Chapter VI
\"The Planetrix be\'th a system, Uni\'o.\" Said Draklar while walking through the streets of Hydlaa, passing by various characters. Lacking the collision detection, they were going right through them. \"That system be\'th our enemy. But when we be inside, thou look\'st around. What dost thou see. Crystal hunters, role-players, afkers, trolls. The very characters o\' the players we be trying to save. But until we do, these players be still a part o\' that system, and that maketh them our enemy. Thou hast to understand, most o\' these players be not ready to be migrat\'d. And many o\' them be so naive, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they shall fight to protect it.\"
Unitearica glanced at a ruby that they were just passing.
\"Wert thou listening to me, Uni\'o, or wert thou looking at the red ruby?\"
\"I was...\"
\"Look again.\"
Unitearica turned around and glanced at the ruby. He jumped back in shock as the ruby had a texture of an Enkidukai.
\"Freeze it.\" Said Draklar and started waiting for the program to freeze. \"Kwartz, I said freeze it.\" He blinked. \"Kwartz?\"
\"Sorry, boss. Wus jugglin\' the lemons.\"
\"Kwartz, could thou please remind me wherefore I got thee into the group?\" Draklar sighed. \"Kwartz? Dost thou hear me?\"
\"I like lemons...\"
\"Aye, o\' course, how could I forget. Forgive me for asking...\" The Dermorian sighed once again. \"Now freeze the damn program!\"
\"I think it\'s already frozen.\" Said Unitearica.
\"No, \'tis just the lag.\" Draklar answered him. \"Kwartz!\"
\"Lemons!\"
\"Kwartz!!! If the program shan\'t freeze within five seconds, I shall put you in a boulder-sculpturing program!\"
\"Heh,\" The Kran answered. \"Ya just sed \'you\'\"
\"Argh!!!\"
\"So, this... this isn\'t the Planetrix?\" Spoke Unitearica.
\"Nay. \'Tis another training program design\'d to learn thee one thing. If thou art not one o\' us, thou art one o\' them.\"
\"One of rubies?\"
\"Ehh, nay... \'twas suppos\'d to turn into a Game Master, but Planeshift\'s code be\'th curs\'d to have lots o\' bugs, \'tseem\'th...\"
\"Game Masters?\" Unitearica kept inquiring.
\"Semi-Sentient people.\" Answered Draklar. \"They can teleport to any place, change their shape as they see fit, e\'en change their name to whate\'er they want. That mean\'th that anyone we have not migrat\'d be\'th potentially a Game Master. Inside the Planetrix, they be e\'erywhere and they be nowhere, due to the fact that they mostly ignore their responsibilities. We surviv\'d by hiding from them, by running from them. But they be the gatekeepers. They be guarding all the doors. They be holding all the keys, which mean\'th that sooner or later, someone be\'th going to have to fight them.\"
\"Someone?\"
\"I shan\'t lie to thee, Uni\'o.\"
\"Well here\'s something new...\"
\"...E\'ery single man or woman who hath stood their ground, e\'eryone who hath fought a Game Master hath been ban\'d. But where they have fail\'d, thou shalt succeed.\"
\"Why?\" Unitearica cocked an eyebrow. \"Because you say so?\"
\"Aye, thou remember our rule, right? Good. Also, I have seen a Game Master teleport through a concrete wall. Men have sent dozens o\' weapon strikes at them and hit nothing but air. Yet their strength and their speed be still bas\'d in a world that is built on rules. They can only use the commands. Because o\' that, they shall ne\'er be as strong or as fast as thou can be.\"
\"What are you trying to tell me, that I can dodge the blows?\"
\"Nay, Uni\'o.\" The Dermorian smirked. \"I be trying to tell thee that when thou art ready, thou shalt ignore their commands.\"
\"Umm...\" Kwartz sent a private message to Draklar.
