Apparently having a source of information, proven more reliable and than just rumors, was really helpful. It gave us such useful information as the fact that there was an area that we needed to be within when the next round started or bad things would happen, specifically auto failing. And yes, the rule about the tutorial only ending when you died was still in effect; but it wasn't like any of us could fight back against this entire world choosing to delete us. Fortunately I also got information on our immediate surroundings and where might be a good place to settle in. For a shortened list of good options our choices were limited to anywhere other than where we had started and not to the east where the army would be coming from.

And no, I'm not kidding about that. Apparently the area of the planet we were on looked to be the burnt out remains of a semi-rural town and our starting point looked like it was once a large city park. Trees surrounded our little bunker for a good distance before being itself surrounded by buildings of various sizes. Even the log house that had housed the entrance to the market, when viewed from above and with some context, revealed itself to be a touristy gimmick set up not too far from a gift shop. The place had been thoroughly looted but it showed the remains of everything from park benches to a long irrelevant sign showing hiking trails. All around were decent places to hide from attackers, as most cities were, but there was an eerie feeling of subtle wrongness about the place.

That wrongness might have been the way the city was a burnt out husk of what it might have been, but it was likely more than that. The cars all had pointed front bumpers, like something cartoonists in the sixties would dream of the far future, but were powered by normal combustion engines. The doors were too tall and thin, as though slendermen lived here; but the windows were shorter than would be expected considering the old inhabitants sizes. Even more strangely was how the chairs and seats were all designed with a cutout at the lower rear, as though space needed to be made for thick tails. And yet, for all the small bits of weirdness and the signs faded into obscurity, it otherwise appeared like any other town might look if every inhabitant suddenly disappeared with no trace suddenly and unexpectedly in the middle of commuting and eating and other normal life activity.

The aliens, shunning the advice of a number of people who were telling them it would be a bad idea to become a stationary target when the army arrived, found a convenient police station to claim for themselves. There was something decidedly wrong about throwing all the children and elderly into the holding cells, but that was their decision to make.

It took us longer to find somewhere to stay, hours of wondering about from place to place on the map, but we did eventually settle in. What we found was a taller building in decent condition overlooking our old testing bunker a few miles away, and it just so happened to be next to what looked like a cheap inn. The beds were old and dusty but mostly intact and more comfortable than what had been in the bunker. It lacked the restrooms and lights and food dispensers of our last place, but it was better in that it lacked the direct danger of the Cheaters living on the ground floor such that they were blocking us in.

In another note, cutting down and hauling trees for firewood is a lot more entertaining when you do the work with superpowers; so tonight we have a bonfire. The bonfire had the effect of clearly dividing up the extraverts who were five to ten feet away from the fire, partying in the light; and the introverts who were farther out, huddling against the darkness alone or in small groups. People like Mack and Tarrah were part of that former group while Donnie, myself, and many others were part of the second.

Currently I was having a conversation with Donnie about what I should do next, especially when I passed on some of what the information broker had told me about my potential build.

"So what," he asked, "do you need to go talk to those guys again now?" He glanced over at the two guys from before, the ones who had been hanging out together when I went to try out ways of getting new superpowers from other people.

"I mean, kinda? Truth be told, I really don't want to deal with them. Their attitude toward anyone not magic aligned has been fairly cold." Granted, Sotang was better than 'Dark Depths', but neither of them was very welcoming to outsiders to their group. Continuing on, I explained: "I really don't want to spend the time talking with them that it would take to get access to their magic skills."

He rolled his eyes at me somewhat dramatically, enough to be seen quite clearly to even normal people despite the dancing lights. "You know you are going to do it. Putting it off isn't helping anything. It isn't like you to be so indecisive about things."

I sighed. "Your right," and begrudgingly made my way over to the bench that the two of them were sitting on. The two were an odd pair, and introvert and an extrovert together. 'Dark Depths' was loud, bombastic, attention seeking, and nothing but empty bravado; while Sotang was more focused, reserved, confident, and cutting with his remarks. For some reason putting the two of them together ended up with the pair sitting back with the introverts. This did not make me any more optimistic about the upcoming conversation.

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"What do you want?" mister Depths asked me with a tone that was just shy of hostile.

I nodded to them is greeting. "I came by to hear about your magic." I answered honestly.

He smirked at me, "I know it is great, but that is what you loose out on for going with some lessor option for your type of class."

