Exploring the Gateway

John woke up groggily, his vision blurred and his body refusing to move. Despite that, some part of him told him it was time to wake up. As his mind sharpened, that part disappeared. When he sat up to clear his head, he noticed a wardrobe in the corner of the room that he was not sure was there before. It was made out of a large set of doors opening into a wide space at the top, and a few sets of drawers at the bottom. He found a variety of fancy clothing inside. Two suits, one seemingly ceremonial with a blue color and a strange emblem on it, and the other black and quite a bit more practical. Each was on a hanger, and at the bottom of the same space he noticed a few blue blazers stacked on top of each other. Black dress pants were placed right next to the blazers. Additionally, he found a few pins with the same emblem in one of the drawers. 

He was still wearing the same casual clothes he had the previous day, but he changed for the spare clothes he had brought from home. The other clothes he had brought in his inventory were neatly tucked into the wardrobe. Even with the fancy clothes he found in the wardrobe, he preferred the comfort and simplicity of his own. So he quickly washed his face, brushed his teeth, and went to the bathroom before exiting the room.

As he left the room, he saw the others were as well. By the signs in front of each room he could tell all five of them were placed in the same corridor. Matthew and Bass already stood outside, while the others trickled in during the next few minutes. John was still confused about how he had woken up exactly, but that was a matter for another time. So instead of pondering he went to greet Bass.

“Morning,” he said simply. After taking a good look at his face for a few seconds, the pink haired sound mage responded.

“Morning to you too,” she smiled, “guess you ain’t used to the wake up call yet? You look like you’re all over the place.”

“Is that what it was? Was almost like-”

“Yes, it’s one of the enchantments placed on our rooms,” Matthew suddenly cut the Gamer off. He was standing close by, near his own room’s door. John noticed he was wearing a different suit today, a blue and purple one more similar in colors and design to the ones placed in his room. 

“Wow, you should be grateful John, the royalty’s talking to you,” Bass leaned towards John, her voice loud enough to carry and her tone mocking. The cryomancer didn’t seem amused.

“I am not above recognizing the efforts of those below me,” he stared at John with a sullen expression on his face, “you have earned my respect, for now.”

“Anyways...” John sounded as awkward as he felt, “what’s our first class today?”

“We have espionage with the boss’ little secretary. I’m guessing you know her. Since she’s the one who brought you in the first time we saw you, right?”

John was surprised, “you mean Ember?”

“Yeah,” she looked around, seeing that both Charlotte and Yan had now joined them in the corridor, “we should probably get going. Looks like everyone’s ready.” 

Not much later, they all started heading towards the same classroom they had been in the previous day. As they walked, John chatted with Bass. He wanted to know more about the Abyss, and she was as good a source as any other, and a friendly one at that. It all reminded him of Orianna for some reason.

’I really should have asked Ember where I could find her…’ he felt more worried than he knew was possible for someone he knew for such a small amount of time. 

“So, since you know Melody, my guess is you’re from Springfield as well?” Bass broke the silence once they left the corridor of their rooms

“Yeah. Lived there my whole life,” John quickly answered, glad for the distraction.

“And how’d you meet her? My cousin looks kinda bland unless you’re Abyssal or you know her through family or something.”

John was at a standstill, on one hand, he couldn’t really explain how he had known about Melody without further clarifying his abilities. Then again, Bass seemed like someone he could trust. Maybe even the only one there. Unlike the others in his class she wasn’t wary of him or hiding something, at least not as far as he knew.

“Well… I’ll tell you the truth. After all, I should be honest with you, since you have been with me so far. I don’t actually know her personally-” he tried to keep his tone as soft as genuine as possible, but he knew a bad response was coming.

“Wait, so you fucking LIED to me?” she sounded pissed, though there was almost a lack of surprise in her voice. As if Bass had seen this one too many times.

“Give me a second to explain, please,” John pleaded, scared he just lost whatever trust he got yesterday. 

“Fine, but do it quick,” once she finished speaking she stopped suddenly and started tapping her foot, letting the others pass them as she waited for an answer. 

“A while back, I could see the names and levels above people’s heads. It was some sort of tutorial feature. When I was at Ashcroft, I noticed Melody had that nickname and a pretty high level. I thought it was a bit weird so I used one of my abilities that allows me to see more information on people. Think it’s similar to scrying,” preempting her reasonable question, he continued steadily, “you would’ve known if I used it on you, I’m pretty sure. Since all four Abyssals I’ve used it on knew when I did. That’s how I know she was Abyssal, and when I heard your name I just asked that by instinct,” he paused for a moment, “I’m sorry for lying to you, but I didn’t know what to say afterwards,” he stopped, looking at her with the most honest look he could muster. There wasn’t much else he could do besides hope. 

“I get it,” she responded with a shrug, her tone had returned to her energetic normal version, and she began walking again. He followed her soon after. 

“So, now that I told you that, I want to ask. You said you’re from Springfield as well?”

“Yeah, lived there since I can remember. My parents sent me there to stay with Melody. I liked it, so they let me stay. Don’t live with them anymore, haven’t for a few years, but I still visit sometimes. Melody and her dad, they’re like family to me,” Despite the almost harsh words, her voice was just as cheery as usual. When she continued, she whispered under her breath, “more than my real one, anyway,” returning to speaking out loud, she shrugged again, “but none of that matters anymore. Now I’m here, I found what I always wanted to do.”

“Is that why you’re here, exploring is what you always wanted to do?” John was curious, something about her story made him feel a connection to her. 

