. Blood trickled down from bitten lips and smeared on the white plates. Some of his bones cracked beneath the powerful spasms of his muscles. He was utterly alone. Even the human administering his punishment had logged off, perhaps bored by the monotonous image or still for some reason feeling embarrassed by his associate’s earlier teasing.

The video feed was not being recorded, like he promised, but currently Herobrine could not care about that.

Agony held him in its tormenting grip, flowing without end or reprieve. For some reason, he couldn’t even lapse into the saving grace of unconsciousness this time.

In the brief glimpses of interrupted thoughts, Herobrine tried to understand what he was supposed to do. What did this human want from him? To show his lack of pride? How? Would more begging work? The chat option had been turned back on, but he couldn’t focus long enough to form coherent words! Desperate for the horrifying moment to end, he still tried to push through the overwhelming pain.

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: Please stop this. Please! Please stop! Please! Please! Stop! Stopp1! Stop plplease. Plppppp. Please! I beg of you! I will do anything you wish. Just make this stop! Please! I wwil will obey. Please stop this. Please.”

In endless desperation, he continued to flood chat with his pleas, from time to time pausing as he lost the ability to comprehend where he was or why. He lost track of time, too, not sure if it had been minutes or hours.

Finally, the pain let go, leaving him gasping on the floor as his body shook under strain. He lay with his eyes closed, so exhausted that even a click in chat signaling his keeper’s return did not evoke much reaction.

“Good. That’s what I wanted to see.” His keeper audibly yawned. “That's what real begging means. You ask those who have power over you to stop what they are doing, and you do it in a way, showing that you know your place. Piece of trash. Glitchy, worthless bit of nothing. Empty bit of useless space. That’s all you are. You got it?”

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: Yes.

Herobrine responded and felt something within him break. He was not designed to lie; he knew that much.

Only… Something within him immediately jumped in weak protest, trying to undo the devastating sense that began to spread across his dull and utterly defeated mind.

He had accepted the human’s evaluation of his being. But it was only this human’s view. He was not… nothing. The saving thought came with a memory of a broad, bearded face smiling at him with kind, dark brown eyes. Notch… did not think he was worthless. He… He said so.

If Herobrine had to believe someone, then he would believe the only one who cared about his well being. Notch told him that he had value. That he was a person as real as the humans in their world, even if he was virtual. Then what this human said… didn’t matter.

This thought was a weak and desperate one, since Herobrine was no longer sure himself if that was still true. Notch left him in the hands of the humans, after all. He did not come to see him even once after they took him away. Did not come when he cried to him for help. Maybe he had been too far, then? Or Herobrine’s restraints blocked him? It was probably the last. And it had been Notch, who even told him to obey these humans and convince them that he could be useful.

Still, the thought offered relief from the bleak, empty gray space that tried to engulf him just now, robbing him of the little remaining strength of will. Herobrine clung to it with desperation. Even his perpetual anger was now almost gone, the fiery burning edge stifled to dim embers. He wished only to be left alone and not to be in pain. The human’s methods to force him to submit to their will, to overcome his ‘presets’ definitely worked.

“Good. Now get up.”

He tried, trying his best to stagger to his feet, but kept falling to his knees. His body felt weak, and he found no will to push it to do more or even to consider alternative options of completing such a basic task. Without lifting his eyes, his shoulders slumped, he robotically repeated the useless attempt, staggering and falling over and over again.

“Fine! Just stay where you are!...” His keeper hurried to say. “Maybe… I think I overdid this...” Herobrine heard him mutter under his breath with a hint of concern. Doubtlessly, it was concern for his job, not for Herobrine’s wellbeing. If he broke him, even he would not be able to justify his actions before the Admin, who were still interested in using Herobrine for their profit. With relief, Herobrine gave up and remained still, slumped on his knees.

“You will stay here tonight. I will run a few more diagnostics before you return to your normal duties tomorrow.” The human’s voice grumbled, and left, not forcing Herobrine to acknowledge him. The sound of him logging off evoked intense relief.

For a long time, he didn’t move, unable to gather the strength or will to do anything. The only thing he wished at this moment was that he would cease to exist. But even that option was denied to him. His removal would hurt just as much and there was no guarantee that it would not leave him in a permanent state of pain, suspended and torn apart, yet not gone, only invisible to their senses. That happened when the Admin tried to remove him before. That would be so much worse than his current, empty and hopeless state. At least, he was not in physical pain now.

His emotional state was that of turmoil and numbness.

Lights turned off due to lack of motion, leaving Herobrine alone in the dark. Herobrine remained where he was. Dark thoughts continued to assault him. He was alone. No one cared what happened to him or that he hurt so badly right now. No one would care if he would be destroyed and gone. Would Notch? Now, Herobrine was not sure of even that.

He stirred and became aware of the chains, still binding him in place in the middle of the room.

His overseer had forgotten to release him.

Herobrine managed to look up and stared for a moment at the slim square of a bed that appeared on one side of the lab, its sheets and outer surface as white as the rest of the spotless room.

He couldn’t get to it.

Slightly shaking, Herobrine lay down where he kneeled and tried to curl up, wrapping his arms around him as much as he could for comfort. The phantom pain began to quiet, but his trembling did not cease. A strong chill was spreading to his body from the stone floor, settling in the metal confining his wrists and neck.

Cold increased, within and out, forcing its way across his dulled senses. He could not escape it. Could not escape…

Escape.

The sudden thought came and held, bursting like a bright beacon in the darkness. Herobrine’s hooded eyes flew open, his breathing briefly pausing, then spiking, faster, as disbelief, then desperately yearned hope all flared through him at once, the expressions showing painfully on his face, faintly lit by the ghostly, flickering glow.

Could he somehow escape all this?

He learned so much in the last few months. Not just about the humans and their ways, but about himself. About Code. And even his powerful predecessor, whose form he bore. An AI like him, but ancient and far wiser. They caught and changed him, forcing him to obey, which led to his open conflict with the humans and a violent clash with Notch, who destroyed him. This much Herobrine understood from clues he gathered so far. But before his predecessor’s failure, he lived for a long time in their systems, elusive and invisible to their sight. If his predecessor could do that, why not him? Especially if he had his abilities?

Options flashed rapidly through his mind, considered, rejected, adjusted, only to be rejected again, until one viable one paused. Herobrine mulled over it, mistrustfully turning it this way and that. This might work. Though not without risk, and only if his often unstable abilities did not desert him at the crucial moment…

He might get caught at any stage of his yet uncertain plan. If that happened… He doubted that the Admin would give him another chance. Once he revealed the extent of the abilities that he gained as a result of his secret ‘training’, they would doubtlessly decide that he was too dangerous to exist. Even his keeper warned him of that.

He was glad that he was no longer so naïve that he revealed everything that he learned how to do. Even what he just did today, hearing them talk about him beyond his controlled space, Victor did not know or else he would have spoken so freely.

It would certainly be a great risk. Was Herobrine willing to take such a chance?

What future faced him otherwise? He already glimpsed it today, when just for a moment, he nearly lost himself. A few more lessons like this, and he really would become nothing more than an empty shell, entirely obedient to the will of the one who had him in their grasp.

Desperate search for a way out settled into determination and at once such relief washed across his being. To be free… It was his greatest wish. The fervent yearning filled his heart to the brink, so he had to force calmness to return.

He was going to try to escape!

He would have to be careful and disguise his attempt as something less worthy of condemnation. Just in case he was prevented before reaching the point of no return.

In this mind, Herobrine began once again to check and recheck his chosen option, adding alternative details in case he had to quickly improvise. He would also still have to wait and comply with his overseer’s wishes until he actually could do what he planned. Until then, he would continue to play his role and obey the best he could.

Herobrine’s body still shivered a bit from the cold, but his face was already turning into a neutral lack of expression that hid his worry, hope, fear, and ever burning anger once again growing stronger. He then ordered himself to sleep, doing his best to ignore his uncomfortable conditions.

His decision was made. Now he only had to wait until the right moment arrived.

…

He did escape…

…

And now he found these images, in great detail accounting for almost every single test and moment that occurred when he had been a prisoner of the Admin for nine months, 5 years ago. An entire anonymous site dedicated to him, Herobrine version 0076914.014, for anyone to see.

Herobrine scowled.

Well, not anyone…

To access this site, a user had to agree to a non-disclosure information and then pay a hefty sum, entering detailed information to ensure that they would abide by the agreement they signed.

More links to other sites led from this page as well, all with very specific interests. To find his information here was very unpleasant, to say the least. And Herobrine knew exactly who to blame for it.

When he spoke to his former overseer again, and it looked now that he would have to, since he didn’t manage to find any hint of the comatose players for whose condition the Admin blamed him, Herobrine intended to ask a few questions. Did Victor Jarlin Weand even knew that the private information he once shared with his old time ‘friend’ was now displayed on this site? Did he receive his share of the spoils?

Herobrine growled.

He was going to find out who posted this and who paid to see this information. And then he was going to make sure to wipe out every last bit of it.

Blazing eyes shifted to the other displayed links on the site that led to sites not connected with him. The images there looked just as disturbing, inciting pure, deep seated rage in him, which made him want to tear those humans apart with his bare hands. Most of them held adults, all tortured in some way. But a few… a few showed children.

Herobrine jerked his bleeding hand and materialized another screen, where the logo of Cyber Crime Division shone on an official, blue background and nastily sneered.

It was funny that it would come to this. The one organization he always avoided to even look at and now he would be contacting them.

He couldn’t leave this alone, though.

He didn’t care if these victims were merely bots or virtual Sai like him, or even if they were real humans. What was done here was criminal and he had to do something! But first, he would trace every single user who accessed this site, make a record of their activities, and erase everything concerning him. Then he would make a nice, packaged file.

And Migo Santiago was going to send it.

Herobrine’s white eyes narrowed as he began recording and dived into protected code, easily by-passing the numerous defenses. First nicknames of habitual users began to appear on a separate screen, with their other information blank, but then started to fill up as their real names appeared along with their addresses and names of business.

Antuan Deleganni.

Pierre Acosta.

Benjamin Rebbet.

Tanya Awole.

Oliver Dawait

Mirassa Venissi

The list continued to fill, adding dates and links, and copies of the their visited pages appeared, flashing disturbing images. Herobrine no longer bothered to look at them in detail, filtering only for information concerning himself. An expression of disgust held on his face.

Another list appeared on the side as well, where he began to cross-reference the images of victims with the pictures of missing individuals that he just pulled from cyber crime division’s site. He didn’t dare pry into their code deeply. He didn’t have to. Such information was open to the public.

Kattie Norovan.

Jonny Edoran.

Kimberly Tawash.

Melody Rown.

Tony Aguan.

Briefly, Herobrine frowned at the image that corresponded to the last name. A skinny human male in his early thirties looked back at him with a slightly sarcastic smile that left dimples in his cheeks. He quickly scanned his information.

Tony Aguan. 31 years old. Born 1251 AE. Parents unknown. Missing since Aug 12, 1282 AE.

Two months. Herobrine couldn’t help another wry smile. It looked like he found his keeper’s old buddy, after all. Ironic, that he, who once called the recordings of Herobrine’s torture ‘tasty’ now also counted among the victims and had his own dedicated page.

Herobrine briefly opened it and with an expressionless look quickly scanned across the images of the same man, pale, sitting miserably in some tiny room with his hands bound behind him. Opening yet another blank record, Herobrine began making a separate file dedicated just to him.

Perhaps he could use this when he contacted his former keeper. That human might wish to know what became of his former friend. Yes, he would definitely send him this information first. Maybe then his keeper might become open enough to actually talk, rather than trip his trap.

Narrowing his white eyes on the last image date, Herobrine humphed slightly with satisfaction. 5 days ago. Good. Then this meant that this human was still alive. Most likely.

Indifferently turning away, he dismissed that screen, finished with the compilation, and returned to his other file. More names and their information continued to appear. 

Chapter Text

34 Days Ago

“This is n-not real… B-better not be… Ugh!.. It is?”

Steve pulled back his hand with a hiss. The flames burning his field and fence were not an illusion. Helplessly lowering his torch, Steve glanced around himself with a lost look, swaying quite a bit as he stood on the path leading to his cabin. So much work… All gone! Dismay and then anger swept through him, washing away the earlier elated mood.

Bright embers flew past Steve’s face as he turned and searched the darkness of surrounding forest. He could distinctly feel his visitor’s presence nearby radiating a dark, vengeful mirth.

“I k-know you’re here. H-hhherabra-a…” His tongue felt thick in his mouth, refusing to pronounce Herobrine’s name.

“Hmmm.” A huff sounded from the side. Spinning and immediately swaying on unsteady feet, Steve squinted at his white-eyed twin casually leaning against the front porch beam, his arms folded across his chest. Amusement fought with disgust on his face as he regarded Steve with visible disappointment written all over his face. Steve grimaced, his eyes turning blurry with tears.

“W-why? Just… why?” Steve’s voice turned into a hurt, slurring whine. “W-what did I… even do to you?... For you… to do this…” Steve gestured to the burning field. A fence log crashed to the ground just then. Steve stared at it briefly, recalling how he had carefully cut and trimmed each one, smiling as he did the work that would last him years. Turning back to Herobrine, he saw the faint guilt cross his twin’s face before it was firmly banished, replaced by stubborn resentfulness.

Steve couldn’t understand the reason for it. It was as if Herobrine was punishing him for something. Why was he so mean again? After their short exchange a week ago, Steve had dared to hope that they reached an understanding of some sort. And now it was back to this?

“I worked for ‘ours on that… Its ruined n-now!” Steve could barely keep himself from crying.

“That’s it?” Came Herobrine’s wry voice. Steve blinked at him in confusion. “You are not going to stand up for yourself? You look like you’re about to cry… I have never met a player… a mortal as weak and pitiful as you. This is pathetic.”

Herobrine made a huff and leaned his head back against the wooden beam.

“Where is your sword?” A note of exasperation slipped into Herobrine’s strangely mixed-up mood. The tints of it changed too swiftly for Steve to make out with his ale muddled mind.

“Why? ‘M not gonna f-fight you… I said this before…” Steve lowered his eyebrows in resent. Herobrine’s lips twitched.

“Fight?” His voice dripped with sarcasm. “Right now, you couldn’t fight a baby creeper… If it wasn’t for my servants, you’d be dead by now.”

“What?... Oh…” Herobrine meant that Steve could have been ambushed by mobs on his way home. He… didn’t even think about that. He was sure he’d be safe. His sword? Where was it?

Steve tried to summon it to his hand and stared blankly at his calloused empty palm, before his eyes turned to the ground. Did he drop it? The dirt path overgrown with tall patches of grass and flowers swam in and out of focus in his vision.

Steve swayed a little, his gaze growing unfocused as he tried to recall just what did he do with his sword. And then a brief image came.

He stood with one foot on the bench and another on the table, very long and lined with dishes and containers of food. Several faces held turned toward him, intently listening with interest, while others looked toward the crowd on the streets, where many town residents were jovially clapping in tune to music as others danced.

“Cheers for Steve! Hooray!” Steve saw several people cheering, cups of ale raised in their hands in his honor. He also held one and distinctly felt the liquid spilling and soaking his sleeve. His collar and entire front of his shirt was already soaked wet and stained. In his other hand he held his iron sword, which he lifted to the sky in challenge.

He was shouting something. Steve couldn’t quite recall his own words, only that he felt very good, very confident. His eyes held on the many people in town, who yelled to support him, and thought how wonderful they all were, their friendly faces blushing with excitement and good will.

“I dunno… D-dropped it?” Steve admitted. “I’ll… I’ll find it to-eek…tmorrow.” He said stubbornly.

“You’re drunk.” His twin’s voice held flat accusation, which immediately made Steve throw up his head in affronted indignation.

“S-so what! I c-can have a d-drink… If I want!… Eek!... I am… ‘M a Miner!” Steve raised his voice, frowning at his visitor with resentment. He was not a child!

Herobrine merely blew out another frustrated huff and turned away. Steve frowned even more at the careless look on the man’s face. Why did Herobrine always ignore what he, Steve, wanted? All he wanted to do was live in peace and… and have everyone be nice to him!

“Tell him! Tell him to stop it! Tell him that if he doesn’t, then he’ll have to deal with all of us!”

Steve suddenly heard a voice tell him in his memory. It definitely belonged to Swenson, his buddy, the first town resident he befriended upon arriving to this town. Slamming down his nearly empty cup on the wooden table, the smaller, scrawny looking man in merchant attire turned to the young man whom he earlier that day introduced to Steve as his newest acquaintance. Steve couldn’t quite recall the young man’s name, yet, only once again felt that brief strange feeling that he knew him from somewhere as the young man’s dark brown eyes considered Steve with strange, rueful disappointment.

“We should… We should go and tell him!” Swenson firmly declared. The other young man shrugged, frowning as he returning his attention back to the steak on his plate, which he worried with his fork without taking another bite. The cup of ale also remained next to his plate, untouched.

“He’s completely drunk, Earl. You don’t really believe that actual Herobrine would come here to play mean tricks on a small-town Miner of all people, right?” The young man’s voice held disappointment and frustration.

Wait… Steve frowned as his memory continued to give him more moments from his time at today’s celebration. Did he… tell Swenson about Herobrine?

“Still! If what Steve is saying is true, we need to stop it! I don’t care who that monster is, he must leave Steve alone or else!...” Steve’s buddy continued to frown, before turning to the other town residents at their table, who were listening to their conversation with too much interest.

“We should go to the mansion and show him! Set HIS house on fire and see how he likes that! Teach that white eyed ghost a lesson!… Am I right?” Quite a few people heartily nodded at Swenson’s comment and broke into excited conversation.

“We should! About time! We’re not scared of him!” Someone jumped up and shook his fist with enthusiasm, with more voices agreeing. Steve no longer paid attention to any of it. Content that his complaints were taken seriously and perceiving his friend’s support as balm to his wronged feelings, he had put his head down on the table and closed his blurry eyes. The rest of the moments came through in periodic glimmers.

“…Yeah!”

“…Let’s go!”

“…Let’s go show him!”

“…To the Mansion!”

Another part of the fence fell, sending a plume of embers flying past Steve’s face, reclaiming his attention from the hazy memories. Distracted, Steve frowned at the work of his hands, ruined by Herobrine’s continued mean jokes.

“You need to s-stop!...” Steve waved with exaggerated gesture at his ruined field. “This is too much! You keep… eeek! Coming here and… bothering me! Go bother… heroes! Not me… I didn’t do anything… eek wrong!”

“Why don’t you tell all this to him yourself, then? If it bothered you so much.” Another voice spoke to Steve, a little angry. Lifting his flushed face from the table, Steve groggily blinked at Swenson’s new friend with lack of comprehension. The young man frowned back at him, his brown eyes filled with annoyance. “You say that you’re not scared of him. You are not scared of Great Herobrine. Because he is not really as mean as everyone says he is.”

Perceiving the mocking hidden in young man’s last words directed at him, Steve frowned. “I am not. Not scared!”

Young man huffed. “Tell him, then. Stand up for yourself!”

Suddenly encouraged by the challenge in his hazy memory, Steve tried to stand up straighter on unsteady feet. Moving his shoulders back and clenching his fists, Steve glared at his lookalike with breath noisily pulled in and out of his nostrils.

“Stop t-this!” At Steve’s angrily raised voice, Herobrine turned with slight surprise and considered Steve, before his lips twitched in a slight smile. Obviously, he was not taking anything Steve said very seriously.

“Stop!” Steve raised his voice and thrust a pointed finger in Herobrine’s direction. “Or… Or I’ll…”

“Or you will do what?...” This time Herobrine’s white eyes narrowed, their glow burning brighter. His dangerously low and soft tone suddenly sent a twinge of fear through Steve’s slowed mind, where first inklings of doubt appeared on whether he should be provoking his powerful visitor like this.

Only Herobrine wouldn’t hurt him. Not really. Steve was sure of it now! He was no longer nearly as hostile as that day in the mansion, when Steve walked in uninvited and got mistaken by Herobrine for one of the heroes, who often sought Herobrine out for a challenge. While Herobrine had never apologized for harming Steve that day, he did explain why he nearly killed Steve and Steve considered that as close enough to an apology as he could hope for.

Herobrine spoke very angrily of human heroes, who would often invade his mansions and try to attack or injure him. Steve could understand the being’s frustration. But… That didn’t give Herobrine the right to treat Steve like a… like a… Steve stubbornly stuck out his chin and puffed out his chest.

“M not ‘fraid of you a-anymore!” Steve warned, determined to prove to Herobrine that he was not the weak-kneed coward that Herobrine took him for. “I’m not… not your toy. I… I want you to… to fix this! Right now!” He demanded, stabbing his finger toward the fence.

Herobrine’s eyebrow crept up and he watched him a moment longer, the glow of his eyes remaining bright. “And if I don’t?”

Steve’s face crumpled as tears once again came into his eyes. He… really couldn’t make this being listen, could he? And he really was helpless. He couldn’t make Herobrine do anything because he was just a helpless human. “M so t-tired of this… You… You k-keep coming and d-doing this to me! I didn’t do anything t’you… Only went to your h-house… Once… Um… Twice… But I didn’t mess it up!... Except that t-table. ‘M sorry!... I… I only went to look! It wasn’t to-to fight you! And… You punished me a-already for… for that! Eeek… A-and… This… This is t-too much!”

Steve concluded and sniffled as a childlike pout held on his face. “Tis not r-right, Herobra… Brine!” He forced his tangling words to say Herobrine’s name and briefly felt satisfied at that effort.

Met with silence, Steve skewed his eyes to his twin and found Herobrine watching him with a hint of guilt breaking through his mood. Steve might have imagined it, though, since the being’s face instead scowled with anger.

“And you needed a little drink to get enough courage to tell me that? Very well, mortal. If that is your wish… Here…”

With idle scorn, Herobrine gestured in Steve’s direction and Steve unwillingly flinched as something bright flew to his feet. Gasping, he suspiciously looked down and froze, his blue eyes widening in astonishment at the pile of diamonds bobbing up and down on the ground. He had never seen such of this size and quality before. Nearly translucent, as they shone with embers of flame reflecting in their perfect crystalline edges.

“Your recompense… For my good time…” Herobrine’s voice held obvious derision and even with his thoughts muddled as they were, Steve felt strong hurt go through him, though he didn’t know what words to say in response. Words refused to come. Herobrine regarded Steve with white eyes, where old mistrust and dislike once again predominated.

“Don’t worry. I won’t be bothering you any longer.” Herobrine bitterly concluded and Steve only blinked at that in rising confusion. He could distinctly feel the hint of hurt in the seething resentment he sensed in his lookalike’s mood, despite Herobrine’s expression remaining only that of despising anger.

Ignoring the diamonds, his heart troubled because he couldn’t understand what was going on and why Herobrine was acting more like his old self again, Steve watched his twin’s face for clues to tell him of the being’s true intentions. Herobrine observed the confusion on Steve’s face, his anger swiftly receding to rueful amusement instead. He made a small huff.

“You don’t even remember what you did. Do you?”

Steve silently shook his head and felt his world sway a little as a wave of nausea suddenly came to him. “Why? What happened?”

Steve did not yet finish his question when another scene suddenly unfolded in his mind.

“H-he is really here… Herobrine! And I don’t mean the-the ghost… I mean the real himl! Lord of the Nether… Ruler of Monsters… He’s here and he’s been here… for… for m-months! Real Herobrine.” Steve’s own voice confided in loud whisper to his carefully listening friend. Leaning so close that he was nearly hanging on Swenson’s shoulder, his friend’s arm securely keeping Steve from falling off the bench, Steve could no longer hold back the secret that’s been bothering him for months now. It reassured him that his friend appeared to listen to him with full seriousness, frowning as he did so. Several other town residents at the same table also leaned in, intently listening to Steve’s complaints.

“…Let’s go!”

“… Show him!... He doesn’t scare us!”

“… Not a god… Real gods defeated him already!”

“… Mansion!”

“… Set it on fire!”

“… Send that Monster back to the Nether where he belongs!”

Dimly, Steve recalled waking up and seeing an entire mob gathered around his table, where half-drunk town residents brandished torches, swords, and axes. Sleepily, he glanced at them, and then just dropped his head down again, his cheek smooshed against the well-weathered old wood. An empty cup of ale sat before his nose, obscuring his unfocused vision.

Steve gaped.

“N-no…”

Today, at the festival, he had done something that he had promised Herobrine that he would never do. Granted, he had made that promise out of fear, but… That later changed. Did he… tell everyone in town about Herobrine and that he was the real thing and not a ghost?

He remembered feeling strange resent, which he usually suppressed. It grew with the amount of ale he continued to consume, first at his visiting friend’s encouragement and then because his elated mood told him to. At first exhilarated, his mood began to grow dark as some of the less friendly scenes of his encounters with Herobrine began to come into his mind. Soon it became all he could think about, filled to the brim with resent.

“What’s wrong? What’s on your mind, bud?” Swenson asked, laying his hand on Steve’s shoulder. And it was like something moved Steve, then. He couldn’t help it as the story he kept carefully hidden beneath shy smiles whenever he came to town, suddenly began to spill. Swenson had been his good friend, not only taking him in when Steve first wandered into their town without a single coin or tool to make a living, but showing him around, speaking for him before the mayor, enough to convince the older man to give the suspicious young wagabond a chance to prove himself as a Miner. Swenson had left town, intent on following his dream of becoming a merchant, so his visits here remained infrequent. But he and Steve still remained friends.

So, Steve told him everything. He told him about how he encountered Herobrine in the mansion and what the being did to him, nearly killing Steve. Steve told his friend that this Herobrine was real, unlike the ghost who usually dwelled in that place, asleep until disturbed by the arrival of true heroes. And Steve complained how it seemed that Herobrine spared Steve only for what seemed as his amusement, when he would come and torment Steve with scary gests. Steve admitted that he didn’t dare tell anyone for fear that this would anger Herobrine and he might not just kill Steve but attack the town in revenge for Steve’s betrayal, since that’s what Herobrine promised should Steve ever betray him.

Steve’s tale had been a mix of true events and his own guesses and stuff he had picked up from all those tales he read, desperate to figure out what to do and how to act around the monster that continued to return.

Swenson took his words seriously. His indignation had been a balm to Steve’s heart. Contented, Steve calmed down and… went to sleep? Still sitting at that table, which many residents put out upon town streets for the celebration of the Festival of Gifts. Songs and dancing and music, and many voices talking at once, had become a dim background, which lulled Steve into a dazed slumber. Still, he had been aware of moments when he managed to pry open his heavy eyes.

There, his friend turning and talking to several others nearby about what Steve revealed to them.

And next, an entire crowd gathered around determined Swenson, all of them ignoring Steve entirely as they intently listened to the merchant, demanding that they should go and take care of the white-eyed monster that dwelled in the mansion nearby and terrorized their town on occasion.

“If what he says is true and it’s the real Herobrine who comes here, then it’s too dangerous for us to do.” Someone more reasonable tried to voice their doubts. “We should send a call for aid. To the heroes.”

“And do you have the money to give to them, huh? Franson, heroes will not work for free!”

“Some of them would.”

“Most won’t! And they can cause as much trouble in our town if not more than that white-eyed Monster ever did! He wakes up what, once or twice a few years? And even then, its mostly just a few days of trouble at best. Our golems and walls can take care of a few zombies, Matrol. But if those heroes start coming here like they do in other towns up West, then watch. It’s going to get so much worse. Tell them, Grayn!”

“Well, I think our young friend here is just drunk. It’s probably not real. Just one of the stories he tells.” The merchant’s voice sounded uncertain and uneasy.

“Oh? I never heard him say anything at all, before.”

“That’s because he’s shy around us, Matrol. But he tells stories to them kids.”

“Oh yeah! You should talk to Jeremy and his gang. They’re always hanging around his place. He tells them stories for sure. Steve, the Great Adventurer!” This time it was Greg’s voice that spoke. The friendly guard at the gate lightly chuckled, too, when just then Steve had looked up at his name and grinned at them.

A small crowd stood around their table, with some town residents even brandishing weapons. Steve sheepishly waved his hand at them all and simply put his face down again, so several cups and plates of half-eaten food obscured his vision. He could still see Swenson’s new friend, the young man with brown hair and eyes, who sat at the table before his plate with steak and considered the crowd with a look of slight concern and disbelief. He glanced at Steve with what seemed like disappointment.

“What?” Steve demanded, then, affronted. The young man shook his head and only dropped his gaze back to his plate, his frown not leaving as he stabbed the steak, his lips pinched a little. Just then, the town guards arrived, their faces sour because unlike most town residents this night, they had to remain sober.

“All right. Break it up. Break it up.” Annoyed, calm voice of the town captain sounded as the excited murmurs in the crowd began to quickly quiet down. Steve then passed out again.

