After a night of dreamless sleep, I got into my pod with an aching head and lingering questions. I needed to apologize to Cale. Even if it wasn’t my fault his timing was horrible.

The machine moved into life and thrust me into the world of Arcadia. A new indicator I hadn’t seen before told me I was nutritionally deficient in multiple levels and the paste would be altered accordingly. Probably should have eaten breakfast, but it didn’t feel like there’d be enough time. Since we found the website the previous night, a doomsday clock started counting down in my head. While I wasn’t as bold to assume my friends and I were humanity’s only hope, we had the advantage of Viv’s dad bankrolling our endeavor. That had to count for something.

After ignoring my unread messages again, the world came into blinding focus. The previous night, I’d logged off at the entrance to the major city and, since so many people wandered around, I figured I was safe for a little solo exploration. Neither of my friends had logged in yet.

Two and three-story buildings built of rough cobblestones and plaster lined a mess of city streets. Instead of the natural sprawl formed over time as I’d expected, the layout seemed chaotic by force. Whoever had designed the area hadn’t bothered with using ancient city maps. It appeared they’d been focused on making it as confusing as possible. Small alleys contained important shops and locations while the main street had rows of inaccessible buildings.

An auction house and tavern were the only two buildings on the main drag that I could tell were of any use. My feet turned towards the auction house, but the smell of freshly baked bread and apple cinnamon laced confections were too enticing to ignore. Besides, I hadn’t tried eating anything in-game yet and thus, hadn’t tried the award-winning nutritional paste offered by the resort.

The tavern itself had game world magic of larger on the inside than out. Furs, herbs, and mystical beast trophies lined the walls. A large stone hearth provided a calming atmosphere while a minstrel band on a raised platform added excitement. It seemed early in the day for musical acts, but what did I know? The nearly full tables proved this was a busy joint, regardless of the time.

I found an empty table under the angry gaze of a griffon’s head and shortly after, a player came to my table with an expectant face. I had no clue they hired actual people for mundane tasks like a serving wench, but it added to the experience. She informed me of my food options, her green eyes dull with boredom, and that they could charge my account using actual currency or I could pay with in-game currency. It felt wrong to pay for anything in the game with real money, even if it provided my body with nourishment while eating, so I paid in gold.

“All right, the information is being sent to your pod for dispersal. When it’s ready, a server goblin will bring the food to your table.”

It was wrong to think of her as a serving wench but, with the whole medieval fantasy setting, what else would I call her? If I could figure out how to pull up other player’s names, that would give me something else to work with. Maybe I’d ask Cale when he logged in how to figure that out.

She cleared her throat, pulling me from my thoughts. “Is there anything else I can help you with?”

That gave me an idea. The place was full of people. And one thing people do best is gossip. She might have overheard something. “Actually, yeah. Have you heard anything about the disappearances?” I watched her face as closely as possible for any reactions, but she kept her expression as calm and friendly as when she approached.

“There’s been some people talking about it, that’s for sure, but I haven’t seen anything myself. I’ve been working in games for a while, nothing this elaborate, but even in the VR games urban legends spring up.” She shrugged. “I guess that happens anywhere, though.”

I couldn’t help but frown, her reaction being the opposite of helping and all. “Have you seen or heard anyone with a skin that looks like static or electrical snow?”

Her friendly demeanor cracked, revealing a questioning, if not concerned expression. “That doesn’t exist,” she said with a look that meant the conversation was over. “Thank you for visiting the Gnarled Gnome Tavern. If you could, please leave a review for DawnSt4r. It would really help.” She walked away without another word.

I considered following her to question her reaction or give her a shit review for being such an ice queen, but a pock-marked little goblin with dagger shaped ears approached with a wide tray. He placed a plate with an apple turnover and fresh berries in cream on the table. Followed by a mug of hot spiced cider.

“Thanks,” I said.

He hocked a wad of something yellow on the floor that vanished almost as soon as it landed, scratched his groin and vanished into the crowd without a word.

Do computer generated creatures carry germs, I wondered, seconds before digging into the food.

I’m not sure what I’d expected going in there, but I hadn’t gone in prepared. Flavor was turned up to maximum effect. The sweet cream and tart berries exploded on my tongue in nearly orgasmic levels of delight, their flavors lingered even after I’d licked the bowl clean. Tiny granules of sugar and sweetened bits of apples crunched under my teeth on the turnover, still hot from the oven. The cider warmed my stomach, leaving my mouth with the pleasant tingle of cinnamon.

