[Player Log Start!]

[Log Holder: Nancy Mitt]

[Game: The Most Perfect World]

Nancy was the type of person to never get involved in overly dangerous things, even if she liked a fair bit of excitement now and again.

There is something about Delica that made you want to stop, she realized, almost days into her arrival there with her father. What had before been a constant race for her had seemed to slow, becoming honeyed and sluggish, until she stopped running ahead all the time, and forced herself to be present. To appreciate the goats and the grass and the sky stretching above them, the canopy to their own castle.

The strange boy in front of her, with his eyes contracted into slits, seemed like the exact type of person she used to be. Which meant that he too should begin to know peace. True peace and internal stillness. Because Delica’s sole purpose was to provide that to its residents.

She had half a mind to whisk him away right now, and show off all the wonderful things this mountain paradise had to offer. But right now, he was more focused on finding his teammates, and returning to his Game, and it really was a shame that even now, he was still running.

Well, internally that was. Externally, he was frozen in place. Understandable, really. That would be Nancy’s reaction too if she had been pinned under the gaze of her mother.

“This is Asadullah!” She told her mother, moving to the front, “He’s trying to find his teammates.”

Her mother’s eyebrow twitched, “Any chance that they are a woman in a wheelchair and a man?” She didn’t look very impressed. What had they done? Nancy tilted her head to look at Asadullah, but he looked unconcerned for their safety. Which meant they could handle themselves. Not that that meant anything when it came to going up against Nancy’s mother, but at least they wouldn’t be harassed by the rest of the town.

“That’s them.” Asadullah confirmed, bright grin on his face, “Which direction did they go in? I need to catch up with them so we can regroup. We’re new to this Game, you know?”

“I had assumed such.” Her mother said drily, “You lot give me the impression of one who doesn’t have much experience with basic human interaction. Let me guess, you slipped in through that Warp Point in CephaloRaven?” Asadullah nodded, looking relieved at not having to explain the whole story.

Nancy had other questions about that logic however, and it seemed Kathy did too, because she blurted out at the same, “But Mama, you said all the people there were dead! Is he a zombie?!”

“Dreadful things, zombies.” Asadullah shuddered, “No, I’m premium, full-bodied cat-human-djinn.”

“Ew, gross!” Kathy gagged theatrically as she fought down her giggles. Nancy loved her little sister to bits, but really, did she have to be so evasive about her feelings? It wouldn’t kill her to tell someone she liked them. At least Simon and Asad were taking it well.

“But, yeah, I really did come in from Cephalo Raven.” Asadullah turned to answer Nancy’s mother, “Not from there originally, but that’s where we’ve been put for now.”

“Yes, yes, I didn’t ask.” Her mother sniffed, even though she had somewhat, “Your people have gone down to town hall. Go there, or they might move on.”

Asadullah nodded, turning around to look out of the open doorway, his eyes searching for the building she had mentioned. Simon stepped forward, “We can show you where-”

“No.” Her mother cut in, “You will be staying here.”

Simon turned to her, betrayed and ready to rebut, but backed off when he saw her icy stare. No one had ever gone up against Noel Mitt and not been steamrollered over. Or even survived. The standstill didn’t even last a second before he sighed and turned to point out the town hall from their doorstep, “That’s where you have to go.” He told Asadullah, defeated.

He nodded, and uncomfortably backed out of the place, “I’ll see you around…?”

“Let’s hope not.” Her mother said, sternly ushering him out of the door, slamming it shut once he was off the premises. She turned around, only to be met with the unhappy faces of Simon and Katherine. And Nancy, too, if she was being honest with herself.

“Why’d you do that?” Katherine asked, too used to her mother’s fits of mysterious actions that always seemed so rude and uncalled for. Guess Asadullah really had been growing on her. Now if Simon could do the same…

“It’s dangerous to get involved with people like that.” She reminded them, “They’re playing a Game very different from ours, and if they drag you into it… there’s no escaping it. Are your Consoles still working? Did they give you any strange notifications?”

“Nope.” Nancy replied, too used to such questions. Katherine shook her head, backing her up in the song and dance. Simon, however, had only spent months in her company, and was less quick on the uptake.

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“What do you mean? What kind of notifications would we be getting?”

“She means Invitations to other Games. Pop-ups about ‘Harbingers’ or ‘Battlers’ or other stuff like that.” Nancy explained to him, “She’s convinced that there’s some sort of hidden evil dungeon game about to start any moment, and we have to keep telling her that that won’t happen, but she never listens-”

“This is different, Nancy.” Her mother cut in, and it wasn’t with outrage, but with fear, “This is real.”

She held up her hand, and activated her Notification Sharing Widget, allowing them to see the yellow dialogue boxes that she was.

[Invitation to Game: Stop the Apocalypse!]

[Join Game?]

[{ } Yes { } No {x} More Details]

“This came up when I was talking to the woman with the wheelchair.” She explained, worrying her lip between her teeth. It only just occurred to Nancy how worried she was about this development.

