Chapter 231: Unsure

I couldn't believe my eyes, and I hardly even noticed the pain in my arms as the Dragon Claws appeared. This woman, I was still sore about what happened and I just wanted to relax. Yet, low and behold, Cindy is waiting for me in my room.

"Dave! Wait! I can explain!" Cindy cried, putting up her hands in defense.

"Dave, Please, just listen to what she has to say, and then we will go."

Kyrin stepped out from around the corner, raising a hand to indicate to me that I should slow down. 

"Great, what, is this a party of all my least favorite people? Is Tyson making out with Irellia in the bathroom? That would be just par for the course."

"I know I said I would stay away, but I found her, and she was a mess. You need to hear her story Dave, and then you can pass judgment on us after," Kyrin said while backing away to stand behind Cindy.

This was a real pain in the ass, I needed to hear what she had to say, but I still felt jaded about trusting anything either of them said. Bad blood was in the water, but I needed to get over that. Still, it would be better to have the girls here; they had no experience with Cindy, and I don't think I talked about her to them. They could give me their honest opinions, and there were enough girls that not all of them would go along with the story if it sounds fishy or scripted.

"Fine, I will listen, but all the girls will be in here with you and me. Kyrin you can go, I will not do anything to hurt her or anything like that, and she is free to come and go as she chooses for now. If we decide that her story doesn't line up, she will have to leave, and not bother us. Is this fair?" I asked, looking at both of them.

They both nodded, and I took a deep breath, then headed back to the room where the girls were. I walked in and they were all talking but stopped when they looked at me. They must have been able to see the trouble written all over my face.

"Dave? Are you okay? You look like you have seen a ghost, you're so pale! Was the bath not good?" 

Grace peppered me with questions as she came over to see me, making everyone else get up and try to crowd around.

"I need you all to come with me to my room, and listen to a story with me. This was another one of MainFrame pawns, or so she claims, and I need to get unbiased opinions. Do you guys mind doing that?"

"She?" Carly asked.

"Yes Carly, she, her name is Cindy, and…"

"What?! Thee Cindy? The same one that used you and messed your life up even worse? Let me at her! I won't be listening to a damn word that tramp says!" Trinity yelled, trying to push past me. 

I could have let her go, she didn't know what room I was staying in, but I held her until she cooled down.

"I know how you feel, remember? I was there, and that's why I want to get the others' opinions. You weren't there when I almost used the Longinus Spear on Kyrin."

Trinity stopped moving in my arms, staring at me with bulging eyes.

"You what?! Do you know what that will do? I allowed us to use it on Grismald because he was an end boss and not a player or NPC. If you kill someone with that, not even a reset will bring them back."

"I know that now, but I didn't. The moral of the story is that MainFrame is gone chasing Hyde, my brother, and now the people that were being controlled by MainFrame are free of his hold. Still, I'm like you and hold deep painful memories of something that should have been great, and the only real thing that had happened to me that wasn't trying to bring me down, but it wasn't. I want to believe this was all mind control, but we have been burned time and time again over the last little while, so I want to be sure before I make any choices."

Trinity looked like she had a bit more understanding, and nodded her head with the rest of the girls, and then we all left the room. Once I was at the door, I took another couple of deep breaths to get my heart settled down. I wanted to believe, but I would be stupid to make the choice without getting all the evidence first.

I opened the door and walked in to see Cindy sitting in the far corner of the room in one of the chairs that were with another chair and a small table. I moved in, and my heart picked up, Cindy had blonde hair that was up in a ponytail and an amazing figure. She was wearing a green khakis T-shirt that fit on her loosely and a pair of very short jean shorts, but my mind was shaken, and I almost jumped out of my skin.

"STEPHANIE!?" Latisha screamed from almost right beside my ear, making my already thudding heart almost burst out of my chest.

The room had been virtually silent, and the sound was magnified in the small space. I was pushed to the side as Latisha shoved past me as I was trying to rub my ears. I was also trying to get my skin back on straight; they needed to do their exciting yelling outside of my personal bubble range, my ears were still ringing!

Still, Stephanie had been a crew member and in my party during the Transport game, but she had always worn her hair down and it covered most of her face. I can remember joking about her being a quarter face in my head because I never had seen more than her eye, even when we had sex, she had been on her knees…

"Can you take your hair out of that ponytail?

Cindy/Stephanie, let her hair down and it fell to cover her face without even trying. Hmmmmm, this was almost too easy, and it also didn't mean jack shit. Stephanie had been a new member during Transport, and she had hidden her face the entire time. Highly suspicious, and I had never met her before that, still nothing but more questions with getting this much information. I would need to hear more.

"Okay, so I agree that you could be Stephanie, but that doesn't make my opinion of you rise yet. Why did you hide your face from me? How do I know that you're not just someone that is another part of MainFrame, and this isn't the greatest plot of all? There are so many questions that I have and I don't think you can answer half of them to a point where I will be able to believe you. Still, I, and the girls will listen, and then maybe they can give me a better insight on what to do about you. I want to believe you, but I have had my ass handed to me over the last little while because I wasn't thorough enough, so tell me your story."

That was a long-winded talk, almost a story in itself. Maybe not a story, but the plot to one; this wasn't going to be something that would be easily explained, but I had said I would listen. Stephanie nodded and started to tell her story, but I already knew it.

I had found her working on another shipping vessel, and she was being treated poorly, so I took it upon myself to rescue her. What I didn't know is that she had been born into the game, not transported, or reincarnated. That was interesting, and I didn't really know if I should categorize the information as useful or relevant information.

The next thing was the hair, and the explanation was so far from adequate, that I almost laughed. She was shy and didn't like to show her pretty face was her explanation, and I was ready to throw the book at her at this point and just toss her out of the room, but I let the information sink in. The girls were all being silent at this point, and maybe that was for the best, at least until I got my thoughts sorted out.

Shyness wasn't that big of a leap, and now from what I knew of how long she had been in the game for and being mistreated. Well, it wasn't impossible, but that still didn't mean any of this was true. The final thing that I was unaware of was when she died.

She had been on a cargo ship that Irellia had sent out to trade supplies with another cruiser's cargo vessel, and the vessel had been empty with no crew, but then all feeds had cut off, along with our visuals. Knowing what I did now about Irellia, it all made sense.

Still, after Tyson had scooped her up, there were more blank spots. From there she claimed to be blacked out until being put on the world I was the next game to meet with me, and ruin what was left of my life. I wasn't trying to hold that against her, but this was still far from a cut and dry case closed.

"I need some air," I said turning around and walking out of the room.