Pierce led Cantarella to the Thunderbird's laboratory. As soon as she entered the room, her eyes sparkled with excitement. She lightly grazed her fingers against the assortment of beakers and flasks. She scurried to the glass cabinet, whose shelves were packed with different chemicals.
"This is... so amazing!" she cooed. Pierce silently observed her for several minutes until she looked his way.
"I'll prepare the water for you," he said. She nodded, then returned her attention to the chemical collection.
Pierce soon placed two full glasses on the counter next to her. Cantarella's smile faded.
"I guess it's time to get to work," she muttered while lightly dipping her fingertip into both cups. "All done. If you want to see what I can do, analyze those."
She strolled away to a bookshelf and began reading in the corner.
Pierce sighed and pressed the receiver on his wrist, saying,
"I need someone in the lab to run a toxicology report for me."
A voice immediately answered,
"Right away, sir. We're on our way."
Vision and Veil were having a heated match in a fighting game.
"There's no way you dodged that!" Vision complained.
"We're looking at the same screen. You saw it, I'm just that good," Veil retorted while dealing the finishing blow.
Vision groaned, hanging his head, while Veil grinned at the screen. The words,
"You win!" echoed through the room, making Vision groan again.
"It's my turn now!" Shade said excitedly. Vision reluctantly handed over the controller and stood up so Shade could sit in his place.
"After this round, I'm handing over the controller to someone else. Even if I win," Veil announced.
"Well, you're not going to win, so you would have been doing that regardless," Shade noted smugly.
Veil smiled at him,
"Wow... you're confident. Now I have to crush that confidence. Sorry."
Veil's expression became serious, and his attention shifted entirely to the screen.
"Are you having fun?" Vision asked while standing next to Fenix.
"... Surprisingly, yeah. I feel like I don't have to think about anything right now. It's nice," he answered. Vision smiled softly,
"That's good, you seemed like you had a lot on your mind lately."
Surprise flickered across Fenix's face, and he opened his mouth to reply, but Shade screamed,
"What the heck was that?! You've got to be cheating! I've never seen that move before!"
Fenix laughed. Then he whispered to Vision,
"I'm surprised you noticed."
Vision hummed and felt a pang of sympathy as Veil trapped Shade in a seemingly endless combo.
"I'm not going to say we're close... but we were around each other almost every day back at the academy. Whether I wanted to or not, I started noticing stuff about you, and now we're on a team together... so I want you to know I have your back."
Fenix turned his face to the wall, feeling embarrassed that Vision's words had touched him.
"Hey man, you ready? We're up next," Caster asked while walking over and patting Fenix's shoulder.
Fenix took a deep breath before saying,
"Yeah, just don't complain when I beat you."
Caster chuckled loudly and replied,
"Same to you."
Back in Mirror's room, Aura sat on the bed while Flow occupied the desk chair and Mirror searched through her suitcase.
"There's this virtual reality game that Tinka made for me. We should try it together," Mirror said while pulling out a headset and handing it to Aura. "Wear these so you can watch and communicate with us in-game," she added as she handed a pair of glasses to Flow.
"Thank you," Flow replied softly.
"You'll play next, I just want to show you both how it works first," Mirror explained.
Flow nodded and said,
"Yeah, I understand."
Mirror and Aura both put on their headsets.
A rush of adrenaline coursed through Aura's body, like falling from a high place, as the scenery in front of her transformed into a dense jungle.
She also lost the connection with her powers and felt painfully weak.
"We can't use our powers in here," Mirror began. Aura looked over at her sister, who was now wearing a white tank top, jeans, and black hiking boots. "There's a leveling system like other games; we have to complete quests to get stronger."
Mirror raised her hand, and a translucent screen floated in the air. It displayed their names, levels, special skills, and equipment.
That's when Aura noticed she was in the same outfit as her sister.
"This feels... surreal," Aura muttered. Mirror smirked,
"I know, but brace yourself, it's about to get weirder," she warned.
Not much later a male voice called from the trees,
"Are those humans I hear?"
Mirror sighed, and Aura watched on in anticipation. A man stepped into view with ten velociraptors following his lead. Hovering above the man's head was the name, "Mr. Maniac".
