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Morgan's eyes snapped open. The world around him was a mass of blurry black and white numbers, letters, and symbols. He knew instantly what he was looking at, though the human part of his brain didn't understand it. Everything around him was made of computer code.

The man sat up, looking around him. His eyes were instantly drawn to five blobs of color that surrounded him. They were human beings, and none of them were made of the code like everything else. But there was one person in particular that caught his attention. She was small, female, and had a mop of dark hair...

Morgan sprang to his feet, his mind not really registering that he was walking on more code just like it was solid ground. He had other priorities. "Teri! Sis, c'mon, wake up. Teri! Tell me you're alright!"

She was breathing, so that was enough to reassure him she wasn't dead, but she wasn't responding yet, either. What the hell was his sister doing here, with him? And who were the other four people? None of this made sense, but his mind was too focused on his sister to register anything else.

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Auugh... what the hell... I'm not high again? Don't remember buying any new E....

Teri opened her eyes blearily, and saw.... things that shouldn't be possible. A bunch of numbers and letters ad all that techie crap that she never cared about, its kind of... floating around. Everywhere. That creepy robotic font that computers like to use when telling you that some serious shit is happening. It doesn't make sense. How could it? This shit's like, the cyber world or something, while things like, y'know, humans, those are in the real, organic world. The only way the two worlds intersect is via a monitor. And that's only a one-way screen for those in the real world to look into the computer, cyber world.

Can't be high... don't feel all happy like I do when I take some. So, then, what?

"Teri! Sis, c'mon, wake up. Teri! Tell me you're alright!"

She turned to the familiar voice of the one and only rock in her life. And that thought was more than depressing, because it's supposed to be two rocks, two focal points. Mo-mo, as well as the best friend she could ever ask for, Sadie... Teri's hand shot to her head, and she felt the familiar plastic flowers on her head. Her memento of Sadie. Teri let out a relieved sigh, and breathed.

"Mo-mo! I'm... fine. We're both sober, right? Like, this ain't just a bad trip?

Teri shook her head, and started getting up, when she heard another of the girls starting to talk.

"Sorry to interrupt nap time guys but dies anyone have any idea where the bloody hell we are, and what is up with the weird computer code wallpaper?"

Teri shrugged, automatically turning her mouth into a dark frown when realizing she wasn't alone with Mo-mo here.

"Dunno. Whatever bastard put us here, he's got something coming for him/

She clenched her fist, and then looked at the other girl, who's fingers were playing with that weird pendant on her chest. Briefly wondering whether to trust her or not, then deciding that for now, they were in the same boat, she gave a cautious, guarded smile in her direction. "Name's Teri. What's yours?

Ren walked forward, masked, into the void of code whe he kept his "toys". He had to be cautious about the little girl. She looked like she had a temper. He knew some basics about them, and the information kept flowing into his brain as the program was searching through the subject's documents. After many years of work, the grand success was happening in front of him. "I guess it's time to introduce myself..." With a loud, firm voice, he spoke to the kids. "All right now, may I have your attention, please. Right now, you are probably wondering what you're doing here. Currently, you are inside the computer you were just surfing on." He chuckled. "You can call me.. 5702.That will be my... "code name" for right now. I am not expecting to tell you my true name, so hang tight. You are here for the T.E.A:M Project, and you are the lucky 6 to "Beta Test" for me. So introduce yourselves with each other. Oh, and also... I am the bastard that put you here." He looked at Teri and smirked under the mask. Then, he laughed.

Ren just smirked. "And why would I do that? I worked so hard to get you here, and all you want me to do is get you out? I'm sorry, but there's only one way to get out: and that is to finish the Terminal Education Action: Multi-Player Project. It would have probably been just TEA, but I don't want to have a project with a name like Tea." He knew that the girl in front of him was probably more aggravating than "Teri", and her name was... Mikasa? It was the newest profile of information that the program was sending. And he knew the boy's name was Morgan. But the two... Teri and Morgan are... siblings? How could that be? The two didn't even look the same! "Listen, "Mikasa". I don't have the time for your arguing. If you want to get out, then you have to beat me. Kill me. Destroy the realm that you are stuck in. Just 'remove the petals around the rose'." Ren was being serious with her. "But I've left a surprise for you to help beat the game. Think of it as a.. gift." He faced the code, and disappeared. He had nothing more to say. Lying where he once stood, there were presents, all wrapped in different colors, with name tags and their names on them. Mikasa, Teri, Morgan, it didn't matter. And all of them were big. Very big.

Suddenly, something popped up from the ceiling. It was.. Ren. And yes, he was still masked. The masked man was scrambling to keep his mask on, since he was upside down. "Oh, and yeah. I have barely any intention to let you kill me. First one to slay the boss gets a... prize." He looked at Morgan. "Some of you may have more potential than others, but all of you could beat me." He slowly slithered back into the portal he came through.

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The girl still sitting down answered, curtly, rather to stare at the code than pay any attention to Teri herself. "Mikasa, Las to my friends but none of you are. So just Mikasa."

