THE MOMENT
Glenda felt aware enough to be brave. It wasn't the first time she'd woken up in a strange place; but, at least this one had a comfortable bed. The bedroom looked familiar; but, she was confident she'd never been in it. Instead, it looked like a nostalgic amalgamation of various bedrooms she'd seen on TV when she was younger. Everything looked normal with band posters on the wall for unknown artists and even a couple of movie posters for films that never existed. The situation was strange; but, she'd seen a decent amount of strange and she was quick to adapt.
Glenda hopped off the bed. There were two doors in the room; but, only one of them had light peeking through the cracks. She assumed the other was the closet and headed for the one with light on the other side. She opened the door and found a long hallway that stretched in both directions. She stepped out into the hall completely and once she was out of the bedroom the door slammed shut behind her. It seemed designed to get her attention. A prominent green arrow on the door pointed down one side of the hall.
[Go that way. - Ozone]
She wondered if this had anything to do with him. He'd told her an upcoming opportunity would be short notice, and it was the main reason she wasn't scared. Still, it was unusual that she couldn't bring her node with her, and that Ozone resorted to leaving notes instead of a Whisper. With an eager step, she dashed forward down the hall. Glenda didn't know why she was there, specifically; but, she trusted that she knew why she was there in a more general sense. Ozone made an agreement with her, and this was presumably part of that process.
She had no sense of time without her node. She didn't know if she walked 10 minutes or two hours. She couldn't see where she started behind her anymore; but, not a single turn had appeared. It took some time after she gave up attempting to count minutes that she spotted a new hallway. This one had a paper sign with an arrow and another note on it.
[Go this way. - Ozone] She did. After a few more meters she was surprised to see the hall open up. Odder than that, it was as if the hall just stopped being a hall. The enclosed rectangular tube gave way to a sunny, outdoor downtown area. A cobblestone walkway curved past the tunnel she exited, and dozens of shops lined both sides of the path. There weren't many people; but, it was surprising to see any at all. A dozen pedestrians at most could be seen walking by and window shopping. As she wondered where to go next, someone attracted her attention.
"Hi! If your name's Glenda, come this way!" It was a young teenage girl with a golden streak in her brown hair.
"Hello...," Glenda approached the girl and greeted her. She nodded and opened the door to invite Glenda into the shop.
"Got something special for you," the teen said. "By the way, I'm Jubilee," she added as Glenda walked in. It was a card and hobby shop with comics, board games and table top source books lining the walls while a glass display case sat in the center supporting the register. Several single cards were displayed in a variety of colors and prices in the case.
"Can I ask what's going on?" Glenda smiled with the question.
"You can...," Jubilee shrugged. "... but, I'm just the messenger, sorry. I can tell you Ozone worked out a deal with my dad, and I'm supposed to give you something. My dad was supposed to be here, but he got busy and asked me to do it," she said.
"Oh...," It answered Glenda's question with things she'd already put together. "...do you know anything about what you're giving me?" she hoped Jubilee had some answers for that question at least. She nodded, then knelt behind the glass counter. She came back with a wide, short wooden box.
"I have these ready, if you want a different Unique Soul, you can ask and I'll see if my dad has one around," she said. She lifted the lid to show off five golden nodes. The card-shaped glass gadgets were each etched with a Unique logo in a light blue color that stood apart from the gold background. #46 a sun, #35 a star, #33 a spider, #47 a crown, and #34 an abstract soldier. As soon as she saw the card she felt better about some things; but, much worse about others.
"Is this really that easy..?" Glenda asked. "I mean, to become a Unique Soul, I just have to equip a card?" Jubilee giggled and shook her head.
"It's easy for you, because you're already here. Ozone set everything up. Without him, all these shops would be near impossible to find, much less any particular one you're looking for. On top of that, my dad invented these cards; he doesn't sell them to just anyone. They can't be duplicated, and only work in AlterNet environments. Despite all those challenges, lots of people know these exist in some form. Most high-stakes games will have rules that prohibit Imposter Uniques; but, our match in a couple of weeks doesn't," she added with a broad smile.
"Our..," she'd been so distracted by everything else that Glenda didn't realize it until the girl brought it up. "You're Sunstream Jubilee!?" she said. She was ecstatic at first, then she shrank back. She was less sure about choosing her Unique Soul in front of her opponent. She seemed to notice Glenda's hesitation.
"There's no strategy in keeping it hidden," she said. "Your coach has to submit the final roster a week before the match; it'll show us what you picked then anyway.
"No, no, it's fine," Glenda nodded. "I'll take this one...," she pointed at the soldier, #34, and Jubilee nodded.
"It's already paid for..," Jubilee nodded. She offered Glenda a handshake and they completed the deal. Then, card disintegrated from the box and Glenda received a notification that it was in her inventory.
"Well, I was told to walk you out whenever you were done...," Jubile made a gesture at the air and a tall black portal opened. "But...," she smiled and the portal shrunk a notable size as Jubilee pointed out the window at the other shops.
"You're not likely to find this place again. If you want to see what some of the other shops offer, you're more than welcome to." She stepped forward and put her hand into the portal; it shrunk further until it became a small black card, then she offered the card to Glenda.
"You'll probably get lost as soon as you're out the door," she smiled. "This portal will get you somewhere safe whenever you're ready to leave."