THE MOMENT
"Hey, you okay?" Monica woke up to a pair of friendly, concerned faces. Justice, the pink-haired girl was the one that asked the question while the younger girl with bright blue hair seemed amused. As Monica regained her senses she felt something hard and jagged against her back and she sat on uneven ground. She was still in the park, sitting against a tree and it took her some time to remember how she got there. But, she nodded at Justice's question as she rose to her feet.
"What happened to you?" Monica hugged the teen before she realized she was hugging a just-met stranger and let go again.
"You fainted," Liberty giggled. "You fainted HARD! You just shut down and dropped like a corpse." Monica nodded as she focused on Justice. She had already assumed that much; but, she was more concerned with the reason she fainted.
"What happened to YOU...?" She repeated the question; but, as she asked it the second time she had a realization. "...was that a prank?" she asked.
"What? Liberty?" Justice asked. Yeah, she likes to try and sneak up on me. I usually catch her...," she smiled. "...but, this time you were distracting me." But, that wasn't what Monica meant, and the answer only left her more confused.
"How is stabbing you in the back a prank?" Monica asked. She had been trying to avoid the image in her memory; but, it came forward when she asked about it. Liberty, the blue-haired girl snuck up behind Justice while she was introducing herself. Justice wore silvery-white chainmail armor and Liberty wore dark red leather tailored for stealth. Monica assumed they were part of the same LARP group she was trying to join. She was happy to play along when Liberty asked for her silence. Then, Liberty leaped forward and clamped her hand around Justice's mouth while Monica saw a flash of silver. She heard a wet sound and Justice's eyes shot wide before they lost all light. Her body slumped and that was the last thing Monica remembered.
"She's just practicing; it's not like it's real," Justice giggled.
"I saw you die...," Monica said softly. It was a difficult thing to say and she still had her doubts about what was real.
"Yeah, and I respawned, it's fine," Justice nodded.
"You're kinda squeamish for the AlterNet," Liberty said.
"I'm not anyone's alternate..." Monica shook her head. "I'm here to join the roleplaying group."
"That's us," Liberty nodded. "But, you don't know what the AlterNet is?"
"Alternate what...?" Monica asked. Justice smiled warmly while Liberty giggled.
"Well, I'm sorry to say we're not going to have time to help you figure that out right now. But, if you wait for a few hours I'll be back to answer all your questions," Justice said. "In the meantime, you can learn how to use this," she gave Monica a transparent glass card. But, glowing red digits showed the time as she touched it. The numbers appeared to be floating in mid-air as she looked through the card. "That's a node, there's a tutorial that'll teach you how to use it,' she said.
"If you wanna play with us next time, you should make your character and learn how to play," Liberty added. Monica nodded as she took in all the information. It was a lot; but, it helped that Justice promised to help later. Now that things seemed close to making sense again, Monica's mind made way for other questions she'd been curious about. Justice introduced herself and mentioned Liberty was due any second. Before the stabbing, Monica wondered if the blue-haired girl was that sister.
"You're Liberty, right?" Monica asked. Liberty nodded. "Are you sisters?" Monica asked.
"Not exactly," Justice shrugged. "I'm an only child. But, my parents in another universe had more than one child; so, she's like a... quantum sister I guess?" both girls giggled.
"Wait...," Monica's knees felt weak again and she leaned back on the tree for support. "another universe...?" she asked.
"Oh! Oren's coming! I'm gonna sneak up on him," Liberty giggled as Monica watched her form fade away into dissipating smoke.
"No you're not...," Justice smirked, then she gave her attention to Monica again.
"We're gonna go play, you should use that node. It'll answer your questions," she said. She turned to walk away; but, paused to turn back. "Sorry you can't play with us this time," she added. "But, you're too new. You don't even have a character yet and Oren, the group leader, is big on the rules. It's why we only wanted serious people that really know what they're doing. But, don't stress. We'll get you up to speed for next time!"