Chapter 3
Now it was May 22nd, which meant another day went by where the campus would remain open until the end of the week. So far, Kate's research in regards to Anti and Dark had been… bumpy to say the least. Just as it seemed she was getting some new information, something blocked her from acquiring it and learning more about how the two entities possessed their significant host. The only lead she had was that thumb drive Jenna mentioned, the one holding photos and videos of Jenna's brother when he went to that Pax convention. The same one Markiplier and Jacksepticeye, along with many other internet stars, attended. It was the only lead she had and just when she was about to get it, she was taken away before Jenna could give it to her. Kate needed to get that thumb drive no matter what, and prayed that Jenna still had it.
That was why she got up as early as she could, preparing for the day by making breakfast for Dark and Anti. Setting the food and plates on the counter so they would be fed. The woman also wrote a note on the counter, telling the two roommates that she would be at her college and may not get home until tonight. If they needed anything, she instructed that they should call her on her cell phone, so she left them her number. Hopefully this wouldn't cause Anti to use his glitchy powers to drag her back to her room from a computer. She already dealt with that plenty of times before, and none of them were fun for her.
After tending to Oliver, Kate petted her pug's head and began to head out. Her main issue at the start of her day was lack of personal transportation. Apparently Anti couldn't bother to teleport her bike from the campus to her house, which meant that she couldn't ride it to the college. And it already took an hour to get there on bike to begin with, so there was no way she would be walking three times that rate. In the end, the poor woman was forced to take the bus as her way of reaching her destination. That alone was a long journey in itself. She had to walk half a mile just to get to the nearest bus station, where she had to wait fifteen minutes until the vehicle finally arrived. At that point, it was one stop after another as she waited for them to get off and on, which took up more of her time. Forty more minutes passed before she arrived at the station she needed to get off, and then it was walking another half a mile just to get to the building itself.
Kate dreaded the very notion of relying on public rides, she believed that had she walked instead, the outcome would have been the same. Still, she somehow managed to get there before eleven in the morning. A pretty reasonable time, according to the blond. First, she decided to go to the bike rack to ensure her own wheels were still secured. Relief flooded her body as Kate was able to see her green bike, still chained up and in working condition. "Not sure if I should be grateful for the strong security to ensure it didn't get stolen, or the lack of having the staff not report it to the police." Still, she would be sure to take her ride home once she got what she needed here.
Heading through the doors, she looked around the lobby but was curious as the place seemed dead. There wasn't a single soul wandering about the main entrance, especially at the front desk where they checked the students. "That's odd… I've never seen the building this quiet before, especially around this time." Kate noted to herself, taking in the silence. It wasn't eerie, just more uncommon than anything else. "Hopefully Jenna's here. I need to find her and see if she has that hard drive."
With her goal locked on, Kate headed down the halls and rooms of the campus, searching for the black haired girl with the glasses. She would have to explain to Jenna why she left so suddenly last night, which would be an excuse for her having to head home to check up on Oliver. Hopefully that would be convincing enough for Jenna to understand. As Kate headed down the halls, she took a look in some of the class rooms. They were just as empty as the hallways and the entrance. "That's odd… Some of these rooms should have at least a few people. Where is everyone?" Kate started to feel a bit uneasy knowing that she was the only living person in the college. Sure, at times it could be this quiet but even then there should have been around a dozen or so wandering around one wing. She looked into another classroom, still just as unfilled. "Maybe some people finished their work early, that they are just waiting to graduate and not needing to come to school until then." Kate believed it made sense. Usually if they had finished their tasks for the semester, students wouldn't need to come back to campus anyways. The only reason she returned was because she needed the resources to do her personal research. Once she got what she needed, she planned on leaving the campus though. Mostly because it would seem weird for Kate to keep returning even though she had finished her final project.
Getting back on track, Kate ventured through the campus, finding the computer lab she was in yesterday, where she and Jenna were doing the testing on the Minecraft Mods. She walked right in, looking around but unfortunately, there was no sign of the raven-haired woman. Was she not here today? "Jenna should be here, she should still have some mods she needed to finish testing." Kate decided to check the lab, to see if there was a sign that Jenna was here and nearby. The blond noticed a familiar bag spread out across the desk near a computer. She recognized this bag immediately. "Jenna's backpack… so she is here!" Kate concluded. Yet something didn't sit right, she looked at the bag closer and noticed something off. "Wait… it's in the same position she laid it down last night." She was certain as she remembered Jenna placing her bag here while she went out to go locate her other backpack, since she believed that was where she left the thumb drive. Did she forget her bag here? Kate doubted someone as thorough as Jenna would leave their backpack in the same spot, and it didn't seem to have been touched since last night. Even the zippers were still open from when she searched around!