If it wasn’t for the edge of nausea bestowed upon me from too much drinking, I’d have considered ordering more. I’d never eaten something so amazingly delicious before.

A conversation at another table grabbed my attention, interrupting my slightly embarrassing attempts at getting the last bit of sugar from the plate. Another person, someone who wasn’t me, would have attempted to appear busy with something else while eavesdropping. I’m not that rational.

But I did somehow turn on player name tags while searching for a way to turn up their volume. So, I could see who was talking at least.

“Have you heard from Infern4lSlve lately?” A female human mage named Sn0wBl0 asked.

A male gnome rogue named T0otsBo0Ts shook his head, his eyes wide. “Not since Tuesday night.” His little fingers tore at a piece of parchment, littering the tabletop with scraps of paper.

Shit, what day was it now? Friday? My mental calendar was out of whack with the effect vacation had on time. I’m sure the drama surrounding Viv didn’t help either.

“He isn’t answering my calls. Do you think I should call the police?” Sn0wBl0 asked and wiped at her eyes.

The gnome scoffed. “And say what? My friend hasn’t been playing video games with me and won’t answer my phone calls?”

The mage spread her hands out on the table and looked at her friend hopelessly. Her eyes drifted from his to around the room, resting on mine and narrowing. “Do you mind?” she hissed.

Their vocal conversation stopped as I assumed they moved to private chat.

I brushed a granule of sugar from my over-sized chest and stood before a message appeared in my vision.

DawnSt4r: Don’t talk about the static out loud. The wrong people might hear. Meet me @ Bates monument in cemetery, 8pm.

Ri0tGrrl: Can I bring friends?

DawnSt4r: I’d think u were dumb if you didn’t.

She didn’t respond to any further questioning, so I left it at that and departed to explore more of the city.

By the time Cale and Salvo logged on, I’d just finished wandering through the city museum. It hadn’t been the most exciting exhibit I’d ever seen. In fact, it contained mostly items that looked to be last-minute additions to the game. The sculptures that held a general humanoid shape and the paintings, recycled assets from other parts of the world, were all so lackluster, I wondered why they created a museum in the first place.

Correspondence with my friends was brief and to the point. We’d meet at a dungeon and grind out a few levels. No witty retorts from Salvo, who was probably still fuming from my outburst, and all business from Cale, who was understandably awkward after our encounter.

Travel to the entrance gave me time to think, pull myself together and calm my overloaded nerves. If there was a worse time to start getting overly emotional, I couldn’t imagine when it would be. Viv’s father, Mark, believed the answers to help her could be found in the game and I needed to focus on that. The rest, whatever was between Cale and I, needed to stay on the back burner for the time being.

We met up at an abandoned mine shaft that served as a dungeon entrance. Cale nodded in greeting and moved to shove his hands into pockets that didn’t exist.

I crossed my arms and stared at Salvo; the fury I’d felt the night prior re-ignited. “So? Are you here to help Viv or are you going to keep fucking around?”

“I’m here to help,” he said and sighed. “You were right, I haven’t been taking this seriously. But, I don’t know what we can do and running around in a game feels like the opposite of helping.”

“I know,” I said. Once the words I’d been struggling with myself were out in the open courtesy of Salvo, my shoulders fell. I didn’t like not being there for her at the hospital or doing something that felt a little more real.

He leaned against a rusted railing and frowned. “Remember that party she held for Cale’s lizard? The one that looked like an overgrown tadpole?”

“Spike,” I said feeling my lips tug into a smile despite myself, imagining the little bug-eyed smile on his slimy face. The way Spike would stare at the world outside of his aquarium made you think he wanted to be with his people. In a way, I’d loved that little bastard.

“Not a lizard. He was an axolotl,” Cale replied, his own gaze drifted to the past. “Still don’t know what happened to him.”

Salvo waved a hand, “That’s not important. My point is that Viv thought about these things. Who the hell throws a party for a creature in a tank you can’t even touch? It feels wrong that all we’re doing is playing a game to help her. Like we should be doing more.”

I pulled my friend into the biggest and most unexpected hug in the fifteen years or so we’d had of our friendship. “We’re gonna save her and if Mark is right, this is what she needs us to do.”

Cale pointed inside the dungeon, and we followed him into the cavernous surroundings. Lit only by random torches placed on the walls next to dripping stalactites, he pulled two snarling, drooling werewolves and slashed at each to hold their attention.

