Chapter 2
Brought to you by Gue22
...
Monday morning was no fun.
Gohan submitted his report on the Gold City bridge, only to be summoned by his bosses for a gruelling six hours to defend his findings and conclusions. It was annoying and insulting to have them question all his careful calculations. He was always thorough though, always. The thought of his mother's disapproving frown was enough motivation to ensure that he was never sloppy. They kept asking round about questions, unable to process how he could be so sure so quickly, but no matter how they ran the variables in their own programs, they could find nothing to dispute what he already knew as fact.
By the time he flew home in the evening, he was hungry, tired and irritable. Especially because 'Marcy' from Public Relations had dropped him an email as promised, reminding him that she was still waiting on him to give her a name for his 'plus-one'...
Stupid Fund-raiser.
He touched down outside his house and let himself in. It was early evening, a cool breeze blew in his hair under a calm orange sky, and the house was already filled with mouth-watering aromas as he let himself in.
His face turned beet-red when he stepped into the kitchen to find his mother laughing hysterically while trying to beat his father with a wooden spoon – Goku had his hand all the way inside her pants.
"Um," flushed Gohan.
"Hey son!" Goku flashed him an enormous grin as he pulled out his hand. "Didn't sense you coming."
"Um...I'll just be in my room," Gohan muttered, highly embarrassed by the scene.
It was becoming more and more apparent that he needed to move out and get his own place. He had looked around Blue City for an apartment before starting his internship, but everything he could afford on his meagre internship salary was much too small and stuffy. It wouldn't have been so bad if he'd been just another kid raised in the city, but Gohan was too used to wide open spaces and greenery. The thought of being confined to a small apartment in a concrete neighbourhood was just depressing. His grandpa had offered to pay his rent for something bigger, with a hope for a small garden, but his mom had forbidden it.
Ultimately he'd given up on living in Blue City, opting to commute instead.
He stepped into his room longing to fling himself on the bed to sleep, but there was no way his stomach was going to allow him to do that. He still had an hour or so to kill before dinner, so he grudgingly sat down on his desk and turned on his computer.
Since his debut on Getting-to-know-you dot com on Saturday night, he had logged in and out throughout Sunday, browsing around and reading people's profiles. He had come across a few that`d caught his eye, but alas, none of those girls had been online. He had sent a few chat requests but he was beginning to think that this whole 'on-line' thing was a complete waste of time and energy.
It took a few minutes for his machine to boot up, but when it finally did, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he actually had four chat requests waiting for him.
"Nice," he smiled eagerly.
He scanned through the names wondering if any of the girls were currently on-line and felt his fingers twitch when he recognized one of them: Katagirl.
What could she possibly want now?He frowned, ignoring her request. Instead he initiated a chat with 'BlueRose19'.
Their interaction started off normally enough. Pleasantries, pleasantries...and more pleasantry-like chatter. Their conversation covered the basics of getting to know someone, and just as Gohan was starting to relax...
BlueRose19 says: Sooooooo, I'm getting kinda horny just talking to you. Wanna help me get-off?
Grr! He immediately clicked on the x button at the corner of the chat screen.
What is wrong with these girls?
Was there no one normal out there? Someone genuinely looking to 'get-to-know-the-other'? In his search for a suitable dating web-site he had deliberately avoided the ones that looked dodgy - the ones where the girls chose suggestive names like luscious-lips69, not to mention the provocative pictures that looked like bad imitations of master Roshi's magazines. He had settled for this site because it had a nice and clean look. It didn't even allow members to advertise their physical attributes – it had a strict 'no personal photos' policy. Yet he had still managed to land two perverted and vulgar girls with just his first two conversations!
Drumming his fingers on his desk, Gohan contemplated abandoning this avenue. At this rate, he'd be better off crashing Lime's Valentine's day date, physically stealing her, dressing her in a ball-gown and flying her off to Blue City against her will, just to save face at the Fundraiser.
"Heh heh heh..." he chuckled at his own ridiculousness. He could just imagine the kind of verbal lashing he'd receive if he so much as showed up during her date with this so called 'real guy'.
"Wicked sex, pfft..." he muttered, recalling her words from their phone conversation on Friday night. Seems like sex was all anyone ever thought about. His fellow interns at the office, Lime, the girls on-line...hell, even his own parents couldn't seem to keep their hands to themselves.
