Too much of the surroundings had changed for James to argue that she and Prof go to the meeting point by slinking along the back of the buildings. At this point, the empty lots were full of the plants that could be found on the forest floor, bushes, and tall grass. James could even spot freshly sprouting trees, going up with the same fervor as the rest of the plants, that is to say that if she looked away for a minute and came back to it, she would be able to tell that the sapling had already grown bigger. She expected that eventually, these empty lots would be havens of forest, similar to the redwood national parks she liked to hike in.
Pulling her jacket tighter around her, almost like a suit of armor, she didn’t say anything as she and Prof joined the crowds of people following the map. If this pilgrimage to the Tutorial Area was a daily ritual, she would be forced to find a different route. Maybe she would actually explore the newly created forest? For now, though, she would have to hope that the outdoor air was enough to help her combat her anxiety. The two walked in silence in between the other pockets of conversation passing them, walking slower than the general crowd to accommodate for Prof.
“Bro, I literally have a Strength 9! I told you I could lift more!” Some conversations were excited if a bit shallow. By some luck, James did recognize that particular person when she glanced over. He was a bench-warmer on the basketball team. And since she watched every single game, she wasn’t hard-pressed to remember that he was a middling rim defender. By the sounds of it, he wasn’t particularly popular with the team though.
“My endurance is still higher, why do you think I’m in the starting line up?” James didn’t even bother to turn around again, being in the sphere of the college’s rising basketball star was not on her list of things to do. She’d spotted him walking too, but she’d have been able to recognize him from his voice alone. This was Scott Aspen, the star of their team, and he was regularly interviewed after games. So often his voice was practically imprinted into her brain. It was clear the coaches were trying to market him to the NBA, he would be their first top 25 draft pick in decades if they managed it. She hadn’t known he’d lived close by, but it was a small town, he didn’t have too many options. And if she would have seen him, she would have freaked out, so her ignorance was probably a blessing in disguise. “We’ll be fine, I’ve played a bunch of video games like this. Just stick with me.” Huh, she never imagined that he had too much time beyond school and practice.
Other conversations were a bit more serious or incredulous, but those were the ones James, with her inflated Perception at 22, tried to avoid listening in to. They would be between roommates, staying near the edges of the sidewalks and speaking in hushed tones. These were often punctuated with F-bombs being dropped intermittently.
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“I can’t contact my parents, the phone just will not work! My mom is supposed to go into surgery today!” One girl was freaking out, pacing outside a particular building with her phone glued to her ear. Even though her own relationship with her parents was complicated, to say the least, James felt for her. She tried to shuffle Prof faster across that stretch of street.
And yet other Tutorial participants completely ignored the greater ramifications of the System integration, joking about, talking about school. Most, though, were walking in silence, like James and Prof, throwing incredulous looks at their new surroundings. Thinking about Prof, she was sure he mentioned his name at one time or another, but Prof could really ever be the name she knew him by.
Finally, they turned right after three blocks and could see the tutorial area. The walk had taken much longer than James had expected, a combination of the newly increased block size as well as walking at Prof’s stately pace.
The green space on the map they were led to appeared to be a new park. It was created in a longer stretch of land than the other empty lots and went across the road to the other side, halving the street into two dead end ones. It had other differences too, only containing well-manicured grass as opposed to the growing forests in the rest.
It’s most striking feature, though, was a large medieval looking building erected in the center. Completely constructed of stone, James guessed it was in a hexagonal shape, with one of the facades having a heavy-looking wooden door. Maybe Scott’s teammate would open it with his strength of 9. James certainly couldn’t comment, what with having a strength of 3. But most likely it would take several people working together. The building had a nice, heavily sloped shingle roof, and several windows on every facet. This was all in complete contrast to another one of those futuristic white road signs, bigger than the rest, erected to the side.
The meeting spot was already full of people, with everyone refusing to really fill up the newly created park, making James catch her breath. This meant that the outskirts, James’s usual hunting grounds, were packed to the brim while the grass field, which could accommodate everyone, was relatively sparse. She didn’t have to wonder what she would do for long, just as she was starting to plan her escape route (Prof didn’t really need her, did he?) the sign seemed to hum with power. Like the other road signs, it felt like a spot of headache, and with the other people streaming in around her, James couldn’t help but whimper. She really wasn’t having a very good day.