\"Kwartz, I swear, if this shall be something about lemons--\"
\"We got trouble.\"
\"Oh...\"
\"Also, lemons.\"
\"Gah!\"
\"Did Ojaveda send a private message?\" Asked Draklar.
\"No, another group.\" Answered Tranor. \"Crap, birdies.\"
\"Birdie?\" Unitearica joined the conversation.
\"Players with bird-like nicks.\" Answered Karyuu. \"ArcaneFalcon, snow_RAveN, josePhoenix, Icefalcon... Players hired for one thing.\"
\"Search and destroy.\" Added Tranor.
\"We shall jump down. They should not find us there.\" Said that, Draklar jumped down from the bridge, into the darkness. Some others followed him.
\"It\'s all right, Uni\'o.\" Said Karyuu. \"The fall damage is temporary disabled.\" Soon everyone were on the bottom of the Death Realm.
\"E\'eryone be quiet now.\" The Dermorian whispered.
They could see some movement all the way up. Some characters were searching for something. The silence was complete, no one said a single word... When suddenly...
\"Aiiieeeee!!\" Uttered Karyuu. \"Draklar! I found the book!\"
Draklar slapped his forehead. He could see as the characters were about to jump down. \"E\'eryone, quick. Type /unstick thrice.\" Everyone did so and soon they found themselves back on the bridge. They hid and waited for the birdies to leave the Death Realm. Once that happened, Draklar sighed with relief.
Jazeera was sitting in some darker place and was typing something into a console, when suddenly Unitearica approached him.
\"Whoa, Uni\'o.\" He closed the console. \"You scared the lagmonster out of me.\"
\"Sorry.\"
\"It\'s ok.\"
Unitearica glanced at another console, displaying all sorts of informations about spawning of crystals, or positions of players. \"Is that...\"
\"The Planetrix? Yeah.\"
\"Do you always look at it in the messages?\"
\"Nah, sometimes I look at it encoded.\"
\"Really?!\" Unitearica couldn\'t believe it.
Jazeera burst out with laughter. \"Haha, do I look like a geek?\"
\"Well, technically--\"
\"No! Of course I don\'t. Who in his right mind would stare into all those bugs? We just watch the messages. Hey, you a... want a mushroom?\"
\"Mushroom?\" Unitearica cocked an eyebrow.
\"Yeah, they started growing in Kada-El\'s ever since the staff stopped showing up in there. Pretty hard to get now... You know, with all those hack&slashers out there...\"
\"Sure...\" Unitearica took the mushroom.
\"You know, I know what you\'re thinking,\"
\"Oh great, will this stalking ever end?\"
\"No, I mean, it\'s because right now I\'m thinking the same thing. Actually, I\'ve been thinking it ever since I got here. Why, oh why didn\'t I swallow the ruby?\"
\"Because it was too big.\" Unitearica tried the mushroom.
\"Good stuff, huh?\"
\"Actually, it doesn\'t seem to have any effects...\"
\"Whatever...\" Jazeera shrugged. \"So, can I ask you something? Did he tell you why he did it, why you\'re here?\"
\"Because he wanted.\"
\"Yeah, but about...\"
\"Being the one? Yeah.\"
\"Just ignore it.\" Whispered Jazeera. \"He tells that to everyone he gets out of the Planetrix. He keeps believing in it until he gets bored and finds someone else...\" Jazeera shook his head. \"A little piece of advice. You see a Game Master, you do what we do. Run. run your ass off.\"
\"Thanks for the mushroom.\" Unitearica started walking away.
\"Sweet dreams...\"
\"Do we have a deal, Mr. Jazeera?\" Asked Cad while sitting with the rebel player next to fireplace in Kada-El\'s tavern.
\"You know,\" Answered Jazeera. \"I know the content of this mug doesn\'t exist. I know that when I try to drink it, the Planetrix is showing me a texture, telling me that the content is full and delicious. After two years, you know what I realize? It\'s still better than no mugs at all...\"
\"Then we have a deal?\" Cad repeated the question.
