Starcrossed.exe (MeTheMe & GeneticMess)

[GeneticMess]

((Yeah sure, meant to do a bit of a wham scene with that when she logs back in. Would you want to start the scene or I?))

[MeTheMe]

((I can.))

Meanwhile, Martha had a decent dinner of pizza rolls, watched a little Netflix, and had nice night's sleep. She woke up feeling pretty rested and good, getting some cinnamon rolls for breakfast, before looking over her rig again. She'd spent so much time in it over the last couple of days, but... her friends needed her! She'd need to take a longer break soon, but... for now, her allies wouldn't understand why she'd be gone so long, and she needed to make sure they'd at least understand.

She put the helmet back on, and turned on the machine...

[GeneticMess]

Again, she was lulled into a subconscious state, and then was back in a void. But it wasn't blue... but green.

"You... can't do this!" A stiff, robotic voice, yet one that was obviously troubled cried. Martha would see a woman, her skin looking sleek and pristine while all a solid red. Her eyes and mouth were white and looked like a glow from a screen, and her eyes were exclamation marks. Not that it was important right now, but she had quite the figure.

But that was nothing compared to the other person, mindlessly messing with something in the system while the other struggled. She looked like a goddess, with flowing green hair, a black toga, bones decorating her body... a... crown on ribs and spines. She looked aside and behind her with a sly grin.

"Oh, the heroine has returned! Mercy me, whatever shall I do?" She snickered, not even looking at Martha properly.

[MeTheMe]

The scene that materialized in front of her was... unexpected, to say the least. She'd expected the red of Anti-Virus to over take the blue, and it to continue to be mean and confused... but it seemed someone had gotten to Anti-Virus before her. Anti-Virus looked like she might be in pain, suffering from something editing her, tampering with her programming and the control she had wrested from Avery!

The one who seemed to be doing was... well scary looking. Like some grim goddess of bones, who wouldn't even look over at Martha as she logged back in. The odd bone goddess seemed to keep herself busy with something she was messing with in the system itself, upsetting and hurting Anti-Virus.

"Umm... well, giving her your name would be a good start, since she hasn't met you yet." Martha looked over her, unsure of what was going on, but she had a good idea of it. "Maybe telling her what you're doing would be nice too, hm?"

[GeneticMess]

With a casual twist of her wrist, the anti-virus personified vanished, her voice and struggles disappearing with her. The woman turned to look at Martha, although she didn't use her feet. She was lazily laying on her side, and simply floated in mid-air.

"... So you're Mr. Anton's successor, aren't you? I was surprised to learn the hermit had any living relatives at all. My name is-"

A window accompanied by a harsh and sudden sound appeared appeared right in Martha's face, something about a runtime error, but it vanished shortly after.

"- but don't wear it out. Not that many bother repeating it." She sneered, knowing exactly what Martha just witnessed and why. But she didn't say anything of it. "As for what I was doing? I was saving you the trouble of going on some asinine adventure to get the Constars. The world of Starcrossed is saved, no harm shall befall it. Certainly not under my watch."

[MeTheMe]

She surprised when the Anti-Virus had been disappeared so easily, but she winced as the pop up screeched in her face! Ouch, that hadn't been expected and it hurt her ears a little bit. "Yeah, I won't wear that out for sure... I got a weird run time error when you said that, so if you don't mind, or find it offensive or something, I'm gonna call you Error for now." She shook her head as she regained her composure a little, taking a deep breath and leveling herself a little. "Yeah, kind of? He was my uncle, mom's brother, so successor is a weird way to say it... but I did get this rig when he passed, so I guess it's not super weird."

"Oookay, you got up here to give the boot to Anti-Virus, which is good, she clearly had no idea what she was doing, but... I feel like I still know very little about you, or why you did, or how you're going to watch over Starcrossed better than Avery. Hey! I thought he was the only one who knew Starcrossed was a game, too!" She was becoming very wary and kind of scared of this new person, she was powerful, for sure, but something was... creepy about her.

[GeneticMess]

"... Hm. Not the catchiest name in the world. But I suppose it will do. I've been called many different things for ages, another name in the pile wouldn't hurt." Her voice was very mature, sultry, with some twisted endearence, but it was also... well, twisted. She giggled softly, eyes narrowed and hand elegantly covering her mouth as she watched Martha get a bit creeped out.

"I'm a cryptic type. I love providing riddles for the ages. Questions that leave men who try to answer them mad. But I like you, Martha, so I won't leave you entirely in the dark. All I'll say for now is, and I think you'll find this quite rich-"

Her eyes suddenly turned into black voids, the bones decorating her body looked grislier and worn, and two skulls of differing sizes and shapes on her headpiece and necklace stared at her with human like eyes. The green all around them turned into nothing.

"This is not a game. It never was."

Her maw stretched insanely wide, and hellish imagery assaulted Martha. For only a moment. In a case of mood whiplash bad enough to scar, Martha was standing back where she last logged off, on the summit. On a more positive note, music was playing this time. Had it been disabled before?

