Novum Vita

.:Location: Land of Portum:.

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Welcome to Novum Vita. Enjoy your stay.

Pulse opened his eyes to a brand new world. It was hard trying to realize that he wasn't actually in the real world anymore and that the maid bringing him a glass of orange juice wasn't actually a real person with any real feelings, but a simulated program made with codes and data. Their hands brushed as he received the glass from her and she felt warm and real and... No. He shook his head. He couldn't allow himself to believe that this was reality or he would fall into despairing delusions. That was just not a road he needed to travel down. After all, he had enough wrong with him in the first place. He didn't need delusional maniac to that list. Keeping the ties between reality and fiction was the number one rule in the book of rules and instructions given to him when he first learned about this game. At the very least, he'd follow it.

He stared down at his glass of orange juice and frowned when he realized he couldn't make out a reflection. The color was too solid. With a sigh, he drank his down and pulled himself out of the bed of the hotel room and got himself dressed in the outfit he'd designed for himself the day before. It wasn't anything special, but it was comfortable and flexible and just versatile enough to get him through the game without too much trouble. He'd probably need to look around for some armor or or something thicker later on, but for now, this would have to do.

Just as he was pulling his shirt over his head, a voice sounded in his ear. "Tavrin, welcome to day two of Virtual Loss. How are you enjoying the game so far? Did you do as we asked and stay indoors for the first day?"

Pulse sighed dramatically and ran a hand through his hair to fix it up. The best thing about being in a video game was looking flawless without even trying. Perfectly unblemished skin, no bedhead whatsoever, and he got to wear the same outfit every day without the consequences of having to wash it or worry about it getting dirty. The dirt would brush right off. The only issue was it getting cut up, but if he did what he planned to do, like always, then that shouldn't be too much of a problem. "Of course I did. I'm not going to do something stupid and get myself deleted on the first day. It's not like it's my fault the game is busted. You told the other players about it, right? Do the rejects know it, too? Where even are they?"

There was a pause from the voice. He could just imagine one of those old, blind idiots squinting at a screen through their glasses trying to find where each individual player was on the map. Unfortunately, Pulse didn't have that kind of knowledge. That was only for the game masters. They could see the position of everyone in the game, players and hackers both, at any given time. What they couldn't see was where the keys were. Apparently, it was randomized or something like that. That's why this was supposed to just be a simple test run. They were supposed to find the keys and beat the game, then the game would reset and the game makers would see if it got randomized again and all this other stuff that Pulse didn't really pay all that much attention to because he was too busy being way overly excited to get into this game. Yeah, a lot of fun this turned out to be. Now he was stuck with no way out and those idiots upstairs were just spazzing out about every little thing.

The voice returned. "They're in the hotel with you. The rej...er, Hackers appear to all be in Portum, too, but they're...scattered for some reason. The original game files were meant to start the player out in the Portum Hotel. The player would start out with a key--you still have your key, don't you?"

"Yes, I still have the stupid key." He felt his pocket just to make sure and it was definitely still there. "Look, I know all of this stuff already. Can't you game masters go bug the other players about their safety regulations for the hundredth time or something?"

"The others are doing it while you and I are talking. There's more than one of us here, you know, Tavrin. You met them all. Now really isn't the time to be forgetful." Pulse swore he heard just a slight 'tsk' somewhere in that suspiciously passive aggressive sentence, but he didn't care enough to call the old guy out on it. Man, he just wanted to reach into his head and strangle the guy. It was his fault, and all the other smart guys up there who developed this game, that he and the others were in this supposed mess. Now the whole game was ruined. He couldn't even have his fun because they were being all safety conscious and junk. Yeah, well, bump that. He wasn't going to listen to everything they had to say. He risked some serious trouble coming here to be in this game. This was the greatest thing to ever happen to him and he wasn't going to let a little glitch ruin that. He was still going to play the game the way he wanted to play it.

Pulse left the room and looked each way down the hall. The rooms were closed and he wasn't a sociable enough guy to bother talking to them. "You should make friends with the other players and even the hackers. There is strength in numbers and we don't want any of you getting separated in the game."

"Do you have an off button or something? You're like that stupid fairy in Zelda. I just want to smack you on the ground and stomp you into fairy dust." Pulse rolled his eyes and went to the lobby, his foot stopping at the last step as he made it just in time to witness a total crash course into humiliation-ville. Some poor faceless girl was apparently trying to carry too many trays and slipped and fell. Pulse glanced over at her to check if she was alright--of course she was alright, she was just a computer simulation--and there was blood coming from her hand where a shard of glass cut into her palm.

"Jezzie! Are you okay?" And just on cue, a faceless boy just her age came running to the rescue. He leaned on one knee to check her hand and Pulse swore he was going to puke at how obvious it was that they were some sort of in-game couple or something.

Suddenly, that annoying voice came buzzing from inside his head again. "Watch carefully. This is an important plot point in the game."

Emotionless blue eyes blinked open and Kuru sighed lightly. Though he would never tell anyone, he was hoping the previous day had been a dream. And he was back to his shitty life on Earth. But of course he wasn’t. Just fucking fantastic. He rolled over and fuck he almost screamed. Faceless people terrified him to no end. Fuck he really hated this place. Dumb mother with her dumb game. The faceless female was holding what Kuru assumed was orange juice…and by the looks of it, it had no pulp. Oh hell no. Eyes narrowing slightly, he waved his hand away and scowled a bit at servant girl. She seemed to understand if her stuttered apology and the way she quickly scurried from the room had anything to do with it.

“Good morning Kari!” Oh god his scientist was seriously the most cheerful one in existence. Did the heavens have a nice laugh with his life? “Did you sleep well? I do hope you stayed in the hotel all of yesterday, or else something else could have—

Oh my fucking god. “Just…fucking stop talking.” He said in a low voice and stood from his bed, making his way to the closet to change his clothes. Fuck, he didn’t even need to look inside the damn thing, but it was a human habit and if he was stuck in here he was going to be as human as fucking possible. His cheery scientist didn’t speak until he was down to his boxers. He hated this man with every fiber of his being. Instead of telling him off again, Kuru silently changed into the clothes he had picked out for himself. Nice and comfortable, though he honestly picked it because it was dark and classy. At the same fucking time. How amazing is that? Pretty damn amazing, but he won’t ever tell a soul that. “Did I say you could speak to me?” He was sure he didn’t. But whatever, he didn’t care too much. The scientist was annoying, but it was mindless chatter. As he was walking out of his room, a thought came to him, “Hey. What happened to the others?”

The answer made him regret he even asked it. “Oh, well you see,” he started annoyingly, “The others, whom we have called the ‘Winners’ because you didn’t cheat or hack or anything to get into the game. I mean all of you got the game through legal and safe means, and we knew about you so we got to hook up a sort of talkie thing, I didn’t do the programing for that I don’t know how this can work,” Did this man ever stop talking? “So that is why you’re Winners. The rest of you are in that Hotel. As for the Hackers, you know, because they hacked into the game and made everything all messy and haywire. Get it?” if he ever got out of this game and that man spoke a single word to him, Kuru would punch him, “Anyways,” the other male let out a nervous laugh, “We don’t honestly know what happened to them. They seem to be scattered all over Portum. Odd really. The game should have kept all of you together. Maybe it was because they hacked into it and alerted the firewall…”

He ignored the rest of the man’s rambling and started to walk down the hall, the maids and male-maids, or whatever, ducking their faceless heads down as he glared at everything. God he just wanted to play a game to get away from reality. Not actually be pulled from reality and stuck in a game. It fucking blowed. As Kuru walked he didn’t even notice the other hallways with either closed, or partially open doors. He didn’t bother to look because he didn’t care. Hell he hated human contact, and socialization so much that he ignored everything his scientist said about ‘sticking together’ because ‘you would be stronger the more people you had’ and ‘find the hackers too because they might die’. Okay, maybe he was listening. Passively listening.

“Do you have the key?” Unlike before, it was a little more serious and Kuru almost paused in his walking. Almost. To be honest, he wanted to say he lost it, and be a bitch about everything. Maybe then they would figure out a way to pull him from this damn game. But he also knew that if he said that he lost it, impossible in this sort of game actually, then his scientist might have a heart attack. He didn’t want blood on his hands, even if it was indirectly.

“H’m, yes.” He answered at length. After that though, he was quiet. Almost like he was…done. Yes. Finally. With the new found silence, Kuru was able to make his way to the lobby quicker, finding Pulse there, just standing and watching two faceless people, one male and female, pick up glass off the floor. He frowned and cast a glance at the gray male out of the corner of his eye and mentally shrugged, standing next to him, thumbs hooked into the front pockets of his pants.

---

---

What was he never doing again? Hacking into kickass games. Dammit he will spend the money. Wow he regretted nothing, yet he was sure he was an idiot. He wasn’t stupid. He purposely ignored all the red flags. Hell he figured he wasn’t the only one who hacked the game, so he wasn’t the only one who ignored all the signs that what happened was in the code. Holy shit he was dumb. In a totally classy way. But none of that made a lick of sense. Let’s back the hell up a bit, okay?

Sage gasped and failed his arms, curing loudly as his body felt cold and wet and heavy. Failing arms met with a wet surface and for a few seconds everything was quiet. No birds chirped, nothing in nature made a sound. And then, it was heard. The loud yell from Sage’s mouth. “Oh my fucking god, holy shit no! I did not just get into this game to find myself sleeping in a bloody fucking river. Nope. Lies. Illusion. Because if this was real, game real what the fuck ever, I swear to god—

How he loved when no one listened to his rants. It was perfect. He could make no sense at all and not a single soul would know. Except…those faceless people over there. Rule one; never hack into games again. But back to his river sleeping. Sadly he did pass out in the river. But thankfully, god he loved and hated this game, after a few minutes on dry land, he too was perfectly dry. Fancy that. Now all he had to do was find some other people…kick their asses, maybe, and beat this game. Because he wasn’t going to go home until he finished it.

The fact that it was morning in a game was a little too ridiculous. Torn couldn't believe he had been running around exploring Portum for most the first day in the game. When he had entered, he had appeared a little on the outskirts of the small town. As accomplishments, he had eaten sweets that actually tasted like sweets to his surprise and pleasure; taught a few people some new and colorful vocabulary; and gotten a ton of information about the town and the game.

It wasn't like Torn was tired or sleepy; he had gotten accustomed to playing for days without sleep nor food. It was usually his maids that forced him to take a break and eat or rest. It was actually really strange that they hadn't showed up yet to nag about his health. He was glad about it nonetheless. Torn hadn't hacked into the game for nothing after all. He was planning on playing the game until he won and beat the other people in the game. It would be a perfect revenge for him not being picked as one of the winners.