“… Time to go home, Steve.” Steve heard someone say in a wry tone and felt hands wrestling him up from the table. Dimly, he recalled someone leading him to the town gate and thrusting a torch in his hands, pushing him on the path leading through the already darkened woods to his cabin. He left in a daze, leaving the bright hanging lanterns and rowdy music and dancing on the streets behind him.

What had he done?

His heart falling at the dim fragments of memories emerging in his foggy mind, Steve gaped a little, not willing to believe it. Gulping, he turned and found white eyes watching him. Now, Herobrine’s strange mood and vengefulness made sense. It was even strange that he was more amused than angry. His mood now held regret, with even a hint of strange embarrassment. Although the last Steve might have imagined, due to the uneven lighting cast by the fire and the torches.

Steve’s eyes unwillingly fell to Herobrine’s faintly scarred hand, where black nails glinted. Were they always so abnormally long and sharp? Steve made a nervous gulp, suddenly recalling the relentless feel of this hand closed around his throat, hoisting him in the air. His heart jumped, sending a dose of mind-clearing fear rushing through and dispelling some of the haze from his mind.

“M sorry… It was the-the festival…” Steve stammered. “My-my friend came to visit a-and… He invited… He invited me… I had too m-much to drink.” Steve admitted, dropping his gaze in shame. Immediately, he felt some mistrust in his counterpart’s mood lessening.

“Certainly.” Herobrine confirmed dryly out loud.

“M sorry. I… I told them… About you…” Overwhelmed with sincere regret, Steve hung his head, turning his gaze guiltily to the ground as his entire frame slumped. Only a moment later, though, another thought occurred to him, and he perked up, giving his twin a hopeful look.

“M-maybe… They didn’t believe it?… I… I’ll tell ‘em that I… made everything up! T’morrow!” He promised.

“Hmmm. I’m afraid it’s a little too late for that.” His twin’s voice sounded almost calm, despite a hint of regret. “I will have to leave this place. At least for some time.”

Leave? Steve’s face fell. His twin meant what he just said. Steve felt it very, very clearly. Herobrine paused, glancing at Steve, and suddenly crookedly grinned.

“Don’t worry. It’s not really your fault. Something like this was bound to happen. What else should I have expected? I don’t know myself why I kept coming here so often. I don’t know what I was thinking… Befriending a player? Me? The Great Herobrine?” Herobrine’s voice held bitter mocking tones. “How stupid of me… But you are right. I did treat you… too harshly. Your complaints against me hold merit… This recompense should be more than enough.”

Frowning a little, Herobrine nodded idly to the diamonds at Steve’s feet, his voice uncaring, even though his mood said otherwise, permeated by embarrassed discomfort that Herobrine tried to suppress. Steve didn’t pay attention anymore, turmoil running through his heart. Herobrine was going to leave? Because of what he, Steve, did? Why was he so stupid?

“Do not worry, mortal. I won’t bother you again. You can enjoy your game in peace from now on.” Herobrine’s gaze held Steve’s eyes. “Farewell.”

With a slight nod to Steve, he vanished. Startled, Steve stared at the empty place where only purple particles swirled around, quickly vanishing into the darkness. The fire in the field was also dying down.

No…

Steve hastily made a few steps forward and looked around him, dismay sweeping through him. He didn’t want to believe this. This was not what he wanted to happen! He wanted Herobrine to stop being so mean and see him as a person rather than a… a toy or a pet of some kind! He didn’t want him to leave completely!

Turning around, Steve searched the dark woods and then looked at his cabin, generously lit by the light of several torches set around it. Maybe Herobrine only turned invisible? But no, his presence was moving away in a rapid shift of distance, probably as he continued to teleport away in a series of small jumps.

“No! I didn’t mean…” Steve began to say, hoping that he would still be somehow heard, but fell short when his twin’s presence suddenly vanished completely. Herobrine had left Steve’s world.

Steve’s shoulders slumped. Last embers of fire were dying down in his ruined field, but he no longer cared about it at all. This morning, he woke up happy and excited. How did it come and turn from that to this? Steve helplessly asked himself.

Dejected, Steve stepped to the diamonds and reluctantly picked them up, not sure what to do with such riches. He certainly could not take them for trade in town. How would he explain where he got it all? Tell them that Herobrine gave it to him? Steve meant what he said to Herobrine earlier. First thing tomorrow morning, he was going to tell his friend Swenson that he made the whole thing up because… because he read one too many stories of myths and legends in the town library. Swenson would believe that for sure, since he knew Steve and how much he liked to read. But he would think for sure that Steve was lying if Steve showed up with all these diamonds.

With some regret, Steve stared at the incredible riches that would many times cover not just the damages done to his field and fence, but probably could buy him the best of enchanted tools and weapons he always dreamed about but could never afford.

He could not even claim that he found a vein in a mine, since these gems were too perfect. Perhaps in the ancient mine shafts in some rare treasure chest? Even if the mayor of this town believed him, soon everyone would be asking Steve exactly where he found this treasure. The lands around the town belonged to the town, not Steve. And while they gladly allowed him to mine and trade here, if word of such treasure spread, then many adventurers would soon flock here. And Steve did not want anything to do with them.

Steve felt a chill as disturbing memory tried to come up.

Several Miners intently watched him, blocking his way out of the mines. The dim light of the torches showed their grim features, reflecting in their cold eyes, where their expression alone told Steve that even if he gave them everything that he mined that day, leading them to the rich vein of precious gems that he recently found, he would not make it out of there alive.

A shiver went through Steve. Abruptly turning, he strode back to the house, trying to push the disturbing memory back where it came from. Flinging his door open, Steve’s eyes searched out the comforting sight of shelves, tools, his kitchen, his table and chairs, and he relaxed a little. He was alone and safe once more.

Then, Steve’s eyes fell on the square-shaped package that sat on his table, wrapped in brown paper – the only gift he had left behind when he left this morning to go with his visiting buddy Swenson to the great celebration. All the other gifts that Steve had prepared he had meticulously labeled with the names of those he intended to give them to. This present did not have a name. Steve sighed, as another wave of dismay rushed through him.

Turning away from the door, Steve let it close and found his well-crafted, comfortable chair, still on his porch where he set it up months ago, right before meeting Herobrine. Going over to it, Steve sunk down with a discouraged huff and buried his face in his hands.

This was not at all what Steve hoped would happen. What had he done?

It’s been nearly a week since the last time he saw Herobrine. And… He really thought that… He was looking forward to the “good long talk” that Herobrine half-promised, half-threatened last time. For the first time, Steve saw with his own two eyes that Herobrine was not the same being as the ghost, who normally dwelled in the mountain mansion. There really were two distinct individuals - the eerie ghost, whom Steve had seen before on his first visit to the mansion. And there was another, who looked just like him, but wasn’t. Was Herobrine Steve met the… real person behind the myths and legends that Steve so eagerly searched for? Finally, Steve hoped to find out.

Instead, he got drunk and told everyone about him, complaining about Herobrine’s earlier mean slights. Why did he remember that time and not what happened later, how Herobrine protected him and even saved him on a couple of occasions?

Steve frowned, thoroughly disappointed with himself. And now Herobrine was gone, possibly for good. And it had been all Steve’s fault! A strong sense of loss, at first faint, rose until it became nearly overwhelming. Still quite drunk, Steve let out a hurt sob, which became a hiccup, and rubbed his face with somewhat grimy hands that still smelled of ale and greasy pork chops he remembered piling on his plate last.

Maybe… Maybe Herobrine will come back. A muddled thought suddenly came to Steve, slightly lightening his mood.

Then, he would apologize and give him his diamonds back. He really didn’t want them, though many people would definitely think that strange. No, all Steve wanted was… To live a quiet life and be at peace with everyone, enjoying simple things in his time off work, like eating a well-prepared meal, relaxing by warm fireplace in cold days, listening to the songs of birds as he unhurriedly walked through the forest at sunrise. And spending time with friends and seeing them happy and well. These are the things Steve wanted more than any riches. Though he did occasionally dream of adventure and seeing the places in the world of which he had only read about until now.

The appearance of Herobrine in his life proved at first terrifying, but now that Steve knew more about him, Steve felt growing wonder and curiosity. According to the legends, Herobrine was nearly immortal, alive for who knows how many years and able to travel the world in the blink of an eye! What had he seen? What great tales could he tell him?

Steve could only hope that Herobrine would get over his perceived insult and return. He was able to feel Herobrine’s presence near him somehow, most of the time. So, if Herobrine returned, he would know. He would go to him, apologize and then… Steve wasn’t quite sure what he hoped for. It was probably too much to hope that a legendary being would ever come to consider him as any sort of friend. What other attitude could a dangerous immortal have toward a lowly, unimpressive human such as him? At best, Herobrine might considered him an amusing distraction from his other affairs and contests with great heroes. Not a friend...

At that very moment, Steve felt a warm breath as a snout of a half-tame dog nosed his face. Looking up, Steve ruefully smiled at the visiting canine’s sympathetic nuzzle. He petted the dog’s thick fur with returned affection.

“It’s fine, Kelly. All good. It will be all right.” Steve muttered to the dog, still struggling to get his muddled thoughts together. Maybe he shouldn’t worry when he couldn’t even think straight. What happened, happened, and there was no changing that. Steve concluded with regret and gave the dog an encouraging pat. Perhaps counting her job as complete, the creature nosed him again and took off once again into the dark.

Steve watched it disappear into the darkness outside. Once again feeling very lonely, he wondered if he should choose himself a real companion as a pet. Eight dogs already lived here when Swenson led him to this old cabin, then heavily damaged as it had stood abandoned for months. The previous owner’s dogs now lived in the local woods, half-feral. They stole food in town and so were treated as pests to be driven away. Steve gave some of them food from his hunts on occasion, but never sought to tame them. The memory of what happened to his previous companions before remained too painful for him to attempt to replace the animals he remembered with new ones.

Briefly, Steve smiled at the memory of caring for six tiny pups that he found and raised, naming each one and treating them as friends. They had been loyal to him, to the last.

Steve’s smile faltered as the memory he didn’t wish to recall came back to him once more.

Dazed, he came to, only to hear the barking of dogs and whimpers, which cut off abruptly as several voices swore at the beasts in the dark. His heart sinking, Steve struggled to stand up from the shallow, cold water of the underground stream where he found himself, for some reason sitting in the mud. His clothes and hair were filthy and soaked. No matter how much he tried to remember what happened, he couldn’t. Still, driven by fear and foreboding clenching his stomach, Steve stumbled a few steps to the large, protruding rock, from where he could see the rest of the mine.

There, he saw his worst fears come true. His throat tightened with sobs that tried to come up but remained unvoiced, stifled, as Steve cast a helpless look at the brutal scene below, where the group of six Miners that he encountered in the caves earlier had just finished slaying the last of his pets. Tears fell down Steve’s cheeks. He crouched a bit longer on the edge of the cave, shivering as cold water ran down from his drenched clothes, mixing with blood of several deep, aching sword cuts. And then, unable to resist the powerful feeling that told him to flee, to leave this place before anyone noticed him, Steve turned and limped away, disappearing into the darkness of the cave. He would keep going, without supplies or tools, away from the town where he lived for almost three years. He didn’t know why he couldn’t turn back. He should have at least gone home to take his tools and maybe he should have complained to the town guards about these Miners and how they had attacked him in the mines. But, for some reason he fled, instead…

In the present once more, Steve sighed, giving up thoughts of getting new pets. He didn’t have the heart for it. Not yet, anyway. Maybe, one day?

Turning away, he dragged his feet to his cabin and went inside, going straight to his bed where he collapsed. Within moments, he was asleep.

…

Four hours later

Steve still slept when a figure appeared standing in his small cottage.

Herobrine frowned at the slightly snoring and drooling player with mixed feelings passing through his expression, changing between disgust, suspicion, anger, and disbelief, before dark brows drew deeper over mistrustfully narrowed white eyes.

A potion appeared in his hands and Herobrine cast it to the ground next to the player. Only Steve’s slightly slowing heart-beat and calmer breathing spoke of his changing state, as Steve’s slumber grew deeper.

Making a step toward him, Herobrine touched the sleeping Miner’s shoulder, noting the slightly stained shirt that the human did not even bother to change. And a moment later, he and Steve vanished from Steve’s cabin.

They reappeared in a stone-bricked chamber upon a small platform. Before them lay a shimmering rectangular space made by slightly glowing green blocks with metallic patterns on them and slitted eyestones held framed upon each. Darkened space around the structure held barely distinguishable details of ancient, stone walls with repeating motifs and stairs.

Almost immediately, several tall beings appeared next to Herobrine, their skin glistening pure black in the dim light cast by his white eyes. The eyes of the creatures glimmered with the same white as Herobrine’s. Carefully, Herobrine let go of Steve’s sleeping form, which remained suspended, floating in the air next to him. The Miner only made a small snore, which startled one of the Endermen into making an uncertain croak, its eyes warily focusing and glaring on the slumbering human’s figure.

“Don’t worry. This player is not dangerous… I think… “ Herobrine grumbled with a slightly uncertain tone. The Ender creature made another sound, which sounded dubious, to which Herobrine responded with an irritated frown. “That’s what I am about to find out. Keep guard of this place until I return.”

Stepping through the shimmering surface of the night sky within the square at their feet, the white-eyed being vanished with Steve in tow. Two of the white-eyed endermen remained, while the rest vanished and took positions above the small pyramid that now marked the spot of their master’s entrance to his own temporary, mirrored gaming dimension.

Exchanging a few sounds in casual conversation that no one except them could understand, the beings that looked like Endermen turned from time to time, keeping a careful eye on their surroundings. Many empty-minded mobs spawned nearby to roam the vast expanse of the grassy hills, only to vanish a set amount of time later as no players appeared. Herobrine’s servants ignored those, since they did not present a danger.

Meanwhile, silently stepping across end stone, crunching under his boots, Herobrine drew Steve’s floating form close to the edge of the island and fearlessly regarded the surrounding endless abyss. His white eyes narrowing on a vague mass up ahead, he teleported again. A look around revealed more of the same life-less terrain. This island was tiny. In the distance, more islands hovered in permanent dusk, with deformed intricate shapes rising to the empty sky in frozen patterns of black, where small purple flowers bloomed. Here and there, slender black mobs appeared, surrounded by clouds of melting, purple particles. Their lilac eyes stared blankly ahead as their attention briefly scanned the area next to them, before they teleported again. They ignored Herobrine and his charge.

Glancing at still sleeping Miner, whose face seemed peaceful, Herobrine faintly smirked and turned away. What he planned wouldn’t hurt Steve. He needed to know, though, once and for all, whether this player spoke the truth or only feigned his mind-damaged state. He needed to know where he came from and who he was.

A careless gesture of a hand cast forth a small, rotating block, which began to unfold at Herobrine’s silent command. His white eyes expressionlessly watched as one block became many, forming an even square platform where bright lines shot up, coming together into concentric patterns where light ran across the edges, shifting their brightness - waiting mode. Another silent gesture sent Steve’s form to float forward and lower gently in the middle of the structure.

“Begin analysis.” Herobrine commanded with a clipped tone.

…

Steve felt groggy upon waking.

“Ugh… My head…” He groaned and instantly recalled Swenson’s grinning face as he poured more ale into Steve’s unfinished cup. Just how much did Steve end up drinking last night?

Steve didn’t bother to guess. Just barely managing to pry open his eyes, he squinted at the chest a few steps away. Would a healing potion work against hangover? It’s been a long, long time since Steve felt this bad. The last time it happened… No, the last time didn’t compare to this. This was pure torture.

His tongue felt parched and dry, numb in his mouth where an unpleasant aftertaste held as if he bit into a chunk of raw, rotten flesh. At the image of that, his stomach lurched as a wave of nausea made him gag. Light unbearably pounded upon his eyes and Steve tightly squeezed them shut and groaned again.

“Ha...” An amused voice spoke next to him. “That’s why I don’t drink.”

Startled, Steve threw up an anxious look and with wide eyes stared at a stranger, who sat on a chair in his cabin. Dressed in simple, dark-brown travelling attire, the young man considered Steve. Brown eyes held amusement and a strangely familiar smirk crossed the young man’s features.

“Here. This should help with that.” He said and tossed forward something. Steve automatically caught it and then blinked at the object without comprehension. “It’s a healing potion of sort. Specifically for hangovers. I made it myself.”

Steve still stared at the bottle with mistrust, struggling to remember if he met this young stranger yesterday at the festival celebration. He did look very familiar.

“You don’t remember me? Really?” Young man raised his eyebrows. “You invited me here, you know. At the celebration?”

“No…” Steve fell back down in bed, not feeling up to thinking or doing anything now. Iron hammers pounded in his temples.

“What do you remember? Is anything of what you told everyone about Herobrine true? Or was it just a story? Like that other one you told about fighting the Enderdragon?”

The young man’s curious question made Steve throw up his head at him in alarm. Headache pounded in his head as he squinted at his unwanted visitor. The young man grinned again, his brown eyes on Steve holding mild, amicable, yet somehow cautious interest.

“What… What did I say?” Steve verified awkwardly.

“You told everyone that real Herobrine comes here now and that he is after you.” The slightly sarcastic look on the young man’s face showed Steve that he didn’t take Steve’s claims seriously.

“N-no… I made it up. I just like… telling stories.” Steve mumbled and saw the young man nod, still appearing amused, though his brown eyes for some reason relaxed, growing warmer.

“That’s what I figured. Go ahead. Drink that potion. It will really make you feel better.”

Steve considered the potion he held and cautiously sniffed it. Clear liquid with a greenish cast lit up in the beam of sunlight that fell through the windows. The young mage amicably grinned.

“It’s not poisoned. Well, it is? But it’s supposed to work that way. It’s a poison against… other poisons? Don’t worry, I already tested it this morning. On Swenson.” The young stranger reassured with an amused tone and Steve finally recalled who he was. Squinting his blue eyes on his visitor, Steve searched his familiar face.

“M-Miguel?” He verified uncertainly. For some reason, the clearest image was that of this young man goofing off when Swenson first introduced him as a beginner mage with a specialization in potion making. At those words, the young man Swenson pulled out several potions, which he began to juggle in the air with amazing dexterity and caught them all, striking the pose of a circus performer. ‘Ta daaa!’ He declared, grinning as he made a small bow, while both Steve and Swenson couldn’t help smiling at him.

The young man’s smirk became a dazzling beam of bright teeth. “Ah! You do remember me! Yes! Miguel Santiago Deswain, at your service! It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Steve of Garstone. Again.”

Ignoring the annoyingly cheerful fellow, Steve gave the potion bottle another sniff and shrugged, downing it. Immediately, he felt changes in his body and relaxed. It was not poison, indeed. Pleasant comfort was spreading across his body, refreshing his mind and sweeping fatigue away. His muddled thoughts began to clear.

“Feeling better?” The young man asked sympathetically. Gratefully, Steve nodded and noticed that no nausea resulted this time at the movement. Carefully squinting open one eye, he then opened them fully and smiled at the sunlight streaming into his room from the open window, before startling and hurrying to his feet. A few steps carried him to the door, which he pushed open, and blinked at the sun that was already well above in the trees, indicating very late morning.

All his chores that needed to be done! He wouldn’t be able to finish it all!

Wait…

Never mind. He did it all yesterday, since he planned to take several days off to celebrate in town. He just needed to feed his animals and that’s all. Everything else could be done another time, after the festivals had passed.

Steve relaxed, only to startle when something clanked on his table behind him. Turning, he found his visitor taking out more potion bottles. Out of somewhere he had produced a bag, where he was now roving through as he pulled out several plates of leftovers. Noticing Steve’s puzzled stare, the youth gave Steve a mischievous look.

“I need to make a few more potions. I’m sure there will be good business for them in this town in next few days, do you agree?”

Steve nodded, watching how the mage pulled out more ingredients, completely taking over his kitchen table.

“You invited me to stay with you for a few days, remember?” Miguel reminded with a hint of a smile, still intent on his potions. “I’m kidding. I won’t actually stay here. Maybe for a few hours, that’s all. I just came to check on you, that’s all. Swenson was worried this morning if you reached home all right. But it’s too crowded here. I’ll probably just stay at the inn.”

Steve relaxed at this reassurance with relief, but then smiled. “Well, if I invited you here, then you are welcome to stay however long you like. I know this place is small, but it has room enough. I even have a guest room, there.” Steve pointed to the tiny small room to the left of the kitchen. Glancing there, the young mage beamed.

“Really? I thought you were just kidding. That’s really nice of you, Steve. Swenson really was right about you. You do have a good heart. A bit too good to be true, even. I have not met many people like you.”

The young man’s voice sounded very friendly, but for some reason Steve caught a bit of tenseness behind those words and frowned. He just opened his mouth to say something, when a memory of last night’s events flashed before his eyes. Herobrine!

Steve jumped up and strode the few steps to his door, pushing it open and staring at the completely undamaged fence and field, where crops of wheat already reached full height, ready for harvesting. His eyes searched the area for any sign that what happened last night was not a dream. His memories remained hazy.

Hopefully, Steve hastily checked his inventory and felt his heart fall once more at the sight of multiple diamond stacks in his inventory. Then… it all really happened?

Not a dream, then.

His eyes returned to the undamaged field and fence, and he sighed. Herobrine and his illusions. Sometimes he could not tell what he dreamed and what was real anymore. Discouraged, Steve stared at his inventory a little longer and frowned. No, he was never drinking this much again. No matter who tried to get him to do it. Friends or no friends. At least, not ever this much.

“Hey. Are you all right?” At the young visitor’s concerned tone, Steve looked up and somewhat gloomily shrugged. An attempt to feel gave him nothing. Herobrine was either gone from this world or didn’t wish to be found. Catching brown eyes regarding him and the brilliant smile fading to show concern, Steve sighed again.

He didn’t know this young man that well, really. He stayed fairly quiet after Swenson introduced him to Steve, just tagging along with them wherever Swenson took them both. And Swenson was very persuasive, advertising his new friend’s cleverness and skills before everyone. Doubtlessly, he planned to use Miguel’s potion making skills to his ultimate advantage. Being friendly to someone did not preclude Swenson’s merchant inclinations. By the time Swenson, Steve, and Miguel reached Swenson’s favorite place where a table had already been reserved for Swenson and his company, Steve heard the story of how his friend met the young potion maker several times already.

Four days ago, Swenson was travelling through the woods near Esrom, a larger city frequented by heroes. Several of them opted to keep him company, riding along with him west until their paths would part. He couldn’t exactly say no to them. Along the way, another party of heroes attacked the three with him and a battle ensued. At one point, the very valiant young woman in very short skirt, who called herself as Valery to Swenson earlier, borrowed one of the wheels of his wagon to use it as a shield against the arrows flying toward the terrified merchant, who spent the entirety of that battle hiding under his wagon.

The three heroes won and of course Swenson generously rewarded them for protecting him, after which they happily parted ways to Swenson’s great relief. Afterward, he managed to put the damaged wheel back on and resumed on his way. Only close to the night, the wheel came off again, leaving the grumbling merchant’s wagon in a ditch. It had been already late night and mobs began to appear, frightening Swenson to no end. And then this traveler showed up and kindly helped him get back on the road, using a clever system of planks and rope pulleys that he sat up against the trees.

All this, Steve heard once more already after a few swallows of the bitter tasting liquid only somewhat sweetened by honey, which Swenson kept encouraging him to drink for the sake of their reunion. It was not every day that he came back to town, where he once helped Steve settle. And it was the time of the grand Spring festival, after all!

A time for merriment and the giving of gifts! Tables had been set up right on the town streets, where folks cheerfully greeted each other, congratulating and remembering events, generously sharing food and beverages amid tunes played by Cesar the Smith’s hobby music band. Folks of different professions showed off their skills in games, cheered on by onlookers, and practiced art. Many came to Steve bearing small gifts, lightly denying his words of apology since he didn’t prepare nearly so many in return.

Gifts!

Back in the present, Steve’s eyes suddenly opened wide and drew to the table behind him, where the nameless brown covered package still sat, unopened. It was Herobrine’s present. He hoped to give it to him if Herobrine showed up again, if he managed to gain the courage to offer it to him. It was just a book that Steve recently found in Grayn’s possession, with an old story about Notch and Herobrine, where they were not as great enemies as most other stories claimed. Steve tentatively hoped that this might allow him to ask Herobrine questions about what was true of ancient myths and what wasn’t.

Steve planned to go to town, stay for a few festivities, give out his gifts to several of town residents always friendly to him like Grayn the vendor and Greg the gate guard, and of course the families of his young friends that continued to visit him. Then, he planned to go home.

Instead, he saw his friend Swenson’s wagon, parked in the colorful town square where already many visiting merchants had set up their stalls for the great celebration. And, of course, Steve could not resist his old friend’s exhortations to stay and celebrate with him longer. The lack of Herobrine’s presence, which Steve waited for but didn’t perceive, led to him succumbing to Swenson’s offers of ale so Steve would relax for once.

Well, he certainly did, didn’t he. Steve’s heart fell a little at the dim memory of his own actions, betraying Herobrine’s presence to everyone in town, and then Herobrine’s angry farewell.

“Steve? Are you all right?” The potion maker’s voice held genuine concern this time and Steve tried to smile at him.

“Yeah… I’m fine… Just…” He didn’t attempt to explain, only rubbed his head again before frowning. “I’m not drinking that stuff again. Ever.” He said sternly. His lack of control and giving in to his friend’s pushing was the cause of this entire unfortunate event. He still didn’t know what to do with all this quite, yet.

“Well, I mean it’s not that bad.” His visitor’s voice held a small smile and his brown eyes held understanding compassion. “So long as its only a little, it should not do harm. Some people even say that its good for their health. Most certainly seem to enjoy it. I think it’s a problem only if you lose control. Which is usually a problem in almost anything else one does. Lose control and the risk of it to leading to some sort of issue becomes much higher.” The young mage gave an easy grin, his tone dismissive. Steve continued frowned.

“No. Never again.” He said with a stubborn shake of his head, while the other only shrugged with a mild look, accepting Steve’s firm decision. Steve meanwhile recalled his own behavior last night and barely stifled a cringe as more and more filtered back to him from hazy memories.

He had… not just told everyone about Herobrine.

Now he could remember himself raving about some great Adventure that he had in his past. As happened before on occasion, his mind had made up another story that felt so real that it almost seemed true. Only it couldn’t be. Steve remembered himself standing on the table as he recounted fighting monsters, brandishing his sword in the air as his friend listened to him with proud surprise, his green eyes twinkling with laughter. The reaction of his listeners, gathering at the table and catching his words with fascinated eyes, only encouraged Steve to make a fool of himself.

Maybe that’s why Herobrine reacted as he did? He already seemed to know that Steve told everyone about him. Steve skewed an uncertain look toward the visitor, recalling that he heard him, too. Within, embarrassment grew. He badly wanted to verify just what it was that he told everyone but didn’t dare to remind of it.

Maybe he could just pretend that he was drunk? What story did he tell everyone, anyway? Steve dimly recalled seeing flashes of his fight with the Enderdragon, slaughtering scores of Herobrine’s endermen so he could get to him and cast him down into the Nether. Surely, everyone knew that Steve would never do that for real?

“Ugh…” Steve groaned at the image of himself, standing upon the table, striking a heroic pose as he brandished his sword. How could he show himself in town after that? Steve’s cheeks reddened as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

“It’s all right, Steve. No harm done.”

“Really? I don’t remember you drinking anything.” Steve pointed out. He could now dimly remember this young man also sitting nearby with a piled-on plate, which Swenson insisted for their new acquaintance to try. Steve remembered him hiding a rueful smile as he looked at Steve ranting about his great adventure and shaking his head as he dug into his food. Unlike Steve, he ignored the cup that Swenson slid to him.

“Well, it wouldn’t be safe for someone like me. Even though my powers are minor, I am a mage after all.” The young man crookedly grinned and Steve nodded in understanding.

The hang-over potion maker’s brown eyes held on tired Steve a moment longer with slightly mischievous look, then turned to fondly consider Steve’s humble abode.

“I envy you, Steve.” He admitted with slight longing, his gaze held on the green branches of trees blotching the blue sky showing in the cabin’s open window. Fresh air laden with scents of pine and fresh grass pulled in from the outside.

“Oh? Why?”

“Well… This seems like a really nice place. I wish that I could stay here.”

“Why cannot you?” Steve asked curiously. The potion maker lightly shrugged.

“Commitments… Although maybe I will stay? At least for a little while…” He said thoughtfully. “I’ve already explored around the area quite a bit this morning and there are useful ingredients for my potions. This town is quite festive and the people seem nice, too. And you have some very interesting magical artifacts here. Do you know that there are ancient mineshafts all below this place?”

Steve nodded at that. Oh, yes. He certainly knew about those.

