‘Om,’ we repeat, and I feel light-headed. I feel the most intense stillness, now, like the air isn’t moving at all. Like nothing’s moving. The...e’s a pressure all around me, like the universe is staring at us. I don’t feel paranoid, just enormously self-conscious. I remind myself that I’ve had worse trips, and try to lock onto Kobutsu’s eyes to steady myself. He smiles and nods at me in recognition. ‘Om,’ we say again, and this time it echoes all the way around the room as though we’re suddenly. .. not a good guy.”Prisha looked up with big, trusting eyes. “Of course you are.”I wished she hadn’t come. I loved seeing her again, but she would be crushed if she discovered who I was.~~~~“We’d better check on Sarah and Julia,” I said.The other girls were sitting on a log beside the fire pit, still having a heated discussion.Prisha pulled my arm. “Daniel, come see what we brought you!”She lifted the lid of their cooler. It was packed with meat, cheese, eggs, booze, strawberries and even ice. "Don't worry, there's no one listening. I'm sorry this is happening to you. It must be tough. My secretary has given both these guys an appointment to see me in the morning."As we spoke I checked my account and confirmed that all the cash had come through."Thanks for the transfer," I said, not wanting to use the word money over the phone. Don't worry about me. I'll do my best to get through this. It's not good, but it may not be the end. I'll keep you posted, but I doubt if you'll see her. “Sorry ... you breath kind of smells like a brewery.”“Oh, uh, sorry,” I said, clamping my mouth shut after.“What happened to you? Where have you been?”“Well ... it’s kind of a long story, but Katriana and I had to leave the Academy...”“Katriana? That’s your sister, right?”“Uh, yeah ... Anyway, my education was basically done, so we just took to the road as adventurers, and we’ve been working pretty steadily since we got here. You found me on my first day off in awhile, actually.”“Oh, I see...”.