Kate looked around for any clues about Jenna's whereabouts, until she turned towards the monitor closest to the bag, seeing that the Minecraft login server was still there. At first, Kate believed Jenna must have started it up so she could test out the rest of her modifications on the game. However, the screen looked different than what was normally presented. There was a neighborhood that she was seeing in the background, not just the land itself. There were houses with different colored walls and roofs, but they all looked pretty big. Did Jenna make a different server? "Huh… either Jenna expanded on the server she was on, or she found a new one." Kate concluded, not sure which theory was correct.
Still, she noticed that there was the login screen. Jenna's name and email was on there, so that proved that she was here and logged in. But, if she was already playing, why was it still on the title sequence? Unless she stepped away to do something? Yet her bag was still here and she probably wouldn't just up and leave it unsupervised. Kate was confused, and part of her felt that she should leave and locate Jenna somewhere else. That was until she looked back at the monitor, seeing the information that was put in the boxes had suddenly disappeared. Wasn't it filled before? With Jenna's information?
The blond knew it was foolish, but she had to test what was happening. Perhaps this was Anti's doing? Maybe his powers were still in the computer? Kate reached for the keys and punched in the information she used to create her own avatar. After that, Kate expected herself to be taken to the server. "I wonder if any of Jenna's mods are still activated? Hopefully she won't mind if I- '' Kate stopped in her tracks as the screen shifted from that of the Minecraft map, to a human figure. It seemed to have been a female, wearing a lilac dress with pure snow wings made out of feathers. She had a violet shawl over her shoulders and a hood covering her light black hair. Her eyes were white, no pupils or irises in them. Kate jumped back at the sudden image that appeared. "Wait… what's going on?" She questioned, eyes wide as she thought she might have broken the game.
"Stand still, new user, as I will scan you into the server."
Kate merely stared at the figure on the screen, still baffled at first. She tried to come up with a logical theory, and believed that since this was Jenna's computer, she had to have been behind it. The blond let out a slight chuckle. "Oh, I get it. This must be another one of-" She couldn't finish her sentence as her body felt cold once more. A feeling she was all too familiar with. Before she knew it, she was blinded by light as she no longer had control over her being. Everything happened in a flash, but she was taken from the small confinement of the computer lab, and placed in an outdoor world.
By the time she managed to regain her vision, she felt herself slowly fall a foot from the ground. She nearly landed on her bottom had it not been for her steady feet. "Gaah! What the?!" Kate turned around, seeing herself in the wilderness of sorts. Green fields, lushy bushes and trees, as far as the eyes could see. "W-where am I? How did I get here?" She turned her head around, gathering her surroundings before she looked at her body to see if anything happened. To her horror, she saw that it had changed. There were more edges on her form, block-like to be exact. "Where are my fingers?!" She only had a stub for her arm and no indication where her hands were. As she looked back up, she noticed that everything was square based. The land, the trees, even the clouds above her had edges like blocks. She recognized these textures of graphics…
"Oh crap baskets! I'm in Minecraft!" The blond now understood the gravity of her situation. She paced back and forth on the flat earth while wrapping her mind around this predicament. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh this is fucking bad! So bad I'm using actual swear words!" Kate shouted out loud. Was this Anti's doing? No, she doubted he would have power over Minecraft like this. And Dark was out of the question as well. "That woman on the screen… she must have sent me here!" Kate realized. But who was she? Kate didn't recognize her, but she did have one theory. "She must be another Outcast, just like Anti and Dark." That would explain the powers and how she found herself in the Minecraft world itself. Kate wasn't sure who that woman was, she didn't recognize her as any YouTuber she knew. Probably someone who went to that Pax last autumn? "She must have somehow invaded this computer and hacked into Jenna's server…" Kate realized, as that seemed the most logical conclusion. Suddenly, a thought occurred which made her blocky body jump. "Oh my gosh, Jenna! Her account was already logged into the screen before I came here! She must have gotten sucked into this world as well."