\"I don\'t want to pay nothing. Nothing. You understand? And I want to have lots of crystals. Be someone important... Like have this tavern named after me.\"
\"Whatever you want, mr. Jazeera.\" Cad nodded slightly.
\"Ok. I get my account back into Molecular Blue, you insert me into the Planetrix, I\'ll get you what you want.\"
\"Access password to the Rebels\' Forums secret area.\"
\"No, I told you, I don\'t know it. I can get you the elf who does.\"
\"Draklar...\"
\"Here ya go, buddy.\" Said Kwartz and handed Unitearica a lemon. \"Breakfast of champions.\"
\"A lemon?\" Unitearica glanced at the yellow fruit.
\"Yup!\" Kwartz cracked a big Kranish smile.
\"Well it sure is... yellow...\"
\"Do you know what it really reminds me of?\" Said Demarthl. \"Diamonds. Did you ever find a little shiny diamond?\"
\"Demarthl, diamonds aren\'t yellow.\" Answered Arianna.
\"That\'s exactly my point.\" Demarthl continued. \"Exactly. Because you have to wonder now. What if the devs are colour-blind? How would they know what colour are the diamonds, huh? Maybe they got it wrong. Maybe the colour of the diamonds is actually like lemons or oranges. That makes you wonder about a lot of things. You take hole for example, maybe they couldn\'t figure out what colour is a hole, so they left it without colours. Maybe couldn\'t figure out...\"
\"Shut up, Demarthl!\" Shouted Kixie.
\"It is an oval or roundish fruit resembling the orange,\" Suddenly Kwartz joined the discussion. \"And containing a pulp usually intensely acid. It is produced by a tropical tree of the genus {Citrus}, the common fruit known in commerce being that of the species {C. Limonum} or {C. Medica} (var. Limonum). There are many varieties of the fruit, some of which are sweet.\"
\"What?\" Karyuu cocked an eyebrow.
\"Lemon.\" The Kran smiled.
Demarthl turned to Unitearica. \"So I understand that you\'ve run through the Game Master program. You know, I thought of that program.\"
\"Here it comes...\" Kixie sighed.
\"So what did you think of it?\" Demarthl continued.
\"Of what?\" Unitearica cocked an eyebrow.
\"The red ruby? I spawned it. I can spawn any number of crystals I want. Rubies, emeralds, diamonds... anything you want.\"
\"Demarthl is mentally handicapped...\" Kixie muttered.
\"Pay no attention to these hypocrites, Uni\'o.\" Said Demarthl. \"To deny our lust for crystals is to deny the very thing that makes us crystal-hunters.\"
Arianna glanced at the bridge. \"Uh-oh... Draklar is coming... Quick, pretend that we talk about something intelligent... Or he\'ll start screaming at us, again.\"
\"Intelligent? Like what?\" Asked Demarthl.
\"Like the meaning of life.\" Answered Arianna without thinking much.
Finally Draklar approached them.
\"So I think the meaning of life is cheese...\" Demarthl smiled.
Karyuu slapped her forehead.
\"What the...\" Draklar\'s eyes widened. \"There be no meaning o\' life... And e\'en if there was, \'twould not be a damn cheese!\"
\"Oh yeah? You just don\'t know the cheese enough.\" Demarthl continued. \"The meaning of life lies right there in its uncoloured holes!\"
\"Shut up, Demarthl!\" Uttered Draklar.
\"Bow down to the lord of the cheese! I bring forth the meaning, the meaning that shall be granted onto those who follow the way of the cheese! Cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese--\"
\"I say\'d shut up!\"
\"Um,\" Karyuu joined the lively discussion. \"I think Mjolnir is an awesome weapon...\"
\"I could not agree more, Karyuu!\" Draklar turned to the Enkidukai.
\"So, what did you want from us, Drak?\" Karyuu continued.
\"We be going in. Taking Uni\'o to see Grono.\"
\"Who?\" Asked Unitearica.
\"The Oracle.\" Answered Kwartz.
