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Description
Chapter II

“That was weird!” Jackie Catera Silversmith, username: Jackitkat, cried for the seventh time. Cricket98 rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, we got that, Jack.”
“But seriously! He knew my name, he didn’t recognize us until that hawk of his came…” she ticked off the points on her claws. Jack was a hacker, like everyone else in their group, and had the tufted ears, fangs, nose, whiskers, paws, and distinctive tail of a tawny bobcat. Her hair was blond and swept back from her ultramarine eyes and perky face in windswept spikes. She wore a pink tank top over a black t-shirt, a pink scarf threaded through the belt loops on her denim miniskirt over knee-length, black leggings. Her wrists, ankles, and neck were encircled by thick, leather cuffs. A few links of chain dangled from her right wrist-cuff.
“It was a kestrel,” Jace corrected. Jace was the magic-user in their group. His hacked-in features were fine-boned and elfin, as were his pointed ears. His ash-blond hair dripped to his waist, though it was usually covered by the hood of his peacock-green robes that were secured at his neck by a storm-cloud-shaped pin. He held a steel staff that clutched an iridescent, dragonfly-colored orb in its metal claw. This staff was how he used his weather-magic, which was the kind he specialized in.
“… and he was blind!” Jack ignored him. “Blind people can’t play VR games! And did you see his rank? It was…”
“Diamond,” the rest of them chorused. “We know, Jack.”
“But that’s higher than Cricket, and she’s Platinum!” the blond bobcat cried. Cricket was the leader of their band of robbers, and the highest-ranking gamer any of them had seen until today.
The VR, or virtual reality, game they were currently playing was the first and last of its kind. It was an entire digital world set in the medieval era, rife with all kinds of virtually magical creatures such as dragons and mages. Gamers were suspended in a vat of viscous fluid with sensor nodes attached to almost every part of their bodies. They could then make their own character, choose a profession, arm it with medieval weapons, and enter the world of Utopia!
Contrary to its name, this worldwide game soon became full of all kinds of criminals and villains. It was only a game, and no one was actually killed or hurt, so where was the harm in attacking wayfarers for their money and items? Thousands of AI’s were created to oversee the game, but most of them went offline after a major hacker broke into the game’s central code. Strangely, Utopia’s constant danger appealed to teenagers the world over, and its popularity soared. All other VR games went out of business, and the advanced equipment needed to play the game became a major installation in every average household. The members of this particular band of thieves were notorious for their ruthlessness. In fact, they had banded together specifically because each one had had a rough life.
Jennifer Rose Fox, for example, was orphaned when her houseboat wrecked in a storm, killing her parents and brother. She was sent to an orphanage, which prided itself on its ability to provide for its inhabitants. She became addicted to Utopia (her orphanage had an entire floor dedicated to the game’s vats and equipment) and quickly learned to hack into it. Her character, Jinx, had the same russet hair that she did, held back by a red rose. Her eyes glowed green in the dark under ears the color of dried blood that dangled silver earrings set with rubies. Her skin was creamy-golden, and her ears and mouth bulged slightly in a muzzle-esque appearance, though it did nothing to detract from her fatal beauty. Her sleeveless, black dress had an asymmetrical skirt. Red bands secured her flowing, black sleeves below her shoulders and fishnet tights disappeared into knee-high, black boots. Her fingernails were red claws, and a bushy fox tail the same color as her ears only added to her air of beauty and mystery.
Alex Roland Wheeler was an orphan at the same orphanage, and also part of Cricket, Jinx, Jace, and Jack’s band. He had been disowned by his parents for fighting and running with gangs, and so nobody messed with him. In truth, he did these things for protection. By a fluke of nature, he had been born with an abnormally large nose and a dog’s sense of smell, for which he was often persecuted. Jinx taught him how to hack, and he became RaveRogue, or just Rave. His jet-black hair fell over the gold cloth around his forehead and covered his left eye. His visible eye was an impossibly intense shade of blue. The deep collar of his jacket covered his mouth and chin. It had ¾ sleeves and zipped up the front. It was black covered with gold flames, and his pants were gray-black. His feet were black wolf’s paws, and gold-and-black mottled wings sprouted from slits in his jacket.
