It didn't take long for a reply to pop up on her screen, but it was fuzzing out around the edges, ephemeral and tricky to decipher. It was pixelating into smaller and smaller rectangles, and she had to blink and squint to be able to make it out.

Lukeknight64: yeah uh, who is this?

Relief washed over her as the reply arrived, popping up in her blue box with a soft, cascading ding.

Luke's reply had arrived quickly and had a hint of desperation to it. Nikola was nowhere near as quick to respond, however. She had to search the keyboard for each and every individual letter she wanted to type, and as she had never typed before, she was painfully slow at it. Like a child exploring their very first keyboard, she pecked away at the screen with her pointer fingers.

Nikola Brightdark: Nikola Brightdark. Have you managed to escape my basement, or are you still trapped?

Lukeknight64: NIKOLA??? Like the NPC Nikola? I read your username and it's just your name but like, that's hard to believe

Lukeknight64: are you for real?

Nikola Brightdark: Please do not call me that.

Lukeknight64: call you what? an NPC?

Nikola Brightdark: Yes.

Lukenknight64: lol uhhh, ok, I'll try. That's just how I know you.

Nikola Brightdark: Are you still locked in my basement?

Lukeknight64: o. yeah, I am. are you sure you're Nikola? are you fr? how are you even messaging me right now?

Nikola Brightdark: Exactly in the same way that you are messaging me, I imagine. I called upon the magical floating rectangle.

Lukeknight64: lmao, you're right. I'm using my magical floating rectangle too. hey uh, just chatting with the computer program that imprisoned me is cool and all, but I'm mad hungry. could you bring me some more food, or maybe just let me free if you're feeling generous or guilty enough now that you're maybe a human

Nikola Brightdark: A computer program? What is this 'computer program' you speak of? And that is part of the reason I am contacting you. I am unable to reach you at present, and I may be unable to reach you for some time.

Lukeknight64: I have no idea how to even begin to explain to you what a computer program is

Lukeknight64: but what do you mean you won't be able to reach me for some time? I'm right downstairs, just walk down with your legs

Nikola Brightdark: I am not on the premises at present. I have been displaced. I am perplexed as to how it happened, but there is no use dwelling on it.

Lukeknight64: oh no no no nooooo, I am but a mortal, I will fucking waste away without food

Lukeknight64: How soon can you be back? And what do you mean by displaced?

Nikola Brightdark: I do not know, and I am no longer at home. I was interacting with a rectangle much like this one, and a female voice, and at the end of our damnable talk she displaced me to another city.

Lukeknight64: What did the female voice talk to you about?

Nikola Brightdark: Truthfully, I was not paying much attention. I was hoping to end the conversation with her, so I rushed through until she left me alone. I believe she asked me about something called a 'class'.

Lukeknight64: ?!!?!

Lukeknight64: wtf Nikola

Lukeknight64: It sounds like you went through character creation ?

Nikola Brightdark: What?

Lukeknight64: Character creation is uhh

Lukeknight64: when you enter some games, you get to make a character to play as, and choose their stat distribution and class and appearance and stuff.

Lukeknight64: whoa tho, what class did you choose?

Nikola Brightdark: Ahhh, so does this mean I have entered this game? Become a character?

Nikola Brightdark: I believe I allowed the female voice to choose for me.

Lukeknight64: sooo that's where some of the confusion comes in here, lol

Lukeknight64: tech you were already a character in this game. A bread baker's daughter. most of the people you'll see around main cities and stuff are uh, people from my world, the outside world

Lukeknight64: This might even be the first case ever of a character from this world trying to play, or like, waking up enough to go through character creation

Lukeknight64: which, by the way, is fucking crazy on its own and I have NO IDEA how it happened

Nikola Brightdark: There is an outside world? I suppose there must be, if this world is simply... a game...

Lukeknight64: it is yeah, sorry to say

Lukeknight64: look I gtg if you're not coming back any time soon, I was gonna try contacting my friends again

Lukeknight64: I'll work on trying not to starve or die of boredom, lol

Nikola Brightdark: I do not know what this lol means, or several of the other words you have used. But yes, I will work on returning home and freeing you, assuming you are still alive when I get there.

Nikola Brightdark: Best of luck contacting your dead friends.

Lukeknight64: it means 'laugh out loud', which by the way I am not doing now that you've mentioned you might just let me die

Lukeknight64: i sure as fuck hope they aren't dead, but it's more likely they just ditched me out of pure rage after a random npc tpk'd them

Nikola Brightdark: I will try to return with haste, but there are some significant obstacles in my path.

Lukeknight64: what kind of significant obstacles?

Nikola Brightdark: Well, at present, you are not the only one in prison.