[Athilea Majiri]

As though to drive Mazins point home, Calonia found herself unable to stifle a yawn, though she did her best to hide it from any passing players. Sleep, she definitely needed sleep. "We need to find a place that someone cannot just stumble on by happenstance if we are going to sleep."

She winced at the thought of gathering or hunting for the food. Not a one of them had nearly the strength that their characters did. At least not from what she had noticed. Casting spells was awkward at best, and she was not certain she could ever get Eyeless sight to work properly. "I think there are things that we should figure out before we venture into the wild."

[Shenandoah]

Michael had, by that point, guided them to an inn. He opened the door, knowing it looked only slightly odd as usually the player would reach out and touch it to swing it open.

Once open, he entered it and Mazin maneuvered himself behind Calonia to keep her going the right direction and bring up the rear. Michael looked at the barkeeper, the 'owner' of the inn, and considered the situation. He looked around and noticed only one other person in the room and that person happened to be leaving.

The door shut with a squeaking sound and Michael smiled. "Perfect. Let's go upstairs. We can hide here today, figure some of this out." The barkeeper did not move as Michael stepped over the cord that blocked the way to the upper floors. The upper floors could only be accessed by buying a room, but this was further proof they were outside the rules. Healing points were quicker to deal with. The inns weren't as commonly used after they added the healing points even though they were far cheaper. After all, the points took no time to leave. The inn put you out of commission for anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour. No one wanted to deal with that.

So that meant free reign of the upper floor. He went up the stairs, leaving Mazin to help Calonia maneuver her way around, to scope the upper floors. He chose a room facing the street and marveled at the fact that he could see through the panes of glass to the street below. Before, it was a static image painted on the wall and there were usually no people in it. Michael had to admit... this was fascinating.

Down below, Calonia's side was abandoned briefly in the search for food. Everything on the inn's shelves were suddenly real and Mazin grabbed a sack to stuff a decent amount in. A couple of loaves of bread (carefully placed on top), a large chunk of roasted meat from the fire, half a round of cheese, and a half dozen apples were accosted as were a couple of small kegs he had no idea actually contained ale. For good measure, he popped a few wooden cups into the bag as well. "Food!" he chirped cheerfully, not having stuck the meat in the sack but rather finding a large plate to carry some on. "Let's go upstairs now!"

Unfortunately, he realized upon lifting the bag, he was a touch overzealous with the food and that bag was heavy. Luckily, though, it wasn't too heavy and he was capable of balancing it and the plate of meat after a moment.

[Athilea Majiri]

She waited patiently while he gathered the items, curious what he was up to. One more thing for her not to like about their situation. The woman does not like how much she had to rely on others. She had always been so independent. As mush as she wanted to twitch and pace, though, she made herself remain very still.

"I will make certain not to make another blind character, that is for sure. Assuming I can ever play a game again after this." Her voice was not loud, but it carried to Marzin when he came near her. Without waiting she took a small step towards him and touched his arm gently to make certain she could remain close.

[Shenandoah]

"Yeah, really," he mused, keeping his load balanced. He escorted her up the stairs, glad that the individual steps were evenly spaced and easy to maneuver once the general height and depth were discovered. It was not the ideal situation for a blind person, but it was safer to be up and away from the common room.

Once they got to the landing on the second floor, Mazin saw Mike exit a room and gesture to them. "This one will work... unless Calonia wishes to have her own room for the sake of privacy." He looked at the bag and the plate of meat. "Hungry?" he asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Yeah. And with the way we are right now, I could pick all this stuff up I wouldn't have been able to touch before." Mazin dropped the sack with a dull thunk to the floor once they had gotten inside the room. "Not to mention, I got enough for all of us."

[Athilea Majiri]

She shook her head, "Normally, yes I would want my own room. I...don't think that I would do to well on my own though." Calonia shifted from one foot to another before she slowly felt her way around to room to get a feel where the furniture was. "I wonder if there is a way to lock the door. Just to ensure that players don't stumble in while we are asleep."

