an old arcade.

John looked around. They were in the better part of town or to be more exact: They were in the newest part of town. Just twenty years ago this area had been a run-down shithole nobody touched but after some funding of the state the whole area was rebuild. John was able to see this district slowly change over the course of his life as constructing went on and on. Nowadays there were only few construction sites remaining.

“We are almost there.” Rave said and smiled him. With the brown hair and the school uniform she looked so plain, yet he fact that a girl smiled at him made John smile back like the pervert he was. “Didn’t expect you to have a house in such a nice area.” “Oh, MY house is ultra-nice but Collide’s HQ is special.” Rave responded and they entered an alleyway between two buildings. “Brace for impact!”

The warning came a bit late as John made one step and the alleyway suddenly transformed. The building on each side of him were gone, replaced by a rusty fence that surrounded what looked like a run-down house. Two stories high and with a wooden exterior it was weird for the patch of green, trampled grass that surrounded it.

You have entered the Illusion Barrier ‘Collide HQ – the old arcade’

‘Yeah, thanks, I got that.’ John thought and tapped away the message. At his side Rave stretched, arms raised high, pulling up her school uniform enough to reveal her navel and flat stomach. As she did her hair curled up slightly and took on its pink look. She looked over to John and made the peace sign while winking. “Feels great!”

She looked stunning. ‘That must be the same effect as with Clark Kent’s glasses.’ John thought. ‘A minor change in hair colour and body language and she looks thirty times more attractive.’ Rave lifted her skirt a bit. “Come let’s get inside, I wanna change.”

The inside of the building was, as the message had said, an old arcade. One big room made up almost all of the first floor. A high ceiling, white tube bulbs on it, the walls painted black and then sprayed over with a multitude of words and pictures by hired artists of a different generation. Arcade machines stood along the right hand wall and then spread a bit into it, effectively walling of an entire quarter of the room for themselves. John also saw two PC’s on a table in there.

At the left-hand side was a large conference table that was empty save for a halfway filled ashtray. At the table sat Travolta together with a bored looking guy in his early twenties. He had short black hair, only visible at the back of his head as the rest was hidden under a red cap. He wore a red t-shirt and black pants that could have been owned by a mechanic, stained with oil and a multitude of tools peeking out from them.

Between the table and arcade machines was a huge amount of empty space and at the back of the room was a metal staircase that led up to the second level. Rave was heading for that staircase as John used Observe on the guy he didn’t know.

Jim Johnson, Level 12

Mech-Tech Dreamer

Mechanic of collide. A guy who constantly runs late because he needs to buy more cigarettes, otherwise reliable though. An earnest soul who complains a lot. Ran into the abyss by accident is not a particularly capable fighter.

Relation: 0

Emotions: Bored, Wondering

“Ey, guys, brought the new guy.” Rave just said as she headed up the stairs. “Play nice.” ““Shut up Rave.”” Travolta and Jimmie said as one in a bored tone. Travolta turned his head to John. “You decided to stick to us then, Gamer?”

Guild Invite: Collide

Accept Decline

John clicked the button at the same time as he answered “Yes.”, causing a new window to pop-up.

“Great. Here are the rules: Don’t tell anybody where we are located and help the members when they are in trouble.” John raised an eyebrow. “That’s all?” “That’s all, we are a pretty loose bunch. We are not getting into the whole slavery thing but otherwise you can do whatever the fuck you want.” Travolta made a throwaway gesture. “If you can steal stuff, steal stuff, if you can make stuff, make stuff, I don’t fucking care. We just want to find something interesting to do with these weird powers we have.”

That sounded like what his character description said. The sound of footsteps of metal echoed through the room again, announcing Rave’s return. She now wore the outfit she had on during the attack and walked over to the conference table. “Looking stunning as always, Rave.” Jimmie complimented. “Stinking like tobacco as always, Jimmie. How did ya manage to run out of cigarettes EXACTLY when they attacked, huh?” Rave shot him down as she pulled back a chair.

John scratched his neck. “So, I will be on my way then.” He said, prompting a slew of suspicious looks. “Where ya going so soon?” Rave wanted to know. “Forest outside town, I want to try and get a bit more Experience points.” The pink-haired girl pondered for a second while looking into his eyes. The pink dancing around her iris kept his own in place, hypnotized by the beauty.

“That sounds interesting. Let me come with you.” She walked the few steps over to him and whispered into his ear. “I promise I will make it worth it.” John felt a sudden tightness in his pants. “Yeah, yeah of course you can come with me!” he said, perhaps overly enthusiastic.