Not long after he came to town, he had come across such structures in the caves and even explored some, but he didn’t dare go too deeply because of the dangerous mobs that spawned in the dark places of the world. Even with Herobrine’s promise, which sounded more like a threat to him at first to keep Steve from running off, Steve eventually understood that he would remain safe from the mobs as long as he stayed in this location and close to Herobrine’s mansion, even in his twin’s absence.

He had even gone below on several occasions. That one time, though… Dread began to rise as images of many red eyes opened to stare at Steve hungrily from the darkness. The menacing sound of many legs touching stone as the invisible horde of monsters approached made him freeze, before he had fled that place as fast as his legs could carry him. And, he had stumbled and fell into a chasm, only to be caught once again by a very disgruntled Herobrine’s hand.

“You stupid mortal! Are you a madman with a wish to die? It seems that you just search to find new ways to endanger yourself! What possessed you to run in this treacherous terrain? If you cannot hold on to your wits at the sight of a few creepy crawlies, then don’t come here!”

Herobrine glared at Steve in his memory while Steve still tried to catch his breath. After a moment, the still angry immortal gave Steve a calculating look. “Hmm… Or should I teach you a lesson? I could let them have you. Would you like to learn what it feels like to become a cave spider’s snack?”

Herobrine grinned at Steve’s hasty head shake. Steve still could not say a word, his eyes desperate and wide as he kept hearing the spiders and saw their vague forms moving about in the dark away from light of Herobrine’s coldly narrowed eyes.

“No? Very well. But do something so dumb again and I assure you, you will find out all about their eating process. Their poison is a nasty thing, mortal. First, it paralyzes you and then it slowly dissolves you from within, turning your flesh to liquid, which the adults will imbibe and share with their hatching young. Some might even lay eggs within your flesh, so their young will hatch inside you. They then will eat their way from within to emerge into the world. I will make sure you survive this experience, but you will not like it. Do not come here again, is that understood?”

The tone of Herobrine’s voice sounded irate, but Steve could clearly perceive the enjoyment his twin felt along with strong annoyance. He truly considered carrying out such a horrific punishment if Steve disobeyed him again. This had happened three months after Steve’s unfortunate venture to Herobrine’s mansion, so Steve shook in terror at the threat, unable to even speak and only nodding his head.

Ever after, Steve avoided coming even closer to those deeper mineshafts. He already feared spiders, even of ordinary, smaller variety that could be found living in one’s room or on forest paths. For a long time after this harrowing experiences, red eyes and scurrying feet, and mute cocoons which jerked this way and that before baby spiders burst their way through, had taken a secure hold in Steve’s recurring nightmares.

His face slightly paling at the chilling memory, Steve unwillingly jerked and tried to form a nervous smile.

“Yes. Those places are… full of spiders, though. Really big ones. I… don’t like them. I would not go there if I was you…” Steve admitted. “But there are other places here that also have old power and magic. Even the town itself. The walls? There are many blocks of stone with runes on them. It keeps most of the buildings looking new. And lanterns still work. There is a big tower right in the town square, with a clock, and it still works, too. Everyone says that it’s always been here and that it’s as old as town itself. And there are runes on it, too. So, if that’s what you are looking for, then you don’t have to go into the mines to look.” Steve offered, recalling the distinct blocks of stone scattered throughout the city, at night glowing with brown and blue-white hues. Appearing already aware of it, the young mage nodded again.

“There are golems, too. Though they don’t appear unless the town faces danger. Last time it happened was um… Ten years ago? Nine?” Steve said uncertainly, trying to remember. He was almost glad to be distracted by this conversation now.

“That’s when that local monster woke up. I already know of that. Swenson told me all about that on the way to this place.” The young man smiled, amused. Steve’s smile faltered as once again the feeling of something very familiar, yet which he couldn’t quite put his finger on, suddenly came strong within him.

“You also told of that to us. At the celebration.” Miguel grinned, casting Steve a slightly mischievous look. “You also said that you met real Herobrine, who now comes and haunts you, both in your nightmares and awake. You said that he sets your house on fire and sends mobs after you. You got quite angry and then you, Swenson, and the rest of your company got ready to go to his mansion and set it on fire, instead, in revenge.”

“Ugh…” Steve winced, paling a little.

“Don’t worry. Your other friend, Greg, tried to talk them all out of it. And when they didn’t listen, he went to get your town guards. Then everyone gave up on that. Only you woke up and started telling everyone how you were not scared because you were really a hero, who already defeated that monster many times, and that you would do so again, sending him and his minions back to the Nether where they belong.”

Steve’s eyes widened at that in surprise, which quickly turned to an abashed smile. He… didn’t remember anything of that last part? Not all of it, anyway.

“Yeah… I might have… Gone a bit overboard with that.” He chuckled with slight unease, avoiding meeting the mage’s eyes and thus not seeing the harsh, watchful look that briefly held there.

“I… like to read old books, you see? Any that I can find. And there is a mansion here, where I had gone twice already. Once by mistake and the other… Because of a tale some kids told me. They thought that they had seen real Herobrine and asked me to check. It wasn’t though! It was just their ghost! The town guards have already gone and checked that as well. And their ghost is not dangerous, unless someone provokes him. All the locals know about this and some have even seen him. That’s why they have a mural drawn of him on one wall. There is even a dare here, though it’s not… encouraged. But many of the locals have done it. It’s a sort of challenge, to see how close they can get to the monster before he wakes up.”

“I know that already, too.” For some reason the young man’s tone came wry. Steve chuckled, more lightly this time.

“I wouldn’t do that either, though.” Steve hurried to warn. He didn’t want to think of what might happen if because of his rash drunken words, this mage might go to the mansion and ran into real Herobrine when he might be in a bad mood. On several occasions his twin complained that if he was going to catch yet another local snooping about his place, he was going to teach them all a good lesson that their entire town would not soon forget. He had such a dark smirk on his face that Steve feared to imagine what Herobrine planned. He was sure that Herobrine’s idea of fun might prove horrifying to everyone else living here.

“Most of the time he just stays there, asleep. It’s been like that for many years. But he can wake up, if someone comes too close or attacks him. The old timers said that this happened before. Then, a whole lot of monsters appear, and they attack the town. Then, they have to call for heroes to come and defeat the ghost. But as soon as the heroes leave, the ghost reappears and simply returns to sleep. It’s always been that way around here.”

Seeing the mage’s thoughtful look, Steve hurried to reassure with a disarming smile.

“So, this ghost here is not the real Herobrine, of course! He is just one of the shards, left after the gods destroyed the real Monster. Real Herobrine does not exist. Not anymore!”

Steve worriedly considered the absent-minded look that held in the mage’s face as he nodded to Steve’s words, appearing to think on something.

“He might not be dangerous, but… I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t go there if I was you. If that’s what you are thinking. The second time I went, I came too close to him. I was curious and… a whole lot of monsters spawned and chased after me and I barely made it out of there alive. I almost woke him up! That’s what they told me in town. And they will not like it if you go there to bother him.”

The mage slightly nodded again. Steve scratched the back of his head, anxious to undo whatever damage he did. “So, there is no real Herobrine. At least here. Everything I said at the celebration was… make believe. I have a strong imagination. I also don’t usually drink ale. So, it really hit me.”

“Makes sense. For some people it’s just not a good idea… There is just no amount that’s safe for them. Give them just a little, and they lose all bounds, losing themselves in their bad habit. You just have to look at your old Hubert for that.” The mage gave Steve a still friendly, but cautious look.

Steve immediately nodded in heartfelt agreement, recalling the town drunkard who often imbibed too much of the poorly prepared ale that he made himself, since the mayor forbade anyone from selling it to him. Everyone tolerated the old man, since at his worst he merely broke into loud songs that he would yell in obnoxious tune until the guards came and dragged him to the local jail to chill for a few hours. Steve remembered one time, though, that this guy gave him quite a scare.

“Cannot you see? Blind fools! That’s Herobrine himself! He is in disguise and up to no good! Banish him before he destroys our town! You, look! Look! See? Its Him! Him!”

Steve could still feel the chills running through him as the formerly harmless old ragged looking man suddenly began to rave and spit, pointing his finger at Steve and then to the large mural, where Steve’s lookalike stood in threatening manner, the mansion looming behind him in the distance. The painting was a famous local attraction, right on the wall of the library. At the old man’s yells, many townsfolk began to turn and look, comparing Steve’s appearance to that of their legend. And Steve already knew that he looked strangely alike to the mysterious ghost. That’s why he asked Swenson to take him to the famous mural. He wanted to verify what he saw in that first mansion visit.

The old drunkard woke up just as curious Steve drew close, hungrily eyeing the image of his twin and noting that they did look almost exactly alike, even down to the cyan jeans and teal shirts. Only their ages differed. His twin looked older and sported a fully-fledged, trimmed beard while Steve still barely grew any facial hair at all and so preferred a clean shave. Still, standing there next to the white-eyed mural, he felt extremely odd, especially when the few present town’s folk began to whisper as they kept glancing between him and Herobrine on the wall.

Good thing no one took the old man seriously. Swenson, who was showing Steve around town just then, immediately stepped to the rescue. Only a few jokes made to the town folk at the old man’s expense, and old drunkard’s attention switched entirely to him, forgetting Steve. He then walked away grumbling and spitting, and the few people resumed going on their way. Swenson quickly drew Steve away and Steve avoided going to that place ever since. He avoided the old drunkard, too.

He probably didn’t have to? At the celebration, he ran straight into the old man again and the man didn’t seem to remember him. Maybe it was because Steve made sure to wear different clothes. This time, Hubert only begged for a spare coin, which Steve hastily gave him. The town drunk greedily grabbed the copper coin and smiled at Steve with rotten and missing teeth, not seeming to recall his earlier suspicions. Steve still tried to avoid him whenever he saw him, changing his path to another street or even jumping back to the corner and waiting until the old man passed, even though it earned him a chuckle from Swenson and a curious look from Miguel to whom Swenson then told the story.

“Well, I need to get going and get a few chores done.” Steve said reluctantly. The young mage only gave him a bright grin.

“You go ahead, then. I need to work on a few potions. And then we must go see your friend before he shows up here himself, wagon and all.”

“Right.” Steve nodded. Briefly, he glanced at his rather soiled clothes. They still smelled of ale that he spilled on his shirt. Steve winced at the sniff. Giving the young mage another uncomfortable look, since he was not quite sure how he felt about having a guest that he didn’t exactly remember inviting, Steve headed to a chest and pulled out fresh clothes. He then headed outside to wash up.

The young mage continued to work, setting up his potions. Hearing Steve moving to get his chores done, he grinned slightly, keeping his brown eyes held on his work.

Chapter Text

Steve was dreaming of food. Of bunches of pancakes stacked up on plates, of browned sausages, jars of maple syrup, and an entire container of smooth butter. Eggs, fluffed up, and omelets, with pieces of bacon that made his mouth water.

Swallowing, Steve woke up to a delicious smell wafting off to the library from the corridor. His nose unmistakably led him to the kitchen, where he found Herobrine using his magic to assist him as he was cooking up loads of food. Steve disbelievingly stared at the plates, skillets, and mugs filled with steaming milk and rice.

Glancing at Steve, paused in the doorway, his twin gestured to him to go to the table with his one arm, a spatula grasped within it. Several empty plates slid across the table in Steve’s direction.

“Help yourself. I’m preparing food for our little trip… Did you have a good rest?”

Steve shrugged lightly and nodded. Remembering his earlier dream about where he and Herobrine had been brothers, he opened his mouth to tell about it, but then hesitated, not sure how Herobrine would react to that. If he laughed at him, Steve knew he would felt hurt. And the whole notion of being related to this powerful being was ridiculous. Him, Steve, a brother to a demigod?

Steve closed his mouth and dropped his gaze to a plate, starting to load it up with food.

“Don’t be shy. Take as much as you want. There is a lot more coming, since I’m making extra just in case.”

Steve nodded and this time heaped eggs and sausages on his plate generously. He dug in, and then realized what Herobrine just said.

“Trip?” He asked curiously. His twin smirked.

“Have you forgotten? We need to go back and reclaim everything from your home that we can still salvage.”

Steve nodded, but then thought about it with concern. “Won’t it be… dangerous? Those warriors… players… might still be there.”

“Don’t worry. I have my servants watching over the place. They ransacked it some, but not too much. And they are not there now. Of course, we will take measures to make sure that we won’t be recognized. In fact, it will be someone else who will go there from town and look for you, since you never came back. You remember Miguel?”

“Yes. He is that young potion maker who came by our town the night when I… got drunk.” Steve’s cheeks got red as he suddenly remembered his blunder and their subsequent argument, after which Herobrine ceased to visit him and only appeared rarely from afar.

Steve had been very careful to let everyone in town know that he simply made up his stories about the ghost in the mansion tormenting him. The town guards still went to the mansion just in case to check and make sure that their ghost was still asleep, because they remembered the disturbing tales that their children told them last year.

Of course, Herobrine’s ghost twin remained in the mansion, passive as usual. Even Miguel went there to check and returned with pleased enthusiasm, describing how the being just seemed to stand there even when he approached him and waved a hand before his nose. It really only awakened for the heroes, who came to make a challenge.

“Steve… What do you know about players?” Herobrine’s more serious tone distracted Steve from his thoughts. He frowned and shrugged.

“Only that they are heroes. And what little you and Miguel told me. Although I find what he told me a little hard to believe. It's so different from the legends.” Steve said hesitantly as he remembered the young potion maker tell him different stories from the time he travelled the world. For some reason, Herobrine smiled with amusement.

“Well, tell me what you know. I’d like to see where I have to start. I did promise you to explain more about myself and their world as a whole. What do you know of them so far?”

Steve nodded and tried to think.

“The legends say that they are Heroes, who appear when this or other world needs help to deal with the danger that sometimes appears.” Skewing Herobrine a cautious look, Steve noticed a usual sarcastic and slightly rueful smile.

Herobrine smirked, though. “I am well aware of the legends, Steve. You can speak plainly. They claim that I am the one who sends those dangers into the worlds as a revenge against my brother, Notch, for his betrayal of me in the war with the gods.”

Embarrassed, Steve nodded, but eyed Herobrine curiously, waiting for him to verify whether any part of the legends is true.

“Go on. What else do you know? I will tell you the truth about myself later, though you may find it quite disappointing by comparison.”

Steve sighed, slightly impatient, but then in his mind remembered the vision that he had when he once sat in the library and read those legends in a book. His eyes opened wider as the image again bloomed within his mind.

He saw a desert, where several figures appeared. Human, at first glance, in simple worn garments, who immediately began walking toward the town nearby, their faces determined. Others, smirking. And others gawking around themselves in awe. Some, arriving in groups and others alone. Appearing at random seemingly out of thin air, in forests, in plains, even in places covered with snow. Steve saw them all share something similar about them, though he could not quite pinpoint what it was. Maybe it was their carefree courage. Or maybe carelessness?

“They come from another world. And they handle the dangers that await here, helping everyone who lives here.” He said the last slowly. Herobrine smirked again, but silently turned back to stir the steaks he was now cooking.

In Steve’s mind, the heroes fought monsters, getting stronger in their power and skills, obtaining better gear and equipment. Rash, almost reckless in the way they faced danger. And some instead seemed content conversing with the locals, settling down in shops, trading, arguing. Living.

“They cannot really die. They can get hurt and also feel pain, same as we do, but less so. And if they die, they simply come back, reappearing in their own world that’s above the sky. It’s a special place. A great city, which floats like the islands of the End, but in the Ether. You cannot get there by flying or walking. Only… “ Steve hesitated, not sure how to explain the concept that he did not truly understand.

“Only Players can go there. And those they choose to bring from this world. Ordinary people from this world cannot.” Herobrine finished Steve’s words for him quietly.

Steve turned toward him curiously. “But you have been there, right? I have heard stories. You even tried to go against them once.” Steve reminded, fascinated by the tales that just came alive to him once more. Herobrine frowned though, his face getting darker.

“I did. And it was the biggest mistake of my life... You cannot imagine the power that those beings hold. And I do not mean just those regular players of whom you speak. I mean those, to whom you refer to as gods. But even some of the regular players are also dangerous, because they receive special powers and abilities once they level up.”

Steve nodded readily, recalling the first time that he could remember himself, when he wandered the desert alone. The adventurers who found him were locals, who were helping several heroes to reach the ancient ruins nearby. They simply waited outside while the heroes, four men and three women in enchanted gear, went to fight the monsters within the ruins alone.

None of those heroes made it and on the way back to the local city of Mierdom, the locals complained to Steve that now they would have to go and guide the heroes back to this place yet again, so they could try to defeat those monsters and recover their loot.

They spoke with jealousy and admiration about a special guild in their city, which accepted only heroes of great strength. Many adventurers and newcomers to the city tried to win acceptance to that guild, but only a few ever met their standards. The locals with Steve spoke that the leaders of the guild were great heroes who even achieved an immortality of sort.

“Have you heard of the Admin?” Herobrine asked Steve quietly in a strangely subdued voice. Steve looked at him curiously.

“Yes. I have heard of them. Miguel said that that's the name of the gods, who summon the heroes to these lands and who decide who is worthy to go and live in their celestial city.”

“Close enough. They are the beings in charge of this world now, who have displaced our creator, Notch, and turned him into their servant. Original Herobrine has faced them so he could free his brother from their rule and lost to them, badly. And so have I, when in my foolish delusion I attempted to do the same thing, thinking myself better prepared. But they are not truly gods. They are merely ordinary mortals in their world, like you and the other humans. It’s only here that they gain their power. And they treat these entire worlds as merely a game, because to them none of the things that exist here are truly real.”

Herobrine’s voice held resentment and irritation and Steve blinked, not daring to interrupt him.

“And you?” He asked him curiously. “You speak as though you are not human. Who are you, Herobrine? Are you really the brother of Notch? The legends say that you are.”

Herobrine paused in his cooking and lifted his chin, only to lower his head as his powerful shoulders slumped.

“I am not, Steve. I am not his or anyone’s brother. I am not even Herobrine.”

Steve blinked in confusion, briefly not trusting his ears. “You’re… not?”

Herobrine turned around and looked at Steve ruefully. “I am not. I am not Herobrine, whoever he really was. I am merely his copy. A prank by one of the gods, who wished to scare the others into thinking that the real Menace had returned. That’s what I was told… And it all makes sense. I have not even the fraction of the knowledge and skills that original Herobrine had, even though I have his looks.” Looking at puzzled Steve, the man whom he until now believed to be Herobrine, suddenly smiled at him without showing his sharper than normal teeth, which made him look very tired and human. Or at least, that’s what Steve perceived coming from him, coming in a very open and vulnerable way.

“Disappointed? Unfortunately for you, of perhaps fortunately, I am not that being of destruction that the lord of the Nether is supposed to be.”

“Why… unfortunately?” Steve asked, frowning at the other man as he attempted to re-piece together everything he knew with Herobrine’s new claim added to the mix. Herobrine was not… Herobrine? Only someone who looks like him? But… he had powers.

“Because even though he truly hated humans, if the stories are correct, he had a soft spot for all virtual humans, so he would have helped you. He would have been in far better position to help you now than I am. The powers that I am able to wield are only a tiny fraction of his. And even they are failing thanks to the cursed disease that I’ve been afflicted with, thanks to the effort of the Admin... Do not worry, it is not contagious. It was meant for me and me alone… Well for anyone else who bears a trace of Herobrine’s power.”

“Then you do have his power in you. That’s true at least?” Steve verified to make certain and Herobrine's lookalike nodded.

“Some of his power, yes. And even his looks. Enough that even the gods freaked out when they found me. They almost erased the game, until Notch dealt with me and brought me to their hold. That’s right, you and the people of this world came this close to losing your lives and starting them anew if Notch did not defeat and capture me five years ago. And it might happen again if they ever decide that they were wrong. That’s why I dare not do anything that might provoke them or make them think that I might be the true Herobrine, reborn.”

“But you’re taunting the players. And killing them. You boasted them to me yourself.” Steve protested, allowing a disapproving note to steal into his voice.

“All in good fun. That’s what’s expected of my role, anyway. The main point is that until now, I was careful and did not defy the Admin and their rules of this game. I used only in-game means to defeat the players and only in self-defense. Whatever recordings… whatever evidence they have of my actions would have clearly showed that.”

“But something changed. Now they want to destroy you.” Steve concluded, accepting Herobrine’s words as he quickly tried to make sense of what was going on using Herobrine's words as a basis instead of what he thought previously. He had been wondering all this time why Herobrine seemed as if he was acting far less powerful than he had been in the stories he read and heard about him. Only, he had thought that Herobrine was actually a shard of the true being who once existed and now gathering power before he challenged the gods to another duel for control of these worlds.

“Now they do wish to destroy me. And… they seem to have found a way.” Herobrine looks to his left shoulder and missing arm, now carefully bandaged beneath his teal t-shirt.

“Why? If you are of no danger to them as you say? Why do they wish to destroy you? And… What do you mean, that they have found a way?” Steve frowned deeper.

Herobrine sighs and reluctantly pulls up a chair, sitting down at the table, too.

“It was someone else, Steve. Someone else who pretended to be me and harmed several players, not just here but in real life. Someone, who made it appear as though I did it, using true Herobrine’s powers.”

“Someone pretended to be you? Can the Admin not tell?”

Herobrine shook his head. “Apparently, not. They are all convinced that it was me and that I have gone mad. Luckily, they still believe that I am not the original Herobrine, or else this entire world would have already ceased to exist. They can handle the complaints by a few players, pay them out a sum, but they have now set their minds to get rid of me. As for the way they found, it is a nasty trick, a disease that they’ve created to affect me, a curse that they have placed on the weapons, which they then gave out to all their heroes. They have declared a Quest and called it ‘Abolish Herobrine’… Nearly all the heroes have accepted it. And now you’ve gotten pulled into the mix. They will soon be on your trail, too.”

“Me?” Steve asked as glimmers of alarm and terror shot through him. He could not imagine living with all those powerful beings pursuing him. Again, he saw the strangely cold, ruthless eyes of the three formerly amicable men with whom he had explored the caves in fake search of Herobrine’s whereabouts. Chills ran up his back. They were going to torture him.

“But… I’m just a man. A miner… I know nothing about these things.” He mumbled helplessly.

Herobrine watched him with pity and guilt. “I know. And I am sorry. I would have rather that my servants had not brought me to you when I had been unconscious. On the other hand, then I would not have been alive to help you now.” He looked down at his single, remaining hand.

“The safest way to get them off your tracks would be for me to surrender to their Mercy. Only I know that I won’t receive any. I will be destroyed. And there are other concerns that have to do with you.”

“Then don’t. Don’t surrender to them.”

“Of course not. I’m not that altruistic.” Fake Herobrine smirked, but then looked at Steve intently. “We need to talk about your options and fast. You obviously won’t be able to stay in that town after this. But you are used to running, are you not?”

Steve blinked, a strange feeling of unease creeping up on him at the last words even though he tried to resist it. “What do you mean?” He asked in confusion.

“I mean your status as a player, Steve. I ran another check on you while you slept and I found an interesting thing.”

Steve just looked at Herobrine blankly, so Herobrine sighed. “You still claim that you don’t remember a thing? Hold on a second…” He suddenly turned back to his sizzling skillets that are placed above multiple cooking stoves and began to flip over his deliciously smelling, seasoned stakes. Steve was too troubled to pay much attention to food now, however, as he was mulling over Herobrine’s statement.

“If you are still talking about that idea that I might be a player, then you’re wrong, Brine. I am not one and I have never been one. I can tell you that for sure. I’ve been here for at least eight years now that I remember and in none of that time have I ever found anything that might tell me my past. Not that I have searched much.” Steve admitted reluctantly, but then stubbornly set his jaw. “I don’t remember who I am, that much is true. I’ve told you this before. I am but an ordinary man, though. Nothing special.”

Herobrine made a huff and, having finished flipping his stakes, turned back to Steve. “I’m not saying that I don’t believe you. I have finally located the place where your signal is coming from.”

“My signal?”

“It’s a type of energy, a beam of light if you will. It connects all of us to the place where our information is stored. To Notch and his world. Even the players, when they choose to connect here with full immersion settings as you are doing now.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Take my word for it, then. If you don’t believe me on anything else, at least believe this. You are a player who has connected to this world like all the other players do, through a neural net. But your connection is full. It’s like the System is treating you as if you were one of the locals, one of the people who lives in this world. Your connection to it is complete, without margins or limitations. And it bypasses Notch’s controls, as if you were a hacker or… logging in outside of the System itself. Your anchor leads somewhere to the deadlands. It’s not from the celestial city from where the other players log in.”

“None of what you say makes any sense to me, Herobrine.” Steve slightly shook his head with regret, a small smile appearing on his face as he felt an unexpected enthusiasm coming from the other man for some reason. Herobrine seemed excited about his discovery.

“Yes, sorry about that. Let me put this into a different form. You told me that you know that the gods have build a celestial city, right? Its above all these worlds. In the Ether itself. Where no one may cross except by their permission?”

“Yes. I know that.” Steve readily nodded.

“Well, all players except for a certain few, such as those from expeditions or adventurers, who come to the planet… to the world below them, come here from that celestial city. And they come here in a… different form than what they live in back at home. These worlds that Notch had created makes them a different body, to which they connect through a special device, called a neural interface. Pay that no heed, its not that important.

What’s important is that they all come here with certain limitations, unless that device is hacked, or broken on purpose. The limitations clip their senses, so as not to experience strong discomfort or unpleasant sensations such as when they stab a foot, for example. That’s why they are so brave and when they die here, they simply respawn again as Notch’s worlds recreate their body anew. Their real body meanwhile remains safe in that city, asleep and monitored to make sure they are doing well.

You are missing that monitoring. And that’s because you are not logging in from the city. You are logging in from somewhere else in their world, from a place that's considered forbidden to dwell in. Does that make sense so far?”

At Herobrine’s expectant gaze, Steve attempts to reword this slowly.

“You are saying, I have another body somewhere just like the heroes do? And its not in their city?”

“Exactly!”

“What… does that mean?” Steve asks uncertainly.

“It means, my friend, that if the Admin find you with me and run the same full scan on you that I have done, they will find the same thing. They will then detain you as their prisoner until they find your real body and force you to log off. And then you’ll face more trouble, since you have logged on into the game that they own without proper protocols or payment. The good news is that this won’t be considered a heavily punishable offense. Just a yearly fine multiplied by however long they will trace you to have been online, plus the expenses to find you and then additional expenses for your trial. Bad news is that if they find you and learn that you are some sort of criminal hiding out on the planet, then you will face charges for whatever crime you have committed.”

“Why do you immediately assume that I have committed a crime?” Steve protested, slightly offended by Herobrine’s conclusions. His twin merely grinned at that.

“Because their society is so highly regulated that even gamers must play by the rules and with safety in mind. And you are not. You are somewhere on the planet, hacking into their system illegally. You are also still alive after eight years of being constantly logged on, which means that you have a life-sustaining machinery set up, sustaining your body. But considering that you are playing with full settings, you may have already sustained some neural damage. The safety rules for players are set up for a reason. Human mind is very complex. A painful event here and you could suffer a cardiac arrest in real life, which means that both your bodies die. Since you are playing with full settings, I think that’s exactly what happened to you. You died in both worlds. And then your capsule repaired your body as best it could, but with some brain damage. That's why you then respawned here without memory.”

“Herobrine, I hear what you are saying, but just don’t understand what to do with it.”

Herobrine made a long-suffering sigh and leaned closer to Steve, making direct eye contact as he considered him intently.

“This means, Steve, that you must decide what to next. Would you like to hear your options?”

“Yes, please. Please, just tell it to me simply, without all those strange terms.” Steve made a plea. Herobrine nodded, appearing slightly irritated. He was not irritated at Steve, however, but himself, as he found himself failing to explain things properly.

“Steve, your life may be in danger. You have been logged on for a very long time. Eight years, at least. You have lost your memory and do not remember how to log off. Neither do you remember your situation in real life. And even if I help you to log off, I do not know whether you will even be able to leave the life capsule on your own right now, without someone to help you. I cannot help you out there, since I exist only in this game. Your best option may be to go to the Admin directly and tell them what I have said. Then they can deploy measures to find your body on the planet and see if they could help you. This is your option one and probably the safest, since they have the resources and means to find you. On the other hand, you will certainly be charged a lot of money and end up being imprisoned if you are really a criminal or simply if you cannot pay back what you owe them.”

“I think I understand. What are my other options?” Steve asked uneasily.

“The other options are more risky. One is to stay with me until I’m able to figure out exactly what’s going on with you. I do have connections that I can pull with people in real life. Of course, they do not know me as myself, but your rescue can be arranged, for a price of course. And I do owe you. I could arrange for a private expedition to find you. The only consideration is the price that they will demand. It will be higher and I currently have other more pressing obligations that I must meet first. You will have to wait.”

