Coldsnap: Harbinger of Ice

Chapter 2: One Introvert to Another

As Cassie changed to a set of sleepwear and hopped into her comfortable bed, her phone dinged with a notification from one of her Discord direct message servers. It was her other friend, Michael; although he was one of the earliest people she had gotten to know, and was also a fan of certain FPS games, he rarely joined the rest of Cassie's crew because he didn't really handle large groups well. It seemed like he was able to communicate normally in one-on-one electronic writing such as emails, text messages, and typed documents, but he tended to turn into a mumbling, nervous wreck when it came to face-to-face conversations, or chats involving too many people.

"Hey!" he texted. "How's it been? Did you have a good time this evening?" 

"Oh my gosh," she replied. "One time, I actually wasted my ultimate as D.Va, and then.....I'm not joking....Roadhog drags it into his team and kills all of them." 

"HA! So even when you make mistakes, you still somehow manage to turn it into something amazing." 

"Meh.....I wouldn't say that. It was more the Roadhog being stupid." 

"So.....I heard that you got the opportunity to be the first test subject for Dr. Duncan Drevis's Opti-Vis invention, am I right?" he asked. 

"Where'd you hear about that? I don't think I've gotten around to telling you yet....." she muttered. 

"Are you kidding me? Drevis posted about his invention's success on his website literally the day after you returned home," he said. "Don't worry; he didn't use any of your personal information.....he just uploaded a message saying that the Opti-Vis is now officially in its human trials phase." 

"Dang. He really wanted to get that project moving, didn't he?" 

"Yup. In fact.....I think I also read about him giving all of his employees the day off tomorrow to celebrate this major victory. That, and his sister Monica is also set to visit the Lifeline Industries building during that period, so I guess he thought that would be perfect timing. Hopefully nothing goes wrong," Michael elaborated. "So, you experiencing any negative side effects as a result of the Opti-Vis yet?" 

"Nope," she answered. "If I'm being honest.....it feels great! It's like my nearsightedness is a thing of the past!" 

"That's because it is. Feels good having a small device inserted into your eye socket that can replace your glasses entirely, doesn't it?" 

"Yep." 

"Are you doing anything tomorrow? Maybe we can hang out online!" 

"Umm.....my dad and my sister are heading to her college campus for a tour, so I'll have the house all to myself, for the most part. Well....me and my adorable cat, Ali." 

Michael chuckled, although Cassie couldn't hear it from the other end of the screen. "You see, this is why I likely wouldn't survive a visit over to your house." 

"Yeah.....you're allergic to pet dander, aren't you?" 

"That's right. I'd have to either wear a mask, bring my asthma inhaler, or both....." He paused. "Can I be real with you for a moment?" 

"Yeah!" Cassie said, complete with a thumbs-up emoji. 

"How do you make it look so easy?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"Why does the practice of making friends come so naturally to you?" Michael elaborated. "You told me early on that you were an introvert---that was one of the first things we bonded over---and yet you've got your own gaming squad whom you play with on a regular basis."