Sonya's Stubbornness

"Anyway," Cato said. "As fun as it is to tease you on this topic, we have to move on."

"I'm glad at least one of us is having fun here..." Sonya rolled her eyes. "So, it sounds like you want to suggest something?"

"Yes, we have to decide how we deal with Vanishing moving forward."

"Is there a need to change anything?" Sonya asked. "I made one mistake but I've been doing a good job otherwise, right?"

"Yes, you have," Cato agreed. "But, let's not forget it was the early-game and a fairly tame one at that. There weren't that many distractions for you until now."

"True. Aside from Beat's one unexpected outburst, there really wasn't much."

"And yet, Vanishing still slipped past you."

"Geh…" Sonya walked right into that one. "You just won't give it a rest, will you? As I said, I was just-"

"Preoccupied, right? Even though you've just admitted that the early-game was tame."

"Ah." Sonya stumbled again. It was a masterfully prepared trap, laid right under her nose.

"The mid-game is where I expect things to get chaotic for real," Cato explained. "Of course, our plan is to draw out the game until the late-game and let Matt carry us to victory, but I'm sure Stratus won't play along peacefully."

"Yes, that's my prediction as well."

"That's why, when it comes to a human computer like you who enjoys analyzing anything and everything, I'm afraid you're going to hit one of these 'stack overflow' thingies."

"Are you implying Stratus is going to divide the game by zero?"

"Haha, who knows." Cato shrugged. "I wouldn't put it past them."

"Is that so." Sonya pushed her glasses. "Alright, I understand what you're getting at. You're saying that, since I've already blundered in the 'tame' early-game, it implies I'm almost guaranteed to make another mistake in the mid-game."

"Bing bong! We have a winner! As expected from my smart secretary~"

"Who's a secretary?" Sonya gave him the evil eye but then just sighed in resignation. "Hmm. I still think I'm going to stick to my guns and claim that I can keep track of Vanishing even in the mid-game."

"My, stubborn much?"

"Maybe I am," Sonya admitted. "It just irks me. This whole thing with Vanishing supposedly 'erasing herself' from everybody's minds - it's illogical, incomprehensible. That kind of thing can't possibly exist."

"Yet, you experienced it first-hand in this game."

"I'm not convinced," Sonya insisted. "That was just a mistake on my end. If I didn't get distracted by Beat, then none of that would have happened."

"Don't you think that the very fact it was possible to distract somebody of your analytical level is a testament to Vanishing's impressive skill?" Cato asked. "You were wholly dedicated to that cause of supervising her, yet she slipped right under your nose."

"She didn't really..." Sonya wanted to argue further on that point but she realized it was a dead end. No matter what she says, the fact remains that Sonya lowered her guard against Vanishing. But, whether that was just an innocent mistake or a testament to Vanishing's stealth skills, that part was open for interpretation.

"Alright." Sonya sighed in defeat. "I see you're going to push this narrative no matter what, so I'll bite. Let's suppose Vanishing is a little good at making her opponents pay less attention to her, and let's assume it even works on me to an extent."

"Oh my, I can't believe this historic moment has finally come!" Cato exclaimed. "At long last, the stubborn secretary admitted that Vanishing has peculiar skill!"

"I didn't admit anything and I'm not a secretary," Sonya argued. "I'm just saying that, [hypothetically] if we go along with your narrative - what's next? Do you have a plan of some sort?"

"There's one idea, yes," Cato said. "Since a human computer like you isn't capable of sacrificing map awareness in exchange for focusing wholly on Vanishing, it means somebody else has to fill up for you."

"That's not necessary."

"Aren't we supposed to play along with 'my narrative' for now?" Cato smiled impishly. "In this completely fictional tale, Vanishing can sneak past anybody's radar, even yours if you're preoccupied with other matters. So, the most reasonable solution is for somebody to lend you a hand with this."

"And, that somebody will be...?"

"Me, of course. I mean, who else would be willing to take this job?"

"Fair enough."

On the technical level, William and Matthew were more than capable of joining the cause as well. However, William was too self-centered for it, whereas Matthew had to pay close attention to the opponents in the lane in order to counter them efficiently. As such, none of the two were really up to the task.

"With all things considered," Sonya said. "I'm not sure I agree with this."

"Oh?" Cato titled her head. "Why not? This arrangement worked splendidly in the first game. In fact, I handled the role myself the entire game, didn't I?"

"Vanishing didn't play as smoothly in the first game. The difference between then and now is like night and day."

"Yes, I agree with you there. It's like she finally woke up for this game, or maybe she overcame some sort of personal problem."

