Together, we can do this!

Nearing base camp, you swear you smell- All of a sudden, you’re running and, turning a corner, find yourself shouting in excitement.

“Is that coffee!?”

“Agh!” There’s a loud thump as Jorrel jolts and drops a sack he’d been carrying. He chuckles, bend forward, “Got me good. Real spooked there.”

“Sorry,” you yell, unable to contain your excitement. “But, for real!? No old people trick or tiny robots in disguise?”

“Yes. It’s real coffee. Had to fight for it, too. Bunch of spider-wannabees that sprayed me with it. Some got in my mouth.” Jorrel’s eye twitches slightly. “Okay, some got in my mouth when they sprayed me and I drank a lot, too.”

You just can’t stop smiling and doing tiny jumps. Actual coffee. Shame you’re probably going to sell it, but dammit, you’re swiping enough to make yourself a cop. Or twenty, if there’s an exceptional workload… honestly, you’re going to have twenty cups no matter what. Preferably within seconds of each other.

Noticing the subtle bouncing off your chest, gravity reminds you how gross it is to display your horrid deformity like that – yes, even through your jacket – and you end up doing jumping jacks without the jumping. So… wailing your arms like an idiot, is what you’re doing.

“What’s all this noise about?” Mute asks as he enters, rolling the VCS, “Holy crap, is that coffee!? Shiv…” Mute warns too late, you’ve already seen it. You. Will. Drink. Coffee.

Jorrel looks at Mute then at you. Then he hands each of you a thumbs up and goes, “Niiiice…”

Embarrassingly it takes you too long too realize what he’s referring too. It’s only when you – for very important reasons – check out Mute’s cats, remember that you, too, are only wearing a jacket and a pair of teal underpants. Having experienced being actually lit on fire, the warmth in your cheeks pale in comparison. But only slightly.

“It’s not like that!” You mutter to the floor. “I was hot and Mute had to tear off my clothes!”

Jorrel hoots, and you hear a slap, as Mute introduces the palm of his hand to his face.

“No!” You feel frustration rise in you. It feels like wanting to stomp something, like, say, the floor, real hard. “The VSC lit on fire!”

“That wasn’t in the presentation,” you hear Emalie say. How long has she been standing there?

“Oh…” Jorrel says grasping the severity of the situation. "Shouldn't you have, you know," he gestures his entire body, "burns everywhere?"

Mute, confounded, looks at you. You look at him. You look at Emalie, she’s looking at Jorrel, who’s looking at you, so you look at him, but when you do, he’s already looking back to Mute, who is lo-- This goes on for a while. By the end of it, both you and Mute just shrug with a I ‘dunno noise.

“Ancient techno-magic?” Emalie propose, which all you happily accept to not think too much about it.

You all gather around the VCS.

“So,” Jorrel says, “What is it?”

“Supposedly it’s a ‘virtual community simulator’ for experiencing stuff together. Pretty harmless, if you ask me.” You explain without any hidden or ulterior motive at all. None. Don’t even imply- how dare you.

“Except for when it lit us on fire…” Mute chortles. He didn’t see the presentation though. You’d relay it, but telling Mute what you saw isn’t really something you’d be able to do. Not even hint at. Nope.

Instead you notice the text in its display has changed "It's a tiny animation. Couple of dots forming a row the, 'Boot 100% awaiting activation phrase," you relay.

"Same as with Robbington," Jorrel says excitedly. "Think the same phrase works?"

The group stands in silence for a while, collectively handing VCS a beatdown. A beatdown with your eyes. An eye-down. You really need some coffee.

"Way I see it," Jorrel continues, "We can turn it on here or bring it back to Shiv's workshop and turn it on there." Jorrel looks to the group. A little more at Mute than the rest of you.

You say, "It might only work here. Some bots are bound to the building we've found them. So, it's always a gamble. On the other hand, I got all tools and restraints there."

"Right," Emalie acknowledges, "Since we coincidentally didn’t get the passphrase or a manual to this thing, it might try to violently **** us when we turn it on. But since it’s a piece of entertainment, I don’t see what harm it could do."

Jorrel thinks. "Right. I need to talk out loud for a moment, stay with me."