Please post on feedback thread! Thank you very much! Chapter One- The night was a dark one, no moon or stars to light the way. Thunder crackled in the sky as rain pounded the blood soaked earth. Flashes of lightning and flickering fire showed brief and shadowy flashes of a tremendous battle. In the middle of it all was Ivory. Her heart pounded as she cut down yet another troll, and she could feel her chest tightening from the stress. “Ivory… BEHIND YOU!” She heard PLuX scream across the battle field. Ivory wheeled around, black hair flying to come face to face with a troll, or more accurately, a troll’s club. With a “thunk” the club connected solidly with her stomach, sending her flying to a rib shattering “whump” into the ground. Wincing, she shakily stood up, and quickly dispatching the minor gremlins around her, ran towards the troll that had sent her flying through the air. The large green beast had turned the other way, so she jumped, and neatly sliced its ugly head off. To her luck, the enormous head crushed a goblin that was about to put its poisoned dirk through her leg. Without warning, another club flew towards her head. Ivory ducked, and the thick hunk of wood passed harmlessly over her head but it was close enough for her to feel the breeze. She quickly rolled around the monster’s calloused feet, and put her thin sword deep into its lower back. The creature bellowed, and fell to the ground thrashing. Ivory jumped out of the way of the flailing limps, and began dispatching the goblins and gremlins that swarmed around her. Troll blood had flooded around her, so she tread carefully as she attempted to fight her way through without slipping. The gremlins were easy because their glowing red eyes made them easy to spot, and their green skin was almost glowed in the dark. The goblins however were a different story. Not only was their dark green skin a lot tougher than that of a gremlin, but they were extremely resourceful. More than once she barely avoided falling right into their traps, rescued only by the tell-tale giggling they produced when they were about to trick their prey into killing themselves. After what seemed like an eternity, all of the monsters were incapacitated. “Alright TiG, meet back at HQ in five,” She heard LionClaw shout. She sighed, and began to lay out the teleportation runes. “Omnus TiGmus,” she muttered, and with a flash of blue light she found herself in the Clan Forum. The walls were covered in tapestries, each depicting one of the seven members of the TiG clan. In the middle of the room were seven personalized chairs arranged in a circle, and above the mahogany door hung an ornamental “TiG” banner. Ivory wearily stumbled over to her chair, a glowing white throne covered in black and red roses. She sat down, and sighed as the warm healing charm began to heal her wounds. With another flash of blue light, two more figures appeared. As the light faded, Ivory recognized them to be CiSToR and PLuX, the twins. The “G” in TiG stood for Gemini. Naturally, they both looked and dressed exactly alike. The two were cave elves, like Ivory, and possessed dark black hair, but it was cut short at the ear. Unlike Ivory however they had grey skin, the normal color. Ivory had pure white. Both wore dragon scale armor, a testament to their hard work, and short swords or “dirks” at their sides. The only thing that differed between the two was CiSToR was left handed and PLuX was right handed. They both nodded in greeting to Ivory, being of few words, and went to sit on their respective obsidian thrones which were unornamented save for the silver “C” and “P” that hung from the armrest of their dominant hands. There was a final flash of green light, and the remaining four clan members appeared out of nowhere. These four made up the “T” in TiG that stood for Tetraforce. The first to walk out of the arrival area was LionClaw (LC for short), the leader and founder of TiG. He was a huge paladin, blond with striking blue eyes, bright golden armor, and a huge axe made of shiny gilded Runic. Following him was HaXxor, an equally tall barbarian. His skin was a deep brown, but he had glowing golden eyes. He carried a large scythe made of an enormous dragon fang and spell-wrought diamond. His armor was a dull grey color made of warped Titoneym, the strongest and most valuable metal in Aluta. Next was Storallelite, a tall thin mage with crimson robes covered in silver runes carrying a platinum staff topped by a dragon’s-eye emerald, the rarest of the rare. Sneaking behind them all was Zaln, a short Filipino rogue with dark hair that swooped over his eyes, and two nasty daggers at his hips. They all sat in a circle staring tiredly at each other for a few seconds before LC spoke. “You know what? I’m a bit too tired for a speech today. All I have to say anyway is good job out there. The fact that it only takes seven of us to clear the troll fields is proof that TiG has earned its spot in number one among clans of over one hundred. I don’t care about the rest of you, but I’m going to bed.” With that he disappeared. Ivory chuckled a little bit, then waved goodbye. With a sigh, she