Running through the dungeon, Nies made sure no one was at any risk of dying, watching health bars and statuses with sharp eyes, and if anyone was at a risk, she would heal them quickly. She soon settled into the rhythm and role of support, thoroughly enjoying herself as she did so.

It was nice, being in a group of people that seemed Willing to work with her. She was just reflecting that she seemed to have that in the real world as well now, although last night had been...entertaining with the pizza place fight.

Things seemed to be going smoothly, and Nies took a chance as they seemed to stop to once more check everyone was healthy, just as a hologram appeared. Was it a glitch? It didn't seem like it-was it a players avatar glitching, but if so how could they be here?

Nies wasn't quite sure what was going on, but as her staff was set on fire, she lost track of things. She had to let it go, or risk being burned, but that staff had taken ages to get, one that she had down several quests to get, and she wasn't happy about its uselessness now. She let it go reluctantly, looking up at the strange glitchy figure, narrowing her eyes. Whatever was happened, Nies was sure this figure was the one responsible or rather the funnel for it.

As the status messages began to flicker across her screen, Nies flinched waiting for the onslaught of the results of so many, gritting her teeth, she looked beyond the status messages, looking to the others, her eyes searching for Eris. But then she was forceably logged off.

---

Jolting awake, Cassandra gave a shocked cry, rolling off the bed, her first thought was to make sure Eris was alright. She was already looking up the address Eris had given her, before she told herself to calm down.

What had gone wrong in the game? There had been so much stimulus then, that Cassandra could merely recall noise, and the flickering of the game as it glitched. But what had been all that noise, from jukebox?

Standing where she was, Cassandra closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to recall the words.

"1722 Wallan Street. 529"

What did that mean? What would they find there? Hesitating, Cassandra opened her mail system. do you want to be a hero? was there someone there who needed help? Deciding the mail system would be too slow, Cassandra grabbed a jacket, her Keys and started out the room, heading towards Eris. They could figure it what to do from there.

Nyx reacted instantly, dropping a caltrop bomb between him and Erika and started backing up towards the exit. Still unable to see clearly, he accidentally bumped into Jukebox and stumbled a bit. As the bomb exploded, scattering sharp, iron spikes all over, the glitch made her move.

Sure, he fought and shot her in the gut twice, with no result whatsoever. Then he tried a simple take down, except the ghost's grip on his collar was like steel. At this point, the rogue was at the girl's total mercy.

"...ro....he...want....be...do...do you...want to...be a....hero?"

The assassin turned his head to Mitsuki's, and his green eyes widened under the mask. Once again attempting to recoil by headbutting the psychotic hologram, and, to no avail, phased right through and pulled out in an instant. Then the tears fell and the arms came to surround him, almost in a familiar manner, as if they were lovers.

"No... Go away! I'm not waiting to respawn for another day!"

freew1LL.exe has stopped running

As Erika glitched away, Nyx's screens were killed, either becoming static or blacking out. All that was left was a pair of eye holes to see through. Jukebox's radio disappeared, thankfully, and Nies's staff fell to the ground aflame. Then, out of nowhere, a sword slammed into the ground, started flying around the room, then made a b-line for the entrance.

"Do you want to be a hero?"

Jukebox's radio, unfortunately, reappeared, and Erika's body faded in and out... in and out... Nyx squinted, trying to make out a shape. And he did, except it was not anything like he expected. What was essentially the Grim Reaper himself emerged, and once again the line was repeated.

"Do you want to be a hero?"

Erika's form and the hooded figure started swapping out for each other rapidly, and Nyx called it there. He started running for the exit as the dungeon began to crumble, bits and pieces falling and digitizing as they landed. He stopped as his screens lit up, a loudly red message appeared on every single one of them, and he crashed. The game broke around him and he fell through the map, the game shutting down mere seconds before he broke his legs on the lower extremes of the sky box.

---

Aaron awoke and jumped, throwing the covers off of his body and grabbing a crowbar from under his nightstand. A light switch was flicked with the end of it and, after a quick scan of the room, determined that the threat was all in the game. The message, though, was very real, and Fletcher mumbled it to himself as he checked the clock. "1722 Wallen Street. 529. Saturday morning..."

Making his way to the bathroom, the boy started up the shower and considered his options. He knew Jukebox, Nies, and Eclipse got the message as well if he did. The problem was, he was new to the area, all things considered, and knew literally no one. As he stripped and got under a scalding stream of water, he was considering his options. Follow the message to the address, or pretend nothing happened.

A decision was made as Aaron toweled off and got dressed in a simple t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. Deciding to throw his pea-coat on and hide his crowbar in the back of it, he headed out in the coincidental direction of Cassandra and Eris. What fate had in store was completely unknown to him.

@Caits @TheWindel @McFazzer @KoL

Jukebox was having a bad time. As he was about to apologise to Nyx for setting off his itchy trigger finger the lovely glitch ghost started doing what he should have expected. It glitched. It moved without it’s animation cycle, artefacts crackled over the girl’s avatar image and the oddest thing to him was that she somehow impacted his inbuilt avatar ability, his music player. It disappeared before coming back with a somber tune that sent chills down Jukebox’s spine as a red eyed hooded man, the apparent cause of this scenario appeared on the scene which made Jukebox make a leap of logic... is this girl even an Avatar? She looked too... real to be that. Then the world fell apart.

