THE MOMENT
"WORLD VERSION UPDATE: TOWER DEFENSE. Added extradimensional and extraterrestrial invasions. Killing invasion enemies drops resource and technology points. Changed United Nations to United Defense Pact." Sirens wailed as a trio of girls, Britt, Brucie, and Christine, stood idly in the park. Apart from the emergency notifications, it was a nice Fall morning with the sun still not quite off the horizon yet.
"Whoa...," Brucie grinned when she got the message. She thought she knew what to expect, but it was beyond even that. It was as if she got to watch the world change all at once.
"Welcome to Wednesdays on Marciegeddon," Britt laughed. "It's not always a Tower Defense, but the schedule's pretty set. A mad scientist unleashes a giant robot in the city every Monday, on Tuesdays an ancient evil wakes up, on Wednesdays an alien invasion happens, on Thursdays a supervillain escapes the prison, on Fridays an ancient conspiracy tries to take over, Saturdays have giant monsters and Sunday is crafting day. There'll be royal weddings, or other celebrations on Sundays to give the Crafters their own style of Raids."
Brucie had grown accustomed to traveling the multiverse and seeing the unexpected. When she first joined Britt's team, there was some mild pressure on her to start the 'Marciegeddon chain'. To be able to set foot on the server, players needed to complete a long quest chain that was different for everyone. While she worked on that, Britt also showed her another public server that she said was similar, called 'Paradise'. But, the scale was all wrong. Britt called Marciegeddon a sort of 'quest theme park', and she had explained the rotating schedule. Still, seeing it in action was a whole different experience. If Marciegeddon was a theme park, then the Paradise Server was a coin-operated ride outside a laundromat. Just the precise timing of the global changeover to a new game was impressive.
"Alright, I'm calling it now. I'm not going to be available for team practice on Sundays," Brucie replied. She was an Engineer and very much wanted to level her crafting.
"Noted," Britt giggled.
"Are we early, or are they late?" Christine asked. She was already an established member of the team when Brucie joined, and nothing about the current situation was new to her. Though everyone she'd met on the team was personable, Christine was the one who kept her distance the most. She seemed to be friendly and close with Britt, but only with her. They were meeting some members of a different team to practice together.
"It's gonna be both," Britt giggled. "Barley tends to run late. Honey and Morgan won't show up without her, so whenever they all get here together," she said. "Oh, you haven't met any of them," she said to Brucie.
"So, you heard their team name, 'Honeybees'. Honey is the captain; she's a Calavera and a Monk. It's kind of hard to remember that because she looks like a 12-year-old girl, but she can shatter the Earth as easily as any other Calavera. Morgan's kind of like the co-captain. She's a Mano, and a Card Mage. Don't know if we'll be competitive or co-op yet, but if we're going against them, keep an eye on Morgan; she's good with strategy. And Barley is a Maceta. She's pretty straightforward, but that's not an insult. It's really easy to underestimate her, and kind of hard to overestimate her. She's a Healer, though, so there won't be too much head-to-head. If we can focus on the other two, it should be fine."
"I hope we do co-op," Brucie said. Britt kind of glossed over it, yet between Britt, Brucie, and Christine, none of them were Healers.
"Hi!" a black portal opened near the trio, and three new girls walked out. Britt, Brucie, and Christine all had dark hair, and all the newcomers were blonde in various shades. The first one that spoke was a young 12-year-old girl with long straight golden blonde hair.
"You're Brucie, right?" Honey asked. She was already familiar with the other two. "This is Barley," Honey introduced a rotund young woman in overalls with short, straw-like blonde hair.
"Pleasure," Brucie nodded with a smile and Barley returned the friendly expression twice as wide.
"And, this is Morgan," Honey introduced the tallest of all the gathered girls. She was a proper young woman in her early 20s with styled, short blonde hair.
"Hey," she smiled at Brucie.
"So, Competitive, or Co-op?" Christine voiced the question.
"I don't know?" Honey shrugged, and looked up at Morgan. The young woman was already studying her node.
"It's Tower Defense..., Brucie's new... and they don't have a healer...," Morgan appraised the team, then shrugged. "Co-op."
"We'll do Co-op play," Honey grinned. And Britt nodded and sent them party invitations.
"Let's have fun and kick some alien butt."