At the moment, Torn was questioning a faceless kid that he had come across. The locals were a friendly bunch - maybe a little too friendly for Torn's liking - and they easily answered any of the questions he had. For example, Torn had been trying to figure out why exactly everyone was missing eyes in the game - and how exactly they could see without them.

"But how?" Torn pressed. He was kneeling down to be in the same eye level as the young child he was interrogating.

"I just can," the boy repeated with a shrug. Torn's green eyes narrowed as his annoyance began to grow. He never did like the presence of children. They were too innocent, friendly, puny, and little too stubborn for his taste.

"But you don't have any eyes, idiot!" Torn snapped and began poking the space where the young boy's eyes should be. His hand was immediately swatted away and it caused his anger to flare in a matter of seconds. Torn's arms wrapped themselves around the kid's head and once he had him in a head lock, he began scowling the child, "I should rip your mouth and nose off too, you brat!"

The torment of the young kid lasted a few minutes before Torn got bored and continued his journey through Portum. As he made his way down the street, his eyes stared down at his hand with a confused gaze. He could still remember the feeling of the kid's hair and it was troubling. He knew the game was pretty advanced to the point that his senses in the game were just like in real life but he still couldn't get over it. It all seemed too real to the point that he sometimes forgot it wasn't.

Torn shook his head and stuffed his hands in his pockets to get a lollipop. He felt something cold and heavy instead and when he took it out, Torn was greeted to the sight of a key. His eyelids dropped at the sight of it. When he had entered the game the key had appeared along with him. Although he didn't know its purpose, Torn could only guess it was important. He shrugged it off though, deciding to deal with it when the time came.

He finally found the candy that he was looking for. He unwrapped the sweet and stuck it in his mouth before throwing the crumbled wrapper to the ground. The virtual janitors could pick it, right?

All Torn was left to think about was what to do now.

"Ah, push it, push it good! Ah, push it, p-push it real good. Hey, ow! Push it good! Oooh, baby, baby. Oooh-" Autumn smacked the alarm clock next to her and yelped, that hurt. She rolled over and over, squinting at the beside table and realising there was no alarm clock. Haha, guess the song must've been playing in my head, she thought with a giggle. How convenient.

"Gooooood morning!" she sing-songed, lifting her upper body upright with a start and a smile that revealed teeth so straight and white, they were near blinding.

"Good morning, Miss Autumn," a girl said quietly - did people appear out of nowhere here? - as she stood by her bed. Autumn smiled at the young, faceless girl, as she took the mug of beer off her hands. Pssh, orange juice. They thought she was going to drink orange juice? For breakfast? She'd already settled with the hotel what she wished to be served yesterday, nobody ate eggs with orange juice for breakfast. Just, what the hell? Beer and spaghetti, that's what she was talking about.

"Thank you, little one," she said as the girl tip-toed carefully out of Autumn's room. Autumn sighed contentedly, tipping her head back as she poured the golden liquid down her throat, it certainly wasn't as strong as she would've liked but everyone knew vodka shots were reserved for tea. When she was done, Autumn placed the mug on the table beside her and swivelled her slim legs around so her feet rested against the cool floor. She'd had her avatar custom made to look and feel exactly like her. Why would she want to run around with someone else's face and body when she was so perfect? God, her modesty was astounding.

Autumn skipped over to the full-length mirror, spinning and humming as she did. She began at her feet, raising her eyes along the length of her model-long legs, a small smile playing on the corners of her lips. Her hips - 33 inches, tick - narrowed into a small waist - 23 inches, tick - and to her bust. Autumn grinned; we all knew how big those were. A small pitter patter began in her heart as she looked at her face in anticipation of what she might find, and a sigh escaped her full, rose-tinted lips as she took in her small chin, narrow, upturned nose and wide honeydew green eyes. It looked exactly like her.

But then…

"OH MY GOD!" she squealed, clutching a thick lock of soft and wavy hair in her hand. "Oh my god!" she repeated, gawking at her reflection. "Sandy blonde? Sandy blonde?" She gasped, turning around and around in search of her familiar, persimmon red hair. No, no, no, no. Why had she not noticed this yesterday? Right, because she was too busy freaking out over the fact that she had a 50/50 chance of dying and now she was going to die with a blonde head.

Autumn covered her mouth with her hand, staring at her own reflection and struggling not to cry. Her life was over. Over. Autumn took a deep breath, dropping her trembling hand to her side. This was nothing new shoes and clothes couldn't fix, especially virtual shoes and clothes. She closed her eyes, imagining a lovely outfit she'd seen on TV once. This was a fantastic time to test out her new gadget, the white gold necklace she wore - the Virtual Clothing thingymabob.

Autumn opened her eyes.

"Dddaaayyuuummnnn, girlfriend," she said with her usual joy restored. Her perfect body was clad in perfect leather clothes and she might've died of self-admiration if it hadn't been for the voice that, all of a sudden, spoke from absolutely nowhere and everywhere at once.

"Have you already neglected my warning of your possible death?" droned a boring, dull and infinitely grumpy voice.

"Hey, if I'm going to die, I'm going to die hot," she said with a shrug. She wasn't sure if everyone had an individual smart people-on-the-other-side guy assigned to them, but she did, and not by choice. Her guy, Mr. refer-to-me-as-Hilshire, was a stick in the mud. "Don't lie, you are so jealous of these boots. I know, my imagination is immeasurable and no, you can't touch my sexy breasts."

"Have you misplaced your key?" Call-me-Hilshire asked.

"OH NO! WHERE IS MY KEY?" she shouted at the top of her lungs - which was pretty bloody loud - hoping that all the other 'Winners' heard her, and those Hacker-dudes, too, preferably. "No, I have not misplaced my key," she said in a poor imitation of his voice. "IT'S IN MY BRA!" she yelled, even louder than before.

She was met with silence from the other end, to which she merely laughed. She was going to have lots of fun with this Mr. Hilshire. "What's your first name?" she'd asked him just the day before, to which he'd replied, "Unnecessary."

"Okay, Unnecessary Hilshire," she'd said.

Autumn twirled her new sandy blonde hair around her finger, it was alright, on her, but what didn't look amazing on her? In all honesty, though, the honey streaks in her hair brought out the gold flecks in her eyes. She could live with being blonde, perhaps then her outsides might finally resemble her insides. Autumn sashayed out of her room and down the stairs, and was greeted by the lovely - albeit pessimistic and slightly sadistic - faces of Pulse and Kurai. Autumn grinned, stepping from the last step of the staircase with a soundless grace - yay, cheerleading! - and walking towards the two, hips swaying, confidence blazing.

"Pulse, Kurai," she acknowledged, beaming her all-encompassing, blinding, almost Goddess-like smile. "Mmm, this game is PG31, right?" she asked in her sultry, breathless voice as she raked her gaze over the two men. Not bad. Not bad at all, she thought with a smirk she didn't bother to conceal. Autumn had met the others - the 'Winners' - briefly yesterday, where she might or might not have screamed, "OH MY ECKING GOD! Are you telling me I might die? In these shoes?!?" She'd pointed to her totally out of season stiletto heels. Her discovery of the Virtual Clothes thingy-thing had later fixed that major problem of hers, though. "Bitch, if I'm going to die, I am dying in style. You better tell someone to change my clothes in real life into a damned sexy crimson lingerie set. Preferably someone hot. Preferably several someones. And preferably La Senza.

"Btw, I'm An- Autumn."

Okay, so that might or might not have been the best first impression. She wasn't superficial or a bimbo… Sometimes. No, really, she was a great person. When compared to dolphins who weren't really people. Autumn chuckled at her own joke, pulling out a nearby chair and blessing it with her totally attractive butt. She swung her long legs onto the table, crossing her boot-clad ankles and rocking on the hind legs of her chair. She sat there, rocking, for a total of 54 seconds before declaring, quite loudly, as she jumped off the chair and placed her hands on her hips, "I'm bored!"

These guys were worse than old people.

{Immortalis Opulentia}

The soft darkness faded as she slowly woke up, the world coming into focus around her. For a second, she was unsure where she was, and why she wasn't at home snuggled amongst the pile of warm fluffy blankets that she piled around herself even on warm nights. Then, yesterday came back to her, and she woke up with a jolt and a quietly spoken curse to herself.

Of course, yes, she was in a game. How'd she mixed that with reality for even a moment? The quickly grabbed orange juice, provided by the program sent to serve her, was dealt with in a timely and exact manner, as the newly awakened Elein set about re-familiarising herself with the room. Likely the designers wouldn't have anything in the rest-rooms that had any import to the game, but it was never a bad idea to check everything over.

'Ms Sylvester.' The smooth, oily voice resounded in her ear, or mind, and reminded her of the few irritations she'd have to put up with. He'd also refused to call her by the username, instead using her her surname when addressing her. 'Welcome to day two in Virtual Loss.' Drilled in manners prevented her from exercising her sharp tongue at this sudden interruption to her morning waking up. Alone in the room, having sent the program out, she stood up from her bed and walked slowly across the room. 'I trust you have kept your key and haven't broken any rules yet.'

'Mr Venwilk.' She replied, no enthusiasm in the courtesy. The most irritating thing is that the stupid scientist acted like it was a foregone conclusion that she'd break a rule or forget something of import. 'Yer trust is well placed.' Implying that his comment was more in support than a shot. Why they had got a scientist who wouldn't get along with the players in a cordial manner was baffling to her, especially as they were almost a pilot role for the player.

'Good to hear. That is all for now.' Dismissing her already. Shaking her head at the man, she started at the mirror for a second before activating and testing the interface she'd dubbed the 'Clothing Manager', and then making sure she was fully sure of all of its options before using it. A moment later, the bed-clothing had changed into a comfortable, easily usable shirt and long pants. Nothing fancy, nothing special, but everything practically usable.

Heading towards the door, she was suddenly assailed by the oily voice once more. 'Oh, and Ms Sylvester, it would be wise, and appreciated, if you could attempt to forge relations with the other three members of the proper player team.' She didn't even give him the satisfaction of acknowledgement, merely choosing to listen and then head towards the door, which opened as easily as you could expect.

At the door, she took a moment to consider the situation, including the excellently rendered graphics, and the amazing interface. While everything here was merely a result of wired nerves and a bunch of numbers translated into feelings, it was above and beyond anything else she'd seen for customisability for the player both in looks, and in fighting style. This game, once completed, would provide a challenge to stay on top, because there was no longer any restriction from the console that decided the limit of what kind of tactics that could be employed...

