"Two players spotted me and immediately drew their weapons. With you on my back I was an easy target. They came at me fast and I just had time to draw my katana. The first player rushed me and slammed me with his shield. I blocked it but I had to drop you. He charged at me again with his shield, pushing me away. He stood between me and you. The other player rushed to your body all I could do was cry out 'Don't hurt him!' "

"That got their attention, the player that attacked me took a defensive stance, 'Stay where you are.' he ordered. He turned his head slightly to the side and addressed the other player. 'How is he, is he alive?' he asked 'Seems like it, it's hard to tell what's wrong with him, but his health is fine.' the other player told him. My attacker turned back to me 'What do you want with this player, what did you do to him?' he asked"

"I quickly explained the situation and indicated I was headed back to town. 'Put down your weapon and explain yourself." he commanded. I sheathed my katana and I showed him my empty hands. If they had wanted to kill me, I probably would have been dead already. I told them what had happened and that we were in a party. They thought I was a player killer. They hadn't bothered to look at my cursor."

"They were kind enough to help me get you back to town once the misunderstanding was cleared up." Karla said. "Wait a minute." I interrupted. "They just offered this out of the kindness of their hearts?" I asked. Karla fidgeted sheepishly, "Well I sort of got them to agree to help me." she lied. I raised my eyebrows "Oh really?" I chided. Karla grimaced, "Ok! Ok! I got on their case. I told them, that they accused me without knowing and attacked me without reason. I went on about how hard it was in your state. They were quite apologetic after that, so I told them I would forgive them if they carried you back to town."

"So that took care of getting you to a safe zone. Also now you were now away from prying eyes. I don't know how I would have explained it to anyone who asked, it's not like I knew what was going on anyway. I sat on my bed waiting for something to happen, you'd been out for a while now. It was like being in a hospital room after an accident waiting for the patient to come out of a coma."

"I asked myself why you were in such a state. I realized that was a pointless question, I would never really find out a reason for your state, or for our being here in the first place, for that matter. But at least I could try to find out what was causing your coma. I certainly wasn't going to get any information just sitting there. So I sent you a message that I'd be back in an hour, in case you'd wake up before I got back."

"I headed for the marketplace, a lot of players hung out there and maybe someone had an insight on your condition. I asked around and got all kinds of answers. I even got ridiculous suggestions on how to wake you. Someone said you were a deep sleeper, another said you were drunk. At the opposite end some said you were dead and didn't blow up because of a problem with the program. One even suggested that you would awaken as a zombie."

"It's only once I started asking about it in the pub that I got a better answer. Most players couldn't be bothered with me until someone said it reminded him of the people who had passed out in waves after we were all trapped in the game. Other players then chimed in: 'He's lost his network connection', or 'they're transferring him to another hospital', or 'maybe there's a power failure'. One player made my blood run cold. 'If he doesn't reconnect within an hour, he'll be dead.' I ran out of the pub all the way to the inn."

"You were still there. Lying on your back, as if asleep. Then it sunk in: though you weren't dead, it was only a matter of time. You had passed an hour already, any minute you'd just vanish. I was shaking all over. I sat on the side of your bed and held on to you. Every minute was tedious but I wasn't going to let go till the very end."

"Then you suddenly awoke, sitting straight up in the bed flailing your arms. I fell backward on the floor. The rest you know." Karla concluded. "You were awake as if nothing happened. It was the weirdest thing I'd experienced up to now and I had managed to freak myself out over it. That's why I was so drained after you told me what had happened. Even if you were out for just over an hour."

"Wait a minute. That was only an hour? I thought I'd been out for days." I said as I suddenly realized how much time I had actually been out. "That's amazing, I guess I really had no notion of time while I was out." I pondered "Well, it's a good thing for you. You didn't have to worry too long. I guess I was disconnected. I wish I knew why." I whined.

"It scares me Wolf." Karla admitted. "It scares me that no matter what we do, we're so vulnerable. There's no one to turn to, no higher power to appeal to, no law to claim was violated. The game can decide to kill us anytime it sees fit. And with a madman controlling it there's no telling what he'll do. I hope they clear the game soon." she sighed.

"It's strange. I use to feel safe online, it was the escape from reality. No one could hurt you physically. The game was just that: a game. But here, the environment can kill you, monsters can kill you, the system could kill if it wanted to, even players can take you out. It's enough to go insane, I've seen it happen." Karla said.

"You'll be fine." I cut in, "You're levelheaded and smart, it would take a lot to break you. I've told you before: you don't give yourself enough credit. Anyways, we don't have any control over the game, all we can do is make the most of it and face what's thrown at us head on." I told Karla, but in some way I was telling myself at the same time. "I say we don't give up. I know I won't, no matter what we have to face." I asserted. Karla nodded and said:

"Neither will I"