"Wasn't really planning on being friends..." Teri muttered to herself, and then walked back to her brother, Momo, making sure he was okay. In case he needed it, she draped his arm around her shoulder, and they surveyed this whole alien situation. She was already debating to just leave everyone else, even the ones still unconscious, but then a masked man appeared, and spoke, almost proudly, and yet menacing all at the same time.

"All right now, may I have your attention please..."

Teri quietly listened to his whole worthless spiel, not fully understanding, but knowing that this man, this 5702 is a bastard who needs to get punched really hard, and be torn apart. He even dared to laugh at her, probably the best female street fighter her age, he laughed at her and practically dared to get utterly wrecked. Hissing with detest, Teri was prepared to lunge, when she remembered that Momo is here, and just barely managed to resist the fighting urge.

And when Mikasa spoke up, telling him to let them out, he became even more infuriating; taunting and smug.

"Listen, "Mikasa". I don't have the time for your arguing. If you want to get out, then you have to beat me. Kill me. Destroy the realm that you are stuck in. Just 'remove the petals around the rose'. But I've left a surprise for you to help beat the game. Think of it as a.. gift."

And with that, he disappeared into some mess of computer coding, and left behind boxes with name tags, all of them rather large and vibrantly colored. Teri lunged, like a hunter, for the one with her name, the obscenely dark cyan, and ripped it open with claw-like haste. Inside was a coiled up chain, with sections around it that can click together to create for a spear, of maybe six or seven feet long, and definitely much longer than Teri herself. At the tip of the last plastic linked section, was a somewhat arrow-shaped blade, sharp enough to draw blood. Teri, ignoring the complicated chains and links, grabbed the part nearest to the blade, and lifted it out of her own box.

It was then when the masked man appeared again, this time above them.

"Oh, and yeah. I have barely any intention to let you kill me. First one to slay the boss gets a... prize. Some of you may have more potential than others, but all of you could beat me."

Teri tried to throw the spear at the masked man, but ended up tangling the chain around her legs and falling straight down onto her ass. Wincing and cursing, she watched as he disappeared, and then stared straight at Mikasa.

"Mikasa... if I kill you, then you're out of the running, right? Then I can get the prize all for myself, with one less person in the way, right?" She said this with a deranged, overstressed voice, and somewhat of a psychotic smirk. "And all those sleeping bastards too! Then I can get the masked guy and no one will stop me!"

Untangling herself from the mess of chains, Teri linked the spear back together, into one long sturdy weapon, with an almost impressive flair as it spun and whirled around, each plastic section connecting one by one to the cuffs as it became rigid, and yet fluid and flexible all at once. Surprisingly she could carry it without effort, most likely an effect of the computer world. The giddy feeling of a fight churned within her as she twisted the spear and then directed it at her newest victim.

"I'll wipe her out, Momo. Then I'll get us outta this screwy place, okay?"

"Mikasa... if I kill you, then you're out of the running, right? Then I can get the prize all for myself, with one less person in the way, right?" She said this with a deranged, overstressed voice, and somewhat of a psychotic smirk. "And all those sleeping bastards too! Then I can get the masked guy and no one will stop me!"

Untangling herself from the mess of chains, Teri linked the spear back together, into one long sturdy weapon, with an almost impressive flair as it spun and whirled around, each plastic section connecting one by one to the cuffs as it became rigid, and yet fluid and flexible all at once. Surprisingly she could carry it without effort, most likely an effect of the computer world. The giddy feeling of a fight churned within her as she twisted the spear and then directed it at her newest victim.

"I'll wipe her out, Momo. Then I'll get us outta this screwy place, okay?"
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Ren was watching from a small room, somewhere through the void. "Wow. I knew that she had a temper, but not this, willing to kill a "friend" for the prize." The prize was only some food and a 1 minute camera, letting the viewer(s) see the outside world, but only look. Not touch. A "friend"... He didn't know what a friend was anymore, and that was because he had none. His past was only a scar, and the thought of it was just disgusting. The way his parents were killed in the shooting... His best friend falling to his doom while zip lining, and his cousin was caught stealing a wallet from a banker, while being sent to jail. His friends and family were in ruin, except for his siblings. He hoped Alex was OK. Alex... Ren smiled. He was also part of this. It was time. Time to change him, his identity, his looks, and his personality. He pressed the green button, and everything went black.

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"You won't kill me."

"That a challenge?"

The two stood there, one girl prepared to fight to the death, and the other one in a more defensive stance, holding the katana in a way that she could more easily ward off attacks coming her way. Teri clicked her tongue impatiently and tested the weight of her spear, getting the feel for it.

""You don't want to do this, you'll have a death on your hands, who will you kill next,everyone else? Your brother?"

Something primal lodged itself into place in Teri's mind.

That... bitch! How dare she say that! This is on!

"Shut up! Shut up! I'll never hurt Momo!"

Her first lunge was just barely parried, but Teri was both pleased and irked by the fact that this asshole, this stupid girl in the way, has surprisingly good form with that absurdly sharp sword-katana-sharp thing. And no matter how much she loves to fight, there's no way Teri would want to feel the blade's bite on her skin. With something between a growl and a hiss, she twirled and thrusted forwards, only to have her spear batted away defensively.

