004 {DELTA} dog dancing bird grammar night grass

[hazardgear]

Xion's first thought is, I don't know how to play a Heavy Blade... What if I get killed just looking for Targetlock?

Her second thought: Did he just pick keywords to make this thing stupidly long?

Third: Does it have to be so... so creepy?

The field seems to be grass, judging by the sound Axel's character makes when he walks and the random patches of green here and there, but for the most part, it was dark, as if it was blood-soaked. Xion blanches. Why would Axel be friends with someone who has a meeting place like this?

She doesn't know where she's supposed to be looking, or what Targetlock's character looks like. Xion swallows her fear and grips her controller tighter. Come on, Xion... Calm down. It's just a game. There isn't anything this guy can do to hurt you. You just need to find him and then he'll tell you what you want to know. Simple as that.

... Right?

Comments

[daegesege]

Somehow, she isn't surprised when he gives her another riddle. But she just... doesn't have the energy to care. She stares blankly at the item in her inventory as Targetlock walks away. She doesn't... want to deal with this right now.

"I don't understand," she murmurs, forgetting (or not caring?) that her mic is still on. "Why does it have to be like this? All I want to do is..."

[ceilingwave]

He stops, listening to her speak.

"You want to unfreeze an account. An account frozen due to a virus. To remedy the virus, you have to find the virus' source... and that's where I've pointed you."

She's breaking at the seams, and maybe he takes a little pity on her. She's not used to playing hardball. "There's more going on in this game than you or I or anyone can ever understand. This sort of riddle is nothing compared to that. You can look this stuff up. There's nothing to help anyone with how this crazy game works. We all make it up as we go along."

[daegesege]

She's surprised when he answers. It's the first time he's been this straight-forward with her, and her immediate reaction is to not trust what he's telling her. But her intuition makes her pause, and her surprise clears her head enough.

"But... I still don't understand. Why? If it's really as complicated as you say..." She lowers her head, brow furrowing. "Why make it worse? It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't... It wouldn't help anyone else understand."

[ceilingwave]

"Maybe things happen that aren't meant to help understand. Maybe things happen because they're meant to hide."

He stops. "I just gave you a freebie, poppet. Consider yourself lucky. I could get in trouble for that sort of thing." He laughs again, knowing full well that he'll be in for an earful in just a few moments.

[daegesege]

Xion frowns, her hands immediately moving for pen and a post-it. If that's true, if that's a hint, then she needs to remember it. She needs to keep the words.

"Then..." she says, pausing before she starts writing. "I guess, that's... I won't keep you any longer." Her politeness kicks in, the well-worn habit that comes so easy to her. She doesn't need to think for that.

[ceilingwave]

"Good luck with your bro's account." A gesture reminiscent of the tipping of a hat, and once more he's on the move.

He has a roommate-slash-boss who no doubt will have a few things to say about his final performance.