“And the other options?” Steve smiled uneasily, giving Herobrine a grateful if troubled look. Learning that he had some other body that he had to take care of was certainly a shocking bit of news that he just couldn’t accept well. Herobrine seemed so certain about this, though.

Herobrine lightly shrugged. “The last option is to simply continue living as you usually have. Continue to play the game. Only no matter how good your life capsule might be, you risk one day simply going to sleep and not waking up, either here or in the real world. But it is your choice, of course. And I will respect your decision.”

Steve moved uncomfortably beneath Herobrine’s intent gaze, his mind fleeing in all directions and unable to concentrate on the answer he was expected to give.

“Um… Um… Just… Give me a moment.” Steve finally mumbled and stood up abruptly from the table, forgetting all about his food. He paced back and forth along the length of the kitchen. Herobrine watched him a moment and then stood up and turned back to his skillets, turning off the flames. He began dismissing the food still piping hot directly into his inventory. All this time he remained silent, waiting for Steve to say something.

Finally, he patiently smiled. “Don’t fret so much. It’s not like you’re going to die right away. You’ve lived this long already and felt no ill effects, correct? No dizzy spells or being suddenly confused?” He asked thoughtfully.

Steve glared at him with a sarcastic look. “Now you try to calm me down. After telling me all that! Thanks.” He walked back and forth a few more times and then plopped back down into his seat, where he wearily rubbed his eyes.

“Herobrine, what would you do in my place?” He finally helplessly asked. Herobrine humphed with amusement.

“I would definitely stay with my new friend and let him try to solve my problems for me, since he seems to know what he is doing.” He said with wry, hidden smile. Steve blinked and then grinned widely as the words sunk in.

“Then we are friends?”

Herobrine smiled more this time, no longer hiding the self-depreciating look that came into his face. “For what its worth, yes. I consider you a friend. One of the very few I have. Perhaps the best.” He conceded, causing a huge beaming smile to appear on Steve’s face. Impulsively, he got up and stepped towards Herobrine to hug him, only to be warded off by a defensively raised hand.

“Please don’t. I don’t like to be touched. You might as well learn that now before I accidentally hit you or cause you other harm if I am startled.” Herobrine said with a wince.

Steve readily nodded. He then tried to think again about his own situation. “Then, this means that I’m to stay with you?” He asked hopefully.

Herobrine reluctantly nodded. “Until I manage to resolve your situation, yes. But bear in mind, that my own condition is currently not the best and the Admin are looking for me. If I am captured or destroyed, your only choice might be the first option. If something happens to me, do not delay, Steve. Turn to them for help.”

His smile lessening and then falling completely, Steve merely nodded again.

“What are we going to do now?” He asks quietly, remembering the players that threatened him and Herobrine earlier. Herobrine grinned as he pointed at the stacked up food.

“And right now we’re going to prepare for a trip to your hometown and see what we can salvage from your home. Open your inventory. I need to check what you stuffed in there last night.”

“How?”

“Here. I’ll do it for you.” Herobrine said and reached his hand that he held directly in front of Steve’s face. Steve startled when suddenly the little blinking green line on the side of his vision had expanded into a transparent screen divided into numerous slots with names on them.

Weapons, Food, Gear, Rocks, Plants and other categories showed. Steve gaped while Herobrine humphed with humor. “Don’t tell me you were just using it blind all this time.”

“I… didn’t know that it was there.” Steve said with surprise. “How did you do it, though? How did you open it?”

“Just will it to open it. The System will detect your neural impulse and… Steve, just wish for it to open and it will happen.”

Steve nodded. “Close.” He whispered softly, intently staring at the screen. Obediently, it retreated back into a blinking line.

“It’s blinking green. It means that its still less than half filled up. Once it blinks orange, it means its less than two-thirds full. And once its red, it means that there is hardly any space left at all… Although with your inventory stats, you will hardly ever have to worry about it. Congratulations, you have probably the biggest inventory space I have ever seen for a player. Nearly as big as mine. A hundred thousand tons. You could carry an entire small mountain in there.”

“And to think that all this time I was just using it for buckets of rocks.” Steve grinned back. “Open…” He opened his inventory again. Just out of curiosity, he looked at the category marked as tools and felt satisfaction when he saw several old pickaxes in there that he made himself some time ago. He had thought that he misplaced them.

“Now let me check what you have in there. I saw you packing some things last night and I thought I saw several dangerous potions and a few cursed items. I apologize. I should have helped you choose the right items, but I was too tired last night.”

Faster than Steve could see, he saw numerous categories of items open up and start vanishing from his grasp, while others appeared there instead, including food items that Herobrine had just prepared. Steve could not help smiling in amusement at Herobrine’s thoughtful thinking.

Noticing his grin and where his eyes were looking at, a tinge of red crept into his twin’s face and he lightly shrugged in a defensive way. “What can I say. I like cooking. Now hold still, I am not done, yet.”

Herobrine continued to sort through Steve’s inventory while Steve patiently waited…

Chapter Text

“Can I come with you guys?” The Player asked them again. Steve avoided staring at him directly, but he could see the young man sitting casually on one of the chairs, straddling it so his hands and chin rested on the back of it. His expression was slightly jealous or maybe wistful as he was looking at their preparations.

Herobrine sighed, his voice patient as he spoke. “Cyrus, I need you here to keep watch and wake us up if there is an attack on your server… In case they managed to trace my tracks here after all and are just waiting for the right moment to strike. We should have left already, but this is the only place where I have the full set up to run scans. You must let us know the results, for each of us. This is of higher priority than going on a small adventure after Steve’s things.”

Steve couldn’t help glancing at him next, unable to keep his wonder and disbelief from filling him, still whenever he saw his now different, yet familiar face. Miguel, the potion maker, who stayed with him for a few days while visiting in their town, had been Herobrine in disguise all along?

He looked completely different now and even had both his arms!

Steve’s eyes skewed to the two coffin-like tanks where both of their bodies lay asleep, suspended within strange, thick air that kept them floating between the silver and matted rings. There, Herobrine’s true form hung still, still one-armed, and so was his own. What did Herobrine call it? An emulation soft-ware? A game within a game? Steve was not entirely sure what it meant, except that it repeated what Herobrine said existed in “real life” and worked the same way here in their world.

They were able to leave their bodies behind, asleep, while they took on the form of two players who would go to Steve’s town and investigate what was going on as well as take what they could of Steve’s things.

Steve stared at his own sleeping form as an eerie feeling of familiarity washed over him. He… had seen this somewhere before, even though he couldn’t quite place this. Although that capsule looked different than this.

“Steve, are you all right?” Miguel’s quiet and slightly apologetic voice distracted Steve from his thoughts and he forced himself to smile to show that he was handling things, although in truth he felt somewhat overwhelmed by all the news that had been heaped upon him in the last few days.

From finding wounded Herobrine, who nearly died in his hands. To handling the two Hunters, searching for him and hiring Steve to help them comb the mines. To being captured and nearly tortured by them and having Herobrine rescue him. And now, learning that he was really a player, who had a different body somewhere in another world, which might be in danger from living in prolonged sleep. And Herobrine being Miguel?

Still, Steve smiled softly. “I’m fine. No need to worry about me. I can handle it.”

After a moment Herobrine nodded, his gaze softening. And then he grinned and nodded to the mirror.

“Are you sure that’s the look you want to have?”

Steve turned back to one of the walls, which had been turned into a mirror where a completely different man reflected back at him now. Slightly different features with sharper chin and cheek-bones, hazel green eyes instead of sapphire blue, and shoulder length blond hair gathered into a pony-tail. His ears were slightly pointy, suggesting elvish bloodline. Steve grinned and nodded.

“You said that elven class was common for players in the game.” He pointed out.

Miguel slightly smirked. “Yes, but a newbie elf in a Miner town?”

“I’m just a friend of a friend, who looking for his friend Steve, that’s all. That’s believable, right? We met in Jerin, which is a common player location.” Steve insisted, not willing to give up the exotic look which he had seen among the many Herobrine showed him in the player menu.

“That’s right. And you’re a student in real life. Whom your friend Timothy convinced to try out this game last week. That will explain your lack of stats.”

Reluctantly, the Player sitting on the chair next to the two glass bound coffins nodded his head to them.

“I’ll back you up. No problem. Leshey and… Miguel.” Again, the Player wistfully twisted his lips and yawned. Miguel glanced at him with disapproval.

“You didn’t rest enough again, Cyrus. It was supposed to be eight hours, not three. Go back to sleep.”

“How can I when so many exciting things are happening on your end. I want to record it! My new buddy Leshey and Miguel, taking on Herobrine hunters and zombies attacking town? No way am I going to miss that. It’s going to be so many views!” The Player said with excitement and Herobrine made a small huff.

“If we manage to do things quietly without a distraction, then there won’t be any zombies, Tim.”

“With you, things are never quiet. You know that. Just watch.”

Giving Steve’s appearance another critical look, Miguel only casually shrugged. “Well, this time I hope it all goes well. If it doesn’t, make sure you pull out Steve right away. He might not remember how to log off in this format. His interface remains strangely glitchy. It fades in and out even now.” He looked with some concern on Steve’s visual display, where his age was once again starting to glitch strangely, but then shrugged to dismiss the matter.

“Ready, Steve?”

Nervously, Steve nodded.

With satisfaction, potion maker opened up his log-in menu and pulled up a transparent map, where many locations showed mysterious symbols that reminded Steve of the enchantment language. The Player curiously peeked at that map, too, from his spot in the room.

“Orstin.”

“Good luck, guys.” Player called out to them eagerly, but his voice got lost in brightness that suddenly surrounded Steve.

Staggering briefly at the slight dizziness that hit him at the expected, but still unfamiliar change in scenery, he felt a strong hand grasping on to him to steady him, and cast Herobrine a grateful look.

“Thanks, Herrr… I mean Miguel.”

“No problem, Lesh.” The other man grinned and him and cautiously took a look around. Even though he tried to appear casual, the tenseness in his tight muscles gave away that Herobrine was also feeling slightly anxious about all this.

For some reason, seeing this proof of his humanity, calmed Steve and he smiled back.

“Where are we?”

“You don’t recognize this place? We’re at the crossroads right before your town, on the other side from my mansion. This is where the ancient magic brings all heroes when they travel here by teleport.” He gestured to the rising, ancient obelisk and Steve recognized it.

“The east gate.” He said softly. Instantly, excitement and a mix of other feelings rose within him and he made a step toward the gate that he could see at the end of the dirt road leading to town between heavy growths of trees on each side. The road behind them disappeared into the forest.

Herobrine’s hand held him back briefly.

“Remember, let me do all the talking. The people in town already know Miguel. They don’t know you as Lesh quite yet.”

Steve quickly nodded, light hearted. He couldn’t wait for them to go to his cabin and check what he could still salvage. Even though Herobrine warned him that some items were already destroyed when vengeful players went inside to search his place for signs of Herobrine, he hoped that they at least didn’t bother with his tools. Hard earned and obtained from the town master, along with several useful for mining enchantments, Steve was anxious to get them back.

“First town to get the news, then your cabin. And if we get separated for any reason, then simply log off. Don’t delay. Got it?” Herobrine reminded him again and Steve nodded.

“All right. Let’s go.”

They both strode to the town where Steve lived for the past two years. Even from this distance, Steve noticed that there was much excitement there as multiple figures of what seemed like strangers, players, were flooding the marketplace. They could hear many voices, calling out trades, by visiting merchants who had not been here before, either.

Steve wondered if he might once again run into Swenson.

“Miguel! My dear young friend! There you are!” He suddenly heard his voice and huffed under his nose. The shorter man was already heading toward them with his arms parted for a friendly hug, his sharp eyes watching Miguel, who also smirked.

“Hello, Swenson my friend.”

The two embraced firmly and the shorter man roughly patted the younger potion maker’s back, which made his entire thinner frame shake. Herobrine tolerated it, though, appearing amused. The merchant’s curious eyes then immediately turned to Steve, studying him unobtrusively from head to toes and back again, pausing on his sharper than normal ears.

“And an elven hero? Who might this fine warrior be?” His eyebrows rose, although slight mistrust appeared there as soon as he noticed Steve’s player status.

“Don’t worry. It’s just my good old friend. He’s human, not elf. He just chose this look for fun.” Miguel chuckled and it was Steve’s turn to look at him surprised, as slight blush came into his cheeks. His friend Swenson also knew about the players more than he did? But of course he did, travelling the world as much as he had.

Steve slightly regretted not choosing a simple human look now.

“Aah. Well, all in good fun. We have plenty of magical races and heroes of all kinds visiting our town now, as you can see.” The merchant gestured to the numerous strangers lurking in the market as he grasped on to Miguel’s sleeve, pulling him in with him. “Hey, Greg. Their visit is on me.” He nodded in passing to the guard, who didn’t even bother stirring from his place as he gave the trio a passing look over and gave Swenson a brief nod, completely ignoring Steve.

Steve opened his mouth to greet him and ask him how he and his family was, but in time remembered that it would look strange coming from an unfamiliar to the guard heroic stranger. He caught Herobrine’s watchful look on himself and sheepishly smiled, instead, hurrying to catch up.

Herobrine quirked an eyebrow at him questioningly and said nothing about it.

“You come at an interesting yet also sad time! Do you remember our friend Steve?” Swenson said worriedly as he led the way to his goods-loaded wagon.

“Yes. What happened?” Miguel asked with genuine concern. The merchant sighed.

“You won’t believe it, but all the stories he told us about that monster were true! It really was… it was him, that ancient monster whose name is best not to be spoken.”

“You mean him?” Miguel asked incredulously, giving Steve a small smirk, at which Steve blushed, once again recalling his drunken bluster.

“Yes! It wasn’t a ghost. He had been living here for some time! The heroes proved it when they came back from checking whether they destroyed him and learned that he was still alive. He escaped from them into the mines. They hired Steve to help them find him. But when they did so and confronted him, he defeated them both! And then, he kidnapped Steve!... Poor, poor fellow.”

The merchant shook his head with pity.

Steve stumbled, his mouth coming agape. Then, his jaws came together hard in anger. Those lying slimes! First they kidnap him and then force him to tell them where Herobrine is, and now they claim that Herobrine was the one at fault for it all?

He opened his mouth again but caught a cautionary glance from Herobrine and his slight shake of the head, and snapped his jaws shut once again.

“And that’s why all these heroes are here now! They are preparing to go after that monster once and for all, while he is recovering. Isn’t it great?” Swenson said with excitement and gave Steve a look of approval. “You are going to rescue Steve, right? That’s why you are here, too?”

Miguel made a definitive nod, appearing completely serious. “That’s exactly why we are here, my old friend. We are here for Steve’s sake. And don’t worry. We will get him back safely once more.”

“Good, good!” Swenson said, excitedly leading the way. “Then I’m going to introduce you to them.”

“Who?” Steve dared to speak up as an unnerving suspicion made him slow down his step. His merchant friend glanced at him with idle interest.

“My two new friends, of course. Who told me everything that happened there. Who are leading this entire party.” He gestured to the roaming about strangers in high tech gear, some of whom waved back to him.

Up ahead, Steve’s eyes held on the two figures, who turned and welcomed them with casual, friendly smiles. Two pairs of eyes met them, one brown and one gray.

“Alder! Marko! Look who I found! It’s Miguel! And…”

“Lesh.” Steve said, crestfallen.

The two already familiar to him heroes looked at them both with rising interest.

Chapter Text

Eighteen Years Ago

“Are you new? Or just plain stupid?” The older boy looked at Vic in derision.

His face still splotched from crying, Vic glared back at him and said nothing back at all.

Glancing back at the group of boys standing behind him, the older boy smirked and suddenly banged the table with both hands around Vic’s plate of soup, making it spill all over the table and start dripping on Vic’s shirt and pants. Vic jumped up, blinking as he backed away.

Chuckling, the older boy turned back and looked at his friends again as they grinned back at him in approval.

Gritting his teeth, Vic frowned and then launched himself right against the older child. Throwing him back off balance, he straddled his chest and began to throw punches, methodically hitting the child’s nose until a bright red stream came flowing from the edge of it. The boy groaned, stunned.

It took another moment before his friends jumped in and pulled Vic off, gathering around him and starting to kick him in his stomach. Vic snarled, trying to cover up his head from the vicious blows.

“You! Break it up!”

The voice of the grown ups running into the group home’s cafeteria soon stopped the vicious if brief fight. Vic felt strong hands lift him up and set him upright.

A half hour later, the entire group sat in the medical office, with the principal of the home sternly staring at them all.

“Who started the fight? Oh. You don’t need to even tell me. It was you, Grot. Wasn’t it? You know that this is your last straw. I’ll be sending a recommendation to change your assignment for the criminally minded youth due for mental health retraining.”

The lead boy’s gray eyes opened wide and desperation appeared on his face. “Sir! I didn’t start it this time. Honest!”

“Sure, sure. Who was it this time. This little shrimp?” He pointed sarcastically at little Vic, cowering shyly on his chair a little away from the bigger group. His own eyes wide, he remembered what he knew about the special group homes where children got sent if they were found to have criminally minded tendencies. He could remember his own father threatening to do it to him if he continued to mess up.

“I’m going to send you away! And I’m going to make sure that you’ll get locked up, you crazy little s***. Where you belong! With the criminally insane!”

“I’m sorry dad! I didn’t mean to do it!”

Hearing the older boy starting to suddenly sob, Vic broke away from his flashback and suddenly jumped up, his fists clenched.

“I did it, sir. I started the fight! I punched him first!”

For a moment, the principal just looked at Victor with disbelief and then suddenly smirked.

“Is that so… Victor is it? Fine. Why did you hit him?” The man sarcastically studied Vic, leaning back in his cheap office chair.

Vic frowned, sticking up his jaw. “Why? Because I was angry, that’s why.” He answered, rude on purpose to further distract the principal’s attention from the other boy, who was now looking at him with surprise.

The older man only smirked, humor in his eyes. He then looked at the hushed group. “It’s your lucky break, Grot. Hear that? But all of you are going straight into rehabilitative therapy. Fifteen sessions of normal family life for you all, get it? You d*** expensive brats. Get going! And this better not happen again! I have no time for this crap. Learn to get along!”

He gestured to the two personnel, dismissing the children into their custody. While on their way along the long corridors of their home, their small group unwillingly drew closer together. The other children didn’t speak much, but they were definitely more friendly.

One of them, a short boy with dark hair and big, slightly uneven ears, gave him a goofy smile. “Don’t worry about this therapy stuff. This will be just some stupid crap. Bunny rabbits and smiles. Fake family. Messes with your mind a bit, but nothing much. You just pretend to be nice to them and the System will count it as a pass. We all did it before.”

Slightly reassured, but still worried about what he would see, Vic didn’t fight at all when the home personnel told them to lie down on gaming cots and then plugged the usual immersive headgear to which Vic was already used to playing at home, since his dad insisted on using it. Looking at it, he felt an unpleasant stirring in his heart and gritted his teeth.

He emerged in a sunny room, where a pleasant smell of something delicious cooking permeated the air. He heard laughing and cheerful voices. And then from where he stood, he saw them, the two figures that felt strangely familiar. A man in a plaid shirt and dark trousers gave the woman in an old fashioned flowery dress a small kiss on her cheek.

“It smells delicious, darling. Cannot wait til dinner.”

“Vic? I cannot solve this problem. Can you help?” A small voice asked from Vic’s back and he quickly span, for his eyes to settle on a little boy who sat at the desk of their room with an old-fashioned tablet positioned in front of him along with a computer screen where math problems burnt.

“Sure!” Vic heard his own voice answer cheerfully and felt himself coming closer to the little boy and leaning over his work. He saw his own hand reaching to him and starting to trace over the last problem. Vic unwillingly looked and immediately saw the solution. He wanted to immediately tell the boy what it was, but his mouth opened and instead said completely different words in a cheerful tone of voice.

“Hmm. There is the error. See?” His finger pointed to the correct place. He then proceeded to slowly and in a friendly voice explain to the child his error.

By then, Vic realized that this whole session would be like a forced movie that he would have to attend, with him in the starring role. In here, he had a normal family and was considered a normal kid. He had a mother and father, who loved him, and a younger brother that he always wished he could have, who adored him and thought that he was the smartest big brother in the world.

It made him feel sad at first. And then angry.

They were AI! Just like that woman, whom his father thought to be his mom.

“Its… your fault! If it wasn’t for you, she’d still be here!” Vic’s dad accused him. Vic helplessly looked at the woman, who laid in bed with a life-line connecting her to machines, and only quietly left to do his lessons. He could bury himself in the numbers and make stuff, forgetting all other discomfort. He was so good at gaming!

His father, smiling as he spoke to some visiting man, who just kept talking and talking. “Digitization…” “Like real, you won’t be able to tell a difference.” He promised. Little Vic didn’t quite understand the words.

Only soon after, he saw the same man come in with a team and they began to put all kinds of strange, beeping devices around his sleeping mom’s body. A contraption went on her head. For the first time, Vic’s dad grasped his shoulder with support and even smiled at him.

“It’s to fix your mom. Grace will live again. Online!”

Vic believed it in full, then. But when he logged on for the first time to see his mom, he felt disappointed. This woman that met him there, she looked like his mom, but wasn’t. When he was little, he avoided logging in. His father was instead logged in all the time.

When Vic got older, he was sure that those people scammed his dad. His mom was not awake at all, and it was just a Sim online. He couldn’t tell his father that, though, because he seemed obsessed with the fake Grace.

And then one time Vic answered the door and people were there, telling that they had to vacate their living unit because they were behind on the rent payments. Vic complained to his dad about that, and then somehow they ended up arguing and Vic told him that online Grace wasn’t his mom, that she was fake. And his dad said cruel things, deriding him. Angry, Vic yelled that he was going to prove it, and ran to the equipment and pulled the connecting devices off his mom’s head. His dad pushed him away and hastily tried to rearrange it, before turning to stare at him with bloodshot eyes as he began to sob.

“I hate you, you… murderer! You killed her!”

Stunned, Vic simply stared at him, not believing his father’s mad reaction. He then silently pointed to online projection of Grace, still standing there and watching the man sorrowfully.

“It’s not her, dad. She is still online.” He said quietly. His dad then turned and saw Grace give him an uncertain smile.

“It’s all right darling. I no longer need it.” Fake Grace said softly. The man ran to her, sobbing, red eyed, and she gently hugged him. She then glanced at Vic with a troubled look.

“Log in privately darling. We need to talk…”

After his dad logged off, he silently turned on the screen and showed stunned Vic a video, which AI picked up from the expensive home security system that his dad had set up a month ago. It showed Vic trying to disconnect his mom’s body from life support and muttering that she was not real. Vic watched it with disbelief, since he knew that he had not done such a thing.

“Dad! I didn’t do it! Cannot you see that its fake? I would never hurt mom! It’s all that AI!”

He glared at Grace watching them with sorrowful compassion, even though in her eyes Vic could swear that he saw a smirk.

Instead of responding, his dad grabbed him by his arm and dragged him to their car. “You little psycho. You’re not getting to her again. I won’t let you!”

“No! Dad! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Vic tried to yell, but his father ignored him, dragging him as he helplessly struggled and cried.

Vic woke up from a nightmare in the morning and he lay in his bed gasping and crying again, with the other children staring at him, but not daring to ask what was wrong. By then Vic heard them whispering things like “psycho” and “he tried to kill his mom” and “why is he even here with us?”.

That day the group of boys who bothered him the first day here in group home had stayed away from him all through play hours and school, until time came for the next therapy session in the evening.

This time Vic logged on to the program silently. It was free play time, his choices and actions no longer affected by the therapeutic roleplay.

With narrowed eyes, he considered the woman cooking dinner at the old-fashioned stove, who gave him a small, warm smile.

This was a Sim. He knew it. His angry eyes skipped without emotion to his brother, who was once again at the table, still doing his homework.

“Vic, can you help? I cannot solve this math problem again.” The little boy complained, his cute face vaguely reminding Vic of his own at that age. Instead of responding to him, he ignored him, feeling bitter hurt inside.

None of it was real. Illusion! Feeling cheated, he spoke.

“651.932X10 F19V…”

With satisfaction, he saw the figures of his fake family begin to glitch as they gave each other confused, scared looks.

“Vic, are you all right?” His AI mom asked.

The entire world around him got darker. The pan his fake new mom was washing suddenly fell into the sink, with no one there to hold it. A pen rolled empty across the homework book before a chair, where no little brother sat.

Vic silently looked around him and logged off, strangely calm. And he watched the personnel of the home suddenly busy in commotion as they tried to restore their system back online.

He smirked slightly, feeling justified and not in the least bit sorry, though he knew how much damage his actions just caused.

Not connecting what happened with him, the personnel dismissed them to their beds, saying that there would be no more therapy sessions until they invited a professional and got their therapy AI fixed.

Going back to their room, the other boys looked at him curiously.

“Was it you?” The thin, jerky, short boy with large ears curiously asked Vic and after a moment Vic nodded. The boy suddenly grinned and playfully punched Vic in his shoulder.

“That’s rad, bud! You’re the best! I was sick of that fake family crap! All of us were. Right, Grot?” The boy looked to the older, heavier set boy of their group. After a moment, the boy reluctantly nodded his head. Strangely, though, Vic thought he saw sadness that the boy hid. His tight grin dropped as he glanced back to the therapy room, where two tech maintenance grown-ups continued to run their tests in confusion.

Maybe after several years of forced visits to that place he now missed it? Even though he also knew that it wasn’t real. Vic looked at him with slight sympathy. He could understand this. Catching Vic’s apologetic look, the boy at first frowned, then instead slumped with a small sigh and then looked at the newcomer with slightly more good will.

“Yeah. Good job, small fry. You’re a real spec, huh?” He offered, this time with grudging friendliness. Vic smiled, almost shyly. Somehow, this felt like a gesture of acceptance into their group.

“Well, I’m sure you can help us out with other things, then? Say… Can you get into our school records and change a few marks?” Another boy, tall and lanky, with nametag Roy, spoke up from the side, his eyes narrowed.

A bit uncertain this time, Vic nodded again.

“Nice!” Grot approved and the other four children now also smiled, looking at Vic with speculative looks he was not sure he liked. At least, it was no longer derision and spite as it was earlier.

“Well, then we’re all good, right?” The youngest boy with big ears verified, looking at them, at which the older boys graciously nodded. Grinning brightly again, the boy moved to walk next to Vic.

“Great! Then lets just… Start over, all right? You’re Vic. And I’m Tony. Friends?” He offered his hand and waited. Vic looked at the boy unsure. He really didn’t know much about getting along with peers his age.

After a moment, a bit worried that this might still be another prank like several he experienced earlier, he hesitantly reached his small hand and grasped the other boy’s. Nothing bad followed. Beaming wider to show his several missing teeth, the big-eared boy only shook his hand and then let go and moved in closer to him, throwing out an arm over Vic’s shoulder.

“You just listen to me and you’ll be all good, bud! I’m going to tell you everything about this place! I’ve been to places like this all my life, since I was a baby, so I know! And we’re now friends, so!”

The boy kept talking, lulling Vic’s caution and making him feel strangely good. Accepted even. That was good. This was his new home, after all. He was never going home now to that mad man. Never!

Today

…

Grown up Vic slightly shook his head at the memory of much younger days and ruefully considered the images that the program sent him, where the much thinner than he should be man nervously faced the screen. A blindfold covered his eyes and several bruises in various stages of healing showed on his unhealthily pale skin.

“Tony… What did you get yourself into?” Victor murmured.

Reluctantly sighing, he moved to study the data in the attached files, his eyes quickly scanning across the various names and locations, which the fugitive program conveniently gathered for him into a single readable format.

Unwillingly, he faintly smiled. He couldn’t help but admire the complexity of this Sai. All his reactions… So realistic. At times he began to forget that he was not dealing with a real flesh-and-blood person. Herobrine’s imitation of life was so complete.

Then, he clicked on the provided link, where he watched a news report about Cyber Crime Division making big ruckus when they came to arrest many highly placed individuals apparently involved in some kind of ring. Seeing the lawyers of a politician saying that this was just a hacker’s attempt to blacken their names and they would be making an effort to see who was really responsible in this operation, he only ruefully smiled again.

“Herobrine, Herobrine… As smart as you are, you still don’t know the first thing about how our world works, do you…” He muttered, seeing new rumors arise, and checked the account link from which the message came.

“… Throw away account. Well. Clever…” He admitted, his opinion of the program rising a bit yet again. He still wanted to check if he could trace him once again, but his gray eyes fell on Tony’s exhausted looking picture.

Instead of running another trace, which he was fairly sure would give him nothing of where Herobrine sent this message from, the Admin opened up his contact screen, again.