[MeTheMe]

"Ages? How long was Uncle Erik working on his game? Or... how long has the simulation been running?" Cryptic was right, Martha felt like she knew nothing now, Anti-Virus was a known enemy, who stated her intentions and plan, as bad as that plan had been. This woman, Error, though... she knew nothing about her, and she seemed to have weird powers, and bizarre plans, and... was generally creepy and confusing.

"Cryptic is right, I..." She was surprised when Error changed into some odd eldritch horror, screaming at her about how it wasn't a game and changing the void they were in into something you would see in a creepy pasta, but she had to admit it was kind of scary being here when it happened! "WHAT THE FUCK!?"

She found she had shouted her swear into the cold of the mountain top, and her stumbling back led her to fall on her ass in the snow, looking around confused. "... what the fuck." She repeated, getting up and dusting herself off a little. Music. She didn't remember any music before. She went into the options to check to see if she could change, or mute it, as she headed back to town. She started on her way back towards Yce... concerned. She knew nothing about what was going on now, and that strange Error was telling her it wasn't a game, it never was. She had more questions than ever... and had a feeling none of them were being answered soon.

There were a few familiar shapes in the distance as she reached Yce again, smiling, she waved at them, having a feeling who they were.

[GeneticMess]

Martha could mute it, sure... but every time she tried, an image of Error's grisly and nightmarish grin jumped her. She got kicks out of trolling her and scaring her senseless, it seemed. No encounters on the way down the mountain, and the music eventually faded out and all Martha could hear was snow and wind.

Back in Yce, music came back. It was comfy, festive-sounding, and would certainly help calm her nerves after that. Of course, Allie was the first to run to her side, running up her leg and nuzzling her.

"Miss Martha, you're back!" She cheered, and soon the rest of the group met back with Martha. Avery just smiled happily, and silently raised the question of how much he did, or didn't know.

[MeTheMe]

She jumped the first couple of times that message came up, and stopped playing with the options. Right. Error was in serious control now, and seemed to be enjoying her position as... boss? Ruler? She settled on Lead Program of Starcrossed, because that title was kind of funny in her head. The music was nice at least, and wasn't all that distracting.

Allie, of course, was the first to celebrate and rush towards her with while abandon, nuzzling her leg, before Martha picked her up and nuzzled the Nobunny with her own face. "Aww, Allie! It's good to see you again!" She headed in to meet up with the rest of the group, smiling back at everyone. "Good to see you all in one piece! Anything big happen while I was gone?" She queried.

Chaser chuckled. "Avery's dating the dragon noble lady."

[GeneticMess]

"Y-yeah, I actually got a date with someone! She's big, dreamy, and just a joy to be around." He gleamed brightoy, making it immediately clear how much he'd fallen for Lady Ice Scale. "And, I think I worked out an arrangement with her for you and all your party members to stay."

He unraveled the floor plans he'd gotten and showed them off to Martha. "It's a bit of a fixer upper, so a crew of her's is working on it. In return, we just might need to... do a few quests for her. Nothing big."

[MeTheMe]

"Big, dreamy, and a joy to be around, congrats on the date dude! Can't wait to meet her!" Martha smiled, and chuckled... though inwardly she wondered a little how someone as awkward as Avery got a date that went so well he practically shone when he talked about it! Still, she was genuinely happy for him to be so happy! And his date got them a house!

"Like, a clan house? Neat! We are picking up people pretty quickly, aren't we..." She was, which was weird to think about all the people following her now... still. "Umm... quests for her? Are we mercs now?" She chuckled, patting him on the back. "Yeah, I guess we need something to do, don't we? Should we go to the inn to catch up, or head over to look at the new clan house they're working on?"

She wanted to talk to Avery about the... Error, that had dealt with Anti-Virus, but... not in front of everyone. She needed to talk to them about... her disappearing too, but here was a bad place to do that as well.

[GeneticMess]

Indeed, talking about Ice Scale made his reclusiveness take a complete 180, which was refreshing to see.

"I meant to talk to you about it, but... yeah. Hope you don't mind." The pat he got on the back helped affirm it was no skin off her back. Although he blushed just a little, it would've been a lot more if he wasn't taken. His feelings for Martha didn't go anywhere, but hadn't been fed much. They were good friends, but nobody (save Berry) could look at them and guessed they blew each other once.

He really needed to ask Lady Ice Scale about her stance on polygamy, because he was having so many conflicting feelings.

"We were actually about to go to the inn and relax and regroup. Unless you had anything else in mind?"

[MeTheMe]

"No, no, the inn is fine, but we will want to go see the crew fixing the place up before they finish in case we want them to do something special, or the like!" She nodded, and headed back with the rest of the team. "Umm... I need to talk to Avery alone for a moment, if you all don't mind, go to the room and we'll catch up, alright?" Prowl eyed her suspiciously, but him and Chaser both headed off, Chaser having to drag Allie away from her beloved Martha.