“Yeah, sorta. I just want to get away from the Abyss. And not only is exploring the best way to do that, but I can be my own person out there,” she answered with a smile.

“I can understand that, I think I’m the same way. I guess perhaps we’re all looking to be our own people, for our own purposes.”

“How should I know, I don’t know everyone here that well,” she half chuckled, although she was clearly serious. 

John looked around just in time to see the classroom was right next to them. The others had already entered, and the two of them quickly did the same, finding Ember waiting inside. She was wearing what seemed like a more traditional military uniform, at least if it was the 18th century. A buttoned up jacket of sorts dominated the outfit. It was navy blue in color, and had various insignia and emblems placed on the right side of her chest. Her pants were much less fancy, just a simple pair of a similar color. John’s attention was drawn back to her face as both he and Bass sat down.

“Now that everyone’s here, let’s begin. Today, we’ll be starting our studies into espionage with a practical training exercise. As you all know, an important skill for any explorer to have is the ability to act as a spy as well. Occasionally, you will be placed in unknown situations and be required to get obscure information to deliver back to us or to get a better sense of the circumstances on the ground. Such skills will help you get that information.

“You will all be placed in a part of this base that has been notified of your arrival and tasked with stealing certain documents as a team. Remember to stay quiet and avoid detection. The defenses will be heavy and your safety is not guaranteed if fighting starts. The location of the documents inside the designated area is yours to find. Follow me and good luck,” Ember, like her tone sounded as cold as ever.

Trying to grab her attention and talk about whatever was bothering her yesterday, John stood up and said something, but she completely ignored him as she began walking out of the class. She headed through various corridors as her students quickly followed behind, advancing quietly through the wooden hallways and into industrial ones. Around them lights started going dark soon after, and John felt his mind slipping.

His eyes opened in a split second. John’s instincts screamed that he was in danger and that he needed to act now. When he jumped up to look around, he found a dark, mostly empty room and heard someone quieting him down. There was something about the situation, like his head wasn’t quite adjusted yet. It felt like the world was spinning, despite him barely seeing it. 

“Hush! We don’t want them to hear us!” the voice of Matthew stated, angrily. John could barely see him with how dark the room was, but it was clearly the ice mage. 

“Where are we? And where are the others,” John whispered, curious and somewhat concerned. 

“How should I know? You’re the boss, aren’t you?” the cryomancer was not exactly helpful.

“I’m guessing we are wherever the documents are then?”

“I suppose so. I wouldn’t say that’s exactly certain, but that is our best bet. It’s also likely that the others are close by,” the black haired man responded, being uncharacteristically nice.

John grasped in the darkness, attempting to find any sign of a door or something else of use. His first instinct was to summon Orb of Light but he couldn’t keep his focus up long enough for that. It felt almost like he was seeing double, while he couldn’t quite see at all. Strangely, Matthew started grasping around as well. 

The walls were made of the same kind of metal as the industrial ones, but there was nothing on them. Nothing he could find, at least. It took him a long while before he found anything at all, and when he finally did it was just a small groove in the wall. As he reached to touch inside it, he suddenly heard a loud crashing sound, and a grunt of pain a second later.

“Fuck!” the ice mage shouted out from somewhere to the right and below John, “I can’t see anything in here!”

'Guess even he’s human. I should probably go help him…’ John thought, almost disgruntled at his classmate. 

The Gamer quickly grasped in his direction, trying to find him. Realizing Matthew wasn’t standing, he also crouched, and went along the ground. It didn’t take long before he found him, grabbing his hand. Once he helped Matthew back up, the cryomancer started talking again.

“Something quite large is here. It’s why I fell.”

Soon enough they found what it was. A massive desk of some sort. On it John felt a cord that led to something a bit unexpected, a desk lamp.

“I think I felt a lamp here, maybe if we can find some way to turn it on we can get out of here,” John said to the ice mage.

Matthew grunted in annoyance, but helped look anyways. A minute or so later, a button was found and pressed, and light burst into the room. It was a small lamp, but that’s all they needed. With the light John felt his focus coming back as well. 

When they looked around, they found they were in an office. A pretty standard one, though no computers were anywhere to be seen. The door was on the other side of the room, separated from the rest by a small wall. Despite checking the desk and all the floors, neither of them could find any documents, so John was sure it wasn’t their destination.

“We should be careful from now on, so stay behind me and be quiet, please,” John wasn’t in the mood to play games. Reluctantly, Matthew agreed and walked slowly behind him as they headed for the door. Unfortunately, it was locked,  “shit,” was the last thing John said before the door was opened. From beyond it appeared the three other members of their rag-tag team.

“Yo, good to see you two are still alive,” Yan was the first one to walk in, the others trailed behind.

Charlotte was back to her usual self, as she went to stand in the far corner of the room. Yan seemed to be waiting for something, and after a few looks between the three, Bass addressed John and Matthew.

“So, I’m guessing you don’t know what’s happening, given the shouting we heard earlier!” she laughed a bit, “luckily no one heard you, we think. Anyways, pretty sure they split us up on purpose, since all three of us woke up twenty minutes ago or so in a room down the corridor ago. The door wasn’t locked so we managed to get out of our room and get here after we heard you shout. We also managed to do some scouting before then!” she sounded quite proud, and Yan showed the two a small map with the corridors surrounding them on it. 

“The doors around us are blocked, so my guess is they’ll open up once we have the documents. We did spot a couple guard patrols but most of the rooms are empty, so we should be able to hide in there,” Bass continued explaining, looking at John the entire time. Once he noticed she was done, he spoke up. 

“Then we’re going to have to get those documents, aren’t we.”