The environment’s clipped through player bodies doing no more harm that a chilling breeze made of ones and zeroes as he saw his own music player glitch into his chest and screeching shrieks blaring out of it, vague words audible beneath the terrifying noise. Then as his vision faded to the scene of an old analogue television set to a dead channel... he was ejected from the game

Alex

Alex shot up straight out of bed like a cartoon character... the sound and voice still scraping around in his head, as if someone had scratched those words into his brain tissue.

"1722 Wallan Street. 529"

Burying his face in his hands, Jukebox... no, Alex stood up and went to the bathroom. The sudden jarring disconnect had momentarily confused him. Leaning over the sink Alex felt as if he would be sick. Deciding he needed a walk, Alex grabbed his music player and a jacket and walked out into the crisp air. Typing as he walked he messaged Bel, hoping that she had some insight as to what the fuck the deal with that was, but not holding his breath. His feet unconsciously leading him towards the address that was screeched at him as he was disconnected, Alex sent the message to Bel.

To: Mercury Titania
From: Unrelenting Jukebox
Subject: Crazy glitch caused force log out

---

Hey Bel

I just saw a weird ghost glitch of a girl that glitched and messed with everything, even my avatar ability, making it screech "1722 Wallan Street. 529" at me.

Any idea what the deal with that is? I wanna keep you in the loop because... well you’re less likely to blow me off than Verdant :)

Cheers,
Alex

@TheWindel@Mega Birb@KoL@Caits

Corpse Collector

“Are you fucking kidding me?!?”

The Corpse Collector was pissed. Pissed beyond rational reason and ticking away at her own inner patience with each passing second. Great. This was just great. First her primary lackey had just up and left her. Second, Kitten was being pursued by the Blue King herself, which left Corpse Collector worrying that their plan had been discovered. And lastly, that arrogant asshat was beating down on her with quotas and deadlines and results and…she just couldn’t take it anymore!

Walking in little circles in her meeting place, the Corpse Collector paused before sighing. She was going to end this, one way or another…and if that meant putting some bullets through some heads, then that was fine by her. Marking down Smitten’s location, Corpse Collector teleported to the building the Kitten was scouring, appearing right before her. Looking down boredly, she rolled her eyes before grabbing for Kitten’s hand.

“Hurry it up. Come on, hurry, hurry! As soon as you grab on I’m taking us to the outskirts of the Black Kingdom. That’s where we’re making our surprise gift for the leader of the Ebony Bitches.”

Unbeknownst to the Corpse Collector, the location she had chosen for her final attack was a rather…unique spawning spot. Perhaps she was dimly aware of it, perhaps she was not. But her chosen rendezvous point was in direct correlation to the servers of a certain hospital.

Said hospital was located at 1722 Wallan Street. 529.

---

A canvas of dilapidated architecture devoid of any life painted itself before his very eyes. Well, eye, but visually speaking Paper Moon technically had too eyeballs. The series of days following the prez’ announcement contained nothing eventful for the effervescent youth known as Shiro Kawabata. He spent most of his time elbow deep in school work which had finally managed to catch up with him, which he requested a certain somebody’s assistance on with a barrage of persistent pleas. He actually recently stopped by the diner she was employed at, but to his dismay, his boss both in and out of game was nowhere to be seen. At least he got a kick ass smoothie for a reduced price, since he was a devoted patron of the establishment. It was a convenient place to kick back, as it was within walking distance, but he had to bite the bullet and force himself not to make an appearance until he had dug himself out of an academic grave. Conclusion? Calculus is hell.

A relaxing feeling of ease traveled and resonated throughout his whole body as he felt his boots sink into the gravel mixed with the tears of defeated players. He had longed for the dust kicked up into the air with every step. Paper Moon stretched both arms high, unwinding his digital muscles, as if they had atrophied during his absence. ”Alright, might as well touch base with Sweeper personnel. Hm, wonder if there’s anything on the news?” The assassin was about to pull up his UI, until a deafening crackle whizzed past his head, almost clipping his ear during its course. He quickly traced the trajectory of the bullet, and his eyes widened when his gaze fell upon the source. ”Could I interest some of you fine gentlemen in a cup of chai te-” Paper Moon dashed for the nearest cover, a concrete wall ridden with bullet holes which was nearly two meters tall, and ran his side through the gravel floor. He usually didn’t log off in a safezone, but since he was in a hurry, he was naive and disconnected on the spot. Without enough time to have counted his foes or ascertain their identity, the player took the time to check his inventory as bullets flew overhead. Chances are, one of his assailants was trying to get an angle on him, while the rest maintained suppressive fire. "Come on! It's seventy percent off! This is a once in a lifetime offer, we're talking about here!" Unfortunately, the people opening up on him were not in the mood for friendly chit-chat.

Paper Moon briefly peeked his head over the edge as chunks of concrete were blown away, and finally got a solid glimpse of his opposition. An AI patrol of approximately four units. It’s not like they were a challenge to be dealt with, it was just a hassle, that’s all. ”Okay, okay, think. We’re in a construction zone, so maybe…” As the thought crossed his mind, he rolled himself onto his stomach and shimmied to the side of the wall, bearing in mind to not expose his body. Well, looks like Lady Luck was on his side, as she usually was. A support beam hung over one of the AI, loosely suspended in air by corroded chains. A few bullets should do the trick, but just to be safe...

