After less than a second of a dizzy spell, Izabel was back in her room, confusion all but written on her face. It was clear that she still had more questions, however, Cordis had booted everyone out without giving them a chance to speak.

“Heh, they did mention that it’s a pre-recorded message after all. It’s likely that the spectacle was prepared beforehand, and they didn’t prepare enough for questions. Though, they did mention that you can access Cordis anytime. I think we should re-enter Cordis. I’m pretty sure some others have a similar idea.”

“Fair, that’s probably the most logical option right now,” Izabel nodded.

It took a few minutes of fiddling for Izabel to find the option to enter Cordis, and then, after the increasingly familiar sensation of weightlessness, she was back. However, unlike before, what greeted her was not the sight of platforms, but the sight of an almost empty room, a small room that was only enough to fit three people at most. In the middle of the room, there was a blue orb placed on a pedestal, and then, behind it, a simple metallic door.

“Huh? Where are we?”

“Don’t worry, from what your senses are telling me, the air is similar to the place where we arrived before. I don’t know what the orb is for, but it’s likely that we’re in the same place, just a different part of it,” Hunter said. “Also, a quick reminder, you can talk to me in your mind. Everyone has a Mirror Avatar here, so it’s not a big deal, but be careful outside.”

“Right, yeah, my bad. I’ll keep that in mind,” Izabel said.

“Back to the matter at hand, your choice. Do you want to check outside, or do you want to examine that orb?”

Izabel would be lying if she said that she wasn’t curious about the blue crystalline orb, but it seemed dormant for now, and if it was indeed dangerous, it looks like it will be riskier if they tamper with it without knowing what it was. As she approached the door, the metal plate slid to the side with little resistance, seamlessly blending into the wall to reveal the outside.

They were in a circular room, or perhaps, surrounded by circular walls would be a more accurate description. There was nothing covering the ceiling, only darkness filled with chunks of glowing debris in various colors, giving the illusion of decorative lights if one didn’t look too closely. In the middle of the circular room, Izabel saw metallic roots that led to a familiar tree-like structure complete with veins of glowing blue, its top obscured by the dark. Around the base of the tree, five rods could be seen. They looked ordinary and out of place against the background.

As Hunter had predicted, there were quite a few people in the virtual world, some chatting in groups, others seemingly deep in thought, likely conversing with their own Mirror Avatars or just thinking, really.

“Hey, Hunter!” A familiar voice called out, “That makes all three of us here.”

Izabel looked at the source of the voice, and indeed, Pestilence – no, Valerie, was there, dragging a confused Claire behind her. Considering that Valerie didn’t call her by her real name, Izabel surmised that Valerie too must be aware of the potential danger of exposing her identity, or perhaps, her Mirror Avatar had warned her after what happened earlier. Either way, it was a good thing. With the ease of access to information, and how the systems could divulge a lot if left unchecked, she would rather not find out what happens if this whole jig is leaked.

“Oh, hey, Pestilence.” Izabel replied. “You’re here too, Barnett.”

“Hm, maybe we can go with Len? It’s short, and sounds less ominous…” Valerie turned to look at her partner, “Why did you choose this name, anyway? Rather than some kind of evil overlord from one of those entertainment experiences, you look more like you just crawled out of bed, but in a fancier than usual nightgown or something”

The Mirror Avatar only answered with a nonchalant shrug, his mouth moving in a reply that only Valerie could hear.

“Anyway, uh, right, we’re all here. Should we go look for that Cordis?” Izabel asked.

“I arrived first and took the chance to survey the place. Though there are many rooms, they can be roughly split into three categories. One, this circular place, let’s call it the hub. Second, at the base of that tree, there’s a door leading to a room, where you can look at the physical version of the board mentioned during the meeting. Third, the room I and Barnett arrived in, an empty room with a blue orb,” Valerie explained. “There is no way to contact that Cordis at all, but there’s… it’ll be faster if you check the board option with your app.”

Izabel did as Valerie said, and a new mission was listed.

[Mission 1: Five Spires Hunt – Section E]

[There are domes beyond this one, which I refer to as number 15. It is likely that you have heard of the existence of other domes, but due to the nature of the domes, travel in-between is impossible, justified by the system as ‘all domes are equal, and thus there is no need for travel, and each dome has a limited capacity’ or something similar, and some even dismiss people who ask about the domes as believing impossible make-believe stories. To my knowledge, the domes’ structural integrity is supported by five spires – and in order to progress, we need to alter the spires’ nature so that it no longer blocks large-scale communication attempts between domes. As far as I know, travel would require altering the spires’ nature in such a way that it’s impossible not to notice, so this will have to do for now.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Honestly, even now, communication between domes are possible, but doing that to everyone would require resources that are impossible to procure in a timely manner every time.

I can vouch for the safety of the alteration tools and your safety after the alteration; however, I apologize in advance that obfuscating your presence from the Primeras while the alteration is occurring is impossible.

This is a necessary step, and though you won’t be in mortal danger if the Primeras discover you, I assume that you wouldn’t want to find out the consequences. Good luck, and take care.

Attached with this letter is a marked map of the area your team are assigned to search.

Regards, Cordis]

Izabel opened the map and saw the picture of a massive piece of land. On top, it was labelled [Dome Number: 15]. The bottom right section of the land was highlighted, and the words ‘Section E’ were written in the middle of it. When she focused on the section, a line of text appeared.

[Section E is an anomaly. With our current situation, it is impossible to find any more clues other than the general location. Teams assigned to Section E are suggested to search the dome for any anomalies and cooperate with the assigned information-oriented Mirror Avatars]

Izabel sighed. Even Claire, who rarely spoke, looked a little exasperated.

