The Netkings, at least, were happy.

The Forbidden Power had been erased. Players were starting to log back in again, reuniting with the friends they'd thought they'd lost and challenging each other to battles to get back into the swing of things. Alpha, Flamegirl, and Nylocke were safe and sound, and too relieved that Kirbopher was okay to get mad at him for hiding his secret identity. The squire himself had taken a number, but was recuperating and was, at the very least, able to carry out day-to-day activities. Even Neomutant had been praised for his noble intentions and had by this time found another certain hot-head to hit on to pass the time. It would seem that all was well again, and in a couple more weeks or so, TOME would be back to normal.

Oh, yes- and then there was Kizuna.

You would think that she would be happy. The virus was gone, her goal was accomplished, and she no longer had to stay up nights on end to check and recheck long strands of coding. But… something still wasn't right. The cat-lover began to notice feelings of isolation she'd put up walls to creeping in, and she had nothing to distract herself with. The young man she'd once called her work partner visited her occasionally, but he never seemed sure of what to say. She didn't blame him- after a full year of shunning him and shrugging off any suggestions to relax or have fun, she must have seemed a complete jerk. Indeed, he spent very little time with her and was hanging out more often than ever with Alpha and the others. She was almost tempted to ask if she could hang out with them sometime, but… she knew they'd never accept her. She knew who she was- the gal that almost got their best friend killed- and on multiple occasions, no less. Even she was disgusted by herself when she considered that fact. That she had even gone so far as to get him hurt… she deserved to be dead. So it was of no surprise to her when he seemingly stopped talking to her altogether.

It was on a Saturday when she had absolutely nothing to do that Kizuna sat down at her old desk, picked up a (literally dusty) art tablet, and began to draw. She sketched absentmindedly until she looked up at her screen and saw what she'd just created.

Her first thought was that she REALLY needed to get used to drawing again. Her second thought was that, wow, she used to make OCs all the time. But because she'd been busy with her work, she hadn't done that since… well, since she made her first design for her TOME character.

Hmm…