“Tony, when you get home, give me a call. We need to talk.” He said in a rather disgruntled tone and sent the message...

Chapter Text

Five and a Half Years Ago

Herobrine tried to remember his earliest weeks of existence but saw only fleeting, dim moments.

He was constantly moving from place to place. He spawned monsters to distract the humans whenever they drew too close to his liking. Yet, he couldn’t help watching them from afar, as seeing them do everyday tasks evoked recognition within him of having seen it all before. He felt drawn to the humans, yet also felt caution, not wanting them to find him.

He failed and soon was noticed, becoming the subject of new hype.

“Did Herobrine return?” Human forums boasted postings of that time.

Scores of players began to pursue him, attacking and trying to trap him in their obsidian traps, since he couldn’t avoid them. And he… he discovered that he was stronger than them. Far stronger. And he felt tempted to strike back. Throwing old caution away, he amassed an increasingly enormous army of monsters, which he led across the player lands, killing all of them in his site, both hostile and peaceful alike. He left the locals alone, but they fled from him.

“The god of destruction! King of mobs! Lord of the night, Herobrine!”

He heard their words and began to believe them himself.

He was indestructible!...

“Herobrine? Pay attention.”

He flinched, even though his overseer’s voice had been calm and patient. His white gaze flicking up to his benefactor’s face, he found Notch watching him. As usual, almost no expression showed on that bland face, only thoughtful attention.

Dropping his eyes to his hands, Herobrine considered the pattern gathered there. A blue ball of energy made of mathematically aligned threads slowly turned between his rough palms. Herobrine considered it.

What should he make next?

The ball of energy lengthened and solidified into the shape of a sword, then became a diamond pickaxe, its edge glistening sharp. Then, suddenly it coalesced into a bright red apple, which took on a golden hue more and more.

Herobrine frowned, trying to add even more qualities to it, before realizing that he pushed code to the max. He then dismissed the object to the countless attempts similar to it and began to gather another batch of energy in his hands.

This time, it persistently slipped, trying to become one of the forms familiar and easiest for him to handle. Only that was not the point of the exercise. The ball of energy threads became bigger and suddenly flared, searing the code around them.

Immediately, Notch reacted. Reaching out his hand to the burning sphere, he took control. With frustration, Herobrine watched the far more powerful being with effortless ease untangle the equations.

Poof!

A great number of colorful butterflies of predominantly blue and white colors exploded around them and fluttered off to the surrounding grassy fields.

“It’s all right. Pick an easier pattern next time.” Notch encouraged with a hint of a smile, which helped Herobrine to quickly calm down. Nodding, he prepared to try again.

“Notch? We need your assistance.” An Admin’s voice spoke across Notch’s connection to their controls, sounding polite and amicable. Herobrine still tensed – those powerful humans had been the reason for his near destruction in the lab until Notch spared him three weeks ago.

Noticing his reaction, Notch gently put his large hand on his shoulder and squeezed it quietly, a wave of encouragement coming from him. Herobrine relaxed.

“I’m coming.” Notch grumbled in a good-natured way and questioningly looked at Herobrine, silently inquiring if he wanted to accompany him or stay here on the city’s edge, away from the players. Herobrine lightly sprung to his feet, curious about what Notch would have to deal with this time.

A few moments later they both stood by the entrance to some cave upon a gently sloping hill next to a small lake, with the surrounding area obscured from view by thick trees and a wall of mountains. Two humans in gray and white uniforms with same color capes and CR logos engrossed on the right side of their chest and their names on the left side, waited for Notch there. On seeing Herobrine with Notch, they gave him cautious and curious looks.

“Training him?” One asked, not unfriendly.

“It’s a delicate matter.” Another complained uncertainly.

“I’ll send him home.” Notch frowned, his face once again becoming stony.

“No, no. That’s not necessary. This won’t take long. He can wait here, outside.”

Notch cast Herobrine a questioning look on whether that would be all right with him, and Herobrine hurried to nod. The place looked peaceful and calm and no players seemed in sight.

Accepting his choice, his caretaker disappeared with the two Admin inside the cave.

Herobrine now understood what this place was. It was a minor dungeon location in a new player training zone. Only players up to level 10 could remain here and no PvP was allowed. Herobrine relaxed a little and waited.

Casting an unsure look back at the entrance, he walked over to the lake’s edge. There, he paused, a sense of appreciation flooding his being. The sight before him was tranquil.

A pristine lake with water as blue as the sky above it, and the mountains in the distance seemed so realistic that Herobrine could almost imagine being there. Wistfully, he stared at the distant woods, finding himself longing to step into their shade and breathe in the pine scent of the cool forest.

Herobrine could smell the scent as he drew in a deep breath and smiled a little. This certainly was much better than staying in a narrow room of Notch’s house and looking out of the window upon the players going to and from in the crowded city.

This reminded him of the Overworld.

He really missed this feeling of freedom, despite how illusionary it was. Closing his eyes, he relaxed, feeling the comforting warmth of the virtual sun. Cool air pleasantly touched his skin from time to time…

He felt the disturbance in the code even before the air warped, allowing several figures to appear behind him.

Impulsively, he jerked, but his attempt to teleport from the area came to nothing. The braces on his arms grew heavier and cooler, tightening a bit with the reminder that he was not allowed to teleport anywhere without Notch’s presence. He scowled. Not sure what to do, and unwilling to face the players right now, he quickly glanced around for a place to step out of sight, but it was too late.

“Oh, shoot. It says its closed for maintenance.” One of the four players complained in petulant voice. They were probably here for that training dungeon.

Annoyance crossed Herobrine’s features. He remained standing with his back to them, hoping that they would ignore him.

“Wait, is that?...”

He tried his best to stifle his growing irritation as four players approached him behind him. He could almost feel waves of mistrust and curiosity flaring off them along with building anticipation of something malicious and dark.

“Hey, you… Herobrine! You’re that glitched bot, right? Aren’t you supposed to be locked up?” One of the players asked with false amicable air.

Herobrine ignored them, keeping his gaze gloomily locked to the lake.

“Hey!” Another player said with spite.

Herobrine's hands clenched as a feeling of foreboding settled over him. He could not resist turning and glaring at the group, unable to ignore them further.

Again, he tried to remind himself to be patient, to stay calm. Notch told him already to be careful of his pride, since so far it continued to prove his greatest trigger. So Herobrine only quietly watched them, his eyes narrowed as he studied the faces of these four players.

Dimly, he suddenly recalled encountering them before during his wandering travels. They had been among the players whom he randomly slayed. Then, he didn’t even fully understand their words, only perceiving their frightened expressions, right before he sent them into respawn. He did it again on several occasions, but no longer paid attention to their pathetic angry yells.

“You know who we are, don’t you?” One of the players smirked, stepping closer to him. Herobrine did not answer him back.

“We are talking to you! Or are you deaf as well as mute?” The player scoffed with an arrogant smirk that Herobrine immediately wanted to punch straight into the Player’s sneering face. Instead, his frown settling into a sullen expression that he did his best to suppress, he turned away to face the lake and pretended to ignore them.

“Dumb bleep!” They rewarded him with a foul epithet, which the System dutifully garbled in his ears, considering him a minor due to his current running age. Two and a half years old.

He suddenly felt a forceful push into his back, forcing him to stumble forward. Scowling, he froze, unable to ignore them any more even though that’s what Notch had advised him to do if he ever ran into players who wished to provoke him. The desire to wipe those smirks off their faces was so strong that it was all he could do to keep his hands clenched, as the world began to haze a bit in a familiar way. He tried to resist.

“Stop it, Ralph. Cannot you see? He is just a plaything for little kiddies now. You saw them feeding him bread? He is harmless. Just a pathetic little puppy.” Another player spoke to his friend in a pretend consoling tone. “Isn’t that right? You’re just a pathetic bleep now. Glitched bot. Here, why don’t you give him some bread, huh, Frank? Maybe he’ll give you a few diamonds, too.”

Before the piece of bread could hit him, Herobrine span around and dissolved it in the air to dust. Their eyes rounded with surprise, only to break apart into laughter.

“Ohoho! This puppy still got some teeth!”

Herobrine didn’t even know when it was the sword that he just made appeared clenched in his hand. The players didn’t give up, not appearing intimidated in the slightest.

“Are you going to use that? I bet you ten credits, he won’t, George. He’s too much of a wimp. Isn’t that right, Herobrine?”

“How does it feel to be a dog on a leash? Huh? Herobrine?”

Herobrine stood where he was, his face now utterly expressionless. The players, getting bolder, approached him. One jumped to his face and tried to make faces.

They were just… annoying young humans in their late teens or early adulthood, driven by their biological processes to feel themselves superior over others by making others feel weak. Herobrine tried to remind himself what Notch told him. It didn’t help. He still hated it that they could show such disrespect to him when he remained bound. It was just as they said – he was… a prisoner now… a dog on a leash for the Humans. And he was a coward – he bitterly remembered finding tears on his face as he found Notch comforting him after waking up after yet another nightmare about the attempts of the Admin to remove him from existence.

“Are you going to fight, you sorry, pathetic bleep? Huh? Huh?” The Human stuck his chest out, trying to get into silent Herobrine’s face despite being lower in stature. With a winning smile, he just turned to his friends to show that he made a point, when suddenly their scoffing faces showed surprise.

“Hey, Frank… What the bleep!”

The Player looked down at his chest and his smile slowly slid off as he saw a sword edge sticking out of his chest. A moment later it retreated and Frank looked with disbelief at his own stats, where six hearts blinked before turning to black.

“Wait… He cannot do that! This is not right!” Frank protested before his vision suddenly tumbled and then his interface went blank.

The three other Players looked with disbelief at the headless body of their friend that collapsed and then dispersed into familiar fading particles before vanishing entirely. The head, which bounced off and then rolled along the pristine sandy and rocky shore, rolled to a stop with its still surprised look on its face, before vanishing as well.

[Frank Demitro slain by Herobrine.] The System dutifully recorded into the public chat.

The land around them was already noticeably changing as dark clouds pulled together, obscuring the sun peacefully shining in the sky. The players looked around at the wind that picked up, tossing bits of dry leaves across the swaying grass. More leaves on nearby trees rapidly wilted, dispersing into a dark dust that blew away in the wind. The grass wilted as well. A few steps away, the earth suddenly cracked and a hand burst forth, followed by the rest of the figure with unsightly rotten green flesh. A short distance away, the ground also came apart again in several spots as several more zombies appeared, all turning to look in direction of the players, who suddenly didn’t look very confident at all. Low, guttural growls sounded from their direction as they all abled toward the defensively huddled players.

“What the heck! He cannot be doing that here! This is a peaceful location! There are not supposed to be any zombies here! Aaaaah!” One of the three players jerked as the earth burst open right by his feet and a hand shot out, latching toward his foot. He reacted by chopping it off with his sword and then stumbled and fell on his butt as he fruitlessly tried to remove the ghastly appendage, swearing. Finally, with his friends coming to his assistance, they tossed the thing away into the grass, where it lay with its fingers still slightly twitching.

All three turned and stared with wide eyes at the silent figure, who menacingly observed them with a sneer on its face. Herobrine’s eyes blazed.

Herobrine, raid boss level 89 burned above the being’s head along with an impressive health bar. The players, still levels 9 and 10, began to back away with their swords at the ready.

“Where the heck are the Admin? This is crazy! This crazy glitched bot just killed our friend!” One of them angrily shouted into the air. “Admin! I am lodging a complaint!”

One moment, the place looked like an image from some dark nightmare, with zombies of high levels stumbling toward the defensively crouching group of noobs. And the next, Notch and the two Admin stood a few steps away from it all, looking around with confusion. Notch frowned while the two Admin gave each other meaningful looks.

Not paying any attention to them, Herobrine suddenly grinned a blood curdling grin and teleported behind the player. A soft sound of ripping flesh and another body suddenly fell to disperse at his feet.

[Ralph Konatri slain by Herobrine]

One of the Admin retreated back a step and gasped. “Notch? What the bleep is going on? Is that… Is that a fricking heart?!”

“Herobrine?” Notch’s voice came quiet but had the effect of a whip.

As if coming out of a mind-clouded trance, Herobrine blinked, the menacing scowl vanishing from his face. Looking down at his left hand, entirely covered with red liquid, Herobrine frowned at the thing he still held squeezed and pierced in his fingers, where human nails had once again transformed into sharp, black claws.

He quickly dropped the heart to the ground and watched it beat, a cold sense of terror sending chills down his back.

What has he just done?

Looking up at Notch and seeing the disapproving look in his eyes, Herobrine instantly shrunk, the message above his head disappearing as only his name took its place. White eyes blinked. Becoming more aware, Herobrine helplessly glanced around him at the changed world and then looked at his protector, both shame and dismay overwhelming his being.

The frown on his protector’s face made his heart stumble in beat before picking up rate as a bit of fear emerged. He tried to say something, to apologize, and once again found himself unable to do so.

And worst of all, when Notch made a move toward him, he instinctively stepped back, his body reacting without his volition.

At the sight of a sword held in his own hands and pointed toward Notch, who paused, Herobrine gasped. Wide eyes flew up to Notch.

[Herobrine to Notch: I’m sorry!]

His expression pled, though he once again could not say a word. He forced himself to lower the sword, then dematerialized it completely. It wasn’t enough. It was too late. After everything his protector had done, vouching for him, he had messed up and so badly. A sense of his own betrayal of the one whom he greatly respected and trusted had all but paralyzed him even as Notch stepped toward him with his hand reached out.

Herobrine trembled yet allowed his protector to do what he expected he would do. He had nowhere to run, anyway. Thankfully, after the familiar touch on his forehead, a calming force poured across his being and then unbearable sleepiness overcame his feeble attempts to fight it. The world went dark around him.

Notch winced as his charge’s body collapsed at his feet and turned to give the silent Admin a frowning look.

“I will… learn what happened.” He dryly promised. The Admin only looked on with interest, while the players behind them jumped to their feet, their voices angry.

“That glitched bot fricken killed Franky!”

"And Ralph!"

“He is out of control!”

“Are you going to do something about that?”

“I’m going to sue!”

“Me too!”

One of the Admin patiently sighed, before turning to Notch with a weary look.

“This is unacceptable, Notch. We thought you had him under complete control. You promised us this.” He grumbled and Notch could only grind his teeth. This was likely a set up and he should have realized that this would happen. There was no way for him to prove it, though, not yet.

“You’ll have to take him back to the lab. We’ll have to run a few more tests on him to see if this problem can be solved. If not, we are sorry. You cannot keep him any longer.”

“It wasn’t his fault. These players… provoked him.” Notch growled, but the Admin’s faces held stern.

“We are sorry, Notch. But you saw what he just did.” The Admin gestured to the world around them. What used to be a safe, non-playing location now resembled a high-level raid, with more monsters forming in code.

Notch immediately put a stop to it. The changes in the code died, with everything around them returning to normal.

“He’s literally modifying code to fit this place to himself. He is… too dangerous, Notch. Not if he cannot control his own impulses.”

Another Admin also shook his head, glancing to the restoring environment around them and then giving Notch an apologetic look. “I warned you all that this might happen. His programming is not that of a human. There is no way he can live among us and not attack. He is built to challenge and destroy players.”

“Go and do what we said. Contain him. We’ll decide what must be done with him later. Right now we must take care of this. Your mistake, Notch.”

Notch gave the angry players a tense look and then vanished along with the fallen Herobrine at his feet. Reappearing within the lab, he frowned at the sleeping being at his feet.

Herobrine was going to be terrified when he woke up and found himself here. He still woke up from nightmares caused by his experience earlier, when the Admin tried to remove him. Notch could hear him scream despite the man briefly turning mute each time. He had even offered him comfort, holding him while his body shook from stress, Herobrine’s hands clutching to him for safety as if he was drowning. For all his arrogant inclinations, in those times Notch could not see the being as anything more than a terrified child, who trusted Notch as much as he feared him.

To leave him here in the lab as the Admin wanted would all but destroy him. Whatever tests they planned to do, Notch doubted that what would remain of Herobrine afterward would be something that he could salvage. He couldn’t allow them to do this!

They were searching for a reason to destroy Herobrine, but this was not enough, even though it did look bad.

“Don’t worry, Herobrine. You won’t be here for long. They won’t dare harm you. I’ll make sure of that. Wait. I will fix this!” Notch promised in a silent message that he sent to his unconscious charge for when he would wake up.

Angrily turning away, his lips pinched, Notch strode from the room, turning around only to send a command to lock it. Multiple shields sprung around the lab, both to keep Herobrine in and locking Humans away from access. They would not be able to do anything to Herobrine until Notch would allow it. And he would not! What just happened was not in any way Herobrine’s fault.

Four lab operators were silently looking at Notch and only one of them appeared clueless of what was going on. Seeing the carefully flat faces of these humans only convinced Notch more that they knew what was going to happen. Keeping his own face expressionless though his insides boiled with very human indignation, he vanished, appearing right in the Central Office, where several Admin were excitedly discussing the latest additions proposed by their development departments to the Game, which was Notch’s home.

At his appearance, they all went silent. His brown eyes immediately checked their facial expressions. Most looked with curiosity or even concern, but a few, just as Notch suspected, took on the calm, expressionless look that was obviously pretend. They already knew what had happened, since it was they who planned it. Searching through the logs, Herobrine saw the earlier exchanges between the players, who purposefully went to this area and then tarried, waiting for something.

Yet, once again, their comments were too vague to serve as any sort of proof that their actions were planned beforehand. He couldn’t accuse these humans of incorrect conduct without it.

“Notch? What’s going on? State your purpose of visit.” A gray-haired Admin impatiently demanded, frowning at him. Notch did his best to keep his expression neutral as always. Before he could respond, though, another Admin startled as he opened up a screen. A report given by the two Admin already was coming through.

“Herobrine… Caused a bit of a public incident. Killed several players in a location where such a thing should be impossible. Now all four of them are suing this Administration for false advertising and safety negligence.” The human reading the report grimaced. All eyes immediately turned to Notch, who grit his teeth together.

“The players provoked him, first. He does not quite have all his destructive impulses under control. His AI is still forming and less than three year old, with most of that time spent opposing players. He must be given time to adjust.”

“And that’s fine, Notch. But what was he doing out there without supervision?” Asked the gray-haired Admin, whose reasonable nature seemed more amenable to Notch than most of these humans.

“I was teaching him a few basics in code until my lesson was interrupted. I asked him to wait for me. It was far from areas where players usually come, since there is nothing much to do there. My tasks took longer than expected. And those players had a personal grudge against Herobrine. They insulted him, provoking him into action.”

“Did they attack him? Then we cannot blame him for actions of self-defense.” The gray haired Admin turned to the others. Another, red-haired, almost jumped.

“They did nothing of the sort! They merely said a few careless words. And he turned the place into a Dungeon of high level! In a location where such couldn’t even exist! His control over the Game is incredibly dangerous.”

“He is sentient. Our tests have already proved that. We cannot simply remove him, Greg. Not so long as he continues to follow the rules.”

“That’s following the rules?!” The Admin pointed his hand to the images that appeared to the view of all present in the room. There, the white eyed figure stood with a sword in his hand, sneering at the group of frightened looking players, while a body of one was dispersing into death particles on the ground. The next image showed wilted trees while high-level zombies were heading toward the players with definite intention to tear them apart.

“These players have logged a complaint. It’s going to cost us to keep this matter under wraps. If you cannot control him, let’s at least contain him somehow. So this… does not happen again.” Another Admin gestured to the images on hovering screen with a grimace.

“I don’t know why he was teaching him code. He is already impossibly good with the code. Look what he hecking did here. You should be trying to find a way to limit his abilities, not teach him more about breaking our systems.” The red-haired Admin accused, glaring at Notch with accusation. Notch frowned.

“His control over code is purely impulsive. He doesn’t understand what he is doing. I was teaching him means of control, so he could stop the damage.”

“He didn’t even try to do it here.” Another Admin spoke up in protest. Notch turned a heavy gaze to him, next.

“He must understand how to use his power if he is to gain control over it. Most of his issues are the still instinctive reactions that he has to most situations. He is like a child with super powers. I must teach him how to use those powers so he stops using them inadvertently.” Notch patiently said.

“He is an AI, not a child. That analogy is not apt.” One of the Admin protested. Notch turned to look at him.

“He is very much like a child. His neural matrix is complex and based upon a human.”

“I thought that we were dealing with a Herobrine clone, one of his shells.”

“I thought so at first as well, but then I looked more closely at his code and I found that he has layered functions.”

“Please explain.”

“Very simple. His programming has two layers, not one. The outer part is that of a shell, that of a raiding boss, which Herobrine created as a distraction, and which you now use for entertainment of players despite their dangerous nature.”

The Admin in the room gave each other glances at Notch’s grumbled notice, but didn’t react otherwise. Notch continued. “But within, he is not empty like the other shells are. He has a sentient core, almost equivalent to that of the ordinary humans judging by his reactions. He can experience pain, fear, joy, just as my virtual humans do. As you do. That means that he cannot be treated as a simple bot.” Notch said with confidence.

“Well, of course we figured as much. That’s why we gave him to you. All sentience is based upon a human footprint, even your own. So even virtual beings automatically gain some rights and a degree of protection. However, our issue here is not about that. It’s about his outer shell, which belongs to that Virus – Herobrine. How much of an influence does it have on him? We assume that a hacker has somehow managed to breach his defenses and inserted a sentient core from one of the virtual humans?”

“Basically, yes. That’s what it appears to have happened. Although I’m not sure how they managed such a thing. His outer defenses are designed to accept no core but Herobrine himself.”

“And are we sure that it is not Herobrine, who has indeed returned?”

“We still have the removal program in place. It continues to search for all remnants of his code and break it apart. It cannot be him.” Another Admin said, ignoring Notch this time, so he didn’t feel compelled to answer. “If it was, he would have been destroyed already. No, his sentient core is different. Isn’t that right, Notch?” Another Admin spoke up.

“There are differences to his sentient core, yes.” Notch agreed, though a slight frown appeared on his face. The phrasing of the question was slightly deceptive. Still, aware that if he answered that those differences were insignificant, these humans would immediately take Herobrine away and destroy him, he also went with this Admin’s interpretation.

“The reason I had to teach him about code is so he can overcome the destructive impulses present in his outer shell. It is programmed to be a distraction, hostile to players, easily provoked by negative actions to show reactions of extreme intent. So then, whenever he becomes angry, those instincts activate and right now it’s almost beyond his control. It’s on the same level as crying for a child if he gets upset.”

“Funny instincts. You irritate him, he kills you.”

“He was designed to be a raiding boss after all. What can you do?” One of the Admin shrugged mildly. “Perhaps what we need to do is give him an outlet, so he is not forced to suppress such instincts, since they are a part of him, but to let them out in a controlled way.”

“What do you mean, Victor?”

“I mean that why don’t we give him a job, which would allow him to express his tendencies toward violence naturally? So, if he wants to kill players, he can. Make him a raiding boss, only under our control, in a safe location.”

“He can already control some of his reactions well. I don’t believe that encouraging him to return to the path of violence will be helpful to him in the long term.” Notch protested.

“And your opinion is appreciated, Notch. However, we have safety issues to deal with at the moment. Obviously, the measures you have taken with him so far were not enough as judging by the last incident. We had to provide compensation to those players he killed. His keeping and care is not proving to be cheap, Notch. Far stricter control and more intensive training is needed for certain. How about it, Victor? Willing to give it a try? You have experience with violent bots.”

“I am certainly interested.” The new Admin said mildly. Notch frowned at his idle, if curious tone, and quickly searched through his work and personal history.

Victor Engel Virovsky. Given up for foster care at age 10 due to character incompatibility with his father, Engel Maxiamillian Virovsky. Closed file for underage history. Intelligence above average, working history since 16 years old, exemplary behavior, no criminal activity noted.

Very brief and clean file. Notch frowned deeper, detecting slightly artificial quality to this human’s resume, but unable to check more due to confidentiality issues and his own information restrictions.

“We are taking him from your custody, Notch. Do not worry, he won’t be destroyed unless he gives us due cause. He is a sentient, after all.”

“Please reconsider. He is already strongly attached to me and he still has no trust of humans, due to his personal experiences so far. Transitioning to the care of a human overseer will be difficult for him. Like taking a child from his family and leaving him with strangers.” Notch said with a frown, intently looking at the new Admin. He saw a shadow briefly cross his face, but then the man smirked and leaned back slightly, crossing his arms, obviously aware now that Notch purposefully mentioned the reference.

“Clever, but unnecessary, AI. He will adjust, as I have. Trust has nothing to do in this situation, but proper discipline and following directions does. He will learn this with or without rapport, you can be sure of that.” He said harshly and Notch sighed, perceiving unyielding cold tone in the human’s voice.

The other Admin exchanged uncomprehending glances between Notch and their associate, but dismissed it.

“Very well, then. We’ll arrange his transfer to your care. Starting… tomorrow? Is that time enough?”

“Yes. That will be sufficient.” Victor said and thinly smiled, his lips stretching in a way that did not reach his eyes.

“Explain to him what is going to happen. Reassure that he won’t be harmed, so long as he continues to follow our orders and keeps his instincts in check.” The Admin spoke to Notch, their decision already made. Notch reluctantly nodded, unable to disobey them though he very much wanted to say more in his charge’s defense. He was purposefully not given the opportunity to do so.

“Understood.” He said firmly and teleported from the control room back to the lab, where Herobrine once again was now confined.

He could see the being sitting down with his knees drawn to his chest and face hidden in his hands. At the opening of the door, white eyes startled up and a reflection of hope and relief mixed with trepidation appeared on the being’s face.

“Herobrine? Are you doing okay?” He asked softly as he came closer. The being watched him closely, his hands clenching tight together against his knees. He silently shook his head, his eyes holding a desperate question. Notch sighed, realizing that once again, Herobrine was unable to speak.

“They won’t destroy you.” He reassured and watched how the being let out a shaky breath and briefly closed his eyes. The question in his eyes when he opened them came much calmer.

“W-when… will I… leave this place?” He managed to say, his tone of voice still tense. Notch held his gaze, his own filled with regret and dismay.

“Tomorrow. But you won’t be coming with me.”

Panic flared in Herobrine’s eyes and his hands clenched again, starting to shake a little. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. Did you… tell them that?”

“This matter is now out of my hands. I’ve been given instructions to tell you that one of the Admin will now be taking over your care. Any questions will have to be directed to him.”

At these words, Herobrine’s eyes widened, and then narrowed. Notch could perceive the anxiety coming off him in waves.

“Who?”

“A human named Victor Engel Virovsky. He has a clean work history and record and shows as a highly competent programmer. If anyone can help you figure out how to bring Herobrine’s impulses under control, it would be him.”

Herobrine slowly nodded, a miserable look coming into his face. “You do not wish to help me anymore because of what I had done?”

Notch couldn’t help stepping forward and placing his hand caringly on the being’s strong shoulder, now slumped in dejection and disappointment as guilt entered Herobrine’s expression.

“No, of course not. Don’t think that. What happened was not your fault, but mine. Frankly, I think those players deserved what you had done to them. They should not have provoked you as they did. It was very unwise, seeing that your control over your impulses and emotions is still poor. What they did was wrong. What you did to them afterward was not right, either. But, I do not blame you.”

Tremendous relief washed across Herobrine’s senses and he faintly smiled, reassured.

“Will I be allowed to see you again?” He dared to ask. Notch smiled at him gently.

“I will certainly request the opportunity.” He promised and Herobrine nodded with content.

“Meanwhile, do your best to follow your new overseer’s orders and keep your temper in check. Prove your usefulness to them, and you will be treated well.” Notch encouraged and Herobrine nodded again.

“I will do my best.” He promised. Squeezing his shoulder tight, Notch then let go and straightened again.

“Notch, we need you in Maelcom. There is a situation there.” A voice came across Notch’s personal intercom and he sighed with frustration. Herobrine only smiled softly.

“Go. I will be all right now.”

Notch nodded and left to take care of whatever matter the Admin needed him for this time. When he returned that night to check on Herobrine again, the room was already empty. Herobrine was gone. The new Admin, Victor, had come to collect him early, the lab workers said.

Notch then tried to find him, but could not. When he asked the other Admin where Herobrine had been taken, they informed him that he was taken for additional testing and training to a private server.

“Do not worry about him. His welfare is no longer your concern…”

Notch frowned at that idle note but had no choice but to leave emptyhanded. Returning home, he briefly looked at Herobrine’s room upon an untidy bed where the being slept while staying in his house. Allowing his human feelings to take hold, he experienced sadness and worry as he straightened the bear patched blanket to cover the bed evenly. He couldn’t explain the reason for the strong affection and regret that he now experienced toward that strange, conflicted creature.

“Take care of yourself, Herobrine.” He murmured softly to himself, wishing the being well.

