She tapped the screen and saw an update from her Sweven app, scrolling through her numerous notifications, the most urgent one revealed someone trying to travel to the Grove.
The Grove was too classified for any bypassing player to come across, she knew it had to be someone with intend; someone who was looking for something or someone.
Teresa went into her contacts and scrolled down to Valeria Correa's number, that Star had given her, and dialed the call, lifting the phone up to her ear. After a few dial tones she heard the phone pick up, "Valeria?"
She didn't hear anything right away, "Yes?"
Teresa placed her hand on her chest, "Oh good, okay. I was hoping it was you. This is Tessa — Teresa. I came to your job — "
"Oh, yes! Hi, how are you doing?"
"I'm doing well," Teresa glanced at her son's dormant body. "How about yourself?"
"I, uh, just got out of Sweven."
"Good, so that was you who is trying to get to the Grove?" Teresa asked. "I got a notification on my phone saying someone was trying to gain access."
"Yeah, that was me. Alister said it's off-grid?"
"Yes, so I create the island for me when I still was CEO but now I share it with players who are unable to leave," she explained. "The only way to get there is by boat. You can find one at Castlevania, it's forty-one degrees east of — actually, I can link it to you. I'm about to go under anyways; I haven't gone yet today."
"Are you sure? I mean, I can find it, no problem."
"No, it's fine," she insisted, closing Orion's door on her way out into the hallway and into the kitchen. "The boats — they're more like um, like a dingy, they have an automatic route to shore so all you have to do is sit. It's a twenty minute ride to the island."
"Yeah," she heard her stammer. "The thing is I lost Gabriel and my friend — the White Rabbit wasn't helpful at all, we went through a portal — "
Teresa's heartbeat deepened at the sound of her words, "Wait, you what?"
Valeria paused, "Alister gave me a portal gun. Was I not supposed to take it?"
"Shit," she said to herself, placing some pancakes into the microwave.
"Why, what's wrong?"
"That was meant for Eldervair — never trust a bot to do a woman's work, Val. Believe me."
"What's the problem?"
Teresa sighed, watching the plate swirl as it heated up, "Colonel Stone designed that portal gun to expand the travel time. He's an ally of your sister's and mine, we were trying to get him a higher ranking."
"What are you trying to say?"
Teresa focused on her heartbeat, sighing, "You were in that portal for twelve days in the game."
"I've under for a whole day?"
Teresa paused, "Yes — "
"How much time did we lose?" Teresa heard movement on Valeria's end; the shuffling of her jeans and the clacking of her heavy heels hitting the hardwood floor.
"Val, are you okay?" After a beat, she heard more commotion, running maybe, definitely running. A door shut in the process, then a lot of breathing. She was on speaker.
"Can you meet me at the boats?" Valeria finally asked.
"Yeah, yes," Teresa stammered, knowing Valeria was experiencing some form of anxiety. When creating a time difference in Sweven, there was much speculation surrounding the time difference. Teresa was very keen on expanding the virtual experience, she wanted to make something universal, legendary.
The front door opened and in walked her husband, carrying groceries. Closing the door, he gave her a kiss on the cheek and sat the paper bags onto the counter. The microwave sounded as Teresa felt a tug in her stomach. She hadn't eaten since the morning prior.
"Thirty seconds?"
Teresa's shoulders fell, making eye contact with her husband, "Thirty seconds."
Valeria ended the call and Teresa tossed her phone onto the island, "I have to — "
"I know," his voice was calm, sympathetic. He gave her a smile, beginning to take the groceries from their bags. "But an hour max, okay? You've gotta eat something."
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Teresa's favorite face to use in Sweven was Ruth Bader Ginsberg. It costed fourteen seas, but was totally worth it.
There were too many occasions where she'd been out in public and was attacked by vengeful players. She was reluctant to share the Grove, a place she designed for one. But seeing the look on players' faces when she brings them from Castlevania to the Grove, a secluded, off-grid, community of others in their same exact position, warmed her inside.
Knowing she was actively righting the wrong she created helped her conscious.
"Your sister is at HALT with Gabriel," Teresa shouted from the boat, approaching the dock where Valeria stood.
She twirled around, seeing a face she hadn't recognized.
"It's me," Teresa lifted her watch to scan her face, changing it to her own.
Valeria smirked, "How do we get there?"
Teresa waved her hand, grabbing the dock to pull the boat to a stop. "Hop on."