Pling. Pling. Pling.
The corner of his screen began to flicker. A new request to chat was coming through.
Gohan bit his lip when he saw the pen-name of the requester; he really didn't feel like initiating a conversation with her again, but in the end, with a lack of other prospects he figured…what the hell? Let me see what she wants.
He clicked on 'accept', and the screen went black with the green cursor in motion, already forming words.
Katagirl says: It's rude not to say bye when you leave a conversation.
Fuelled by his already sour mood, Gohan frowned at the text. Not even a hello or a few pleasantries? This girl has no manners. She really has some nerve! His foul mood only intensified, raising his irritability levels of the day. His fingers fell rather hard on the keys as he typed, flying faster than any professional typist.
NimbusRider says: Rude? Well, I guess the shock of your choice of words kind of wiped out all the etiquette left in me.
The cursor next to her name just stood blinking in silence for a few seconds, making Gohan scowl even deeper. He felt impatient for her to respond for some reason, and when she didn't, he positioned his fingers readying them to start typing again when...
Katagirl says: Were you really shocked by what I said?
"Of course I was," he muttered out, but shook his head and began typing instead.
NimbusRider says: Yes. It surprised me. For an anti-vulgarity advocate, I certainly didn't expect it.
Katagirl says: I see. Sorry, I guess. I'd had a terrible day, and I guess I must have come across as a bit harsh.
NimbusRider says: Crude or vulgar my mother would say. Not that I disagree.
Katagirl says: Jeesh! I was just being honest about the kind of behaviour I would not tolerate. It was just one word, and it wasn't even directed at you. Sorry you found it so offensive. Talk about uptight!
NimbusRider says: I'm not uptight!
Katagirl says: Oh really? Then why do you sound so clipped?
Gohan gritted his teeth as he moved his eyes up to the beginning of the conversation – he cringed. Okay, so he was being a little 'off' with her. He realized that his irritation from work was definitely carrying over.
He sighed, rubbing his temples. It seemed rather silly to get so worked up about a small comment made by an anonymous person he didn't even know. He needed to take it easy, that is...if he still wanted to keep talking to Ms. I-traced-your-IP, and so called Ms. Paranoia.
NimbusRider says: I'm fine, honest. I guess you werejust making yourself clear.
Katagirl says: Great then. Glad to hear it XD
Gohan reclined back into his chair wondering what 'XD' was. Now that he was a bit calm, he realized that he'd had an actual conversation with a girl that wasn't Lime without breaking into a nervous sweat! Alright!
Well, if this small exchange of words could be considered as conversation.
He drummed his fingers on his desk as he continued to stare at the screen. He wasn't sure where to go from here. Should he ask her some questions? Maybe he should have prepared a list of questions and topics to chat about, like you know, how one would prepare before a job interview or something.
Out of nowhere, a small tension started to worm its way into his stomach, he honestly didn't know what to say.
Katagirl says: ?
NimbusRider says: Question mark? What's that for?
Katagirl says: It's an opening for…so…what can you tell me? What's up? Etc.
Gohan smacked his forehead. Duh? What else would a question mark stand for? He should have picked up on that. Great, now she'll think I'm some kind of idiot. I mean, it's not like I really care that much what she thinks of me, she doesn't even know me.
NimbusRider says: Oh. Err…I don't know really. Is it okay if I asked you a few questions about yourself?
Katagirl says: Lol, well, that's why we're here, to get to know each other after all right?
'Lol?' Gohan stared at the three letters? Grr...what was that supposed to be? Short-hand of some kind clearly, but he didn't really have any practice with this kind of thing.
NimbusRider says: Yes it is. Um...what does LOL mean?
Katagirl-says: Huh? You're kidding right? Are you old or something?
NimbusRider says: Old? What do you mean? Is 21 old?
Katagirl says: No, it's not old. Just that, mostly, only the older generation who don't text or chat don't know what LOL means. You know, dinosaurs like my dad. Lol - It means laugh out loud.
NimbusRider says: Oh. I see. Well, I had a bit of a sheltered upbringing, so I never really had the opportunity to text anyone. I got my first cell phone when I started interning recently.
Katagirl says: Say what? Okaaay...that's kinda weird. But we've already established that you live in the middle of nowhere as well. Soo...you wanted to ask some questions? What would you like to know?
