How's everyone going?
Here's the next chapter!
Thought will be written in italics
Once again- sorry about butchering Kurt's accent!
Parzival
Honestly he was somewhat shocked when Nightcrawler asked about the race. He had been under the impression that everyone knew about the hunt, but it apparently wasn't so.
Perhaps H's curiosity was warranted he mused before answering Nightcrawler.
After a brief description, the demonic looking avatar nodded in understanding, right as a reminder flickered in the corner of his vision about the race.
"We have to go, race is starting any minute now" he said, Nightcrawler seemed a little sad at the fact they'd be leaving.
"If you have nothing do to we could meet here in the afternoon" H suggested, "show you around and tell you more about the hunt"
"Zounds good mein freund, see you zen ja?" Nightcrawler answered happily, before disappearing in a cloud of pixels as he exited the OASIS.
He turned to H, who was giving him a pointed look.
"Okay so maybe you were right to be curious" he stated, before looking at the place where Nightcrawler had been.
How could someone have never heard of the hunt? He thought as they began walking,
How could someone know next to nothing about the OASIS?
Kurt
He blinked a few time as his pupiless eyes adjusted to the darkness of his home. He had hours to kill before the afternoon and even more before it was dark enough for him to risk venturing out.
He paced the room slightly, before deciding upon what to do.
Shifting the fridge slightly he loosened a small panel that was hidden behind it.
Over the years, he had kept few permanent possessions, his cross being one, a small journal littered with photos and sketches of his 'adventures' as he liked to think of them as, and his swords.
They were the most valuable thing he owned, they were almost as old as he was, and had yet to let him down.
He hadn't used them in combat in a long time, hadn't needed to, but he still practised with them all the same lest a day come where he needed the skill.
Perhaps I could find myself a pair of swords in the OASIS, he thought, maybe a dagger as well if I'm lucky
Of course, acquiring them would required money, and as he continued to spar with an invisible opponent he made not to ask H and Parzival when he saw them.
It was strange that he had already begun to see them as friends, even if their interaction with him was driven only by curiosity.
Speaking of, he himself had become interested in the hunt for Halliday's Easter egg which they had told him of.
It seemed strange, even to him, to decide something so significant on the outcome of what was essentially a game.
The swords glided through the air, guided by a cautious hand so they did not do any damage to the surrounding objects.
Except it didn't seem to be a game to Parzival, nor to H, in fact it seemed like everyone considered the OASIS to be anything but a game.
People spent hours on it, which he knew only from the times he had almost been caught, only to find it was someone wandering around with a visor on, inside the OASIS and disregarding everything else.
He sat on his bed and looked carefully at the blade, he was sure it was real.
The OASIS had felt real too.
He shook his head, and returned the weapons to their hidden compartment, now was not the time for philosophical ramblings.
Once upon a time, he may have thought over the question, pondered it for days when he knew he was safe, unfortunately those days became few and far between as the world collapsed.
Philosophy was a luxury he couldn't spend time on now.
Peeking out of the window, he saw the sun had begun its descent.
He made a meal for himself, using the remainder of whatever was in this fridge, and after cleaning up, he entered the OASIS.
H
As per usual, no one had finished the race, King Kong had made sure of that.
Damn she hated that overgrown gorilla, and it had looked like Parzival was going to make it too.
There were two more races that day, neither of which many people could attend due to either work or school. Those races were filled with Sixers, as in you were lucky if there was another player who wasn't with IOI.
She hadn't been bothered with either, instead going to Planet Doom for the majority of the day. Parzival, on the other hand, had gone to both.
He managed to score enough coins to splurge on a couple of upgrades to his car, as well as a new hairdo which, in her opinion, looked completely ridiculous.
They returned to the central area to find Nightcrawler happily waiting for them.
"How vas ze race?" He grinned,
"As per usual, no one passed" Parzival sighed, "it's impossible"
"Cheer up, zere is always next time ja?"
"Yeah, still we maybe would've had a better chance if all the Sixers weren't crashing" She spat, with a glance to Nightcrawler's face, she realised he had no idea who she was talking about.
"Who are zey?"
"IOI's minions, all of them trying to win the OASIS for the damn company" Parzival answered, "they even have a bunch of Halliday experts on hand to try figure out how to win"
"Zeems unfair" Nightcrawler stated, a dislike already seeping into his voice, "didn't know zey vere in ze OASIS"
"You've seen them around in the real world?" She asked, they had begun walking to a row of portals.
"Only ze drones, but zey are easy enough to avoid" Nightcrawler said offhandedly, "not very manoeuvrable"
"Why avoid them?" Parzival asked, "Did you get on IOI's bad side?" Neither of them could afford to get on IOI's bad side, because despite their hate for he company they were the ones who provided them with the tech to access the OASIS.
Nightcrawler chuckled, "Nein, it is just a game I play when I have ze time"
Both of them relaxed, but she made note to keep an eye on their new 'friend'.
Kurt
As Parzival and H taught him how to use the portals and how to earn coins he silently berated himself.
He would have to watch his tongue, and remember that they were still strangers.
After an agreement to meet the next day, he exited the OASIS.
It was well and truly night, so pulling on the darkest clothes he owned, he ventured out on to the balcony,
And jumped across onto the neighbouring stack, before beginning his ascent.
And there we go, another chapter
Review, but no flames, we don't want to cause a bushfire