+ + +

Kiu bit her lips slightly as she tapped on a transparent control panel that displayed long swaths of computer code. A levitating reference book floated right beside her, and she periodically swiped from page to page as she consulted the server manual and went back to typing. Her brow was slightly furrowed, and her attention was absorbed in this cryptic configuration screen. 

An endless black wall stretched up to the sky. It was sprawling and vast, almost like some divine entity had stretched a dark curtain across the entire virtual world. Little pixelated voxels shimmered on the edges, and the giant shadow wall was almost complete. Once Kiu was finished with the final configuration sequence, this black curtain would bisect her server in two equal halves.

It was a world boundary, and no one would be able to cross it except for her.

Half of her server would be closed to the public from now on, and it would be blocked off by a physical partition. The land beyond the black wall would be her own personal space, and nobody would be allowed inside.

The tumultuous feelings from @Synbius's departure had already dulled to a phantom ache, but a shadow of bitterness remained in Kiu's heart. She felt as cold as ice, and her feelings were almost resentful. Even though she knew that it wasn't any of the newer members' fault, the high school girl had to resist the impulse to blame @Synbius's departure on the newer server staff.

Kiu was intensely frustrated. Regardless of the reason, @Synbius was gone. All of her original friends were gone.

Human beings were terrible.

Kiu hated people.

Honestly, she wasn't sure why she had kept her server open to the public for all this time. It only attracted all the worst people on the Internet, and she didn't really care for any of the newer members that had joined in recent years. @Flan was okay, but she was one of the few newer members that Kiu actually recognized by name. Nearly all the other moderators and staff members were complete strangers to her.

Kiu had actually considered kicking everyone from her server. However, @Synbius had asked her to 'watch the house', and Kiu knew that he would be upset if she shut everything down. The black-haired girl kept everything intact for his sake... at least until he returned.

However, this did not mean that she couldn't lock half of the server away.

She didn't like what was going on, and the easiest solution was to quarantine everyone (...or rather, herself) in different corner of the server where she wouldn't have to deal with it.

+ + +

There was the sound of a teleportation portal warping in, and Kiu's eyes immediately narrowed. She must have forgotten to toggle a configuration option while she was setting up this space. This area was supposed to be off-limits to all server staff and players, and nobody should have teleportation permissions to these coordinates except herself.

"Fall?" An unmistakable voice cut through the air.

Kiu's hands immediately froze over the virtual console.

It was @Kurotora2.

She had no idea why that guy was here. It honestly felt like she was running into the administrator of 「Historica 1900」 everywhere, and he was even showing up in her dreams. Kiu had mixed feelings about this. Why did she keep stumbling across this him? Why was it always him? The high-school girl slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"This place is restricted." Kiu muttered with a monotone voice, flattening the emotion out of her voice.

Right now, she was 「Q」, the heartless and frosty owner of this private Magnolia server.

If Kuro was a staff member, this meant that she was technically his current boss. As such, Kiu intended to act professionally. It didn't matter that they had met elsewhere, or that the positions were reversed while she was working for him at Historica as a volunteer. Maybe they had become something close to quasi-friends after all those late nights restoring the books in that ancient library, but the nature of their relationship was irrelevant now.

"I let myself in," Kuro explained with a mellow unapologetic shrug. "@Synbius gave me root permissions before he left."

He walked a few steps closer with his hands tucked in his pockets.

Kiu was suddenly flustered. 

Why didn't he take the hint? Anyone else would politely leave her alone if she told them this wasn't allowed.

The dark-skinned man closed the gap in distance within seconds. He calmly leaned over Kiu's shoulder, peering at the code displayed on the virtual console, and the high school student froze like a squirrel. It felt like he was a towering giant, and Kiu had never been so conscious of their large difference in height until now. Kiu wasn't exactly short, but @Kurotora2 was especially tall. It felt like she was being swallowed up by his huge shadow. 

"K-Kuro..." she stammered reflexively.

"You're missing a semi-colon on line 54," the dark-haired man said with his gaze fixed on the screen.

"I... I... haven't run the linter yet..."

"There's also a bad import statement in the header, and you shouldn't use open-source packages on a production environment like your server. It's easier for malicious entities to hack, and some of these older open-source dependencies have security vulnerabilities."

"K-Kuro?"

The 「Historica 1900」 administrator reached around her with his arms, and he was already typing directing onto the floating console. He was way too close, and Kiu ducked underneath his arms to get out of his way. Somehow, her face felt hot, and she couldn't help but remember the dream that she had several nights ago.

"You should ask for help if you want to partition your server. I'm the professional contractor @Synbius hired, and data security my job."

"@Synbius... paid you.. with his own money...?"

"My rates aren't cheap, if that's what you're asking."

Kiu blinked incredulously, half speechless.

"That said, Fall." @Kurotora2 suddenly turned around and looked at the young girl.

There was a stony look in his eyes.

"All these weeks, you never told me that you were 「Q」."

+ + +

The black-haired girl instantly felt so small. Kurotora's gaze was persistent like a hawk, and every fiber in Kiu's body desperately wanted to hide.

She didn't know what to say.

If it was anybody else, it would have been easier... but Kuro... was different. 

"It wasn't anything important," Kiu said quietly.

"Not important?"

The willpower in Kiu's heart evaporated.

"It... doesn't change who I am... whether or not I'm the administrator of this private server."

"Huh? Why would I think anything else? You're @Fallilee, and you'll always be @Fallilee to me."

Kiu looked confused.

"What?"

"If you had told me that you owned this server, I wouldn't have charged @Synbius for upgrading the firewall and security systems. I simply would have been happy to help you as a friend. After all, you helped me with restoring the Schloss Leopoldskron, and you didn't ask for a single dime either."

"It's... about the money then...?"

"My day rates aren't cheap," @Kurotora2 repeated.

"...How much?"

"@Synbius offered $75,000 for this contract." 

Kiu blinked.

It took a little bit of time for her to process how much money that was, but it slowly dawned on her that it was much more than an ordinary middle-aged man like @Synbius could reasonably afford. Why had he done such a thing? This was completely crazy. Why...?

She just couldn't understand.

Nobody should spend that much money on a video game, especially if they weren't rich.

"...Kuro... can you cancel it? Please? Or refund him? I can pay the difference. My family... is wealthy."

The black-haired girl looked tired.

She slumped back against the wall and looked up towards the sky.

For some reason, her chest hurt.

∎