It would be something she looked forwards to, as it was, she'd probably spent too much time already just dawdling. Already, the other three had gathered beneath on the floor below the residences, and she quickly began to rectify her lateness to the meeting. Unlike the overly... attention lusting other female, Elein moved down the stairs quietly, though not at all trying to obscure her approach to anyone watching. Upon reaching the main floor, she nodded carefully once to anyone that noticed her approach, and stood to the side quietly, waiting for the NPC interaction to play out so that the players could have an idea of what exactly they were supposed to do to start this obvious quest hook. Or she hoped it was a quest hook, it would be quite disappointing if they had to go hunting for it.

Unless, of course, it was one where you were given clues to find the hook, rather then hunting around. But the quest would technically start with the first clue anyways.

Pulse didn't flinch as another person came to a stop beside him. He hardly gave a glance in the person's direction, identifying them as...oh fuck, what was his name again? Kirby or something stupid like that, he didn't really give a shit. All he cared about was getting through this game and he really didn't plan on doing that with the help of all these people. What did those scientists think this was? Some sort of kid's show where they all started out hating each other and learned that, in the end, friendship won over everything? What a load of absolute fuckery. Pulse wanted nothing to do with any of it at all whatsoever. "Pulse, Kurai," a voice sounded behind them. Oh no, not this bimbo. "Mmm, this game is PG31, right?" Wow, speak of the devil and let her walk down the stairs in those precious shoes of hers. This was figure numero uno why he wanted nothing to do with these people. "I'm bored!"

He felt himself twitch. He was just waiting for that incessant voice in his head to start talking again, telling him all about how they needed to stick together for everyone's best interest and all that load. Luckily for him, however, the voice had yet to return and Pulse instead tried to focus on the scene unfolding in front of them. They're frozen. Was this some sort of glitch? They weren't doing anything. Oh, wait, no, they were talking to each other. The faceless girl was blushing as the guy held her hand carefully, but all they were doing was talking. It was just a bunch of mumbling anyway. The hotel manager--a large-bellied man who looked more like the type of guy who should be making pizzas and yelling out orders than running a hotel--came up to the players. "I will never understand young love." Did I ask you? Did anyone ask you? Nobody asked you. "My daughter Jezzie is sure in love with that boy. He asked for her hand in marriage, but he still hasn't given her a ring." He shook his head and tsk-ed. "I wonder what he's planning."

Oh for god's sakes. "Don't you tell me for one second that this is one of those types of games. Is this a mission? Is this something I have to do to progress in the game? I thought this was an RPG. Can't I just leave?" Pulse was basically talking to thin air, but she sure as hell expected an answer. There was a moment of silence where...no, nope, nothing, nada, zilch. That old geezer scientist that'd been assigned to him wasn't giving out any details, was he? But he supposed he already knew the answer. And the answer was yes. Yes, Pulse, you big, dumb, idiot, this is a quest. RPGs have those. Did you forget? He sighed harshly and looked the Hotel Manager over, who was smiling as if he hadn't heard a thing. "What do we gotta do? What's the quest? The mission? Is this a tutorial?"

The manager clasped his hands together. "I believe he's lost the ring! Maybe you could help him find it!" Oh. Oh no. Nonono. This was supposed to be a cool, bad-ass game full of adventure and dragons and crap. Where the hell were his dragons? All he wanted was to see one god-dammed dragon and he was stuck with this asshole. No, this wasn't going to happen.

Pulse stared the guy down incredulously before shaking his head and putting his hands up. "I'm not doing that. I'm not looking for a stupid ring for a stupid guy to propose to some stupid girl. I'm moving on. I am leaving town. This is the real deal. I can just walk past any barricades." He glanced behind him and nearly jumped when he realized that the final Winner was there, that other chick. The one with the ridiculously long username for no good goddamn reason. "I'm sure one of these chumps would be happy to help you. I'm out of here." And just like that, he was gone, out the door and on his way through the town of faceless people to figure out where the hell he needed to go to find a dragon or something.

“Pulse, Kurai,” No. He didn’t want to deal with her. No way in hell. In all honesty he forgot she was alive, mainly because he viewed her as dumb and stupid. Fucking blonde. And her voice, don’t get him started on that. Annoying, like the rest of her. Sickly sweet, slutty, whoreish. He didn’t like her. Not a single bit. “Mmm, this game is PG31, right?” In what world was the funny? It wasn’t, not even a little bit. Not remotely entertaining. The only thing he would find hilarious about this girl was the moment she died from stupidity. Luckily there was a moment of silence from the blonde slut before “I’m bored!” broke it. Yes, you should be bored. Bored and then die. Perfect. My plan exactly. Kuru was about to say something snappy to her, about shutting up and dying, but he found that the hotel manager, a fat guy, came up to them “I will never understand young love.” Neither would he, but he didn’t care. “My daughter Jezzie is sure in love with that boy.” Why was he talking? There was no reason to. Could he just walk away? He was done. It was only day 2 and he wanted out. Out, out, out. “He asked for her hand in marriage, but he still hasn’t given her a ring. I wonder what he’s planning” Well I for one, don’t actually care.”

“Don’t you tell me for one second that this is one of those types of games. Is this a mission? Is this something I have to do to progress in the game? I thought this was an RPG. Can’t I just leave?” Kuru agreed. But he knew it was logical for things like this to happen. So while he wanted to leave, he knew it would have to be done if they ever wanted to beat this stupid piece of shit game and live in the real world. Not that he actually cared about living in the real world. His life did suck, a shit ton. Whatever. He was yanked out of his inner musing with a large clap. Hell it was a booming clap. Who clapped that loudly? Jeez. “I believe he lost the ring! Maybe you could help him find it!” This fat guy was kidding right? How about he go find the ring and lose some weight? The Pulse kid put up his hands in surrender, “I’m not doing that. I’m not looking for a stupid ring for a stupid guy to propose to some stupid girl. I’m moving on. I am leaving town. This is the real deal. I can just walk past any barricades.” Kuru was beginning to think he was a grade B (since Autumn was a grade A+) idiot. “I’m sure one of these chumps would be happy to help you. I’m out of here.” And then he left.

“You’re joking right?” his voice was calm and held a note of anger, though one had to look hard to find it, “A ring?” he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. If he did this, he would get another key. If he did that, he might gain experience. And with that experience, he would be able to fight off stronger monsters, if there were any. “Fucking…fine. I’m game for this shit.”

---

Sage wandered around the town for a bit, taking a nice look at everything. He wanted to know everything there was to know about the game, since he did hack into it and all that. He was proud of that fact. Proud as hell. And if he ‘started off on the wrong foot’ with the makers of the game, he might as well just continue to do so. So he stole. Food, money, anything he could get his hands on, he took. It was nice and easy. Sort of like this assassin game he played at home once. He liked that game. Very fun and stuff like that. But anyway, he came to a hotel and walked in without even thinking twice. Or looking where he was going.

“Oh shit, sorry man, uh. Are you okay?” he frowned at the eyeless male and helped him up, “I’m Sage. And you are?”

The other dusted himself off and looked at him. Or at least Sage figured he was looking at him. Whatever, these things were fucking creepy, “I’m John.” Oh ew, bland ass name over here. “Could you help me?” Help? Like a mission help? He could do that. He wanted to be in this game, so he was going to do it all right. And piss off the makers a little bit to. Ha. He nodded and motioned for bland-name John to continue talking, “See I have a finance, and I got her a ring, but I’m not sure what happened to it. I was attacked one night. And I uh…well I guess it was taken.” He had frowned, “it took me months to get the money for that ring, could you get it back for me?”

Fine. He could do this. It was such a bore, his mission. He was hoping for monsters and killing things and more money, “Yeah, sure.” He lied with a slight scowl, “Where did you lose the damn thing?” With a bright smile, ‘John’ began to go into a long winded story about how he was walking home one night after getting the ring and being jumped by a pack of rouge monster dogs or some shit. All Sage really heard was ‘monsters’ and ‘in the east part of the city’ “Oh…kay. Thanks man. I’ll go get that ring for you.” And then he was off, sprinting down the halls and trying to get out of the hotel. He managed to, of course, but Sage really didn’t know how to look for things he could possible trip over.

“Fuck!” he shouted loudly and pushed himself off the ground, glaring at the person below him, “Wow, man. Watch where you’re going. I’m on a mission…” he blinked and found that the person had eyes. He was a player. “Oh. You’re a player too then? Well then. Maybe you can help me or something. Of course, I get all the credit, but I might share some of the glory with you if you can give me some information on this town or something.” He yanked the grey skinned player to his feet with a slight frown. After some thinking he stuck out his hand, “I’m Sage. And you are?”

Autumn laughed, a lilting, melodic, love-or-hate-it sound. She grinned, running a finger along the rim of a glass mug that now sat before her. Who knew and who cared how it got there? She smiled, shaking her head and chuckling as her head bowed over the drink, her soft hair cascading over her shoulder to shield her face but not her trembling shoulders. Oh god, oh god. She was going to have to complete stupid, boring as missions before she had any chance of living? Well, that was nice. Hey, at least it's jewellery, she told herself.

"Okay," she said. Autumn lifted her head

And froze.

Her father - Niklaus von Duerr - was, at one point, the President of Germany. Of course, not everyone approved of his rule. During Christmas when all her family would gather and when Annetta was but seven, a terrorist group who disapproved of her father murdered them all. Annetta - not Autumn, but Annetta - was left for dead, after she herself was both physically and sexually assaulted. She learned something, after a year of hospitalisation and more of absolute misery, she learned control was given to those who sought it and that her body was a shell. If she slept with enough people, she would forget, that sex ever equated to horror, and that it was ever forced from her. Caring for people who would sooner die than live was foolish, so she never did. Care, that was. And she succeeded for the most part, being a materialistic bimbo sex-crazed bitch generally helped with that.

Her emerald eyes stared into amethyst orbs set in a lovely face and framed by light blonde locks. The corners of her lips lifted into a slow smile as she gazed at him in the practiced way that she looked at everyone who was that attractive or more, through the thick curtain of her dark eyelashes, suggesting much in a single look. She would have him. She would have them all.

I hope their clothes can be taken off, she thought grimly.