The blond looked around, seeing how calm the Minecraft server was at the moment. "Okay, relax Kate. If Jenna is here, then your best bet is to find her. With her knowledge of this world, she should be fine until I locate her. Before I find a way out, gotta make sure she is safe." Of course, that meant that she needed to explore this place and find that student. Which meant risking herself to monsters such as Creepers, Endermens, Spiders, and what else lived in this world. Still, Kate didn't have much of a choice, given the circumstances thrown onto her. Taking a deep breath, she started to move her feet. It was weird since she only had logs for legs, though there wasn't any pain that radiated when she moved. She was still disturbed by the notion she had no real hands or fingers, but it was something she would have to endure for the time being.
The blond walked around the landscape, going across the grassy plains as she kept her eyes peeled for any living being nearby. Kate doubted that Jenna would risk being out in the open, which meant she was seeking shelter either underground, something she built or to a village with NPC villagers. She didn't know if Jenna managed to find a way to use the tools necessary to create her own shelter. And consider what kind of dangers could be found under the earth in this world, it was unlikely that Jenna would station herself there. The best bet for Kate was to find a Village and see if she had taken refuge there. She thought it wouldn't be too hard to find one. After all, this server was only so big, so there had to be one nearby.
Kate walked around more, heading to the edge where she was greeted by sand. She stood on the shore, looking over to the water before her. She couldn't see anything for miles, indicating how wide the ocean was. There was no way she was going to try and swim across, mainly because she didn't trust this avatar of hers to keep herself on the surface. Still, as she looked down to the pale yellow hue cubes, curiosity got the better of her. "Huh… I kind of wonder what the textures feel like. Guess this will be my only chance, so may as well take it." Without hesitation, Kate reached down to touch the sand. The moment her stub of an arm made contact with it, the block turned smaller and found itself right at the tip of where her hand was. Jumping back out from startlement, she looked at the cube that was being held, tilting her head in confusion. "Huh… guess the mechanics are the same even when inside the game." Kate realized.
She placed the block on the ground and it expanded, filling up the hole. She then took a step back. "Okay… at least I know what I can do…" Kate stated while dusting herself off. "If I'm going to survive, maybe some weapons wouldn't be a bad idea…" Kate commented. "A sword should suffice! First, I need to make myself a crafting table to make anything. Let's see… I think I needed four oak wood planks…" Kate tried to remember what little information she got when first exposed to Minecraft. Oak wood came from the trees, and luckily there were plenty of those around.
She went up to a big one, with a long trunk and started to grab hold of the bark. Like the sand block, she was able to pry it off of and collect the lumber. Kate kept at it, until she got herself enough of the oak planks, which she held in her hand. "Okay… now, how do I combine them again?" She wondered, since she wasn't sure how to do so given she didn't have an inventory. At least one she could see or access. She placed the blocks down on the ground, kneeling at their level and looking at them. She rubbed her chin with her non-existent fingers while trying to understand what to do. Since she was physically making the item, perhaps she had to fuse them together on her own? She took hold of the blocks, placing them against one another and had them rub up on the sides. Her arms pushed them together, with all her might until… a larger block appeared with a checker pattern on the surface. She panted, looking at the crafting table and laughed slightly. "Alright, that's one way I guess."
Now for the tricky part… creating a sword. "Alright, if I remember correctly, I just need a stick and two blocks of the same stone. From what I remember, cobblestone was the most common, so I'll try and find that. And a stick… I think I need to get some wood, turn it into a plank then it becomes a stick." Kate tried to remember the details. "Geez, that's a lot of steps for a simple weapon that isn't even that tough." Getting said stick wasn't difficult, as she managed to gather the wood and converted it a few times. Doing it on the crafting table was far better, as all she had to do was place the item on the surface, then a small screen appeared, showing her what she could create. Admittedly, it was handy and she got what she needed. Now, to locate the cobblestone. That meant she had to go into a cave or mine to find it, since that was where it usually was. Something Kate regretted and was against, and would do anything to not go down that route.
Though Jenna did tell her a piece of advice: Cobblestone can be found usually about four layers below dirt. In other words, if Kate could just mine in the dirt, she could get some cobblestone without going into a mine! It would be a long shot but one she was willing to do. She looked down to the ground she stood on, and began to hit the blocks. Cube after cube appeared, for her to take but she tossed them aside as she was looking not for dirt, but for the gray blocks. After digging through six brown and green edge shapes, she finally found the material she needed. With the cobblestone, she placed the materials onto the crafting table and after a few clicks, held a stone sword. "May not be the strongest weapon in Minecraft, but at least I have something to defend myself with." Kate stated as she looked at her handy work. "Okay, time to find Jenna!" She picked up her table and placed it in her pockets (something she didn't question since she figured it was just the logic of this world) then began her journey.
