"Well, what do you mean by "'the beginning'?" Reese asked, slightly confused. He took another small sip of his drink. Reese cautiously stared at Mortar.

Well, I don't know what you're gonna tell me and if it has any motives, any background data that is key to truly understand what you're doing, such as mine with Hovark. Just tell me what you did and why you did it, let's keep it at that.

"So...it can be any sort of significant secret?" Reese asked, still confused. Afterward, Reese understood and set his drink down on the bar table. He sighed, then turned to Mortar. It was going to be one of the strangest conversations he would ever have with him. "I'm not sure if she told you yet," Reese began, thinking of a way to explain it to Mortar. "but it's about your sister."

*Mortar raised a brow when he said that* What about my sister? Is there a problem? Just don't say that you're breaking up, because if you did I swear to god... *He didn't finish the sentence because he was unsure of what he was going to do. He seemed to be jumping to conclusions kinda quickly, and Reese was his close friend. But if he did hurt Cyan, a sort of punishment would have to be executed...*

"Hell, why would I break up with her?" Reese asked, surprised. "She's...incredible, absolutely and extraordinarily beautiful inside and out. No, I didn't break up with her... It was something else..." Reese took a drink from his glass, then was slightly startled when a soldier on the other side of the table slammed the bar table with his fist in laughter among his companions. Taking quick opportunity of this, Reese spiked Mortar's cocktail with the Oreo dust while he was distracted. Mortar was going to need a good drink. "Well," Reese began. "Cyan and I did...something the day of the anniversary of when we first met. We were spending time together here in this same bar, while Clara and Wyatt--and of course you--were away. In fact--" Reese gestured toward Mortar's seat. "--you're sitting in the same seat that she was that day. It was an...amazing night. Talking about memories, experiences, feelings, all that. However, we...got sort of...wasted." Reese quickly noticed the stark reaction on Mortar's face. "No harm was done, believe me," Reese assured, his hands held toward Mortar. He then set his hands down. "When that happened, we got...intimate...rather quickly. Pretty soon, we found ourselves wrapped around each other and heading over to my house, and..." Reese paused for a moment, then hesitantly continued. "Do you remember Brutus?"

*Mortar looked at Reese, a weird expression on his face. His best friend, doing these things to his sister... it was probably gonna happen at some point. He nods, as he uncomfortably switches seats to a more... sterile... one* Yes, I remember Brutus. What about him? *he took a sip of his coctail, then immediately spit it out* Wait, this coctail tastes weird. Did you, erm, do anything to it?

[spoiler]Wait for it, lol.[/spoiler] Reese noticed the expression on Mortar's face, and with a blank facial expression, he shifted to the seat next to Mortar. "Yeah, one of us was going to tell you about that," Reese responded, as if he read Mortar's mind. "but I'm going to be honest: it was amazing. Apparently, Cyan hadn't done that in over a thousand--" Reese suddenly stopped, pretended to cough, then continued. "But...that wasn't what I was telling you all this for, I swear." Reese took a small glance at the drink, then back at Mortar. He remembered to mix the cream into the Oreo dust; it was [i]supposed[/i] to work. "Also, I have no idea what the heck you ordered." He sighed, then after a small moment, adopted a more serious disposition. "It's about something else." --------- Reese and Mortar stood in a small alleyway that ran on the side of the bar building. A long, thin puddle ran along the middle of the alley's path, as drops of water fell from a drain that was attached to the roof of a neighboring shop. The only sources of lights were dim light bulbs with wiring that ran like vines across the upper edges of the side wall of the bar. Reese took a moment to think, walking back in forth in thought, then stopped and looked toward Mortar. "The night all of that happened, when Cyan and I were at...my house, Wilson activated as he usually does. For reasons that can be presumed, the subject of handguns got brought up, and that's when things began to get...strange." Reese began to take a few steps closer to Mortar. "My memory was hazy then, so wasn't sure what I said at that moment. However, I remembered that Wilson told me that you had a certain handgun on the day we met Wyatt and broke Clara out of that SHG warship. I didn't think much about it that night, for reasons obvious, but the next day I asked what handgun it was that you had; Wilson said that you had a SA-5O7..." Reese slipped out a photo of the handgun and handed it to Mortar. "...the same handgun model mi papá carried. Of course, I was shocked, and verbally fought with Wilson to tell me why he didn't tell me [i]much earlier[/i] about all this." Reese began to adapt a frustrated tone. "Wilson said he was told by you and Cyan not to let me know anything about it," he stated, confused and stressed. "Cyan was still in the house that day, so I asked her why she couldn't tell me anything about it. At first, I thought it was just coincidence, that maybe it was some weird thing going on between you guys, but then she let me inspect your collection of items, and then I realized it was something much more." Reese stood beside Mortar and began pointing at various parts of the photo that was in Mortar's hand. "As any gun expert would know, an SA-50O7 is a high-impact glock that holds a twelve-round magazine and fires [i]single[/i] shots. However, mi padre modified [i]his[/i] SA-5O7 to fire [i]three[/i] round at a single time and hold a magazine of twenty-four rounds at the price of reducing impact, although the range remained incredibly impressive for a handgun. [i]Your[/i] SA-5O7 can do the exact same thing, only that it fires round...rounds rather than shelled rounds. So, I'm guessing that you form small iron balls to fit into the gun's magazine to fire. The strangest case of all, no single gun manufacturer makes any more original or actual models of the SA-5O7. Now, what was going through my mind was: 'Well, if he could just make massive iron balls out of thine air and fling them at anyone, why would he need a gun?'. After some thinking, it hit me (no pun intended). What if it had...sentimental value? What if...you knew my father personally?" Reese then took the picture away from Mortar and continued. "It didn't make sense to me then. After all, we're technically [i]both[/i] mortal, right?" He then pushed a picture of an old Oreo dispenser in Mortar's hand. "I asked Cyan if I could take a look at your cookie shelf to take another look at your Oreo dispenser, although she warned me that you didn't like people going through it. I found the dispenser, and although you told me it was an antique, I was able to find the receipt for it." Reese handed a picture of the Oreo dispenser sheet to Mortar. "2003 was when they were last sold. The receipt, marked on that year, also has your other name that you adapted back on Earth. No, you're not that mortal." Reese then took a step back, trying as best as he could not to feel the least bit angry, confused, lied to. "Please," Reese asked, emotionally. "As your closest friend and for the sake of everyone we care about, you've got to tell me what all of this is about."