Gohan flushed. What did he want to know? He had the basics from her profile, but that didn't really say anything about her as a person. The information on her profile was more a list of facts – assuming they were true, he mused. What he really wanted to ask was 'Are you a decent girl? Someone I could take to a work function?' But he couldn't exactly ask that off the bat now could he?
NimbusRider says: Well just the normal stuff I guess. Your profile says you're a graduate student, what are you studying?
Katagirl says: Forensic Criminalistics
NimbusRider says: Oh wow, really? That's pretty cool. I'm kinda in forensics myself, engineering though.
Katagirl says: Oh? How so? You said you were an intern on your profile right? How does that work exactly? What does a forensics engineer do?
NimbusRider says: Um...well, lets see...How much do you know about engineering?
Katagirl says: Um, not much really. The design of complicated machines and stuff springs to mind.
NimbusRider says: Well, you're pretty warm then. Let's see how I can best explain what I do on a day to day basis...
Gohan drummed his fingers, his eyes fixed on the screen as he contemplated.
NimbusRider says: Right. Got it. Did you happen to catch the news about that bridge in Gold City?
Katagirl says: I did. In fact, I caught more than just the news, I was out there this past Friday.
NimbusRider says: Really? Oh no, are you hurt?
Katagirl says: No, I just went as a volunteer, you know, helping survivors and stuff.
NimbusRider says: Are you a paramedic?
Katagirl says: LOL, no.
NimbusRider says: Oh. It's just that your profile says you're based in Satan City and it's kinda far from Gold City you know. Nice of you to travel all that way to help those people out.
Katagirl: Yes, well they needed the help. Wait a minute. What does the bridge have to do with your job anyway? You didn't have anything to do with the collapse did you?
NimbusRider says: Huh? No of course not. Jeez, you're really suspicious aren't you?
Katagirl says: I am. I pretty much have to be. The world is full of bad people.
NimbusRider says: True. But there's also a lot of good people. You should never lose sight of that.
Katagirl says: LOL. We have a 'Mr. Glass-half-full' I see
Gohan smiled as his fingers glided over the black keys.
NimbusRider says: Well, I'll take that over being 'Ms. Paranoia' any day.
Katagirl says: XD Well I should certainly hope not. I'm counting on you being a 'Mr'. Things would get really awkward if we met and you turned out to be a 'Ms.'
Grinning, Gohan re-read the sentence over. Well she definitely didn't have to worry about him not being a 'he'. But then he processed the full sentence and gulped. Did she just say m-meet?
NimbusRider says: Meet?
Katagirl says: Just a hypothetical.
NimbusRider says: Oh.
Katagirl says: Lol. What's that face I see?
NimbusRider says: Huh? Face? What face?
Katagirl says: That 'oh' sounded like it came with a face.
NimbusRider says: Oh. Well, I was just wondering about something.
Katagirl says: ?
NimbusRider says: Well, I hope this is not too forward or anything, but...have you ever met anyone you met on-line? I mean, you know, like in real life? Like a sort of a date?
His cheeks burned as he sat staring at the flicker of her cursor, waiting for a response.
Katagirl says: Yeah sure, a few guys.
'Wow', the word's formed on Gohan's mouth. He was actually surprised he realized.
NimbusRider says: Really?
Katagirl says: Well, yeah. The idea is to meet people isn't it?
Gohan smiled. Yep, it sure was.
He felt slightly relieved, knowing that she wouldn't think he was some kind of weirdo when he finally gathered the courage to ask her. His eyes immediately widened at that last carefree thought. Whoa! When did I conclude that I was going to ask her? Grateful for the anonymity of their interaction, Gohan blushed in peace as he typed.
NimbusRider says: Yes, that's the idea.
He smiled.
Katagirl says: So, about the bridge then, you were explaining what a forensics engineer does?
NimbusRider says: Oh yeah, like I was saying...
Tuesday morning was a drag.
Videl downed three espressos on her way to the court-room hoping the caffeine would keep her up long enough to give her testimony. She had deliberately taken one of her father's chauffers so she could have time to place two slices of cucumber on her eyes, hoping they would do the trick and ameliorate her tired puffy look.
The thing was, by the time her chat with NimbusRider ended last night, the sun was already peeking through her curtains. Gosh, when was the last time she'd had a conversation that outlasted her longest chat record with Erasa? Never, that's when.