She went through the blocky world, trying to locate the student in the hopes she was safe. She wasn't sure how long Jenna had been in Minecraft, but hopefully she had managed to take care of herself. From what she remembered, Jenna stated that monsters won't be able to come out in the daytime since they burn up from the sun. But, they usually hang out in dungeons or caves, which was why it was risky to head there. Especially with the creepers who could one kill you by blowing themselves up. Hence why it was better for Kate to stay away from such environments. She explored the place, keeping her eyes out for any settlements. The landscape was pretty wide, which meant that was a lot of walking for the blond as she held her sword in defense and kept her eyes peeled. "Why am I the one who always ends up in these situations?" Kate complained as she kept walking along.
The young woman didn't know how long she walked for, but her efforts were finally rewarded as she saw a few houses over a small hill. "Finally, salvation." She sighed, picking up her pace and running towards the village. It was pretty small, but any shelter was a blessing in her eyes. She looked around, seeing pens holding animals with paths and street lamps along with houses made from blocks. The NPC villagers were going about, not taking notice of her. Kate walked over to one, getting their attention. "Excuse me, I'm looking for one of my acquaintances. Did you happen to see a girl around here with black, long hair and glasses?" Kate asked.
The villager merely stared at her for a minute, while she waited for an answer. "Huh… ah hahaha… haha…"
That caused the blond to shake her head slightly, blinking her eyes in confusion. "Uh… excuse me?"
The Villager turned down the road, pointing with his arm. "Ah hahaha… hahaha…" It spoke in that strange language. Kate looked over to where he was pointing, seeing a house at the end of the road. Was Jenna there? Couldn't hurt to take a look.
"Uh… thanks?" Kate wasn't sure how to respond to that, but may as well be grateful for his help, if you could call it that. She headed over to where the house was, going inside and opening it while looking around. There was no sign of Jenna anywhere, much to her dismay. Kate's eyes however, did spot something on the table next to the bed. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a map. There was an image of the village she was in, with the NPC's surrounding the place. A dotted line trailed from there, across the land, through a river to another patch of earth where a second village was. But the buildings there looked taller, and had different colors.
"These look like the buildings from the main menu… maybe that's where Jenna was heading." Kate told herself. It seemed far, but at least she had an idea where to go. Kate took the map, then checked around the rest of the house for any other useful items. The only thing was a chest, which contained 3 pieces of bread. The blonde took it regardless, since she may as well have a snack. With the items in hand, she headed out of the hut and started to make her way to the destination. Hopefully this new village would be much safer and provide her some answers to why she was here. The young woman passed through the town and headed back into the wild, moving along briskly while she kept her eyes peeled.
It felt like hours as she followed the map, as she needed to find the lake which seemed to separate the town of pastels. "Ugh… I've been walking for hours. How have I not seen any water at this point?" Kate questioned, tired and annoyed as it felt she was walking in circles. It also didn't help that the land looked so similar with few eye-popping landmarks. Kate wondered how wide this world was. "You'd think there would be a block limit to this world…" She grumbled.
Kate checked around for any sign of water, instead her ears picked up the sound of grunting and hissing. The blonde had a bad feeling, but against her better judgment, she checked in the hopes it would bring her in the right direction. Following the source, she found herself on the sandy beach connecting to the lake. That was a good sign, at least. Her eyes landed on a blocky figure that was swinging a sword out in something hidden beneath the waters. "Come on! How hard is it to catch some fish?!"
Upon recognizing that voice, Kate felt relieved as she ran over to the minecraft guest. "Jenna!" Kate gasped, while the brunette turned around to see the blonde running over to her.
"Kate?" Jenna sounded baffled, but when Kate got to her she started to ask the questions.
"Oh thank goodness! I finally found you! Are you alright? How long have you been here?"
"Woah, slow down." Jenna advised as she raised her arms up, looking at her classmate. "I'm fine… a bit annoyed since I couldn't get any fish, but I'm fine." That helped to ease Kate a bit. At least Jenna was safe and in one piece. Though she hated that Jenna was forced to be part of this world, she seemed to have done alright for herself in the time she was trapped. "What are you doing here, though?" Jenna asked Kate.
"I should be the one asking you that. What happened?"