Only part of the conversation was being listened to as she concentrated on her task. Then she found a place to sit and plopped down in what was a surprisingly comfortable chair. "That is much better." She tilted her head back against the high back and visibly relaxed, "What food did you find?"

[Shenandoah]

Mazin settled his spoils onto the floor and put the plate of meat onto the table. "We have meat, bread, cheese, and apples... and whatever's in these little kegs."

"You do realize that is alcohol in those kegs, right?" asked the creator, looking at the small oaken barrels with amusement. "I have a feeling you two aren't quite legal yet, and I have a strong suspicion that stuff will make us drunk if we drink it. I've never been a heavyweight."

"It's alcohol," Mazin said, looking at one with interest. He'd never had alcohol before and wondered what variety it was.

"You aren't allowed to have ale, mead, beer, or wine... whatever it is in this barrel," Mike said, taking the keg from Mazin. The teenager looked depressed and Mike wondered why he had chosen such a pretty boy appearance. Most tried to be more physically impressive than they really were, but usually more muscles were involved (Mike himself as a classic case).

He turned to Calonia. "Considering players aren't actually escorted up here and given a room, and usually this is a special place to get to after completing certain things, we shouldn't have much trouble keeping people out. We can jam a chair under the door and keep people at bay."

[Athilea Majiri]

"That is quite a lot of food you brought, Mazin." Calonia smiled at him brightly. She was hungry, and really couldn't remember the last time she had eaten. "It's good that you did. We don't know how long we may be stuck in this inn room."

She frowned at the thought of drinking alcohol. She was a college student after all, she had experimented a bit and found that she did not like how beer or anything tastes. So she just didn't drink it. Of course, Mike took the choice away which was just as well.

"Of course, I should have thought of that." She raked her fingers through her hair and sighed. Then, when her stomach growled, she looked more then a little embarrassed, "Would...would one of you mind bringing something to me? I would rather not touch everyones food in an attempt to find something for myself."

[Shenandoah]

"Uh, sure," agreed Mazin, still a bit sulky that he didn't have the chance to taste the contents of the barrel. "But what are we going to do about drinks?"

"There should be a well around the corner," Mike said, trying to remember the layout of the town he had designed. He had added so much to his little world over time it was difficult trying to remember what his initial designed towns contained and how they were put together.

Mazin nodded and picked up some stuff for Calonia to eat. "Here you are," he said. "I didn't bring any other plates. If you want me to, I could get you one."

[Athilea Majiri]

She took the food from him and smiled greatfully, "Thank you, that is fine." She tried to determine what he had brought initially. One of the items felt like an apple, and the other some bread. She laid the bread in her lap before biting into the apple with a crunch.

After a few minutes she nodded, "I think that you are right, Mike. I do believe there is a well just behind the inn actually." She shifted on the bed slightly, getting more comfortable, "Where do you think we should go next, though? If other developers or administrators react to us as you did then...then we could end up..." Calonia shrugged. "I don't know what would have happened had you actually struck either of us."

Her shoulders sagged and she took another bite of the apple. Would it be possible for something that happened here to actually kill them? Her nose had been broken but did it have any physical effect or would death help them to escape the game?

[Shenandoah]

Mazin layered bread, cheese, and meat together into a dry sandwich before biting into it. Mike thought about it. "Hm... you may be right," he considered. "Did you look at maps before logging in? Or before all of this happened?"

He sighed as he grabbed an apple and bit into it. The administrator marveled at the taste before swallowing. "Well, I'd be considered an anomaly myself, now. Therein lies the problem. How do we get information to them? What do we do to get them to realize we're still very much conscious... just within the confines of this place." He waved his hand around the room, apple firmly held in place in his palm.

Mazin swallowed his bite with some difficulty. "Do you think you've been discovered?"

