9 The humanity.

Jade did what almost every kid does when everything goes wrong suddenly. He called his mother.

"Mom," Jade said abruptly as soon as she connected, "I think I might not be human."

There was a long silence, and then his mother laughed. "How human of you, to be worried about whether or not you're human," she replied.

"I'm serious," Jade said.

"Why suddenly?" his mother asked curiously.

Jade hesitated. He felt certain that Eric had told the truth, but he didn't have any other reason to provide.

Jade's mother asked suddenly, "is it because you failed to survive long enough to complete your main quest again?"

Jade asked suspiciously, "mom, are you human?"

She laughed again. "I'm 100% human Jade!" she declared.

"Am I human?" Jade asked directly.

His mother hesitated and then replied firmly, "I think so Jade." Then she admitted, "I wasn't certain when you were younger, and everything you did was on the quest list in your head, but you really seem to have outgrown that."

Jade froze and thought about how the system had been listing every little thing as a quest lately.

"Jade?" his mother asked.

Somehow he couldn't bring himself to tell her. If she believed he was human, he really didn't want her to change her mind. "Um yeah," he said instead, "I got hit by a car…"

Before he could tell her that Eric had seen it, she exclaimed worriedly, "how come you are getting into so many traffic accidents all of a sudden?"

--

At work, Emily greeted Jade with a sour expression. "Your not sick?" she asked.

"No?" Jade replied questioningly.

"I figured since you were so spacy yesterday that you'd have relapsed and been out again today," she explained gloomily. "Since you're here, you can do the cleaning."

"Ok," Jade agreed without complaint. The system popped up each of the small quests as he accepted, but instead of a feeling of accomplishment as he cleared each one, he felt a bit worried.

--

Harmony didn't drop by for her usual snacks at the convenience store either, but when he logged in to "Living Jade Empire", she was waiting outside his smithy.

"Hey," she said with a smile, "want to help me with a cat quest?"

Jade smiled back and replied, "sure." Here in the game everyone could revive with Karma earned from quests, and everyone had a quest list. Here, Jade was just another human player.

Harmony and Jade collected rare cheeses and entrapped the feline shapeshifters who were plaguing a mountain village with their banditry. At the end, the King of Cats appeared and rewarded them for dealing with the false cats. He gave them both a small silver bell and told them, "with this, a cat can become human for one day, or a human may become a cat."

Jade asked, "why would a cat want to become human?"

The King of Cats looked at Jade and replied, "how curious, you don't remember who you were do you?"

Harmony laughed and asked, "was Hisui a cat once?"

The King of Cats blinked his eyes lazily and said enigmatically, "not a cat."

Jade asked, "who was I?"

"A giver of quests who gave himself a quest, who followed the path told of in a thousand human tales," a moment later he stretched and slipped into a shadow, and was gone.

Jade stared after the cat and asked Harmony, "what makes someone human?"

Harmony laughed and asked, "are you serious?"

Jade looked Skyheart Snowsong in the eye and replied, "yes."

Harmony looked around, and then targeted one of the human villagers with a deadly attack. Jade gasped in shock. The other villagers scattered.

Jade asked with bewilderment, "why did you do that?!"

"Wait," Harmony instructed.

After a few endlessly long minutes, the body dissipated and the villagers returned and resumed their tasks.

"They don't care," Harmony explained. "If you ask one, they'll remember that that villager was here before, for awhile, but they don't miss him. They aren't human. Humans care. Humans love, and hate, and experience thousands of different emotions during their lifespans."

"What is love then?" Jade asked. "Everyone says hate is the opposite, but I think hate is just great dislike."

Harmony gave him a long look, before sighing and muttering, "I suppose you must be at that age where you doubt everything."

Jade replied, "I'm asking seriously!"

Harmony shrugged. "Ask a thousand people and you'll probably get a thousand different answers," she said seriously. "But to me… love is, I guess it is wanting someone to be in your life always, and if they can't, still wanting them to live well and happily until long after you are gone. Love is greedy."

Jade thought about it for a moment and then told her, "I love you."

Harmony laughed and replied lightly, "I love you too."

Jade recalled the way Eric had shouted angrily, "but I'm glad you're still alive!" and said suddenly, "Eric must love me too."

Harmony glanced at him and then suggested, "I'm sure there are many people who love you Jade. Your parents, your family, and your friends."

"My mother probably loves me," Jade agreed, "she says so pretty often."

Harmony laughed. "I'm sure she does," she agreed with amusement.

Jade considered for a long moment and then added, "I think I love her too."

Harmony flicked a sharp look at him. "Aren't there quite a few people you love? How about your friend Appella?"

Jade thought for awhile before answering, "I would like her to remain in my life, so yes, I think so."

Harmony shook her head. "There is also romantic love, which includes everything that is in love, but adds a physical component and a complex emotional tie," she said seriously.

Jade turned toward her again and said, "my mother says that's when you find the person you don't want to live without."

Harmony nodded and said softly, "just remember that if you have to, you can live without them even if you don't want to."

Looking at her expression made him feel sad. It hurt to see that faded sorrow on her normally cheerful face. Jade suddenly felt certain that this was another of those thousands of human emotions that defined humanity.

The faint chime of a quest completed rang softly, and then Jade returned to the system.