Chapter 672 - Pinging Inferno (1/2)

[3 Days after the Completion of the New England Virtual Mission.]

Haven 0900 Gemini Temple

Dex accepted the invite as soon as it popped up.

[You have joined the Inferno Guild.]

/Inferno: Shae: Welcome, Dex.

/Inferno: Ronnie: A new guy? How'd he get in so fast?

/Inferno: Nix: Family friend. Welcome aboard, kid.

/Inferno: Darsi: He's my friend, Ronnie.

/Inferno: Ronnie: Understood. Welcome, Dex.

/Inferno: Pon: Hey kid.

/Inferno: Semmi: Welcome Dex.

After starting the VRMMO version of Colonial, Dex opted to create a level 125 character and sat through the cutscene that briefed him on Khione's escape from Inferno and Nix's disappearance through the rift at Cyphix. Immediately after appearing in Everspire, he received a guild invite from Darsi.

He activated the return to guild icon as soon as it lit up on his hud. Dex whistled at the impressive view, although he'd seen the single-player version of Haven, the multi-player was much more impressive.

/Inferno: Dex: Thank you.

/Inferno: Nix: Since you're level 125, you must have accepted one of the cookie-cutter classes?

/Inferno: Dex: Yeah. I chose Spellsword.

/Inferno: Nix: The fuck? That's my secondary! Since when is that on the list.

/Inferno: Pon: Since you used it to kill the Goddes of Winter, genius.

/Inferno: Beta: Now, everyone wants to be Nix.

/Inferno: Wind: I know I do.

/Inferno: Chael: Me too.

/Inferno: Fajii: Same.

/Inferno: Pon: I don't. Shut the hell up.

Dex chuckled at the conversations.

[Whisper: Darsi to Dex] You at the Gemini platform? Follow the walkway west to the big ass treehouse. Hurry, the meeting is about to start.

[Whisper: Dex to Darsi] Save me a seat. This place is incredible.

The guildhall wasn't challenging to find. It was a skyscraper-sized tree that rose several hundred meters into the air.

”Hey! Wait up.”

Dex turned at the voice, a scraggly-looking older man carrying a sword in one hand and a half-empty bottle in the other. ”Sorry, gotta hurry, or I'll be late.

The old man fell into step beside him, despite looking like he could barely walk. ”You're the new Spellsword? Well, congratulations, you found me.”

”Great...” Dex lengthened his step when the old man smiled creepily at him.

”I'm Master Chiba, the Spellsword trainer.” He leaned closer. ”Of course, I don't work alone; there's another Master that helps me.

”I don't know anyone yet.” Dex eyed the large door, twenty meters in the distance. If he could get inside, he felt confident in ditching the weirdo.

Chiba nodded, knowing, placing a surprisingly strong hand on the younger man's shoulder. ”I get that. He's a fairly well-known Master. His name is Baiter.”

Dex grinned suddenly. ”Very well known.”

Chiba stared blankly at him. ”Huh?”

”I narrowed your next sentence down to seven different variations. In four of them, you attempt to make me say, Masturbater.”

”.....” Chiba.

Dex left the old man standing with his mouth open and managed a quick escape through the entrance of Inferno's Guildhall.

”Dex!” A hand gripped his arm and turned him to one side.

Dex stared for a moment, the pretty face and blond ponytail gave her identity away, but it was the accessories that made him speechless. She wore leather armor that gripped her form like a bear hugs honey. A beautiful digital camo coupled with a long rifle slung over one shoulder made her look like some sort of Sniper Goddess.

She leaned forward and kissed him. ”From now on, I want to see that expression whenever you look at me.”

Dex nodded, finally finding his voice. ”I'll do my best.”

Darsi pulled him toward a row of empty seats and sat down. ”Nix and Shae are about to talk with us.”

That was the signal. ”I'm going to check out my messages from Vasai Virtual; take notes for me.” Dex brought up his hud and sent a message to his Vasai Virtual mailbox.

The return message was courtesy of Syntax; its purpose was to ping everyone within his immediate range. In addition, it would flag everyone that was using a jump capsule interface.

/Inferno: Nix: Thanks for coming, everyone. There are a few essential items I'd like to touch base on.

[The following message is viewable by players only. Colonial will be going offline for thirty minutes for an unscheduled maintenance check. All players will be transported to their default VR server quarters or the VR residence of choice.]

[Logging Off: Colonial]

[Logging On: Vasai Virtual]

Dex appeared at Nix's UP cabin retreat simultaneously as Pon.