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I followed Robben back up the slopes that I descended sometime earlier, when I was about to enter battle with another, very different, Robben! I found myself extremely grateful to be walking away from the battlefield now rather than towards it as I had been then. In a cleft of the rocks, atop the hills that surrounded the grasslands, and carefully concealed, Robben had built a shelter. I was surprised at how well constructed and furnished it was. The front wall featured a large window that overlooked the sprawling battlefield, and it was here that I imagined Robben spent most of his time. The interior was quaint, but not without charm, and it was stocked with a large assortment of weapons and other artifacts that had been acquired over the time my companion had been on this server.
“Now that we're out of harm's way, do you think you can explain more about this place?” I asked once I was settled inside the shelter.
Robben sat down on a worn aluminum chair and motioned for me to join him. “I'll do my best, but let's get something out of the way first. My name is Robben. I know that you're name is also Robben, but from now on I'm going to call you Robert. It's too confusing to have two people using the same name, and since I was here first, I am claiming precedence. Agreed?”
I nodded.
“Excellent. Now, as far as your questions regarding this server. I'm afraid that I don't know as much as I'd like, but I've learned a few things during the time I've spent here, and I have some pretty good guesses on the things I'm not sure of.”
“I'd love to hear both!” I said.
“Okay. The first thing that you should know is that you and I – indeed – all of us, are clones.”
“Clones?”
“Yes, we are exact copies of our maker. The players of this server use clones of themselves to wage war against other players. Both you and I were created in the same facility and sent, like all of our brothers, to fight against the other clone armies.”
“But why are you and I different? Why are the two of us more... sentient than the rest?” I asked.
“Of that, I am not sure,” answered Robben. “I was created much earlier than you were, and at that time the clones seemed to be more self-aware. But I think that trait was removed to make them more subservient and willing to fight. You are the first I have seen that resembled me at all. It's possible that you were a glitch, or that our maker is experimenting with his clones again.”
“Our maker,” I said in disgust. “How could someone do something so vile?”
“Don't be so quick to judge. This is Roblox, and many strange things happen in our universe. Besides, he is probably just like us, so who is to say that you or I would not do the same thing?”
“So what are you suggesting then,” I said. “Will you simply do nothing to alter how things are done here?”
“I didn't say that. I'm simply saying we should be prudent in choosing our course of action. Perhaps you would like to take a trip with me.”
“A trip to where?” I asked.
“Back to the facility where we were made, of course!”