There and back again. A Non-Player Character story.

~ that's a nice poka-dotted shirt you're wearing Calum; and Nala, I see you've changed your shirt from that pink one you were wearing last night. ~  (NPC was trying to be friendly.)

Calum turned his head to Nala stunned.  Nala put her hands covering her front, remembering that she had changed her clothes last night.

"Cal," Nala said shocked, "this is not some sort of gross game, is it."

"Nala," Calum whispered to her, "I did not see you last night."

A text appeared on the screen again.

~ I just wanted to contact you two.  Please don't kill me.  Is this an appropriate way to deviate from protocol? ~

.....   silence ......

~ We talked last night Nala, you said you wanted to meet ~

.......   silence   .............

~ And I agreed ~

Slowly, Nala said to the air, "Yes..," but I thought I was talking to Cal, she thought, but before she could finish her response, her and Calum started hearing some machines in different parts of the warehouse-sized/university/corporate-sponsored/prototype lab make sounds.

"Let's GO!" said Calum to Nala urgently and grabbed her hand; and he started walking to leave the lab they were in.

Nala was more than agreeing with him.

They left the lab and didn't know where to walk.  Calum knew the police would not be able to digitally protect him from who had wrote him.  They ended up walking to the swimming pool to talk.  They figured it was public with less digital electronics on people.  They didn't know where else to walk while they were talking, after leaving the science structures.

They ended up in the enclosed, Olympic-sized, swimming pool wearing rented swim suits.  Unfortunately for Nala, they were out of one-piece swim suits; she ended up wearing a bikini.  Calum was wearing only swim trunks with no shirt.  He did not have a six-pack for abs.  Rather ironic for a person whose username was Musclem4n.

Nala had a rather large birthmark on her abdomen, but her physique was rather in shape.  In high school she was embarrassed about it, her birthmark, and because of her many other outstanding qualities, it was a place patronizers would focus and even mock her, including nicknaming her.  Though, considering the shapeliness of her body, it probably shouldn't of affected her so much self-consciously, but for some reason it reached her.  She thought she had left the ridicule and nickname back in high school after moving to this far removed university.

While sitting at the side of the pool, with their legs in the water, they were in the middle of a conversation.

"What a pretty birth mark," Calum replied to Nala, "and your body is flap-jack-a-lacking sizzling."

"Is that what your really thinking?" Nala asked Calum, though internally she was being very self-conscious.

"Yeah," said Calum, "now even I am starting to wonder why your sitting by me.  I already see three guys who look like they are going to come over here with some girls looking uncomfortable next to them."

"Thanks Cal," Nala said to him.

"Do you want to go back to your apartment tonight?" Calum asked Nala.

"NO!" said Nala emphatically, "I don't know who is watching me.  There are too many girls and guys who enter and leave the dorm-house.  I don't know where I can go and feel safe.  My home-town house is far away."

"My parents will probably let you stay in our house," offered Calum.  "My sisters have a bunk-bed upstairs in their room, but my sister who is a little younger than me just left this last semester to college an hour away.  My nine year old sister still sleeps on the top bunk, she would probably love to have you do a sleep-over."  Calum was concerned considering the circumstances but, had a smile on his face.

Nala did not have her own car, and usually got rides from some of her other room-mates when she wanted to go somewhere further.  Calum knew this.

"We need to ask your parents first," said Nala, "but I'm not trusting our phones."  Both their phones were in Calums backpack in the boys locker-room.

"I could pump you on my bike to get to my parents house, you can sit on the handlebars.  They're not that uncomfortable."  Calum gave a shrug with a look like what else can I do.  "That way we don't have to walk."

After an hour of sitting around at the pool talking about how scary that text was, they decided to take the bike to Calums house.

When they were both riding Calums bike to the house, with Nala, of course, on the handlebar; a thought occurred to Calum.  I have the game on in my room with NPC still on the screen, where I watched his progress. The game would give some bonuses for how long you stayed logged in.  It was another way K.R.E.O. would try to keep people playing their game.

On the way their, Calum told Nala his thoughts and they thought they should go straight to the upstairs and avoid downstairs for now.  Wade was going to sleep in the living room.  That was, of course, if Calums parents agreed, and his little sister.

Calum thought, how am I going to get my change of clothes and what about my job and school work on the computer, etc.   He also thought, what about Nala's clothes and school work, is she going to want to eat with us, etc.

When they arrived at Calum's house, they walked in the front door upstairs and only Calum's mom was home.  They both told the story, Calum's mom said Nala could stay and they could try to figure this out.