Chapter 2

## Cafeteria Deliberations

Chapter 2 starts with Orion telling Annie about Mr. Keating's announcement of Benjamin's death. Orion thinks that it is no coincidence and that he was killed by the praetorians. Now, Ulysses is trying to cover it up. Paranoid, he fears a person that seems to shadow them by the water cooler. It turns out its just Chang.

Luna joins the two at the table and meets Annie for the first time. Annie tells her she is kind for giving away a neural implant to support her father's cafe. Luna then tells Annie that she will be playing Eternum on the Red Herring server with Orion that night. Annie asks to join. Orion can let her join and gain her favor, or tell her that it is too scary for her.

Annie and Orion fill Luna in on their theory about Benjamin. She tells them about a girl that owes her a favor and might be able to help them. Orion can visit this girl after school and then play Eternum at her house since they are close together. Orion accepts and proceeds to the rest of his classes.

## Axel Altercation

Axel ambushes Orion in a stairwell and accusses him of killing Benjamin. The way Orion was sweating in computer class proves that he knows something. Orion calls Benjamin an aweful person and says that he deserved it. Orion may punch Axel and Axel will punch back. Mr. Keating comes down the stairs and attempts to break them up. Axel threatens to ruin the lives of Orion, Annie, and Luna and Orion threatens to send Axel to his grave. Mr. Keating stops the fight but Axel threatens to use his father's power to get him fired. Mr. Keating places the blame on Orion and warns him that he will be expelled if he gets in trouble again.

## Initiating the Investigation

Orion is seen along a rainy street in Kredon. He has just arrived outside the house that Luna sent him to. He rings the doorbell when a woman appears. The woman asks who Orion is and he pretends to be a friend of Nova's from school. At this moment, a girl, apparently Nova appears. She is drenched having forgotten her umbrella on the train. Orion pretends to want her help studying for a quiz. Nova appears to go along with the ruse and invites him inside.

Nova goes to another room to change and grab some coffee while Orion waits in the living room. Suddenly he is hit in the head with a frying pan and Nova brandishes a knife at his throat. Nova threatens to kill Orion and flee the country. She accuses him of being hired by Ulysses. When Orion reveals that he was sent by Luna, Nova wonders if he works together with Luna to murder people. Orion eventually helps her remember that she owes Luna a favor and convinces Nova to stand down.

Nova turns out to be a hacker. She warns Orion that she cannot tell him the location of the Gems of Doom or the Weapons of Atlas. Orion asks for help investigating the death of Benjamin. Nova agrees that she is suspicous of Ulysses and has tried and failed to hack them before. She agrees to investigate the police records surrouding the incident. Orion can compliment Nova's anime wallplayers and ask her to play Eternum which she tentativly accepts.

When Orion leaves, Nova immediatly hacks Orion's phone. She snoops through his GPS records and photos but can't find anything suspicous about him.

## Luna's World

Orion arrives at Luna's house where she is already wearing her e-suit. Orion says that Nova will start investigating Benjamin's death. Orion asks to use the bathroom, but Luna warms him that her father's corpse is still down the hall. Confident that it is a prank, Orion continues to the bathroom, only to find Mr. Hernandez on a bed covered in blood. Luna describes how the voices commanded her to kill her father. Mr. Hernandez gets up from the bed and scares Orion. Reluctantly, Orion says that he appreciates the good humor.

## Things that Go Bump in the Night

Luna and Orion (and Annie if present in this scene) log onto the Red Herring server. Orion meets Luna and Annie in a cold, gothic city. Luna says that they will be attempting to solve "The Enigma of the Foggy District," a case she previously has failed to solve.

A cruel factory owner, Jeremy Flink previouly operated a factory there. Year of abuse of his workers led them to burn down the factory. Now, the sun never rises in the district. The group approaches an NPC, Enzo, one of the last factory workers left in the district. Orion is surprised the NPC still remembers Luna. Apparently, Mr. Flink was on a business trip when the fire occured. Enzo believes the town deserves the curse. Luna says that all the NPCs eventually say the same thing.