FAIRY BLUE

Upon the notification, a blue flame peaked out from his Harvest Carbine’s suppressor. Normally this would have melted the gun whole, but since this was a game and all, reality wasn’t exactly taken in stride. Paper Moon fired a few rounds at the chains, burning through the oxidized metal like butter. His eyes traced the beam as it plummeted to the ground, finally freed from its eternal suspension. In exchange, it was allowed to let out all of its pent up rage on an unsuspecting AI, the best form of catharsis for an inanimate object. The other three held their fire when their comrade suddenly became a pancake. In the disarray, Paper Moon took the chance to aim over the wall and unleash a maelstrom of bullets engulfed in vibrant cerulean flames.

After collecting himself, the player charted himself a course for Black City. He had the right to be a tourist after a firefight, albeit short-lived, he needed to rearm and sell a few drops. As expected, it was crawling with newbies. If Paper Moon didn’t look like a generic player, he surely would have stuck out like a sore thumb. But being a wolf in sheep’s clothing was a policy he strictly abided by. It was nice to have people underestimate him. The only thing nicer was the expression of surprise he always received. He had paged through his newsfeed during his travel. Turns out Corpse Collector was still peeving off every guild in DGO. Unanimous animosity was a rare sight, but only an individual capable of ticking off multiple parties could complete such a feat. He was currently assigned nothing, so it was the time for leisure. He took the small moment of reprise to shoot a message at Leviathan, just to check on her status.

To: Leviathan
From: Paper Moon
Subject: ONLINE GAME ADDICTS SPRECHCHOR

”Hey, currently in the Black City. Things seem to be picking up. Oh, and I got some junk if you need it.”

Wow, that message was more formal than usual. He must’ve been off his A-game. Paper Moon tapped on the send button and simultaneously scouted out the street he had found himself on. It look like any common metropolis road, if the pedestrians were outfitted with firearms and armor. Now was the time to gather information, or maybe delve into another hectic excursion.

@Kimiyosis@Lucius Cypher

---

The four that travelled by using their GPS systems found themselves at a very expensive looking hospital resting on a hill that was just a bit out of the city limits. It was quiet, peaceful, and entirely too unnerving when considering what had transpired before. The memory of the glitching infamous Mitsuki girl fresh in their minds; those that had seen her, and that went inside would bypass the extremely busy staff who didn't even give them a second glance. There was only one number any of them could use to indicate where to go next.

529.

By going to the fifth floor, they would find this room. And inside, Erika Mitsuki.

The small, fifteen year old girl was hooked up to life support. The light that fell through the window was gentle sunshin that illuminated her pale skin and made her wild dark hair seem even more ebony. It's wavy, shiny curls were splayed out on the pillow beneath her head, and her face's doll-like features were covered with an assisted breathing mask that fogged up periodically between slow, deep breaths. Her body was clearly covered in a baby blue hospital gown beneath the white sheets that covered her breast as she lay slightly propped up on the cot. Beside her, wreaths of flowers, cards, baloons and stuffed animals all looking very fresh were on display upsetting the symmetry of the off-white walls and plain furniture.

So this was where the missing Mitsuki girl had been.

Compared to how she appeared back in the game, this was a complete one-eighty. No longer was she screaming or creepily whispering to herself, but she was silent and breathing slowly, so quiet a mouse would be envious. Erika wasn't twitching and spasming but instead appearing to be peacefully asleep. She wasn't alone. In the room with her, a tall boy with dark curly hair sat hunched looking out the five story window. He was obviously very intently contemplating something dire, and didn't immediately look at the group that would have just walked in to the door. He sat on the back of the plain arm chair, exactly where many parents would tell their children not to in fear of eventually ruining their fine couches. His hands were clasped in front of him and in the seat behind him facing the incoming group, a red hat.

"...How could a stupid game do this?"

Before anyone could say anything, the boy on the other side of the room lowered his head, possibly believing that those who had entered the room were someone else. His tone was somber, melancholic, and haunted.

"I've been thinking about it nonstop. How could a stupid, stupid game put anyone in a coma? It's just crappy fun. Crappy fun meant for us to find a place in life. ...Heheh... Disgusting..."

The boy sniffed, then lifted a hand to reveal he was smoking a cigarette which he took a heavy drag on and blew the smoke out at the window. In the slight reflection, stressed out red eyes crinkled in the stirrings of despair. Slowly, the boy turned his head. As he did, several piercings on his ear caught the light. He looked at the group, and slowly widened his eyes a little. After a moment of quiet, he put his cigarette out on the glass side table and swung his legs around. He leaned down and picked his hat off the seat cushion and put it on his head before resting his elbows on his knees and staring at the newcomers coldly.

Hitoru Mitsuki.

Another in the Mitsuki family, specifically Erika's older brother. A known prankster who was an upperclassman at Purple Crown Academy who skipped almost all classes but somehow managed to pass all his tests at the top of his age level. He ran with the Cobalt Bruisers and was a fierce competitor who mostly played Deep Ground for fun.

Fun had earned him a level 6.

"Who are you guys? Erika's friends?"

"What are yo-!?" As it turns out the incident with the digital wraith would only get worse and weirder. Shortly after Jukebox grabbed Eclipse Princess' hand, eliciting a glare of ire from the black berserker, the ghost began to malfunction even further, though what really interested Eclipse Princess was the hooded figure that appeared behind it.

Princess, no, Eris couldn't explain it but somehow felt that it was... familiar. The unnatural look on its blazing eyes made Eris recall this morning's incident, but it couldn't be the same, could it? It certainly couldn't be "The fake Moon-" Just as Eclipse Princess was about say it, the world crumbled to pieces. Amidst the carnival of corrupted data only one message, or better an address remained on Eris' mind:

"1722 Wallan Street. 529."