Autumn's eyes swept the room in a sweeping gaze - practiced, as everything of hers was - that was part nonchalance, part boredom. She tilted her head at the other female, swirling her fingertip on the rim of the glass cup in a quick movement, resulting in a clear, ringing sound through the room. The hotel seemed to still, or maybe she lost track of everything else. No, that was a lie. She was always observant and attentive, however clueless she might look. Autumn ran her gaze along the small frame of the other female - Immortal Obstacle? Immortal Octopus? Immigrant Piranha? Yeah, Immy would be her name. She was quite the pretty girl, with soft hazel eyes and brown hair she would've loved to tangle her fingers in. Her spectacles were just... Cute. Immy was a challenge, being the definition of Adorable Nerd.

Challenge accepted.

"The ring!" the manager repeated, slapping his hands together as he had before. Yeah, yeah, Autumn thought, giving the manager a mental wave-off.

"Bitch, do I look like your servant?" she said lazily, rolling her eyes and leaning back against the table.

"Bitch?" the manager asked, as if he did not have the word in his list of understood-words. "Thank you so much for searching for the ring!" he announced.

"Okay!" Autumn said cheerily, slapping her palms together as the manager had done. God, excitement was contagious. After a few moments of smiling with the manager, a corner of Autumn's lip twitched away from the smile. "Umm... Do we get a clue? No? Okay. Jewellery!" she announced, swivelling to face the others and dropping her smile. With another roll of her eyes, she said, "Gawd, he's so cheery. Why would anyone be that bubbly when we might die any minute now?" Autumn pursed her lips, before bursting into giggles. Funny. Everything was so funny.

Autumn reached for her head and tugged a strand of gold hair from its roots, flinching. Another strand grew back immediately in its place. Ooo, convenient. Autumn plucked several more from her head, braiding it rapidly into an intricate braid. She swivelled it around her ring finger, tying it into a circle that looked like - "A ring!" She strolled over to the eyeless couple, tapping the boy on the shoulder. He turned around, regarding her through his gazeless face. "A ring," she announced, handing it to him.

"Oh, miss, my ring is a gold band. This isn't the ring, silly!" he chuckled.

"So?"

"So, I can't ask for her hand in marriage with this," he whispered, as if he didn't want the love of his life to overhear. You're not whispering very softly, she thought.

"What does it matter? If she loves you, she doesn't care what sort of ring you give her, if you give her one at all," she explained with a yawn that sounded more like a kitten's meow.

"Yes, but-"

"Listen, kid," she began. "Take the ring, call it a ring, get married, have lots of NPC, eyeless babies and move on. How can I miss you if you won't go away?"

{Immortalis Opulentia}

Elein had no comment for the scene unfolding before her. First, the outline of the quest was beginning to be stated when the first winner dropped into the conversation. And proved he was as bad at RPGs as he was stupid. This wasn't a world, this was an RPG, which would have stupid plot-hooks and stories that held no water. The very fact that he wasn't ready to accept this was sign that he got in more on skill than knowledge and experience. Stupid by the creators of this game.

As he walked out the door, she smirked just slightly. One less competition for the top spot then, since one of the winners wasn't even competing. The second seemed reluctant, but accepted the job. He would bear watching, since he was still in the game. The third continued to prattle on and act arrogant, as if the very act of gaming itself was beneath her. There was no logical reason she was amongst the other winners, but Elein dismissed it as idle speculation.

Instead she allowed the scene to play out a moment as she regarded the one winner who was still in the competition. She'd have to look into the hackers later, but they had a significant disadvantage due to the nature of their entry and arrival, so less to worry about. Bringing up, mentally, the small hud in the corner of her view and accessing the profiles, she dismissed it to the side to be read later after she got the name. Stepping up next to ... Kurai, and ignoring the scene to the side with the plot important NPC and the third Winner, she finally opened her mouth for the first time. 'Parameters fer the quest... Where were this ring last seen, where is it likely to be found, and what danger is present in the act of locatin' it?'

While she listened to the enthusiastic program's description of the loss, the location, and the rabid monsters involved in the loss, the once again, though this time quite openly, regarded Kurai. A measured stare, one that seemed to weigh the person she was staring at in the scales.

'Do ye prefer teamwork, or competition.' The statement, or question, since it doubled as both, was delivered in a flat, almost daring tone, as if she wanted the other winner to choose the second.

After Torn made his way through town, demanding answers and food from the locals while at it, he found he had learned a new fact. It was the fact that the game he had complained for days to his parents so they could get it for him was honestly boring the shit out of him at that moment. First of all, there wasn't much to learn anymore. It came to point where the locals were telling him stuff he already knew and that just infuriated him. Second of all, he was sick of talking nicely with people and yes, shouting and cursing at people was his way of talking nicely because he hadn't resorted to violent measures all that much. Torn wasn't used to people and as much as he repeated in his head that they were virtual people, the uncomfortable feeling they managed to give him when they smiled or said something actually nice — really, it just pissed him the fuck off. He had taken a small break of interrogating people because he just didn't want to deal with them anymore. He had interacted with people — fuck, virtual people — more in the game than he had done in his real life put together and he was just worn out of all the yelling. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn't slept yet and that might be the reason he's feeling tired of all the sudden. That or the locals finally grew a backbone and poisoned some of the food they gave him.

A body collided with Torn and he was forcefully broken out of his thoughts. His green eyes snapped forward to meet the blank spaces where their eyes should be. He mentally grown at the sight. He was really growing tired of those eyeless bastards. "Oh, sor—" the young man was about to say but Torn's voice cut him.

"I'll fucking punch you in the damn throat if you don't get out of my sight." That said, the man scurried away the next second. Torn wasn't even in the mood to torture him, and that was saying something! He had already done it for almost half the people in the town and the pattern was getting old.

In the corner of his eyes, he noticed a hotel. He immediately thought of a warm bed waiting for him and then cursed himself internally to remind himself it wasn't actually warm. Nor was it a bed actually. Nor was it waiting for him specifically. Torn shook his head to stop his train of thought that seemed to have derailed for a second there before he started heading to the hotel. That was when he noticed something that made him stop and, for some reason, jump behind a bush for cover.

Torn's green orbs were trained on the two guys who were all over each other in front of the hotel. Torn couldn't help but look at them in disgust. Like, seriously? There are children around for goodness sakes, you sick fucks. There is a hotel right by you, can't you just wait a couple seconds, get a freaking room, and do whatever people under the covers then. Again, Torn shook his head to focus back on the point.

The point being that the two had a pair of eyes just like Torn. Except in different colors since they're not actually just like Torn's, you know. He continued to watch them, trying look for any sign if they were winners or some of the other hackers. When the guy that his parent's hired went to get the game, he found out that there were others who did the same thing so he had warned Torn he might not be the only hacker around. Anyway, if they were winners, he needed to go over there and brag his ass off to show them who the real winner is — oh, and maybe hit them in the process to emphasis his winner...ness? Whatever. If they are hackers, he will skip the bragging part and go into the hitting part first. Then he will declare that they are trying to steal his thunder by copying his awesome idea.

"Ah, fuck it, Torn! Concentrate!" Torn practically shouted as he slapped both of his hands on his cheeks. His thoughts were running wild again and they were distracting him to the max. It was a habit of his when he played video games and it usually didn't bother him since he was alone in his room during it. It was different now since he was actually in the video game. Wait, correction: he felt like he was in the video game. Speaking about feeling, his stomach was feeling unattended at that moment and was showing it by growling at Torn. It was enough to distract him from his previous mission of watching the two fuckers and focus on searching for any sweets in his bag.

"Do ye prefer teamwork, or competition?" asked Immortal Octopus. Autumn tilted her head to the side, regarding Octopus girl curiously. She seemed... Smart. Albeit a little - or incredibly - out of fashion. She would have to fix that problem, if the girl had any hopes of becoming Autumn's new best friend. Well, first, technically, she thought. Autumn's my avatar and she's new enough. Gosh, all that thinking was giving her a headache.

"That depends if this game is PG31," she said calmly, having forgotten about the makeshift ring she held, the partially faceless boy and the quest.

"Ah, fuck it, Torn! Concentrate!" a distant voice yelled. Autumn gave no reaction, save a slight narrowing of her eyes. What on Earth? Was this another nerdy quest? God, what was she doing here. Right, because she was the face of the multi billion dollar corporation by the name of Oceans Capital and Oceans Capital invested a lot of money into this faulty game and they promised her emancipation if she did what they said. Now what did it matter? She was likely going to die.

Autumn strolled towards the door, nudging the two entangled men aside with a flick of her wrist. She reached behind her back, pulling out one of her twin swords that had miraculously appeared on her back with a thought. She glared into the distance, flipping and spinning the sword about in her right hand, testing its grip. She'd yet to practice with these swords but hey, they looked good on her, so who cared how they worked. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," she whispered, more to herself than the person she'd heard yelling. "Come out so I can slice your clothes off and have mad animal sex," she said seriously, before chuckling and bursting into laughter at her own words. God, she was hilarious.

A slither of unusual blonde hair flicked at the corner of her vision. Autumn squinted at the spot where she'd seen the colour, and squinted harder. Had she specified for her avatar to have perfect or at least, mostly decent vision? Huh, apparently not. Just then, she made out a head, shoulders, arms and legs and gasp! It was a person! With a full face!

Mmm, pretty good looking, too, she mused, sucking her lower lip between her teeth. Autumn grinned, lifting an arm and gesturing for the fuck it/Torn guy who clutched his head. Who cared if he was delusional as long as he had the appropriate body parts. Or not. She was always up for an adventure. "Here, Torny torny," she purred, wiggling her slim fingers at the man. "Come on, baby. Milk? Would you like milk? How about fish, Torny?"

Meh, cats, men, same same.

After about a moment's pause, because that was the length of her patience a.k.a. non-existent. Autumn sashayed over to the man, snatched his wrist, hauled him up with a grunt and dragged him along behind her. Her long, slim legs ate up the distance to the hotel and she briefly registered how small this male specimen was. "Look what I found!" she announced as she hauled Torn in front of Amethyst Eyes and Pulse the Heartthrob with issues. "It has a face," she said with a grin, probing Torn's arm as if he were a weird, two legged creature.

Autumn laughed. Haha, he is! she thought with a grin. Her teeth were distracting, their straight whiteness seeming to draw the world's light into them and blind the world. Perhaps that was her power. Funny, funny. Life was so funny. Suddenly, her smile dropped from her face, replaced by a pursing of her lips and a slight pull of her eyebrows. She didn't think she had her meds in her pack. Did her avatar need meds? Were they going to feed her her anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, anti-convulsants and hypnotics? Let's not forget her anxiety pills. Autumn slapped her hand over her mouth, bowing her head slightly and giggling into her palm, her other hand clutching Torn's upper arm - and her flesh-slicing sword. Oh, her sword.