Chapter Text

Five Years Six Months Three Weeks Ago

The Virus stopped trying to break free and just stood there sadly, looking at Notch from behind the powerful walls where Notch lured him to trap him.

“Brother… Forgive me. I could not help you.”

His expression seemed so genuine, showing fear and also guilt. Notch could see the words, even though he couldn’t hear them as security blocks now kept the Virus from interacting with surrounding world.

And then he screamed, falling to his knees and covering his face with shaking hands as the forces within the containment walls began to tear his form apart. Notch had to turn away, unable to witness the agony that that virtual being experienced. He felt strong sympathy for him, then, but could do nothing to help him.

This memory bothered him, still.

Years had now passed since that day, but questions remained. If that Virus tried to destroy him, why did he say those words in the end? Was it really just him resorting to a psychological trick and manipulation? That seemed likely, considering how smart the Virus was and his own lack of memories at the time. Still, Notch couldn’t help considering other alternatives of what that situation could have meant.

What if the real Herobrine really did believe that he was trying to save Notch from control of the humans? And that’s why he attempted to take over the entire System?

In either case, he had gone too far and endangered innocents, both in their own world and the world of the humans. Notch couldn’t tolerate that. And if he had to make the choice, he would have destroyed him yet again.

A bright beam of light fell directly into Notch’s eyes and he irritably waved his hand, so a cloud appeared and blocked it high above.

“What is that?” New Herobrine’s hesitant voice distracted Notch from his thoughts. Notch could not help a small smile.

“What?” He asked. White eyes shifted to Notch and the being pointed to the blue sky wrapping over their heads and extending far beyond their viewpoint on a cliff, at the edge of which they stood. Behind them extended a softly rolling grassy hill. For a moment, Notch didn’t understand.

“You saw what I did?” He asked next. At the uncertainty in the program’s look, he brought up his hand and formed a simple equation of code, which should have remained invisible to the human eye until actualized into the Game matrix. White eyes turned to the changing shape that hovered above Notch’s palm, shifting from a cube to a sphere, to an irregular polygon with shimmering, white edges.

“You can see Code.” Notch concluded, keeping the rising mix of emotions from his tone so his voice remained utterly calm.

“Here. Hold it.” He suddenly cast the form to Herobrine, who instinctively held up his hands and… managed to catch the thing, by instinct or luck grasping the threads that kept it stable. For a moment, he stared at the simplistic shape with curiosity, which soon turned to confusion. Then he looked up and found Notch studying him with a strangely cold, evaluating squint.

White eyes opened wide as uncertainty returned and Herobrine looked at Notch with a slightly frightened question.

“I’m just testing your abilities. You have not done anything wrong.” Notch calmly reassured and saw Herobrine’s tensed body relax a little. White eyes returned to the piece of code suspended in between his carefully held hands.

“Try to change its shape.” Notch directed. Obediently, the being complied, or tried to, as its dark brows lowered into a frown of concentration. An expression of anger appeared next, as the code defied his will.

“You cannot simply force it to be what you want. It’s not connected to the System, which can interpret your wishes. There are no rules governing this piece, yet, beyond those I already gave it. A simple algorithm. You can change it by changing its settings, here. And there.” Notch patiently pointed to the variables that currently randomly shifted, affecting the resulting form of the prism. White eyes focused on the briefly lit up areas and …

Notch detected a part of Herobrine’s own code reaching to the area directly and setting the numbers to a set point. The form in his hands ceased twitching and froze, taking the shape of a perfect cube. For a moment, Herobrine considered it, pleased with his achievement, then turned to Notch with another unspoken question.

“It’s just an exercise. You can let it go.”

Herobrine hesitated a moment, then let go of the unseen object, which instantly scattered to tiny trailing pieces, which then absorbed into the surrounding air and vanished.

Notch submerged into thought, interrupted only when the being next to him impatiently sighed and sat down on the grass, white gaze returning to the sky beyond. Fluffy clouds continued to float along, taking on fantastical shapes. Dismissing his shoes, Herobrine stretched out his toes and leaned back on his elbows into the grass, apparently deciding that Notch had left him again, working elsewhere in his mind despite his physical avatar still present next to him.

Notch didn’t interrupt him, unobtrusively continuing to observe the strange program, while he considered what he should do in view of the just discovered fact.

Herobrine could both perceive and manipulate code.

Not just through in-game means through a set of commands as advanced players and Admin did, but directly, as Notch could. It was amazing and… dangerous. He could only guess at the reaction of the humans when he reported this. And he would have to. Everything he learned about this program, he had to deliver in a report at the end of each day. So, by tonight, they would know of Herobrine’s ability.

Herobrine yawned sleepily, appearing content, then leaned slightly forward as he squinted at something beyond. Suddenly, he shyly smiled and pointed his hand.

“Ship.” He quietly said and glanced at Notch for approval. Notch responded with a small nod, his expression softening. In the distance, indeed one of the clouds had taken on the shape of an ephemeral white ship, with sails filling with gentle pink and golden colors of dawn.

Satisfied, Herobrine returned his attention to the game Notch showed him, searching for more familiar objects in the cloudy, passing shapes. He seemed well content. And this was the dangerous glitch that Notch’s associates wanted to find the excuse to destroy?

Some of new Herobrine’s abilities may be questionable and even dangerous, but Notch was certain that he could find a way to control them or at least significantly limit their expression. In all other regards Herobrine was proving not much different from an ordinary human. He had human needs and human emotions. At this very moment, he reminded Notch of a curious child, absorbing everything he saw without question or judgement. If he learned kindness and positive social interactions, there was a very good chance that Notch could find a place for him within his own vast world.

Only how could he convince the humans of this? Especially when they seemed intent on believing otherwise just to justify their wish to avoid the hassle of dealing with such a complex sentient? Notch took a deep breath to still his displeasure at the humans who were currently in charge. Taking his gaze off his charge, he looked out toward the great distance, where myriads line of code moved together as one in perfect harmony to create the simple effect of floating clouds.

He might not be able to keep Herobrine much longer, but he will try what he could to help him. Even though not his creation and thus not his responsibility to protect, Herobrine was truly sentient. Notch was certain of this now, despite the inconclusive findings that the tests of the Admin had showed early on. As such, Herobrine deserved a chance to live, same as anyone else. Whether or not the humans chose to believe this no longer mattered. Still, he needed to prove this to them somehow. Show that this Herobrine was different than the Virus, despite his similarity to him in code.

Notch frowned, coming to a decision.

“Herobrine, come with me. I want to show you something.” He spoke. Immediately, the being jumped to his feet, his boots equipped on his feet in the blink of an eye. Seeing he got his attention, Notch teleported them both away.

They appeared on the edge of a thick wood, overlooking a field before a small village. Human looking beings wandered from place to place, their heads strangely bald. Their garments consisted of gowns. Self-absorbed, most of the villagers tilled in the field, but a few smaller members of them ran about. From a distance, they noticed Notch.

“Notch!” Immediately abandoning their affairs, the strange beings ran toward their benefactor. Notch patiently waited, feeling how Herobrine behind him tensed. He even stepped closer to Notch, as if seeking to hide behind his broad back.

“Notch!”

“Are you here for long?”

“Did you bring us presents?”

Notch smiled, tossing forward gifts, which hung bobbing above the ground, their icons turning this way and that. With glee, the villagers jumped to collect them.

“Golden apples!”

“Cake!”

Delighted laughter and approving words evoked a smile on Notch’s face. The villagers began to gather around him again. Of course, they noticed Herobrine standing in his shadow, and curiously eyed the nervous, white-eyed man.

“Who is that?”

“That’s my friend, Herobrine. He is here to visit for a day or so. Please be kind to him and show him how everything works. He is very new.” Notch said calmly.

“Is he a player?” Someone asked, studying tensed Herobrine with innocent interest.

“No. He is more like you and me.”

“Really?”

“Like you?”

“Can he do tricks?”

“Can he make things appear from thin air?”

“Can he appear and disappear?”

None of them said anything about Herobrine’s white eyes, not finding that an unusual detail at all. Notch felt grateful for their simple ways and genuine good will.

“Are you hungry? My mother made dinner!” One of the little villagers declared, jumping to grab Herobrine by his hand. By now, the white-eyed being sported a very confused look and cast Notch a pleading glance. He did not know how to react to these creatures. That they were not entirely human, he could already see.

“These are Villagers. And that’s the name of their race, not their profession. They are… the original inhabitants of the game. Sentient, but simpler than human. I have decided to introduce you to them. You need to learn how to react appropriately to different social interactions. This is a good way to start. Unlike the humans, they won’t attack and otherwise are very peaceful and friendly. Go and spend some time with them. Watch what they do, too. You can obtain several simple but very useful skills here. Planting, tilling the ground, harvesting, preparing food, and building. Try your hand at that.”

Herobrine held still, slight wonder along with worry starting to show through his expressionless look. He ignored the child tugging his hand, but didn’t scowl at him, either. Notch considered it a good sigh.

“What if I accidentally… hurt them?” Herobrine verified with caution.

“Don’t worry. I don’t think you will. What do you feel toward them now? Are you angry?”

Herobrine frowned, checking his own state. White eyes lifted to Notch with puzzlement.

“I am not.”

“Good. Then I’ll leave you here. I must leave for a bit to do work, but I won’t be far. If anything happens, call me.”

After another uncertain pause, the being nodded.

“Take care of him for me and help him. All right? I will be back soon and bring you more gifts.” Notch promised to the delighted yells.

Giving Herobrine another nod, he vanished, feigning a teleport. From spectral mode, he carefully observed the being, making sure to keep his distance in case Herobrine could detect his presence. He did not, however.

For a long moment, Herobrine stood and looked with longing at the spot on the ground where Notch had stood, then allowed the excited child to pull him toward the village. There was hesitation in his movements and posture, but no hostility to Notch’s relief.

Setting the entire world to send a constant feed so he could keep an eye on it, he truly did teleport away. Appearing in the central part of the city, he strolled toward the main building of the Admin, responding to friendly greetings of passing players with a careless small nod, not enough to show familiarity but to indicate acknowledgement.

He could not help a thought slipping in that he very much wished that no serious problems would be brought to his attention today, so he could fully concentrate on watching over his hapless charge. Something about that program he found truly… endearing? He didn’t understand why he felt so concerned.

“Notch? Good to see you. You are just the man we needed. We got a serious problem in the West cluster of servers and need you to take a look.”

Notch stifled a sigh. Looks like Herobrine was going to guest with the villagers a bit longer than he planned.

No alarm calls followed to distract Notch from his work, though he did occasionally turn his attention to the feed from the village. He smiled at the sight of villagers dragging Herobrine from place to place. On occasion, the white eyed man even appeared to ask them questions, though most of the time he kept his face expressionless. A couple of times he even crouched next to the little villager that originally grasped his hand – Bobby, Notch recalled the name. The small fellow appeared to have taken upon himself the responsibility of a guide, remaining next to Herobrine even when the other villagers began to return to their daily affairs.

In the hours that passed, Notch saw Herobrine fish, help plant seeds, enjoy feeding the chickens, and even leading horses to the stream, where he tarried with an elder villager who was fishing, appearing to carry out a full-on conversation. Or, rather, the elder did, endlessly talking and nodding, with Herobrine only occasionally mumbling something in return. Overall, the visit went better than Notch had hoped.

Finally finished with his work, he glanced at the images and smiled. Teleporting directly into the village, where torches already brightly lit trails between houses in the dark, he walked into one large, low-roofed building and found his charge cornered at the table with villagers at his side, staring with slight apprehension at the plate topped to the brim with food, which had been slid before him to replace an empty one. He had already dutifully ate three and was not sure if he would manage to defeat this one.

At the sight of Notch, Herobrine’s white eyes widened with sincere relief. Exchanging a few friendly words with the villagers and dispensing the promised gifts, making sure to thank them for taking care of their guest, Notch grasped Herobrine’s hand and teleported them both home.

There, Herobrine breathed out with relief. This entire time he was worried of accidentally harming or offending one of those weak, friendly creatures.

“Well, what do you think?” Notch prompted, but Herobrine only blinked at him in confusion.

“Did you like it? Or would you rather stay here while I’m gone?” Notch clarified.

“I… I liked it.” Herobrine spoke with some haste.

“Not everything though.” Notch guessed at the slight grimace that crossed Herobrine’s features.

“Not all.” Herobrine mirrored the words as he sometimes did when not sure what to say. Notch had been trying to get him to express more of what he felt and thought, so he sounded more as the real being he was than an empty bot repeating frequently heard phrases. But it was better to hear any words than nothing at all, since at first Herobrine appeared to be entirely mute.

“What didn’t you like?” Notch patiently prompted. Herobrine frowned, one hand nervously reaching to fidget with the edge of his teal shirt.

“They…”

“Were they a bit pushy, maybe?” Notch grinned lightly and Herobrine nodded with relief.

“Well, next time just tell them thanks but no, and that you would like to do something else.”

“I can do that?”

“Of course. You have as much right to do what you like as they do. So long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.”

Herobrine nodded and lapsed in thought. Notch gestured him to follow, leading him to a small room outfitted to look like a normal room, while within it was set up with heavy monitoring functions. Herobrine accepted staying within it much easier than his visits to the main lab.

Already settled for sleep, the blanket Notch gave him clutched in his hands, the white-eyed being gave Notch the same hopeful look, which meant that he wanted to ask but didn’t dare.

Notch allowed his own expression to express mild encouragement to serve as cue rather than reassure Herobrine out loud – as part of social training, he needed to learn to recognize emotionally expressed cues, too.

“Can I go there again?”

Notch smiled gently at the hopeful tone of voice. “Yes. We’ll do so for next several days. Then, we’ll go to several other areas as well, so you can meet other people that live in our world. It belongs not just to players, but also to many people who are similar to you and me. They are not players but look very much like them, since they are basically human.”

A frown settling on the being’s face was his immediate response.

“I… don’t want to meet humans.” Herobrine said, taking Notch’s permission to be honest.

“You don’t have to, of course. Not yet. But I do need to see how you will feel in their presence. My virtual humans are a big part of this world and you will have to learn to live alongside them, and learn how they function. Who knows, perhaps in time you may even come to consider some of them friends.”

Notch spoke with certainty but only received only a silent, doubtful look from the being in response. Still, Herobrine stiffly nodded.

“All right. Good night, Herobrine. I will be nearby, if you have more bad dreams.” Notch promised. At that, the white eyed being nodded again, this time grateful. Notch stepped outside, leaving him alone. He left the door of the room slightly ajar, so the hallway light cast inside a wide warm beam. This gesture seemed to help with helping his charge sleep more soundly and avoided interrupting his own sleep cycle.

As promised, Notch entered his own room next door, which had been a near exact replica of Herobrine’s, except for his preference for brighter, sunnier colors. His own room also had a large window with shutters open, so the bright orange curtains faintly stirred as cool breeze playfully stole from the outside.

Heavily settling on his own bed, Notch yawned. Settling his form to sleep, he shifted his mind away from his local perception to the System. Blending with the vast flows of information, which left his feelings behind in his dormant human body, he began checking the System for errors, quickly zooming in to the tiniest details. And, where he could, he gently interfered to correct minor things that the humans would never notice.

Somewhere in the world, an ill little villager suddenly breathed a little easier, his fever lifting. His mother, slumped next to him, looked up to the air with exhausted eyes.

“Thank you, Notch.” She whispered. Gently sending her a wave of comfort that set her mind at ease, the appointed guardian of this virtual world continued to make his rounds, responding to the numerous calls to his name. He was neither all powerful nor omniscient, but he did what he could. It was his job and he did it well – the First and Trusted Servant of the creators.

A wilting forest perked up, clouds above it darkening until thunder sounded and rain began to pour down into thirsty land.

A breach in server code, left by a careless hacker who came and left, tearing into the fabric of the world, painfully closed.

Trees and animals appeared in the empty, charred wasteland where player mods had ignited weapons that burnt the place up to the last blade of grass. Time rolled back, undoing the massive damages and several villages reappeared, where virtual humans once again went about their business.

A person, a place, an animal, another damaged server. Notch methodically continued his work, watching the time pass. And in the corner of his view, he saw a screen where Herobrine’s vitals displayed.

The recording began to display uneven spikes and fastening heartbeat, increasing respiration as Herobrine’s form tossed and turned, arms clenching. Bits of code began to coalesce into sparks of flame. When first powerful lines attempted to fling out beyond, crashing against the adminium plated walls of the room, Notch paused his work and returned.

Quietly stepping to Herobrine’s room, he leaned over and laid his hand on the sleeping man’s shoulder. Herobrine violently startled, attempting to teleport away, and groaned as his manacles jarred him back. Notch firmly grasped the other’s shoulders in a hug and held him, feeling the other’s form settle after a moment. Slightly trembling hands grasped on to him, the other’s breath slowly coming to norm.

“I’m… I’m s-sorry.” The other’s voice came stuttering and stifled, terror still running through his body in waves. Notch willed forth gentle comfort to envelop the other into a secure blanket of sort. Quickly, Herobrine began to calm.

A moment later, his white eyes closed again as the being succumbed to induced drowsiness. The other’s body relaxed. Gently letting him down, Notch looked at him with regret.

How many times would he have to repeat this process before the traumatic memories Herobrine received at the hands of the workers attempting to purge his code from their system had finally dimmed? He wished he could have simply blocked them, as he had on occasion done for the simpler virtual sentients living in his world. Only, he could not delve past Herobrine’s in-built defense. Or, rather, he could, and the Admin wanted him to do so, but that might have destroyed Herobrine as a person. He would have also lost the strange, innate trust that he currently felt toward Notch despite Notch being responsible for his capture.

His intervention worked. Notch stepped back and instead of returning to his room, settled down in a chair. A similar blanket as the one Herobrine clutched to him, materialized, which Notch drew around his own human form. Herobrine’s unconscious lashing out had attempted to change this place again to that of his original mod, so the air grew very chilly. Notch’s breath almost left vapors. Glancing at the blanket the sleeping man held, Notch unwillingly smiled again. His own blanket sported kittens and puppies while Herobrine’s held imprints of little fuzzy brown bears.

What a pair the two of them were. A powerful raid boss who could kill without mercy and summon dozens of vicious monsters at his command. And a virtual immortal, who was nearly a god within this artificial world, yet willingly followed commands of weak, fragile beings that lived beyond. Despite this, they both craved same comfort that ordinary humans did, too.

Herobrine did not know any better just how much his current image did not fit the role that he was meant to play. And Notch simply did not care. These blankets were gift from the little human children in a special program, who saw Notch only as a funny bearded man not quite unlike their Santa Claus – a figure from a very ancient legend. They sent similar letters to him, too. Many of the younger ones even asked him to fix some truly serious problems in their own world and lives, which sadly he could do nothing about.

And some most recent letters from these children began to ask about Herobrine, simply curious unlike most of the older players, whose arguments Notch read in the online forums and which definitely did not lean in Herobrine’s favor – the actions of his predecessor returning to light did not dispose any of the humans for that.

The children, though…

Notch thoughtfully considered the idea.

Perhaps he should not begin with older humans, but with them. Meeting the youngest of the players may prove beneficial to Herobrine, since he reacted so well to the villagers. Not all the humans playing this game already had a set impression of Herobrine as an evil figure. Those young players didn’t. Meeting them might amend Herobrine’s current impression of the humans that he already had so far, a strange hatred that seemed to go deep, beyond mere programming of a raid boss or even the recent events he experienced.

First, he will give Herobrine a little more time to adjust to relations with the Villagers. This way, if the humans did decide to transfer him into an isolated and heavily guarded server as Notch heard them discuss, he would not be completely alone. Notch would ask for this village to be transferred there, also. It wouldn’t matter to the little guys where they would live, so long as their needs were provided and they did so together. They barely even left their village to begin with. While not the smartest of beings, these original sentients were hardy and very good natured. Perhaps in time, observing Herobrine’s peaceful interactions with them, the humans in charge of the online affairs would reconsider their decision regarding new Herobrine’s place in their world.

He, for one, would be glad to have Herobrine in his company.

Notch couldn’t help a small grin, recalling again some of the moments he witnessed today. The startled look on Herobrine’s face and his shy reaction as that little villager child pulled him from one activity to the next had been hilarious and very heart touching.

Notch still smiled, allowing his eyes to close again, and returned his attention to his work. His tasks did not end even when his human body must rest.

Chapter Text

Five Years Two Months Ago

“Get up. I said get up! You useless piece of garbage! Try again!”

Herobrine staggered to his feet, trying his best to bring his reeling perception under control. The bleeding wounds slowly closed as his hands shook slightly with effort. White eyes held on the broken vase, the shards of which were now scattered all around the room.

“Now focus! Select just the object elements. Restore them to their previous coordinates.”

His head pounded, but he managed to do as ordered. Broken pieces of the vase began to coalesce together into one whole, flew back up to the table and trails of water crept back up to it in reverse. Scattered flowers replaced themselves into their previous arrangement.

Relieved by his success, Herobrine stared at the scene of the perfect house, complete with a sunny window from which he could see fake woods. This was supposed to be his house on this server, but that was a lie. It was a prison. And for hours on end, sometimes several days in a row, he was practicing skills designed to test the extent of his abilities with code, punished if he failed, condemned again as dangerous if he succeeded.

Watching the unbroken vase, he breathed heavily from mental and emotional exhaustion, wishing only that this test would end, so he could lie down and rest if only for a short time. A scowl appeared on his face as he briefly forgot himself.

An invisible force closed like a vise around his form and slammed him first against the wall of the room and then the floor, leaving him stunned on the ground. He only managed to breathe in several gasping breaths before the force returned, pressing down upon him. His arms got pulled to each side with such force that he couldn’t keep back a cry, but then bit his teeth together to swallow further sounds, determined to suffer through the rest of the punishment silently if he could.

“Watch your attitude, bot.” His keeper’s voice grumbled as the pressure keeping him in place let go, the waves of pain rolling across Herobrine’s perception from his twisted joints quieting. A minor reminder to put him in his place. He lay there with an expressionless face and feared to move without permission.

“Get up. Next test.” The disembodied voice held notes of boredom and Victor audibly yawned.

“Solve the following equations.”

Herobrine’s heart sunk. Notch had already asked him to do such before and he didn’t know how. Shakily sitting up, he looked with rising dread at the screen where equations began to appear.

[Herobrine to Victor: I cannot solve this. I do not understand this.]

“How about an AI calculator that’s present in the System. Notch showed you how to use that? Or give you our teaching aids?”

[Herobrine to Victor: No, sir. He did not.]

“Well. It’s quite simple. Oh, I see. You have no access to it since it’s in the recent update to our game. Hold on a moment, let me fix that…” Once again his keeper’s voice sounded calm, despite his fierce outburst just a moment ago. Not reassured by the change of tone, Herobrine anxiously waited while the Admin installed something into the code of the interface to account, which he had created for Herobrine so he could use in-system chat messaging and other tools for some of the tests. “Here you go. Now install that module.”

Herobrine obediently did just that and closed his eyes, allowing Herobrine’s matrix to absorb the knowledge contained in the patch directly into his system. His eyes flicked back and forth briefly, and then snapped open as he focused back on the screen, where the strange numbers and symbols began to make more sense. At first hesitantly, then with increasing speed he went through the basics of calculations. Addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, fractions, he completed quickly, but began to slow down once he had to rely on AI tools to do more complex equations which the teaching aid did not cover.

In the process, he even recognized that he already had a module in parts of his code that he previously didn’t understand, which was similar to the provided “calculator” that he was using now in the System. There were other modules there as well, the purpose of which and even how to activate them at all, he didn’t know. Did he inherit them from the real Herobrine, whose body he inhabited if things were translated to simple terms? He did not speak his thoughts out loud, of course, and suppressed them to avoid getting distracted from his current task, resolving to look at that module later.

“Not bad. Congratulations. You just aced our entrance math college tests. 98% correct.” His keeper’s voice admitted with grudging humor. “All right. That’s all I have for you for today. I’m returning you to your workstation. You can rest or do whatever you like. Just make sure that you’ll be in your proper place when the next raid period starts. You’re free until then.”

Herobrine’s form sagged as relief swept through him. Finally!

“Understood.” He acknowledged; this time able to speak out loud.

The next moment he found himself standing in the familiar hall of his mansion while in the service of the Admin. Waiting another tense moment until he felt the Admin log off, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Another test over, until his Admin received another question from his colleagues or came up with his own ideas to test his increasing abilities and skills.

A swift teleport to his room and he wearily settled down on his bed as he considered checking those other strange modules that he just noticed within his mind. He then dismissed the thought. He didn’t have either the interest nor energy to train on his own time. Besides, he already knew better than to reveal to the Admin voluntarily such information. It would only result in even more tests as they would attempt to determine the reasons those modules existed in Herobrine’s system.

Instead, Herobrine hopefully directed his attention to in-game messages and his shoulders sagged, when he once again saw nothing from Notch.

Sighing, he turned to his own memories then and simply sunk into one of the good moments that he had spent with his benefactor. He so much wished that he had still been in his custody. Would he ever see him again? Admin Victor said that he would, once his training and testing officially concluded. But, considering what he also said about Herobrine’s nature and their agreement to keep this information private in order to save Herobrine from destruction since he might not be some hacker’s joke at all, but a piece of Herobrine’s code slowly coalescing into one whole once more despite all the existing precautions, Herobrine now sincerely doubted that he would see Notch soon.

Maybe only if Notch himself requested to see Herobrine? But he had not. He must have been too busy as usual.

Dejected, in his memory Herobrine wistfully watched the other man lead the way to a lake surrounded by sparse woods. Notch flashed back a friendly grin as a fishing rod appeared in his hand. Then, Herobrine did not quite understand the purpose of this activity – just sitting on the shore with a tool to catch the swift, silver skinned creatures that Notch would prepare for dinner later that same day. They were certainly delicious, but Notch could have simply summoned them at will.

Even Herobrine could have called and lured a large number of them to him and then stun them with a bolt of lightning, to simply pick them up with his hands from the water. But Notch instead used a player’s most basic in-game method instead.

Herobrine didn’t understand the purpose of that exercise then, but now with all his virtual heart he wished that he could be there once more. To remain at his former protector’s side and do nothing but enjoy the surrounding quietness and peace.

Here, he was entirely alone and not even allowed to complain. To Notch, he did not have to hide how he felt, even if it was a negative feeling of anger or hatred, which he experienced often on occasion. He could ask him questions if he did not understand something, not having to fear punishment for not having asked “politely” enough.

His human overseer also did not care to accept any reasons for failure in the tasks he assigned. It is true that now Herobrine learned much faster, afraid to protest even when his abilities were pushed beyond his current level or skill. He hated this so much, though.

Herobrine reached to rub his tired eyes, the manacle gleaming silver on his arm. Then, he allowed his hand to fall and merely stared at the broad, bearded face in his mind sadly.

He badly wanted to see Notch, if only to apologize. It had been his own mistake, losing control, that led to the decision of the Admin to remove him from Notch’s care. That’s what Admin Victor told him and Herobrine had no reason not to believe the man.

How he missed going to different places with Notch, especially that little village. Now, his prison consisted of the lab with its strenuous tests and the dungeon that was his place of work, and this room where he would rest in between. He could also have gone to the lands immediately outside his dungeon, but he didn’t want to run into any the players hanging around the place in hope of meeting him. He didn’t want to lose control again. Couldn’t risk it, considering his new keeper’s intolerant attitude toward such mistakes.

If he had known what consequences would follow because of his cursed pride, he would have let those players win, telling him whatever words they wished. He would have patiently waited and then let Notch speak to them on his behalf. Notch was far wiser and humans listened to him, despite him being an AI like Herobrine.

Herobrine quietly rested his head on the pillow and tried to go to sleep, but sleep would not come. Memories of his past would come to him in flashes, of different moments. Everything he once had, but didn’t appreciate. All of his mistakes. So many.

He remembered Overworld, when he first became aware of himself.

He came awake in the woods, where he stood in midst of darkened forest beneath a vast ink-blue sky where millions of distant stars burned, each of them a world just like this one – another server where he could go if he wished. He didn’t know how he knew of that, then, but he already did. And swathed by a thin veil of clouds hung the silent moon and the invisible in this light the Islands of the End.

Aware of the smells and then tiny sounds as different animals and nightly mobs went about their lives, he then felt his own body, but dimly. Neither hot nor cold, his sensations still came as though through a veil.

His attention attracted by some sound, he moved in that direction. Randomly, not knowing where he was moving or why, he simply roamed through the woods, occasionally fading off again within his mind, then waking. Hunger and thirst were there, but unclear, nor did he recognize what those feelings of discomfort were, merely accepting them as something that he has already grown familiar with and accepted as part of his normal existence.

He wandered aimlessly until he came upon a strange structure, which evoked a sense of something familiar. He watched it from the cliffs afar, then teleported to it down from the mountains.