"An address to where? And... what sort of trap will be waiting me now?" Eris said to herself as she got up from the bed and dressed herself again. Eris didn't had the answers to any of these questions, but it didn't meant that she couldn't try and find them on herself. However there was always the possibility of the other's involved having received the same message as she did which enervated Eris to a great degree, specially since Cassandra might have been directly involved this time.

"It seems I have no choice, then." With that said, Eris went back to the shopping arcade, purchased some camping equipment, including a military grade knife (and threw everything that wasn't the knife on a trash bin behind the arcade), hid the knife using using one of her garters and coincidentally met Cassandra along the way to said address. "We might as well be walking into a trap, Cassandra O'Shera. I won't ask you to back down, because I know every well you won't, but at least do as I say, if anything unexpected happens."

Soon enough they found themselves at the Hospital, along with the two others, one of which was Jukebox and the other Nix inside of Deep Ground. It didn't mattered for Eris who were who, or even if they found out that she was Eclipse Princess, her attention was focused almost exclusively on looking out for traps, but when they arrived at the mentioned room, Eris' eyes narrowed as she finally seemed to understand something, or better, as even more questions surfaced on her mind.

"You could say we are classmates." Eris replied to Hitoru's question, "But, we are here for a very hard to explain reason, so... why don't you begin by telling us what has truly happened with Erika Mitsuki and why has a an apparition inside of Deep Ground took her form and questioned us if we wanted to be 'heroes'?"


"WHA!!!!" Absinthe cried as she flew through the air and finally hit the ground near Smitten Kitten, little blue devils danced around her head for a moment as the confused status cleared of, but still she could see her precious feline friend trying to escape by running up a building.

"Such naivete! Doesn't she remember that I was flying when we first met?" Absinthe said just as her control was restored and she unfurled her magnificent wings, taking to her azure domain once more. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty! If you're good I'll give you a fat slice of tuna~" The blue mage sang as she flew besides Smitten Kitten with much effort, that is, until something unexpected happened...

"What the!?" Absinthe yelled as someone else came out of the blue and grabbed Smitten Kitten and began to talk about some plans involving the 'Ebony Bitches'. Absinthe could be wrong, but there was a huge chance that said person was none other than the Corpse Collector everyone else talked about, but... wouldn't this mean that Smitten Kitten was working to the side of evil all along?

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Absinthe asked, just in case she was wrong.

1722 Wallen Street. 529.

Upon his arrival, Aaron did a quick take at the massive hospital in front of him. In all honesty, he had been expecting a spook house or something along those lines, not a hospital. Maybe a sanitarium, but not a modern, well-kept building that was fully staffed and actively caring for patients.

After a second arrival to the fifth floor's room 29, Aaron slowly pushed the door open... and there she was, behind a forest of wires and tubing. As he entered, he almost felt bad. Sure, this girl was on every form of life support that existed, but the question remained... how could she invade a dungeon and crash four people. As who he presumed was Eris addressed the smoking man, he held his tongue...

The moment she was done was a different story, however.

"What I'd like to know, however, is how she managed to force herself into DGO and cause an entire dungeon to glitch and crash." Fletcher crossed his arms, waiting patiently for a response.

”INCOMING!”

As Paper Moon was strolling down the street, a massive red body landed just a few feet in front of him, crashing through a window and doing quite a massive amount of fall damage. Yet his health was still well above half his HP when he walked out and dusted the glass shards from his body. It was Arms Slave. ”Yo. I’m gathering newbies to train and to be bait for the Corpse Collector. Wanna come with?” Arms Slave was decidedly short and to the point since it was near crunch time. He’d need to head back to the group and get them going in a few minutes. He figured they’d head to the Faded City first, hit up a couple of contacts, and try to figure out what Corpsy is up to. With any luck it’d be a big ol brawl where Arms Slave can use the chaos to nab him the game winning kill.

@Jedly

Running into Eris, Cassandra listened to what she had to say, giving a slight smile at the comment about not going. ""life is full of ifs, Eris, yet it we left the unknown stop us from doing something we would never progress. I'm not scared about a possible trap" this was quite true. Cassandra wasn't scared about what could happen, but what would happen if they didn't investigate. The whole scene, seen in a new light, within the dungeon could easily be a call for help, and Cassandra knew she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she did nothing.

"I'll do what you tel me, if only to put your mind at ease for my safety, but I won't leave you, Eris even if you beg me to. Whatever happens, we are in this together. And that means we stay together." Cassandra wouldn't leave, simply because she wouldn't be able to stand wondering if she could have done something if Eris got hurt, and she wasn't there.

When they arrived, seeing Alex was a mild shock to Cassandra. The shy boy from the other night was, most likely, one of the two they had been in the dungeon with, as well as the other boy. Cassandra found herself briefly distracted, as she tried to figure out which was Jukebox. Jukebox seemed completely opposite to Alex's nature, but then so did her own avatar.

Turning her attention to what was happening, staying silent and allowing Eris to simply take the lead, a natural choice to Cassandra for now. Instead, Cassandra studied their environment, taking it all in, and looking for any possible sign of danger. There didn't appear to be ang. But that didn't mean here wasn't. The other boy didn't seem to have the same patience as Cassandra, nor the same temperament to allow someone else to lead, speaking up at once.

Cassandra looked to him, and said "well, isn't that obvious? There's always been speculation that the links aren't truly safe, but there's never been a documented case-most people think it's paranoid nonsense, but I imagine if something happened to a link, then that could be deadly to the user-perhaps-she is linking in without realizing it, or at the prodding of others." Cassandra didn't say what else she thought, that perhaps someone had deliberately done this, harming Erika to get...what? Answers if some sort, but why?

