Lea opens her eyes, seeing the now familiar walls of her home. She slowly sits up in her bed. No dreams last night. One minute she lied down to sleep, and the next it's a new day. Or at least that's how it feels to her.
Lea stretches her arms. Except, she doesn't have muscles the way a human does, so she doesn't need to stretch. Lea has some vague memory that stretching is something she used to do… Or rather, she remembers Shizuka doing it. Lea lowers her arms and sighs. She is still getting used to the idea that, technically, her life only began fairly recently in Cross Worlds. She closes her eyes. Lea is glad to have a home of her own here. But occasionally, she can't help but think of Shizuka's world outside the game…
In that moment, Lea remembers something very important. It took a minute to come back to her after waking up. She has a date today. An early date in fact, which means she has limited time to prepare. She opens her eyes, and jumps out of bed. This is no time to be thinking about the past, or some planet she'll never see. She has another date with Luke today. That is what matters right now.
Lea starts preparing for the day. She can't change her outfit, so she simply walks out of her bedroom. She can't shower either, so she walks to the kitchen. She looks around. The devs have been changing stuff lately, so eating for fun is an option now. Except she doesn't have any food in the house. She decides to make a mental note to get some later. But for right now, she just shrugs. It's not like she needs to eat anyway. So, having skipped breakfast, showering, and changing, she is now ready for the day.
"Lea." She says to herself. Saying her own name like that has become a habit of sorts. Something she says when she achieves something, or is about to take something on.
Lea steps outside into the day, feeling the warmth of the sun. The weather is always predictable in Cross Worlds. Sometimes Lea would prefer more variety. But today, she's glad for the predictability. She and Luke agreed to meet in Autumn's Fall, where they plan to go on a long walk together. They agreed to try sticking to areas where they are less likely to run into other players. She silently hopes they can manage to have some privacy. She remembers that there are a few hidden, hard to reach places they could go…
"Hello, Lea!" she hears a voice say. She snaps out of her reverie. She looks around. There are a bunch of other people around, going back and forth. All evotars. When she first came to live in Homestedt, there were only a couple other people there. But now, the village has become populated with a variety people, and real estate is becoming scarce.
"Over here." The voice said again. Lea turns toward the sound. She sees C'Tron behind a group of people. He waves at her, and she waves back. She jogs over to where he is.
"Hi!" Lea says in her usual friendly way.
"Good morning, Lea." C'tron says. "Our little town has gotten more busy, hasn't it?" He says this as he looks over at the market area across the way. There are several people walking around browsing for wares. Lea nods in response to his question.
"I'm planning to head to Kulero Temple and see If there are any hidden areas I missed before." He says. "How about you?"
Lea opens her mouth, and then closes it. She holds up a finger. "Wait." She says. She looks in her inventory, and pulls out her board that enables her to "speak". She begins typing.
"I have a date." She "says" to him. Toby's mouth forms an "O" shape, and then widens into a smile.
"Ah, right." He says. "I heard you were seeing someone. Luke, right?"
Lea nods.
"I'm happy for you." He says while adjusting the glasses on his face. "So, what is- "
Before he can finish, there is a sudden noise. Lea pauses. She knows that sound very well. It's a request for a D-Link. Lea again tells C'tron to wait, and opens the channel. As Lea opens the screen, she sees Luke. Lea's face brightens.
"Hi!" she says, with a little more enthusiasm then when she greeted C'tron. They look at each other in the strange virtual space of the D-Links.
"Holero, Lea." Luke says. He smiles at her with half lidded eyes, as he so often does when the two of them are talking privately. "I've been up for a little while and… Say, do you know if the developers added any kind of cosmetic upgrade recently?"
Lea raises her eyebrows. She begins typing. "I didn't hear anything."
"Oh." He says. "I only ask because you look especially pretty today."
Lea blinks, and then she starts to blush, and a goofy smile spreads across her face. "Thanks." She says with her own voice.
"You're very welcome." Luke says. "Now Lea, I know we have a date soon. And I'll definitely be there. Autumn's Fall, by the big statue, right?"
Lea nods.
"Good. But first, I want to finish up here. I'm in Gaia's Garden. I feel like I didn't really get a chance to explore this place that thoroughly before, so I'm taking a look around now. Actually, I just entered Basin Keep. Just looking around and seeing what zeug they have."
Lea doesn't always know what his German words mean, but she nods.
"Anyway, I'll be there in about an hour. See you then?" he says.
"See you." She types. They say goodbye, and the communication ends.
"I take it that was Luke?" C'tron says. Lea nods. "Well, I guess I'm going to head off to the temple now." He says. "Unless you want me to stay and talk?"