That was funny. Imagine if she went absolutely mad in the game! Oh, how funny that would be.

Pulse watched the eyeless male without a ring saunter off to some other part of the hotel. He shrugged, sniffing coolly to himself because he really couldn't care less. He'd made a promise to storm out and he was going to go through with it. Where was the door again? Oh, right, right. Right th--“Fuck!” He'd barely managed to stomp past the doors and down a few feet, glancing behind him to make sure anyone had enough sense to follow, when he was knocked back to his butt. Wait, did they curse in this game? Because that would be super cool. “Wow, man. Watch where you’re going. I’m on a mission…” Pulse glanced up and they both seemed to register at the same time that neither of them were NPCs. The eyes were an instant giveaway.

“Oh. You’re a player too then? Well then. Maybe you can help me or something. Of course, I get all the credit, but I might share some of the glory with you if you can give me some information on this town or something.” Pulse raised an eyebrow at the guy, trying to figure out who he was. He wasn't someone from the hotel, so he wasn't one of the people who actually got into this game by their skills. He had to be a hacker. An obnoxious one, at that. He waited for the geezer in his ear to start buzzing, but nothing happened, so he sighed and let himself get pulled back onto his feet. “I’m Sage. And you are?”

He was so convinced that he was going to spit out a sarcastic response, something like 'I'm out, bye' or 'Someone who doesn't care,' like one of those cool characters in the video games that were all cold and aloof and started out at as a jerk but ended up being totally badass. Pulse was so sure that he could be that character right here, right now, to this guy he'd never met before. And it'd all come down to his reply to the perfect set up he'd been given. Alright, time to be cool. "Out--I'm. Shit. Wait. Fuck." Tongue-tied. The curse of the wannabe-cool kid. Pulse groaned and ran a hand down his face, cursing again under his breath. He sighed and turned an aggravated gaze on Sage. "Pulse. My name is Pulse. You're one of the hackers, aren't you?"

There wasn't much time for a reply before Miss Congeniality came pushing between them, strutting her curvaceous way out to the middle of the dusty road--and no! He most certainly was not watching the way her hips swayed, or the way her shoulders narrowed as she reached back for her swords and--oh, holy shit, what was she trying to do? Pulse watched her, this time to see what it was that had her attention rather than to focus on how hot she was and how much of a teenage boy he was. "Come out so I can slice your clothes off and have mad animal sex," she called suddenly. Pulse blushed, making a face and looking away from her. Did she really have to talk like that?! "Here, Torny torny," she purred, wiggling her slim fingers at... It was just a bush? "Come on, baby. Milk? Would you like milk? How about fish, Torny?" Now that he was paying more attention, Pulse could make out a more definitive figure behind the bush Autumn was speaking to. He almost felt stupid for overlooking it. Oh, who was he kidding? He felt like a complete idiot for missing that.

He watched as she waltzed over there and pulled the poor person out and dragged him back over to them. Pulse made a mental note never to get on her bad side. She must have put her strength as some mad levels, jeeze. "Look what I found!" A person. Congratulations. Pulse studied her more than he did the new guy--and not just because her looks tended to take the attention away from anything else in the area--but because he was suddenly realizing that she may be a bit better than she made herself seem. That was dangerous. "It has a face."

Pulse frowned, taking a step back to stand next to Sage's side. So there was hacker number two. How many were there again? It had to be an equal amount to the winners, since their codes were all linked up and twisted together or whatever it was the scientists told them. He hadn't really paid attention to the details. "Fantastic, another cheating idiot who managed to sneak his sucky way into the game. Was it really that big of a deal? No, no it wasn't." He glanced behind him, into the hotel, before looking back at those around him and sighing, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"First of all, Barbie, put the poor idiot down. Your ugly probably put him into hiding in the first place." God was she hot. (Concentrate, moron!) "Secondly, did any of you actually even bother doing the mission? I bet the answer's no." There were two others, though. The two inside. Kurai and...ugh, Io. Ee-oh. Yes, much easier to remember. He wondered if they made any progress. But then he remembered he didn't care. "I don't have the time to deal with hacks and fruits. I'm going to the next town over which, according to the map, would be..." He pulled it out and checked it, twisting it side to side. "Saltus? Fulgur? I dunno. I can't read the fucking thing." He put it away with another sigh. "So here's a once in a lifetime offer: Which one of you will go with me? Since the morons upstairs said to stick together." He poked Sage in the chest and pointed to the one Barbie kept calling Torn. "You two need to be briefed on the situation. So stick with one of us winners. Since we're actually good at this game." Liar.

“Bitch, do I look like your servant.” Kuru tilted his eyes upward a bit at that, almost snorting in amusement. Almost being the key word here. It was funny, but his stotic face of assholey-ness was not broken by such a trivial thing such as humor. However, it did crack a little more, this time for a few seconds, when the manager repeated the dumb blonde’s first words, then getting super fucking excited for no reason. Because Autumn—was that even her fucking name?—never said anything about getting the ring, like he had. No, but the douche was happy all the same. He seriously was never playing any RPG game every again. Back to Assassins Creed and Halo for him. Maybe a bit of Persona if he was feeling up for mindless killing. Hell, Mario Kart sounded interesting right about now. Actually, he loved Mario Kart and played it alone in his room often. Not that anyone knew that. “Okay! Umm…Do we get a clue? No? Okay. Jewelry!” Kuru really wanted to smack her upside the head. Really fucking badly. She was just so…loud and annoying and she was so not funny in any way whatsoever. He scowled when she turned to face him, “Gawd, he’s so cherry. Why would anyone be that bubble when we might die any minute now?” she kept a straight face for all of three seconds before laughing and spinning back around. He had really, really had enough. With a toss of his hair, he loved his hair oh god it was perfect—like him—Kuru turned up his nose and walked away, not really knowing where he was going, but not really caring at this point. Holy fucking shit, this sucked so much.

“Hey, asshat?” he talked to what looked like air, but he knew that the scientist could see him and therefore hear him as well, “Have you figured out a way to pull me out of here? I want to go home. Right now. Get me out and return me to my miserable life there.” He sighed quietly and narrowed his gaze at nothing, still walking meaninglessly through the streets. The male on the other line didn’t reply, and Kuru huffed again, occupying his time with talking to the eyeless locals, trying his damnest to be nice and considerate and caring. As much as he could be at least. To a normal person it would be as apathetic and rude as someone could get, but hey, it was a step up from a total douche bag, right? He would take what he could get.



“Out—I’m. Shit. Wait. Fuck.” He liked his guy. He was different. In more ways than one. First, who the hell messed with the character…making shit so bad that he got horns out of it? And fucking candy corn horns too. And gray skin. What the hell. Not that he could judge, and he wouldn’t. Nope, nope, no judging. Just a little…critiquing. Of sorts. “Pulse. My name is Pulse. You’re one of the hackers, aren’t you?” Pulse, huh? That was an okay name. Nothing as cool as Sage, fuck he was wisdom personified. Well…if wisdom was a teenage boy with too much time on his hands, a pansexual slut (but not really), and a total rude rich child who never learned to hold his tongue then yes, he was wisdom personified. But of course, that was not Wisdom, and in that case, Sage was an idiot. He knew that already though, it was nothing new. Back to the little gray skinned boy’s name. Or his username, he guessed. Pulse. Like holy shit, it was a lameish name. Pulse. It reminded him of a heartbeat. Which was cool and all, but heartbeats reminded him of blood, and he wasn’t overly fond of blood. Pulse-ify would have been better. Or, a totally different username with blood relating things nowhere near it. At all. Ever. And how was he a hacker? Of course he hacked, why wouldn’t he? He was bored and fuck he was gonna finish this game like the loser who bought it. Only, he was going to do better. Ha. Jokes on them. Sage was going to answer an affirmative that he was indeed a hacker, and proud of it, when some…blonde chick walked in between them. She was pretty, curvy hips, thin waist, full lips. Delicious. Sage grinned for a moment, his gaze hungrily soaking in her fake beauty like a moth to a flame. Or bees to sweet things. And while he knew that all of her beauty was fake, even if she was that pretty in real life, it was still fake, Sage found himself wanting to stare at her all day long. And maybe give her some tips on fashion. Like the fact that she was wearing…heels in a video game. Ouch.

“Come out so I can slice your clothes off and have mad animal sex,” she called out lightly, and he couldn’t help it, he snorted, covering his laugh with the palm of his hand. What was wrong with this chick? What? What. Okay. “Here, Torny torny. Come on, baby. Milk? Would you like milk? How about fish Torny?” Yeah there was no actual attraction to her personality that was for sure. Too handsy, touchy, and…girly for his tastes. He may have been pansexual, but girly girls were never his thing. Personality wise at least. They were hot to look at and drool over. And jack off too, because hey, he was a teenage boy with needs. He smiled at all the things he could easily find online, and was easily roused when a rustle came from the bushes, and he found that the girl had yanked a person out from behind them. When the hell did he get over there? “Look what I found?” good thing she was hot because Sage was one hundred percent positive that she would either die in this game, in real life, or be a prostitute. To which he would pay for her services if he ever needed them greatly. Because hot damn she was a fine sexy lady. With an IQ of a goldfish. Perfect. “It has a face.”

“First of all, Barbie, put the poor idiot down.” the Pulse guy started to talk again and Sage ran a hand through platinum blond locks, tossing them out of his eyes. Though he tried to look semi-interesting in what the Pulse guy was saying, he was sure his look came off as his normal ‘I don’t give a flying fuck’ look. Of course, he didn’t mind. People didn’t mess with him that way, and that way he didn’t have to talk to people. Because people were stupid and not worth his time. He was better than them. All of them, every single one. “Your ugly probably put him into hiding in the first place. Secondly, did any of you actually bother doing the mission? I bet the answer’s no.” so there was a mission? Yes. He was going to do it, and do it so well that everyone else would eat his perfect dust. “I don’t have the time to deal with hacks and fruits. I’m going to the next town over which, according to the map, would be…Saltus? Fulgur? I dunno. I can’t read the fucking thing.” By this point Sage decided that this man talked way too fucking much and ranted a lot more, finding the most round about way to get to his damn point. So far he had told Sage, blonde-y, and…Torn that they didn’t do the mission, he didn’t like them, and was moving on. Holy shit, Sage managed to say it in less words than the prickly little gray skinned brat did. He could only do that because he was perfect. Duh. “So here’s a once in a lifetime offer: Which one of you will go with me? Since the morons upstairs said to stick together.” He was not-so-gently poked in the chest and he scowled out of reflex, rubbing the point lightly. Jackass. “You two need to be briefed on the situation. So stick with one of us winners. Since we’re actually good at this game.”

