Ozymandias Academy

Part 6

Day two in the simulators. Elle practically skipped on her way to her room to see Malia. Her first time had gone so well - she'd solved the puzzle really fast. To be fair, it was quite simple, and after she got suited up Malia mentioned that this time was going to be a bit different.

"You're going to be put on a team this time, to give you all a better chance of solving it, since the puzzle will also be significantly harder. But don't worry, you'll be paired with people that have mixed experience levels, so if you don't recognize something, odds are there will be someone else on your team that does," Malia explained while hooking Elle up to the system. "There will also be obstacles. You're competing with another team, so speed is going to be a very important factor. And don't forget, you don't feel pain in the game the same way you do when you're outside, so don't let that get in the way of you doing whatever you need to."

That last part seemed a bit of an odd thing to add to her little motivational speech, but Elle hardly had time to question it. Malia handed her the goggles and Elle slipped them on, entering the Void.

She had learned after last time that the Void was the place where all the players began while their individual simulators got loaded up and connected. This was the same place she'd begun her journey last time, looking at her reflection and discovering she looked like a boy. The Void was a good place for players to get used to themselves in the new setting while they waited for their Quests to start.

The classroom from last time loaded up around her, but this time Elle was not alone. Next to her was a skinny girl with long black hair and a leather jacket, a short redheaded girl wearing a purple sundress, and a boy with a shocking green mohawk. "I'm Jay," the other boy said, giving Elle a wave. "This is Kay and Emme," he said, gesturing to the skinny girl and then the one in the dress.

"I'm Elle," Elle said. Then she heard Malia's voice in her earpiece.

"Sorry I forgot to mention this earlier, everyone has to go by a letter instead of their real names. Lucky for you, your real name sounds like a letter, so crisis averted. My bad on that one." Malia sounded upset, like she was mentally beating herself up, but she was right, the crisis had been averted. Elle smiled. Lucky for her indeed.

To her teammates, Elle said, "We all go together. J, K, L, and M. I dig it." She shared a smile with M, who gave off the friendliest air. Elle knew that all of the avatars were randomly generated, but computers couldn't fake an attitude a person had, like the way they held themselves. Or at least she hoped that was the case. M definitely was the most at ease, not that it mattered at that moment, for they were on a time crunch.

J rubbed his hands together and said, "Welcome to the team, L. Okay, guys, let's get started. K, lift the blinds. M, go grab the list." As they went to do their respective jobs, J turned to Elle. "It's easier to search for the items when you have more light," he explained. "Also, you can kind of get an idea which objects in the room are the items you're meant to find. It's not always the case, but the objects on the list tend to stand out from the environment a little. It's hard to spot at first, but see this desk? The surface is slightly lighter than the others." He went over to the desk in question and squatted next to it, gesturing for Elle to follow him and do the same. She wasn't really able to see what he was talking about with the top of it, but sure enough, underneath the desk there was a quarter of a picture, stuck there with a piece of gum. J pointed at it and it disappeared into his inventory.

"That's really impressive," Elle said. J just shrugged.

"I've been doing this a little while. You'll get there, don't worry. M, what are we looking for in here?" J stood and called out to the girl by the desk, whose eyes had slid closed while she looked at the list.