"I don't think it. I know it. People pass by my office every day and I was there when I logged in. I'm sure it'll be a huge deal all over the walls and PMs of this world." Mazin gave him an odd look. "I'm not over-exaggerating, Mazin," he said sternly. "The admins will talk. The pixelists will talk. It will spread outwards and everyone will talk. Some will make connections with your cases and then you'll have your own fames going. Right now, you could be considered safe because you don't look like yourselves in real life. I do."

Mazin arched a brow. "Bad idea making your character look like you, huh?"

"Most items are completely customizable, within reason. Base designs don't change but colors do. I designed my character to look exactly like me, save some minor alterations. I wanted mine to be individual. And now it's going to cost me."

[Athilea Majiri]

"But...wait. If they recognize you, wouldn't that be an asset to us? Rather then attacking what they believe are random hackers, they might actually assist you." She drew her eyebrows together, though they were half concealed by her blindfold.

She tilted her head and tapped her fingers against one knee as she took another bite from her apple. She looked to be deep in concentration as she tried to find a way through their problem. Given enough time Calonia probably could figure something out that could work. She did not know how much time they would have, though, in their state.

((Bleh, I dunno how much sense this posts makes. Sorry. Kinda on the sleepy side.))

[Shenandoah]

((Sorry it's taken me so long to reply. I've been exhausted for the last few days.))

Mike considered it as he continued to eat his apple. "True. And I could use my actual name rather than just my screen name." He smiled at Calonia, despite the fact he knew she could not see it. "If we can convince them that we are actually aware within the game... well, that would mean we would have the chance to get out." 'It would also be bad for business,' he thought. 'If it became apparent that people could become stuck inside my game, my business would immediately plummet.' Despite his willingness and eagerness to leave his own manufactured world, Mike still thought like a businessman in the respect that he didn't want his financial world to implode. Hopefully, he could get himself and these two out... without losing everything.

((Crap post.))

[Athilea Majiri]

"It's still a risk, I know. It's one that may have to be taken, though. Unless you have another idea of course." She took another bite out of her apple and wondered vaguely what Mazin really looked like, or Mike for that matter. She could not remember seeing him the the game before.

She sighed inwardly, the thoughts were only idle distractions to keep her mind from their dilemma. How were they suppose to leave the game? Even if they could convince another moderator that they were aware, and not some sort of bug in the game, how would they get out?

[Shenandoah]

((Sorry it took so long!!! I was kinda tapped on ideas for a bit.))

"Not really," Mike said in response. "Do you have one, Mazin?"

"No, I don't. I mean, the last idea I had almost got Calonia and me sliced up." Mazin gave Mike a meaningful look even though Mike knew exactly who Mazin was 'alluding' to. The older man ignored the shot and nodded in a decisive manner.

"We'll try to contact another admin once we get rested up," he said with a tone of finality. "Perhaps one of the other administrators can help us get out of this mess... or at least diagnose the problem."

[Athilea Majiri]

She finished off her apple and started tearing bits of the bread off to eat. "I suppose that is all we can do. So, do we sleep in shifts? Or do we all sleep at the same time and hope for the best?"

Calonia popped a piece of bread into her mouth and chewed on it. She wasn't certain she could eat all of the food Mazin had brought her, but she would eat what she thought she could.

((It's okay. ^^))

[Shenandoah]

"I don't think we have to worry about shifts," Mike said thoughtfully.

"Why not?" It seemed Mazin only wanted to be argumentative at the moment and he personally didn't understand why. Usually, he was fairly laid back, but it was becoming fairly obvious that this was his way of dealing with the stress of the situation. Going and questioning everything that was happening wasn't like him.

Mike gave the younger man a slightly exasperated look. "Because it isn't a place where people commonly come due to the fact the access is limited. I thought I already explained this?" Mazin had the decency to blush and Mike quietly wondered at the ability. Avatars weren't supposed to be able to do that. At least, not without specific special item equips and then the blush was a permanent fixture.

All this shit really made his head hurt.

"Go to sleep, kids. I can at least stay up for a while as I was out for a long time earlier," he said to Calonia and Mazin. "It'd be better if you two got well rested anyway and I catch up after you guys felt better."