Angela unlocked the door and opened it, entering into her house. Lazily she threw her hat into a side closet, then plopped her backpack on the coffeetable. Wandering through the house she looked around in curiosity.
"Hey Mom, you home?"
No response. Angela shrugged and went straight for the fridge. Digging around produced some tomatoes and ham lunchmeat. Getting the mustard and mayonaise out, Angela made a sandwich, then turned on the radio and headed for the livingroom. Plopping the sandwich on a tissue, she pulled out her laptop and opened Microsoft Word. Just as she was settled down and ready to write, the doorbell suddenly rang.
Angela rolled her eyes. Talking to people was not her favorite part of life, and the only person likely to come to the Parkers' door was their chatty neighbor Debra Messings. Whether it was to borrow a cup of something or to invite the Parkers somewhere, Debra could be counted on to talk until nightfall. Angela readied in her mind some lie about going to the doctor's office for an appointment or to church or somewhere, anything to get the neighbor on her way quickly.
Opening the door, Angela opened her mouth to give excuse, when she suddenly saw that it wasn't Debra Messings. Instead there was a bearded deliveryman, holding a small package and the necessary papers to receive it.
"Good morning, ma'am." the deliveryman said as he handed over the papers. "Just sign here, please."
She took the paper and the pen offered and signed accordingly. "You know," she said. "you look a lot like Arcturus Mengsk."
The man smiled politely. "I get that sometimes, especially in this neighborhood."
"Oh? You ever play Starcraft?"
"No, I never heard of it. I'm not interested in computer games anyway."
"Okay then, I guess."
Angela handed the papers and pen back, disappointed that he wasn't an adult who had a real life and job but still made time for Starcraft. If she could introduce someone like that to her parents, Angela was certain that they wouldn't limit her playing time to just two hours, but let her make her own decisions instead.
Taking the package and waving a polite goodbye to the nice man, Angela went back inside.
"Hey, if that guy never heard of Starcraft, how did he know that it was a computer game and not some console thing?"
Sitting back down on the couch, she noticed something strange about the package. There was no return address. Suspicious, she shook the box gently. All she could hear was shuffling. She gave quickly into curiosity and opened the package. Inside were dog tags and a camoflage uniform.
"This must have gone to the wrong address..."
She looked at the wrappings again, and sure enough, the address on the package was her own. "Angela Parker" was scrawled heavily with permanent marker above it. Angela picked up the dog tags with growing anxiety, afraid of what it might say.
"Parker, Angela C....62853421....Terran Dominion Alpha Squadron? Is this some kind of prank?"
Picking up the uniform, Angela read the name on it. It was Parker, plain and clear. Turning to the shoulder insignia, it was the exact replica from the game: a red arm holding a red whip that circled around to meet the back of the hand. The Terran Dominion logo. Still curious, Angela took the uniform out of the box. She discovered the black combat boots underneath, looking and smelling brand new. Wondering if it would fit, Angela quickly tried it on. She stood before the long mirror in her mother's room. It was exactly her size, and it fit perfectly. Though she couldn't tell herself why she did it, the girl brushed her her hair back and tucked it neatly into a bun. Topping it off with the camo hat, Angela looked just like a soldier, except for the look of half amazement and half fright.
"Holy crap..."
Angela immediately ran to the kitchen and picked up the phone. The guys had to know this. She remember that they would be playing at Devin's house, so she dialed his home number. What they usually did was pretend to be one person at , then take turns at the computer. James would start out, then when the base was ready, Eric would set the strategy. Devin took over then to see it through. Angela wasn't sure what Kyle did.
Unfortunately, he was the one who picked up the phone.
"Hello? Terry residence."
"Kyle, get Jim now. I need to talk to him."
"Hey baby! We were just talking about you."
"Not now. Something weird happened, and I have to talk to Jim. Now hand the phone to him."
"He's setting a defensive perimeter around our little Zerg base right now. C'mon, girl, you can talk to me. What's wrong in Angie-land?"
"You aren't upset about today?"
"Nah, we're cool, babe. Go ahead now, and tell big daddy Kyle about all your problems."
Angela rolled her eyes. "I just got this package today, and it's this dog tags and BDU uniform that has my name on them."
"No kiddin'. You enlisting, babe? The army did a good job getting you, 'cause I bet you just scare those terrorists right back in their little caves."
"Shut up, Kyle. Anyway, the dog tags say Terran Dominion on them! And the uniform has the arm and whip logo from the game! I'm wearing it right now, and it fits me exactly right. I mean, it's pretty cool, but I don't know where they came from. There's no return address."
"Ooh, wanna know what I'm wearing?"
"Kyle!"
"Hey, hey, chill. I'm just kidding. Well, I didn't send that stuff to you. Ya think the guys pulled this one off?"
"Nah, man. That's not them."
"Hm, I think I better get your Jim off the comp for ya'." Kyle decided. "I think he'll know what to do. Be patient, beautiful, and he'll be right up here for ya." Even though Kyle obviously meant to cover up the reciever, Angela still heard him yell, "Hey Jim, your woman's on the phone!"
The phone was cordless, so while she waited, Angela went back to the livingroom. Searching the box, she found no note or card to explain the weird present. The lettering on the brown paper wrapping was clear and neat; she didn't recognise the handwriting. The dog tags were still on the coffeetable, and Angela reached unconsciously for them. James still wasn't on the phone, so she took the phone from her ear long enough to slip the tags around her neck and tuck them into her shirt.
---
"Hey Jim, your woman's on the phone!"
"Dude man, tell her to chill! I'm trying to rush the noobs!"
"She's all weirded out, man. Somebody sent her a package-"
"Shut up, man! I'm trying to concentrate here. Tell Angie that she can wait a minute."
"Yo man, if something's up with Angie, I think you should go talk to her." Eric said. "You can't just let your girlfriend worry while you play a game."
James sighed. "Fine, you take over then."
He quickly got off of the computer and Eric sat down to take his place. James snatched the phone irritatedly from Kyle and spat out an ill-tempered, "What's going on?"
No response.
"Angie...Angie!"
Silence.
"Talk to me girl..."
Nothing.
Devin approached Kyle and James as the latter placed the phone on its hook. "Hey, what's going on? Is Angie alright?"
"I don't know...she's not answering the phone..." Jim worried. "Dev, you stay here in case she calls back. Me and Kyle will go over there and check things out."