If it wasn't for NimbusRider panicking because it was time for him to 'get-up', wash-up and bolt for work, she wouldn't have noticed the lateness or earliness of the hour.
It was just her luck too, that today was Tuesday and she absolutely couldn't sleep in. She had a dreaded date with a judge. She loved her volunteer work with the police, she really did, and she wouldn't change it for the world... but there were times when she loved it less, on days like today when she had to go to court to testify against the criminals she'd arrested. She could only hope that things wouldn't drag on like they normally did, and that it wouldn't take too long before she was called in to give her testimony.
Pushing her way through the swing doors of the large court house, Videl took a quick detour to the woman's bathroom to splash some cold water on her face.
"You look terrible Videl," she told the girl in the mirror. "You should know better than to spend the whole night talking to strange mountain boys."
She dabbed her face dry and attempted to rejuvenate her look with some make-up. "Urgh! Useless, I'm no Erasa, I don't even know what I'm doing." She clamped the concealer shut and settled for a light coat of lipstick. A quick run of the brush through her dark hair and she bolted out the door.
"Son," she called again, the scowl on her face intensifying.
"Ahem, Son," she cleared her throat, raising her voice by another notch, but the intern didn't stir.
"Wake Up!" she smacked him across the head this time, her voice loud enough to be heard in the other cubicles.
"Wha..." Gohan disorietedly lifted his head off his desk, using the back of his hand to wipe the drool that was dribbling in the corner of his mouth. "Kirsty...wha...what are you doing here?" he yawned and rubbed his eyes.
Kirsty gritted her teeth,"Do I look like your mother?"
"Wha?" Gohan blinked at the ice in her voice.
"Don't look at me with those cute sleepy eyes, like you're expecting a bottle of warm milk, this is not day-care Son. Have a little dignity."
"Sorry, I just-" he began to say, but Kirsty just cut him off.
"I just got back from lunch, is there any reason why you haven't emailed my technical report yet?" She glared, "Oh, I forgot," she said dryly. "You've obviously had a hectic morning – napping."
"Um..." Gohan cringed. Oh man, Kirsty looked pretty mad. Was it really after lunch already? He must have snoozed away the whole morning on his desk. "Um..." he blushed when their eyes made contact, she was just so pretty when she was angry. It was still so embarrassing how she'd shot down his attempts to ask her out. "Report?" he asked lamely.
"I sent you an email at nine."
"Um, let me..." he straightened up, swivelled his chair and began typing in his password. "I...uh..."
"Save it," she cut him off. "I have to head out for an inspection right now. This is not day-care Son, if you want to nap during the day, I'd suggest you change professions. Have that report sent by the time I'm back."
Gohan watched her walk away until she disappeared out of view.
"Oh man Kata, can't believe you kept me up all night," he grinned just before he reached for a sachet of instant coffee.
Videl woke up to find that she had passed out on her bed in the same clothes she'd worn out to court that morning. She yawned and checked the time. Whoa! It was dinner time, she'd obviously slept the rest of the day away. Just to remind her of how much she had been neglecting it, her stomach growled in protest.
"Fine, I'll feed you," she slid off the bed. Formal clothes always made her feel old and less athletic, so she opted for a quick shower and slipped into some comfy pyjamas. She was about to head out to the kitchen when her laptop caught her eye. She bit her lip and flipped the cover. It couldn't hurt to check who was on-line first though right? It's not as if she was deliberately checking to see if Nimbz was on.
Lying on her bed, she logged into Getting-to-know-you dot com, only to sigh in disappointment.
'NimbusRider is offline.'
"Right, let's get something to eat."
With the exception of a warm glow from his parents' bedroom, the lights in the rest of the house were already switched off by the time he came home. No surprise there, it was close to midnight, Goten and his parents would have gone to sleep a while back.
He slipped into the kitchen and pulled out a huge roasted bird from the oven – thank Kami for his mom. Tiredly, he rubbed his eyes, shrugging out of his tie. He settled down to eat in the dark, but quickly changed his mind. How long had he been cooped up in a cubicle? Too damn long.
