The Reaper Files : The Chaser Infection

New characters:

In this chapter there are two new relevant members to Clan Shinsei.

Michelle - Misherukuro or Misheru

Amy - Whitemantis or Mantis

Chapter 2

Virtualization!

The next day Jon was just browsing the web, waiting for the members of Clan Shinsei to log on to Skype so that they could go have another evening of fun on S4. Things had been pretty dead and quiet all day it seemed and he was bored. The previous evening had been epic, the Clan had never coincided so well or at least he thought. They were all getting up there, both in terms of skill and level. Jon's attention turned to Skype as he heard the familiar sound of someone signing in.

"Oh! James is getting on."

He quickly opened up a voice chat and it was answered.

"Hey James..."

"Kichi! Something has happened to James!"

It turned out it was James' wife Michelle. Jon noted the worried edge in her voice as she spoke, her words bringing him to high alert.

"Whoa... calm down and tell me what's going on."

"Alright..." She said taking a few breaths trying to calm herself down, "Last night I came home to find James lying on the floor unconscious. His visor still pulled over his eyes. He has fallen into a coma and had to be hospitalized!"

"What! Are you being serious? Was it a seizure or something?"

"I am serious and I don't think so... Something about this doesn't feel right. He hasn't had a problem with the game before... I'm going into the game to check the message boards. Maybe someone else has heard something about this."

"Wait up! I'm coming too!"

It wasn't Jon this time who spoke up but Amy, another member of Clan Shinsei. She had joined a few weeks after James and Michelle. The newest member of the Clan and the least experienced but that didn't mean that she wasn't skilled.

"I'm going to leave a message for the other clan members on here telling them what is going on for when they get on." Jon said as they heard the familiar typing sound over the microphone, "See you all in game."

"Alright, see you there Kichi."

Michelle said as she ended the voice chat on her end and began to sign into S4. She pulled the visor over her eyes as the game's logo appeared. It wasn't long before her character appeared in the lobby and she looked around. She wore a long sleeve jacket that was covered with green patterns and diamonds, her pants and gloves, and shoes matched this same design. In her hair was sunflower and her hair was a flat blonde style that fell down to about her neck. She walked over to the virtual message board and began to scan over the topics. For the time being it seemed that there was nothing regarding comas or people even falling unconscious aside from the "risk of seizure" advisory posted.

"Nothing... guess I'll check back later."

She sounded a bit discouraged as she quickly pulled out her My Panel and added the topic to the list, hoping someone would respond. She turned her attention to the lobby and waved over at Kichi and Amy as they entered the lobby. She quickly walked over to them all the while deep in thought as she tried to figure out what might have happened to her husband. She looked at Amy in her hot pink hair and her hoodie and the same indian style green pants that she herself wore Kichi wore the same thing that he was the day before. Misherukuro's eyes narrowed as she approached them.

"There wasn't anything posted on the message boards so I posted a topic about it. Hopefully we'll get some answers."

"That sounds like a good idea."

Kichi replied to her as he looked around the lobby. The all too familiar match boards were showing how many and where the matches were taking place. Right now though he wasn't focused on the game, he was worried for Michelle as well as the fate of his friend.

"Wait a minute! I'm confused, what's going on!"

Whitemantis piped up as she looked from Kichi to Misheru. She had apparently missed the voice chat regarding what had happened to James. Despite the situation, Kichi and Misheru couldn't help but laugh at her complete lack of attention to details.

"James was hospitalized last night. He apparently fell comatose while playing the game and we have no idea why."

Misheru explained, trying to maintain calm. But just thinking about the situation simply made her worry more. At that moment all three of them pulled out their My Panels as they heard the all too familiar sound it made when a person on their friends list signed in.

"Oh! Tao's getting on. I hope that he read the message regarding what is happening..."

"What! How is this possible!" Misheru exclaimed as she looked at her My Panel. She had seen the notice about Tao as well but her attention became focused on something else, "It says here that James is online and he's in a match right now!"

Kichi quickly closed the notice and his eyes narrowed as he looked at his friend's list and saw that she was right, somehow the name Gamoden showed clearly on the list that he was online.

"Well that's... strange." Kichi replied as he looked at the room number and tried to hit the join button, "Darn it his match is full... looks like it will be going on for awhile too."

At that moment Taowel ran up to the greet them all. But his expression wasn't one of happiness, it was evident that he had read the message.

"You guys seriously think that the game had anything to do with what happened to James?"

"We don't know Tao... right now we're just exploring the different possibilities." Kichi replied as he looked at his friend, "Something seems very wrong with all of this though."