The leader of their group, Brianna ‘Bree’ Krystal Smith, username: Cricket98 was the only one of them who refused to say a word about her past. The others had all eventually told each other their problems, such as Jack, who had been kidnapped for five years by virtual slave-traders while her real body had gone into a coma. Luckily for her, she came from an upper-class, rich family that could afford to keep her on life-support for that long. This was where her leather cuffs had come from, and the chain. She had escaped, though, and become famous as the Left-Handed Thief since her right wrist’s chain clanked when she moved it.
But back to Cricket.
She was the most flamboyant of them all. Her thick, dark, red hair fell in shiny ringlets to her shoulders from under a violet-blue pageboy cap with a huge, blue-tipped, white feather thrust through. Her blue, ¾ sleeves jacket had the same blue flame design as Rave’s and opened in the front to reveal the black bikini top she wore under it. A black belt dangled pouches full of weapons and other things, and held up her purple skirt. Her skirt only came halfway down her thighs in the front, but swept back to her ankles in the back. Black boots came up to her knees and heavily applied makeup layered her face. A mole on one cheek and pale, silver eyes were the only remarkable things about her very forgettable face. A gold snake with ruby eyes slithered up her left arm, her right one was weighed down with more plain gold bangles, and a short, black scarf was tied around her neck.
“It doesn’t matter what rank he was,” Cricket sighed. “Just leave it alone, Jack. We’ve got more important things to think about.”
“Like what?” Jack demanded, her hands akimbo. “Are we robbing anyone? I can’t believe Jace wouldn’t let us rob him, he was such an easy target!”
“It wouldn’t have been fair,” Jace returned. His voice was strangely gentle, even while arguing. “Robbing a blind person would make you a bully.”
“Oh, you’re always talking about ‘fair’ this and ‘fair’ that, Jacey!” the bobcat-girl pouted. “Life isn’t fair!”
“Don’t call me Jacey!” Jace snapped.
“They are your initials, right?” Jinx put in. “Jason Christopher-Dean Cantwell, username JCDC. It makes more sense to call you JC than Jace.”
“I don’t care about making sense,” Jace grumbled. “It sounds like a girl’s name.”
“Could we maybe focus, here?” Cricket broke in mildly. “Like I was saying before Jace dragged us off to play hero, I heard that they put in a new server over the weekend.”
“Then why didn’t it show up on the main menu?” Jinx asked. “I didn’t see it when I logged in.”
“I heard that it’s secret, that you have to trigger some kind of event before you can get in,” Cricket replied. “Anyone want to check it out? If only the experienced gamers can get into it, that means anyone we rob there will have all kinds of rare items!”
“Yeah, let’s do it!” Jack punched the air.
“We can’t,” Rave spoke. “It’s getting late. The orphanage will be serving dinner soon.” Jinx froze for a moment, a small green circle spinning over her head as she paused to check the clock on her main menu.
“You’re right, I totally forgot,” she said, coming back to life. The circle disappeared. “Sorry, guys, let’s do it next Saturday, okay?”
“Sounds good to me,” Jace agreed.
“Fine, if I have to,” Jack scuffed her paw, her ears drooping in disappointment.
“Let’s meet by the dragon’s cave,” Cricket instructed. “See you then.”
There was a chorus of ‘bye’s as one by one, they disappeared. Finally, only Cricket was still logged on. She sighed and looked longingly around at the forest. She didn’t want to leave, but she could tell that her body was hungry, back in the tank. Inexperienced gamers often stayed too long in the game, and returned to reality with parched throats, empty stomachs, and sore muscles.
With a last glance at the virtual sun, sagging low in the sky, Cricket logged off.

