Haku smirked, deciding to jump into the conversation. "'Best'... I kinda like the sound of that. Count me in." He looked at Kiriei, seeing a nervous, hesitant expression. "Come on. This isn't the kind of game a person can win be flying solo. Tips from a veteran will improve out chances of surviving."<br/><br/>Kiriei clenched her fists at her sides, her teeth gritted shut. "What the hell kind of a reaction is that?! Do you fully understand what's going on here? It's like you're just treating this like a game! This isn't a game anymore Haku! Until... until we get out of here, this place is our reality. Don't tell me you're not scared at all." As she went on, she'd gone from angry to quiet. The girl clearly wasn't taking this very well.<br/><br/>Haku gave a casual sigh. "Don't get so worked up. For the record, I treat the real world this way too. Anyway, freaking out isn't going to help you win the game. I think working together and joining forces with as many people as we can is a good idea. Besides, isn't there a saying: the more allies you have, the less people there are to be your enemies?"<br/><br/>Kiriei shook her head. "I'm not against the idea of working together," she said, sounding a little huffy. "I was just thrown off by how casually you're taking all of this." She turned and looked at Lynda. "Count me in. My name is Kiriei."<br/><br/>Haku smiled and raised one hand in a lazy wave. "Call me Haku."<br/><br/>----------------------<br/><br/>Roku tapped Yami on the shoulder. He'd noticed a small group of people converging and pointed them out to his party member. "What about it?" Yami asked the boy. Roku opened his user interface and pointed to the party section. "You think they're making a party?" Yami asked. Roku shook his head and made a keep going motion with his hands. "Um... an alliance?" he tried, looking for things similar to a party. Roku nodded, then gestured to the group.<br/><br/>"You want us to join in?" Yami asked. Roku nodded.<span style="font-style: italic">I guess being with more people would help our chances,</span>Yami thought.<span style="font-style: italic">Besides, we're both still really low level players.</span>"Well, we can try," he said.<br/><br/>Shortly after Haku and Kiriei's introductions, Yami gave Lynda a tap on the shoulder. "Um, hi," he said. "My name's Yami and this is Roku," he said, gesturing to the small blonde boy beside him. "If you're creating some sort of alliance, we'd love to join you. We're both still just level 1 and it's not likely we'd survive this game on our own." He smiled slightly. "But I guess I could understand if you don't want to team up with players of such low level."<br/><br/>Yami stopped. Roku was tapping him on the shoulder. He turned to see the boy shaking his head, then he held up three fingers. "Oh, sorry. Roku's a level three, apparently," Yami clarified.<br/><br/>--------------------------<br/><br/>"Oh jeez," Emilia muttered. "I have a job to get back to in the real world. I'll get fired if I stay here!"<br/><br/>"Emilia," Galen said, "I think they may just let your absence slide. Think about how many people play this game. All of them are trapped. I'm sure the police will connect the dots and figure out that something's gone wrong with this game. Something like this on such a large scale will probably demand some lenience with everyone's bosses."<br/><br/>"Really? Oh that's a relief. I hope you're right Galen. Oh, and if you were wondering, I'm a cook in a cake shop," she said with a smile. "... So what do you do?" she pressed.<br/><br/>"I'd rather not say," Galen said, frowning.<br/><br/>"Come on, why not?" Emilia pleaded. "I won't make fun of you or anything."<br/><br/>"It's not important," Galen insisted. Emilia gave him the puppy dog eyes... and kept giving them. "Fine. I'm an astral physicist at NASA. Happy?"<br/><br/>Emilia frowned. "Well you didn't have to lie to me." Galen sighed, his eyebrow twitching just slightly.<span style="font-style: italic">What's with that? It was the truth.</span><br/><br/>"Don't you think you're taking this situation a little too lightly?" he asked her. "You realize we could die at any moment?"<br/><br/>Emilia nodded, smiling sadly. "Yeah. I get it," she said. "But... when bad stuff like this happens, I'd rather block it out. 'Cause I might break down if I worry about it too much."<br/><br/>Galen looked away from her.<span style="font-style: italic">Yeah. I kind of feel the same way...</span>