THE MOMENT
"It sounds like it was nice, all things considered," Davina commented as the trio of girls traveled through an open courtyard. They'd left the castle and were headed to the next step in the quest, which would be completed at the outskirts of the Capital. The adventure was just starting, and they'd have to travel deep into a dungeon cavern and slay a boss before returning. Two of them, Davina and her sister Karin, were dark-haired twins and both Knights, while the third girl with brown hair, named Six, was a Paladin. Six was the youngest, appearing about 10, while Karin and Davina were 14. Six had been sharing a vivid dream she'd had as they walked; Davina made the idle observation. "But it is kind of weird you had a dream you weren't in," she added with a smirk.
"I didn't ever see myself, but it felt like I was EVERYWHERE," Six giggled. "It was a little bit annoying," she admitted. "The thing I remember most is my parents and 23 having fun without me. I'm glad I woke up; by the end, I was really ready to be just normal me again."
"Yeah, I could see that easily becoming a nightmare," Karin added. "Do we want a fourth for healing?" she asked. They didn't always pick up another member, but whenever they did, it was often a Healer. Six could do very well in the Support role, but she preferred to be a Tank while the twins assaulted things from behind. Karin preferred to keep the group small and familiar, so it was important that she voiced the question. If she hadn't, Six and Davina would've continued with the assumption they were not open to new members for this particular run.
"Yes, please!" Six nodded.
"Alright," Karin nodded, the turned to her sister. "You deal with it." At her words, Davina saw a message in her view.
[Promoted to Group Leader] It was another subtle way they let her control the membership; she was always the one forming the initial regular trio.
"Yeah," Davina nodded as she willed their group status to become 'Open'. She could have summoned her Slate and done it through menus manually, but that was more of a social behavior. Everyone could control nanos to accomplish almost anything, and it became a politeness to use the Slate. It showed everyone a person was engaged in something, but Davina didn't need to show the other two that she was changing things. "Oh, that was fast," she laughed as a middle-aged woman in white robes emerged from a portal directly in front of them.
"Hi! I'm Nancy, thanks for letting me join!" she said.
"Hi, Nancy, I'm Davina," she introduced herself, then gestured to Six and Karin. "This is Six, and my sister Karin," she said. "You all set, or did you need to pick up anything before we head for the Quarry Dungeon?"
"I'm all set," the older woman smiled. She was only technically older than them, but she still had a youthful face and long, golden blonde hair. "But, I do have a favor, if I can ask..," she brought it up delicately as she looked at each of the kids' faces.
"Sure, what's up?" Davina asked.
"Well, you haven't recognized me yet, so maybe you don't know," Nancy said. "I run a TV segment for adventurers. It covers a wide range of topics for adventuring, ranging from dungeon tips, potion recipes, monster weakness, etc...," she paused for a moment to let them take in that information before she continued. She regularly tagged along with groups to research the latest happenings, and they were often thrilled to have a minor celebrity with them, especially when she was recording. "Is it okay if I record our run?" She withdrew a small, red, spherical camera from the white leather satchel over her shoulder. The orb was somewhat smaller than a coconut, but larger than a grapefruit. She let it go, and it hovered in place as a panel slid open to reveal a lens.
"We're going to have to decline," Davina shook her head and shrugged. "Sorry, we don't want to be recorded like that."
"Huh, oh. Oh!.. alright, I understand." Nancy was an intelligent woman, but she was genuinely caught by surprise. By that point, she was convinced everyone their age wanted to be recorded. She'd hosted her show for only a couple of years so far, but she'd done this maybe into the hundreds of times, and each new adventure came with a search for someone eager to participate. Over time she’d developed an intuition and got fewer rejections. She eventually noticed the younger adventurers were the ones most likely willing to show off. As soon as she arrived and saw how young they were, she assumed they would say yes. "Thanks anyway..," she gave them a polite wave ready to abandon the group.
"Good luck," Six spoke up.
"See ya," Davina added.
"Bye," Karin nodded.
Fortunately, Nancy was a Healer. She found a new group as soon as she abandoned theirs. She was hopeful they would let her record. She opened a new portal to traverse to them, and heard Six bring up a new topic of discussion as she stepped through it. She had a dozen questions pop to mind instantly, but she was already through the threshold with the portal closed behind her by the time she thought to ask.
She emerged somewhere else near the castle in front of an adventuring group of five. They were a more diverse mix than the three girls, and they were all closer to her own age.
"Whoa, you're Nancy from Nancy's Notes!" she was recognized instantly, and it felt nice, but she had something more important in mind that she didn't want to lose track of.
"Hi, yeah! I'm actually researching something," she said. All five of them gave her their attention.
"Yeah?" one of them asked.
"Have you guys heard of something called... the 'Uni-court'?"