DT: Alright, are you all ready?

FS: I think so, run through it one more time so I can wrap my head around it?

EE: If +his is +he level of effort+ you plan to pu+ in, you m*s *s well forfeit+ now.

CT: I'd like to remind the both of you that we are not actually competing. If anything we're working together. Not sure why we're divided into teams, we just are.

PP: GGt on w!th !t would ya?

CT: Right, right, sorry. Everyone has the game installed. PP will act as server player to FS and get him in the game. Once she does, OP will get her in and so on until FS has to get the last player on his team in. The same process will happen for the other team, BF will get EE in, then CD will get her in etc.

BF: And what exactly am I meant to do to 'get EE into the game'?

CT: Everything you need is already on your computer. I don't actually know all the specifics, but it can't be too hard. Just be careful and move quickly. Don't want to lose anyone before the game even starts.

FS: What do you mean 'lose' someone?

CT:... Don't worry about it, just stay focused on the game and everything will be fine. Let's get this going, everyone's waiting.

[DeciTective has closed the chat]

Brendon was a little frustrated by the lack of actual information he had about what was about to happen to him. All he knew was that the game would manipulate his entire house. It was a good thing he didn't live with his family anymore, because they'd probably be pissed by such an intrusive game. He sat back and waited for Furlok to do whatever she was supposed to do as 'server player'.

He got a feeling she'd started when he saw his room getting stretched out by what looked like a large green computer cursor. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw it, only keeping his composure because there were few things more embarrassing then letting yourself get frightened by your Kismesis, especially if they could see you when you were, and he was pretty sure she could.

With the wall of his house extended an extra six feet, three items appeared along the wall. The first was a large metal tube like device, the second looked like a mechanical carving station, and the third was a sort of raised circular platform with a pedestal next to it. According to the messages Furlok sent him as she deployed them, the items were called the Cruxtruder, Totem Lathe, and Alchemiter respectively.

PP: To start the gamG you'vG got to opEn the Crux. Two th!gs should pop out. Put somGth!ng w!th a facG !nto thG f!irst and takG thG sGcond to thG alchGm!tGr.

Brendon nodded, pretending he fully understood, and went over to the Crux. He tried lifting and turning it for a few moments before taking out his wood cutter axe and taking a swing at the handle. It spun from the force of the impact and the lid of the machine rocketed off and out the window. Immediately a glowing red orb floated from the opening, pulsing with light as it buzzed softly. Following it was a similarly colored cylinder of unknown material which didn't float out so much as get pushed out and onto the floor.

Brendon looked at the spiraling pattern of the glowing red orb, which Furlok informed him was called the Kernalsprite. Looking around his room for something with a face, he grinned when his eyes landed on his Midnight Crew figures. He went over to where he kept them on the shelf and selected the figure for Diamond Droog, who was in his opinion, objectively the best member of the crew.

He returned to the sprite and dropped the figure into it. In a flash, the face of Droog appeared in the sprite, but it didn't seem to be able to speak or move much. Shrugging at the usefulness of what he'd just done, Brendon followed Furlok's other instructions, picking up the chunk of what the next message told him was called Cruxite. He placed it on the Lathe and a pattern was carved into it instantly. He again nearly jumped at how quickly the mechanism began working on it. If he hadn't pulled his hand away for another second it would have been ripped off.

When the Lathe was done, he placed it on the pedestal of the Alchemiter per Furlok's orders, and the machine activated, causing a red oak tree to appear on the pedestal. Brendon walked over to his laptop for further instructions. FS: I have successfully created a tree through I assume spirit magic. The fuck now?

PP: Now, accord!ng to th!s, you brGak !t. Your a wood cuttGr r!ght? Go to town!

This Brendon could handle happily. He walked over to the tree and took a massive swing at it. The tree wasn't very tough, taking only three chops before shattering into pieces. The moment it did, there was a massive flash of light, Brendon's house teleporting. He just barely had time to see a red glow in the sky that he couldn't fully identify before everything outside his windows went pitch dark.

FS: The double fuck? PP: Sh!t hGll no t!mG! FS: What do you mean? What's happening? PP: Short vGers!on, go k!ll whatGvGr's brGak!ng !nto your housG, long vGrs!on, shut thG fuck up so OP can gGt mG !n bGforG ! fuck!ng GxplodG! !'m so gonna havG CT's ass for th!s!

Brendon tried to question further, but received no answer. None from Furlok anyway. "Hey kid, get up and get ready. We've got some targets incoming." Brendon froze when he heard a voice in his house that wasn't his or Furlok's. He turned slowly and saw that his sprite had undergone a bit of a change. It had lost he circular appearance, now looking like Diamond Droog himself, save for being bright red and having a wispy ghost like tail instead of legs.

"Droog?" He questioned, baffled. "Yep," Droogsprite said, "Now if you're done gawking, you're about to be shot." Brendon barely had enough time to take cover behind his bed before his bedroom was shot up, exploding with the sound of the shots as his bed and wall became riddled with bullet holes. Looking out the window, he saw that his lawn had appeared in the black void along with his house, and standing on it were a dozen or slow little creatures, all pitch black in color, with sharp claws and fangs. They had a diamond mark on their chests like Droog did, and were all armed with machine guns, three of whim had crawled through the window. Brendon gulped, taking a deep breath before taking the shot gun out of his strife deck.

Trying to just act without thinking, Brendon popped up from behind his bed and fired, the spread managing to hit and kill one of the monsters, which the health bars of the others told him was called a Shale Imp. As it died it left behind a few pieces of a bright blue crystal like object. "Grist," Droogsprite said, "Build grist to be specific. You need it if you plan to use be making anything more than what you've got." He seemed surprised at himself for knowing this.

Furlok was blowing up his computer with messages, likely watching him getting shot up and wondering where the fuck his house had been teleported to, but answering her would mean being somewhere other than behind his bed, which was the only piece of furniture in the room thick enough to block the bullets being fired at him. When the imps stopped to reload, Brendon jumped up again, this time hoping to get rid of all the imps in his room.

The second shot of his gun killed the second imp. He jumped forward, slamming the butt of the gun into the third imp's face. It staggered back, dropping its gun. He switched to axe-kind quickly and brought the wood cutting axe down hard on the imp's head, killing it. He seemed to gather the build grist automatically by walking over it. "That.. that was awesome!" He shouted, Droogsprite pointing his thumb outside, "Good for you, but you got a few issues to take care of before you start celebrating."

There were still at least ten more imps outside. Above his house was a bright glowing circle, a spiraling pattern pulsing within it. He could assume he was meant to get up to that somehow, and that the imps were supposed to stop him. This was either going to be fun, or fucking terrifying.