"Stage fright, perhaps?" Sonya suggested the first thing that came to mind. Of course, it was no coincidence that this was her first idea, given that stage fright was a vile monster she was very much familiar with.

"It might be that," Cato said. "Either way, I agree that she's playing much better this time around, that's why I'm suggesting splitting the burden. We better cooperate here to make sure we shut her down."

"Yes, this sounds like a good idea on paper," Sonya said. "But, I'm still against it. The first game was easy and Vanishing wasn't that stealthy, so it was fine for you to supervise her back then. But, right now, the game is hard and Vanishing requires a lot more attention than before."

"Indeed, that's why we're having this conversation in the first place."

"The thing is, you're the shot-caller."

"Or, am I~?" Cato smirked. "I thought the Leopards don't have an official shot-caller. That's the narrative, isn't it?"

"Yes, a narrative that only exists to reassure the coach that we're not mindlessly following orders without thinking for ourselves."

"Haha, that's true." Cato smiled impishly. [But, the truth is, you're all my precious little puppets~]

"Anyway, that's why I'm against this," Sonya repeated. "You're the shot-caller and we're heading into the mid-game, which is the most delicate phase when it comes to shot-calling. And, you already said yourself that you think Stratus will come at us hard, so it's going to be a hectic mid-game for sure."

"Yes, it will most certainly be."

"So, we can't have you distracted by Vanishing during this important phase," Sonya said. "Stratus has proven itself a strong team, so you have to be at the top of your game to counter them."

"My, are you worried about little old me?"

"No, I'm worried about the team. If the shot-caller is distracted, then the calls are going to be subpar the team will make mistakes."

"Hmm. I see your point." Cato nodded. "Depending on how rough mid-game will be, this might become quite the juggling act for me. But, I'm sure I can handle that much."

"Now you sound like me." Sonya shook her head. "Didn't you criticize me just a moment ago about handling too many things at the same time? Double standard much?"

"Haha, touche. I have to say, it's such a joy to have a secretary with a sharp tongue~"

"I should really start demanding a salary for this." Sonya sighed deeply. "Anyway, that's my stance. I don't believe it'll be healthy for you to get involved."

"Hmm. I see your point, but I'll have to disagree respectfully."

"To what end?"

"Whether it's a good idea or not, the bottom line is that we don't have much choice," Cato said. "We have to make sure we don't let Vanishing do as she pleases, and you'll have a hard time achieving this alone."

"You sure evaluate her highly, huh."

"Can you blame me? She nearly scored the First Blood in this otherwise peaceful game," Cato said. "We came moments away from falling into a grave disadvantage there. So, the way I see it, Vanishing is going to be the most unpredictable factor in this game."

"Are you two done yet?" Matthew interjected. "The next wave is here, so I'd like you to focus on it, if that's not too much to ask for."

"Yes, I believe we're done, right?" Cato asked.

"I suppose..." Sonya gave up. At the moment, it was impossible to make Cato budge.

[Maybe he's right and I'm worrying over nothing.] Sonya wanted to believe. [But, I'm definitely going to pay closer attention to his shot-calls for a while. I have to make sure he doesn't slip due to dividing his attention.]

And so, Sonya added yet another topic to the list of subjects to keep track of. This was a bit ironic, considering Cato went out of his way to supervise Vanishing in order to reduce Sonya's workload.

But, in a way, supervising Cato was nothing new for her. It was par for the course for Sonya to closely analyze Cato's shot-calls in the mid/late-game. If Cato was the tactician, then Sonya was his validator. Her job was to evaluate the orders as they were issued and question them as necessary.

[Yes, I'm his validator, not his secretary.] She felt it was necessary to stress this point. As frustrating as it was to admit, that stupid "secretary" nonsense was living rent-free in her head.

Anyway, regardless of how her position was called, it was undeniable that the team only felt this comfortable with nominating Cato as the shot-caller because they trusted Sonya to keep the guy in check. As long as she was there to question Cato's decisions, it reassured the team that Cato won't lead the team down the wrong path.

[Though, admittedly, he's very good at manipulating me into going along with his ideas even when I disagree, just like now…] Sonya sighed. [He's such a headache sometimes. And by sometimes, I mean 90% of the time.]

In the end, despite how reluctant she was, Sonya went along with Cato's suggestion. From now on, the two of them will be responsible for supervising Vanishing.

This will definitely distract both of them, but at least they'll have peace of mind regarding Vanishing's position at all times. That should allow them to cruise through the mid-game safely.

However, that might've been nothing more than wishful thinking, considering the enemy planned to go hard as soon as the mid-game hits…