Wait..... *Mortar was confused, flustered. He didn't know what tbey were saying, and the only gun he DID have he gave to another friend long ago. Unsure what to say, he nodded, looking at the photos until he thought of something to say* I do not know what you're talking, honest. I just bought my gun off this guy a long time ago and over time I modified it to have tranquilizing rounds. And... I gave it to a friend of mine, back at Gydato . What you saw, what Wilson said... that is the part that I can't explain. Not to mention the handgun I had was based off a Glock 44 millimeter handgun... I'm sorry, but I can't answer your question, even if I wanted to.

"Don't do this to me, Mortar," Reese spoke, now with desperation and frustration. "You're the best friend I've ever had alongside Corvo, and Cyan's the most beautiful woman I've met and the love of my life. If that's what it was, and [i]all[/i] that it was, you would have told me about all this a long time ago. First, you didn't tell me that you literally dove into the depths of hell for a quarter of a year, and Cyan never tells me a single thing about even the fact that you disappeared. Now, you and your sister are telling me that you have nothing to do with my father, despite all the evidence that just so happens to be sitting [i]in your house[/i]. The fact that you bought a centuries-old Oreo dispenser centuries ago is already looking suspicious." He took a deep breath, paced once in a small circle, then faced Mortar. "Please," Reese repeated. "No games. Even Cyan won't tell me anything about it. If it involves the safety and well-being of anyone that we care about, you have to be honest. Please..."

[spoiler]to make sure you got it[/spoiler] SHUT UP REESE! IF YOU DON'T TRUST ME THEN FLAT OUT SAY IT! *He went silent a moment, instantly regretting his uproar. In truth, he wanted to appease him, to make up some elaborate story on how he and Reese's father were chumming it up, having a blast. And, to be fair, there was enough evidence to support it. But he just couldn't do it, he just had to tell the truth* This place... this... Dojo... it isn't bound by space and time. It constantly alters itself around. I was born in 1983. August sixteenth, 1983. Or at least in this form, you know the story of my last one. So if I were to continue from that point instead of conforming to whatever the Dojo says it is, it would still be 2017 for me. As for not telling you... or anyone... about my disappearance... I'm sorry. All I left was a small note, which very few people read. I will assume you did not read it either. But I did this because I didn't want you coming WITH me. You have an amazing life, with Cyan and Clara, and this was something i did for another friend, so I went alone. And, finally, it was NOT a big deal. That was all it was, and I did not think to tell you because no one brought it up. I am truly sorry, and all I ask is your trust, I want you to truly believe me. I've never met your father, sadly, and I've lived my life on Earth until I joined the Dojo.