“I’ll go. With you.” He blinked his eyes a few times, slowly and ran another hand through his hair out of boredom, “It seems like Barbie blonde over there wants to jump Torn’s bones, quite literally I might add, so I think. It’s safer with you.” He shot a blinding grin Pulse’s way and shrugged his shoulders. He had said something about the people upstairs. Meaning that these…winners had something that he didn’t. And Pulse seemed to know how to get in touch with them. So maybe if he stuck with the prickly gray skinned, horned, boy, he could figure out how to get his own upstairs person thing. For once, he could admit that hey, he wasn’t the best. He didn’t normally like RPG’s, but curiosity killed the cat? Well, actually the human who opened the box to see if they cat was still alive or not killed (or didn’t kill) the cat. Still, the point stands.

“So here’s a once in a lifetime offer: Which one of you will go with me? Since the morons upstairs said to stick together.”

Autumn tapped her small chin with her free hand, her emerald gaze staring at the sky as if she were actually thinking. But who was she kidding, really? Thoughts were unfamiliar territory. Still, she put on the show of contemplation, anyway. "On the other hand," she began, lifting her hand in front of her face and wiggling her fingers. "You have fingers." Autumn laughed. God, she was hilarious. That's what she was. Okay, for real now. If she went with Pulse and ditched the mission, well, she got to hung out with creepy demon boy and sexy platinum blonde, both of which she would eventually bed because duh, she was irresistible. Then again, she planned to bed everyone. At least thrice. This game was PG31, right? But, the thing was, if she ditched the mission, what if it was a matter of life and death? And what if the bride ended up wearing a can opener as a wedding ring? That would be a fashion disaster.

“You two need to be briefed on the situation. So stick with one of us winners. Since we’re actually good at this game," Pulse continued to say, to which she bit her tongue to stop herself from giggling her head off.

"Oh yeah, we're all really bloody good at this game," she said quietly, winking at Pulse so perfectly, anyone would've known she did it often and received triple times the winks she gave. Which was a lot of winks. Autumn sighed, overcome with a sudden deep, never ending sadness for the disaster that was Immortal Octopuses' hair. She reached into her magical, disappearing pack - her swords had also seemed to disappear - and pulled out a 2 in 1hair straightener and curler. She held it out to Immy. "Hair. Makeover. Lesbian sex. Now." Autumn waved the instrument she held to emphasise her point - and smacked someone in the face.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" she gushed, tossing the styling tool back into her invisible pack and reaching down for the hairy man - "What is that? A carpet on his chest?" she mused allowed. She reached down for the hairy man - it was a yeti, she was sure of it - and helping him up. The man clutched his bleeding nose and rubbed his backside - most likely just as hairy - glaring at Autumn. Or, well, what constituted as glaring when one had no eyes, before grinning and slapping her butt on his way into the inn.

"Great, now I'll have to set my clothes on fire," she mumbled. Hey, for all her faults, she was one classy ho. Her taste in people was refined. Liar. Anyway, where was she in her unfamiliar territory of logical thinking? Right, to join Pulse, to complete the mission, to-

“It seems like Barbie blonde over there wants to jump Torn’s bones, quite literally I might add, so I think. It’s safer with you,” said sexy platinum blonde.

Challenge accepted.

"Wonderful! We're going to have a fantastic time together, albino bunny," she said sweetly, throwing the full force of her innocence at platinum blonde hottie. She would join Pulse and Blonde Bimbo and annoy them to the best of her ability. And then sleep with them. Preferably together. Preferably annoying them by being too hot to resist. Still, they called her Barbie? Barbie? Seriously? "I'm a redhead," she muttered to herself before painting her smile back on and clutching Torn's arm tight to her breasts. "You coming with us, love?" Autumn asked, capturing him with her emerald gaze - at least they got that part of her avatar's colouring right - beneath the flutter of her thick eyelashes.

"Oh! Before I forget," she began, gesturing towards Immy. "Immortal Seafood; Pulse," she said, waving at the horned boy. Ooo. an adventure. "Kurai," she nudged her head at him. "You may refer to me as 'My Queen,' 'Your Grace' or if you want to be boring, Autumn." It was strange, saying 'Autumn.' She was much too used to Annetta, but she was an Autumn baby and it was her favourite season - the season when my family burned - and it sounded close enough to Annetta that she would respond.

"This is Danger," she said, lifting her right breast. "This is Angel," she said, lifting her left. Autumn smiled. "You may address them accordingly."

Torn couldn't understand how much empty wrappers and leftover food had built up in his bag over the last day. Honestly, it was embarrassing to say the least and he had to fight back the urge to hurt his backpack. Well, it wasn't much that he was going to hurt the backpack and more that he was going to take out his anger on it. In the back ground, Torn could hear voices that were unlike the ones of the local. The tone was just different from the friendly and happy one that he had been trying to forget all day. Yup, these voices simply sounded like they belonged to a dumbass and an asshole. What a combination.

A frustrated sigh escaped Torn as he finally gave up trying to find something to appease his stomach. He could just threaten someone to feed him like he usually did; although most of the locals would help him even he didn't resort to violence, Torn just felt the extra touch of roughness was needed. Deciding to mess with the locals again, Torn gave a nod and was about to leave his hideout when —

"Come out so I can slice your clothes off and have mad animal sex."

Wait, what? Torn's eyes snapped towards the direction the statement came from. He couldn't say he was surprised when he saw it came from the hotel again. No, wait, the voice sounded a bit too... feminine to be one of those two that had been all over each other. Was it an actual girl? The shameless language couldn't have been said by one of the locals so that left the option of it being a gamer that said it. Torn couldn't help but wonder what the hell a girl was doing playing video games.

"Here, Torny, torny," the voice called out and for a some reason, a shudder rattled Torn's spine. It wasn't until a few seconds passed that he realized she was calling out his name, err, username. The young boy cursed internally and began looking for a way to escape. He had been compromised.

"Come on, baby. Milk? Would you like milk? How about fish, Torny?"

What. The. Fuck. If he wanted milk, he could get it himself, thank you very much. He didn't need some strange woman getting it for him. Torn was about to make a run for it when a shadow loomed over him. His eyes snapped up to see the person who had been scarring his ears for the last few seconds. Abort, abort, abort.

Torn cursed as he was picked up from his position. He was too busy trying to recollect his thoughts which were composed of colorful words and the question of how much strength the woman possessed to be able to drag him from his hiding spot that Torn couldn't even think about what to do at that moment. "Look what I found!" Your reward will be a slow sweet death that will consist of fire, ants, and honey. "It has a face."

"Fantastic, another cheating idiot who managed to sneak his sucky way into the game. Was it really that big of a deal? No, no it wasn't." Ohhh, those words hurted. Pfft, psych! His way of getting in was awesome and no one could argue with him about that. It shows he can get his way whenever he wanted unlike some stupid saps whose could only do things through dumb rules and procedures. Now they were the idiots. Oh, and what was up with the name calling? Fuck you too, man.

"First of all, Barbie, put the poor idiot down. Your ugly probably put him into hiding in the first place." There he goes again with the name calling. Damn it, if Torn wasn't trying to rip himself away from the freaking amazon he would've already pounced on the guy. Speaking of which, what the fuck is up with him? Grey skin, tiny horns, a stupid face - Torn really needed to remind himself to laugh about it in private later. "Secondly, did any of you actually even bother doing the mission? I bet the answer's no." Wait, rewind this shit. What mission? "I don't have the time to deal with hacks and fruits. I'm going to the next town over which, according to the map, would be... Saltus? Fulgur? I dunno. I can't read the fucking thing." Would it be all right if Torn punched him in the middle of his pointless rant? Maybe not, but it would be fun and, honestly, that's all that counts in this world. "So here's a once in a lifetime offer: Which one of you will go with me? Since the morons upstairs said to stick together."

"On the other hand," Little-miss-sex-me-up hummed and put her hand out. "You have fingers." She laughed, Torn facepalmed. Holy shit, what the fuck is going on in that head of hers. Certainly nothing Torn would hear or be part of. Seriously, Torn has met many idiotic, shameless woman whose only thoughts are about boys, make-up, money, and all that girly crap thanks to his parent's wealth but this bimbo just took it to a whole other level.

"You two need to be briefed on the situation. So stick with one of us winners. Since we're actually good at this game."

Just as Torn was about to snap something, the other guy who he had found out was also a hacker spoke. Note to self: beat him up later for that. “I’ll go. With you. It seems like Barbie blonde over there wants to jump Torn’s bones, quite literally I might add, so I think. It’s safer with you.” Torn tensed up at his words that reminded him to keep a cautious look on this so called Barbie.

"Fuck that, this entire game ain't safe with this psycho here," Torn growled as he turned his glare from her to the horny bastard. Fuck did that came out wrong. "The closest place is Saltus, you idiot, and it's over there," Torn snapped and pointed with his free hand towards the direction that one of the locals directed him to. He had been trying to free his captive hand but had soon deemed it hopeless. It seemed he was forever doomed. "You would think that your supposedly called winners would know your shit," he added while ignoring what ever the hell Barbie was doing with another girl that popped out from the hotel. Great. Another one. Did they pick out the winners from names in a hat? That would explain a lot seeing as these 'winners' consisted of a scrawny guy who either cared too little or too much about the appearance of his avatar; a crazy chick who has one layer that consists of taking off any other layers or just a really, really thick one that just hides any worth she can hold; and then there's this other girl who just seemed like she got caught in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

"Wonderful! We're going to have a fantastic time together, albino bunny." Barbie spoke towards the other hacker. Torn blinked at the image of the guy in front of him with bunny ears. His eyebrows knitted together and his stomach tightened. Torn had to fight back every urge to burst out laughing at the picture in his head. Suddenly, his hand that he had yet to free from the clutches of the devil was held tighter and he finally noticed what the soft thing she had been squishing his arm against was. His face immediately lit on fire as the color of his skin changed into a fiery red. "You coming with us, love?" she suddenly asked him and turned to lock her gaze with his. Oh, he was fucked.

