THE MOMENT
"We can't tell if they're logged in or not," Molly said. She shook her head at Sprocket's suggestion, "We can't assume they'll respawn if we kill them."
"Oh yeah...," Nax said. The bright blue glow around his hands dimmed and he relaxed his arms. He looked around at students surrounding the four of them. He didn't recognize any of them; but, each one had a neon green smile glowing around their mouths from ear to ear. Jagged peaks in the grin resembled sharp teeth.
The zombie students were frozen in time mid-step. Molly and Sprocket returned to school in time to be in Outbreak and Nax's way. Nax was leading Outbreak away from a gaggle of zombified students. Sprocket was surprised into stopping time, then Nax explained why they were running.
"Those look like Turbo's virus," Molly said as she studied the jagged smile on one of the students.
"They are..," Outbreak said.
"Oh, that couldn't be easier," Molly smiled. She nudged Sprocket's shoulder. "Fast forward four hours," she said. He nodded. Then, after a moment, he tilted his head.
"That's eight... they're still infected," he said.
"Are you sure they're Turbo's?" Molly asked.
"Yeah, she's sure," Nax said. His tone held a defensive edge, but Molly didn't notice it. Her mind was already on the next option.
"We should find him, he might know what's going on," she said. Molly flicked her wrist upward to summon her slate; but, a growl echoed from a distant hall.
"I thought you stopped time," Nax said. He glared at Sprocket but he shook his head.
"I'm only A-tier," he gestured at the unfamiliar students. "Only A-tier Uniques and below; we got lucky."
"Let's go somewhere safer, then try to get ahold of Turbo," Molly said. She dismissed her slate with one hand, and opened a black portal with her other. The four teens walked into the portal and found the school library on the other side. They hid in a dark corner, then Molly summoned her slate again.
"Turbo's infected too," Outbreak said. Molly looked up with a question in her eyes; but, Outbreak was ready to answer that one too. "I infected everyone; it's all my fault," she said. Outbreak broke eye contact and focused down at the shadows. "He got curious about how the nanos would interact with my ability. So, he gave me a dose." Molly disrupted the silence with muffled giggles and Sprocket added a few chuckles too.
"If this is anyone's fault; it's Turbo's not yours. Wait, why aren't you still infected?" Molly asked. Outbreak shrugged.
"It didn't actually infect me," she said. "Turbo got a green smile on his face as soon as I drank it; I didn't even have time to think spreading it. Riot, Moose, Frost, and Valentine were all close enough to be infected too. But, they weren't even that close." Molly nodded.
"You can't help how your ability decided to work anymore than Turbo can help his curiosity, there's no point in deciding blame right now. We have a real issue," Molly said.
"What's that?" Nax asked. Molly gestured at the shelves of books around them.
"I meant to land on a different Earth; but, we're still here."
"Huh," Nax commented. He wiggled his fingers and opened his own portal under himself. He sank in and disappeared. After several seconds, he reappeared again.
"Yep. I can reach the city; but, not another Earth."
"I can't send a Whisper to anyone," Molly said. "How about you guys?" Outbreak, Nax, and Sprocket all took turns shaking their heads.
"Okay, how about this?" Molly asked. At her question, Outbreak felt a Whisper on her wrist.
[Molly has invited you to join a group.] Outbreak accepted the invite, then she felt the rest of them join too.
[/p: How's this? - Molly]
[/p: Works. - Sprket
[/p: So, what's going on? - Nax]
[/p: I'm really really sorry. - Outbrk]
"Stop apologizing, you didn't do anything wrong," Molly said. But, Outbreak shook her head.
"It just keeps getting worse," she said.
"What do you mean?" Molly asked.
"You wanted Turbo to help; but, he's infected...," Outbreak said.
[/p: And group chat works. - Outbrk] she Whispered to the party.
"We can't leave school, and we can't Whisper to anyone on our friends list; but, group chat still works," she said. "Turbo kind of mentioned he was skipping a game to test the zombie nanos on me; I think we're stuck with it on."
"Worse?" Molly asked. She stood up and pulled her node out. "I think that's great news. That means I get to...," she held it out, and grinned at Outbreak. "Shine bright!" A flash of golden light replaced the blonde girl in blue jeans with a blue-skinned version wearing a white robe. Sprocket pulled his node out next and stood.
"Time for fun," he said. Sprocket's shorts and t-shirt were replaced with a purple silk cloak, leather armor, and a silver greatsword sheathed on his back.
"Log in, then what?" Outbreak asked Molly for her plan. She shrugged.
"Don't really know. But, we have to play; might as well make it fun."
"I'm in," Nax said. He stood up and gave Outbreak a reassuring nod as he held his node out. "Trust me," he grinned. After a flash of light, his logged in version covered his face and hair with a black hood and mask. He wore black leather armor with a red dagger sheathed on his belt.
Outbreak looked up at the group from the ground. Two of them she'd only met 10 minutes ago, and Nax was a new friend too. She set the zombie virus free on the school campus. She was the one that mutated it past Turbo's specifications. She could still infect any of them at any time.
But, she was also still the only one on the floor not trying to fix it. She was the only one still holding on to the guilt. The longer they waited for her, the worse Outbreak felt. Finally, she nodded to herself and stood up. She held her node out and sighed as she gave her password to log in. When she created her passphrase she had just met Turbo and discovered the AlterNet. She was excited about all the possibilities that were open to her now. In the moment, it was a reminder that helped improve her mood.
"I can Break Out."