Description
Chapter II

“That was weird!” Jackie Catera Silversmith, username: Jackitkat, cried for the seventh time. Cricket98 rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, we got that, Jack.”
“But seriously! He knew my name, he didn’t recognize us until that hawk of his came…” she ticked off the points on her claws. Jack was a hacker, like everyone else in their group, and had the tufted ears, fangs, nose, whiskers, paws, and distinctive tail of a tawny bobcat. Her hair was blond and swept back from her ultramarine eyes and perky face in windswept spikes. She wore a pink tank top over a black t-shirt, a pink scarf threaded through the belt loops on her denim miniskirt over knee-length, black leggings. Her wrists, ankles, and neck were encircled by thick, leather cuffs. A few links of chain dangled from her right wrist-cuff.
“It was a kestrel,” Jace corrected. Jace was the magic-user in their group. His hacked-in features were fine-boned and elfin, as were his pointed ears. His ash-blond hair dripped to his waist, though it was usually covered by the hood of his peacock-green robes that were secured at his neck by a storm-cloud-shaped pin. He held a steel staff that clutched an iridescent, dragonfly-colored orb in its metal claw. This staff was how he used his weather-magic, which was the kind he specialized in.
“… and he was blind!” Jack ignored him. “Blind people can’t play VR games! And did you see his rank? It was…”
“Diamond,” the rest of them chorused. “We know, Jack.”
“But that’s higher than Cricket, and she’s Platinum!” the blond bobcat cried. Cricket was the leader of their band of robbers, and the highest-ranking gamer any of them had seen until today.
The VR, or virtual reality, game they were currently playing was the first and last of its kind. It was an entire digital world set in the medieval era, rife with all kinds of virtually magical creatures such as dragons and mages. Gamers were suspended in a vat of viscous fluid with sensor nodes attached to almost every part of their bodies. They could then make their own character, choose a profession, arm it with medieval weapons, and enter the world of Utopia!
Contrary to its name, this worldwide game soon became full of all kinds of criminals and villains. It was only a game, and no one was actually killed or hurt, so where was the harm in attacking wayfarers for their money and items? Thousands of AI’s were created to oversee the game, but most of them went offline after a major hacker broke into the game’s central code. Strangely, Utopia’s constant danger appealed to teenagers the world over, and its popularity soared. All other VR games went out of business, and the advanced equipment needed to play the game became a major installation in every average household. The members of this particular band of thieves were notorious for their ruthlessness. In fact, they had banded together specifically because each one had had a rough life.
Jennifer Rose Fox, for example, was orphaned when her houseboat wrecked in a storm, killing her parents and brother. She was sent to an orphanage, which prided itself on its ability to provide for its inhabitants. She became addicted to Utopia (her orphanage had an entire floor dedicated to the game’s vats and equipment) and quickly learned to hack into it. Her character, Jinx, had the same russet hair that she did, held back by a red rose. Her eyes glowed green in the dark under ears the color of dried blood that dangled silver earrings set with rubies. Her skin was creamy-golden, and her ears and mouth bulged slightly in a muzzle-esque appearance, though it did nothing to detract from her fatal beauty. Her sleeveless, black dress had an asymmetrical skirt. Red bands secured her flowing, black sleeves below her shoulders and fishnet tights disappeared into knee-high, black boots. Her fingernails were red claws, and a bushy fox tail the same color as her ears only added to her air of beauty and mystery.
Alex Roland Wheeler was an orphan at the same orphanage, and also part of Cricket, Jinx, Jace, and Jack’s band. He had been disowned by his parents for fighting and running with gangs, and so nobody messed with him. In truth, he did these things for protection. By a fluke of nature, he had been born with an abnormally large nose and a dog’s sense of smell, for which he was often persecuted. Jinx taught him how to hack, and he became RaveRogue, or just Rave. His jet-black hair fell over the gold cloth around his forehead and covered his left eye. His visible eye was an impossibly intense shade of blue. The deep collar of his jacket covered his mouth and chin. It had ¾ sleeves and zipped up the front. It was black covered with gold flames, and his pants were gray-black. His feet were black wolf’s paws, and gold-and-black mottled wings sprouted from slits in his jacket.
