Chapter 13 – Collide


    John walked back to his ssroom. No one paid attention or seemed surprised when he walked in. Apparently, his vanishing had gone unnoticed. ‘Is this also a part of Gaia’s powers or is my Charisma just so low that nobody cares?’ John wondered as he sat down. Secondster, the teacher entered.


    The subject was biology. One of the more interesting sses on most days. Today, he uncaringly went through the pages of the book that was handed out. His mind was elsewhere. Obviously, it was elsewhere. Not ten minutes ago, he had been in a life or death situation.


    Just outside the door, in the hallway, in the Illusion Barrier covering this ce,id the broken corpse of a man. It was so close, yet so far, an entire border between reality and fantasy away. The image was still vivid in John’s mind. It was sober, clear, gruesome, and when John thought about it too much he felt like puking.


    Before it became overwhelming, he turned away from the memory. ‘Seems like it is me,’ he thought. He had sometimes wondered what it would be like to be in such a situation. To bear witness to a terrible situation, to be the hero in one, even. Adolescent fantasies, of dragging women out of fires, even if it cost him an arm. Things like that. The sober expectation had been that he would have been stuck to the floor in reality. ‘Maybe I have a bit more willpower than I give myself credit for,’ he thought.


    He didn’t feel untouched by the events.


    He felt unbroken by them.


    He had gazed into the Abyss and the Abyss had shown him its surface. Blood and broken bodies had been the membrane. The contact left him a little stronger, literally and figuratively. When hepared the danger there to the lonely life he had led so far… yeah, he actually preferred the danger. At least he wasn’t wasting away in his own skin, spending eight hours a day in a facility that taught him little and offered him up on a silver tter to the local bullies.


    Because at least in thebat he had agency.


    ‘Agency… I have the choice.’ John’s thought turned to the two options he had at the moment. Which side should he join? He knew next to nothing about either but yet he had to make the decision. To risk going forwards without allies was too dangerous. He was too weak and knew too little not to bind himself to someone. Once he was stronger, he could revisit any agreements he made… unless there were any blood voodoo curses involved. ‘Let’s start with gathering what I know.’


    Moira and her Golden Rose were apparently the local straitced good guys faction. She had not hesitated to inform him about the Abyss, had not tried to take advantage of his weakness, and even protected him during the attack. Plus, she was an exceptionally sexy redhead in pdin armour. That was sexy as hell. Everything he had seen indicated that the Order of the Golden Rose was the stronger of the two factions. Now he didn’t know what rank Moira specifically had, but she wasn’t much weaker than Travolta, who was the leader of his guild.


    Collide itself was also interesting, however. ‘Collide is all about finding interesting uses for their powers’ was what Observe had told him. That sounded more up his alley. They seemed to be a small group of individuals who just wanted to have fun. Also Rave was just hot. Nice legs, big butt, slender top, and an attitude. The only negatives John could find was that he wasn’t big into the piercing.


    There was the question about their moral character. Rave had openly admitted to eavesdropping on him and Moira. Her and Travolta also had reacted that fast only because they were keeping tabs on him themselves. What did they want to aplish with that? He was pretty sure they didn’t want to kidnap him – otherwise they could have ganged up on Moira after the Wall Shadow was dead. So they may have been bad, but they weren’t terrible. The local punk types.


    It seemed to be a standard RPG choice: Thewful good guys or the ambivalently bad guys. Good and bad were as nuanced as ever. ‘Either go with the Golden Rose and be protected from the negative influences whilst bing part of the moderate part of the Abyss or go with Collide and be more out there but also enjoy more freedom,’ John summarized the choice to himself.


    It all boiled down to the question of greater freedom or greater security. Well, in parallel there was another question that was of equal importance to his horny brain: pink techno girl or redhead pdin?


    When the final bell rang, John had made his choice. He would toss his hat in with Collide. Greater safety would have been the smarter way, perhaps. However, John did not want to step into a wild fantasy world to be part of a rigid order. Doubly so when the goal to get a harem was still lingering in his mind. Would the religious order approve of polygyny? Almost certainly not.


    Therefore, he went up to the roof. It was nice to walk up the stairs without the constant danger of a nightmarish mixture of a spider and centipede looking to crush his bones against the concrete wall. He still looked over his shoulder sometimes, just to make sure.


    Once he reached the roof he looked around. There were the venttor shafts, the sky was clear and the sun reflected brightly on the white tiles. A single girl sat up there. A brte, with long, slightly wavy hair. Bangs covered much of her face. Her nose was buried in a book. When John approached, the face that looked up at him was slightly different from the Rave he was used to. The name over her head, however, did not lie.


    “So, ya decided?” the girl asked.


    “Yes,” the Gamer confirmed.


    <b>Quest Complete: Pick a Side.</b>


    <b>You decided to join Collide.</b>


    John dismissed the windows.


    “That name tag stuff sure is dangerous, Gamer.” Rave said and waved a hand above her head. “Thought you’d be confused for at least a second.”


    “I would have been.” John said and pointed upwards. “You, uhm, still can’t see that?”


    “Nope. Thought the group would fix that, but nope. Whatevs. Let’s go, I wanna get out of here before Moira checks this ce.”


    As John followed her back down the stairs. He did his best to stare respectfully at her skirt. He wanted the yoga pants back. The entire time, he had been so preupied with other things he still hadn’t gotten a proper view of her butt. “So, how are you doing this whole Illusion thing?”


    “Dad bought me an enchanted piercing when I asked for it.” Rave turned to him and stuck out her tongue, once more revealing the metal bit at the tip. “It’s more minor shapeshifting for the hair. Face is all illusions though. And I still gotta change my clothes.” She tapped her school bag twice.


    “Doesn’t Gaia punish people for using their powers in public?” John asked.


    “Only if ya get caught by the mundanes. I always look like this in school, so,” she shrugged and cleared her throat. “Normally I do speak a little clearer too, if I speak at all. You have to keep up the persona and all that. Stupid Moi-Moi.”


    Alright, he got that confirmed two times now, so he could take it as gospel. “Where are we going?” John asked. They weren’t heading for the main gate.


    “We are going out the back, dummy.” Rave answered. “Can’t have the princess see me with ya, she isn’t that dense. Especially after your scrawny ass almost gave my first name away.” She suddenly stopped and pushed her finger in front of his face like it was a pistol. “If I get caught because of you, Gamer. Tchk-tchk.” She made a loading noise. “Then I take ya with me.” She pulled the imaginary trigger and a small sh of light blinded John for a moment.


    He blinked away the shapes that had been burned into his retina. “J-John,” he stammered.


    “Huh?”


    “My name… it’s John.”


    “Yeah, I can read, the party menu is still open,” Rave dismissed him. “I just prefer Gamer. The Gamer – nerd prime – brainiac supreme. Pick any of those. Birth names are for friends and… family,” she sounded a little bitter at the end there. She went back to walking and her voice went right back to upbeat. “Lemme show ya to Collide headquarters. Ten bucks that you’ll love it!”