Alex

Silently walking along, the crisp air invigorated him and walked at a steady pace, the address “1722 Wallan Street. 529” stewing in his head. Stopping to look up, Alex found himself standing in front of that very address... a hospital. How ominous for a ghost in the machine to be in a hospital. Thankfully 529 is not likely a morgue

Entering the hospital, Alex went straight to the elevator, assuming that room 529 would be room 29 on floor 5. Hitting the button and the elevator smoothly rose, a massive bout of nerves struck Alex in his gut... the others got the message too... he’s going to bump into them. Gulping Alex found the room and saw them. Two he bumped into last night with Bel the other he didn’t recognise and what looked like the brother of Erika. Being a wallflower Alex had seen a bunch of these people around, but hadn't got to know any of them. Silently listening to the others Alex spoke for his piece.

“Umm, sorry. I know of her, saw Erika around the place, but I haven’t had the pleasure... this place is, like everyone else here, because of a lovely ghost resembling Erika letting us know.” hearing Aaron’s question about how Erika got into DGO well, a leap of logic made sense to Alex. Quietly speaking up he voiced his thoughts

“Well, if her DGO chip is still active, then maybe she can subconsciously log-in? Since she’s not fully aware of herself then it doesn’t function completely? I know I’ve always had a secret worry of accidentally logging in while asleep...” looking around Alex blushed a bit before approaching the ‘hero’ topic.

“A hero isn’t really something to aspire for... a hero is just the villain that won the final battle and everyone believed in...”

"Panpakapan!" Absurdly cheerful voice echoed out in her dorm room, and Angelina entered her self-proclaimed domain. being out of sync for awhile with the rest of DGO, as well as schooling, the blond was somewhat dreading the catching up she had to do. glancing around, she double checked everything was the same, even going all the way to check if there was anything unusual in the most oddest of places, like under the bed, or behind the shower curtains. Spending several minutes, before she finally ascertain nothing changed. Her room was still the same, the scattered mechanical parts piled around a fallen alarm clock, the mini-fridge stashed with enough caffeine filled drinks to give a grown man a heart attack.

Taking off her outdoor clothing, she flopped unceremoniously onto her bed, before dragging her laptop towards her from the night table at her side. "Uwaaaaa......" Leaking out her voice, as she beheld the amount of work she missed while out on vacation, her face growing paler the further she scrolled down the list. Half speculating if this was how Shiro felt when he came back from the hospital, her thoughts ran towards the Sweepers. She could deal with the work during break times, or on days off her job, maybe even drag her subordinate with her. First things first, she had to get back into the flow of Deep Ground.



Eyes snapping open almost instantaneously, Levi immediately drew dual handguns out, her head on a swivel, checking her surroundings. Making usre the coast was cleared, she sighed, before holstering her weapons. "Being out of touch for awhile makes one rather paranoid..." Muttering in a self-deprecated manner, she glanced at her messages. Ignoring the random spam and unknowns, she was about to close the inbox window, when she noticed one with a familiar name attached to it. Unconsciously smiling, she opened the mail and read it.

---

To: Paper Moon
From: Leviathan
Subject: Re:ONLINE GAME ADDICTS SPRECHCHOR

You sound like you need more sugar :3
I just got back from vaca~! Visiting family in America and all~!
Ah! Right, Sweeper stuffs! Fill me in!

---

Sending her response, Levi sighed as she looked up at the sky. "Now then...I should also get moving..

"You could say we are classmates." Eris replied to Hitoru's question, "But, we are here for a very hard to explain reason, so... why don't you begin by telling us what has truly happened with Erika Mitsuki and why has a an apparition inside of Deep Ground took her form and questioned us if we wanted to be 'heroes'?"

"What I'd like to know, however, is how she managed to force herself into DGO and cause an entire dungeon to glitch and crash." Fletcher crossed his arms, waiting patiently for a response.

“Umm, sorry. I know of her, saw Erika around the place, but I haven’t had the pleasure... this place is, like everyone else here, because of a lovely ghost resembling Erika letting us know.” Hearing Aaron’s question about how Erika got into DGO well, a leap of logic made sense to Alex. Quietly speaking up he voiced his thoughts

“Well, if her DGO chip is still active, then maybe she can subconsciously log-in? Since she’s not fully aware of herself then it doesn’t function completely? I know I’ve always had a secret worry of accidentally logging in while asleep...” looking around Alex blushed a bit before approaching the ‘hero’ topic.

“A hero isn’t really something to aspire for... a hero is just the villain that won the final battle and everyone believed in...”

"well, isn't that obvious? There's always been speculation that the links aren't truly safe, but there's never been a documented case-most people think it's paranoid nonsense, but I imagine if something happened to a link, then that could be deadly to the user-perhaps-she is linking in without realizing it, or at the prodding of others." Cassandra didn't say what else she thought, that perhaps someone had deliberately done this, harming Erika to get...what? Answers if some sort, but why?

Hitoru's eyes creased as his eyes flicked back and forth between all those present, trying to make sense of everything they were tryint to say to him. Something about heroes... Something about dungeons glitching... He stood up from where he sat on the armchair and took a small hop off of the armchair to floor level, his hands in his pockets as he looked at everyone present.