Her mother had been fearing this outcome for years. And now it had actually come to pass.

“Huh. I didn’t think it was real.” Katherine was the first to react, “I thought you were just being superstitious or something.”

“Kathy!” Nancy chided, feeling the need to reflexively defend her mother. For once, her mother seemed to soften in the face of doubt and shook her head, resigned.

“No, Nancy, it’s okay.” She told her, before speaking to all three of them, “I’ve never given you a reason to take the things I talk about as fact. But these things I warn you about aren’t some myth or passed down fairytale. I am speaking from experience, and you need to trust that you don’t want to make the same mistakes as I have in the past.”

Nancy nodded, the pieces coming together in her head, “So you used to be part of the same game that Asadullah and his party were?” She guessed.

“Not exactly.” Her mother replied, before frowning a little, “Okay, maybe a little, if what I’m reading from the info of the Game is right. But it was a long time ago. There’s a lot that I don’t remember. And a lot that you shouldn’t be hearing- Hey, Simon, stop that!”

Too late, Simon had already reached for the notification, which was still hovering over them, enticing them to choose. With one swing of his hand, he brought his hand down onto the [More Details] button. The dialogue box beeped in affirmation and dissipated into pixels, leaving the three of them standing in the foyer with a severely pissed off Noel.

“What?” He replied with a shrug of his shoulders, “You weren’t giving off any details. And I wanted to know what was up. We’ll be getting information this way without having to work through all the trauma you obviously have from the experience. I’m sorry, but I want to know what this Game is that apparently no one’s heard you mention before.”

“People don’t keep secrets for no reason, Simon.” Her mother told him, her tone low with warning and her hand outstretched, waiting to dismiss the Info Menu once it finished loading.

“We shouldn’t snoop.” Katherine frowned, “Don’t barge into Mommy’s stuff, Simon!”

“C’mon, aren’t you curious?” Simon asked, looking around for support, his eyes landing on Nancy, the only person who had yet to pick a side. His eyes lit up, “Come on, Nancy. What about truth and justice for all?” He asked, referencing the comic books that she had spent all the money she had earned from catching sea bass last week.

She almost told him to stick it just for trying to so obviously manipulate her, but the thing was, she was curious. Her mother was one of the most powerful people in their little hideaway, and just as paranoid. They had never had the opportunity to dig into her past before. Not until now.

So, against her better judgement, she nodded, sending her mother a regretful look, “You just… you never tell us anything.” She told her, as if that was reason enough.

For a moment, her mother didn’t respond. She seemed to freeze. And when she did react, it was most curiously. There was no anger. There was no shame. She simply nodded her head, “I understand. So you’re stepping out and making your own decisions. Very well. But promise me, Nancy, you won’t enter their Game. Watch on from the sidelines if you have to, but if you Enter it yourself… you might never know peace again.”

That foreboding warning was undercut by the cheerful ding! As the Info Menu finished loading and finally displayed itself all around them. Nancy had to crane her neck around to find the beginning of the Menu, until she finally located it behind her mother.

[Apocalypse Game!]

[Team Building Multiplayer Multilevel RWRPG]

[Objective: Save All Realities]

This was followed by an array of details all bragging about how much you could do in the Game. All the Levels to visit, and the Abilities to Unlock, the adventures and quests to be had. After years of the same enclosed space within the mountains, going through similar routines, set to charming music, Nancy found the idea of getting up and doing something appealing.

Almost as if sensing what she was feeling, her eyes landed on a brightened sentence from the Info Menu which was flashing purple, vying for her attention.

“Make A Difference To The Multiverse! You too can become a Hero.”

Woah. That actually sounded… cool, “Where has this been all my life?” She whispered, coming up to run her hand over the menu delicately. It rippled at the touch, coming close to dissipating entirely, but thankfully held strong. Strong as Nancy felt about her decision, “I think I want to try this out.”

Her mother on the other hand, frowned, “Trust me honey, you don’t want this.”

“How about just the trial run?” She tried to negotiate, “The tutorial phase?”

“There’s no tutorial.” Simon announced, pointing at yet another heading, which proudly declared: “Test Your Mettle: We’re Throwing You Into the Deep End!”

Nancy felt desperation rise inside of her, “Okay, so I’ll… go talk to the Party in town hall. They’ll give me an account of how this goes, right? I’ll try to make my decision based on that. Without you being my only source.”

“You’re saying I’ll lie to you?” Her mother looked at her, affronted, “But yes, do that. And they’ll dissuade you if they have even an ounce of compassion for a young person like you.”

Nancy took that for the permission it was, beaming at her mother, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She squealed, darting past her and out into the sunshine.

So elated was she that she didn’t even realize that she had companions until several meters had passed. She turned around in confusion to look at her brother of a few months, walking resolutely by her side, “Simon?” She asked.

“I’m going too, duh.” He explained.

“And me!” Kathy squealed, trotting beside them.

[Player Log End!]