Author's Note: With the last chapter I forgot to mention that Sadness in this story should be thought of as a sort of condition of deep depression where a toon can hardly function. Basically they are hardly aware of the world around them and don't have the motivation to do very much, and thus can't live a normal life. Sadness is also not as easy to shake off as in the actual game; it is quite rare for a toon to be able to recover from Sadness and when they do they often still have some problems. This is just to help eliminate any confusion in the way I'll treat Sadness when it comes up as a subject in the story.

Chapter 2

The headquarters of The Enlightened was a large glass dome building located between The Brrrgh and Donald's Dock. The sunlight there shone down less brilliantly than it had in Toontown Central, and a thin, crisp layer of frost was settled over the grass, which crunched underfoot as Zircon followed Fizzle toward the strange structure.

The young bear could not make out an entrance to the place along the glass wall facing them, and as they stopped in front of the building he turned to look at Fizzle with a puzzled gaze. But the bright red horse paid Zircon no mind as he stepped forward and rapped lightly on the strong one-way glass. A panel of glass directly in front of them lifted up after a moment in response, and the older toon entered the headquarters with the younger toon following.

As the panel of glass lowered back into place, Fizzle strode briskly to the left. Zircon headed after him, looking around himself as he walked. The room they had entered was spacious and bright. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, and three long wooden tables took up one half of the space. The other half was filled by an arrangement of pale gray couches and armchairs, which several toons could be seen occupying. They cast curious stares at the blue bear as he passed by.

The two toons reached a small white marble staircase set into the wall, which they climbed quickly. At the top was a tiny landing and a wooden door that had been painted a pale gray like that of the furniture downstairs. Fizzle knocked on the door, and a voice from within told them quietly, "Come in."

The bright red horse complied, and Zircon followed him into a small room. In the far right corner sat a bed with plain white sheets, and to the left and right of the door through which the two toons had entered there were bookcases. A few odd paintings hung on the room's pale purple walls. Besides this the room was empty, excepting the toon which had told them to enter.

This toon was an average-sized green rabbit. She was staring out of the left side of the room, which looked out onto the frosted landscape that surrounded the building. The rabbit did not turn to look at them as she asked, "Who is that with you, Fizzle?"

"A new recruit," Fizzle responded briefly.

"Ah. I take it that you found him while reporting to Toontown Central?" the green rabbit replied. Her voice was calm and quiet, and it carried a sense of wisdom. The toon herself seemed mysterious, otherworldly even, in the way that she kept staring outside, not even looking at them. There was something about such a simple thing as the way that she stood, tall and straight, that spoke confidence, yet her head was tilted to the side in a sorrowful manner.

"Yes. He was a victim of the attack, and now is separated from his family," Fizzle explained shortly. He added, "It was CATS Corporation, as we suspected."

The rabbit nodded. "They are becoming more daring, and we must become more proactive. We will have a discussion about this now; go tell the others while I speak with our newest recruit."

The bright red horse dipped his head respectfully and then turned, exiting the room wordlessly. Zircon gazed after him for a moment before turning his attention back to the rabbit, who was beginning to speak.

"What is your name?" she asked him quietly.

"Zircon," the blue bear told her.

"Hello, then, Zircon. My name is Faith. I am the leader of The Enlightened," the green rabbit explained. "You have obviously agreed to come here, but I doubt that Fizzle has told you much about our group. He is of a quieter sort."

"All I know is that you are in opposition of CATS Corporation," Zircon agreed.

"Yes, that is correct. We do not tolerate toon discrimination here, and would not wish it to overtake Toontown," Faith replied. She paused for a minute and then inquired thoughtfully, "Perhaps you would like to talk more about CATS Corporation later, and instead have me explain more about our group now, though?"

"That sounds good," the younger toon affirmed.

Faith nodded expectantly, but for several moments she remained quiet, simply gazing outside. Feeling confused, Zircon opened his mouth to say something but closed it once more as the rabbit began to speak.

"If I told you that our world was nothing but a game, Zircon, would you believe me?" she inquired quietly.

The question surprised the younger toon, but he merely replied honestly, "I don't think I would."

"And yet it is the truth," Faith responded with a sigh. Her voice grew softer as she went on to say, "We think so highly of ourselves and all that we do, but the truth is that our world is nothing but a game." The rabbit paused, and then said in a more confident tone, "Yet that means that our world is made of code, and so are we. And if we come to accept this, if we become enlightened to the true state of our world, we can find the way to manipulate the code. Or, as it is more commonly known, to hack."

Now Zircon remembered where he had heard of this organization before. It had been mentioned in a news report about hacking that his parents had been watching one night. The thought made the young toon uneasy, but all he said was, "So you're a group of hackers."

"I suppose we are," Faith responded calmly. She paused for a moment and then added knowingly, "I can imagine what you might think about us now. The word 'hacker' has such a bad reputation in Toontown, after all. We do not get much support."

She paused for a moment and sighed. "Many fear us or hate us. But, Zircon, I should like to remind you that this fear, this hate, it all rises from mere ignorance. They do not understand how we do what we do; they are not enlightened to the truth of our world. And so what we do seems impossible, and they do not understand it. As such they decide that we should be eliminated. They say that we are evil for what we do."

There was true sorrow, true pain, in the rabbit's voice as she spoke. Zircon waited patiently for her to continue. After she had remained silent for several minutes he inquired, "So your organization is a group of hackers standing together to protect yourselves from all of the hate?"

"Something of that nature," Faith agreed solemnly. She ventured, "Hacking is not a mere skill. It is a lifestyle. Every day we must know and accept that our world is but a game. That all that exists around us, including ourselves, is but part of this game. That we can do the impossible and defy all that we were taught was beyond our control."

Suddenly, the rabbit spun around and looked at Zircon for the first time. Her gaze was so intense that it forced the blue bear to remain still. All of the sorrow seemed to have melted away, leaving behind a strong, confident leader.

"The question now Zircon is whether this lifestyle is for you. You already agreed to come here, but now that you know more about us you may not want to stay. Should you wish to remain here and become enlightened?" Faith asked him seriously.

Throughout their conversation, the young toon had found himself intrigued by this strange rabbit and her explanation of hacking. Now, she was asking him if he wanted to join them and learn more. The opportunity was terribly exciting, and Zircon knew that he wanted to become part of this group. For a moment, though, he was reminded of his missing family and his old life, but such thoughts had shortly slipped out of his mind once more.

"I want to be enlightened," Zircon answered confidently.

Faith nodded expectantly. "Welcome then, Zircon. You will join us now, and once you have accepted the truth of our world you will truly be one of us."