"Look, kids, I don't know what you're all smoking but you're... haha... really making me wish I was high right now." He'd taken his cap off as he spoke and gently ruffled his hair. In the unflattering hospital light, the dark circles under his eyes were most prominant. A sort of pallid, tired and yet stressed look was awash over his facial features where clearly a usual sort of mischeivious spark would be. His hand froze and his eyes slowly widened as he began to process more of what they were saying. Slowly, his red eyes rose to look at them, a sort of shock creasing his forehead.

"Wait... Are you saying... you saw Erika? You saw my sister?" He took a step forward, arms open wide and lips parted to get a little closer to them. After two half steps he hesitated, and then faltered. His arms were down by his side in a sort of slumped posture, his eyes falling to the shiny linoleum floor. He turned toward his sister, scowling as he considered everything they were saying.

A glitch...

His breath shuddered and he moved his body away, hands gripping onto the end railing at the end of Erika's hospital bed tight enough to make his knuckles white.

"I don't... know anything about that hero shit... I don't know anything about ... what exactly you all are trying to say... but I think you ... just confirmed a theory of mine." Hitoru's voice was strained, his gaze barely visible over his blocking arms which shimmered in tension.

"When I checked on my little sister a week ago when she was in her room, she was in the position she always lays in when she's going onto Deep Ground. I let her be but... she never woke up. . .

"I... I think... if her friend Yuuki is right... that she got into a fight. On Deep Ground, I mean." Hito paused to run his fingers through his hair and back up against the wall behind him, taking a deep breath. "Just going around... minding her own business. She was checking her online messages alot... and-and with all this crap with the Corpse Collector and the Black King going on... I think someone targeted her. I went through her messages... Someone planted a worm on one of them. One that, when she opened it, caused her to ... "

Hitoru faltered, looking at his sister in a moment of silence.

"...Made her go comatose when she died from a fight in Deep Ground."

Hitoru slowly turned his head to the group of students before him, his eyes wide.

"And I think... that worm... that virus... I think it's applied to everyone in Deep Ground Online. When you die in the game..."

Hitoru looked back at his little sister.

"You turn into nothing but lines of code... and become a fucking vegetable in the real world."

Hitoru was still for a moment before he turned and slammed his tightened fist into the wall behind him hard enough for his knuckles' skin to be scraped off and blood to immediately start dripping down onto the otherwise pristine white floor. His tone was dark... angry... and he glared into empty space yet saw exactly the person he was thinking of in his own minds eye. The Red King.

"I'm going to kill the son of a bitch that did this. To all of us..."

He held his bleeding hand in his free one, that determined, angry look turned onto the kids that had come.

"And I'm going to kill the Corpse Collector first to do it."

”Alright, might as well dump this… Hm, this too… Oh, perhaps I could salvage some parts from this weapon? Naaaaaaaaaah, running low on cash anyways.” That last statement wasn’t entirely true. Paper Moon didn’t heavily rely upon selling junk and unwanted items as a source of income. It’s just that when he was ordered to… clean up some person, they always seemed to be packing, which he always took with open arms. He finally decided it was time to lighten his cargo, an errand most speed builds found themselves having to divvy up time to more than others. Out of his peripheral vision he saw multiple signs of movement. The Black City had some surprisingly bustling streets, especially for a metropolis bearing the name of such an ominous faction. Guess newbies were drawn to the unknown.

After he swiped away the trading screen, he breathed in the synthetic air, relishing the feeling of a lifted burden. Or, it’s just that he felt a lot lighter. Paper Moon soon found himself with his menu open yet again, his inbox vibrantly blinked with a notification, as if its sender could not wait until he pried it open. And when he pressed the accept button, instantaneously he felt at ease. Lina always had a flawless way of weaving in her personality into her writing, as if she was talking to him face to face. With a jubilant but equally contained smile, he ran his eyes across the lines of text. And in an autonomous manner, gently tapped the reply button and set to his keyboard, completely oblivious to the flow of passer-bys engulfing him.

To: Leviathan
From: Paper Moon
Subject: Re:Re:ONLINE GAME ADDICTS SPRECHCHOR

”Back to the homeland, eh? Better not be feeling homesick while on the job, XP
Hope you got me a souvenir, or there’ll definitely be a strike >:3
Anyways, I’m in the same boat as you. Everybody’s still out for Corpse Collector, and I guess we’re no exception. I’m snooping around for some leads, but nothing’s popped up as of late. Maybe something will just drop out of the sky, yeah?.”

Just as he hit the send key, with a portion of his brain still divvied up to his surroundings, he instinctively moved out of the way of the object on a crash course with him. He raised an eyebrow at the remains of the window, still trying to process what had just occurred, ”Did they add a gifting system…?” Out of the shambles flew a four-armed… well that was really the only way to describe him. At least that’s what drew his attention right off the bat. His iconic smile coupled with an outstretched hand was his response. ”With an entrance like that, how could I possibly decline?” He was definitely intrigued, but not entirely sold, albeit the fact that he looked the part. ”Now when you say ‘train and to be bait’, do you mean to be cannon fodder or sufficient fighters? Honestly, I wouldn’t mind going with the latter. Name’s Paper Moon. Assassin. Solo. Certified portable heater.”

@Lucius Cypher @Kimiyosis

Smitten Kitten climbed to the roof when she saw Absinthe Blue flying above her. In her panic Smitten Kitten forgot that she could fly. She wasn't anywhere near the underground or Blast Alley, and up here this weirdo could easily catch her. Without an Outlaw Declaration Smitten Kitten couldn't try to fight back either. Without thinking Smitten Kitten just started to run when Corpse Collector literally popped out of nowhere. She reached for Kitten's hand and told her that as soon as she grabbed on, they would head to the Ebony Stryker territory. Smitten Kitten didn't know what Corpse Collector had in mind, but at least things were moving forward. Without a word Smitten Kitten reached out and grabbed onto Corpse Collector's hand, giving one last glance at Absinthe Blue. Kitten really hoped that they weren't going to get caught up in this mess.