Jenna sighed. "Well, I came back to the computer lab with my other bag. I found the hard drive you wanted and was going to give it to you. But, when I came back you weren't there." That must have been after Anti transported Kate back to her house, she realized. Jenna went on. "I waited for a while, but decided to head out since it was close to closing time for the campus. I went to the computer and tried to exit the game. When I logged off, I was about to shut down the window, but then the main menu changed. I saw houses of different pastel colors, then this strange woman in white clothing appeared, telling me she was going to scan me?" Kate's eyes expanded, as what happened to Jenna was similar to her experience. She had a hunch that was the case, and her theory was proven correct as a result. "Next thing I knew, I ended up here. It was night time, and I had to survive just to fend off zombies, creepers, spiders and what other monsters roamed the dark hours."
"That doesn't sound fun…" Kate commented.
"First lesson in Minecraft, don't mine at night." Jenna advised. "Thankfully, I was able to find a village and get settled there. After some sleep, I woke up the next morning and began to explore."
"So… you've been here for half a day?" Kate questioned.
"Feels like it… what about you?"
"I came here the same way. Some weird woman in white within the screen teleported me here and now I'm in this… blocky body which is strange…"
"Believe me, it's not ideal for either of us." Jenna stated. "Right now, all I care about is trying to get back. Any ideas?"
"I was kind of hoping you would have an idea on that, given you're the expert in this game." Jenna merely shrugged, indicating she had no clues of her own. Kate thought back to what she found in the village, and decided to share that with Jenna. "Well, there was a map I found in the village. It seems to lead to another area with pastel colored houses. Like the ones on the main menu title screen. I was trying to find a way to head there while looking for you."
Jenna listened, humming at Kate's explanation. "Come to think of it, I did see something like that when I stayed the night in that house. But I didn't think too much of it at the time. Do you have the map?"
"Yeah, I took it with me. From what I read, that town should be across this lake."
Jenna turned around, looking out to the vast water that laid before them. There was no sign of a town as far as they could see, but according to the map it was the right spot. "It might be this stretch of water since we aren't too far from the village. But getting across is a different challenge."
"Yeah, I don't want to risk swimming in this body. You can swim in Minecraft, can't you?"
Jenna looked over at the blonde, as her expression showed hesitation. "Technically yes, but given that we are actually in the bodies of our avatars, you have every reason to not want to try and swim." Jenna admitted. "But, we could float across by making a boat. That seems like a more appealing option, and would also be a quicker form of transportation."
Kate couldn't argue with that, so she agreed. "Where do we find one?" Kate asked.
Jenna looked all over the beach, her eyes scanning the land but saw nothing of interest. "No docks anywhere… looks like we'll have to make our own boat."
"Can you craft one?" Kate asked.
"I can, but I need to gather some materials for it to work. Plus I need a crafting table, and
I haven't made one yet…" Jenna admitted.
Kate was surprised that Jenna didn't craft much, which should have been the first thing to do when she came here. Kate tried it, though it took her a bit and she only knew the basics. Still, if they were going to get anywhere, the two had to work together. "Well, if it's a crafting table you need, I can help you with that." Jenna turned her attention to the blonde, as she reached into her pockets and took out a small square shaped cube. Placing it on the ground, it expanded into the work bench.
"You made one?!" Jenna gasped, aweing the piece like new furniture.
"I had to create my sword for defense. I had to remember the recipe for it, and finding the material wasn't easy." Kate admitted.
"Well, you thought ahead more than me. I should have crafted something at the village but… I was too busy running for my life and didn't want to risk getting materials when it was dark. Like I said, don't mine at night." Jenna explained.
Kate chuckled, though she didn't blame her. Thankfully she didn't have to deal with any of those creatures when she first arrived, but there were still other obstacles she felt she had to overcome that were still ahead. "So, can you make a boat?"
"With this crafting table, yes. But I'll have to get the materials first. We only need some wood though, from a tree and it has to be the same type."
"That shouldn't be too hard to get." Kate admitted, since there were plenty of trees around them, which meant that the materials would be easy and quick to gather. "If you handle the crafting, I can take care of the gathering."
"You sure?" Jenna asked.
Kate shrugged. "We won't get far without a boat. Plus, I've already chopped a few trees when I came here, pretty easy to be honest."
"Good to know the mechanics still work even when we're in the game world." She chuckled. Jenna nodded in agreement as they had a plan. Hopefully they could get out of this world before any of their guardians became worried. Especially for Kate's case with her roommates.