3 The Players

After screaming my lungs out at the end of the cutscene, I ran to my workstation and starting rummaging thru my giant toolbox. Normally if I get any new key items, the devs put them in there usually under the pretense of old projects or something. Turbo jets, football trophy, crystalline wing blades, dragon helmet, talon protectors, pirate hat, . . . basically random junk from previous events. I kept digging; the devs had to have added something new to save Azula! Unless . . .

"Is everything okay, Joe?" asked a player. I jumped and turned to see four players; probably the play testers for the new expansion, but that meant the new key items were in my toolbox now! (Yeah, apparently me being a disorganized horder is a thing, dispite me being the one in charge of the weird Spring Cleaning event they have every year since launch.) First things first though . . .

"AZULA'S BEEN KIDNAPPED BY THE KAIMYRA!" I yelled. I turned from the one in the red suit to the one in the blue. "They attacked the hanger an hour ago! We have to save her!"

"Where did they take her?" asked the one in yellow. I walked over to the main computer screen that took up a third of thd wall and typed in my pass code. A giant map appeared on screen with a chibi Azula icon flashing in Kaimyran territory.

"Her wrist com places her at a Kaimyran base." I said. I turned to them and finally noticed the user names: Eric (red), Greg (blue), Kyle (yellow), and Zack (green). So, the devs were play testing again. "We have her back home."

"We?" asked the green one named Zack. I hate Kyle's dialogue writing; he's over dramatic and draws things out. Also, his dialogue options suck.

"How many times has Azula repaired your dragon?" I frowned them. I pointed to each in turn. "or gave you an upgrade? or helped you with a new tool? or offered you jobs when you were running low on credits? Azula is the most kind hearted person in this universe! She has done alot for you ingrates. If it were you missing, she wouldn't stop until you were . . ."

"I meant you're going too?" replied yellow Kyle. I heard over the chat Eric saying something about the music being too loud and Zack venting about the damaged door mysteriously being fixed.

"Azula is my friend! Of course I'm going with you guys!" I answered. Geez, Kyle! Why do you always have me friend zone myself?! I know you guys programmed my crush and I read the fan fics in the forms! This is why I hate Kyle! Wait, . . . this cutscene means those items should be . . . I ran over to my work station again, tripping once."Let me find my new inventions."

"New inventions?" asked blue Greg. Over the chat he was asking Eric and Zack what they came up with. Eric said wait and see, while poor Zack groaned and lamented that a couple of the models were still development (something about a 3D modeler neglecting her work or trying to work on unrelated stuff).

"Just some stuff I've been working on." I replied. I pulled out my tablet and found a series of new inventory icons. I clicked on the first one and a hologram with a dragon appeared with some new shiny wingblades with neon colored crystals on them. "Platinum diamond wing blades. These babies will cut thru meterors and small ships like hot butter. . . in theory."

"In theory?" asked red Eric. He told Kyle his writing was improving, but he needed to work on his options. Apparently one option was run around naked, which Kyle admitted he was still trying to come up with a fourth option. There was a collective laugh followed by planning a meeting tomorrow.

"Most of these items haven't been field tested yet." I admitted. I clicked on the next item and the dragon in the hologram disappeared. "This is the Star Cloak. It makes near invisible in space for exactly 5 minutes. It currently takes 15 minutes to recharge."

"15 minutes is a long time." teased yellow Kyle.

"It's a work in progress. I managed to extend the time use time from 30 seconds and shaved off 45 minutes off the recharge. Give me more time, it can only get better." I pushed back. I clicked the next item. The dragon reappeared and the eyes began to glow before it zoomed to the other side of the room. "I call it Hyper Drive 5. You thought you were fast before, just wait when you try these. Once you've been to a planet or station, you can zip back there when ever in no time flat. Still has afew bugs."

"Bugs?" asked green Zack. He said in the chat it was completely useless until after the mission. Greg confirmed it was, but players had been asking for it for a while.

"Well, it only works if you've been there. Sorry, there's no short cuts." I said. I looked at my work bench and picked up the new blaster I fired a shot at Kyle, who was wrapped up in an invisible something. " I give you the net canon. That will hold any prisoner for an hour. Holds up to 5 uses right now. I'm very proud to say I tested it myself. Only have this small version now, but I was going to ask Azula to help me make a bigger one for the dragons."

"Zack, where's the net?" asked Kyle in the chat. His avatar struggled against the invisible force.

"Let me check . . . " Zack took a minute-- driving me crazy the entire time. "It's is there, we just can't see it."

"I'll check the code." replied Greg. "I bet it's one line that's causes it to not show up. Now, let's focus on the test. Keep making notes, guys."

"Give me a minute to upgrade your dragons and we can go." I said. The screen went black a minute and the cutscene was over. I stood by the bay and waited for them to walk up. Finally, Kyle stepped forward and I asked, "This won't be a walk in the park. Are you ready?"

"Let's go! " Yellow Kyle selected.

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