Data Dragon Danika 192 A Squirrel's Blessing

They discussed the various extras that were available for their new guild to purchase until SilentSky arrived with Edwardian in tow. While none of them cost zero Karma (and the purchases could be contributed to by anyone within the guild) they all seemed suspiciously inexpensive, which made Danika wonder if the rumor Aishin had heard about the costs being divided by the Guild Leader's reincarnation number had a seed of truth to it.

Edwardian moved around on his own in a much more coordinated fashion than he had on his first day in the game. He also had a headset now, and Danika thought that he seemed almost like a completely different person than her first impression. He talked and laughed with his band mates, and greeted everyone charismatically, seeming much more like the boy in the interview that she'd watched once than the silent awkward character they'd seen before. Shrubbery was delighted, and although she didn't speak up very often, her hair blossomed and twined around her shoulders in response to her mood.

MatchlessMinion finally revealed what he'd gone out to acquire. Danika hadn't even realized that temporary tattoo stickers were also available in the game. She wondered how much Karma the tattoo spelled papers had cost. Each one contained the words Endless Song in a brushwork font, and each in a different metallic color. She was pleased to see that the fur application modifications she'd made carried over to the temporary versions as well.

The one MatchlessMinion kept for himself was in a blue, that went well with his fur. The two tiny versions that had obviously been gotten for ZipZing and Eyes on the Sky were in a bright pink and a deep green. Danika breathed a sigh of relief when Eyes on the Sky s.n.a.t.c.hed up the pink one.

When Kit's hour was up, she offered to stay on longer, but Danika told her worriedly, "I don't want to say that you shouldn't, but please don't strain yourself? If you think an hour a day is what's best for now, that's fine."

Shrubbery added, "If you can let us know in advance when you can play, we can try to meet up with you." She turned to ZipZing and advised, "Our first purchase should be the message board, where we can write where all our members can read from our menus at any time. The text stays there too, unless you delete it, so it's perfect for setting up group play times."

Aishin agreed, "Yeah, I didn't realize that was something we had to buy, I used it all the time in my old guild."

"No you didn't," SilentSky spoke up suddenly. "You hardly ever posted." The bright blue haired a.s.sa.s.sin had stayed in Aishin's old guild, Blood Hunters.

"I read the messages almost every time I logged in," Aishin protested. "It was very useful."

Danika laughed and selected the message board and hit purchase. The Karma bar of the purchase meter filled instantly, and the top (and only) contributor was Eyes on the Sky. Everyone turned to stare at the little flying squirrel who effectively had unlimited Karma.

"Oh, that is such a cheat!" Danika exclaimed.

"Buy everything?" Eyes on the Sky suggested smugly.

"I… think we'd better verify that that isn't a bug first," Danika replied a little weakly.

Kit laughed and said, "I love you guys. Ok, I can either play about the same time again when I get off work, it's like 1am now, or in about 9 hours, before work."

Danika turned to look at the dark haired druid that she'd taken for a teenage girl until she'd finally revealed that she was in her mid thirties, and replied, "Most days I can play around 9 hours from now."

"Us too, since at this time of day we'll usually still be at school," MatchlessMinion gestured to himself and Shrubbery.

"We can play about this time more often, but not consistently, and there are plenty of days when evenings are better," Nao1 announced, indicating the members of Underneath.

"I'll try for mornings my time then," Kit agreed happily. "See you tomorrow, or later tonight?"

"Yeah," Danika agreed laughingly, and Kit logged off.

Danika submitted the bug report inquiry, which she'd somehow forgotten was being routed to Lin Hao. When he appeared only a few minutes later, she gazed at him with surprise.

"Nice guild name," Lin Hao said approvingly.

A faint rectangle of light surrounded the two of them, and Danika noticed that when she moved an after-image was left behind, with a flag over its head that read: "Celestial Contact". She had learned to put players into the imprisoned contact mode that left a statue of the character as a placeholder until it was dismissed, of course, but she wasn't certain why Lin Hao was using it on her.

"You don't want anyone to see you?" she questioned.

Lin Hao ran a hand through his hair in his habitual fashion, but in 'Living Jade Empire' his hair settled neatly back into place. He glanced at Eyes on the Sky and almost mumbled, "I'm not good at dealing with people who are dying." In a more normal tone he told her, "It's not a bug. But only wish characters who are founding members or who have belonged to a guild for more than three months can contribute. On the third contribution it will warn her that she can only contribute once a week after that."

"Oh," Danika replied thoughtfully. "That could still be a pretty incredible amount?" In a way it was a shame that Eyes on the Sky had used up a chance on one of the least expensive upgrades.

"It really doesn't come up very often," Lin Hao said quietly. "But it's a way for them to leave a legacy."

Danika nodded, and both of them gazed at Eyes on the Sky for a moment. "Anything else?" Lin Hao asked uncomfortably.

Danika shook her head, but said, "Devon told me about the overlay quest design and sounded like it would be implemented this week?"

"Tomorrow maybe? Or the day after," Lin Hao replied more cheerfully.

"I was thinking," Danika began, and Lin Hao started laughing. She stopped and frowned at him.

"Can't you wait until we completely redesign the underlying structure of the world for you Design Integration idealists before adding more to my to do list?" he questioned with amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Well, you said it would tie into reincarnation," Danika protested with embarra.s.sment.

He rolled his eyes and instructed, "So, go on, tell me your thought."

"I was thinking that players should keep their uh, patterns too, when they reincarnate. Like, in all the novels about it, the person who was reborn learns what they used to know a lot faster, or sometimes just keeps some skills? And it would make reincarnation more beneficial, so more people would be more interested in it," Danika explained.

"Very true, and it would tie in neatly. I'm going to add you to the meeting with Devon tomorrow," Lin Hao announced.

Danika suddenly realized that this was the day they'd all had off last week and asked, "Why are you even working right now? Shouldn't you have the day off too?"

He shrugged and replied, "I'll probably take a day when we're done with the NPC rewrite." He shot her a look and added with a grin, "Or general character rewrite."

Danika winced. She felt guilty about adding even more to his workload, but he just winked and vanished as he dismissed the imprisonment and she was teleported back to her starting position.

"Was it a bug? Were we penalized?" Aishin questioned as ZipZing moved again and the flag over her head vanished.

She glanced at Eyes on the Sky and shook her head. "It's not a bug, but there are limitations," she replied. She explained what Lin Hao had told her, and then they began discussing their options.