pulled off her helmet, and was transported back to the real world. It was ten o’clock, and sirens sounded outside as the police caught someone walking around outside. Her bedroom was dark, because she had turned off the lights. “Who needs lights anyway when they’re gaming,” she thought. It had been like this for a few years. People were only allowed to leave their houses for work or school, and were picked up and dropped off by buses every day directly from their houses. Thankfully, Aluta was around to pass the time. It was a fully immersive game that used a player’s real skills and abilities within the game. It even burned energy and built muscle! Even the pain was real. Ivory, whose real name was Eleanor, had been playing for over two years. She was part of the most prestigious clan, and owned the best armor for her class, just like her clan mates. She didn’t know any of them personally, but through the game she considered them friends. In real life, like at school, she kept her gamer tag a secret, because she didn’t want the attention that came with high levels like that. Aluta was the most popular game in the whole country, everyone who could afford it played it. Who wouldn’t after all? It allowed a person to escape reality, the harsh world of the all seeing government that ruled every aspect of their lives, and live in an equally harsh, but entertaining fantasy. Coupled with the fact that it made a person fit, and taught fighting skills, it was almost a no brainer for those who had money to buy it. Eleanor sighed in exhaustion. She was absolutely worn out. She tiredly walked to her built in shelves in the wall, and pulled on a pair of fuzzy pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt. Tomorrow was another day.
Chapter Two Dismal. That’s the only word to describe the vehicle that picked her up every day from school. From its “bleh” grey exterior to its sterilized white seats and seat belts, the street shuttle that ferried all the students in section 17 of the school district was the epitome of boredom. There was no talking allowed in this vehicle; each and every student was completely silent from their respective pick-up location to the school. Only when the students’ toes touched the pavement did they begin to speak. Eleanor sighed as she exited the bus. The sun was shining, the sky was a bright beautiful blue, but no birds could be heard. For that matter, the only sounds that reached the ears were the tramping of government issued uniform tennis shoes on the grey pavement and the low murmur of student voices. The entire school was only an enormous concrete block. With the exception of the greenhouse, nothing lived anywhere near school grounds. The gate through which the students passed was the only entrance. Any other life forms would be instantaneously vaporized by the humming laser fence. The District of Armin, the place where Eleanor resided, was exactly like the school. Just large, underground facilities covered by high-grade bomb resistant material. Not surprisingly, it was the most attacked district in the entire country. Terrorist attacks on subways, trains, and places in or around the area were a day to day occurrence. The people of Armin, as opposed to leaving, generally just shrugged their shoulders and accepted whatever the new military restrictions were imposed. This was the main reason why people spent almost every waking moment of their lives at work or school, at home, or traveling from one place to the other. This was the reason why immersive gaming was so popular in Armin, if not the empire as a whole. It gave every player a chance to escape their circumstances (provided of course they could afford the game and its system) and opened up a new channel for socializing, and in some ways, living. Because of the distinct lack of recreational facilities, the Armin district had only three players in the top 500, though 97% of Armin played. The first, recently put at number three, was Eleanor as Ivory. No one at school knew this of course, because she had decided not to share that information. Her father was an ex-Captain in the united forces, now a lawyer, and had always made sure to have the best exercise equipment on hand. Because of the relative insecurity of the District of Armin, Eleanor’s father had taught Eleanor basic hand to hand combat, and even how to handle firearms (only to be used in emergency situation of course). The next one down was Ethan Wexler, at number 12. He was a jock through and through, and flaunted his superiority over his adoring fans. He was the school’s most popular student, due to his looks mostly. His blond hair almost glimmered with a halo, and his big blue eyes made most people feel weak at the knees. This was probably why his gamer tag was AngelicFury. Finally, at number 498 was a giant of a boy, Grayson Reaper, whose tag was R3AP3R. His natural strength was so immense that he often crushed his opponents in a single blow, earning him his nickname One-Hit Reaper. Eleanor sighed as she viewed and experienced the same old same old. There was Ethan, surrounded by adoring fans. There were the sideliners, the 3% who