Aeterna - IC

Cavern | Outside Kris's Outpost - 9:32 AM

"I see... so you're like me, huh?" Phenom said as he stared up at the cave ceiling as he sank deeper into the water.

He dunked his head quickly under the water, running his hands roughly through his hair and shaking his head when he came back up. He scrubbed his hair until he could feel the caked blood starting to break off and leaned his head over the stones so that none of the blood would fall in the water. He sighed and began to speak again.

"Well my story is somewhat similar to yours, only I don't have parents waiting for me to log out. Mine were killed four years ago. My sister, Lachesis (That's Luh-chess-ee, as opposed to the actual Latch-eh-sis) and I were 9 and 15. And unfortunately, most of our relatives are up on the Mars colony... We wouldn't let anyone else take us in, so we stayed in our home alone. Being the older sibling, I had to take responsibility for both of us. I became the cook and the main source of income for the two of us by doing odd jobs around the community while she escaped our lonely reality through the Hive. It was the only place she could really be happy, living out her own imaginations of having a full family, you know? I preferred to keep my perception of reality more accurate. I didn't indulge in her fantasies, as much as I would have liked to. It would have made leaving Hive more and more difficult. Now I'm trapped anyway.

"During our time in the HiveNET, Lachesis and I were effective inseparable. I was the only form of safety she knew anymore besides those of her own imaginations, so she always wanted me to go with her anywhere, and I refused to let her out of my sight unless I was logging off to fulfill my real world responsibilities. Then Aeterna became a thing and we explored like crazy. It was a place we could start over fresh, if nothing else. We found a little town called Fortuna and settled down there for awhile. Then Tyruss came into power and began raiding towns at random. Fortuna's population was slaughtered and those who didn't fight back were lined up. As they went down the line, they saw Lachesis clinging to me for dear life. They tore her from me and went straight to beating her right in front of my eyes... Then they slit her throat. I'd never seen anyone die in the HiveNET before so I didn't know what happened when you died here. So I... snapped. My body released every single restraint and I went berserk. I moved quickly. More quickly than I imagined possible. Everything was a blur and all I remember is feeling a sword I had taken from a soldier slicing cleanly through flesh and the pelting of blood on my face. When I snapped out of it, I was surrounded by a pile of bodies. I could hear soldiers running to where I was and I fled, running as fast as I could on my exhausted legs. I don't exactly know how I got away, but it wasn't long until I found out that those killed here went into some void due to being unable to log out or in thanks to Tyruss's hijacking of the system. So my sister's waiting for me to fix everything. Waiting for big brother Phenom to save her. Sounds like you and I are two peas in a pod, aye?"

Otori looked at her for a long time, then sighed.

"First of all, you're a wind mage, aren't you? I can tell. You're making a fire ball float. So boo if you were trying to disguise it. Secondly, what a low level fire ball. You, being a wind mage, should be creative. There are certain airs that are flammable when under the right conditions. Of course, that would mean burning the place down, so good on the thinking or terrible on imagination. Thirdly, what should I know? I just happened to be there. Unless I do know something. Knock it up on the creativity and I may or may not consider telling you."

HM could not help but laugh at the scene. He walked in.

"Hahahahahaaa, that was hilarious! That was the best interrogation by far! Write that down on the records! Oh, but Sidna, is that all you've got? The way you're doing it, it's as if you were interrogating your child. Minus the fire ball, of course. What you need to do is be gentle. And if they don't cooperate," he said as he smashed the lightning rods on the table. "Then make 'em cooperate. Ya know, good cop bad cop. Especially around people like him. But why? It's simple. The nicer you seem, the more they're terrified when they find out how scary you are. You just seem like a thug, and believe me, he's dealt with plenty of those back in the day. Now then, Sidna, try again. But this time, realize the difference between threaten and scare."

HM walked back out, picking his rods up again. Otori looked at Sidna.

"... well, hate to admit it, but he's right. Now then, ain't ya gonna get some answers from me?"

Meanwhile, a nurse noticed the merchant waking up.