Lea pauses for a moment, and looks downward. She shakes her head, and types a response. "I'm fine. Have fun."
"Alright." He says. "I'll see you later then." Within seconds he teleports away. For the moment, Lea is alone. Except for all the evotars walking about. Lea looks around a moment. She needs to find a way to kill time until she meets up with Luke. Not enough time to go on a quest. Not that there are many left to do at this point.
Lea navigates her way through the crowd of neighbors towards the market stalls. She looks around. There are weapons, which she doesn't need. No need of armor either. The food stall does interest her though. She's eaten many times before, but only just recently has become able to taste anything. After perusing the goods, she buys some sandwiches and fruit. She decides to save them for later. Having done that, she checks the time. Only ten minutes have passed. She sighs.
Lea leaves the stalls, and spends another five minutes walking aimlessly. Then, on a whim, she gets an idea. Does she have to wait around? Will Luke mind if she joins him in Basin Keep? They can go to Autumn's Fall together when he's done his shopping. This idea is much more appealing to her then waiting around. She doesn't spend time thinking about it, instead electing to just instantly fast travel to Basin Keep.
***
Lea materializes in the middle of Basin Keep. As she appears, she sees the city before her, but some artifacts from the transport remain in front of her for a moment. The trip also seemed to take slightly longer than usual. She blinks a few times and looks around. Everything appears normal now.
Lea looks up, feeling the familiar rain steadily falling down. The sound of the rain falling creates a constant white noise all around. Gaia's Garden is the one place in The Playground where it actually rains. Sometimes that makes it worth visiting. And there are a few other things about it Lea finds appealing too.
As Lea is pondering this, an NPC bumps into her, breaking her line of thought. It walks away, oblivious. Lea shrugs, and decides to go find Luke. She makes a straight line for the market area, which is just down the steps. After heading down and avoiding the NPCs, she finds the stalls. People, or rather more NPCs, selling all kinds of wares. Lea knows the NPCs are not like the evotars or players. Everything they say is scripted. All of their behavior is preprogrammed. She still likes to treat them as people though.
She weaves through the crowd and the stalls, and then finds Luke near the spooky stall that Lea herself had a hand in. She smiles earnestly at seeing him. She jogs closer to him while waving.
"Hi!" she says. Luke turns and sees her.
"Lea?" he says. "What are you doing here?" Rather than looking happy to see her, he appears taken aback, and confused. Lea pauses. In that moment, she wonders if maybe he is unhappy she came. He walks over.
"I thought we were going to meet at Autumn's fall." He says. "I said I would be an hour." His tone is neutral. Lea's smile is gone. Maybe coming here wasn't a good idea? She lowers her head a little, but while still looking at him.
"Hi?" she says more quietly.
Luke sighs. "Lea, use your words. Your board, I mean."
Lea blinks, and then quickly pulls out her speech board. "Wanted to meet here. Couldn't wait." Lea stops typing, and then says, "Sorry" with her voice.
Luke raises an eyebrow, and then chuckles. "Is that all? I thought something had happened. And you don't need to apologize." Lea lifts her head and gives a small smile.
He walks closer to her and touches her chin. "So, you couldn't wait to see me, ja?" Lea's face reddens and her mouth drops a little.
"Wait." She says while holding up her hands. Luke laughs.
"I'm just teasing you a little." He says, smiling. Lea looks away while furrowing her brow.
Luke sighs again. "Okay, seriously Lea. I just wanted to look around a little more, but if you want to start our date now, I'm more than fine with that."
Lea's eyes turn back to him. She quickly forgets her embarrassment. She nods.
Luke looks back. "Well, I was going to check out that haunted adventure thing. Sound fun?" Lea quickly shakes her head.
"No way." She types.
Luke raises his eyebrows. "Are you scared?"
Lea starts typing. "Been there. Bad time."
"Ah." Luke says. "Well then, let's just head to Autumn's Fall. No point in hanging around here, ja?" Lea nods.
"Alright, then let's go." Luke and Lea both prepare to fast travel at the same time. Lea opens up the map. She finds the location in Autumn's Fall. But nothing happens. She cannot teleport. She looks over and sees that Luke hasn't left either.
"You too?" he said. Lea nods. They both try again.
"Hmm." Luke says. "Must be some kind of glitch. Let's try using the hub transport." Lea follows his lead as they head back up the steps towards the same landmark where Lea came in. They walk up to it. They do not teleport. Lea and Luke both look at each other.
"Well, this isn't good." He said. "Should we wait, or…?"
