Penny laughed at his words. “Yeah, I think you’re right about the perv part. And I hope you’re right about the Tony the Tiger part.” She shrugged her shoulder, her fingers flexing against his inner elbow absently. “But hopefully we just don’t have to find that part out. I’m on your team, not his.” She stated, though that much didn’t need to be reiterated.<br/><br/>Thankful that they reached the Capitol without incident, Penny almost didn’t notice the difference in the atmosphere. But no sooner had her shoes hit the cobblestone path than everything felt different. Almost like the air was heavier there, though that was impossible. She let go of Acros’s inner elbow, unintentionally, gaping at her new surroundings.<br/><br/>It felt a little like she had been locked inside an invisible forcefield. All at once, her avatar flickered, like a glitch. It then fizzled out of existence, the pixels melting away, replaced with the likeness of… Penelope, the girl behind Penny the mage. Still wearing the purple dress and matching shoes, the items seemed to stretch to fit her real life shape.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center"><div class="bbImageWrapper lazyload js-lbImage" data-lb-caption-extra-html="" data-lb-sidebar-href="" data-single-image="1" data-src="/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.meme-arsenal.com%2Fmemes%2F43c3d9fd8e38a05eb4c9bd139b1efec3.jpg&amp;hash=dfd2888f058e7368a40b3df98fc56aca" title="43c3d9fd8e38a05eb4c9bd139b1efec3.jpg">
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</div></div><br/>Penelope’s cat frames didn’t hide her dark sapphire eyes, her long brown hair softly waving as it fell over her shoulders and stretched to her mid-back. She gasped, looking down at herself and realizing at once what had happened. That didn’t mean it made any sense, though. How was it possible that her exact physical appearance was in the game?<br/><br/>She glanced around, noticing Acros’s real life persona, or what she had to assume was such, anyway. Her gaze drifted away from him to notice that the same thing was happening all around them to the vast amount of other avatars congregated at the Capitol. Everyone’s online character was being stripped away, to reveal their real life identities.<br/><br/>But, soon enough, blood red lettering filled the sky, drawing everyone’s attention at once. Penelope read the words, her mouth agape, horror etched onto her face. She gulped audibly after re-reading the words for the second time. The only thing she could think to say after a few moments of her heart sinking, was: “Dead?”<br/><br/>She blinked a few rapid blinks, moisture collecting against her lashes. “I’m… dead?” Her hands went to her chest, another gulp breaking up her otherwise heavy breathing, as she desperately clutched at herself. “How can I be… dead?” Was it just an exaggeration? Whoever had developed this game was clearly sick and twisted, not to mention delusional. But dead?!<br/><br/>Thankfully, the Capitol was a no death zone, so it was safe to stay there, sleep there, and presumably heal there. But, as far as the game was concerned, Penelope could no longer focus. She drew her hands to her head, feeling for the helmet she had put on to play this game. She tried to find a button or anything at all, to force the game to stop. But she felt nothing. Nothing other than her own searing tears as they cascaded down her cheeks.