With the bird under his arm, Gohan shrugged out of his clothes and settled on the roof in his boxers. Ah, it felt good to be outside. It was a clear night, not many stars out, but the air...the smell...it was just what he needed to unwind. Comfortable in the knowledge that his mom wouldn't catch him, he abandoned all etiquette and attacked the roast like a wild animal. After sucking down the bones to the last drop of marrow, Gohan levitated into the air and began working his stiff and tired body into a few stretches. Stretches turned to kicks, and before he knew it, he was going through numerous sets of well practiced kata's.
Kata's...
He shook his head and grinned.
Half an hour later, he was showered and ready for bed. He had a long day tomorrow, and he needed his rest. That didn't explain why he was sitting up in bed, logging into Getting-to-know-you dot com instead of sleeping.
Seeing that she was on, his stomach immediately tensed up. He had really enjoyed chatting with her the night before, but...he didn't want to be presumptuous. She was more experienced with this online thing. She probably had lots of acquaintances that she interacted with. Last night, talking to him all night like that...what if it was something she did regularly?
He definitely didn't want to jump to any conclusions just because of one conversation.
Gohan dropped his shoulders, his enthusiasm from seeing her name before dwindling. What if she was on with some other guy, chatting, laughing, and oblivious to his presence? His inbox was empty, if she'd wanted to contact him again, surely she would have sent him a message while he was off-line just to say 'hello'. He certainly would have, had he been the one to log on first.
Blip...
Katagirl says: Shouldn't you be sleeping?
Relief washed over him like a cloud of mist. She noticed me. Gohan smiled, shifting his laptop to make typing a little more comfortable.
NimbusRider says: Maybe. Shouldn't you?
Katagirl says: Nuh, I'm not tired. I had an early morning appointment, but after that...I slept most of the day away.
NimbusRider says: Not fair, I was caught sleeping on my desk at work today.
Katagirl says: Slacker :p
Gohan chuckled, the vibrations of his laughter shifting his laptop slightly off his lap. He tilted his thighs to support it and punched hard on the keys.
NimbusRider says: Hey! We don't all have the luxury to sleep all day you know.
Katagirl says: True. Envy me :D
NimbusRider says: Lol, I do. So since you can't sleep, what are you up to?
The question was innocent enough, but Gohan really wanted to know if she was on-line like this, chatting with a hoard of other hopefuls, a hoard of faceless, interesting guys. It's not that he was feeling jealous or territorial, it was just that...he was already thinking of asking her to be his 'plus one' so...
Katagirl says: I tried to work on my thesis but I got bored so...I watched a few episodes from my Phoenix collection.
NimbusRider says: Phoenix? Isn't that the picture on your profile? It's supposed to be a mythical bird right? Must be an interesting documentary you're watching.
Katagirl says: Documentary? Uh...no. Don't you know what Phoenix is? It's only the best comic book adaptation series ever made :D
NimbusRider says: Comic? No...can't say I've ever heard of it. The best ever made you say? Aha, it's not that you're biased or anything...
Katagirl says: I'm not. It's a simple fact.
NimbusRider says: You mean opinion.
Katagirl says: No, I mean fact. Phoenix is the most awesome fictional superhero ever created. He's my kind of guy.
NimbusRider says: Lol, if you say so.
Katagirl says: Fine, don't take my word for it. What's your favourite show then?
Gohan thought of pulling a random name out of his hat in order to appear 'normal'. Normal twenty-one year olds were familiar with TV right? He sighed. When you had as many secrets like he did, it was best to be honest were you could. Keeping track of lies was exhausting.
NimbusRider says: Don't really have a favourite show, I wasn't allowed to watch TV when I was a kid, so I never really got into it.
Katagirl says: Okay...so we've established that you live in the middle of nowhere, that you didn't own a phone while growing up, and now...no TV too? Tell me, what century are you from? Be honest, I won't judge you if you're a 14th century vampire you know :D
Gohan stopped to stare at the text. Though he was laughing, he couldn't help the small linger of truth in her playful deduction. Sure, he was no vampire, but he was definitely not human either...hmm...
NimbusRider says: Lol, you say you wouldn't judge but...
Katagirl says: But what?
For a split second Gohan felt slightly uneasy, but quickly brushed it aside. His own identity had absolutely nothing to do with the mythical creatures of the night.
NimbusRider says: You say you wouldn't judge but...if I showed you my fangs, you'd probably run in the opposite direction, screaming for your favourite superhero Phoenix to come and rescue you.