@TheWindel@KoL

---

---

"A virus that can cause this", Eris gestured to Erika after Hitoru finished his declaration, "to happen to all of us? That's pretty high in the conspiracy theory ladder. Yet... not something that I ever thought as completely impossible." Eris crossed her arms under her chest and turned her gaze to the pristine floor of the hospital room, now marred by droplets of blood coming from an over eager zealot of a brother.

"Nevertheless, considering all that I have come across on that 'game', including the incident from this morning..." Eris thought out loud, but soon silenced herself when she noticed what she was saying. There was hardly any need to foment even more paranoia between the three that were accompanying her, specially Cassandra... no, it was absolutely imperative that Eris found a way to avoid Cassandra getting dragged into all of this. Thus she thought of a plan.

"I'm going back to Deep Ground. I have a serious suspicion that Corpse Collector might be involved, but on the other hand I'm almost sure she can't be the one behind such attacks. A grunt will always be a grunt, in the end." As Eris said so, she moved to the chair sitting beside Erika's bed, wondering when was the last time she saw that girl. "Probably too much to remember." And then turned to face everyone else, specially Cassandra and say, "Before even thinking of following me, you should know some facts. First, my avatar is Eclipse Princess, there's hardly any need to keep that secret after my identity has been compromised by whoever is the true force behind this scheme."

"While on that matter, I've been attacked this morning. I don't mean just inside the virtual world, but on my room, here on the real world. Masked man, apparently controlled by an external force tried to restrain me and inoculate me with an unknown substance... maybe even the cause of Erika's current state, since I hardly believe that only a death on the digital realm is enough for this to happen (a combined attack, however is another thing) after I met a fake Black King and got a very disturbing set of revelations from him." As Eris said so, she undid a few of the laces holding her dress together so that it was more comfortable to keep dressed on it for a long period of time. "The wraith behind Erika Mitsuki's form, I believe he and the fake Black King are the same. This is nothing but intuition, but it's one that I'm most sure of. And if I'm right about this all and about Corpse Collector's role, their objective is to do this for whoever is Moon Rider on the real world."

"Is there anything any of you have to say, otherwise I'm going to go back to Deep Ground. I must find the real Moon Rider and talk with her about these things." Eris said, resting her hands over her lap as she waited for their replies for just a bit.



* Will wait for CC's reaction before doing anything with Absinthe.

---

@TheWindel@ReaptheMusic@McFazzer@Mega Birb@Caits

Corpse Collector

---

As soon as Kitten grabbed her hand, Corpse Collector teleported them both out of there. It was difficult, managing two streams of Player data and directing it towards a new location at the same time. When they finally landed at the designated spot, Corpse Collector stumbled to one knee, panting out of breath. She gritted her teeth, placing a hand on the left side of her head.

“Fuck…Fuck me…do me a favor and try not to get yourself killed, alright? It takes a shit load doing that kind of thing,” she told Kitten before standing on two feet again. At once she set off at a brisk pace, leading Kitten onwards towards a rather large group of Players.

Closer inspection would reveal them as Outlaws and other degenerates, each itching to see some action. Grinning proudly, Corpse Collector gestured toward a familiar black monolith jutting out just a few miles away: the headquarters of the Ebony Strykers.

“Pretty sweet, right? While these idiots attack the place for a full frontal assault, we’re going to sneak in and do the Black Bitch in. Oh, and don’t even thinking about bailing out on me Kitten cause then I pump you so full of holes…”

Already growing annoyed, Corpse Collector waited in patience. Things were aligning into place and she would receive the signal to proceed forward. They had a contact on the inside, the false Moon Rider from before. And as soon as the proper Black King spawned in her throne room, that’s when they would strike…

Corpse Collector smirked, nodding her head as if to follow some invisible order before taking one of Death Penalty out. At once she began firing off random shots into the air, the bullets morphing into massive, Level 5 and 6 Dissolutions. That was the call for the charge, the small army moving forward to take apart what little defenses the Black Guild had.

Grinning, she offered up her hand to Kitten, unconcerned even as the alarm blares of the Black Kingdom echoed all around them. The time to kill was now. Events were finally falling into place.

---

It was easy to see that Eris wanted to keep her as far away from danger as she possibly could. But Cassandra was having been none of it. While she was certain Eris could keep herself alive in the game, Cassandra didn't want to be mistaken in that, and end up having to visit Eris if she turned comatose. Nor did Cassandra live with herself if something happened and she could have done something.

Right then, Cassandra didn't care that there were others in the room. "you keep on trying to keep me out of Danger, Eris. But I'm already in danger, we all are. They know who we are, just as they do you. They know that hurting me will hurt you, and they probably know that hurting you will destroy me. You want to keep me out. But I'm already in this.

I'm with you, Eris. All the way."