violently opposed playing Aluta. “Hey Eleanor!” Came warm male voice from behind her. She smiled. And there was Zach, her best friend. “Hey Zach,” She replied cheerfully, turning around. He was standing there with her two other friends, Alexis and Crystal. He was dressed simply in a worn green t-shirt and faded jeans, grinning easily as he brushed his messy black hair out of his warm brown eyes. Alexis, as always, was dressed sharply in a blue blouse, and black flowing skirt which strangely matched with her uniform shoes. Eleanor had always felt slightly jealous of her friend for her flowing chestnut ringlets of hair, and her expressive chocolate eyes in comparison to her dull straight hair, pale skin and grey-blue eyes. Crystal, on the other hand, was dressed in a shirt a size too large and ratty jeans. Her blond frizzy hair was pulled into a sloppy bun, and her big blue eyes were gleaming with hyperactivity. The alarm that signified the five minute warning rang, causing the quartet to jump. They looked around and realized that the concrete yard was mostly empty. “Shall we ladies,” Zach chuckled as he motioned towards the door with his hand. And with a final glance back at the grey world outside the schoolyard gates, Eleanor headed toward the elevators that took them deep down into the subterranean schools. The school day was like any other. Math in the morning, then Science, then a tasteless quiet lunch, which was followed by English, History, then finally the bell rang that signified that the buses were waiting to take them all home again. The same schedule, the same voices, the same old routine day after day. She would meet with her three friends at lunch where day after day they laughed and joked the time away. While the others laughed however, she would steal glances at Zach. She loved his smile, the way he laughed, and most of all his wonderfully funny sense of humor. She made sure to look at other people every few seconds, just to make sure he didn’t notice, but in silence she suffered. Ever since they had hit high school, she had found herself hopelessly in love with him. However, she never could quite seem to express that in any way, to let him know. So she decided that she would keep it bottled up, hidden away, until she moved on to some other guy. But over the course of almost two years, that still hadn’t happened. That day was a little different in one sense however. That ride back home for the first time, she quietly and modestly cried over her weakness. It was the only time she had ever let herself feel the pain of her infatuation. As is common, and much to her relief, no one noticed. She could mourn in peace. Hey all! Thanks for reading chapter 2! I'm always one chapter ahead of the one posted, so I'm very glad to tell you that the next chapter is 6 pages (on microsoft word) long! Please use feedback thread for any comments!
Please Use Feedback! Chapter 3 It was five o’clock before she had finally finished the truckload of homework that had been piled on top of her. She silently took a moment to celebrate as she grinned widely at the ceiling. Now the fun could begin! She lightly brushed her simple white shirt and jeans as she stood up from her compartmentalized metal desk. A few pencil and eraser shavings fell to the floor, a testimony to her hard work. She lightly tapped a minute inconspicuous black button on the side of her desk. It began to hum, and slowly a screen rose from the normally flat surface. She picked up her simple white helmet, plugged it in to the jack at the bottom of the desk, and turned it on. A visor slid down over her eyes and displayed the spinney ring of doom for a few seconds before a “loading” sign appeared before her eyes. Finally, she felt herself being slowly pulled in to Aluta, and a few moments later she was standing in TiG headquarters, where every member on her team appeared before they went out adventuring. She noticed by the floating symbol above their various thrones that Storallelite and HaXxor were online. She walked over to HaXxor’s throne, a twisted metal seat with various pointy bits sticking out, flashing buttons, and emitting a dangerous humming noise. Against her better judgment, she lightly put her hand to it. A holographic map appeared in front of her showing her HaXxor’s and Stora’s location. “Bloodwrath Bay,” She muttered and lightly put her hand to the blinking red dot showing her friends’ location. “Teleport to Bloodwrath Bay?” She confirmed her decision, and then shivered as the ground beneath her feet disappeared, and she fell through a deep hole. She landed with a thump on the sandstone pavement. The small town of Bloodwrath Bay rose up around her and she smiled as a warm ocean breeze brought the salty air through her hair. Around her the wooden and stone buildings rose up around her. She teleported, as most other players did, at the entrance to the inn. It was the tallest structure in the town, a whopping nine stories. It was made of the same material as the streets (which appeared to be strengthened sandstone) but messily covered here and there by what appeared to be driftwood. Ivory knew it to be