Torn's body strength weakened a bit, almost as if it had turned into jelly and an uncomfortable feeling bubbled up from his stomach. His mouth parted so he could scream at her, curse her out, maybe even make fun of her. Yet what came out was nothing. It didn't help that there were more people around. This was way too much for Torn's state of mind. The virtual people had already been too much for him, being surrounded with people he knew were real in a sense was going to make him have a mental breakdown. Torn quickly averted his eye gaze to the ground. "Whatever, just let go already!" Torn snapped and tried to pull away from her. She didn't put any mind to his words or actions though.

"Oh! Before I forget," she said, much to his frustration, and then gestured to everyone as she called out their names. "You may refer to me as 'My Queen,' 'Your Grace' or if you want to be boring, Autumn." Bye, bye Barbie, it seems you were fake after all. Out of the corner of her eyes, he noticed Autumn grabbing her breast and introducing them. He cursed internally at the lewd woman.

"Don't you have any fucking shame, woman? What the fuck are you even doing playing video games? Shouldn't you be shopping or molesting real boys somewhere really far from here."

{Immortalis Opulentia}

Her lips tightened just slightly as the winner she'd addressed chose to ignore her and leave, probably due to the influence of the third winner. Who just now went prancing off herself. Sighing, Elein shook her head as she was left alone in the room, no one who was going to work sensibly, and no one who was even going to work unsensibly. They either had their own ideas, or just weren't even serious in their playing of this game.

Once again, she internally asked herself why they chose such an idiotic cast. The scientists mustn't know much about finding games testers...

Nodding once to the innkeeper, she spoke in a quiet, but short manner. 'I will go do the quest.' Because some games needed confirmation of the quest's acceptance before you were allowed to complete it. Having done all the pre-quest little information gathering and responses, now would be a good time to do the quest.

If the third wasn't outside with a crowd. The first and two she didn't know, although their interaction immediately spoke of humans. Both hackers, she quickly summarised, and would've bypassed the group entirely if she'd had a choice. Instead, it seemed, immediately had she arrived that the third, who she quickly decided to call 'slut', took interest in her.

"Hair. Makeover. Lesbian sex. Now." She almost, almost wrinkled her nose. Only just managing to keep a straight face from the conflicting horror and hilarity from the sudden demand, and in fact her eyes and mouth gave just a hint of what she was thinking away. Luckily, the slut was distracted by an NPC she'd unfortunately managed to hit.

However, before Elein could vanish into the (admittedly lacking) crowds of NPCs, the third decided to make them endure another tedious slap of arrogance. "You may refer to me as 'My Queen,' 'Your Grace' or if you want to be boring, Autumn." Rolling her eyes, Elein came close to interrupting the introduction of the right and left breast (which was completely unnecessary since they were a part of her body) and instead waited until it, and the hacker's outburst had finished.

"Ye do realise, lady, that you're assuming that this game were made with the ability to have sex in mind. Virtual reality or no, I don't think they woulda programmed that in." Allowing a small internal smirk at the jab, the girl immediately turned to the left of the party. It was high time she left the other players to themselves and completed this game. The immersive challenge was why she'd come, not to play hooker-good girl with a slut who somehow managed to get into this gaming run on what she assumed would be the scientists lack of sex-lives. She had yet to see any other reason this girl would've managed to get into a high-class game otherwise.

"Now, if'n ye don't mind, I'll be off. Things I've got to do, an' all. Have fun with the lady, boys." They could take that as they would. Knowing the kind've boy that would've gotten into this game, they'd likely take it in a perverted manner. Of course, that didn't take much with the lady in question. She invited the subtle wordplay with her actions. Which should paint her as the slut she was from a mile away.

Having said her piece, Immortalis Opulentia turned, and moved to walk away.

Autumn winked at him. Winked at him. Pulse nervously squeezed his hands into fists, avoiding her gaze after that and trying to ignore the fact that this was the closest he'd ever come in contact with a girl that wasn't his mother for years. Autumn and Immortalis...uh, what was it? Opal. Yes, much easier. "Hair. Makeover. Lesbian sex. Now." Speaking of. That poor person. He suddenly felt the urge to pity any person who got stuck with the blindingly attractive leech for the rest of the game. Oh, and great, she smacked a guy in the face with... He had no idea what that was, but it didn't look like a weapon.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" Autumn was slowly becoming his least favorite. He didn't hate her or anything, but he kind of would rather slip out of town without her following. "What is that? A carpet on his chest?" And god, all she did was ramble. Why he was even listening to her so attentively was beyond him. ...Okay, that was a lie. He'd probably listen to any girl who was hotter than his own mother, but that was territory he did not want to wander into. Oh god, the mental images. Shut the fuck up, me.

“I’ll go. With you.” Pulse tensed. He glanced up at the blond beside him and watched him carefully. Someone actually wanted to go with him? Did he actually manage to come across as cooler than he thought? Because that would be super sweet. Then again, this was a video game and these people hardly knew anything about him. Just because it was more realistic than other games, it didn't change the fact that he was still somebody else here. He could play pretend. And if this guy actually wanted to go along with him, then heck yes he was going to let him. “It seems like Barbie blonde over there wants to jump Torn’s bones, quite literally I might add, so I think. It’s safer with you.” He nodded slowly in agreement, moving his gaze from Sage to Autumn and the poor boy beside her.

"Fuck that, this entire game ain't safe with this psycho here," Torn growled and despite being unappreciative of the glare sent his way, Pulse couldn't help but agree. "The closest place is Saltus, you idiot, and it's over there." Torn pointed in the direction completely opposite to what Pulse had been thinking, making him frown and squint back down at the map. Was it upside down? What idiot put this thing together? Ugh. No wonder this was the prototype. Nobody with half a mind would thing otherwise. "You would think that your supposedly called winners would know your shit."

Oh you little fuck. Pulse shot a glare right back at him, biting his tongue. It took some serious effort just to keep himself from telling this sore loser off. Because that's all the Hackers even were--sore losers. They couldn't get into the game, so they got themselves in illegally. "Oh! Before I forget," Autumn began, gesturing towards Opal as she approached them. Pulse glanced back at her. "Immortal Seafood; Pulse, Kurai, you may refer to me as 'My Queen,' 'Your Grace' or if you want to be boring, Autumn."

"Don't you have any fucking shame, woman? What the fuck are you even doing playing video games? Shouldn't you be shopping or molesting real boys somewhere really far from here."

...Maybe this guy wasn't so bad. He made some good points and, despite being an obnoxious hacker, he seemed like he knew his stuff. Well, he knew his directions anyway, and that could be crucial. It would probably be nice having him as a partner in this game because Pulse knew with his luck alone, he'd probably die here. With Torn and Sage both around, it wouldn't be so bad. But he was pretty sure Princess Priss over there was determined to make Torn's virtual life a living misery until they beat this thing, so where he went, she'd probably go. Which was out of the question. "Ye do realise, lady, that you're assuming that this game were made with the ability to have sex in mind. Virtual reality or no, I don't think they woulda programmed that in." And then there was her, the Opal chick. Another option. "Now, if'n ye don't mind, I'll be off. Things I've got to do, an' all. Have fun with the lady, boys."

There were a few different options to make here. He could say screw it and go off on his own and most likely end up getting himself killed, or he could go with the person who actually wanted to go with him. Or he could stay and get himself stuck with all of these people, which didn't sound too bad until he realized that 'all of these people' included Autumn, which was less desirable than feeding himself to a pack of wild wolves. "I'm going to..." Pulse lost his train of thought when he spotted the guy from earlier, the fisherman fiance, entering a store from across the street. He nearly smacked himself in the face. It was a jewelry store, with the sign "Fools for Jewels" written in paint on a tilted wooden board over top of the entrance door.

"I'm going to ignore you all and do what I want." He glanced at Sage and motioned for him to come with him. "You can come with me. Be happy that I decided you were actually worth the company, unlike the rest of the talentless hacks around here." Oh idiot, don't talk about yourself like that. He scoffed at himself as he grabbed the blond by the wrist and pulled him past Tweedledee and Tweedledum, over to the makeshift jewelry store where Pulse dropped contact with Sage to burst through the door and point accusingly at the eyeless man. "Hey, you! What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be looking for your fiance's ring?"

The guy froze and turned to...well, Pulse assumed he was looking at them, but he could hardly be sure. Why didn't they have eyes? That was so creepy. "Oh! It's you folks from the hotel! Why, uh, yes, I am looking for the ring. This is the uh perfect place! A jewelers must have a ring, mustn't it?"

Pulse squinted at him and shot Sage a look. "Why would a ring you already bought be here?"

There was a second-long pause before the poor man totally broke under the pressure. He dropped to his knees and started babbling like an over-dramatic idiot--an action that went completely ignored by any others in the shop. "You caught me! You all caught me! You're right! There, there was no ring. I never had a ring." He sniffed and wiped at the space where his eyes should be, pulling himself back up to his feet. "I lied so I wouldn't look like a cheap dutz in front of her father. I never had a ring because I didn't get the money to pay for one until now. I used you folks as a distraction and I'm sorry for that." He dug around in his pocket and pulled out a reddish-brown key, tossing it at the two of them. Pulse reached to catch it but, to his embarrassment, missed and had to bend to pick it up, looking it over. "This is my thanks for putting up with me. Please don't tell her or her father about this. Thank you."

"Uh...sure, no problem?" What the fuck is up with this game. He showed the key to Sage, smiling a little before looking out the window at the others and waving it to show them. Okay, so that was a little more exciting than he was expecting it to be. He was keeping this thing close. There was no way any of these morons were keeping it. "This is the stupidest game I ever played." He dragged Sage back out of the store, trying to avoid eye contact with those behind them. He pulled Sage down to his level, lowering his voice. "Keep your head down and keep walking. We're going to the next place."

How had Annetta managed to get this far? It was a question most people found themselves asking once or twice, sometimes a hundred times, but often they never figured it out. Not until it was too late, anyway.

They'd been named "Winners" for a reason, because truly, that was what they were. They'd won the game. In the rare occasion - and during the elimination rounds that got her in this god forsaken place - that she decided to game, she always won. It was a fail proof and almost effortless tactic she used: Look hot, be dumb.

All she really had to do was join a party and bumble around, file her nails, chill, have mojitos brought to her perfect hands and make sure she looked picture perfect. It was easy, really, as - and she meant this with all the modesty she could muster (not that that was saying much) - she truly was beautiful. It was a tactic that also worked in real life. With sunset red locks that shone like strands of gold and red and emerald green eyes, well, she was undoubtedly beautiful. Beautiful people didn't have to work, if they were willing to abandon all dignity and honour.

