"Talking"

Emphasis

'Thoughts'

*Sound Effects*

Prologue: ~What a Wonderful World~

Four days, for four long days now she had tried to ignore it. However, turning a blind eye to a problem that constantly jumps in front of you isn't easy. Every time she looked in the mirror, or at someone else, the problem reared its ugly head again.

LV.3 ~ Syndra Shyael

All of a sudden one morning, she could see people's names above their heads. As if that wasn't bad enough, she was getting little quests here and there. At first she had thought that she'd played Helios Online for one too many hours. Unfortunately, that theory got debunked thanks to a rather depressing family conversation.

Gorgeous locks of silky black hair were a mess today. She'd woken up to some very vivid hallucinations, and no matter how much she glared into her own azure eyes, the mirage failed to dispel itself. She spared a single moment to wipe the sweat away, her tan skin shined in an almost perfect manner this morning, it was... unnaturally unnerving. Maybe her mother could confirm this was just a very elaborate hallucination.

"Mom, does the name Syndra Shyael mean anything to you?" she had asked hopefully. It really was bothering her, everybody else had their real names. So why the hell was her name an elvish one.

Her mother, a rather beautiful brunette, had the decency to blush. "Pumpkin, where did you hear that name?"

That blush warned Sydney — that's right Sydney Kael, not Syndra — that something was amiss. Obviously her mother felt guilty about the whole situation they had just found themselves in. Most likely cause of guilt? Her gods be damned name.

"I got a letter in my box at the post office, junk mail..."

What followed was embarrassing to say the least. Her parents, being a couple of real life role players hopped up on morphine, named her elvish. Why her dad was high as a kite when she was born is another mystery. Scratch that — why the damn hospital let them do it is probably a better question.

So here she was, Sydney a.k.a Syndra, real life game character with an elvish name. Sydney would have thought she was going crazy. Sadly, the fact that this thing knew her real name, when even she didn't, meant that something freaky was going on. 'Could be worse,' she thought. 'I could actually be stuck in a game.'

It was the point when that thought struck her that Sydney knew she was boned. One way or another, something was bound to screw her over. After all, it is very hard to keep a straight face when you see an assassin or spy walking down the street. Worse still, when one of them lives next door.

Yes, that's right, a right next door. Of course the alluring, sexy, fiery, passionate woman who stole her innocence last summer ended up as a gods be damned spy!

Just before the end of her junior year she'd turned eighteen. One of her parent's ironclad rules, no dating till you're eighteen, broke, just like that. She was so excited, finally all her teenage hormones could find an unsuspecting boy to unleash themselves upon.

Of course that excitement turned to confusion pretty fast, kissing boys really sucked, it was nothing like they'd said it'd be. One bastard even had the nerve to cop a feel, he ended up in a hospital getting x-rays to check his 'rig' for damages. There were no fireworks, no passion, no romance. Her hopes for a young love affair with another student were thoroughly broken in less than a week. Boys sucked, plain and simple.

Once again, Sydney's train of thought was to the point — boys, they were too young, too immature. So against her better judgement she sought out a love affair. Video games were fun and all, but you can only see so many romance stories before you want some for yourself.

Sydney was starting to sweat, smooth layers of silky black hair sliding across her pale shoulders, head swaying to the rhythm of a chill beat, pulsing lights reflecting off her calm blue eyes. Her skin was still pretty pale at the time, too many games, too little sportsmanship. That didn't stop her though, Sydney wanted love, so here she was waiting to be hit on. Sneaking into the local bar was not one of her better moments, but drastic measures had to be taken — boys sucked after all.

Imagine Syd's confusion when the first person to buy her a drink was not a man, not a boy, but a woman. The redhead in question, while not incredibly beautiful, definitely had something going for her. Whatever it was, Syd was too young and too new to the whole dating thing to understand. That didn't stop her from liking it though. 'Huh,' she had thought, 'why the fuck not.'