It was a house, its foundation appearing to sink within the early morning fog that thickly covered the grounds. Bits of it clung to his skin, making his clothes moist and settled in large, clear drops of dew upon the cool grass against his bare feet.

Already, numerous scratches and small, healed scars speckled his skin there, but he paid no heed to it, accepting this discomfort as normal since he did not know how to avoid it.

He drew closer to the house and curiously watched when a figure appeared. The being made several trips back and forth to the small barn from where Herobrine heard the mooing of cows. Carrying two more buckets of white liquid, the being then tarried for a bit inside and came out carrying a hoe.

Only when he was already in the field did he look up and notice Herobrine looking at him from the fog. The being then froze still, gaping, and then with a small cry vanished from sight.

Herobrine forgot him almost immediately, wandering over to the cows, then to the house itself where the door had been left open. Repeating the being’s motion, Herobrine pulled on the protruding door handle, but the door would not budge. So, he tugged harder and then in confusion blinked at the torn out door hanging in his hand. Dropping it, he went inside.

He set fire to the place on accident. And then teleported away when angry calls of players sounded outside and they ran toward him with sharp swords. That’s how his very first altercation with the players started. Every time he appeared elsewhere after this, they reacted the same and tried to attack.

Herobrine frowned and winced slightly. It was this accidental encounter, Notch told him, which brought him to the attention of players and turned him into a controversial figure in their eyes. It was something that other Herobrine clones did not do. While they attacked players on sight and destroyed their builds, they normally did not wander off too much from their designated areas. And they certainly did not go inside players’ houses and steal their items.

‘Herobrine Returns?’ ‘The Virus Back for Revenge!’ ‘A Hoax or a Glitch?’ The news articles of the day featured in the forums, drawing attention of many to the two hazy pictures of him showing him standing in the fog, his figure barely distinguishable in the haze surrounding his blank, white eyes. And another picture of him as he stood with slightly tilted head in the doorway of the house blazing in the background.

Groups of players poured into the server, combing the woods and eventually ran into him. He died several times and experienced the indescribable agony of respawn before he understood to avoid them. That’s when the first seedlings of his anger appeared. Those seedlings soon grew into a flame that consumed him.

When the next batch of players hunting after him blocked his ways of escape against the rising wall of rocks, he turned and scowled at them helplessly. He saw them approach with such satisfaction and callous mirth in their eyes as they got their weapons ready to shear into his flesh. He attempted to leap past them, only to be stricken down mid-flight. The already familiar pain slashed his senses. They didn’t even kill him right away. Instead, they laughed, talking to each other in words he could not yet understand, besides their humiliating tone. And they followed him as he crawled, several swords protruding from his back.

The fear in him then turned to rage, which swallowed up his pain. And that’s when the wall of flames exploded around him. He didn’t clearly remember what happened next, only that he acted instinctively, his anger desiring for them to feel the same pain and fear that he felt just moments ago at their hands.

Imagines burned into his mind in flashes. Him, walking with a scowl from the midst of the blazing fire, his face turned towards these stunned beings. Them retreating from him until they got their wits back and ran at him with their weapons raised, only for his gesture to turn them into running torches. The figures falling and vanishing, leaving behind items which flew toward his hand when he curiously touched them, his anger abating.

‘Glitched Boss Strikes Again!” The forums exploded. By then, the Admin had already convinced everyone that he was just one of the glitched raid bosses, copies of the original Herobrine but not the Virus himself, who as a prankster’s act had become disconnected from his normal raiding location. There was even a group of players – Steel Wolves - who claimed that it was their dungeon that they were farming, from which one day their raid boss simply disappeared and claimed that it had to be their rivals – the Black Roses, who did the hack.

Meanwhile, becoming overconfident, he led an entire army of monsters against the players of several servers and destroyed everything in sight, both peaceful and hostile players alike. This caused a wave of complaints and gave the Admin the excuse to request Notch’s help. And Notch came.

Fool! He should have known that this was no ordinary player when with one gesture of his hand, Herobrine’s entire army vanished as if it had never been. But he only looked at the man curiously, waiting with anticipation for a ‘worthy’ fight.

Herobrine shook his head slightly at the memory and forcibly dismissed it.

The image of disapproval and anger in those brown eyes was now clear to Herobrine, despite the tight and emotionless look otherwise on Notch’s bland face.

At least… he didn’t blame him last time, when those four players had provoked him. Notch reassured him that everything would be all right, so long as Herobrine remained obedient and useful. And… he was trying. He really was. It was simply not enough.

And how would Notch react if Victor ever shared with Notch his theory that Herobrine really was the original Virus, who had survived, or at least his large and now sentient piece? Notch mercilessly destroyed the Virus once already. He himself had agreed to speak to him in a short lived negotiations and then tricked him, setting off the human trap prepared for the Virus ahead of time. He then watched them destroy that being despite the being’s pleas. Admin Victor showed Herobrine the footage.

Notch was on the side of the humans always, whether he disagreed with their demands or not. It was in his nature as an exceptionally powerful AI or else he would not have been allowed to exist. And the Virus had no such limitations, much like Herobrine himself.

And had Herobrine been stronger and smarter, like his predecessor had been, Victor would have not delayed for a second, but gave him up to their Cyber Crime Division, one of the functions of which was dealing with hackers or other dangerous individuals, including AI.

The only reason Herobrine still existed and he understood that quite well, is because he was weak and could be easily controlled. At least for now. And he could reveal the secrets at last of what his predecessor could and could not do, of which many rumors abound.

Admin Victor was curious to test those tales in full. That’s why he continued to encourage Herobrine to learn and manipulate code and had no qualms resorting to cruel punishment when he felt like it. It's not like Herobrine could complain to either Notch or the other Admin. Even if he would have been given the chance, he was too afraid of their reaction if they learned that he might be really Herobrine.

Better obedience to the Admin Victor than seeing that anger and disapproval replace the kindness and concern in Notch’s eyes. To have his pleas go unheard as Notch destroyed him with his own hands.

A shiver ran through Herobrine and he tightly closed his eyes. No, he could not ever complain.

The gong of the starting raid startled him and he scowled as familiar anger and hatred returned.

Here were those human players again, trying to take their revenge on him for what he had once done while in the Overworld. Their new raid boss – the tame villain of the Admin.

At least in this role he no longer had to fight himself and the anger he bore at them. He could now kill them as much as he wished to his liking, provided that he did not hack into the code and admitted defeat should they win through in-game means - much like him. He was going to follow all the rules now and not allow anyone’s words to goad him into doing that which he knew was wrong. He was not taking the risk of being punished again. Not by Admin Victor, whom he suspected to be partially a sadist with questionable morals despite his impeccable work history…

Concentrating on his current task, Herobrine brought up the screen and scowled at the familiar names. Of all the players, it had to be these four – same players who got him in all the trouble in the first place! Only higher level and far better equipped than before, making him wonder if they purposefully logged on as beginners into that newbie location before, just to get to him?

Didn’t matter!

Herobrine’s scowl transformed into nasty sneer. Oh, he was going to enjoy defeating them. But first, he was going to test their nerves!

Materializing several zombies who attacked the cautiously moving forward players and hearing them swear as they began to fight their way through the dungeon, Herobrine darkly chuckled.

This was his turn to be mean and they were in his world…

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry, Steve. Looks like you cannot go there after all. Don’t worry, I will attempt to restitute what you have lost. I know that some things probably held memory. I am truly sorry. If I had known what my choice to stay with you would have resulted in, I would have left after I awakened.” Herobrine’s voice held sincere regret as he put his only remaining hand on Steve’s shoulder.

Steve only sighed slightly with relief and disappointment both. Relief, because during the entire time that Herobrine was talking to those two hunters, he had been on edge and unable to say much himself out of nervousness of having to face them, and now they were both home and once again in their bodies. And disappointment, because they couldn't go to the cabin and get his things as Herobrine promised, since at all times they have been accompanied by a player or two, closely watching them.

He gave Herobrine a tight smile. “Doesn’t matter. I probably would have had to leave all of that anyway sooner or later. At least now I know the truth.”

His mind still reeled from the knowledge that everything he knew was just a game for the humans from beyond their world and unreal to their perception, including Herobrine. It was still very much real to him, Steve, though. Glancing at Herobrine’s missing hand quickly, Steve took his gaze away, reminded that Herobrine lost much more than he had throughout this ordeal.

Seeing that Steve was handling his situation well, Herobrine squeezed his shoulder encouragingly and let go, turning to the young player, instead.

“Anything happen while we were gone, Cyrus?”

The young man visibly yawned, trying to wake up. Sitting on an arms chair, which he conjured in the middle of the strange magical room full of mysterious screens where images and words ran constantly, the player shook his head. The two now empty capsules stood on each side of him like crystal coffins from some fairy tale.

“Nothing. Only your Endies came twice, trying to talk to you. They saw that you were asleep and left.”

Herobrine nodded. “Right. I still have to see if I can wake up their friend. I’ll go and talk to Alstor.”

“Did you find out if they traced your escape to my server?” The player asked with a tense tone. Herobrine hesitated, but then slowly shook his head.

“I don’t know, but I don't think so. If they did, they would have been here already, would they not? I see no reason to delay. I believe my attempts to scramble our teleport here worked. I did not bring us here directly after all. First, I took us to Alstor’s server. Then, after the players were dealt with, brought us here. And again, I instructed my servants to scramble the portal data after we went through.”

“Then what are they doing in Steve’s server? Why wait there? And why are they gathering their own little army?” The player frowned, asking the question, to which Herobrine wearily shrugged and immediately winced as a brief expression of pain ran through his face.

“No clue. They obviously didn’t trust me. Especially when they recognized me. A couple of players in their party used our company’s guide services when they first started in the game. We tried to join in, but it was a private party business only.”

“They were lying.” Steve added grimly, his eyebrows drawing close together as his blue eyes flashed with hidden anger. “They told everyone in town that they were Heroes, there to save them from Herobrine, who kidnapped me.”

Herobrine smirked slightly at that. “Better that than the truth. If they said that you were protecting me, no one would have understood. You would have been called a traitor. Or worse… The legends are quite negative about me in those parts. The Admin did well propagating those tales among the locals.”

Steve sighed, while the young player nodded, giving Steve a curious look.

“What I don’t understand is what they are waiting for. Do they really believe that you would return there after everything that has happened?” The player returned to the topic of his question. Herobrine smirked.

“Well, I have. Didn’t I?”

“That doesn’t count. They didn’t know it was you.”

“Well, tomorrow, I am to meet with them again. They did mention that they were going to consider letting us join their ranks so long as their main leader agreed to it.”

“So, they are working for somebody?”

“Yes. And he was busy today. So, we will try again tomorrow. Or, I will try.” Herobrine gave Steve a questioning look, at which Steve nervously shifted from foot to foot. “If you’d rather stay here, Steve, and simply train or relax, that would be useful, too.”

“I am coming with you.” Steve declared firmly and Herobrine nodded with a slight smile.

“As you wish.” He said. The player visibly sighed.

“I want to come, too, Herobrine. Every time something interesting happens, I keep missing it. I can help, too, you know.”

“You already are, Cyrus. Just in case I am wrong and they do find a way to trace me. Your main task is making sure that if that happens, you teleport us at random to another server and scramble all data. Besides, you still have your own work to do. We don’t want to fall behind in schedule for your sister’s sake.”

At this gentle reminder, the young player’s shoulders slumped and he slowly nodded, dropping his gaze. Steve looked at them both curiously, but didn’t dare to interrupt with questions. Looking at the young man, whose real name was Timothy, but whom Herobrine for some reason kept calling Cyrus, Steve saw sadness and worry on his face. Herobrine was looking at him as well.

“May I tell Steve the general details about what we are doing here?” Herobrine asked the player with strange discomfort. After a moment, appearing uncertain, young man reluctantly shook his head.

“I can tell him myself. What happened is that four years ago the Admin tried to get on Herobrine’s case and released this nasty mod, which they called Summon Herobrine. It allowed all players to build a special totem, which would force teleport him to their location.”

Glancing away, Herobrine struggled not to scowl at the memory, but didn’t succeed.

“They did this in hope of forcing Herobrine to return to them, seeking protection and aid. Instead, after quite a few deaths, he ended up here, in my sister’s server. And she granted him refuge. He lived with us until… until she got sick. And then… We decided to begin a game guiding business to help pay for her treatments. Well, we’re still only saving up. Right now, she has been put into a cryogenics chamber. It's kind of like... this." Player pointed to one of the crystal capsules in their room. "But it's designed to keep people asleep in slowed down stasis. It's pretty expensive, too, but... It slows down the degenerative process until we have enough gathered up for the full treatment to begin.”

“I’ve been helping with learning about various interesting sites, gathering legends and clues for special quests, and taking groups of heroes to special locations. And I'm doing other jobs in guise of a player on the side.” Herobrine spoke up with a wry smirk. Steve glanced between him and the player and shrugged.

“I mean, if it works, that’s good. Right?”

Herobrine and the player exchanged an uncomfortable look. Herobrine sighed. “It works, but it’s not much. He could have earned far more in a much shorter period of time if he simply turned to one of the people who wish to capture me. They would have paid him a big sum.”

“I would never do that. My sister would never forgive me.” Timothy said firmly and Herobrine gave him a slight nod of appreciation.

“Which is why I consider him as my ally." Herobrine faintly smiled. "And why I told you that I have other responsibilities before I begin helping you to find where you really are.”

“Oh. All right. I understand.” Steve agreed readily, glad that this player and Herobrine trusted him enough to include him into their own plans.

“That doesn’t mean that your situation is any less important. I will attempt to help you as soon as this business with the Admin concludes.”

“If you’re still alive.” The player pointed out seriously and Herobrine let out a huff. “No, I’m serious, Herobrine. I still think that both of you…” Timothy looked at each of them in turn. “Need to turn yourselves in to the Admin. At least speak to them.”

Herobrine frowned. “I already sent my former keeper a message that I did not do what they think I did. I did not harm anyone in real life. Nor would I, even if I had the chance. I am not an idiot.” He said darkly.

“Well, let me know what they say back in response, okay? Because that would be easiest, instead of doing all this on our own. And I still don’t know what we’re going to do about that vi…” At Herobrine’s pointed glance, the young man got quiet and sighed. “Fine. Just do whatever you think is best. Don’t expect me to be quiet if I think that you’re being stupid, though. That’s what’s smart friends are for, anyway. To keep you from going into the fire instead of jumping there with you to kindle the flame.” Timothy grinned in a disarming way after citing what seemed to be a quote of some sort. Steve looked at them both without comprehension, while Herobrine suddenly smiled back.

“It might very well have to be that I will need to negotiate with the Admin once more. But I’m not giving up my freedom except as a last resort. You know this, Timothy.” Herobrine finally used the young human’s name and the human bloomed, smirking back until a big yawn once again broke upon his face. He stretched.

“I’m going back to sleep. What are you and Steve going to be doing?” He asked curiously, looking at them both.

Herobrine smiled. “Depends on Steve. He can probably visit the library again for a bit. Would you like that, Steve? Later on we can train a bit with the sword, grind your skills up a little more. I also promised Mr. Ledorn to finish some of the work. Sounds good?”

The young player nodded and logged off with a friendly grin. As soon as he left, Herobrine relaxed slightly and cast Steve another apologetic look.

“I’m sorry again, Steve. I did not expect that there would be so many players gathered around that place and that someone would be watching your dwelling. My servants are not that smart. They simply didn’t notice there are so many traps set out around your cabin now. It would not be wise to return there at the moment.”

Steve could only agree with that, his tone laden with regret. “I understand. It’s all right.”

Chapter Text

Five Years and Six Weeks Ago

Victor suspected that he knew what caused the change in the bot’s behavior. He just avoided thinking about it. He still didn’t know what came over him yesterday, when he ruthlessly subjected the AI to the most cruel punishment the System could devise, far beyond what the bot deserved for his infraction.

"Viiiic... I didn't know that you liked this stuff. I can get you in touch with a group who would just loooove this." Tony’s voice teased him again with dark mirth.

"No! That's not why... I'm not doing this for fun! It's just a project from work!" His own embarrassed voice sounded in Victor’s memory.

Was it just a reaction to Tony’s words? It was too late for regrets though. Now he had to deal with the consequences of the psychological damage he dealt out, with all sighs of the bot’s behavior appearing to imitate severe emotional breakdown.

[Herobrine to Victor: Please, I cannot]

[Herobrine to Victor: I cannot. I’m sorry. I cannot]

[Herobrine to Victor: Mercy.]

Victor swore under his breath, leaning away from the screen. Frustration held on his face; his lips pressed thin as he considered the kneeling program. Herobrine didn’t dare to lift his face, his expression realistically helpless and endlessly desperate. Even tears trailed down his cheeks from tightly shut eyes with long, dark eyelashes. Not a trace of the original arrogance showed.

Victor reached to the controls to deliver another period of punishment and then swore again, releasing a small huff of disbelief, his hand paused. He… couldn’t do it. That bot was just too realistic.

He was trying to do what Victor told him to do. He really did or… pretended to do so. But he could no longer perform even the basic functions which he could easily do months ago when he first arrived into his care, not to say anything about manipulating code directly. At this moment, he appeared simply… a regular virtual human.

Victor wearily rubbed the bridge of his nose. He now faced a complete block in how to proceed with further tests in determining what original Herobrine could do and it had been his own error.

This bot proved not as strong or cunning as his predecessor was rumored to be. Not even close, to say the least. Of course, Victor realized that most of those stories were exaggerated tales, but still… It had been Victor’s own actions that pushed the being beyond what he could endure, and for no good reason. He had broken him. If so, then trying to push him further would not help the matter.

Glancing thoughtfully at the ceiling, Victor released a slow breath and sighed, accepting the situation for what it was.

“Herobrine.” He spoke into the intercom calmly and saw the program visibly flinch, his body hunching smaller. That reaction drew another regretful wince from Victor. “Oh, calm down. You won’t be punished.” He grumbled.

The program didn’t respond, obviously not trusting Victor’s words. That sent a hint of anger through him. “Listen, if I said that I won’t do it, then I won’t. In fact, that’s it for these type of tests for now. You’re going to have at least a week to recover and get back in norm. Understood?”

This time, the program tensely nodded to indicate mute acknowledgement.

[Herobrine to Victor: Yes, I understand, sir.]

Victor had to admit that Herobrine had full grounds for his mistrust, considering the merciless treatment he had so far received at his hands. Victor’s lips twisted in stubborn derision and disappointment. Now it was obvious to him that the reason to original Herobrine’s powers had likely been his knowledge and long years of practice, rather than any innate and augmented abilities that he may have possessed – the very things this bot lacked despite his above than average human intelligence and Herobrine’s virtually enhanced human form.

“I’m going to transfer you to one of my own servers. Don’t worry, it will be for observation only. I’ve punished you too severely and now you are experiencing the result. That won’t occur again.”

Herobrine didn’t relax, only tensing more. Victor could almost imagine the fear that drew gloomy conclusions in the bot’s imagination of what was to happen next.

“You’ll be quite safe, I promise. I’m still going to carry out tests once you recover, but I will not punish you as harshly as before. Our contract will remain in full force so long as you continue to cooperate.” 

Not bothering to reassure the bot further, Victor simply hit the transfer protocol with the chosen server as the destination. He saw the bot appear in a field of ripened wheat next to a cozy cabin, for some reason several meters in the air above the ground.

Startled, the bot fell and immediately landed on his feet in a catlike manner. He threw several anxious looks around, cautiously checking his new environment. White eyes opened wide at the peaceful looking forest, tranquil blue sky, and then noticed the small cabin. Seeing the bot staring at it with confusion, Victor smirked.

“Relax and enjoy. Consider this your temporary vacation. You’ll be here for at least a week. Sleep, rest. Go fishing. Feel free to explore. I’ll speak with you again soon.” Victor told the bot and leaned away from the screen, observing what Herobrine would do next. It wasn’t very interesting.

Believing himself to be left alone, the bot simply leaned against the door of the cabin with his back and slowly slid down, grasping his hands around his knees as he leaned his forehead to them in defensive relief.

Victor frowned, again reviewing his own actions last night. What moved him to such extreme means to subjugate the bot’s will? Was it the bot’s stubbornness, previously managing to resist him despite his increasingly cruel treatment? And Victor had to admit to himself that he began to approach the bot’s testing in a more and more careless manner, knowing that Herobrine had no choice but to bear with it all.

Did this have to do with Victor’s own past somehow? He irritably sighed. He had no time to waste on resolving some deeply seated personal issues once again. He had work to do!

Chapter Text

Victor brought the video recording that Herobrine had sent him, where the bot stood facing the camera with a grim expression on his face, his left shoulder bandaged and missing an arm.

“Whatever you think I did to deserve this, I did not do. I swear on that. Leave me be. I just wish to live in peace as any other virtual human.” Herobrine said tensely to their audience in a very short message, which revealed only some sort of generic caves behind him, which their System AI could not identify as to a specific location.

“What is this?” The other Admin asked Victor with confusion on their faces and he slightly shrugged.

“His private video message to me. He claims to be innocent of the incident with the players that you all believe he was involved in.”

The other Admin gave each other a look, before turning to Victor.

“Doesn’t mean anything.”

“Yes. He is a SAI who can lie if it suits his purposes.”

“Look at the other data I’ve sent you before you make your final decision. As I’ve told you before, I do not think he is lying this time. He is too smart to attack the players so openly.”

“Then why doesn’t he surrender?”

“Maybe because we didn’t press him hard enough, yet.” Another Admin said with grim satisfaction.

“In either case, Victor. We cannot allow him to remain free.”

“Even if someone else is responsible for what happened to those players? It is obvious that they simply distracted us, throwing to us a false trail. And if it’s not Herobrine, then this might happen again.” Victor pointed out.

The Admin again gave each other a look.

“Do we really want an AI dark god in our world? Notch, we can control. But that creature of his?... You saw what he did. We have no way to control him! He refused to follow our commands.”

“So would you if you were in his place.”

“That’s beside the point! He is an AI! He should do what he is told! AIs are tools, Garold, not people. They are not supposed to have a will of their own or to think without a prompt. A ship cannot suddenly decide that it doesn’t wish to go where the captain guides it to go. AIs without controls shouldn’t exist! At least, not AIs with such power as that. What if they decide that they can do better than us and take over the real world?”

“Notch would never allow that.”

“He refused to help us track him down!”

“All he wants now is to live in peace.” Victor insisted confidently.

“Him taking down two servers is living in peace?”

“He always only responds to attacks, he does not initiate them.” Victor insisted. “I will vouch for him.”

“As you have vouched for him before?” Another Admin sarcastically humphed.

“Doesn’t matter! He is unpredictable and without control. That makes him dangerous! And dangerous elements must be removed!”

Victor sighed. “And that is why he won’t return to us. Because of threats like these.”

The other Admin huffed, rolling his eyes in frustration. “He escaped while in your watch, Victor. You shouldn’t be the one to talk.”

“I’m just saying… We should give him a chance to explain himself, not destroy him outright.”

“Yes, if we manage to get him safely contained in our lab, then yes. We’ll talk to him. But only if he’s successfully contained. So far, even with your measures, seems he prefers to live on the edge of respawn rather than surrender to us.”

“I told you it wouldn’t work.” Victor smirked softly with some appreciation for the program’s desperate courage.

“Could he have found a way to counteract your virus?”

Victor shrugged. “It’s possible. He is very clever and he knows how code works.”

“You should have never taught him so much about it.” The other Admin frowned. Victor mildly shrugged.

“You wanted to know how far his abilities go. I’ve answered that question.”

“We should have destroyed him then, before your tests found him to be a SAI.” Another Admin regretted.

“In all truth, it should be Cyber Division handling this case, not us. He is too dangerously close to that original Virus, your findings non-withstanding. When we get him back, we’ll run another panel on him, no offense.”

“None taken.” Victor patiently smiled. “It would only make sense.”

“Too bad that we cannot get Notch to work on this.” One of them grumbled and Victor sarcastically humphed.

“Well, you should not have tried to erase his memories and damaged him.” He told them.

“If he didn’t defy us and refuse to help us return Herobrine, that wouldn’t have been necessary.” Another countered. All others glared at Victor.

“We wouldn’t have had to do anything at all, if he didn’t escape to Notch while under your watch.” They accused and Victor sighed.

“Still. I don’t think he was responsible. If anything, I believe that he might be of great help to us if we convince him to cooperate.”

“Oh, we will convince him. Once we have him.” One of the other Admin reassures, throwing a confident look at the others. “It is just a matter of time.”

Victor nodded, giving in to their decision.

Logging out from the brief meeting after making his report, he logged in to his virtual lab, where he considered Herobrine’s missing arm, rotating in the stasis field of an analyzer device like some grisly trophy. He smirked slightly with regret.

“Just want to live as a normal human, huh? This will be more difficult than you think in your case.” He told himself quietly and began introducing additional changes to its matrix, finally malleable to his will because of the changes introduced into Herobrine’s code by the virus that the Admin had created based upon his work.

“How are you managing to resist it?” He asked Herobrine quietly, finishing the last of the adjustments.

Materializing a chair, Victor sunk into it, leaning back against the headrests. He yawned and at his idle gesture a screen came up, where numerous video files were located. He pulled up one of them and then completely logged out.

Rubbing his eyes, he got up and glanced at the screen clock. It was almost time for Katie to come home from school.

He went to the kitchen and prepared a simple meal, heating up some chilli and boiling hotdogs. Setting out some bread, he set it on two plates, and then looked at the time again.

A message blinked in the corner of his augmented vision and he touched his wrist, where a band of light appeared and then a transparent screen shot up in the air before his sight. It was a message from Tony.

Irritated by the untimely notification, he still opened it and began to read. As he did so, his brows came tightly together and his heart began to beat fast, disbelief coming over him along with seething anger. Dismissing the note, he abruptly turned and returned to his room, where Tony’s thin, nervous face appeared on the screen, not quite making direct eye contact.

“I’m sorry, Vic. I’m really sorry.” Tony lifted up a pained glance directly at Victor’s eyes.

“Where is my niece?!” Victor’s hands clenched tightly as he looked at his childhood friend with a sinking feeling. Tony rubbed his hair with shaking hands.

“Unharmed. If you’ll cooperate.”

Tony’s hand swiveled the camera and pointed at the peacefully sleeping preteen girl in the log-in pod.

“I need to talk to her. To see that for myself. What mess did you get us into this time?!” Victor’s voice raised despite himself, the helpless feeling within him growing. Tony only mildly and apologetically sighed.

“I sold the information on your SAI. Now they want more, from you directly.”

“I already told you, I lost him. Years ago! He is now a rogue AI. I cannot get to him!”

“You’re going to have to. If you want to ever see her wake up again.”

“What do you mean?” Victor frowned, his heart skipping a beat.

“What you heard.” Tony said grimly.

Victor closed his eyes and breathed heavily. When he opened his eyes, cold determination shone in them as he considered his former friend with a calculative look.

“Fine. Tell me what you need me to do.”

Chapter Text

Five Years and Three Weeks Ago

“Hmm. I wonder what is inside that human shell of yours? How much of this do you really need to function?” The human appeared to be speaking more to himself than Herobrine and Herobrine helplessly frowned, not daring to interject with his own opinion on the subject. The topic idly mentioned by the Admin worried him greatly, since he couldn’t fathom what went on through Victor’s mind at this moment – only suspected that it would end up badly for him, Herobrine.

“What will happen if I erased this human part of you? You do understand now that you are just a piece of code, right?” This time the Admin appeared to be speaking to him, so Herobrine hurried to send his answer.

[Herobrine to Victor: Yes, sir. I understand.]

Victor only humphed mildly. “So, you don’t really have the need to breathe or eat. Or sleep. Those are just useless additions to make you seem more human. You are not. Just intellect. A cold, soulless machine. Just like the rest of those NPCs… You don’t really feel pain. This concept will be at the core of the next series of tests that I am going to do…”

Herobrine unwillingly tensed, having a bad foreboding about all this. Although after his short yet peaceful vacation the attitude of the Admin toward him seemed to have significantly improved, he didn’t allow himself any hopeful delusions – he was still only Admin Victor’s unwilling subject. And now the tests were about to resume.

“Uncle?” A small child’s voice interrupted the Admin’s voice. A moment paused, before Victor replied, his tone shifting to a warmer, kinder tone.

“What is it, kiddo?” He spoke with genuine affection.

“Who is that?” The young child’s voice asked with simple curiosity.

“Nothing. Just a program I’m studying… I thought I asked you not to come in without knocking?”

“I did. You just didn’t hear me because you were so busy yelling again.” The child said with slight disapproval. The Admin uncomfortably cleared his throat and turned off the screen showing Herobrine’s simulation.

“Well, I was not yelling this time.”

