.hackBARON
"But theentiremilitia was massacred!" The chancellor argued. Cecil had been offline for a few days due to vacation. The notice as posted on the message board saying that Golbez would have control of Baron until he returned.
Golbez said nothing. He lifted his hand to his chin and turned away from the Chancellor.
"Leave me." He finally said after a long moment of silence. The chancellor's face was filled with fury as his eyes stabbed into the man's back. His eyes stared through his golden braid, through his armour and straight to his heart.
"As you wish." He replied bitterly, turning around and heading out of the door. With the chancellor out of the throne room Golbez sighed and sat in the throne. He crossed his legs and let his forearms rest on the arms of the seat. Things seemed to be going smoothly. With the large death of trainees, Golbez would have another thing to attack the newbies with. He needed to gather up enough circumstantial evidence to prove that there should be a block against new people creating accounts on this server. That way there would be only him and the people he had known for years. They would be in their own little world, never changing, never growing. This would be a happy existence. No interruptions, no annoyances. No one disagreeing with him, no one leaving. This way Baron could go on forever. It would never end.
.c.o.m.a.t.o.s.e.
"Man, Ace's character has been sleeping for quite a while." Celes said softly, sitting in a chair next to the cot. This was the fifth time she'd logged on that day."Maybe Peter isn't logged in." Rydia replied, sitting down in a seat next to her.
"Yeah, maybe his character got frozen on the server. When he logs back in, that's usually when the character vanishes and goes to the last save point."
"Maybe you should call him?"
"Yeah, maybe I should. I'll be right back, okay?"
"Okay."
With that, Celestial Being logged off. Rydia wasn't worried because she'd appear where she'd saved last. There was a save point right outside of the house. There wouldn't be very far to go.
====
The phone rang at Peter's house. It rang several times before someone picked up.
"Yeah?"
"Hey. Is Peter home?"
"I'm sorry. He's not able to talk with you. Haven't you been watching the news?"
"What about the news?"
"Lately, people playing these new VR games are exposed to a series of flashing lights. They've been known to cause seizures--and with some people even cause comas."
"Comas?" the girl sounded worried, "Is Peter going to be okay?"
"I guess the lighting messed with his head a bit. The doctor hasn't told us when he'd wake up."
"You don't sound very concerned."
"Oh, I am. It's just this is my way of dealing with it. I say it's what he gets for playing that stupid game all the time."
"I'm . . . Sorry to hear that. How's your mom and dad taking this?"
"Mum's taking it pretty hard and Dad's kind of acting the way I am. We're all pretty upset about it."
"I hope things get better. ."
"They will. Just quit calling. You're not helping us deal with this situation at all."
"Oh, I'm sorr--" Before she was able to finish her sentence, he'd hung up.
Rydia watched Ace and sighed. She wondered when he'd be able to log back in. She missed him quite a bit. For a while there they were getting pretty close. There were no rules about being platonic with this relationship. They just let it grow and be what it became.
They didn't want to share this with anyone else. Peter knew a third party would most likely get involved and ruin it, even unintentionally. Rydia mentioned nothing because she felt guilty about Celes. How would she react if she'd known what Rydia and Ace had?
Even though they lived apart, this virtual reality world was the closest they could get to ever touching each other. Knowing that the other was real. She leaned down over his body, her head above his. Her green hair hung down over his face as she'd gotten closer. She knew he probably wasn't logged in, but it would be nice to just steal a kiss.
The sound of Celestial Being logging in made her jerk away from him. She faced toward the door as her companion ran inside. She stopped in front of Rydia, the expression on her face desperate. She looked as though she were going to cry.
"What's wrong?"
"You won't believe it but . . ."
"But what?"
"Just watch," Celes said, walking toward the old fashioned television in the room. "This may not be able to access the internet very well, but we sure as hell can get CNN loud and clear."
She turned the knob as the screen blinked then became flush with colour. She messed with a few buttons as the news came on.
They watched the report about the new virtual reality games that came out. The reporters gave many warnings about the health risks involved in playing these games excessively.
"Well gee, they've got a point." A deep voice said from behind them. The girls turned around and screamed, seeing Ace sitting up in the bed. Rydia fell out of her chair, as Celes backed into the corner next to the window.
"H-How the hell.."
"How can you do that?!"
"Do what?" He asked curiously. "Why are you girls acting this way? It's me! Ace!"
They looked petrified. They were so scared of his presence that one of them could've pissed their pants in the real world.
"...Peter?" he asked questioningly, giving them puppy eyes.
"Oh god, only Peter would do that." Celes relaxed. "But how the hell did you do that? How can you be logged in when your body is in a hospital?"
"Hospital? When did I end up in a hospital?"
"You don't remember?" Rydia asked, standing up.
"All I remember is falling asleep. Probably at my terminal, which is probably why I ended up waking up here. I didn't log out."
Rydia and Celes looked at each other, then back at Ace. Celes sat down and scooted her chair next to the bed and pointed at the television. They were giving report after report about the health risks involved. Rydia sat down herself as Rose walked in.
"This is bullshit," she bitched. "I can't even fucking log out."
Both Rydia and Celes screamed, climbing into the bed with Ace, hiding behind him. They were both so scared of the current situation that they didn't know what to make of it. First, Peter goes into a coma in real life, yet can still be active in the online world. Secondly, Rose walks in unable to log out!
"Wh-Whaddya mean?" Celes asked with a shaky voice.
"What I fucking mean is that the server is blocking my signal. I can't log out."
"Well can't you just turn off your terminal manually?"
"I tried that. But it feels like my entire body on the outside world is numb. I can only feel things that I touch in the virtual world."
"Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh.." Celes whimpered.
"On the news they've been saying that excessive play in the virtual world could trigger seizures or unconsciousness." Rydia pointed out, "Which could also mean that you and Peter are unconscious, but still alive in the virtual world."
"You mean someone could just pick my body up in York and do as they please--yet I can't do a damn thing about it?"
Celes nodded. "Peter's in the hospital right now. I just got off the phone with his brother. His family's taking it pretty badly."
"Aw, man." Ace's head lowered. "I could probably still email them and tell them I'm okay."
"You can't access your email on the inside, silly." Rose mentioned, "You can only message members here. Meaning, you can only communicate with those logged onto this server."
Ace sighed sadly. He held onto his wounds unconsciously and twitched in pain.
"Oh my god! It actually hurts.." He lied back down slowly, trying to breath carefully.
"Peter, are you going to be all right?" Rydia sat next to him on the bed, as Celes got off in a huff. Things between them were starting to become clear to her, and she wasn't too happy about it. Walking toward the window, she had her back facing them. She crossed her arms, watching as the sun began to go down.
"What're you two going to do after Rydia and I have to log off? We still have to go to school, you know." Celes suddenly became serious.
"I guess I'll take care of Ace during the day. When you girls come home after school, you can take over."
"Give us at least an hour to do our homework." Rydia pleaded.
"An hour then."
"What're you going to do while we're here with him?" Celes asked.
"Go out and level up. I don't have much choice, really. That's all I can do, other than investigate what's happening to us."
"I don't have alot I can do either. I suppose I'll just rest up until my wounds heal."
"The poison . . ." Rose finally noticed, "If you can feel pain in the virtual world, wouldn't that mean if the poison spreads that you could also die in the virtual world?"
"He would return to his body, wouldn't he?" Rydia questioned.
"Can't return to your body if you're brain-dead."