"Oh... two women, how delightful," he murmured while licking his lips, "We'll be eating good tonight, boys!" he shouted before his dinosaurs charged at the girls.
"Come on!" Mirror said, grabbing Aura's wrist and running full speed. Aura stumbled after her, overwhelmed by how suddenly everything was happening around her. Everything felt real; she could feel the sun, smell the trees, the dirt, and her heart was racing.
"This is... amazing!" Aura declared, while picking up pace and running on her own.
"I know right?" Mirror agreed.
"Tinka sucks at naming characters, though!" Aura added with a laugh.
They slid down a slope and ducked into a cave, just in time to avoid the raptors pursuing them. Mirror held up her finger, signaling Aura to be quiet for a few seconds. Once the coast was clear, she exhaled heavily, and the screen from earlier appeared. It read:
"Congratulations! You got away successfully! Reward: 100 xp."
Aura felt the stiffness in her muscles loosen slightly, and some of her former strength returned.
"Yay, we leveled up!" Aura exclaimed. Mirror smiled lightly, then gasped when another screen popped up in front of Aura.
"Anomaly recognized. Special powers activated!"
Aura's skin began shimmering, and the clothes she was wearing morphed into a white mini dress with a V-line collar. Her shoes transformed into glittery lace ribbons, and delicate wings appeared around her ankles. Her hair braided itself and became adorned with sparkling butterfly ornaments.
"What's going on?" Aura mumbled. Mirror stared at her silently for what felt like an eternity before shrugging and replying,
"I got no idea."
Aura summoned the information screen and began reading as Mirror grumbled,
"How come she gets a cute transformation?"
"It says... Triple S players can gradually unlock some of their real-life powers in-game. The change in appearance does not affect visibility and reflects the soul of the player," Aura mumbled.
"Oh... so your soul is a fairy?" Mirror noted.
"... I suppose," Aura replied while tapping her chin. She then glanced down at her outfit.
"So what can you do?" Mirror asked, while peeking outside the cave.
"I'm not sure yet, but I can probably use healing magic or something."
A tiny light appeared in the cave next to them, and Flow's voice chimed from it,
"That transformation was so lovely! I want to try it too!"
Mirror smiled at the light and said,
"It's apparently reserved for Triple S variants only."
Flow took a few seconds to reply,
"...Does that mean Veil has a unique transformation too?! I'd pay to see that!"
Aura's eyes widened.
If the game reacted to Triple S variants, then Fenix should have a unique transformation, too.
Triple S rank Cursed were incredibly rare. Everyone else in the group ranges from B rank to first-tier S. Their bodies naturally contained far more energy than ordinary variants.
Perhaps that was what the game had detected.
"We need to move," Mirror began, "He'll be circling back to this location soon, and we can only win by either killing him or all his raptors."
"Okay, I'll follow you," Aura replied. Mirror stepped into the jungle, and Aura floated a few inches off the ground after her. Mirror glanced back and mumbled,
"Are you flying right now? Walk."
Aura looked troubled and whispered,
"I can't."
Mirror facepalmed herself and groaned. Then they heard a rustling sound and pounding footsteps heading their way.
"It's fine, just come this way," Mirror instructed. Aura trailed after her quietly until they came to a rope bridge.
Five of the raptors burst from the trees behind them, and Mirror shouted,
"Hurry!"
The sisters rushed across the bridge, and once all five raptors were on the bridge, Mirror began cutting the ropes with her dagger.
"Help me cut," she said, but Aura searched her inventory and realized she had no tools equipped.
"I can't," Aura muttered.
Mirror grumbled and sawed harder at the ropes.
The dinosaurs got close, and as Mirror screamed, Aura lifted her hand and demanded,
"Stop right there!"
Vines shot out from the wooden planks on the bridge and wrapped tightly around the raptors' legs. They struggled, but seconds later, Mirror had the ropes cut, and they went hurdling into the waters far below.
Both girls stood in astonishment.
"You're... a cheat code," Mirror commented and Aura's chest swelled with pride.
"That was so cool!" Flow noted. Mr.Maniac then appeared from the trees with the other five velociraptors close behind him and screamed,
"You killed Sampson, Kendrick, Joseph, Kenny, and Julius! You monsters! Those were my children!"
He looked devastated, with tears in his eyes.