“What is the answer to this question Brenner?”

(J) ‘I got 27/5.’

(M) ‘You forgot to change the addition sign it’s 7/5.’

(B) “The answer is 7/5”

“Correct, next …”

(T) ‘Can’t we leave this class math is so boring and this teacher is getting on my nerves.’

(J) ‘Unlike some people in here I’m trying to learn this informational teaching this teacher is getting paid to teach us.’

(T) ‘Not like we’ll ever have to use it when we’re stuck in here.’

(B) ‘Can you guys stop bickering it’s hard enough trying to pay attention without you guys talking over her.’

(E) ‘But I’m not a guy I’m a girl.’

(J) ‘Enough Elizabeth you know he means nothing by it.’

(M) ‘Yeah, it’s not like there are any good non gender pronoun he can use.’

(E) ‘Yeah that’s true I just hate how I’m lumped in here with you guys all the time can’t a girl get some privacy.’

(T) ‘Oh give it a rest. None of us get any privacy not  even Brenner and he has to move his body while keeping up with us.’

(E) ‘At least he gets to eat we don’t even get the taste of the food he eats all we get is pain whenever he gets hurt.’

(B) ‘Hey Matt how do I do the next problem?’  

(M) ‘This is simple Calculus come on don’t tell me you forgot already.’

(T) ‘Simple? I haven’t understood a single thing she has said all year I thought we were in Spanish.’

(J) ‘But, Spanish is in the morning and she is using numbers.’

(T) ‘So? We use numbers in Spanish as well.’

(B) ‘Shhh she’s explaining it I can’t hear.’

If you can’t tell I have multiple people in my head. How they all came to be I have no clue and if anyone knew what was going on in my mind I definitely would be put into a mental institution. It all started in first grade when I punched a guy for bullying me.

That was when Teage appeared. A culmination of all my bloodlust given sentience in my mind. After getting my butt kicked he helped me form a strategy to take out my bullies but in the end I still got caught by the teacher and suspended for a week.

My dad was glad I stood up for myself while my mother was mad and grounded me for the full week. Afterwards no one dared mess with me, but Teage stayed even after I’d stopped the bullying. He just stuck around and would occasionally give me advice in fights and whenever I was building stuff. We became good buds and talked to each a lot (especially about girls).

Then whenever I started having trouble with school in about the fifth grade appeared Matt he was smart, but quiet and egotistical. He would help me do my homework and help me study, but would never help me on my tests. As it was a way to test ‘me’ and not a chance for me to cheat with another person.

He and Teage butted heads a lot as Teage didn’t like learning while Matt did and they’d conflict about what I should be doing. Usually it was between working on homework and playing games.

John came around in the seventh grade and he was a culmination of masculinity and chivalry. He always reminded me to compliment girls and would always demand I help people whenever they were in trouble unlike Matt and John. His problem was a lack of common sense.

He’d always want me to say the most cringiest of compliments and to help girls with every little thing and so I had to talk to him about how some girls could take care of themselves much to his dismay.

Teage and John became best of buds when it came to girls though and they’d get a bit rowdy when talking about girls and would have quite heated discussions on who was more beautiful. Matt would occasion interlude but it was very rarely as he seemed to have quite high standards.

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Then when I joined the marching band in the ninth grade as a clarinetist it turned out I was the only guy in a section of about thirty girls. So I was toyed around with and teased during sectionals and section events.

Even with our combined though power we couldn’t seem to figure out what we were supposed to do around all of them and as a result I secluded myself a bit from the group. They knew how to deal with girls but not when they were in groups. We were at their mercy of what they had planned next.

That was when Elizabeth showed up. We were all surprised by our new addition. We slowly changed our language and as a result she yelled at us less. She also gave us the inside view on how girls thought and would help me when us guys became flustered by all the girls ganging up on me. We started getting along with her more and she offered us a female perspective to things which helped shut down some of Matt and Teage’s best girl debates    .