“Well, it looks like we got our work cut out for us,” Izabel said. “This is supposed to be the first task, dammit!”

“As they say in the entertainment systems, nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Valerie said, glee shining in her eyes, while Pestilence watched with a sort of interest, “I, for one, feel like we’re one of those heroes, wielding special power, and—”

“Those are usually reserved for younger inhabitants, you know,” Claire said. Next to her, the silhouette of Barnett was laughing, the witch’s expression so sincere that Izabel could almost hear her voice. “It gets boring, because in the end, you always can rewind to a previous point and try and try again until you win… Well, more like, as long as the system allows you to access that stuff. Sure, the system is pretty lenient when it comes to things that affect Happiness coefficients. I don’t think we have such a thing in here, though.”

“We have Miss Serious Business over here,” Valerie took the words in stride. “You’re right, to be fair, but also, no harm in having fun over our current situation. Besides, you, and all of us by extension, now have powers similar to those things we see in, from your words, childish entertainment.”

“Ooookay, back to the main concern here…” Izabel said, “if we’re going to do this mission, we do have to find out who are being assigned to the same section- “

“What the hell were you thinking?!”

Izabel was interrupted by a loud shout. Following the direction of the distorted voice, she saw two people arguing with each other, one with such a palpable frustration it slipped through the default disguise. Though the system did not allow Izabel or the other two to ascertain their identity, the voice was familiar, and the disguise did not obscure their heights, allowing the three to see that the source of the voice was almost a head shorter than the other party, but other than that, it was almost impossible to make out any more concrete features with these two, not helped by the fact that both parties looked like their forms were distorted, with less resemblance to well, actual people. Earlier, even with the featureless disguise, the black shapes still resembled a person to a degree, but in this case, it’s a little less so.

“As I’ve said, Adler, you can sit this one out. I’m sure you know as well as I do why you’re assigned in the sole 4-person team in the Section E search, right?” The other person replied. Even through the filter, there was a tinge of condescension in their tone.

“Do you think anyone would trust you, Eye?” Adler fired back. “Considering how I can hear your condescension since the beginning of this business even through the distortion filter, the way you hide all your cards close to your chest, I wouldn’t trust you with a stick if I could help it. Even though I can’t fight, we can trade information in exchange for cooperation. I bet my last system entertainment time that you’re going to be a pain in the ass when it’s the least convenient for us, you damn snake.”

“Talking about trust is free. That is why we have exchanges and contracts, kid,” Eye replied, their tone still as easygoing as before. “I have nothing to lose. If push comes to shove, I can fight, but how about you without the protection of the other three members?”

Not far from the two arguing people, five people were watching, two leaning against the wall while the others were in various states of exasperation.

“Adler, I think that is enough. Let the other teams choose.” One of the people leaning against the wall commented. Next to them, there was a silhouette of something that could be described as a human, yet the shape of their head indicated otherwise, resembling a creature with a long muzzle. Even with most of their features concealed, there was a dignified air to them.

“But—”

“Adler, you’re smart, you know Baskerville is right,” another voice chimed in with a calm tone. “Save your energy for something else that matters.”’

“Are we done here, Eye? Let’s get a move on,” a gruff voice said. Even though they were concealed behind the disguise, the way they tapped their feet showed their impatience.

Within those short few seconds, Eye had stopped paying attention to Adler. Instead, they walked towards Izabel. With a quick flick of their wrist, they produced a small, black card between their index and middle fingers. Their movements were full of flourish, every single detail calculated with the precision of a performer eager to satisfy their audience.

“Here you go,” Eye slipped the card between Valerie’s fingers. “Let’s be off now, you two. Herald, where did you say you spotted that thing again?”

Upon the latter’s touch, the card brightened, turning white. In the middle of the card, there was simple, neat cursive writing.

[Eye]

[Pay the right price, and any information can be yours.]

Below the text, there was a symbol that resembled a runic eye. When it caught the light in the correct angle, it appeared as if it glowed in a beautiful, pale pink.

“Mirror Device Card, huh?” Valerie commented. “Interesting. Haven’t seen one of those in a while.”

“Aren’t they rendered obsolete some time ago? We don’t need Mirror Device IDs to find people anymore. They can just meet and tap each other’s device to add each other,” Claire said.

“It was only a few years ago,” Valerie said. “At first, an MD card was a more convenient alternative to, well, putting in a 10-digit number ID. I still miss those sometimes; I remember trying to make the prettiest card. At least, until one of those Primeras came along and said something against it.”

“I was in the med facility at that time. I remember that announcement, and how the cards I got were taken to be disposed of. It’s now illegal to own one. What a waste.” Claire replied.

“Can I see?” Izabel asked.

“Sure.”

When Valerie handed the card to Izabel, the first thing she noticed was the odd texture. As far as she knew, MD cards, likely made in the same way as any other thing made by the Primeras, should be smooth and free of blemishes. She remembered reading one time that everything from the Primeras were built on a molecular level, allowing for a perfect result without any flaws, unless it was intended to.

Perhaps this too was the work of Cordis? After all, since the declaration that the MD cards disincentivized social connections, the system became unable to create new cards, and the app required to customize one was purged out of the system.

Izabel decided to use the card, tapping it to the device on her wrist.

Then, nothing.

She turned to look at the direction Eye went; however, the enigmatic informant was gone along with two other people, presumably part of their team.

“… and they’re gone. Dammit.”

“Let me try,” Valerie said, and got the same result, and Claire did as well.

“Nothing on my end as well,” Claire commented. “I’ll keep it and ask them later. We’re bound to run into them sooner or later.”

“Well, putting that bit aside… let’s see what Adler has to say, shall we?”