Her party would protect her, as they would be made up of horny gamers who'd never seen naked breasts in their lives or kissed a real female, at that. They fought for her - and usually the more isolated and inexperienced a boy, the better gamer they were due to their lack of real lives - and she played the helpless damsel in distress. When she and another were the only ones left, she dropped the act and shredded her opponent to pieces. Nobody suspected empty headed pretty face Autumn until their heads fell from their shoulders.

Oh, then they noticed.

Still, she had to admit she was using absolutely no degree of charm this time. Why? Well, she was going for the Autumn is harmless, Autumn is good, Autumn's a bimbo, Autumn does as Autumn should. No one would look at her twice with her infinitely blonde head. Mmm, she should've given herself bright blonde hair instead of pale brown.

"Don't you have any fucking shame, woman? What the fuck are you even doing playing video games? Shouldn't you be shopping or molesting real boys somewhere really far from here."

"We're going to play a game," he says. "I want you to scream."

Autumn laughed.

"Ouch, my non-existent feelings," she said with a pout, pretending to have been stabbed.

Oh, he was funny, this one. "Actually, no," she purred in answer to his first question, running her fingers down Torn's chest. "Secondly, mmm... None of your business. As for shopping," Autumn smiled, following the line of his jaw with her fingers. "Who needs clothes? Not you, and definitely not me. Nudity is charity. And lastly-" Her smile fell and she stepped back as if Torn had slapped her. "I don't molest children." Autumn pursed her lips, her brows furrowing as if Torn himself had reached his hand through her ribcage and squeezed her heart, she abruptly turned away.

"Anna, baby, we're going to play a game, okay? Okay, baby?" Mama clutches me to her chest, her voice trembling like the walls of the house.

"Ye do realise, lady, that you're assuming that this game were made with the ability to have sex in mind. Virtual reality or no, I don't think they woulda programmed that in."

"That's a little unfortunate, isn't it?" she said, painting a smile on her lips and turning to look at Immy. "We might die without having sex for a week." Autumn sighed dramatically.

Autumn took the pendant she wore around her neck between her fingers, shutting her eyes. Her clothes seemed to glow, turning into a bright light that transformed into something else. When the light spun around her shattered and disappeared, leaving Autumn in her new getup. There, much more practical. But still cute. "Think avatars sweat?" she asked no one in particular. She stretched, lengthening her body and sliding into a split. She stood, stretching her fingers to get a feel of her latest creation. It was quite comfortable.

Her avatar looked different each time in the previous games she'd played, and her username had always been Fall rather than Autumn. She liked it, the anonymity, not that it really mattered except that she could be anyone she wanted without question. She'd requested it herself and it had been quite hard convincing the creators to allow you to change your username. But money solved all disputes and she had a lot of it.

"And you," she said with a genuine smile, tapping Torn's nose lightly. "Are forgiven."

She consulted the map, humming in concentration as she plotted the best route to the Land of Saltus. "We should go." She paused, smiling sardonically. "Well, I'll spare you the pleasure of my company. It was nice meeting you." Annetta curtsied with the grace of a trained figure head who'd had to attend a million boring, expensive parties. "Farewell." She paused before turning to walk away. "And take care," she said quietly.

"Ouch, my non-existent feelings." Autumn pouted and feigned being stabbed. If only it was true, then Torn's ears wouldn't hurt so much. "Actually, no," she then answered his question and ran her finger on Torn's chest. His body stiffened immediately and his eyes narrowed into a scowl. "Secondly, mmm... None of your business. As for shopping." Oh fuck, she was touching his face. "Who needs cloths? Not you, and definitely not me. Nudity is charity. And lastly-" Suddenly, her smile disappeared and in a swift move she stepped away from him. "I don't molest children." Her expression told him that his words went past that thick and obnoxious personality of hers and straight to her heart. If anything, Torn felt triumphant He couldn't enjoy it for much longer though because she turned around the next second. He blinked a couple of times, his eyes still on the now calmer woman.

"Ye do realise, lady, that you're assuming that this game were made with the ability to have sex in mind. Virtual reality or no, I don't think they woulda programmed that in." Oh, that other woman. He forgot about her.

"That's a little unfortunate, isn't it? We might die without having sex for a week." It seemed she was the only one that might die of it. Oh, Torn hoped that day would come quicker than later. Her fingers took hold of the pendant around her neck and her eyes shut, hiding the emerald stones from his view. Suddenly, she started glowing. Like, no shit, she was fucking glowing. Torn wasn't sure whether to attack her or to run but his body stayed frozen in place instead. His eyebrows scrunched together as the light faded to show her in a new outfit — one that seemed to show off her legs. Hell, at least she wasn't wearing heels anymore. "Think avatars sweat?" The question wasn't directed at no one, so Torn simply glared at her as she began to stretch. His gaze found itself leaving her face and lowering down her shoulders, around the curves, and down to - Wait. What the fuck was he doing? Torn angry shook his head to get whatever glitch he had found himself in.

Torn had been around a lot of, and he's biting his tongue as he thinks this, pretty ladies before. He wasn't that surprised by how — again, he found his head aching as he admitted this — hot Autumn was. Sure, it caught him off guard seeing someone with a face like hers in a video game but other than that, it wasn't something he wasn't used to. He had been surrounded by dumb girls all his life who were nothing but fake. It was when it came to the touching and teasing that Torn can't stand. Really, ain't nobody got time for that shit.

"And you," Autumn appeared back in Torn's eye sight. Crap, she's back. The smile sent his way caused his jaw to clench as an uncomfortable feeling hit him. Again. Fuck. As she tapped his nose and he cursed her entire being, she continued, "Are forgiven."

She stepped back and took out her map, concentration taking over her face. "We should go," she said, and Torn couldn't help but scoff. "Well, I'll spare you the pleasure of my company. It was nice meeting you. Farewell." Autumn turned away. "And take care," she added, this time, in a softer voice. Torn's eyebrow twitched as he rolled his eyes and turned around.

"What fucking ever," he growled and began walking. This was the worst game he's ever played. Everyone here sucked and only pissed him off. It was practically like he was with actual people and that was something Torn wasn't used to. All humans cared about was money, wealth, popularity. All Torn had wanted was to have someone to talk to, to joke around with, to be around. His money always got in the way though and even when he got over the fact that money was more likable than him, once someone spent more time around Torn and realized how his personality was, the money just wasn't enough for them. Ever since that point, Torn became anti-social. It wasn't hard, really. All he had to do was snap at someone or tell the truth and they would either get angry or hurt — either way, they hated him.

For some reason, the image of Autumn came to mind. Her expression as she responded to what he had snapped at her, her good bye, her voice. "Ah." Torn's footsteps came to a halt and after a pause, he turned around. He was crazy, he had to be. That was his only excuse for his idiotic actions. It didn't take long for him to catch up to her. God, if she was that slow, she just might as well just wear those stupid heels. When he got besides her, he spoke, or more specifically, snapped. "Don't fucking say anything. I'm just listening what the twerp from before said about being better off in teams, and you're fucking the worst and I'm the best so just think about it as a stupid favor. Nothing else. And there are going to be rules, first of all, no fucking touching. None. Second of all, no cat references. They're stupid and make you look stupider. Third of all, just don't fucking die." Through his rant that was more of an excuse to keep his mind sane, his head was turn the opposite direction of hers to keep her from noticing how red his face had gotten.

"Don't fucking say anything."

"Not fucking saying anything," Autumn said, pursing her lips as she walked in order to compress her smile. She'd known he'd follow her.

"I'm just listening what the twerp from before said about being better off in teams, and you're fucking the worst and I'm the best so just think about it as a stupid favor," Torn said in a rush, his low, masculine, oh-oh-oh take me baby take me voice both parts angry and embarrassed.

"Yes, my lord," she said, looking up into the trees to give him some temporary space. "You fit in me very well and together, we... Really work," she said slowly. "For the sake of survival, we must reproduce," she said in something softer than a whisper with all the seriousface.jpgness in the world.

"Nothing else."

"Okay," she said. "If that's the way you want our relationship to be. It's a purely physical relationship." Autumn nodded grimly.

"And there are going to be rules, first of all, no fucking touching," Torn snarled, his head turned away from her. She could imagine a furious crimson blush painting his perfect face.

"Yes, sir," she said, dropping her gaze down to his 'area' below his waist. "Not touching." She ran her hands over her body, groping her breasts. "No touching you, anyway," she moaned.

"None."

"Oh!" she gasped, touching a sensitive spot on her inner thigh. Don't you dare laugh, Annetta, she chastised herself.

"Second of all, no cat references. They're stupid and make you look stupider."

"I think my everything else is capable of distracting you from my stupidity," she breathed into his ear, making sure not to touch him, as ordered. "Woof," she said in a breathless, soft voice. Oh, she couldn't. Autumn doubled over in laughter. "Ow, ow, ow, my boobs!" she yelped, clutching her breasts to stop them from shaking painfully from her laughter. Then, realising what she was doing, stopped laughing. Autumn stood up straight, walked backwards in front of Torn's face so he was forced to watch her and squeezed her breasts in a circular motion. "You were saying?" she asked sweetly, batting her long eyelashes in false innocence.

"Third of all, just don't fucking die."

"D'aww." Autumn placed one hand over the right side of her chest, pretending she didn't know which side her heart was. "You care," she said, wiping a non-existent tear from the corner of her emerald eye. "That's sweet."

Wooooosh.

Autumn spun around, an intricate bow appearing in her hands. She reached behind her and drew an arrow from a quiver that now rested against her spine. She pulled it taught against the string, aiming at the noise. She realised, then, that they were no longer where they once were. Spindly trees arched overhead, their fingers seeming to stretch towards Torn and herself. She blinked, trying to clear the thick fog from her eyes.

"Saltus," she whispered, darting her gaze to Torn. She found herself relieved to find him there. "Stay close," she told him, stepping soundlessly towards him. Winding roads, narrow and covered in forest debris stretched on around them. They seemed to stretch on forever, and the mist didn't help. She couldn't see the end.

Autumn aimed down a road to her right, where the gust of wind that had passed them by headed. She released her arrow, sending it flying down the road to hear where it would end up. There was no sound, her arrow hit nothing. She waited a little longer. Still, nothing. It was as if the mist had swallowed the arrow and banished it from existence.

"Think you could use your hacker skills to find the road out of here?" she asked quietly, turning to look at-

"Torn?" she said, turning around and finding herself surrounded by trees but no handsome blondie. "Torn?" she called out again.

So this was how Hansel and Gretel felt.