Chapter Nine

  The first thing Alex did when she returned to the real world was to check her palm for the scrapes she'd endured when climbing the tree to escape the Brutal Rhinoboar. There were none, which was comforting at least. Then she went in search of someone to talk to.

  She found Bucket in the kitchen wearing robes over a T-shirt and shorts.

  "Hey," she said, preparing to launch into her questions, but her eyes fell upon the strange conglomeration of ingredients that he was dumping into a cooking pot: elbow macaroni, chili powder, corn flakes, pop-rocks, and a can of lard. The pause made him follow her gaze to what he was doing, and his forehead hunched as if he were surprised about it as well.

  "Giving up, huh?" he asked.

  "No, I'm not giving up, but what the hell? An XP penalty for logging out, no starting city, a lack of low-level enemies?" she asked.

  Bucket squeezed his lips and shifted them to the side while lifting one shoulder.

  "Professor Marzio is a lot of things, but he doesn't lie about how hard the game is. If you can't cut it, I understand, it's not everyone's cup of tea, but there's no shame in dropping out. Maybe you could rejoin the Halls next year, pick a place more suitable for you."

  "Where's Patron Dimple in all this? Doesn't he run his school anymore?" asked Alex, wanting to talk to someone who was really in charge.

  "He's traveling," said Bucket with an eyeroll. "Personally, I think he's done with the game making business, and left Marzio in charge while he's lounging in some private game world he made with generous rules and a lack of consequences."

  "What'd be the fun in that?" she asked.

  "Play Gamemakers Online for a few years and then answer it yourself," said Bucket.

  The girl who'd been asleep on a couch with a book over her face wandered into the room eating a turkey leg that appeared to have chocolate syrup squirted onto it. She had short messy blonde hair that looked like she'd cut it herself, except it was stylish, despite clearly being for utilitarian reasons. She had the same resigned expression that Bucket had, and she raised her eyebrows in Alex's direction upon entering the room.

  "Another new kid, eh?"

  Bucket reached over and dumped the pop-rocks into the pot and stirred it a few times.

  "Martina, meet Alex. Alex, meet Martina," said Bucket.

  "New kid gets a name?" asked Martina.

  Bucket threw one hand up in a "what can you do?" gesture.

  "Well, nice to meet you, Alex. I can see by your expression that you've logged in." She squinted. "So what'd you get for your Battle Royale item?"

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Alex wrinkled her face until she got the reference. "The Japanese movie about the murder island full of schoolkids?" Martina nodded. "I got a dented pot."

  Both Martina and Bucket sucked air through their teeth as if they'd just been kicked in the shins.

  "What did you two get?" asked Alex.

  "A spell for dyeing clothes bright colors," said Martina. "Bucket over there got easy mode, he got a crossbow."

  "Hey," said Bucket as he shoved a spoonful of his concoction into his mouth, then continued talking with cornflakes stuck to his chin. "It had no ammo."

  "Oh, you poor, poor man," said Martina, plopping down at the table, putting her feet on a chair, and leaning back. "What about starting location?"

  Alex thought back to if she'd ever seen the name of the forest.

  "I never found out," she said. "But I'm next to the Plains of Warsong, across from a big chasm, anyway."

  They both cringed again. Bucket looked to Martina. "Warped Forest?"

  The girl nodded.

  "I think Marzio is learning to be an even bigger asshole these days," said Bucket.

  "Marzio decides where we start?" asked Alex.

  Martina set her chocolate-covered turkey leg on the table. "Really, nobody knows how things in the game get decided. And how Marzio spends his time, we have no idea, he's gone most of the time. But since he's the only professor we see and Dimple is nowhere to be found..."

  She shrugged to suggest the natural conclusion to those thoughts.

  "So why aren't you two playing right now?" asked Alex.

  They both got a faraway look, before Martina pulled her feet off the chair, slammed her elbows on the table, and said, "That log out penalty gets bigger and bigger as you go. Eventually you realize you can't afford to log out, but you need a break, or you'll freaking lose it."

  "So we can survive in game? Sleeping, eating, all that?" asked Alex.

  "More or less," said Bucket, eating from the pot on the stove with a big spoon. "That's why it's only the two of us in the house right now. Everyone else is in Gamemakers Online."

  "How many people is that?" she asked.

  "No one knows really since we're all coming and going at odd times. This is the first time I've seen Martina in about a year outside the game. Unless you meet them inside, you might never see your classmates."

  It was hard to process the information. It was both exciting and daunting. The two of them looked like soldiers returning from war for a holiday, knowing they had to go back. Yet, clearly there was something to the game, or they would have quit by now.

  "Any advice for a newbie?" she asked.

  "It's kinda hard to because everyone finds their own way in the game," said Bucket, eyes distant with thought. "But try lots of things and see what works for you."

  She nodded, appreciating the advice, then looked to Martina, who pointed the chocolate-covered turkey leg at her.

  "Whatever you do, don't go to the Plains of Warsong. It's a total ballbuster, chewed up more players than any other location in the game."

  "Totally," said Bucket, nodding along.

  "Why is that?" asked Alex, intrigued.

  "Just don't," said Martina. "There are areas in the game that aren't meant to be beaten. I think Dimple or Marzio put them there to show us the extent of our limits."

  "Thanks. I appreciate the words of wisdom." Alex glanced around. "Is there a phone anywhere?"

  "No cellphone?" asked Martina.

  Alex swallowed her discomfort and tried to shake her head as if not owning one was a choice rather than a fact of being poor.

  Martina rubbed her chin. "I think I saw one near the slide once, up near the bell tower."

  "There's a slide?" asked Alex, incredulous.

  Bucket squinted. "Yeah, I think I remember that as well."

  Alex went in search of the phone. She had to go up three separate sets of stairs before she found the slide and then the phone. It was a rotary dial. She blew off a layer of dust, expecting that it wouldn't work, but she heard a dial tone when she picked it up.

  She called the trailer, knees bouncing as she waited for her mom to pick up. She should be home, unless she’d picked up an extra shift at the diner. When there was no answer, Alex hung up.

  A pang of homesickness hit her, but she knew it was a temporary discomfort. Mostly, she worried about her mom. She wouldn't have an exciting and challenging new experience to distract herself with. She'd be stuck with the same old routine.

  "I couldn't live like that," said Alex.

  She went back to the obsidian cube.