Pieces of Sonder

Freya spent the afternoon explaining everything to Indrek. The wandering shaman Gawen inadvertently became another listener. Although the conflict between the demoniclasts and game players didn’t affect him directly, Freya thought it would be good for another shaman to hear about the game. 

They decided to follow Kamdale’s group, albeit at a slow pace. Freya wasn’t in a hurry to expose her identity to that group yet. She needed Indrek’s secure backing first. Nightscythe fast-traveled ahead to the dungeon to check the situation. The rogue reported no game players near the dungeon entrance, but he wasn’t sure if any were inside.

Freya glanced at Nightscythe’s reports as she talked. She started from the very beginning, how she was almost murdered by a game player and accidentally picked up a Player Card. Freya admitted she still wasn’t sure if the Player Cards were a type of curse or not. She could see the concern from both Shaman Gawen and Indrek, a former shaman apprentice, as she explained the symptoms that arose from picking up the Player Card. Not giving them much time to dwell on that, she moved on to explain other game phenomena like dungeons and dungeon breaks. Lastly, she went through her encounter with the demoniclast Sangen in Suen and how that led her to investigate the demoniclasts with Player Cards.

During the latter part of her explanation, her vision kept flashing with notifications from the group chat. She regretted turning it on, but she wanted to stay in contact with Nightscythe.

[Infamous Biscuit: Are you sure this is a good idea?]

[Heilong: We could turn a blind eye to helping Kamdale if he’s in trouble]

[K13: Should we FT to your location?]

[Heilong: Our sudden appearance could make things worse]

[Infamous Biscuit: Is your mentor being reasonable?]

[Infamous Biscuit: Remember you can’t FT if you are engaged in combat]

[Nightscyhe: The dude seemed okay when I saw him]

[Heilong: Freya’s probably not even looking at the dms]

Grounding her teeth in annoyance, Freya finally responded.

[Freya Evenkey: We’re talking. I’m fine.]

During the time it took Freya to type, Indrek finally had time to gather his thoughts. Before Freya could remember where she left off, he posed a question.

“With your method of fast communication, is it possible to speak to the game players that are hunting demoniclasts?”

Freya scratched her cheek, wondering how to explain. They had been trying to get in touch with Red Star Lightning, the game player that seemed to be the head of the anti-demoniclast movement. However, they could only reach him through the game forums, not direct messages, since they were not on each other’s friend list. Heilong said the game had been set up this way to prevent spam, but Freya didn’t fully understand. 

[Infamous Biscuit: Okay, let us know if you need help]

She twitched in irritation at the notification. Then, she smiled to herself. Ah, I can kill two birds with one stone!

[Freya Evenkey: FT over here and explain something for me.]

~~~~~~

“So, I could try to communicate with them on this game forum?” Indrek said slowly. He rubbed his temples and looked at Infamous Biscuit.

After Freya introduced them, Infamous Biscuit jumped straight into more explanation. As he talked, Indrek’s eyes became unfocused. Freya worried for his mind. He saw two people appear out of thin air and received a mountain of information. Most of the information was also game-related. Besides being unbelievable on the surface, Freya also wondered if game info was inherently more difficult for non-players to grasp. 

“We can try. But I don’t know if anyone would believe the post-” Infamous Biscuit began. 

[Nigthscythe: Soooo are we helping Kamdale or not?]

[Nigthscythe: He just got here]

[Nightscythe: and somehow a bunch of players just FT here]

“We should go,” Freya said. For Indrek’s sake, she explained, “Kamdale just met some game players at the dungeon.”

“Is there any way I can go with you?” 

Indrek looked between Freya and Infamous Biscuit. There wasn’t a way as far as they knew. But it would be extremely helpful if Indrek could act as another mediator. Freya squinted down the road. They were a long way behind Kamdale’s group since they slowed down.

But then she spotted a green ID screen far in the distance. Maybe we’re not as far away as I thought. But that’s odd, why is it just one?

Indrek suddenly ducked his head. Something whizzed by.

Freya looked behind them. An arrow stuck out of the road.

“Damn!”

Blood-pounding, Freya moved in front of Indrek and waved her arms. 

“Stop shooting!”

Then, remembering her still grey-colored text box, she took off the bulky shirt Yina had made. Without the added bonus, her Misidentify broke. She waved the shirt at the far-away archer.

“Don’t shoot! Come over here! We need to talk!”

No other arrows followed, but the green text box didn’t move.

“That was a radical way to change back,” Infamous Biscuit commented. He had also moved to stand in front of both of them.

Freya glared at him, “I’m still wearing an undershirt.”

“Who are you guys?” a voice called in the distance. “And why are you standing up for those game error murderers?”