the remains of wrecked and/or pillaged ships. She casually strode into the inn, causing various whispers to erupt around her. Very few top players bothered themselves with inns, but Ivory needed the information. It also did her no harm to be seen by other players that would stave off the arrogant claims for a while. She strode through the door, pushing through the line of other players as they attempted to enter. She strode up to the Bloodwrath inn’s keeper who, like every other inn keeper in the game, was a young curvy woman with a beautiful face and body. Ivory strode up to the desk and began to search the map for the exact location of Stora and HaXxor. She finally found them on the map, on the Bloodwrath Coast. “Teleport to HaXxor and Stora?” Once again, the ground beneath her disappeared, and she tumbled through an empty space of white and black. She landed with an “oomph” on soft sand. Stora and HaXxor were in the distance, fighting what looked like pezbesas. Pezbesas were about a meter high, and had a basic human body. The only difference was that they had scales instead of skin, as well as webbed hands topped with razor sharp claws. They had human faces with the addition of gills and enormous fish eyes. They were also really, REALLY fast. As soon as she had landed, a few pezbesas glanced in her direction, and in a flash they were on her. Ivory quickly unsheathed her sword, a thin sword she had named Feroz, and neatly sliced off two fish-heads. She spun and kicked one that was trying to take a bite out of her leg, and stabbed another that jumped at her face. In a matter of moments, the sand around her was a deep blue from pezbesa blood. She carefully walked over to Stora and Haxxor, attempting to avoid the slick bodies of the monsters she had just killed. “What are you guys doing here?” She asked. “These things are way too easy!” “We’re thinking of going fishing,” Stora replied. “HaXxor said the most delicious fish around here love pezbesa meat!” Ivory laughed. “Fishing? That sounds so exciting! I mean, considering the fact that we’re in a world that revolves around the fun in actually fighting.” “Oh you better believe it,” HaXxor rumbled, as he smirked. “We’re going to take one of the Bloodwrath ships, and see what we can reel in,” “I don’t know about Ivory,” Stora winked, “but you’ve got me hook line and sinker!” Ivory rolled her eyes and laughed at Stora’s cheesy joke. “I guess I’m in,” she replied. It was a short walk to the marina, but they were somewhat hindered by the various water elementals and sea creatures along the way. After a while, Ivory noticed that Zaln had joined them. She raised a hand in greeting, and he smiled back at her. Finally, they made it to the boat docks. The stench of rotting fish pervaded the air, and as they walked through the docks, various gnarled sailors hooted and hollered at them. HaXxor stopped in front of a small wooden ship, named simply “133T”. “This,” He announced proudly, “is my lovely cruiser,” HaXxor expertly shimmied up the ropes that held his vessel to the sturdy wooden dock, and quickly put out a wooden board that provided a ramp up to the swaying ship. The other three carefully toddled up the precariously perched board, and then lightly hopped onto the ship. HaXxor removed the gangplank, shimmied down the ropes, expertly untied them, and then made a running leap back onto the ship before it drifted too far away. Much to the quartet’s luck, there was a fine breeze running today, and the little ship quickly made its way out of the dock, and onto open waters. “So where exactly are we going?” Zaln asked. “Fishing,” HaXxor replied. “Awesome!” Zaln exclaimed as he lightly slapped hands with HaXxor. Stora and Ivory exchanged a look, and shrugged at each other. They had no idea what all the excitement was all about. After a little bit of cruising through the waves, HaXxor suddenly turned to Stora. “Get the pezbesa heads out. We’re here!” Stora’s nose wrinkled as she began to pull a few pezbesa heads out of her pack, still somewhat slimy. Zaln calmly took them from her, not even caring that the juices were dripping all over him, and began to spear them with a large hook. “Ready?” Zaln asked HaXxor. “As I’ll ever be,” and with that, Zaln tossed the hook in the water. I noticed there was no rope on it. All was quiet for a moment as the waves gently rocked the boat. Then, out of nowhere, an enormous fish, perhaps two meters long, leapt out of the water, the hook with the bait in its mouth. Zaln and HaXxor already had harpoons in their hands, and when the glittering fish made its appearance, they threw them. Zaln’s aim was slightly off, and his ricocheted of the fish’s hard scales and embedded itself into the boards at my feet. HaXxor’s harpoon embedded itself deep into the enormous eye of the creature. “Help!” HaXxor yelled, and as one the four all grabbed the rope connected to the harpoon and grimly held the thrashing fish as its death throes disturbed the water, and its blood darkened the navy waves of the sea into a sinister purple. Finally, it was still. With ragged breath and tired limbs, hand over hand they dragged their