"Grrr... I can't stand just sitting here waiting. As much as I want answers it would drive me insane. Let's go do a Touch Down match in Tunnel."

Misheru said in agitation and the others nodded in both understanding and consent. Though they were all worried about James none of them were as close to him as Michelle, which was a given since she was his wife.

"Alright. I'll go make the match, invite you all in a sec."

Kichi said as he looked at Misheru, it was pretty evident that she wasn't taking this too well, not that he could blame her. Things didn't make sense right now, especially since according to the lists James was still online when clearly his computer had been signed off of and he was in the hospital. He shook his head as he vanished in a the same series of ones and zeros. It would only take a minute before all of them were accepting the invite to join the room.

"Thanks Kichi..."

Misheru said as she walked over to the panel and punched in her name on his team. Mantis and Tao joined on the opposite team making it even for the time being.

"Sure... Ready up!"

Everyone hit the ready button on their My Panels after checking their gear and the next moment they were all teleported down to the field below.

"Start! Show me your S4!"

The commentator said signifying the start of not only the match but the round. Misheru jumped down for the starting spot above the tunnel to their goal which she needed to defend and began to make her charge. Kichi meanwhile used Anchor to grapple onto the tunnel over the goal and pulled out his rail gun.

"And Misherukuro of the Alpha team is making a strong run toward the fumbi firing her sub-machine guns at Taowel of the Beta team as she goes. Oh! and Taowel just got sniped from KichiK's rail gun!"

"Nice one Kichi!"

Misheru said over their team chat as she kicked it into high gear, grabbing the fumbi and going into a dash as she raced up the ramp toward the tunnel to reach the goal to score.

"And Misherukuro is almost there! Will she go all the way! Oh no! She got gunned down right as she was entering the tunnel by both Taowel and Whitemantis and it looks like they are going to go reset."

Right as Misheru reappeared in the blue wires on their side of the field she heard the all too familiar call signifying that the ball had been reset.

"KichiK of the Alpha team is rushing toward the fumbi, Taowel and Whitemantis right on it as well."

"Shoot! Coming Kichi!"

Misheru called out as she dashed down their ramp, quickly making their way toward the center of the field she held out her arm and the Smash Rifle appeared over her hand the shield shaped weapon raised at the ready as she unleashed a barrage of the needle like blasts at both Tao and Mantis.

"And KichiK has grabbed the fumbi. How long will he last though with both Taowel and Whitemantis blasting at him though. "

Suddenly in their visors they would see that two people had joined the room, one of which was OwlEyes, another member of their clan. They had been so caught up in the match they hadn't even realized he had signed in and sure enough the next moment there was the all too familiar bright blue laser blast from a rail gun flying from Misheru's side of the field sending Mantis spiraling. Misheru then finished off Tao with a barrage of needles from the Smash Rifle.

"The Alpha team is still continuing their charge forward. KichiK still with the fumbi in hand. Will they make a Touch Down! Oh No! He's been gunned down by BloodMachine!"

The second new member who had joined grabbed the fumbi for only about a second until he was gunned down by Misheru. This was a blitz tactic the two of them were employing, one rush in and at least one other person following to provide back up in case it was needed.

"Misheru has grabbed the fumbi and it seems she is rushing into the tunnel unopposed. Wait! She's taking fire will she make it! Touch Down!"

Misheru had used the storm bat unleashing the spinning swing three times propelling her into the goal much as a Plasma sword's dash attack would do. She smiled as they all vanished in the green ones and zeros.

"Start! Show me your S4!"

The announcement went off yet again. Signifying the start of the new round. They yet again dashed out of the blue wires and down the ramp into the field. Owl stayed near the goal, to guard as well as to snipe, hiding behind the support for the goal tunnel right above his head. Kichi and Misheru again raced towards the fumbi as did Tao and Mantis.

"And it appears there is a bit of a stale mate as both teams are taking fire. Who will break through to get the fumbi!"

Misheru cursed under her breath as she was gunned down by BloodMachine's smash rifle and watched as he broke through claiming the fumbi. Taowel took down Kichi and the three of them pressed forward. Was it a mistake for all of them to leave their goal undefended? Time would tell.

"Oh OwlEyes has gunned down BloodMachine, However he wasn't fast enough to reclaim the fumbi and Taowel has picked it up. He and Whitemantis are heading into the tunnel."

"Dang it!"

Misheru said in agitation as she respawned and jumped down below racing into the tunnel her storm bat slung over her shoulders as she raced to catch up to them. It was too late though.

"Touch Down! They tied the game!"

They all vanished yet again as they returned to their starting spots to start the next round.

"Start! Show me your S4!"