Lea lifts her head as something occurs to her. "Wait." She says. She checks in her list of contacts. She sees that Emilie is online. Lea sends a request. Within seconds, Emilie appears in the D-link.
"Bonjour, Cherie." Emilie says. There is a cheeriness in her voice. "I only just logged on a few minutes ago. Did you want to team up?" Lea shakes her head. She types.
"I'm with Luke. Going to Autumn's Fall."
Emilie's face brightens. "Oh really? Another date, is it?" Lea nods.
"Good for you. Be sure to tell me all the details later."
Lea pauses. "Or, if you don't want to, I could always ask Monsieur Luke." Emilie says. "I'm sure he'd tell me." Emilie says this while grinning, with a twinkle in her eye.
Lea's mouth gapes. She types down, "Emilie!" Emilie laughs.
"I'm just teasing Lea, I wouldn't do that." Emilie says. Lea sighs.
"It is nice to hear you say my name though." Emilie says. "Of course, it would be nicer if it was with your voice. By the way, was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"
Lea nods. "We can't leave." She types.
"What do you mean?" Emilie says.
"No fast travel."
"Oh, really? Let me try. Hold on a minute." Emilie ends the D-Link. Lea waits for a response. After a minute, Emilie calls back.
"Looks like you're right." Emilie says. Her cheerful demeanor diminishes. There is a hint of annoyance in her voice. "I couldn't fast travel. I couldn't even walk outside the zone I'm in. I'm stuck in Sapphire Ridge, with these giant bugs. This sucks. Sergei just told me the other day about that ultimate experience cup in the arena that you did. He said he would let me and the first scholars try it, and I was going to do it today. But now, non!"
"Sorry…" Lea says in a soft tone.
"Oui. Its not the end of the world or anything. But I hope its fixed sometime today, or else I'll have to do real life stuff."
"Sounds terrible." Lea types.
"Yeah, I…" Emilie pauses. "Ah, sorry Lea. Just… forget I said that."
"Its okay." Lea types.
"Listen, if I get a chance to do the experience today, do you want to come and watch? I think I'd do better with you cheering me on. You can bring someone if you want."
"Sure."
"Great. I guess I'll talk to you later then."
"Bye."
The conversation comes to an end. Luke looks expectantly at her. "Well?" he asks. Lea explains that Emilie can't leave her area, so they are probably stuck in Gaia's Garden for the time being.
"Well, that's great." Luke says. "I guess we need to hold off for another day." He doesn't try to hide the disappointment in his voice. Lea lowers her eyelids. She folds her arms, grabbing her elbows.
"I'm disappointed too." Luke says. "But what can we do?" Lea looks around. She tilts her head a little.
"Why not here?" she asks with her board.
"Here?" he says.
"Date on the town." She says, her face lifting.
Luke strokes his chin with his hand. "Hmm… Wouldn't be my first choice for a date."
"But its so… big." Lea types, and then spreads her arms, indicating the size.
Luke looks at her for a moment, and then grins. "Well when you put it that way… I guess we could take a walk around town. Too bad there's no movie theater we can go to."
The two of them stand there as the unending rain pours down at the same steady rate. Lea looks around. She then turns her head upward. She smiles, and starts typing. "Have you been there?"
Luke follows her gaze, squinting through the pouring rain. "Up there? On the roofs? No, I can't say I have. Why, have you?" Lea nods.
"Want to?" she types.
Luke shrugs. "Sure, why not?"
"Follow me." Lea types. She turns and starts running in a certain direction with her arms trailing behind her. After a second, Luke starts chasing after her. Lea leads him into the Pond Slums, the dirty part of town. They pass by garbage bags and shady looking characters. Not that there's any real danger. Lea glances back at Luke, and then heads into a dark alley.
"Not how I pictured our date going." Luke mutters behind her. Lea stops at a bunch of crates and then jumps up high. She looks down. Luke looks up at her, and laughs.
"Alright, at least this isn't boring." He says. He jumps up too. Lea jumps higher, going all the way up to the roof, where he follows. Once they make it to the top, Lea pauses.
"I'll admit, I never knew you could come up here." Luke says. "Where to now?" Lea looks at him, and then back over at the ledge on the opposite side. She points.
Luke looks from Lea to where she's pointing. He nods. "As, I see. We jump over. Wanna race?"
Lea considers for a second, and then nods.
Luke smiles. "Okay… Go!" He starts running. Lea opens her mouth, but then starts running too. They begin racing, but Luke has a head start. He reaches the edge of the roof and jumps, but stumbles when he hits the other side. Lea jumps over and passes him as he recovers. He chases her across the second roof. The rain makes it a little hard to see where the ledges are. Even so, they jump again, almost even. On the next roof, Luke barrels ahead, while Lea veers right.