Katagirl says: Lol, Doubt it. I have nothing against fangs. If you tried to bite me though, I'd just kick your ass. Problem solved.
NimbusRider says: Oh? What about the Mr 'most awesome superhero ever created? Surely he'd come to your rescue.
Katagirl says: Sure, but I don't need Phoenix to fight my battles. Vampire or not, I'd knock you unconscious with one well placed kick :D
Gohan scratched his head as he stared, smiling at what she'd just written. Of course it was impossible that she'd be able to land the kick, let alone knock him out. But he was impressed by the confidence.
But what really got his attention was a sudden thought. Was that just a figure of speech or did she really know how to fight?
NimbusRider says: Hmm...so the 'kata' in the name is not just random? Are you into martial arts or something?
Katagirl says: Guilty. You could say that's where my true passion lies.
NimbusRider says: Whoa! Are you serious? I practice a little myself.
Seconds passed without any response. Hmmm...Gohan stared at the screen. What? What did I say? He wondered, when the cursor just flicked next to her name without any word. He counted the seconds, one up to eight, and she still didn't write back.
NimbusRider says: ?
He shifted in his bed and considered getting up to open a window. It wasn't hot or anything, but the fresh air would definitely help keep him awake. When the conversation and his fingers were flowing, he didn't really feel the sleepiness, but in the eight or so seconds that she wasn't talking to him, he felt dread – that he might have said something wrong; but most of all, he felt really, really sleepy.
In the ensuing silence, he placed his laptop on the bed and quickly dashed to open a window. A cool breeze blew into his face before he turned around and sat back in bed.
NimbusRider says: Kata?
Katagirl says: Martial arts huh? Let me guess, you're a student or member of one of the Satan Dojo's?
Gohan cringed. That would be the day. He knew it was the popular thing, in fact for most of his life he had been oblivious to the whole fiasco about the world champ and Cell. But as soon as he'd started interning, he'd realized that the whole world worshipped Hercule, heck most of the guys in his office wanted to be Hercule. And most of the women...well, they wanted to be with Hercule. It was insane!
He could only deduce that Kata, being a fan of martial arts, also had a crush on the fake and hairy world saviour. How depressing.
NimbusRider says: Um...no. I don't affiliate with any Satan Dojo. I know he's a hero and all, but to be honest, I'm not really into his style.
Katagirl says: Oh?
NimbusRider says: I just find him loud and silly. No offense if you're a fan. I know he's the people's hero.
Katagirl says: He's not your hero then? He did save the world you know.
NimbusRider says: Sure, and that's great. I'm still not a fan though. I practice the old school styles. That's what I'm most comfortable with.
Katagirl says: Well you're certainly the first person I've ever met or interacted with that doesn't worship Mr Satan.
NimbusRider says: Sorry if it's disappointing, I'm just being honest.
Katagirl says: Meh, don't apologise - it's kinda refreshing. Sooo...if Phoenix is not your hero, lol, aaaaand the world champ is not your hero. Is there anyone you admire at all?
NimbusRider says: Absolutely
Katagirl says: ?
NimbusRider says: I think Son Goku is the greatest hero that ever lived. One on one, Phoenix vs Son Goku is a no brainer :p
Katagirl says: Hey! Don't bash my Phoenix! You don't even know what he's capable of!
NimbusRider says: Lol. Nuh, it's only because you don't know what Son Goku is really capable of either. He'd win with his hands tied behind his back.
Katagirl says: Pshh! Grab a Phoenix comic book first, then come and tell me about Son Goku. You know, I've watched all the old tapes of his tournaments, he was pretty awesome. Never seen a little kid that fearless.
NimbusRider says: X-D
Katagirl says: X-D
NimbusRider says: I have a good mind to sneak into my brother's room and go through his comic book collection. You've made me curious about this Phoenix guy.
Katagirl says: Do it!
NimbusRider says: Okay give me a minute.
Katagirl says: Noooo! Don't! I was just kidding.
NimbusRider says: Heh heh...so was I. I'm too lazy to sneak around right now.
Katagirl says: Good. Now tell me about this morning when you got caught sleeping on the job. Did you get into trouble?
NimbusRider says: Well, actually, what happened was...
And so another night filled with the sound of clicking keystrokes continued.
That's the chapter. What do you guys think of the story so far?