Chapter 9 - Tea & Cold Pizza

Calista narrowed her eyes at the imp. "You know for an NPC bartender, you seem to know a lot about system admins and developers and stuff."

Inujack just smiled at her as he began cleaning another glass.

That one's not even dirty. She glared as she finished her whiskey and set the glass on the counter with an audible clank. "You also seem a little too moral for an imp."

Inujack continued to smile. "I'm just a humble bartender, ma'am."

"I suppose you are." Calista slid her glass back to the bartender. "Thanks for the drinks. I'll be back in a bit, I suppose."

Hitting her options menu, she set her status as 'AFK' and a moment later, her eyes opened to the blue light of her virtual reality cell. After she had pulled off her headset, she pressed the release and waited as all the sensors fell away from her body. Then she opened the cell and stepped out into her condo.

It was night over Minneapolis and she could hear the traffic humming over I-494 as she made her cup of tea. Perhaps Calista would find herself in a bit of trouble while she was tabbed out, but she didn't think so. Bartenders usually represented safe zones in the game, so as long as she was at the bar, she was probably okay.

Sipping her tea, she browsed her refrigerator for a snack. Yogurt. A half a salad from Yannie's. She looked some more. I need to buy some groceries like a grown-up. There, she found what she had been looking for. Old pizza. She opened the rubber container and debated for a moment. Cold pizza or toaster oven pizza? She decided on the latter.

Still sipping her tea as the toaster oven's timer ticked away, she looked out at the city lights. She was on the fifteenth floor of the McMaster Building in downtown. It was nice. She could walk to work and there was ample access to the bike paths that led across Lake of the Isles and into Theodore Wirth Park.

Tuesday nights were the start of her weekend. She worked four days a week as an assistant account manager with a big public relations firm. She was good at it. She expected to be offered a full account manager position within a year. She worked ten hours a day, four days a week. It was a taxing work schedule but then again she was twenty-six, she could handle it. However, when Tuesday night finally came around, it was time to relax, and for her that meant a bit of Sable Unlimited and then usually a long bike ride starting Wednesday morning. She looked at her clock. 9:46 pm. Thus was her debate. Her job required her to be an early riser, so staying up too late on her off days had a way of catching up with her. Come Saturday morning, she would have to get back to work, and to be on time, she needed to be ready to roll out the door by the crack of dawn. She frowned in disgust as the clock ticked to 9:47 and then looked out the window to watch the traffic as the toaster oven continued to tick.

Her mind returned to the game. She didn't want to lose Calista. The delver was her highest character with the most gear, the most history, and the most contacts in the game. She needed to keep her, but right now she was struggling with just how to do it.

She thought about trying to sneak out of the dungeon the way she came. However, something told her that if that door had closed in on itself, then that way likely held a trap of some kind. Maybe there was another way to do it. Maybe she could bargain with the dragon, but then again, she had never bargained with a dragon and in all the lore she had read about the game, dragons were capricious beasts who couldn't be trusted. Too powerful. They tended to treat the needs and wants of the regular characters as petty triflings. No, if she wanted to get out, Inujack was right. The best way to get Calista out would be to go after Severin.

The toaster oven pulled her out of her thoughts with a ding. The re-heated pizza was nice. She hadn't eaten since getting off work. It had been gym, then shower, then walk home, then game. She thought about Calista and her predicament as she savored the pepperoni with extra cheese. She took a moment to check her phone. No messages. She briefly considered texting her fiance to see how he was doing, then thought better of it. If Blake hasn't messaged me, he's probably busy with work. She flipped through her socials while she finished the pizza. Nothing much interesting was happening outside of a few friends who had posted pictures of their kids or their pet. After a minute of this, she set the phone aside and stared at her V.R cell for a while. That place doesn't seem too hard. I should be able to get out by midnight. Then I'll just sleep in and take my bike ride in the mid-morning. It wasn't a big deal, she decided. Besides, how could she ask anyone from her guild to come and rescue her if she hadn't first made an honest effort at escape? A minute later and she climbed back into her V.R cell.