prize onto the deck of HaXxor’s ship. Its immense weight weighed the vessel down, and even with the magical assistance of Stora’s summoned wind, it took twice as long to haphazardly plough their way back to the dock. When 133T arrived back at the marina from whence it came, a second problem presented itself. “How are we going to get this thing back to the beach?” Zaln asked, “Most of the time, those fish are only about a meter and a half! And this one feels twice as heavy.” As an answer, Stora sighed and wearily chugged down a blue mana potion. “I got this,” she muttered and with a quiet incantation, the dripping fish began to rise. In the end, Stora only had the strength to levitate it about a foot above their heads, but it was enough. As they wearily trudged towards the beach, three more figures appeared. “Seems you four got a good catch today,” LC called cheerfully as HaXxor and company approached the end of the dock. PLuX’s eyes widened as he took in the gargantuan brute, and CiSToR applauded. TiG walked down the beach. After what seemed like an eternity to Ivory, Stora asked, “Where am I gonna put this thing?” “Just a little further,” LionClaw replied. The clan continued to walk, and out of nowhere a formation of rocks rose up. In the center was an enormous stone slab surrounded by a circle of large rocks. Stora let out a sigh of relief, and unceremoniously plunked the levitating creature down on the slab. While LC, Cistor, and PLuX set to work cleaning and gutting the fish, the other four relaxed on the sand, leaning against the surprisingly comfortable boulders that were in a ring around the giant stone tablet. In a few moments, and with the help of Stora’s magical fire, a few spits were set up, and the fish was broiled over an open fire. The smell that rose from the cooking meat was beyond appetizing, the meaty aroma instantly turned all into ravenous beasts, just waiting for the food to be cooked. “Mind if we join you?” A smooth voice casually requested. Everyone looked for the source. On the beach stood another clan, called LoC, or Legion of Chaos. It was, until recently, the reigning clan of Aluta, lead by the son of Aluta’s creator, Antony Alwen. It, like TiG, had very few members, only 9. With Antony at the moment were two of his team mates, Pyr and Swifan. Swifan was a scout, clothed in forest green leather armor that perfectly matched her green hair. She had a crossbow slung over her back, and a staff in her hand. She was very unobtrusive, which was very different to the boy standing in front of her. Pyr was bright, from his glowing fire-rune staff to his fiery eyes (literally) and his rune covered body. On his shoulders was a dark cloak made of dragon skin, and his hair was a mess of flames. Pyr was number two in the game, below only Antony. LionClaw’s eyes narrowed as he calculated the cost of refusing. With a bit of difficulty he replied, “Sure, no problem”. With a cocky smile, Antony sat in the sand directly across from LionClaw. His compatriots lowered themselves to the ground beside them. “He’s really hot,” Stora muttered into Ivory’s ear. Ivory took a second to examine him. He had tanned skin, much like LionClaw, and wore gilded dragon scale armor. His calculating green eyes flashed as he calmly chatted with Zaln and HaXxor, and his arms were equally muscled. “Ambidextrous,” Ivory muttered. “What?” “Never mind, it doesn’t matter,” “You’re sitting across from the richest guy in the entire universe and all you can say about him is he’s ambidextrous?” “Yep.” Stora gave a tired sigh and rolled her eyes at me. “I think the fish is done!” Zaln announced, causing most in the circle to jump. Zaln began to serve it, cutting huge chunks off the fish and plopping them on to wooden plates that he pulled out of what seemed like nowhere. He casually began to pass them out, handing two to Stora and Ivory with a “ladies first” and a wink. The two “ladies” glanced at each other and shrugged. Ivory cautiously bit into the steaming fish flesh that lay before her. Her ice blue eyes widened as the bite she took activated her taste buds. Whatever it was, no one could deny its deliciousness. She noticed that Pyr and Swifan’s Health Point bars, somewhat diminished, began to rise back until they were full. With a soft clicking noise, they disappeared. It was silent for a few moments as the two clans devoured their meal. Then, almost simultaneously, both leaders stood up and faced each other. LionClaw and Antony looked each other over, sizing up the other’s strengths and weaknesses. Although she didn’t quite know why, Ivory got the feeling that Antony’s calculations were much more thorough. “Well,” Antony spoke first, breaking the awkward silence that had sprung up. “I thank you for the meal which you have so generously shared with us, but in truth I came here with a proposition in mind.” Lion Claw raised his eyebrows slightly and tilted his head in a “go on” gesture. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but a new clan has risen up the leader board called, very bluntly, The Opposition. Their self written description defines them as a clan that has risen up to oppose what they call the Altair domination of the game.” “And it’s somewhat true,” Ivory thought to herself. Altair was the most powerful of the five districts of the empire because it is where the rich went to live once they had made their fortunes. It was the safest of the districts because it was surrounded by the four others and housed the emperor, so not only did it have the majority of the well trained troops, it also didn’t have the disadvantage of a border with another (potentially violent) country. Naturally, the children of the rich would have the best equipment available for not only the game itself, but for training outside of the game. Simple things like real meat, and lunches of things other than the mineral packed mush that most other schools got. It was no wonder that the district of Altair made up eighty percent of the top five hundred player leader board, with eighty seven spots on the top one hundred and nine out ten of the top ten players in the whole game. As for game statistics as a whole, Altair players only made up fifteen percent of the whole game population. LionClaw rolled his eyes at Antony’s pronouncement. “There are groups like that popping up every other week it seems,” He replied. “What makes this one any different?” “This one has proposed openly that taking down the top two clans are its number one priority, and has managed to pull in all the 500 leader board players not from Altair into its various alliances except one.” “Which one?” “She’s sitting right behind you,” Antony replied grimly. Everyone looked at Ivory for a moment. Ivory frowned and glanced at CiSToR and PLuX. “Are you two not on the top 500?” She asked curiously. “We’re numbers one and two for the espionage LB, but since we do more planning than killing, we don’t make enough experience to compete with most of the players.” Ivory nodded. “These people must be really pissed off if this clan can pull in so many people.” She commented. “I wonder who’s leading this all.” “Some guy name Angelic Fury,” Pyr rumbled. “Number twelve.” Ivory’s eyes narrowed slightly. “So basically what I’m proposing is a temporary alliance,” Antony cut in. “Just until these guys calm down, or we beat them into the ground. Whatever comes first.” LionClaw paused as he digested the information. “Well, I don’t know about your clan procedures, but in TiG we vote on important issues such as this one.” LC paused for a second. “I vote yes. Unlike the rest of the so called uprisings, this one seems serious. If this alliance is meant to be truly temporary, then I think it is to our advantage to join together for mutual survival.” Storallelite and HaXxor both nodded. “I vote yes,” they answered simultaneously. All eyes turned to Zaln as he mulled the situation over in his head. “I’m sorry LC but I’m going with no. To be honest, I don’t think this ‘Opposition’ clan isn’t a threat to TiG. We do have 3 out of seven members from other districts, not to mention the fact that we don’t have quite so… famous a leader.” CiSTor and PLuX nodded. “The same thing crossed my mind,” CiSToR admitted. “I’m going to agree with Zaln.” “However,” PLuX interrupted, “If Ivory decides differently than we will more than gladly accept this alliance with no hard feelings.” All eyes turned to Ivory, and she sighed. She hated being the swing vote. “Unfortunately I’m rather torn,” She admitted. “This does sound like a serious threat, but the question remains of how serious this is to TiG. If we join in this undoubtedly inconvenient alliance, then TiG will definitely be plunged into the fiery throngs of war that will no doubt plague our time here until this ‘uprising’ is put to rest. However if we do not, then we risk annihilation after they tear down LoC.” She paused for a moment, thinking. “My guess,” she began again hesitantly, “is that the majority of these players are in it for the economic benefits and the potential power our downfalls would cause. If we are able to crush a few of them quickly, they may disperse. If I am wrong, and they are in it for the sole purpose of tearing the Altairians down, then they will not spare TiG. Either way, I believe that this alliance works to our advantage. I vote in favor.” LC and Antony nodded at her as they faced each other. Antony held out his hand, and LionClaw took it. Above them, fireworks exploded, celebrating a new alliance formed between the two most powerful clans in the entire kingdom. “It is time for us to return to our clan rooms,” Antony announced. “We shall discuss details tomorrow.” All set up the teleporting runes, and with a few flashes of blue light, all that remained of the historic bonding was an enormous gutted fish. As soon as she returned to the hall of TiG, she sat down in her chair, and pulled her helmet off. In a flash, she returned to her room. It was ten o’clock, and Eleanor’s eyes were beginning to droop. She unplugged her helmet jack and retracted the screen. It had been five hours of madness, and she was ready to go to bed. As she pulled on her pajamas and plopped herself into bed, she failed to notice the last glimpse of the computer screen, the new updated leader board.