A woman in a hood appears just before midnight. She tells the group that a child on the top floor of the Bixen building is the key to lifting the curse. When asked, the woman says she is a simple member of the syndicate. Luna has never seen this woman before.

## Another Annie

The group enters the building. Luna has been here before, but this time the lights are on and the firplace is lit. They hear a sound upstairs and go to investigate. The light go out, save for a single candle. They see a girl by the window. At first she doesn't respond but eventually agrees to let them sit with her. The little girl's name is also Annie. She refuses to talk without her teddy bear, Mr. Nebula. Orion goes to find her a new toy.

Orion finds a shop and is surprised to find that Chop-Chop is the proprietor here as well. Chop-Chop offers to sell him the pickaxe of destiny. Orion asks for a toy and Chop-Chop quickly makes a stuffed bear from a cushion. He sells it to Orion for 30 eternals. Chop-Chop offers to sell Orion a gift, which Orion decided would be a good way to thank Luna for the neural implant. First he offers a goat named Maurice. Next he shows off a toucan that answers all questions with "Stockholm," also named Maurice. Finally he offers a cat, of course named Maurice. Orion can buy one or refuse. Refusing once causes Chop-Chop to halve the price.

Orion returns to the girls and offers little Annie the bear. She likes it and reveals that she is Mr. Flink's daughter. Luna decides that they should go to the Flink house and try to find a picture of the girl's mother to show to her. (She solved another case in a similar manner.) Orion can go to the house (earning Luna's favor) while the girls stay, or send Luna. Sending Luna skips the following scene.

## House of Horrors

Orion arrives at a fancy house and finds a flashlight waiting for him. He enters the unlit house. Orion can pick his patch through the house. The flashlight may flicker and sounds haunt him. Eventually he hears a phone ring. When Orion answers the phone, he hears a conversation between Mrs. Flink and another woman who begs her to flee the house, fearing it will be burned. Mrs. Flink rushes to save a photo album from her safe.

When Orion finds the safe, he discovers a notebook with a clue to the combination. The first number is the number of candles in the bathroom, the second is the number of Annie's two dinosaurs, and the third is the number of logs in the yard. Orion must traverse the house to count these objects. Correctly inputting the combination opens the safe. Inside, Orion finds a picture of the family and a flash camera along with a newspaper.

The newspaper describes how the factory workers burned down the factory and the house. Mrs. Flink and Annie burned to death in the fire. Suddenly the flashlight dies. Horrified, Orion must use the camera flash to traverse the house, hoping there is nothing hiding in the darkness. Orion sees a dark figure in the garden and nearly runs into it later. It turns away after Orion promises to bring little Annie back to it. Just when Orion thinks he is going to die, Luna appears.

Little Annie started running towards the house not long ago. Orion explains his findings to Luna. Little Annie appears again and presents a box to Orion. Inside the box, they find a Gem of Doom. The group is uncertain if its real. Orion agrees to keep it for now.

## Luna's Mystery

The group returns to the real world. Orion tells Luna that he bougt her a pet (if applicable) and tells her he forgot it at the Bixen building. Luna is impressed and thanks him; pets can help summoners. Orion notices that Luna is wearing her gloves again, despite not wearing them in Eternum. Orion can ask her about them. If he does not have enough favor with Luna or did not go to the house himself, Luna refuses to answer and Orion cannot pursue a romance with her. Otherwise, she begins to explain.

Luna claims that when she touches someone with her bare hands, she can see their future. This fact caused her to get bullied in middle school. She hasn't had friends since. When she was five, she saw her mother die. Three months later, he mother succumbed to heart disease. She has worn the gloves since she was eight to stop the power, but the power does not work in Eternum. Not even her father knows of this. Orion offers to try the power on him. Luna is shocked when it does not work on him and is happy to have someone to share the secret with.