I shrugged. "I didn't exactly have much of a choice. My Tutorial test messed up and left me at level one, remember? Then it left me with nothing but bad options to pick from. It was either this or, like, the 'mind control your allies and stab them in the back' option. Why do you care anyways?"

The darkly hooded man of the darkness and dark brooding answered back darkly. "The world is a place of darkness and disappointments. The sorrow you feel for being part of a lessor faction is only to be expected. Wallow in that regret, and one day you too may turn your path toward the mage's glory."

I gave a flat look toward Sotang and slowly raised an eyebrow as I listened to the speech.

The more reasonable of the two spoke up. "He really gets into the 'roll playing' aspect of things. His old life wasn't so great and this is his chance to reinvent himself."

"My past has its own darkness. My despair was encroaching like the deepest oceans. Why should I not combine those sorrows to bring woe upon my foes; and be a much cooler and edgier character person at the same time?"

His life must have been bad if this is what he chose to do with it. Then again I never got into the roll playing side of games so maybe there was a less insane reason for his actions? I turned back to Sotang again. "Translation?" I requested.

He sighed before answering. "Near as I can tell he was a fluid dynamics engineering prodigy who got through graduate school early. Lots of parental pressure, not a lot of time to go out and have fun. This 'cooler' persona is what happened." I looked back at the sputtering indignity that 'Dark Depths' was showing with slightly more respect. He looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old and if he already had not only a college degree but a graduate degree than he must really be a genius.

My respect was immediately lessened as the man himself spoke up in a winy tone that mercifully dropped character. "Why do you have to be like that? Can't you just let me be all cool and mysterious like?" He harumphed and pouted with crossed arms. "Yeah, fine. Its true. What's wrong with that?"

I sighed audibly and decided against giving him my answer. I really didn't think he would appreciate me telling him that he was annoying and didn't know when to give it a break and just act like a normal person. This, right here, is why I felt like I couldn't be more openly social: because any significant interaction with any individual was likely to bring them back into my life and force me to deal with them, whether I wanted to or not. Normally it isn't too big a deal, but normally I don't have to deal with someone as annoying as 'Dark Depths', the master of burying his personal problems in a dorky persona. It was one thing if his actions were all in good fun; but they weren't, and I wasn't having fun dealing with it.

Instead I changed the subject to something else that I really wanted to know before anything else. "Look, I didn't really want to say anything before but why are you so gung-ho about the whole 'mage superiority' thing? Most of the others might be proud of their path but you take it to an entirely different level. Treating others like they are less for there choice... Just, why?"

The annoying one spoke up first, and he was back 'in character'. "This is just what it is like in game, at least when you are dealing with the most powerful in the universe. Why wouldn't I choose to be like one of those people?" Then he gave me a smile that was seemingly supposed to be smug but instead came across as smarmy. "Doesn't it say more about you, and most of the others for that matter, that you all /don't/ try to emulate those more powerful?"

I gave him an unimpressed look before sniping back. "Maybe it just means that we know how to be cool about it rather than just /pretending/ to be cool."

He made a shocked face at my words, one that quickly turned to angry indecision, than turned and stomped away.

Sotang watched his friend walk away before replying. "That was a bit harsh," he criticized.

I raised an eyebrow at his words. "Was it? He took every chance he got to mock and belittle anyone who wasn't doing what he was or wasn't as hardcore about it, what is wrong with pointing some mockery back at him?"

His face scrunched up in thought. "It is just..." he started, then visibly seemed to change tracks for his response, "He isn't exactly the most stable person in the world. The things he did and the choices he made to be at the very top within his field didn't do good things to him."

I wasn't sure exactly how to answer that. "How is that different for almost any one of us? The game is too expensive for normal people and those who come out are often too volatile for rich people who aren't at least a little crazy to want it for themselves. I myself only came due to a combination of having passed the pinnacle of my gaming career and needing a new game. What about you? Why are you here and what makes you so focused on avoiding people not on your path?"

He had a troubled look on his face. "I'm not the best person to ask. I just do what my family wants. They picked their side in that particular war, so I just go along with them. At least I can have this time to enjoy without worry." It was a somber admission and it left the area quiet for it.

"You know about this upcoming round, don't you? Ninety percent of us won't make it through. It might even be worse due to what happened last round."

He gave me an ironic smile as he glanced at the shadows of the surrounding rubble. "What better place for us fallen people to die than a city that is already dead?"