The leader of their group, Brianna ‘Bree’ Krystal Smith, username: Cricket98 was the only one of them who refused to say a word about her past. The others had all eventually told each other their problems, such as Jack, who had been kidnapped for five years by virtual slave-traders while her real body had gone into a coma. Luckily for her, she came from an upper-class, rich family that could afford to keep her on life-support for that long. This was where her leather cuffs had come from, and the chain. She had escaped, though, and become famous as the Left-Handed Thief since her right wrist’s chain clanked when she moved it.
But back to Cricket.
She was the most flamboyant of them all. Her thick, dark, red hair fell in shiny ringlets to her shoulders from under a violet-blue pageboy cap with a huge, blue-tipped, white feather thrust through. Her blue, ¾ sleeves jacket had the same blue flame design as Rave’s and opened in the front to reveal the black bikini top she wore under it. A black belt dangled pouches full of weapons and other things, and held up her purple skirt. Her skirt only came halfway down her thighs in the front, but swept back to her ankles in the back. Black boots came up to her knees and heavily applied makeup layered her face. A mole on one cheek and pale, silver eyes were the only remarkable things about her very forgettable face. A gold snake with ruby eyes slithered up her left arm, her right one was weighed down with more plain gold bangles, and a short, black scarf was tied around her neck.
“It doesn’t matter what rank he was,” Cricket sighed. “Just leave it alone, Jack. We’ve got more important things to think about.”
“Like what?” Jack demanded, her hands akimbo. “Are we robbing anyone? I can’t believe Jace wouldn’t let us rob him, he was such an easy target!”
“It wouldn’t have been fair,” Jace returned. His voice was strangely gentle, even while arguing. “Robbing a blind person would make you a bully.”
“Oh, you’re always talking about ‘fair’ this and ‘fair’ that, Jacey!” the bobcat-girl pouted. “Life isn’t fair!”
“Don’t call me Jacey!” Jace snapped.
“They are your initials, right?” Jinx put in. “Jason Christopher-Dean Cantwell, username JCDC. It makes more sense to call you JC than Jace.”
“I don’t care about making sense,” Jace grumbled. “It sounds like a girl’s name.”
“Could we maybe focus, here?” Cricket broke in mildly. “Like I was saying before Jace dragged us off to play hero, I heard that they put in a new server over the weekend.”
“Then why didn’t it show up on the main menu?” Jinx asked. “I didn’t see it when I logged in.”
“I heard that it’s secret, that you have to trigger some kind of event before you can get in,” Cricket replied. “Anyone want to check it out? If only the experienced gamers can get into it, that means anyone we rob there will have all kinds of rare items!”
“Yeah, let’s do it!” Jack punched the air.
“We can’t,” Rave spoke. “It’s getting late. The orphanage will be serving dinner soon.” Jinx froze for a moment, a small green circle spinning over her head as she paused to check the clock on her main menu.
“You’re right, I totally forgot,” she said, coming back to life. The circle disappeared. “Sorry, guys, let’s do it next Saturday, okay?”
“Sounds good to me,” Jace agreed.
“Fine, if I have to,” Jack scuffed her paw, her ears drooping in disappointment.
“Let’s meet by the dragon’s cave,” Cricket instructed. “See you then.”
There was a chorus of ‘bye’s as one by one, they disappeared. Finally, only Cricket was still logged on. She sighed and looked longingly around at the forest. She didn’t want to leave, but she could tell that her body was hungry, back in the tank. Inexperienced gamers often stayed too long in the game, and returned to reality with parched throats, empty stomachs, and sore muscles.
With a last glance at the virtual sun, sagging low in the sky, Cricket logged off.