## Midnight Comfort

A couple hours later, Orion is back at the Carter home browsing social media. Annie is brushing her teeth. She ponders the Gem of Doom and what it would mean if it were genuine. She is determined to not be scared like a little kid, but when she looks at the hallway, it appears terrifyingly dark. Annie knocks on Orion's door to see if he is still awake. Orion can invite her in or send her away. Sending her away kills the possibility of a romance with Annie and skips the rest of the scene.

Annie takes in the view of the backyard from Orion's room and the two settle in for the night. The pair wake up later in the night, at which point, Annie will leave if Orion doesn't have enough favor with her. Annie and Orion get more comfortable and try to go back to sleep. Orion considers making a move on her. Orion can choose to move forward, risking his relationship with his best friend. The two cuddle and admit they like each other but were both too scared to risk their friendship. Eventually, Annie gets too self-conscious and runs out of the room.

## Saturday Morning

Its finally Saturday and the sun is shining in Kredon for once. Nancy comes into Orion's room. If he has agreed to go to yoga, she asks him to wake up Dalia. Orion can also volunteer to make Dalia breakfast to save Nancy time. If Orion has been tasked with waking up Dalia, he enters her room to find her with Carolyn asleep atop her. If Orion has made breakfast, he brings her a platter of pancakes after Nancy has already tried and failed to wake her. The pancakes rise her from her slumber and she thanks Orion.

When Dalia jumps out of Bed, she tweaks her back. Dalia is worried that she will lost to Micaela at the weightlifting competition next weekend if she has to skip training for the week, so Orion offers to give her a massage. The two talk about Eternum, and by the end, Dalia is already starting to feel better. Orion leaves to get an ice pack. Annie appears if she cuddle with Orion previouly, but runs away quickly. Dalia postpones her training session with Orion. If going to yoga, Orion departs, otherwise he louges around the house until time to meet Alex.

## Pump It!

Orion arrives at Kredon's gym, Pump It, and quickly finds Nancy. Nancy introduces Orion to Millie, the receptionist. Millie introduces the gym's trainers. Nikolay is a Russian that teaches aquatics (and only speaks Russian). Moon teaches martial arts. Kai teaches yoga. Finally, Chang is the strength coach. While Nancy goes to the locker room, Orion confronts Chang. Chang apparently got a job at the gym while visiting to see Micaela. He then asks Orion for advice about what to get for her birthday.

Orion finds Nancy stretching to prepare for the session. Noah and Raul arrive. Nancy is surprise to learn that they are classmates of Orion. Gertrude arrives, Nancy's annoying coworker. Gertrude is convinced that Orion must be Dalia. Kai arrives and starts the class, speaking in flowery language and flirting with Nancy. Orion struggles while everyone else performs the yoga. Kai assigns Raul and Noah as partners, then Gertrude and Orion. This leaves him with Nancy. Gertrude tells Orion that Kai is going to ask Nancy out after class. Orion may decide to thwart his plan.

If Orion decided to interfere, he enlists the help of the repeaters. For 50 eternals, they will agree to distract Kai. Millie interupts the class to say that Kai's car appears to be smoking. Kai cancels class immediatley. Nancy asks Orion to perform the partner pose with her and they have a moment as they balance together before tumbling down. The two agree to practice more together.

Gertrude grabs Nancy so they can go to lunch. On the way out, Nancy talks to Kai. He says his car had an explosive placed underneath it, but he won't let it ruin his day. Nancy appears to ask Kai is she will date him, and Kai gives a resounding yes, but she was really asking for advice about whether she should pursue Orion. Nancy decides to not hold back.

Nancy and Gertrude are in the locker room. Gertrude is ranting on and on as Nancy considers playing Eternum to get close to Orion, but she can't justify the cost. Gertrude mentions recently purchasing an Eternum implant. Nancy convinces her that if she and her husband play, he will probably find a younger woman and run off with her. Scared of being president of the PTA and a single mother, Gertrude agrees to sell the implant to Nancy for $100.