Away from the eyes of anyone else, I activated the Dryad form and felt the damp, chill air on my exposed flesh before the form’s natural acclimation to temperature kicked in, leaving me warmer than before. I cast my newest spell, Gaia's Embrace. Illuminated vines erupted from my fingertips and wrapped Cale in a protective barrier.

A shadowy figure of a demon skulked behind the werewolves and appeared in a plume of brimstone, driving both daggers deep into the back of one unlucky creature.

It howled and spun; fist raised to strike.

The soft flesh below the monster’s arm exposed, Cale drove his sword between two ribs and the beast fell.

The other werewolf fell into a rage and landed two critical strikes on Cale, nearly ending him.

“Shit,” I said as green, brilliant light left my hands and caressed his wounds, knitting them together. I watched in relief as his red bar went from 20% to 90%. It wouldn’t be good to send another heal his way, other than a heal-over-time. Over healing at this point would just grab the werewolf’s attention. Crisis aside, I continued our conversation from earlier. “If Mark’s willing to pay for us to get more information, we owe him to do a little more than what we have.”

Salvo sunk his dagger into the wolf’s neck, it twitched, whined and fell. “I get that,” he said and wiped the blade clean against his pant leg. “But, do you have any idea where to start?”

I reapplied the armor buff to each of them while we waited for the next pull. “Did you hear about the stuff we found last night?”

“Some,” Salvo said, and melted back into the shadows.

As we killed more of the mindless werewolves, Cale and I explained to Salvo what we’d discovered the night prior. After, I added the little bits overheard at breakfast in the tavern, finishing with the meeting that would happen later in the night.

“You think it’s a good idea meeting up with this DawnSt4r?” Cale asked, smashing the edge of his shield against the jaw of a werewolf.

It recoiled and growled before darting in for another attack that was effortlessly deflected.

I refreshed the gradual heal spell about to run out on him. “Do you have a better idea?”

He took a quick glance at me before refocusing on the wolves and frowned. “Not really, no.”

“All right, so we kill shit and gain some levels until then. Boss is up ahead. Do you think we can take him?” I checked my experience bar, and I was so close to the next level I could taste it. “You don’t already have plans, do you Salvo?” An unintended edge crept up in my voice when I asked.

He shrugged and sunk his dagger into the werewolf’s kidney with rapid, grisly jabs. “Taking some time out from the nightlife for a while.” To anyone else, his expression would be carefree and unassuming. I’d known him long enough to see a vein pulse in his temple, reflected on his avatar’s own. His brows set too rigid. The side of his lip curled at the wrong angle.

“Something happened. Are you going to tell me what it was?” I asked, and reached into the void of the fallen werewolf to loot it, finding a few gold coins and a new piece of armor with an intelligence and mana regen boost.

“Nothing new. Drank too much and fell into bed with the wrong people.” He pulled a new dagger from one corpse and tested its balance.

I sighed and dropped the subject; it was true. This was nothing new for him. While his reaction was a little more severe, it was probably nothing more than the stress of everything else getting to him. If he needed to talk more, he’d bring it up later.

“Are you ladies going to do each other’s nails while you gossip, or are you ready to face the boss?” Cale asked and pulled a potion of stoneflesh from his inventory.

I showed him my favorite finger while drinking some gooseberry juice to restore my mana points. “Ready when you are.”

We followed him to the next area where the cave opened into a makeshift laboratory. Tesla coils buzzed around medical slabs while tables filled with illuminated vials sat nearby. Bent over one, peering through an old-fashioned microscope, was an older man in his late fifties. His unkempt gray hair haloed around his head and down the back of his dirty white doctor’s coat. The name, Dr. Jackal, appeared above his head.

I rolled my eyes at the dog pun.

“Ready?” Cale asked us, and we both nodded after I refreshed buffs and slow heals. He ran into the room.

“Fools!” Dr. Jackal cried out. “You’ve sealed your own fate by entering here. Prepare yourselves to become my next experiment.” The doctor pulled a scalpel and jumped into Cale’s shield.

The fight was more damage than I’d become used to healing. The doctor had an area of effect attack that left both Cale and Salvo at 25% health, and I’d have to scramble to get them both healthy again. While his attacks were precise and had a bleeding effect, they weren’t more than I could keep up with. Though, I was thankful for the new piece of armor granting me the added mana regen.

Salvo managed another quick series of stabs into the doctor’s kidneys and he fell over, twitching.

I’d just opened my mouth to cheer our victory when the doctor’s shape began changing.

“Obviously, that was only the first phase. Focus, Liz. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” Cale said and readied his sword, twirling it in his palm. Buffed by stoneflesh, his skin had a dull, stony sheen.