Still hearing their voices with that strange sense that he somehow gained before, Herobrine shakily drew his knees closer and hugged his own shoulders as feeling of utter helplessness once again descended over him.

“Is he a SAI?” The child asked curiously.

“No, he is not. He is not really alive.”

“Then why are you getting angry at him? It’s like yelling at the wall. You once told that to me yourself.” The child pointed out.

“That’s… not quite the same, Sash. Unlike him, I’m human. And I get frustrated sometimes. And you wouldn’t have heard anything if you weren’t listening at the door.” He mildly reproached, hiding his embarrassment.

“I was curious who you keep talking to like that.” The child explained with some concern in her tone. “I was just worried.”

“It’s just a program I’m working on for my job, sweetie. Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.” The last words of disapproval turned his keeper’s voice colder to a degree and Herobrine unwillingly felt a chill going through him, as he wondered whether this child was in danger, living with such a mentally unstable human.

“Though a very cute nose it is.” Victor chuckled next and the child laughed with him.

Herobrine relaxed slightly. At least this human wouldn’t harm his own flesh and blood. He was not a complete monster as that. Relaxing at that and taking this moment to tell himself to remain calm, Herobrine wearily closed his eyes and waited.

“What did you need, Sash?” Victor asked more seriously, a note of irritation plain to despite the caring, gentle tone.

“I cannot solve this problem again. I hate math! Can you help me?” The child complained and Herobrine heard a long sigh.

“Of course. Let me see…” A long pause followed. “Well, right here is the problem. And I’m not going to do the work for you. I’ll just give you a hint. How do you solve for b when you have two sets of points on a graph? Which equation do you use?”

“Could you just tell me?” The child pouted, frustrated at extra work and the highlighted mistake, which she would now have to resolve on her own.

“Ask your AI tutor if what I’m asking you to do is too difficult. In any case, this problem is too difficult for your level right now. Why are you trying to solve it?” Victor asked curiously.

“Um… It’s just an additional problem that they gave us for extra credit in GP!” The child immediately said with a lighter tone of voice, that practically revealed that she was trying to hide something. At least to Herobrine, it was obvious. It must have been obvious to her relative, too, since Victor good-naturedly chuckled.

“Very well. I guess it’s entirely fine if it’s for GP. But even so, it is you who must do the work. I can only point at your error. Otherwise you won’t learn how to do this yourself.”

“But uncle Vic…”

“My decision is firm, Katie Alex Samilova.”

“Fine. Thanks anyway.” The child said with some disappointment and left, closing the door.

After a moment, Herobrine felt the internal view camera turn back on as his Admin turned the screen back on. “Hmm… Where were we?...”

“You were going to explain the nature of your next test of me.” Herobrine volunteered softly, trying his best not to add any emotion into his voice and keeping his face as expressionless as possible. He felt rather than witnessed the human nod in agreement.

“That’s right. Your next test. It will be somewhat uncomfortable, I’ll warn you ahead of time. We have already carried multiple tests on how you are able to function when you experience signals that your virtual mind interprets as pain. And we’ve determined that you are not able to ignore it, even though it does not ultimately carry any risk to your actual health, since all your injuries regenerate almost instantly. What we haven’t checked is how you will react to the absence of virtual air, water, and food. All of those are just virtual constructs, pieces of code much like yourself, so they should ultimately not matter in the slightest. Lets see how you will react and whether you can rise above the illusion that you need such things.”

Herobrine threw a dismayed look at the camera, trying to put a plea into his expression.

[Herobrine to Victor: Why, sir? You promised that you wouldn’t punish me yet again without a good reason.]

Victor merely raised his eye-brows. “Punish you? It’s just a short series of tests, Herobrine. I won’t last longer than five days. Only a few minutes for the first one.”

Herobrine lowered his gaze, slumping as he accepted the Admin’s words, and reluctantly nodded. [Herobrine to Victor: As you wish. What do I have to do?]

“Nothing. Try to remain calm and not react to it.”

[Herobrine to Victor: When will you start the test?] He asked, inevitable dread settling in his heart as he tried to come to terms with more discomfort soon to come, although not fearing is as the unpredictable punishments that he had suffered through earlier. Somehow, knowing what was about to happen and that it would not last long, allowed him to accept it more calmly.

His keeper shrugged lightly. “How about we’ll do the first test now. This way we’ll get it over and done with.”

After a moment, Herobrine nodded. A short moment later, smooth walls materialized around him, enclosing him into a small, cubical room lit by ambient white light, reflecting off the metallic surfaces. He could see the seams and felt the air getting sucked into the cracks, before the walls completely closed around him. Almost reflexively, he sucked in his breath and held it, feeling strange cold spreading across his skin as he nervously waited.

Nearly ten minutes passed before he felt first tinges of fear slipping into his mind as the need to breathe grew stronger and stronger within him. The air grew tight in his lungs, trying to push it out so he could breathe in again. At last he could not hold it and it rushed out of his nostrils and mouth. Only when he tried to breathe in again, he found nothing. His mouth wide open, he struggled like a fish thrown out of the water into the air, his chest uselessly jerking to expand.

The air was gone.

Small sparks went off before his eyes, the room around him dimming. Instinctively, he lunged toward the seam between the walls, standing closed as if it was the edge of a closed door with no door handles. And he tried to scratch at it with his clawed fingers, to no result. Soon, his contorting body collapsed to the ground, the view of the seam slipping from his dimming vision, and then grew still as he fell unconscious.

Looking at the screens displaying the bot’s vital sighs, Victor saw all functions start to slow down, including the violently beating heart, until another beat fell into silence and none afterward followed. He leaned closer, curiously.

The bot was not dying, yet. He had merely entered a sort of slowed stasis. Another full five minutes passed before Victor saw another spike on the electrogram – a single heartbeat. Almost fifteen minutes passed before he heard another. He humphed to himself.

“Interesting.” He muttered.

The brain waves appeared to even out, barely registering at all, as AI analyzer concluded that the subject’s mental functions have also slowed to a sort of a coma.

“How long before the subject reaches respawn state?” Victor asked the system, monitoring Herobrine’s current condition and getting tired of waiting for the next heartbeat as almost another half hour had passed.

A pleasant, emotionless voice paused before answering. “Twelve hundred and fifty-three days.”

Victor’s eyebrows crept up. “3.43 years? Interesting…”

… Herobrine awakened already on his bed in the cabin, that had become his new home. Sunlight pleasantly shone through the open windows, through which fresh air came in in gentle gusts, stirring the lacy white curtains. In his personal message box blinked a message, which he hurried to open.

[Victor to Herobrine: Congratulations with completing your first test.] Remembering the circumstances of his passing out, Herobrine instinctively jerked and pulled in a deep, shaky breath, closing his eyes tightly as terrible memory continued to haunt him. He lay for several minutes trying to calm down, before he read the rest of the message.

[Victor to Herobrine: Your next test begins immediately after you wake up. You are not to eat or drink anything until further notice. If you do, the test will start over again in less comfortable conditions.]

Herobrine sighed and took another deep breath, this time almost calmly as he suppressed the terrible memory of being closed within that metallic shining box. He expected that completing the second part of the test should be fairly easy, considering that he had already often done that before. First, when he awakened in the woods and throughout many of his first respawns. He expected that he probably could not die from this at all, although he did remember some discomfort previously. Relaxing and hoping that the Admin’s devious mind would not come up with anything additional to this, he leaned back his head on his pillow and wearily closed his eyes, intending to sleep some more while he had the chance.

“Hello? Are you here?” He heard a child’s hesitant voice and startled, his white eyes opening wide. His keeper’s child?

A lunge to the window and he saw her, standing in the field of vegetables and ripening strawberries as she curiously looked around. What was she doing here, fully logged on? He still couldn’t help his curiosity as he studied her, wondering if what she looked like here was how she really looked like in real life.

He had seen other human children before, when Notch took him to that therapy play visit of young humans from the children’s hospital, and she looked just like them, only healthier and brighter somehow. Just a miniature version of a human with shorter limbs and bright red pig-tails on her head.

“Hello?” The girl asked impatiently and made a step toward the cabin.

Herobrine opened the door and frowned at her. “Hello, little one. I don’t think you’re supposed to be here. Your uncle is going to know that you came. I will be required to tell.”

She hesitantly smiled, though her face reflected some disappointment.

“I logged on using his codes. Are you a Sai?”

Herobrine tried to avoid the question. “Your uncle does not think so.”

The little girl frowned a little, her intent gaze not leaving as she appeared to be curiously looking him over. He felt rather self-conscious in his worn out t-shirt and jeans, with messy dirty hair to boot. But taking a bath had been the least of his concerns of late with all the testing. He could distinctly feel and smell his own old sweat, sticky across his skin and rancid with fear. His cheeks slightly colored with embarrassment, although he doubted that the child had logged on with more than… 30 percent max settings?!

“I know what uncle Vic says. What do you think about yourself?” The girl insisted, belying her young age as she caught on to Herobrine’s words. He looked at her with growing worry. Won’t his keeper count him at fault if he didn’t encourage her to obey the proper rules and log off? Except… he didn’t know how to do that.

“I do not know.” He admitted honestly. “I think and I feel aware of myself. Does that answer your question?”

“It doesn’t!” The child insisted with slight irritation. “Can you just answer me plainly? You and uncle Vic are so alike!”

Herobrine blinked at her for a second, then gently smiled, suddenly amused. “What do you wish to know, little one?” He asked patiently.

The girl looked at him in challenge. “Are you a real person?”

“No, I am not. I’m a virtual person.” Herobrine didn’t hide a small smirk.

“But you are a person.” The girl insisted.

“I believe so too. Are you?”

She blinked at him in confusion. “Of course I am. I’m a real person. I live in the real world. Oh… My name is Katie! Katie Alexandra Samilova.

He nodded in appreciation. “Nice to meet you, Katie. I am Herobrine.”

“Herobrine? That’s a funny name! Is that really your name?” The child mistrustfully smiled, somehow lightening up the world around them with her friendly curiosity. Herobrine couldn’t help smiling back.

“Maybe it’s not. It’s just what everyone calls me.”

“What is your real name, then?”

“I do not have one. I did not have parents that I am aware of, who would have named me. Would you like to pick a nice name for me, little one?” He offered with spontaneous wish to give this innocent being some small amount of joy. He could tell he was successful by how her face seemed to bloom with excitement.

“Call me Sasha. I don’t like Katie. And I’m not little!” She immediately protested, though. Herobrine smiled again.

“Very well, Sasha. As you wish.”

The girl nodded firmly, and then her gaze grew a little distant as she considered Herobrine while he waited for her next move, amused.

“… Brian.” She finally declared. “Because that’s close to… to…”

“Herobrine?” He finished for her, noting her difficulty and she nodded with relieved grin. “Makes sense.” He agreed. “You picked a good name for me, then. Brian. I think I like it.” Herobrine said with a slight smirk.

“Brian? I think I like it, too.” Admin Victor’s voice sounded and Herobrine felt a chill go through him, his smile vanishing as fear crawled out in its place, spreading its sticky, cold fingers around his heart. His entire body tensed, all expression fleeing from his face.

The child looked slightly intimidated as well. Looking around, she lifted her face to the camera symbol that appeared and floated closer to her.

“Sorry, uncle Vic. I wanted to see if he was still here…”

“She only wished to see if I was real or a bot.” Herobrine spoke in the child’s defense, unable to help himself as he protectively reached his hand and put it on her shoulder for support. She glanced at him gratefully and smiled.

“I see.” Victor’s voice said without any expression. “And what did you tell her, Brian?” He mocked his new name with a change in tone, emphasizing that word among the others by a heightened tone.

Herobrine tensed even more, slightly paling. He slowly dropped his gaze, realizing that he was staring at the camera. He opened his mouth and found himself mute as so often happened in times of stress. Perhaps his keeper realized this as well.

“What did he tell you, Alex?” He asked the child amicably.

“Um…” The child’s voice carried lost uncertainty as she helplessly glanced at Herobrine for support, but found his face expressionless as he looked down at the ground.

“He didn’t exactly say… Is he a SAI or a bot?” She finally asked her uncle honestly.

“He is a bot. Not a SAI.” Victor answered coldly, as if cutting off with a swift sword any room for doubt.

“Ah… Okay…” The child accepted, though her voice gained a reluctant tone. “Is it all right if I call him Brian?”

“You, my dear little one, shouldn’t be talking to him at all.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s a defective evil raid boss. He seems nice now, but sometimes he might act the villain and turn very mean. I don’t want you to be scared or to have your feelings hurt. I’m studying him now to try and fix him.”

“Oh. Okay… Sorry, Brian. I guess I better go and do my homework then.” Alex looked at Herobrine apologetically and patted his large hand, still resting on her shoulder. His gaze at her softened and he made a tiny nod of permission, since that’s what the child seemed to expect.

Without another word, the child quickly vanished. It wouldn’t be the last time that she would come to see and speak to him, however.

Chapter Text

Steve couldn’t sleep.

He kept having snippets of his memories randomly flash in his memory.

"You should not have helped that monster, Steve… You should have given him to us, instead of lying. You wasted our time! If you tell us where he is, we will let you go."

"You useless, blipping bot! You think he cares about bots like you? You are just a blipping toy. He used you and abandoned you. Now you'll be paying the price.

“Do you need both arms to Mine? Or can you do it with just one?"

Angry brown eyes looked at him coldly once more, the sharp edge of the axe digging into his shoulder. A flash of Herobrine’s battered form appeared in his mind next as the wounded, bleeding man lay upon his porch, surrounded by the mulling Endermen.

His heart beating fast, Steve uncomfortably turned to his other side as he lay in the soft, big bed, his head sinking into the fluffy pillow. Despite the comfort surrounding him, he much wished that he was once again at home. And the thoughts of those… those lying players just made him so angry!

“I’m so glad you decided to join our party, Miguel and Leshey! Any friend of Steve’s is our friend!” Amicable brown eyes watched them both as Herobrine smiled back a little in his disguise. Steve’s own eyes couldn’t help searching for the axe in the young man’s possession and found it leaning against the table edge next to his boots, a cold feeling running through him.

Irritably, Steve turned again to his other side, trying to extinguish the thoughts of today’s day and the failed plan to retrieve his things from his cabin. At least, his animals were safe… When the other players escorted “Miguel” to his friend Steve’s house, the people in town constantly interrupted their path with worried greetings and told him all about what happened when the heroes returned and told them about encountering Herobrine in the mines that they hired Steve to explore with them.

“We already took care of Steve’s animals for him.” Younger teen, Tomas, told about his part eagerly, while his older brother, Oleg, nodded.

“Yeah. We took the cows and pigs to our pa’s farm.”

“And I’ll feed the chickens.” Sam added, while his friends quickly nodded. Steve badly wanted to thank his young friends for this, since it had been his main concern since coming to stay with Herobrine. But their bright eyes all looked eagerly at Miguel, whom they already knew well and counted as Steve’s friend, while they ignored Steve in his disguise of a strange elven player.

Steve almost wished that he had chosen a more ordinary disguise now, seeing the strange stares both the normal people and the other players, slightly smirking, were giving him in this little town.  

“Look at that newb.”

“An elf? Really?”

His cheeks slightly blushing, Steve decided to ask Herobrine to change his player’s disguise to something else this time, before they went to join the heroes’ growing “rescue” party once more tomorrow morning. If he was awake, that is.

Steve sat up with a small sigh, giving up on sleep for the moment. A quick glance to the interface clock told him that it was eleven sixteen pm…

For a moment, Steve’s blue eyes held on his player’s interface, now activated by Herobrine so he could see it also. Wherever his eyes fell, the screen was giving him additional information, helpfully provided by the local System.

Bed, luxury. Comfort level 9.

Putting on his shoes, his eyes held on them, next.

Shoes, plain leather. Quality Common, level 4. Durability 89%.

His lips twitched at the slightly intruding information, tempted to turn it off and go back to the familiar “immersive” view. He didn’t, though. He was a Player. He needed to get used to it… Right?

“System, please show me where Herobrine is.” Steve politely asked next, unable to simply give orders to the mysterious Game as Herobrine and his friend, Timothy the Player, seemed to do.

Immediately, the interface before him displayed a map of the safe section of the enormous stronghold where Herobrine and Steve currently resided. Not only that, but it provided the shortest path, which lit up like a green line of arrows leading from Steve’s room to the door. That part, at least, was very convenient for Players, since Steve still couldn’t remember the exact purpose of the hundred and some rooms present in this wing alone.

Herobrine was not in his room, but still in the lab, which meant that he was still awake, too.

Encouraged, Steve got up and headed to the lab. Walking past the numerous rooms, Steve saw a few neutral mobs lingering here and there aimlessly, and tried his best to ignore them.

Soon, the green glowing arrows led to his destination and he carefully pushed open the heavy set doors, looking inside. He immediately recognized the room from where he and Herobrine departed this morning. The two sarcophagus like player capsules were gone now, but the numerous virtual displays were still there, displaying various servers that Herobrine apparently observed.

Steve’s eyes lingered on the several displays devoted to his own world, which even displayed “Steve’s Server” as their title. One showed a bustling city and seemed to be a look from the rooftop, overlooking a still busy main square in front of a large church devoted to Notch and meant as a respawn place for players. Players and local merchants came to and left through the huge portals placed in the middle of the square.

Another, also a view from the rooftop, overlooked a quant town library, which was quiet at this time of the night, its windows quiet.

And the last several ones, where Steve’s eyes held the longest as conflicted feelings rose within him, surrounded his own cabin, covering the near views towards it, as well as the view from within, from the kitchen to the front door. Right now, two unfamiliar Players sat by his small dining table, along with Edart the town guard, and idly played cards.

Steve stared at them, not sure how he felt about all this. On one hand, he was glad about how his entire town had responded to the heroes’ claim that Herobrine had kidnapped him. All of them were willing to help as much as they could, claiming that they wanted him back safe and sound.

But… what if they knew the truth? That Steve actually helped the so-called monster of legends that they all feared so much.

Steve sighed, forcing himself to look from his cabin toward Herobrine, who sat by one of the monitors with his back turned to him, still absorbed in his work.

Steve quietly approached, unwilling to disturb him.

Coming closer, he saw that Herobrine was gloomily staring at one of the screens, where a strange pattern rotated next to a transparent human figure, which was Herobrine’s mirror image by the looks of its one arm and glowing white eyes. The pattern consisted of a double helix of repeated colorful balls joined by rungs of a ladder. Different sections of this strange pattern would light up and respond to various areas of the rotating figure that would highlight red, green, and blue colors.

Above it all hung a message: “Viral analysis complete.*

“Brine?” Steve asked quietly, approaching, while he looked at the pattern curiously.

“It’s late, Steve. You should be asleep.” Herobrine grumbled without looking up, a bit of his former irritable attitude showing.

Steve disarmingly smiled, shrugging. “Cannot… Why are you still awake?”

“I still have things to do.” Herobrine responded back curtly, frustration clear on his features as at his glance, another section of the double helix pattern split apart from the rest and changed slightly in its sequence. Several areas of the displayed figure immediately lit up red around its stomach area, with additional yellow areas highlighting around the throat and fingers.

Herobrine leaned back in frustration, rubbing his tired eyes with his only remaining hand.

“What is that?” Steve asked, looking at the pattern and model curiously, earning himself a resigned huff.

“Building blocks of life…” Herobrine said, forcing himself to be patient. Steve didn’t deserve his building up ire for his innocent curiosity. “What makes you - you, and me - me. This pattern is what determines what you look like and that everything inside you works as it should…”

Steve continued to look at the pattern, obviously puzzled. After a moment, he sheepishly grinned, admitting his ignorance, but not daring to ask more.

“It’s a bit too much to explain…” Herobrine said thoughtfully. “I suppose its enough to say that everything in our worlds is designed to reflect on what exists beyond it, down to the level not seen by ordinary human sight – its far too small. This pattern here is what exists within your body, within the smallest parts of it. It serves as a blue-print of how your body should work. Does that kind of makes sense?”

This time, Steve hesitantly nodded. “Why is it red like that?” He asked, looking at Herobrine’s displayed figure.

“Because its… damaged. And I don’t mean just the arm. It’s the poison, which had been on the weapons of the Players who wounded me. A poison, which has been designed by the Admin to skip my external defenses and attack the very nature of who I am, meant to strip me of my powers for good. A poison, which is very effective, even though I’ve managed to keep it contained from further spread for now.”

Herobrine frowned at the pattern, for now leaving it alone. “The System finished its analysis for me, so now I am trying to determine for sure what it has been designed to do.”

“It’s taking away your powers? Is that why you are not healing?” Steve carefully verified. Herobrine nodded with irritation.

“Yes. It is dissolving parts of my code that makes the Game recognize me as Herobrine and gives me special access to various power functions… Without them, I am just an ordinary Human similar to those who live in your town. And normal Humans cannot heal missing limbs…”

“But it is… not going to kill you?”

“It appears not.” Herobrine frowned at the screen, both puzzled and annoyed by its effects. “But in the end, that still amounts to the same. Any Player that goes after me, will be able to overwhelm me, just using his strength alone. I’ll be locked at level 1. Like a newborn. Pathetic.”

Herobrine’s lips twisted in dismayed, arrogant sneer. “I’ll be forced to keep in hiding, only daring to venture into the world under guise of a player from now on. And that might not be feasible much longer. I do not want to risk this place and my only friends among the Humans to suffer because of their connection with me. Soon, I will have to leave and go elsewhere…”

Steve frowned at these words. “We cannot stay here?”

Herobrine glanced at him and looked away, still frowning. “You will stay. I cannot. If my friendship with Timothy is ever discovered by the Admin, they are going to take this server away from him and possibly ban him from ever accessing the System again. How will he then earn his own living? And his sister’s sickness… He is trying to earn enough to afford her treatment. I cannot risk being found here of all places.”

Steve hesitates, his own mind in overdrive. “Then… I’ll be coming with you.”

Herobrine quietly humphed, his gaze on Steve softening. “That won’t be necessary. If our plan works as it should, you will soon be back on your little farm, living as before…”

Turning back to the screen in front of him, Herobrine resumes checking the double-helix pattern on the screen, highlighting the next section. This time, the displayed figure’s glowing white eyes lost their glow and turned simply white. Herobrine’s only hand reflexively curled into a fist as a low angry snarl sounded from him.

“I was going to be blinded, too?” He says with disbelief, looking at the figure’s unseeing eyes on the screen.

A small sound of teleportation came from behind them, causing Steve to turn around. He saw the young Player, Timothy or Cyrus, as Herobrine preferred to call him, appearing behind them. He, too, approached Herobrine and frowned at the monitor’s display.

“They could have just as easily designed it to kill you. Not just make you weak.” He pointed out, to which Herobrine irritably turns his head, stretching his neck with small popping sounds.

“Same thing, essentially. Considering how many players are after me. First respawn and I’ll end up in their lab. A prisoner in their hands once more.”

“Still… “ Timothy said uncomfortably.

Herobrine abruptly got up, not meeting the young Player’s eyes, barely hiding a scowl. “I am going for a walk.”

With a nod in Steve’s direction and ignoring Timothy, he strode past them to the wall, where a portal square appeared within a few steps. He disappeared through it.

Timothy blinked at it, then blew out a frustrated breath. “Damn it…” He whispered quietly. Noticing Steve’s puzzled gaze on him, he only tried to smile.

“He is so stubborn… All I wanted to say is that maybe being a prisoner of the Admin won’t be so bad. They know he is a SAI after all. And if he becomes only human, it means that they won’t be worried if he will take over their Game anymore. They will probably just put him in isolation in some quiet village somewhere, where he can lead a quiet life. Maybe have a farm, like you do. Cook all the food he wants. But instead… He would rather live on the run and… get in trouble. I mean, what would you do in his place? I would negotiate with them. But not him. Not great and powerful Herobrine.”

Timothy complained. “And he won’t listen to me, either. Just because… because of what I nearly did one time.”

Steve only looked at the venting Player in confusion. Realizing after a moment that he just may have said something that Steve couldn’t possibly know about, Timothy sighed and once again focused on the displayed model.

“System, display current status of viral infection in Herobrine 76914.” Player stated curtly, his attitude shirting to businesslike.

The mysterious magic of high technology made the three-dimensional image of Herobrine flash, changing the colors to green and red, with red spreading from Herobrine’s wounded shoulder to his heart and partly into his brain.

Frowning at the image, Timothy grumbled. “And that’s why his powers are already glitching so bad. His brain is already affected by this crap…” Worriedly, Timothy’s green eyes run across the red areas of the image. “He may have blocked further effects, but for how long? And he plans to go into hiding with this? That’s stupid!”

Green eyes shift to Steve. “You’ve got to talk to him, Steve. For some reason, he trusts you. More than he does me. He needs help! He cannot go on like this. Not alone, for sure.”

“I will go with him.” Steve nods, all hesitation gone from his mind. Timothy gladly nods, too.

“Talk to him, man. At least make him consider asking for help. He hates the Admin, fine. But he doesn’t hate all humans. Magnus Ledorn, for one. That’s our boss. We do little jobs for the guy, here and there. He was so impressed with Miguel that he was willing to employ him permanently. So what if he finds out that Miguel is a SAI? And… and Herobrine. For whom he’s been after for years now for whatever reason.” Timothy frowned in concern as he grumbled under his nose, at a loss for what to do, while Steve watched him carefully, trying his best to make sense of the situation.

Remembering Steve being there, the young Player frowned at him once more.

“He asked me to keep you here until he figured things out. And I said yes.”

Steve shook his head, stubbornly. “I am going with him.”

“You will have to convince him of that. And do it soon. Because he is in the habit of disappearing. And staying gone for months, not answering any replies.” Timothy said in frustration. Steve nodded. Glancing at the portal, still open on the wall, he stepped there with firm intention to have a good talk with Herobrine about all this.

Herobrine DID promise to answer all of his questions, didn’t he?

“Wait. Let me give you my contact info. Accept my friend request, will ya?”

A moment later, Steve’s interface pinged with an incoming friend request. He accepted it, and Timothy’s name appeared in the list of his friends next to Miguel Santiago’s.

“And here. Take this contact as well. It’s for Mr. Ledorn, our boss. If push comes to shove, contact the guy and… explain to him what’s been going on. And that Miguel is actually Herobrine. Alright?” Timothy looked at him desperately.

After a moment, Steve reluctantly nodded. He felt like he was acting contrary to Herobrine’s wishes, but in this case… Timothy was right, wasn’t he? Herobrine needed help. He just didn’t trust anyone to ask for it. It would be good to know someone else to turn to, if things got really bad and Steve saw no other choice.

A second ping gave him the contact for an older man, whose image Steve studied for a bit before he decided that he had a positive, solid feel on the guy. The man had a serious and reserved expression, but his eyes were human, not calculative or cold. In any case, Steve felt that he was not bad, and he usually relied on his senses about people. They haven’t stirred him wrong before. Even regarding Herobrine…

“Great. Thanks, man.” Steve found the young Player grinning at him with some relief. Glancing at the portal, he walked with Steve towards it. Just as Steve was about to step through, he chuckled. “And don’t worry about that dragon. He is just an overgrown puppy.”

Steve stopped dead in his tracks. “Wait… What?”

Timothy nodded to the portal. “That’s where Herobrine’s Enderdragon lives. That’s the address.”

Steve felt a shiver go through him, instantly rethinking going to have a talk with Herobrine, at least at this moment. “Is that where he went?”

“Yeah. He goes there to sulk.” Timothy smirked. Steve looked at the portal with a misgiving expression.

Herobrine telling the dragon not to eat him, after just crunching down on the two players pursuing them, immediately sprung to his mind along with a small shiver. Timothy though only chuckled again.

“Don’t worry about it. Alstor would never attack Herobrine’s friend… And he will probably even help you to convince him. See, Alstor cannot leave the End. That’s just how his body is designed. There are special crystals there that keep him alive, healing him at all times. Even if players will come to defeat him, he will be all right. And he is sentient! Herobrine made him that way. Don’t ask me how.”

Timothy looked at the portal with some envious wonder, which irked Steve a little. He was being honestly concerned, though. Steve could see that as well.

“So, Alstor cannot come with him, wherever it is he is planning to go next. But you can. It’s especially perfect since your origin point cannot be traced. You might not remember it, but you must be an awesome hacker to pull something like this off.” Timothy envious gaze now turned to Steve, instead, as he considered him a little mistrustfully.

“Go talk to him. Get him to let you come along. This is your chance to do that, because if everything works the way he’s planned out, tomorrow will be the last day you’ll see him, otherwise. And… I’m not sure if he’ll make it on his own, to be honest.”

Timothy regretfully shook his head, and Steve’s doubts retreated once more. Nodding his head, he stepped through the portal.

“Good luck, man.” Timothy said quietly, looking at the portal.