The following kiss — what Sydney would vehemently insist from that day forward was her 'first kiss', turned out to be everything she was looking for. There was a heat, a passion to it... a very lonely, needy, desperate passion. Something in her just said that this woman was suffering, and Syd had been many things, but cruel she was not. So she found exactly what she was looking for, an affair with someone much better than 'boys'.

Waking up in her neighbor's bed, looking across the balcony at her own home, her own room, was sort of surreal. Having another woman's arm wrapped around your waist is even more surreal for a girl, or rather, young woman who thought she was straight less than twelve hours ago. By the gods she was not straight, nope, not even fucking close.

'No wonder boys sucked.' Was her overly simplified explanation to that particular conundrum. So, instead of sneaking out, Syd took the time to trace her fingers along some rather gruesome scars her partner had. She was pretty sure a few were from torture, and two were definitely bullet wounds.

"Beauty marks," Syd had called them. She wasn't lying either, something about those wounds made her partner seem so much deeper than anyone else she'd met before. So of course she ended up with a crush on the woman. Especially after the encore they had before she went home that morning.

'They say hindsight is twenty-twenty,' Syd thought bitterly. 'Fucking cocksuckers.'

LV.17 ~ Riley Tombs

That's what it said, now the scars made so much more sense. So many things made so much more sense. For the past four days she'd missed her morning ritual. 'Katie', now known as Riley, was doing her usual routine like clockwork.

Stretching, basic exercises, a few stances of some martial art Syd never bothered to ask about, and the best part is when 'Katie' realized that she was being watched, her workout changed a bit. From that day forward it became a clothing optional activity. By the gods Sydney was afraid what her parents would think if they ever spotted her doing this. Best not to get caught, hence, the new deadbolt on her bedroom door.

*Ding!*

You have made a wise decision. Wisdom + 1

"That just happened," she intoned sarcastically. Being the game savvy lass that she is, Syd realized there should be a status screen somewhere. Lo and behold, the moment she thinks of it, another see-through window appears.

Name: Syndra Shyael

Class: The Gamer

Level: 3Health 50/50

Mana 240/240Strength: 7

Vitality: 5

Dexterity: 9

Intellect: 24

Wisdom: 21

Luck: 13Points: 0

Money: $0

Looking over the status window nearly caused her to have a heart attack. She could feel her heart beating a mile a minute, and it was not because of the naked woman behind her status screen.

"Calm down, calm down, calm down," she chanted. "You were expecting this shit, calm the fuck down, bitch."

Attribute points! She would gain attribute points to spend! Glancing around her rather spartan room, Syd took a moment to plan her next course of action. Leveling up, so far she'd gotten experience from homework, and chores. Also, very little from walking. Basically, do stuff, get stuff.

"Speaking of doing stuff..." she trailed off while shutting the window down with another thought. Her stunning blue eyes locked onto 'Katie's' lithe form, imagining the thrill, the scandal, the romance of sleeping with a secret agent was starting to cloud her judgement. So it was no surprise she soon found herself climbing down her balcony, sneaking through the back yard, scaling a rusty barbed wire fence, and shimming up a drain pipe.

"Good morning," 'Katie' practically purred. The buxom redhead had obviously seen Syd's rather hurried approach. "I thought today was a school day?"

"Fuck school." Syd purred, inching closer to 'Katie'. "I'd rather fuck you," she whispered into the spy's ear.

The morning routine for one of her school days got bent all out of shape at that point. This was far more important, she was 'grinding' after all. It's what all good gamers do.

*Ding!*

You have made a wise decision. Wisdom + 1

The annoying window only made her grin this time.

Name: Syndra Shyael

Class: The Gamer

Level: 3Health 50/50

Mana 240/240Strength: 7

Vitality: 5

Dexterity: 9

Intellect: 24

Wisdom: 22

Luck: 13Points: 0

Money: $0

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