Again the announcement stated and yet again and both teams began to implement their strategies. A number of semi-pros and rookies joined the match making it five on five. It seemed though that all of the semi-pros ended up on the Alpha team. From there on it it was no real contest the rest of the first and second half went flying by in the time period of about 10 minutes. The final score ten to three, the Alpha Team the winner.

"Well that was fun, good game guys."

Kichi said with a smile on his face as he looked at the group. While the others left the room in silence. Misheru turned her attention back to her friends list, a look of intense focus on her face as she looked at the list.

"Looks like James is out of his match as well. Let's hurry!"

She said urgently as she left the room vanishing in the same usual series of ones and zeros. The other members of the clan soon followed. When they arrived they saw Misheru with her arms wrapped around Gamoden who returned her hug, a small smile on his face.

"Love... I've been so worried about you how are you online right now?"

"What do you mean I am still on at home aren't I?"

Gamoden replied clearly confused. To him it seemed as if nothing had happened. Definitely a possible effect of Virtual Reality is that one could lose touch of their physical being sometimes.

"No James you've been hospitalized." Misheru answered, "I came home last night to find you on the floor unconscious. The doctor's say you've fallen into a coma. Do you remember anything at all?"

Gamoden looked at all of them, scanning their eyes for any sign that they might just be playing some kind of joke on him. But even through their virtual eyes he had a strong feeling they were telling the truth as he lowered himself down into one of the chairs in the lobby, seemingly deep in thought.

"The last thing I remember was participating in a Chaser Match, I was defeated by some player and the next thing I remember I kind of woke up lying on the floor here in the lobby... I remember the strangest sensation... like I had been

punched in the chest, but nothing about hitting the floor or anything like that. But if what you say is the truth... How am I still here?"

"We're not sure..." Kichi answered honestly. He looked at his friend with a worried look on his face, "Have you tried logging out at all?"

Gamoden looked up at Kichi as he spoke and shook his head in reply.

"No I haven't... Maybe if I log out I will wake up."

He replied as he pulled out his My Panel and searched for the shut down button that would log him out of the game. He found it and quickly pressed the button. He vanished in a series of ones and zeros for a few seconds until the sequence returned and Gamoden reformed. He looked around, a look of disappointment set on his face as he realized the truth.

"Looks like I can't log out... I'm stuck here."

Misheru walked up to Gamoden, gently placing her hand on his shoulder and he turned and gave her a small smile, gently grabbing onto her hand and giving it a light squeeze before he removed it.

"Thanks love... but I need some time to myself right now."

Gamoden replied as he gently kissed her cheek and then began to move away from the group. He was confused and now he too was trying to figure out how this could have happened. His mind mulled through the memories of the previous night. This had all happened during that Chaser match...

"Sure in the story of the game the Chaser Virus is a controlled virus but I don't see how that could somehow do this... This doesn't make any sense."

He was muttering to himself, staring blankly at one of the boards as he sat in one of the chairs, kind of lost in his own thoughts. He didn't know what to think about this new development.

"How could I have not noticed something as drastic as a separation of mind from body...? Seems like something that would be hard to miss..."

Misheru and the others watched Gamoden as he seemed locked in this strange inactive state. She was worried about him for sure but until he was ready she didn't know if there was any way to help him. To realize that he couldn't log out and while he was here his body was in a coma... it had to be a lot to absorb.

"So what now?" She asked as she looked at the other members of her clan, they all seemed to be just as confused as she was, "Any ideas?"

"Well he mentioned a Chaser match." Amy replied, "Maybe we should try a match ourselves and see if anything seems out of the ordinary."

The rest of the group nodded their heads in consent. It seemed the most logical way to get information, though maybe not the safest approach. Sometimes though to find the truth one had to do something that could be seen as foolish or reckless.

"Alright, I'll start up a room, I'll send you all invites shortly."

Kichi said right before he disappeared into ones and zeros as usual. As before the next minute they received an invite to the room and they all accessed their My Panels and hit the button to join the room. Below them the all too familiar Temple O came into place. Kichi no longer had the lag problems in Connest 2 that he used to have back before the game had gone virtual. However, some things never changed and he preferred Temple O over it any of the other stages anyway. With the members of Clan Shinsei it was already more the enough people to start the match so they all just readied up and started the match. As soon as they started a number of other people joined. Names that appeared as nothing but flashes along the bottom of the screen, one of which was the final member of Clan Shinsei Arcanafate.

"This is the Chaser..."