## Standing on the Corner

Orion is waiting on the side of a street in Kredon. Nova runs up, is almost hit by a car, and the knocks Orion from the railing he is sitting on. Orion asks Nova how her found her and she admits that she tapped his GPS location. Nova informs Orion that the police files pertaining to Benjamin's death were modified. The orignial report confirms that he has an aneurysm while playing Eternum around the same time Orion saw him get excommunicated. Additionally, Benjamin's parents received a deposit of $150,000 in the wake of the incident. Nova suggests gaining notoriety in Eternum to get closer to Ulysses big shots to continue the investigation. Nova responds well to heaps of praise from Orion.

Alex appears on a motorcycle. Nova is surprised that Orion has more friends than Annie and Chang. Orion realizes that Nova has hacked him because he never mentioned them before. Nova lies about hacking him, but can't keep a poker face. She darts away after giving Orion a phone number to contact her.

## Getting to know Alex

Alex and Orion arrive at a parking garage. Shockingly, her father owns the whole garage and the luxury cars within. At first Orion speculates that her father may be Jeff Bezos. Alex reveals that her father is William Bardot and is surprised that Orion didn't know. This means that she is Axel's brother. Alex warns that her father hates her and we won't gain anything by trying to be friends with her. If Orion has punched Axel before, Alex respects him for it.

The two enter her home. Alex complains that it is treated like a museum. Orion wants to get to know her. Alex agrees to answers questions, but for each one, Orion must do another 25% of the project himself. Orion may ask about her family, hobbies, religion, and tattoos. If Orion asks all four questions, he gains favor from her. She wonders at his curiosity, but Orion seems to be genuine. The two begin working on their project. Alex doesn't hold Orion to the deal.

A few hours later, the two have finished the project. Orion asks to play Eternum with Alex. Alex refuses to play with a noob. She tells him that she beleives she is close to tracking down Calypso, but it is in Ogygia, a server she can't find a way to access. Orion suggests asking Nova for help accessing the server. Alex agrees to share Calypso if he han help her obtain it.

Alex's mother, Priscilla enters, drunk. William Bardot is on his way upstairs to sign their divorce papers. Priscilla says that she and Alex won't be left with a penny and that it is all Alex's fault. WIlliam Bardot appears and yells at Alex, saying he wishes she was never born. Then he slaps her. Orion can step in and tell him to stop. William threatens him and asks his name, but Orion doesn't give it. Failing to speak up ends a chance of romance with Alex. If Orion stepped in, they hug in the parking garage. If Orion has enough favor with Alex, she tells him to start referring to her as 'Alex.'

## Your Prince

A flashback to a very young Alex shows her pretending to receive a gold medal for swimming. Alex's grandmother tells Alex that her mother and father will be staying away longer and will miss her birthday tomorrow. Alex's grandmother gives her the cross she is wearing as an early birthday gift (the same cross Alex wears in the modern day). Alex's grandmother says she will not always be around, but one day Alex will meet her prince like she met Alex's grandpa.

## Another Strange Dream

Orion comes to in the middle of a dark road. He is not sure how he got there and if he is even in Kredon. A strange lady pops up behind him and asks Orion "will you help us?" Orion can answer positively or negatively.

## Nova's First Phone Call

Orion wakes up from the dream. He decides to call Nova before anything else. Nova anwsers immediatly. She seems already somewhat addicted to her first phone. Orion tells Nova about Alex's theory. Nova is excited to possibly find Calypso and agrees to try and find a way to hack into Ogygia. Suddenly, a fire alarm goes off. Orion listens as Nova and her mother start to fight a fire in the kitchen. Orion can also text her instead, but misses out on favor from Nova.

## Perfect Shot

If Orion previsouly agreed to go to Penny's photoshoot, she enters the room. Otherwise Orion just waits for Nova to call back. Penny has gotten dressed up and is ready to depart. At the studio, they will meet up with Penny's boyfriend, Philippe.