The thought of Erika, lying there, trapped in coding, and surviving on the advances of medical life support, would easily have been enough to motivate Cassandra to do something. The lure of keeping Eris safe was the lid that sealed it. "let me keep you alive"

She looked to Erika again, wishing now that she had tried to strike up more conversations and friendships with other students. Hindsight truly was a horrible thing. She could change her ways now, but that wouldn't help the past. "let's bring her back"

@TheWindel


Syshia spawned into the new game she had received as her 17th birthday present hoping to escape her shitty reality for any time at all. As her character materialized, she looked down at herself. Her outfit was exactly how she had imagined it. Her tight white pants gave her extreme satisfaction as she realized how fast she could move. They were made of plant fibers that were both strong and light. Her boots made a satisfying thump on the ground as she ran a short distance to test her speed. Her white robe flowed behind her in a graceful but deadly fashion. She stopped and smiled at her very functional character.

However, she then noticed she had no weapons. This was an obvious concern. Any higher level player would not hesitate a bit at killing a newly spawned, level 4 player in the middle of nowhere with no weapons. She needed weapons and she had no idea how to get them. There was nothing in the area she could fight and she didn't see any special materials she could make into a weapon, besides a sick here and there. "Yeah Syshi, that will help you against a level 40 assassin. . ." she muttered to herself as she made her way in a random direction.

In the distance she heard some sort of clamor and decided to use her camouflage skills to observe from a safe distance.

”Thanks champ.” Paper Moon said as he accepted the player’s hand before he made the small leap off of the metal support. With a quick pat on the back as a sign of gratitude, the two hurried over to Arms Slave and the rest of their group. There were a baker’s dozen, or a more befitting count, a devil’s dozen gathered in the remains of a plaza not too far from the city. The whole place was giving off a dismal vibe, which unfortunately complimented their current predicament. The assassin wasn’t in his usual chirpy state because of it. Paper Moon looked directly into Arms Slave’s gaze, completely disregarding the stark difference in their height, and finally let out a shallow breath. ”It’s not looking so good.”

---

Earlier:

”WAIT, YOU WANT TO DO WHA- ECK” The player yelled out in disbelief, barely quelled by Paper Moon’s attempts. ”Woah, woah, pal, calm down for a sec! I’m not ordering you here! ...I’m just asking you.” The guy was borderline hysterical, he obviously cared deeply about his EXP, after all he was on the lower end of the level spectrum. Suddenly, Moon placed both of his hands on the newbie’s cheeks, ”Hold up a sec, and take a breather, alright? Breathe in, breathe out.” The player obediently nodded, and still unaware of the fact that breathing affected him in no way whatsoever, yet the sentiment was still there. ”Okay, good. Now can you tell me what your name is? When you’re ready, that is.” His people skills were surely being put to the test here. This had to be done in a meticulous fashion.

”D-d-drauni.”

”Pleased to meet you, Drauni. I go by Paper Moon. Haven’t gotten around to making business cards yet, but maybe I will someday.” Moon chuckled at his own joke, but it seams that his acquaintance wasn't too fond of his humor. But at least he was no longer frantically swinging his arms about. ”Now, I’m going to need you to stay with me here. Can I get a sign that somebody’s behind the wheel?” Drauni gave what Moon made out to be a nod, he was still fairly perturbed. ”...Guess that’ll have to do. Anyways, I’m going to be blunt here. A friend and I are forming a band of dedicated spirits to hunt down Corpse Collector.” He spoke as softly as humanly possible, in hopes of not stepping on an emotional landmine. ”Everybody's gunning for that reward. You know it. I know it. Even that childhood friend who lives right next door and have held unrequited feelings all these years for knows it.” That last one seemed to resonate with him, since he instantly gave Moon his undivided attention. Childhood friend who doesn’t notice him? Guy’s got it tough. Without even skipping a beat, Paper Moon propelled himself through the gap he made in the conversation, ”So, are you in?”

There were a few moments of silence, broken by Drauni’s sotto acceptance. ”Great! I’m going to add you to a party, but until we all meet up, not a peep of this to anyone. Mum’s the word.” His affable smile was betrayed by the seriousness in his eyes, which pierced into the newer player’s soul. He didn’t know whether to be relaxed or respectful. ”I’ll contact you soon, I think we’re about done.” With Paper Moon’s affable demeanor juxtaposed to Arms Slave’s intimidation factor, the two were able to round up a handful of willing fresh players, greener than the grass.

When the alarms went off out of the blue, those who were contacted quickly amassed at a designated area. It was thereby decided that they would venture past the limits, leaving other players to fight to for the city's streets, and ultimately the Black King.

---

Now:

”I spotted two mid-level dissolutions, along with faint traces of heat heading towards the city. But we’re too far for me to really discern anything substantial, so for all we know it could have just been smaller mobs.” Paper Moon glanced over the entire group. He could already feel the angst emanating from the mere mention of the enemies. Instead of going for one of his iconic jokes to lighten up the mood, he instead crossed his arms. A solemn expression on Moon’s face was a rare sight.

”It’s not their levels that’s got me rattled. It’s their very existence. Mobs of that gargantuan size should not naturally spawn in such a close proximity to any city. Which means…”The assassin trailed off in his own thoughts, but there was no need for him to finish the sentence. What he was implying was already as clear as day. ”So, what’s your call, Arms?” He clenched his fingers onto the brim of his jacket and zipped it up. The assassin stared off towards the city, only a portion of which could be seen past the maze of worn down infrastructure. It was evident that they would have to make a grave decision soon. They could simply go on ahead and entirely disregard the dissolutions, but something was gnawing at the back of his mind. It was all too spontaneous. As murmurs spread across the players, Paper Moon opened up his messages and sent one at a cursory pace.

To: Leviathan
From: Paper Moon
Subject: No Subject

I've got a lead.

@Lucius Cypher @Kimiyosis