"Not even tryin' to fight back, huh..."

After her next strike was side-stepped, Teri started to move faster, and more aggressively, taking steps forwards with each lunge and swing, forcing Mikasa further into a defensive position, and not giving her much of a chance to try and get a shot in, to the point where the fight looked like an almost one-sided barrage of strikes and parries. Eventually though, the katana hit the blunt end of the spear particularly hard, undoing the plastic shell around the chains, and it became loose and somewhat fluid again. The end of the chain, mid-swing, found it's way into Mikasa's ankle, making her lose her balance and fall. Teri saw her chance then, with a grin, was about to make the finishing Mikasa's waist and Teri's shoulders, trapping Teri's head into her opponent's navel, almost painfully tightly. Locking the chains in place, strangely enough, was the katana, the blade sticking through two links.

Unable to see at all, or even really move, the fight was over.

Kuh... that was really fun...

Zachary woke to the sound of fighting. While he had been fading in and out of unconsciousness, he had at least heard enough to understand the basics of what was going on. They were all trapped inside a virtual reality and had to find a way to fight it out and get home alive. Zachary sighed, how had it come to this? The last he remembered he had been playing around on his computer, trying to find a new game that was worth his time. Next thing he knew, he was here. It was strange to say the least. Zachary sat up and put his finger to his lip, puzzling.



BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. Thwack! Zachary sighed, sitting up slowly and rubbing his eyes. He yawned and stretched, thinking about nothing more than the ritual of the day. He rolled out of bed and put on his bathrobe. After tying a knot securely around his waist, Sachary went downstairs and made himself some breakfast. It was pretty standard, eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, toast, jam, orange juice, rice, a grilled fish, and some fresh fruit. While Zachary was small enough to be a ten year old, he ate like a sixteen year old, never seeming to get any fatter or taller. He quickly gorged himself before taking a shower and getting dressed in his business casual. He wore a nice white collared shirt, a black skinny tie, black slacks, shiny black shoes, and a red, argyle, v-neck sweater. Finally, before leaving his nice little flat, Zachary grabbed his suitcase and his train pass, locking the door on his way out.

The rest of Zachary's day passed relatively mundanely. He did his office work, tested games, went to meetings, had lunch with his co-workers, wrote coding, and filled out paper work like normal. While the days were long, they were exciting. Zachary loved the challenge and the thrill of creating a world that someone could immerse themselves in. To be entirely truthful, the reason Zachary was most excited was that his newest idea for a game, Monster Hunter(tm), was going to be out through! He had spent weeks, months even, creating the world in which his game would be played. The most exciting part was that all his co-workers, even his boss, loved the idea. It was the first time in history that an intern had ever made a game that would actually go on the open market. Zachary was so happy. If his game was successful, he could quit boring college and go straight to work for the company, he'd even have his own office instead of a boring little cubicle. He was so happy.

While he wanted to stay at work during the night, even requesting that he not be paid overtime, the boss kicked him out at quitting time anyway. While Zachary's enthusiasm was appreciated, the boss didn't want him to run himself into the ground over it. Sustained effort was what was required for game creation, you couldn't go balls to the wall right away. Regardless, Zachary took the train home, made himself a feast to celebrate, and then went right to his computer to do, "research". Zachary played all his favorite games online, and posted to his blog about the success of the game he's created. While he couldn't spoil the game itself, he did release that it was an RPG for the latest system. Content, Zachary was just about to go to sleep when a pop-up caught his attention. Bored, sleepy, and just a little curious, Zachary clicked it.



Zachary didn't know where he was, but he could tell a game-like setting when he saw one. In front of him were presents. One of them must have been his. So, Zachary got up, feeling a tad embarrased that he was wearing Pokémon pajamas, but walked over to the boxes. Sure enough, there was one with his name on it. Smiling, Zachary opened the box and found a black robe, black gloves, black boots, black pants, and a black shirt. He put the clothes on, secretly removing everything but his undergarments from the safety of the robe, and put on everything else. Sure enough, as he was struggling with the boots, Zachary stumbled and fell into his box. Rubbing his head, Zachary looked up to find that there were more presents in his box. There were a pair of spiked wheels. Whatever they were, they looked awesome, so Zachary grabbed them too, placing them on a neat little clip on his left hip. Thinking to himself, Zachary placed his pajamas into the box, smiling as the whole thing disappeared with a blink. He nodded. "We're actually in a game." Zachary said, trying to get everyone's attention. "Zachary didn't believe it at first, but it appears to be true. In that case, Aachary thinks that the only way to get home alive and claim the prize will be to work together. Isn't it always the case, that video game villains try to split up te party? If we fight amongst ourselves, the chances of all our survival drops quite rapidly. Zachary doesn't know about the rest of you, but he want's to get home soon." Zachary finished. "It makes the most sense to work together. That way, we can all team up on the final boss and have a much better chance at winning."