The two arrive at the photo studio and Philippe appears, heaping praise upon Penny. Orion is still stewing that she has a boyfriend. Philippe seems to take a deep interest in seeing more of Orion. Philippe tells them they have until 12:00 when the famous, Mr. Valentino will use the studio. Penny sends Orion to get them refreshments. Orion can get Penny a donut, or coffee. If getting coffee, Orion must choose the number of sugar cubes. Bringing Penny coffee with three sugar cubes (mentioned in chapter 1 as the way she likes it), gains her favor. She also confirms that Philippe is in fact gay, and not really her boyfriend.

Orion and Penny begins the photoshoot. Orion may adjust the zoom of the camera. Using normal zoom yields the best result. Penny likes the pictures but decides not to publish them because she feels they are too suggestive and she want to keep her social media profiles very professional. Suddenly, Mr. Valentino barges in and tries to kick them out. Penny admits she is a fan. Mr. Valentino asks her to reveal herself to gain his favor. Orion may reccomend for or against it.

Reccomending against gains Penny's favor though she loses her chance to get promoted by Mr. Valentino. Penny and Orion take more photos for Penny's private collection. Penny grabs Orion to be in some photos as well, leading to an embarassing moment as she sits on his lap. The two laugh it off. As they wrap up, Orion convinces Penny that playing Eternum will help her gain more followers and sponsorship opportunities.

As they leave, Orion notices Nova stuffing her face with donuts. If Orion has helped Penny, Nova asks to meet her. Nova is very nervous to meet the most popular girl from college. Penny doesn't initially recognize Nova as a classmate. They agree to sit together on Monday in digital media class. Penny leaves. Nova reveals that she knows many details about Orion from hacking him and Orion yells at her to stop. Nova has developed malware that can teleport them into any server. She responds well or praise from Orion. They have about 30 minutes to use the exploit before it will be closed by Ulysses. This conversation instead happens on phone if Orion didn't go to the photo shoot.

## Accessing the Inaccessible

Orion runs home with just minutes to spare before the exploit closes. Orion connects to Eternum and emerges in the Nexus with Idriel. Idriel asks him about his experiences. Orion feels almost as if he is being interrogated. Orion asks to be sent to a public server. Orion asks Idriel where the remaining Gems of Doom are. She refuses to answer and says that Orion isn't asking the right questions.

Orion wakes up in a snowy environment feeling sicker than when he first connected to Eternum. Alex and Nova are also there. Alex is wearing elven chain mail. Nova confirms that they are in Ogygia. Nova wears a hitman outfit. Apparently they have the gear from the servers they attempted to connect to. The team is confused by the lack of structures in the server. There is not even an exit portal around.

After several hours of walking, Nova is convinced that they will die there. If they can't find an exit portal, they can't disconnect because being connected by someone in the real world could cause nerve damage. The team speculate about what guards Calypso. Dione was apparently protected by praetorians. Finally, they stumble across a small village.

The village is abandoned. The team is confused that there is no grand temple or such. Perhaps the server is unfinished? The group finds an altar with a small box atop it. They speculate on its content when Orion catches an arrow from midair. Orion wonders if its because his compatibility is 100%. Alex is flabbergasted, having never heard of compatiblity over 85%. A hail of arrows flies at the group, but Alex stops them with a force field.

Praetorians appear and accuse the group of accessing a forbidden server and trying to obtain Calypso before its ready. The praetorians threaten to excommunicate them if they don't comply. Alex fears dying and being killed in real life. Nova agrees and whips out Dione, the second Weapon of Atlas. She reveals that Delilah Warren is her alias. Dione's true power is to take the form of any ranged weapon and allow the user to teleport to its target.

Nova snipes a praetorian sniper and begins firing on the others. Alex is surpised at the real terror on the praetorians' faces. One praetorian seems surprised that they can die and says the job isn't worth the money. Alex transforms into a dragon and kills the rest. Orion watches the girls in wonder and resolves to become a better player. Finally, they can open the box. Orion can volunteer to open the box for the best result. The box opens with a bright blue glow.