In the shape of a werewolf, the doctor’s nameplate changed to Mr. Hide, and he snarled at us, “Now you die. I’ll enjoy dining on your entrails.” He let out a long, horrible howl that echoed off the cavernous walls and gripped me with a deep-rooted fear. For a moment, I’d completely forgotten this was only a game, and the stakes weren’t nearly as dire as they appeared.

He slashed at Cale with his razor talons; the blow grazed his shield with the rasp of scraping metal.

If I’d thought his attacks had been fast in his previous form, they now seemed to move at blinding speed. The blurred lines of arcing fists were all I could see while focusing on keeping Cale upright.

The paladin’s brow set in grim determination, blocking and parrying for all he was worth. Unable to drop his defenses for a single attack, we relied solely on Salvo for damage on that fight. The wounds he inflicted dripped with toxic green venom and bleeding sores. The dagger in his left hand sunk deep into the spine of Mr. Hide, and Salvo’s eyes widened. “Shit,” he mumbled and pulled, but his hand left the dagger behind. “It’s stuck.”

The glowing red eyes of the werewolf left Cale for the first time in the fight and focused on the devilkin. His lupine lips pulled back in a snarl before he sprung, teeth exposed and claws outstretched.

I had a second of thought before casting Entanglement on the boss. Vines curled around his legs, knocking him off balance and onto the floor, driving Salvo’s dagger deeper with the crunch of severed tendons. He struggled to move, but the vines only tightened until his legs lost rigidity. They flopped uselessly behind him as he dug his claws into the ground in futile attempts to pull himself free of the constricting vines.

“What the hell? Did we just sever his spinal cord?” While it was a useful addition, it was grislier than I’d expected from a game.

“That’s good to know,” Cale said, driving his sword into the snapping maw of the prone Mr. Hide.

Golden light swirled around all three of us, signaling our gained level. I looted a cloak called, Doctor Jackal’s Lab Coat, that provided massive bonuses to healing. Salvo looted Doctor Jackal’s Scalpel that gave added bleeding damage to attacks. Cale looted Doctor Jackal’s Tesla Table, which was a large tower shield in the shape of a table with electrified coils running on it, that dealt electrical damage when blocking melee attacks.

The experience granted us enough to hit level 13. One of my healing spells moved to level 2, more healing with less mana cost.

“I’m amazed we got through that,” Cale said. I could only assume it was his way of saying good job.

“We have time to grab dinner at the tavern before we need to meet up with the mystery barmaid,” Salvo said, and waved his new scalpel around, spinning and twirling it in one hand.

A message asking, FINISH DUNGEON? appeared. I hit yes, and another batch of golden rays surrounded us. A new spell, Poison Barbs, appeared in my spell book. While not overly useful for my needs, it would be nice to contribute a little damage. I added it to my action bar and canceled the Dryad form; feeling the warmth of clothing again.

Ready to celebrate our success, we headed towards town.

I watched the in-game clock move to 8:05 and worried DawnSt4r would be a no show. Salvo stretched out on the slab of granite marked Bates with his hands behind his head, staring up into the sky. His crimson wings spread out, draped off either side.

“We should wait five more minutes and if she’s not here by then, we should go level somewhere else,” Cale said, squatting beside a grave marker to free it from hanging moss.

“Might want to hold on to that,” DawnSt4r said as she approached, lowering the hood that had been concealing her face. “Your rogue’ll need that for some high-level potions.”

I jumped to my feet and brushed the dirt off my bottom. “I was getting worried you’d bailed on us. Why all the secrecy?”

She looked around before speaking. “We don’t have much time. I was followed for a little bit but I’m pretty sure I lost them.” She spoke low and fast, her eyes darting into shadows like a crazed person. Not at all like the poised woman I’d met in the tavern earlier in the day. “Next time you log off, search for employees of Eternia Entertainment. I have reason to believe someone within the company is responsible for the disappearances.”

“What gives you that impression?” Cale asked, crossing his arms.

“Employee chat. Rumors run wild in there. You’re not the only person who’s brought up the skin thing. I’d only heard it mentioned one other time, and they haven’t been seen in a few days.” Her eyes focused behind us and widened. The color drained from her face. “Shit. Log off, NOW.”

Just as I was hitting the button to disconnect, there was a flash of sword printed in electrical static and DawnSt4r’s head left her shoulders. Her body crumpled as the surroundings melted away.

The bright world of Arcadia blinked out of existence, leaving me shivering in a darkened room.