"Avery, we need to talk, alone. Anti-Virus isn't in charge anymore." In hushed whispers, looking around to make sure they weren't being over heard, Martha laid out what had happened when she logged in this time. Anti-Virus being edited, or defeated or something, the odd bone goddess Error, and how she seemed to have lost control of some of her options. "I... I have no idea who that is, or how she became so powerful she could kick out Anti-Virus, but... I'm concerned, to put it mildly, and you needed to know what was going on."

[GeneticMess]

Of course, Allie got into a bit of a stink over having to leave Martha again, but Chaser got her off just fine. Avery was confused what she wanted to talk about, before remembering, oh yeah, she was here. So she had to log in with the anti-virus mucking things up for...

Avery looked utterly confused as Martha talked, about the apparent take-over happening. "Error? Some... bone lady? Never heard of her. Wait, what do you mean by bones?" After a couple moments of explaining, something clicked for him. "You know what, that sounds kind of familiar. Eric did some other stuff when he wasn't working on the game, and ordered a bunch of animal bones online. And then he made them into a weird looking headpiece. He told me they were to help give him inspiration for a character or two, but it must've never really come to fruition. Don't know what that has to do with anything, though."

"It is concerning that whoever she is is in charge, now. Especially because we don't really know who she is or what she wants." Avery scratched his head. "She must be a little off her rocker, though. Of course Starcrossed is a game, I should know of all people." He said that part a bit quieter, and for good reason.

[MeTheMe]

"Yeah... that was a particularly weird part. It never was. I'm curious to see what this'll do to the Stardusters, Anti-Virus was the reason they were going berzerk, so I have to wonder if she's going to fix them too, or if they're going to stay as... big a problem as they are. I don't know that I trust her, though, so... collecting the stars may still be a good idea. I dunno, this is all... very strange, I'm not sure how to feel about it..." Erik may have been a bit... weirder than she first though, bone apparel and characters based on it? That was... strange, she had no idea.

"Speaking of not sure how to feel about things... my body has spent very large parts of two, going on three, days in the machine now, and I'm going to need a break, I have a life outside, and my body shouldn't be going to through that much inactivity... but I need the group to understand why. I... don't know if it's wise to let them in on the game or digital aspect of the world, but... I need something to tell them that makes sense." She pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head. "I also want to make sure you all are safe while I'm gone... but you all have gotten pretty strong as well, so it's not as big a concern." She smiled at him.

[GeneticMess]

"We should definitely keep collecting the Constars." Avery insisted. "They're good to have on hand, and Prowl has been... suspicious about why you're getting them in the first place. He's not antagonizing you or anything, but he is concerned."

Oh, right. Avery was so used to Eric spending weeks at a time in here, only taking hour or so breaks that remembering Martha had a life out there was a bit rough on him. He frowned a little, but then forced a smile.

"I don't know either. I feel saying you're a goddess that needs to return to her home realm now and then would be more believable." He scratched the back of his head. "I'll make sure everyone's safe while you're gone, regardless."

[MeTheMe]

"Prowl? He's the ice cat, right? Sounds a little nosy, but we need to meet formally, sorry, been out of the loop while I was down in the volcano. Goddess? Me? I'm a little bit... weak, to come across as a goddess... but we'll come up with something. What did Erik tell the people of the world when he had to leave? By the by... how long did he spend in here? He was... in rougher shape when they found him, muscle atrophy and the like."

She put a hand to her chin, thinking... "... however perhaps someone from another realm, like a reverse summon or something, me manifesting here? A little more believable, and not that far from the truth." She began to lead them towards the inn, a little slowly so they could finish talking about Erik before they got to their room.

[GeneticMess]

"Glacepurrs thrive off of getting information on anything, really. Try not to hold it against him. Erik was mostly around during building stages of the game, but he also came on when it was more polished. He never really made that close of bonds with anybody, if I remember correctly. Just not much of a people person, not to say he was heartless or anything, though. As for how long he stayed? Like I said, days or weeks on end. He kept food near his station while he was in, would dip out for a couple hours, and then go right back in. Did so for... two, going on three years before he... you know." Avery tried to be respectful with his wording. Erik was her uncle, and the man who gave him the life he currently had.

"That would work. Just be ready to accommodate for any dent in your logic that comes your way, Prowl might not back down easily." He warned as they started to walk back inside.

[MeTheMe]

"Yeah... that would explain the state they found him in." She grimaced a little, as she rolled her shoulders a little. "Alright, yeah, I think I can handle that... maybe."

In the inn room, Prowl was peering out the window, while Chaser had Allie on his back on the bed, resting with his eyes shut. All eyes moved to Martha and Avery again as they came in. Chaser smiled. "You two done with whatever you needed to be alone for? I didn't quite get to say it outside, but it's good to see you again, Martha."

Prowl strolled up to her, giving her a little bow. "I'm Prowling Wind, a Glacepurr, I've heard a lot of things about you Martha, a lot of them good." He chuckled. "I have a lot of questions about the Constars, and why you apparently disappear for long periods of time... but we've just met so it would be rude to grill you so much now."

She smirked. "Thanks, nice to meet you too! Good to see you again, Steamhorn!"