She felt so groggy at first that she didn't even want to open her eyes. However, she soon realized that she'd been sleeping on the floor in the entryway, and forced herself to wake up. Doce pulled herself up onto her knees and raised her arms above her in a stretch. "What a great dream~" she murmured without thinking. The high school student pulled herself onto her feet then leaned against a wall to steady herself as the room blacked out around her.<span style="font-style: italic">Low blood pressure...</span>she thought, waiting patiently for the oxygen to make it back to her brain. It didn't seem particularly strange to her that she'd taken a nap on the floor, but that opinion changed the instant she saw she was still wearing shoes. Her back pack was on the floor next to her, and, judging by the time, she'd just gotten home from school.<br/><br/>Doce spent a minute or two trying to use real-world scenarios to explain such an out-of-character occurrence. Then, she started to recall what she'd been dreaming about.<span style="font-style: italic">But it wasn't a dream,</span>she told herself. She couldn't remember what had happened, but she knew it wasn't a dream. After taking a moment to take off her shoes and put her things in their proper places, she retreated to the big chair in the living room and curled up in it, trying to remember.<br/><br/>"I... I was a boy," she said, speaking softly like she sometimes did when she was trying to remember things. "And... there were others. It was someplace else, and we were trapped. And... And I met Hellmaster Phibrizzo!" It was all coming back to her now. The struggles she'd had (which seemed somewhat minimal in retrospect), the people she'd met, and how she, Rin, and Phibrizzo had teamed up secretly near the end to destroy the machine and free everyone. Her heart was pounding now, adrenaline rushing through her veins at the thought of something so exciting. And she found herself wondering what was next. Was that all there was to it? She had this grand adventure and now it was just over? She couldn't even tell anybody about this or they'd just think she was crazy. She had few enough friends as it stood... None, really. Everyone she met was more of an amicable acquaintance. No enemies, no true friends... kinda sad, really.<br/><br/>She wrote it all off then. No, seriously. She decided that for right then she wanted to check her backpack in case she'd forgotten any homework assignments she'd gotten before being spirited away. There was some math. She sat down and did that assignment to help clear her head.<span style="font-style: italic">It's nice to have some alone time,</span>she thought.<span style="font-style: italic">That whole put-my-life-in-danger-anime-crossover thing was fun and all, but my social stamina needed some recharging.</span><br/><br/>She stood from her desk, having finished her homework, and that's when she noticed the letter sitting on her bed.<span style="font-style: italic">For me?</span>she wondered, reaching forward to take it.<span style="font-style: italic">"To the Players"?</span>Her heart skipped a beat. In her mind, there was only one thing this letter could be about. Slowly, meticulously, she unsealed the envelope to read what was inside.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic">We regret to inform you that a hacker recently got into the systems of our Beta Test. As the testers, you have every right to dispose of these two World Spheres and forget this ever happened. We, however, would like to cordially invite you to the first Fully Transportive Game World. These Spheres give you access to the first “Checkpoint Zone” which will enable you to once again be a character chosen from a variety of worlds and allow you to wield their power as your own. Unfortunately, we had to wipe the program's saved character data, so you will no longer be allowed your old character bodies. For those of you receiving this letter and not knowing what the heck we are explaining, Congratulations! You have been approved as the Beta has finally become stable enough to open to the public!<br/>Again we apologize for any inconveniences and assure you that the latest patch has destroyed the ability to hack The Game. Crush the sphere to begin and then visit an open Checkpoint Zone to log out. When logging out, you will be given a Checkpoint Sphere to return to your last log out position.</span></div><br/><br/>"... I can go back..." The whole goodbyes not being permanent thing usually threw Doce off. In those last moments she'd said goodbye to Acromovani, but here it was inviting her back. She tried to put it off, running across the street to the convenience store and buying a chocolate bar. She gratefully devoured the snack and peered again at the little blue sphere sitting on the coffee table in front of her. She was trying to weigh a whole lot of options that were truly irrelevant, considering time didn't seem to pass when she was in Acromovani. Eventually, one side won the psychological game, and she crushed the Checkpoint Sphere.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>The world around her shattered, and she couldn't help but think of Hunter X Hunter's Greed Island, Accel World, and SAO. Then came the best part; finding out which character she was going to be. Apparently, since she was a "Beta Player," she was going to get some kind of starter pack, but that would wait. Doce bit her lip in anticipation as the voice processed her avatar. "Lucy, huh?"<span style="font-style: italic">I'm a girl this time.</span>"From Elfen Lied. Okay."<br/><br/>The voice rang out from nowhere: "Would you like to customize?"<span style="font-style: italic">Oh, no way. I can customize her? Epic!</span>"Yes," she said. "How about... I want to change her outfit. Give her a white tank-top--cropped off just above the bellybutton, and the thick straps, not spaghetti straps. And... white shorts: denim, cut of at mid-thigh... silver button, not gold or copper colored. And... combat boots... made of white leather. Don't make the shoelaces too long, either." Doce rarely had an opinion on things, so when she actually wanted something a certain way she got real picky.<br/><br/>"Affirmative," the voice said. "Removing 1,000 Gold from your account."<span style="font-style: italic">How much did I have?</span>she wondered dubiously. "Are you ready?" the voice asked, and a button appeared in the air before her. Doce took a couple calming breaths, set her hand on the button, and gave a gentle push.<br/><br/>It wasn't as dramatic as her transportation from the real world, but it was still disorienting. She pressed the button and she ended up someplace else. Simple, really. Looking around, the most noticeable landmark in the area was a glowing archway, swirling with blue light. It looked like a fairly standard video game portal. She could also see two figures standing not-far-off. That was interesting, but first things first, she had to check her outfit to make sure they'd done it right. It was perfect. Lucy's, tall, fit, curvy figure pulled it off<span style="font-style: italic">so</span>well, too. Doce also noticed that her Lucy avatar still had long hair, which was fine by her. Well, since she'd addressed that much, Doce let her attention fall back to the two females not far from her. Then, an idea happened: they were probably beta testers. Well... it was possible, anyway, since she was a beta tester and they'd arrived about the same time.<br/><br/>She wanted to find out if she knew them, so she walked over. "Hi, I was wondering if we met here before... My name's Doce." She tried for a smile, and it was probably about as shy and uncomfortable-looking on Lucy's face as it would have been on her own. She shook her head mentally. It was so much easier to fake peppiness in Frahlah's body.