THE MOMENT
"Where the hell is it!?" Ark was getting annoyed. He stood alone on a vast plain under the light of a full moon. Not being able to find the location he was looking for was a minor convenience compared to its implications. It was getting close to midnight and he would be out of time soon. So, he was left with an aggravating choice. Ask someone for help, or let his team down.
The Autumn night was cool at least, and he enjoyed the chilly breeze caressing his red, angry cheeks. In the past, the choice would have been easy, he wouldn't be there participating at all. But, despite his insistence on being the aloof loner, he'd started to consider some of his teammates as friends; mostly because they accepted his edgy nature. And, his competitive nature helped him cooperate with them too, he wanted to be on the winning team at the end of the school year. It was that final realization that prompted him to ask the one friend he'd grown most comfortable with. He sighed, and sent off a private Whisper to her.
[Hey. Got a minute? - Ark]
[Yeah. What? - Sandy] she replied. Ark heard her voice in his ears and felt the shape of the text on his wrist as the letters glowed bright blue.
[Over here? - Ark] he asked her to join him. She didn't answer right away, but after a moment, a black portal opened next to him and Sandy stepped out.
"What?" she asked again.
"I.. can't find the door..," he admitted. In his mind, it was worse to admit that in writing. At least this way he could deny it later if he needed to.
"Really??" Sandy laughed. "We all finished our runs already, why'd you put it off so long?"
"I CAN'T find the door...," he stressed it this time. This only prompted more laughter from her, and Ark was starting to wonder why he picked her to be the one friend he felt comfortable with.
"Dude, it's almost midnight... You've been looking for the door for like six hours??"
"Yeah, I know that already. Are you going to help me or not?"
"Fine..," Sandy giggled. "...What'd the NPC tell you to do?"
"He said not to go near the warehouse, which means that's where I'm supposed to go, right? That's where the door is?"
"Yeah, that checks out. What'd you find at the warehouse?"
"I'm still looking for it...," he gestured out at the field around them.
"Huh, weird. You know what? It's probably faster if you abandon it and pick it up again."
"Oh.. yeah..," Ark nodded. He wished he'd thought of that at some point in the six hours that he spent looking for it. He flicked his wrist up to summon his Slate, and he began navigating the menus with taps and swipes while Sandy watched. She could only see dark, smokey grey glass; but, she'd been through the menus enough times to kind of keep track of his presses. As soon as he abandoned the Quest, a cloud of white nanos began to gather near them and take a humanoid shape. In seconds, a middle-aged stranger with shredded clothes and several superficial wounds appeared.
"Tell me about what's happening tonight," Ark said to him.
"Tonight is the full moon, you must not go near the werehouse," he replied. Then, Ark shrugged.
"And, now we're caught up again," he said. "Absolutely useless, the warehouse never appeared."
"Did you read the quest text? Maybe there's a hint there?"
"It's the AlterNet, we never need to read the quest text. It's supposed to just work...," he complained. Another possible solution that never occurred to him while he was busy being annoyed.
"Well, that's how I'm helping. I'm telling you to read the text," Sandy replied. She'd already made her run for the day and couldn't accept another quest for the event until after midnight. So, she couldn't read it for him.
"Alright..., " he made some more presses on his Slate, and his eyes scanned the words that Sandy couldn't see. "Yeah, it just says find the warehouse..," he shrugged.
"Tell me exactly what it says."
"Seek further information on the warehouse," he said.
"That's it, 'Seek further information', means you're supposed to ask him for another step." she said.
"With what information?" Ark shrugged. "He didn't say anything except warehouse."
"I dunno... that, I guess?" Sandy shrugged.
"Huh?" Ark shrugged at her. "You mean warehouse?" he asked. The question was directed at Sandy, but within earshot of the NPC.
"No, werehouse," the stranger said. At his words, a monstrous howl filled the air, and a small, single-family home, covered in fur appeared in the field. Yellow light illuminated its windows like eyes, and wooden, fang-like protrusions grew around the green door, the one Ark had been searching for.
"Found your door," Sandy giggled.
"What? HOW???!" Ark was further annoyed that his problem was solved, and he had no idea how it happened.
"It's a werehouse, dummy. You know, like Lupe is a werewolf...," she laughed a little more. "It's a Halloween event, remember?"
"HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO HAVE FIGURED THAT OUT!??" He was yelling at his Slate to avoid yelling at Sandy, and his eyes landed on the quest text one more time. "Oh. That's just poor design...," he shook his head.
"Did you find a clue?" she asked with her smile growing larger.
"I thought it was a typo... the quest text said 'Seek further information on the werehouse."
"So, it was in front of you all along?" Sandy enjoyed having fun at his expense.
"No, it's dumb. Hiding vital information in the quest text instead of just saying it!"
"Maybe he did? You can check the chat log too...," she said.
"I shouldn't have to!" Ark said. "How hard is it to use different words? My god, werehouse and warehouse sound exactly the same. I WASTED SIX HOURS ON THIS STUPID HOMOPHONE!"
"So... you gonna be mad about it for the rest of the night, or are you going to kill some spiders?"
"Yeah yeah...," Ark nodded and started walking toward the door. "Thanks, by the way," he added as Sandy was making her portal to leave. And, she stepped into it while giving her last reply with a wave.
"Any time."