Eden of the Eclipse

25 - Don't Eat That

Eclipse's sky had become a deep shade of blue, the sun setting slowly, highlighting that dark azure in the glow of yellow and orange. Lucy yawned as she walked Acron, the toll of staying up for the game's release now seemingly creeping in.

She turned to Worm. "What should we do next? Go deeper into the forests to see if there's monsters to farm? Go asking around the town to see if any NPCs need help? Go actually try and craft something? Or something else you can think of?"

The world was their oyster, and they only had to grab it.

"Umm. . ."

Worm glanced around momentarily at the town still busy with players; many newly entering, cursing as they chased after Dafy the Duck, which the 'less new' sighed and sympathized with their plight, helping whenever they could.

She smiled.

"Actually, it's best I call it a day now," She said, "I have to work on some articles of mine. It'll likely take me the rest of the day. . .sorry."

"Oh?" Lucy laughed. "That's not something to apologize for. I think I'll do the same."

"You're going to work on articles as well?" Worm asked, raising a brow.

"No. . .I'm gonna log off too." Lucy rolled her eyes. Then she frowned. "And why did you sound so incredibly doubtful?"

"You simply don't seem like the article-writing type." The girl shrugged.

"Why you-you're right, but you kinda make me wanna kick you with my foot."

Worm summoned her Traveler's Book, chuckling lightly while her expression remained mostly placid. "Then it's best I leave before you do."

"Wait," Lucy quickly spoke, "Give me your phone number. So we can keep in contact even outside of the game."

"Umm. . ."

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, I will," Worm replied, "I was just briefly thinking it over."

The two, sharing that bit of personal information, logged off.

Lucy took the vr helmet from her head and laid it besides her. She stared at the roof of her large room, took a breath within as thoughts swirled inside her. Yet, Eclipse aside, she also understood that there was something else she had to do. Something to take care of.

"Alice." She blinked her sapphire eyes. "What time is it?"

The television bolted to the far wall blinked on with the image of the artificial intelligence running their home.

"It's currently 7:30 pm, Master," The voice rang as a girl tilted her head, wavy-blonde hair shifting as her purple eyes blinked, "Why are you out of the game so early?"

Lucy hopped from her bed.

"Cause I wanna be."

Lucy grinned as she spun around and faced her television up.

"Did you scour the internet for what I asked?" She asked.

Alice nodded. "I did. The articles I found have been linked to your cloud network."

Lucy stretched.

"Any that stands out?"

"Yes." Alice smiled, face shifting away to reveal the game's website and multiple articles, including one from a website Lucy thought she recognized. "There has been a notice on Eclipse's website as well as a number of articles stating that the game will undergo an update tonight. Specifically, the game is slated to implement a native video and audio recording software, access to the internet while within the game, and an in-game and off-game player market facilitated through Encore."