"Wait!" Lea yells.
Luke glances back. "What?" He stumbles, and teeters over the edge of the roof. Lea grabs his hand and pulls him back.
"Uh, thanks." Luke says. "You've been up here before, so you had the advantage."
Lea shrugs while holding her palms up.
"Well, we're up here now." Luke says. "What do you want to show me?"
"Look." Lea types, and points out to the city. Luke turns his head and looks to the edge of the building, and the city beyond. Both the streets below and the high rises above. Luke walks over to the edge, and Lea follows. The two of them stand beside each other looking out at the tall buildings, and street lights, and glowing signs. All of the people bustling to and fro below. They listen to the sound of a hundred different things happening. The rain continues to fall all around, and some of the people on the ground carry umbrellas while going about their apparent business.
"Junge, quite a view." Luke says. Lea nods. "So, this is what we came up here for." He says. She nods again.
"It does give us some privacy." Luke says. He turns to Lea. "I don't know about you, but I'd like to sit and rest a minute." He sits down on the edge of the roof, legs dangling. Lea follows his lead and sits beside him. For a minute they just sit there, observing everything. Luke leans back on his hands and sighs.
"This actually reminds me of the place I used to live." He says. "You know, before Crossworlds."
"Really?" Lea types.
"Ja. I lived in a city quite like this. I can't remember the name… But looking out on this city…"
"Yeah?" Lea looks at him expectantly.
Luke furrows his brow, and crinkles his nose. "It's kind of ugly. Don't get me wrong, it has its charm. But its so brown and dreary. But still… It feels familiar. Almost comforting. Maybe even a little nostalgic." He turns to face Lea. "What about you? Do you remember what your home was like, before…". Lea lowers her eyes, and shakes her head.
"Oh. Sorry, I shouldn't have asked about- "
"Its okay." Lea types. "This is home." She watches the people, both real and fake, passing by below, the droplets of water passing over her eyes. Like Luke, she also feels a sense of nostalgia from it, although she has no specific memories of a place like this. Lea feels Luke's hand on her shoulder. She turns to see him facing her. He's close. His expression is serious.
"Lea, I just want to say…" Lea looks into his eyes. A sudden noise blares, and startles her. She shifts on the ledge, and loses her balance, falling over. Lea looks up as she falls, seeing Luke. Suddenly, everything stops.
"Hello, Lea." Sergey is speaking to her. Lea is frozen in midair as he is speaking, or at least that's how it seems to her. "Is this a bad time?" he asks. Lea makes a face.
"I'll take that as a yes. I just wanted you to know that I heard about the situation. Instataiment is doing an update, and it's causing some technical issues. It is expected to be fixed soon. Probably later today. I'm going to see if there's anything I can do to help. I just wanted to let you know."
"Thanks." Lea says. Her tone is ambiguous.
"I'll let you get back to what you were doing." He says.
Time resumes, and Lea falls. The street below comes up on her. She lands safely on her feet, unharmed. Lea looks around awkwardly. She looks up at Luke, only to see him already jumping down after her. Her lands a few feet away.
"Junge, for a second there I forgot we can't get hurt by falling. Except when we can."
Lea chuckles. Luke stretches his arms. "So, what happened?" he asks. Lea briefly explains what Sergei said.
"Well, that's good news." He says. "So, what now? Do you want to resume this later?"
Lea shakes her head and types. "Why stop now?"
"Okay. Then, what would you say to heading outside, into the Garden? We can still do that, right?"
"I think so." She types.
"Let's find out." Together, they head outside.
***
Their footsteps make clanking sounds as they walk across the bridge leading to (or in this case from) the city. The rain continues to fall, until they step off the walkway and onto the grass, at which point it immediately stops. The dreariness of the city gives way to the sun speckled foliage of the open garden.
After getting out into the sun, Lea stops and looks at Luke, getting her board ready to ask him a question. As she turns towards him, she stops. He is standing there slowly moving his head back and forth. His mouth hangs slightly.
"What is it?" Lea types. She could have said "what" with her own voice, but those two extra words make the question more precise and direct. She is grateful to be able to express herself like that after being monosyllabic for so long. Luke blinks, and glances at her, reading her words.
"Oh, I was just thinking… how beautiful this all is." He says.
"Beautiful?" Lea types. Luke opens his mouth to say something. But just as he's about to speak, a couple of player characters walk by. They don't appear to notice Lea and Luke. They are talking about how they've been playing for a few hours, and need a break from the game. They talk about what they're going to do later in real life. They pass by, heading into the city. Luke and Lea stand there for a moment.
