I logged out of my employee account and in to my “fun” account.

*FallenOne has entered the world of Yondareth.

FallenOne was a level seventy-five human spearman. He had gray hair and a long, white beard. He kind of looked like a cross between Santa Claus and a Chinese monk. I’d been in a weird mood on the day I created him and his look cracked me up. But he kicked ass and I liked him as a character. I found the nearest magic portal—couldn’t use any of the fancy employee tricks on this account—and sent my character to the zone where my regular group was working their magic.

*Persephone tells you, Holy shit…is it really you? Where have you been?

*You tell Persephone, Yup, really me. I’ve been doing other stuff.

*FallenOne has been invited to join Persephone’s group.

I clicked the appropriate button, accepting the invitation. Suddenly my headphones were assailed with Heath and Kat chattering excitedly on in-game voice chat. And for the very first time, I planned on joining them.

Previously, FallenOne had only engaged with the group through text. I could hear them all over voice chat, but I only communicated with them by typing to help preserve my anonymity. Since I type fast, it wasn’t difficult to do. This had worked in my favor when I’d met Heath and then Emilia, because it had helped me keep my identity as their in-game friend a secret. I’d done a lot of things, in those early days, to throw her off track so she’d never suspect. Some of it had been nice, and some, like my asshole act that day we first met in person, not so nice.

I adjusted my headphones and mouthpiece and pressed the talk button. “Hey guys, how are you?”

“No way!” Kat said. “Fallen’s on voice chat. You really are a dude!”

I laughed. “You thought I was a chick?”

“I thought you were a chick,” said Heath.

“Screw you. I’m a dude. I won’t mention the details about being sixty-five and covered with back hair, though.”

“Eww,” said Kat. “I hope to God you’re kidding.”

Emilia wasn’t saying a thing.

I knew she could hear me. The icon next to her character’s name indicated that she was hooked into voice chat.

“Hey, Mia, why so quiet?” I said.

“She’s in a bad mood. We’re hacking through trolls to cheer her up,” said Kat.

“Hey, Fallen,” Emilia finally said. “Great to hear your voice.”

My screen lit up with the purple text that indicated a private message from Emilia.

*Eloisa tells you, Hi.

“So what’s with the bad mood? Is killing trolls helping?” I asked.

*You tell Eloisa, Hey.

“Yeah. Well, you know me. I’m always in for a good troll beat-down. I’m feeling useful, for once,” Emilia said. “These two losers actually need my elite enchantress powers to survive.”

To my surprise, we continued with the parallel conversation—one taking place over voice chat and the other, the private one, in typed instant messages.

*Eloisa tells you, So…how was your hot date?

*You tell Eloisa, How was your trip to Baltimore?

*Eloisa tells you, Touché. I guess you got me there.

“Whatev, Mia,” Kat said. “You’re always useful. But what the hell—my system has not been working right since that fucking patch those idiots put into the game last week. Assholes must have screwed something up.”

I suppressed a snort. It wasn’t every day I got called an asshole and an idiot by my in-game friend. Didn’t matter that she didn’t know she was actually calling me an idiot and an asshole.

“Yeah, those jerks at Draco. Damn them,” Heath said, not even attempting to hide the laughter in his voice.

*You tell Fragged, Fuck off.

*Fragged tells you, HAHAHAHAHA

“Kat, the problem is that you just have your head up your butt again,” said Heath.

“Shut up, Fragged, or I’m going to let you die this time.”

“This time? I die so much in this game they’re going to make me buy a plot at the local cemetery.”

I snickered. “Maybe it’s just PEBCAK.”

“What the hell is that?” Kat asked.

Heath and I answered at the same time. “Problem exists between chair and keyboard.”

“It’s a common term in IT,” I added.

“Oh shut up, Fallen, I liked you better when you could only type,” Kat hissed.

*You tell Eloisa, So are you ok with me playing today? Was kind of bored.

*Eloisa tells you, It’s okay if you play. Better playing than working.