The traditional announcement began as Kichi stood in the center of the shrine as the Chaser Virus came down from behind, placing it's skeletal hand upon his head. The purple detailing of his clothes had turned red and his hair had turned white. Kichi's "pimp rifle" the black and gold semi-rifle in his hands.

"Bring it."

"Oh boy..."

Seemed to be the general consensus of the Clan members. In Chaser Kichi was probably the deadliest, his favorite weapons the Storm Bat, Rail Gun, and Semi-rifle. Kichi charged forward, it seemed like this was going to be an easy round for him since there were only four targets. It didn't take long for him to send Whitemantis crashing into a wall, dead in one hit with a storm bat strike. It didn't take more then a few more seconds for Taowel to meet the same fate. Misheru was the next to fall not even five seconds later defeated by Kichi's "pimp rifle". OwlEyes lasted the longest using a combination of shield and counter sword. However, with a few seconds left he was defeated by the Storm Bat as well.

"Next round will be starting."

Kichi stood doing his usual rock, paper, scissors spam in triumph until he like the others disappeared and they all waited for the second round to start.

"This is the Chaser..."

Their cameras focused on the shrine. Zoomed in on one of the other people who entered during the round. This person was adorned in the Midfield gear that Gamoden enjoyed wearing, although he didn't wear a face mask. The red midfield coat very fitting for the chaser, his bare chest exposed. The black detailings of the coat remained black and the white armor plates on the boots had turned black and the boots red. The Chaser's name for this round was BloodyReaper. The name seeming to fit very well with the color scheme of his clothes as well as his intense facial expression.

"Bring it."

Due to his success in the first round Kichi was in first place, unfortunately for him, this made him the initial target. Before Kichi could get away from the window a stream of bullets from the Heavy Machine Gun had shattered the glass. The Chaser soon closed the distance as he jumped into the room where Kichi was. Jon noted that as he ran that the heartbeat that one would often hear when the Chaser was near was the sound of his own beating heart and it was pumping at an incredible rate.

"Guys stay away from this guy... Leave the room now!"

Jon yelled in the general chat and succeeded in entering it right as he was defeated, the high speed rounds of the Heavy Machine Gun too hard to avoid. Just as what had happened to Gamoden the night before Kichi was forced out of the room. As Kichi had instructed the other members of Clan Shinsei got out their My Panels and flipped to the Leave Room screen only to see nothing but an image of the Chaser Virus' head laughing at them. The option of escape it seemed was not an option after all.

"Not good I'm target." Owl declared as he began to run away, his own heart beginning to pound as the Chaser closed in, "Aaah!"

He yelled out in pain as he too was defeated by the Heavy Machine Gun and same as Kichi, was forced out of the room.

"What is happening? Why can't we leave the room like usual?"

Whitemantis asked as she began to fire at the Chaser in a confused panic, not sure if it would do any good but it was better in her eyes then just letting herself be defeated by the Chaser. Thankfully for her though she wasn't the target. However, Misheru was the designated target.

"I think... this is what happened to James. Ah!"

Misheru exclaimed as the bullets of the same Heavy Machine Gun soon defeated her as well. It seemed though that for Mantis, Taowel, and Arcanafate that time was on their side as the round came to an end and hopefully the chaos would end as well.

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Next round will be starting!"

They all vanished going back to the respawn points. The remaining members of Clan Shinsei letting out a sigh of relief for now. However, they were now truly worried about the fate of their friends and fellow Clan Members. If Misheru was right then they would be stuck in the game just like Gamoden was.

"This is the Chaser..."

Their cameras focused yet again on the center shrine and their temporary relief vanished as fear took it's place as standing inside the shrine was BloodyReaper yet again.

"Bring It!"

The Heavy Machine Gun yet again whirled to life as the drum began to spin and the stream of bullets once again shattered the glass window that they were behind. Followed shortly after by the Chaser.

"No!"

Taowel yelled out as he was defeated, the first target of this round. Yet again immediately being forced out of the room. Leaving only Mantis and Arcana as the last members of Clan Shinsei standing. Now more then ever they wanted nothing more then to leave the room.

"Yowww!"

Mantis yelled out as she too was defeated, the stream of bullets ripping through her virtual form without mercy and she too was forced out of the room. Arcana unfortunately followed not long after. All of the members of Clan Shinsei were defeated and in their respective homes outside of the game all of their bodies fell to the floor and their screens showed nothing but static until they too faded to black...

When all of them came to they were lying on the floor in the Lobby, Gamoden sitting next to Misheru holding her hand gently. He looked up at all of them as they came to. He was no fool, he had watched their activity through his My Panel and he already knew the outcome. His words did not really reveal any emotion as he looked at all of them.

"Now you all are stuck here... Like me."