[spoiler]I'm so sorry for the late response. This week has been really hectic so far. :([/spoiler] Reese stated at Mortar pensively, then after some silence, sighed. A lot of what Mortar said didn't add up: if Mortar had lived his whole life on Earth, a planet that humanity last inhibited centuries ago, then how was it that Mortar accompanied him many times? Time-travel couldn't be possible from future to past. However, in the end, the answers to these questions were not worth the price of their companionship. "Alright," Reese said, after much thought in such short time. "I believe you on what you say...I understand." Suddenly, Reese approached Mortar and gave him a bro-hug, patting him on the back as he did. "You're a great friend," Reese said, emotionally. [spoiler]No homo, lol.[/spoiler]

*Mortar hugged back, squeezing tightly. He held on a little longer, to about five mississippi, because he felt as if Reese was a true friend, and he had very few of them, because Royal left for some reason, he hadn't seen Sketch in forever, and Ornstein was dead, and the whereabouts of his companion Smough were impossible to find. Mortar could tell Reese was still uncertain, and couldn't blame him. Mortar still didn't understand it. He had been in the same room with a cyborg cowboy and literal Dark Souls characters, from different times and places, far from his own, but decided not to bring it up. After all, Reese would figure that out soon enough.* You too man, you mean a lot to me. [spoiler]also no homo[/spoiler] Oh, and just so you know, about what you and Cyan did... what you said earlier. I hope you know that she physically can't get drunk. She's just a good actor and made that choice sober. I guess that should make you feel a little better.

"Thanks," Reese said, smiling as he did so. When Reese stopped hugging Mortar, he thought a small moment about what Mortar told him, his face expressing his uncertainty on how he should react. He must have looked like a fool in front of Cyan that night. "No," Reese responded, sighing. "That really doesn't make me feel better."

Wait, why? *A frown appeared on Mortar's face, his expression somewhat confused* Look, I know Cyan, and NOTHING you could do could make you look bad to her apart from heavy theft or murder. Plus, even after what you could assume is embarrassing she still went along, even acted drunk for you from what I can assume, until you parted ways at least. There's no way you're a fool in her eyes. *He smiled a little again until footsteps could be heard behind him. He whipped around, then sighed in relief, as it seemed familiar to him. The person belonging to the steps was wearing a black hood covering his face, shrouding what was open in shadow and darkness. He was lightly armored, made of a thick dark grey leather ad what appeared to be thin metal plates down his arms. On his back was a dangerous looking dark grey metal crossbow with a black wood stock. The string looked like a guitar string, a thick bronze colored string strung across the width. On the front was a surprisingly ornate silver bayonet. He stopped about three feet away, one hand on the crossbow on his back, looking right at Reese* Wait, Cross. Stop man! *He looked right at Mortar, taking his hand off the crossbow on his back* ???: Are you okay? I heard yelling. Mortar: Crossbow, I'm Fine. This is just a friend of mine, and we were having a bit of an argument here.

After loosening from his defensive stance, Reese analyzed the hooded figure before him, then subsequently approached him. "Hey," Reese reacted. "We've met before...in fact, several times. I'm Reese, remember?" He then held out his hand for a handshake. The man that drew at him was the same man who found Clara when she went missing; she was hiding in a small cave on a desolate planet.

*He nodded, letting out a slight chuckle and shook Reese's hand. He remembered meeting clara for the first time, helping them reunite.* Yes, I remember that. My apologies, Reese, for I didn't recognize you at first. How are you?

"Well," Reese stated, thinking of a way to summarize events in the past few months. "I had found myself a well-paying occupation as a mechanical engineer and weapon designer, as well as a small yet comfortable home that sits at a nice view of the Dojoville valley. Clara's doing well as a biochemist, and Wyatt got a job as a head officer in law enforcement; he and Clara are..." Reese slightly grinned. "...you know. Wilson is...Wilson, and he's doing just fine; I've been working on a small hover-bot so that he could have a physical extension." Reese thought for a moment, then continued. "...Oh! There was also this whole robot uprising led by a general overseeing a mining project owned by the Imperial Dominion, but that was quickly squashed. And...that's pretty much it." He had already told Mortar about what happened between him and Cyan; that was enough confession for Reese for one day.

Cross: Sounds cool. Most I did since we last met was train myself to the point where I discovered a new ability. It's not really anything, but there is some interesting stuff I can do with it. Mortar: I've seen it, it's pretty cool. Oh, one more thing, you mentioned Brutus. What were you going to say?

Reese, having thought of an excuse to the question, answered: "Oh, I was just referring to the time we rescued Clara from that SHG warship...when I explained the whole thing about the handgun." He planned to make a strange analogy out of the time Brutus slammed Mortar into his own back cannon repeatedly to explain what happened between him and Cyan the time she stayed overnight at his house. However, and probably for the best, he decided to drop it; Cyan was his best friend's sister, after all. "--Anyway," Reese went on, changing the subject. "what's this 'new skill'?"