Chapter 2 Kari
Hikari "Kari" Kamiya hated having to take off on her face, but unless you were extremely wealthy, you couldn't live online.
The 16-year-old girl stretched theatrically in her chair, idly thumbing off her neural net and giving a long and deep sigh. It always happened when she was just about to get to the good stuff.
She stretched, her arms floating high above her head, massaging the stiffness out of her neck. Someday they'd invent a way to make time in EDEN not count towards your waking hours.
She massaged a knot in her back, wondering if she was rubbing the tiny rice grain chip that connected her to paradise. It didn't matter now. She was back in meat space after all.
Satisfied that she'd dealt with some of her discomfort, Kari knew it was time to deal with her physical needs. She picked up her digivice from its dock and placed the small electronic device in her pocket. The slim and lithe teenager slipped on her slippers and padded down the corridor. It was time to be sociable.
Kari felt the mask stiffen, her lips pointing upwards into the charming smile she showed the world. Everything was normal, once again she was Kari "Little Miss Perfect."
She placed her hands on the wall, taking a deep breath as she slipped on her persona, a paper-thin veneer covering a black hole.
"Is it time for dinner yet?" asked the mask, her voice polite and respectful.
Kari's mother turned around and smiled at her daughter. She was quite attractive, slim and beautiful, like her youngest daughter.
Kari felt the mask respond with an equally cheery smile; she closed her eyes mostly to hide that the smile didn't reach them and tilted her head.
"It will be ready soon, sweetie," the brown-haired beauty said to her daughter, "can you tell your sister to come and join us?"
Kari blushed a little bit, the mask briefly showing the face beneath before becoming "Little Miss Perfect" again. She had to talk with the cow, what a drag.
Kari didn't know how to relate to her older sister any more. They'd been quite close as children, but Kari's hidden interests and Taiko's tomboyish ways didn't interrelate well.
She tapped on the door, and hearing the groaning complaints of her Ronin sister made her roll her eyes. How in the world could a woman who spent nearly all day training be such a total sloth on her free days? She heard a tumble on the other side of the door followed by the sudden expulsion of cold air as his sister opened the door.
Taiko Kamiya was the polar opposite of her little sister. While Kari was small, pale, and doll-like in her proportions, Taiko was uncommonly tall for a girl her age with wild spiky hair and well-developed muscles. A golden tan covered most of her body save for the unmistakable outline of a one-piece bathing suit where the tan transformed abruptly into pearl white skin. In addition to being tall and athletic, Taiko also managed to sport an almost obscene cup size by Japanese standards, Kari knew that when she did the family laundry her sister's bra was easily twice the size of her own. Some girls got all the luck.
"Mom wants you to know that dinner is almost ready," said Kari, trying not to display her obvious envy at her sister's prodigious hourglass. It was a little frustrating for Kari. On one side her sister was swimming almost at the Olympic level, if she could manage to pass her exams, the girl would be sitting pretty with an athletic scholarship, all the way through university.
Unfortunately for all concerned, Taiko had the academic capabilities of a basket of small furry animals and about the same attention span.
"Thanks, sis," said the busty brunette tomboy, rubbing fingers round the edge of the door frame and rubbing her eyes in a manner that made Kari all the more jealous of her older sister.
She sighed, she didn't like this nasty side of herself, although she was glad that there was at least one boy who had eyes only for her.
She heard the custom chirp from her digivice. It had been a while since she'd checked the device for her messages, maybe there would be something good.
She pulled out her Digi-line, flipping past the cute cat image she used for a wallpaper to check her messages as she wandered down the corridor to her sister's room.
A few role-play posts, one of the girls in her class asking her if she could collect her notes tomorrow since she was sick, usual stuff and then…
GldnHope: my lady I have prepared your offering for tonight.
Attached was a picture, a bunch of old school Blu-rays from before the second wave of censorship hid all the good stuff, Kari felt butterflies in her stomach as she read the titles.
"Arcraizer XII, Necromorph, Heretic Daughters," these were all movies she hadn't seen before, she almost wanted to kiss that cute blonde. She'd give him his reward at school. She was a good little girlfriend after all.
From a young age, Kari had been obsessed with fear, not with killing, she'd disliked physically hurting people, but she loved being grossed out. She loved it when she felt exhilaration. Kari adored making others scared. She hadn't shown it publicly in years; it was her secret. To the outside world she was the girl next door, on the Internet she was "lady darkness" Queen of the Masked Maids. It had come about entirely by accident. Kari had been into role-playing at the time, living out her fantasies on a tiny corner of the Internet, the hockey mask combined with her work uniform let her, however briefly, become her dream.
And then she met him, a chance encounter, a boy who she wouldn't have given the time of day in the real world, but a boy who finally saw the real her and didn't run away. Kari hugged her phone to her chest, her heart beating faster at the thought of the boy she loved so dearly. The boy who recognised her mask from Friday the 31st Part IV, the boy who she'd only seen playing basketball from a distance at school, her perfect masked butler, the Sebastian to her lady darkness.
She couldn't wait to plug back into EDEN after dinner, to meet and cuddle with her butler.
She cuddled her digivice, humming the theme from Jaws playfully as she returned to dinner. She felt a strange twinge, a sudden jolt.
There was a surprising shudder around her, a movement of the floor that grew more and more intense with every passing second. She fell forward stumbling down and grabbing her knees, an earthquake? The floors and walls were shaking and rumbling. Kari screamed, covering her head as the lights started to flicker and fail, the entire apartment plunging into darkness and fear. She could hear her sister cry out and clutched herself into a fetal position. The junior Kamiya felt the terror in her heart and felt a soaring sensation of exhilaration. She shut her eyes, praying to whatever god would listen that she wanted to live.
She could feel something surround her body. Someone was shielding her as the room shuddered and shook, the sound of plates crashing and chopsticks clattering to the floor. Kari kept her eyes shut, tears burning as the terror overwhelmed her. The trembling stopped and Kari held her protector close. Hearing the sobs before realising they were her own.
Kari lay on the floor, feeling the warm arms, arms she knew belonged to her sister, wrapped around her, sobbing slightly as the chorus of dismayed dogs and sirens filled her ears.
The world had just gone crazy, and she was right in the middle of it.