They showed no sign of leaving, but I had started to grow quite fond of having them around. The only thing that really concerned me was that I didn’t know if it’d ever stop. This worried me as I felt like by the time I got to my fifties I’d have around thirty people in my head and I was having a hard enough time with four.

Ding, Ding, Ding, …

Finally done with math I made my way to the door, but before I reached I heard Rachel call out to me. Rachel is my clarinet section leader and has led us quite well. She has a motherly type of compassion that made you feel at ease  around her, and a natural charisma that allowed her to command quite effectively.

“Hey Brenner wait up I heard you got the new VR setup so I’m guessing you are going to start playing Soul Quest Online.”

“Yeah I just got in for my birthday yesterday so I was going to go home and create my character. But, I want to spend some time orienting myself to the game before I join up with everyone.”

“So do you know what you are going to play as?”

“No I haven't decided yet and I don’t really have a definite playstyle so I’m going to make it up as I go.”

“Well if you ever need help contact anyone in the Reed Dancers and tell them you know me. I’ll send you a text later with my username.”

“Thanks Rachel see you later.”

Rachel was a guild leader in Soul Quest leading the guild called the Reed Dancers. They were a group consisting of alumni and current clarinetists from our school. It allowed for people to keep in touch of each other if they ever moved away and has been doing quite well from what I’ve heard. They mainly were a small crafting and explorer guild that liked to casually play around in the frontier.

Just as I left the classroom I see my friend Blake grab me and haul me off to the side with a stupid grin on his face.

“Why don’t you just ask her out already Brenner she clearly likes you.”

“What? But she is my section leader and I heard she already has a boyfriend.”

“Just between you and me I’ve been hearing rumors about her boyfriend cheating on her so you may have a chance.”

“Enough with the hypotheticals for now. What is it you really wanted to talk about.”

“I’m glad you asked. I heard you just got the gear to start playing Soul Quest Online so I was wondering if you would specialize and join us in the Savage Wolves as a healer. We don’t have any as we are a male only group of combat nuts so all we got right now is Leroy who charges the enemy and usually dies first so we really need some help in the healing department.”

“I told you already I want to go at it for a while by myself and see how it goes before I decide.”

“Well I’ll just tell you this man. The newbie area is rumored to be a bit of a mess right now with lots of scammers and player killers running around.”

“I’ll manage, you know this isn’t my first rodeo man.”

“Yeah but it's your first rodeo in VR so just be careful man.”

We give each other a fist bump and go our separate and after a quick ride home in my car I finally make it home and immediately go to my room and don the headset. I had no homework this weekend and it was a friday so I was going to use all the time I could to enjoy Soul Quest as much as I could.

Soul Quest Online had just came out about two months ago and I’d had to wait two long months to get ahold of my own VR equipment to play the game as it cost a lot of money and I was pegging on getting it for my birthday.

The wait had been killer though as there were a lot of people who had gotten it at school and their chats about the game egged me to get ahold of it myself that much quicker. I had the patience to wait though and my birthday had finally came around my parents got me the game. It had just arrived today and I couldn’t wait to power it up. I took the package straight to my room to open it up and turn it on.

(J) ‘Finally let's see what this game has in store for us this time.’

(T) ‘Hopefully lots of fighting.’

(M) ‘I hope we can find some historians and delve into this world's lore.’

(E) ‘Or we could take up a craft and make some cute clothes.’

…

(B) ‘That’s just you Elizabeth’

After opening the box I remove a helmet and plug it into the wall besides my bed. The helmet is weird though in my opinion as it was relatively small for what I thought it was supposed to be, and it had these weird glowing stones around the forehead area. I finally put the helmet on and lie on my bed. Hitting the on switch it does a quick synchronization sequence and the game starts.

Welcome to Soul Quest Online.

Detecting five minds...compensating...creating five different characters.

Separating unique thought patterns.

Welcome Brenner, Teage, Matt, John, and Elizabeth

Please enjoy your time in Soul Quest Online.