Lea glances back at them, and then looks at Luke. She frowns a little, but not at him. "Luke." She types.
"Let's go someplace a little more quiet." He says. "I followed you up to the roofs, so this time I lead, ja?" Lea nods. Luke starts walking forward and she follows behind. He periodically looks back and forth as though he's looking for something but isn't sure where it is. They walk like that for about ten minutes, occasionally passing players, and avoiding shokats. Lea is more familiar with the place then he is, so she helps to keep them from wandering into dead ends. She wonders if he is looking for something specific, but decides to keep quiet for the moment.
After those ten minutes, Luke finally stops. He stops suddenly, so Lea ends up walking into his back. She backs up a step and realizes that they have made it to a lake. Its an area that she's been to before. But then, there are very few areas in Shadoon (or rather, the Playground) that she hasn't been to.
Lea touches his arm with her hand. He looks over, and she types a question. "Stop here, Luke?"
He smiles slightly. "Yeah. Here is good." They both walk over to the lake, and then sit down together, much like how they did on the rooftop. They look out on the blue lake before them. There are no players around. For the time being at least, they are alone.
Lea looks through her inventory, and pulls out some food. She presents Luke with a sandwich, while holding another one for herself. He smiles, with a little more warmth this time, and takes it. They sit together and eat the food. Lea has eaten many sandwiches in the game, but those were for healing purposes. These are just regular sandwiches. They have no healing power, and no nutritional value. But they taste quite good.
"Thank you, Lea." Luke says. "I just wish the developers would add something to let us get drunk."
Lea smiles at the remark. But then she notices him getting that same look on his face as from before. He gazes distantly at nothing in particular, but seems enraptured with something.
"Luke." Lea types. "You said its beautiful."
Luke again turns to look at her. "Isn't it?" Lea looks around.
"Its nice." She says.
Luke nods. "Ja. The city reminded me of my old home. But this gives me a different feeling. Not a place I've ever been to. I've never been to a jungle in the real… in the old world. To actually see all this up close?"
"Its very nice." Lea types.
Luke sighs. "I guess I'm just comparing it to my old city. Where I used to live. Maybe I'm still not over it. Losing it." He runs his hand through his hair. "Sometimes I also think about Lukas. You know, the other me."
"You're you, he's him." Lea types.
Luke looks up at the now clear sky. "I know, I know. But I used to be him. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against him. But sometimes I think about the life he's still living. The life I would be living if I never came here."
Lea looks out at the lake as he says this. She doesn't remember "being Shizuka", so cannot entirely relate. But that doesn't mean she can't sympathize. "I'm glad you're here." She types on her board.
Luke is quiet for a moment. "I'm glad you're here too." He says after a long moment. "We only could have met and… gotten close here. I can't imagine me… I mean, Lukas and Shizuka getting close in real life."
Hearing him say this, Lea suddenly has a mental image of Lukas and Shizuka in a relationship. It's a rather fuzzy image though, since its so hard to imagine. Lea is actually weirded out at the thought of it. She is definitely not Shizuka. And in time, Luke may become more different from Lukas. She suddenly feels Luke's hand on her shoulder, and turns.
"I guess there is one reason to be glad I'm an evotar." He says. "Even if you're the only reason."
Lea looks him in the eye for a moment, and then turns and gazes at the water for a minute. The distant sounds of the jungle continue around them as they sit there. Then she starts typing again. "Vacations are easier."
"What? Vacations?" Luke says. He raises an eyebrow.
"Beach. Snowy Mountain."
Luke rubs his chin. "Ja. And a bamboo forest with bug warriors."
"A cozy village." Lea types. Luke's warm smile returns as he looks into her eyes.
"Homestedt." He says.
"Home." She says.
He smiles at her a moment. But then lowers his eyes, and furrows his brow slightly. "It doesn't bother you that it's all… fake?"
In contrast to Luke, Lea looks up at the sky. Then, she looks at the trees, and the water, and even the creatures she can see in the distance. Finally, she looks back at Luke again. "Real enough."
Luke looks at her a second, and then chuckles. "Real enough. Ja." They sit there a minute, gazing into each other's eyes.
"You know, you really do have the prettiest red eyes." Luke says. Lea feels her face warm, but maintains her gaze. She moves a little closer. Luke, in turn, moves closer to her. They're right next to each other. Lea intertwines her fingers with his. Luke leans in. Lea tilts her head. Their lips touch. Lea closes her eyes.
It feels real to her.