"Oh, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Cavern | Outside Kris's Outpost

Kris chuckled at the girl´s embarrasment "Don´t worry about the scar, the worst scenario would be a thin red line, just exercise without too much stress, ok? she said looking at the rock ceiling and stalagtites

"Knowing our luck, the target will come to us, I just hope we are out of this cavern when we find any bandit or attacker, so yeah we are like bandit magnets Seki" Kris said getting out of the water and drying her body with the one of the cloths for it and finally putting her robes with care to not touch her scars with force

Cavern | Outside Kris's Outpost

Seki looked on with relief from what the huntress said finding that fate acceptable. However the fire finally returned to her eyes when she heard Kris say the next attack would be against them rather than the other way around. She suddenly gained a much more serious tone as the water from the spring got hotter and began creating more and more steam. “NO!... That will never WORK!! I fought against them at my home. Battle after battle and killed countless soldiers both magical and non.” Seki was finally able to create a flame again since some of her mana had seemed to return to her after her spunk returned. She created a colorful orb of fire in the palm of her hand but didn’t get burnt somehow. “In this war. We cannot win by defending alone. NO! To win WE HAVE TO ATTACK!!” As she yelled one final time she crushed the orb of fire in her hand and caused it combust slightly out through her fingertips into a quickly rising and then fading flame. Seki however made no hostel movements towards Kris. It seemed Seki liked her, she was just feeling very excited/passionate all of the sudden.

Cavern | Outside Kris's Outpost

"I suppose.", Jason said as he returned the tiny whirlpool's speed back to normal, causing it to disappear.

All of a sudden, Phenom's words finally began to sink in, especially the part where he said that people don't die, at least not in reality.

"W-wait! What!?", Jason exclaimed as he sat up.

Jason could barely believe what Phenom had said. Many different thoughts surged through Jason's mind, but the strongest of all was that his father was still alive.

"People don't die!? They don't die-die, as in a reality death!?", Jason asked Phenom in a completely surprised manner.

Cavern | Outside Kris's Outpost

The huntress looked at the fire magician´s little show and smiled ("Well, she does has iniciative and inspiration, she just needs to build her path") she thought and threw a cloth for Seki to get ready

"If you want to go on a fight, just be patient since there will be a lot, mostly because of phenom and Jason´s ideas, but let me tell you that if an enemy gives up and surrenders, we mustn´t attack him or her. Some people may fight in this war, but they are in it because they are controlled" Kris explained and then got an idea

"Why not we practice your fire magic to get back on track? I can give you your targets" Kris suggested coating a piece of rock with her ice

Cavern | Outside Kris's Outpost

Seki caught he clothe and dried herself off as she followed the huntress out of the spring. She was still very fired up. She could almost taste the enemy’s blood. “ehehehe training, targets. Fire, burning, death…. No. Jason is the one who needs training. You and that smelly stinky ugly guy from before are experienced enough in battle. To prepare Jason for war…” Seki smiled with a somewhat sadistic grin as she got an idea. It was dangerous, but it would help Jason improve very quickly if he managed to survive. “I’m going to hunt him!”

Cavern | Outside Kris's Outpost - 9:34 AM

"Well, yeah. Apparently, people used to kill each other all the time in like... combat simulation before Tyruss. The only thing that happens is you get stuck between log out and log in. Apparently all that happens is your conscious and mind and such are uploaded to the Hive. I mean... it's not like a brain dump, more like treating your brain as an actual computer. The thing we DO have to worry about, however, is dying in the real world. But when you die here, you're put in a simulation of death. Just.... nothingness. Can't log in, can't log out."

(Note: ~ means that you extend the phonetic sound before it. Alone + ~ = Alo~ne = Alooooone.)

Cavern | Outside Kris's Outpost

The very moment Phenom finished explaining death in Aeterna, Jason had what looked to be tears welling up in his eyes. Instead of tears of sorrow, they were tears of joy.

"I.. I don't know what to say. Thank god my dad's still alive! I thought he died., Jason said as he wiped his eyes with his hands.

"Hahaha! I would hug you right now, but that would be ve~ry awkward., Jason said to Phenom as he laughed.

Jason was relieved that his father was still alive. He may be stuck in The Void, but at least he was not dead forever.

Cavern | Outside Kris's Outpost - 9:35 AM

Phenom waved his hand dismissively, "You're not out of the woods yet. You don't know if he died in the real world yet. Keep in mind, not all of us are in hospitals. Now, I'm sure neighbors would start noticing a lack of activity, but A LOT of people got trapped in here. In fact, the archer and the firecracker down there could be dead and we wouldn't even know. My sister and I might even be dead, and we won't ever know. If you ask me, HiveNET is an answer to mortality. Even if your body dies, as long as you're logged in to the 'NET, you're technically immortal. Your persona doesn't really age since it's a construct of your body when it's in its historical prime."

He started waving his hands as he continued to tell Jason what he has learned.

"That's not to say the persona doesn't age. It just ages with you until your body has reached its prime. BUT OF COURSE, there are still people who prefer their persona to match their true body, so you end up with elderly here. I digress, the HiveNET effectively preserves your life."