Virtual Reality ✔

On the Rooftops

Disclaimer- for anyone bothered by bad words there is one at the end.

Duncan was sound asleep this morning and I had the sense not to wake him just yet. I figured he tried his best to outlast Dean and Parker before sneaking back in. It wouldn't have been hard since we were all exhausted, but when Parker walked out with giant bags under his eyes, I knew it'd been a sleepless night for him. Because of that Duncan had had to wait until Parker had decided to wander off to his room. I felt bad for his having to be awake so long, but he was the one being secretive.

Amberline had offered to go and do the laundry again this morning, and was now retrieving it. Parker decided to accompany her for unknown reasons. That left Victoria, Dean, and I sitting in the livingroom when the note was slipped under the door.

Dean got up and walked over to the letter, which was fine when we thought he was just moving it away from the door. He started to rip the letter and Victoria and I were instantly at his side. Victoria took the envelope and eyed it intensely. She went to a drawer and had somehow found tape. She began to mend the wound.

Dean flushed red. "What?" He asked as I started to look over the injury. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," I said reassuringly.

"Yes!" Exclaimed Victoria at the same time. I elbowed her and gave her a scolding glare. She winced, rubbing her arm as she apologized. "We never open the letter without everyonehre," she explained as she put the note on the counter.

"It's just something we like to do as a team," I added. I hadn't wanted him to feel too embarrassed.

"Yeah, tradition. You can thank her for that," Victoria said jokingly.

After I pondered what the best way to respond was I said, "because I know how a team's supposed to act, unlike someone we all know." I looked again at her accusingly. She shrugged it off and decided it wasn't worth replying.

"Sorry, nobody really briefed me on what to expect here," Dean said as he walked back to his chair. Victoria gave the letter one last wary glance as she walked to the couch with me. We decided to wait until Amberline and Parker had gotten back before waking Duncan. Dean was oblivious to our reasoning, but Victoria knew just as well as I did the lengths of time Duncan had been gone.

It hadn't taken long until the other two had gotten back and I reluctantly went to wake up Duncan. I knew we had to, the people in charge usually set up the games to take place almost immediately after we got the letters. They only factored in enough time for the people farthest away to get to the lobby. Duncan woke up and got himself around pretty quickly. He apologized for being asleep but we all dismissed it.

I decided to open the letter to read this time and started reading, "Dear Gamers, it's time to go back to the beginning. In this game you will again have a last person standing game. The twist this time is that you will all only have one life. This is something most noobs wouldn't be able to handle. We trust that you are the best of the best and can handle it. That being said, we wish you good luck, gamers."

"Who else is worried?" Asked Dean. Duncan raised his hand, I followed his example and so did a few other members. Victoria, however, showed no fear. She stood there with a poker face. The vulnerability she'd shown to me was nowhere to be seen as she faced what the rest of us had feared. She wanted us to believe she was too good for this.

We all changed into our newly cleaned suits and started heading for the lobby. I was again saddened by the lack of people but knew I'd grow used to it eventually. When we got to the lobby there was little time left, that meant we'd have to face less of D3's harassment. The ritual began as it always did, but I noted there was a slight tinge of red to the smoke at our feet. The red slowly transformed into a light skyblue as we got to our cubicles.