June 29th
The Town of Grounder
Shade Tower, Council Meeting Quarters
"She's late, Soren," Masa growled, leaning back in his chair at the council meeting table. The chatter going on around them was unignorable and Masa rubbed at his temples as if he was dealing with a headache. "Did she come to get a new mission? Is she gone again? She isn't answering her messages and it's way past time for her to be getting here."
"No, Guildmaster Masa. She hasn't gone out on any mission for the Shade Guild or any of those in the alliance, and there has been no notifications coming in regarding her name. She was tired when I last saw her, so maybe she just overslept." Soren looked less than certain, standing a foot or two behind Masa, but Masa didn't notice, opening his messages and scanning through them again, skipping over the ones from merchant guilds in town and staring the ones regarding diplomatic relations and mission notices.
"Where is she," Benji hissed from his position in his chair on Masa's left side. Masa didn't respond in favor of sending another message to his sister. "I asked where she was! You didn't tell me where she lives, other than it not being in Shade Tower. I respected that, but I was promised to be able to at least see her at this meeting! What is going on?"
"There was no such promise made, Guildmaster Benjamin. Now, if you wait a few more moments, I'm sure she'll show up," Joey said, leaning back in his own seat to Masa's right. His sister stood between Masa and Joey, nodding with a look to the angry guildmaster. She worried her lip. "Taro promised she would be here. It's her meeting. I promise she'll show up soon."
Just as Joey finished, the door to the meeting room swung open. At first, there was no one in sight, save for a system generated companion. Masa whispered "Kotaro" under his breath and exited out of his menu, standing and brushing off his uniform. His sister appeared next to her German shepherd not long after, patting him on the head before straightening out her own coat. Masa frowned at how pale she looked, and Soren rushed to her side, taking the swords and quiver of arrows from her before allowing Taro to keep her bow after arguing about it for a while.
"I am very sorry that I'm so late, guys! I overslept and... You know what? It's not important." She rushed over to take the chair that Joey had saved for her. "Welcome to Shade Tower, guildmasters of the alliance! It's good to see you all!"
"Are you okay, Taro? You're acting weird," Karla asked quietly. Taro nodded and replaced the stupid grin on her face with one of sincerity. She became deadly serious.
"Masa, if you would." It was silent for a moment, tense as the guildmaster gazed at his sister, but he sighed and resigned himself to his duties.
"Welcome to Shade Tower in the town of Grounder, home of the Shade Guild, head guild and founder of the alliance. My name is Masa Kagemune, guildmaster of the Shade Guild and supervisor of the alliance's MG missions on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows. I would like to begin this meeting, called by Shade Guild founder and solo player representative, my sister, Taro Kagemune, with guild introductions and then we will continue with the proceedings." The hall became silent as they stared at the hosting guild's master before he turned his eyes to Benji, who stood up from his seat.
"Attending representatives from the Sun Guild. My name is Benjamin, guildmaster and founder of the Sun Guild in the town of Montoya. I am here as the second member of the alliance of 8 guilds and supervisor of the monster brigade on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows." Benjamin nodded to Masa before sitting down as another guildmaster stood.
"Attending representatives of the Black Coat Guild. My name is Kyle, guildmaster and founder of the Black Coat Guild in the town of Rockwell. I am here as third member of the 8 guild alliance and supervisor of the front lines on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows."
"Attending representatives of the Raven Guild. My name is Annabeth, co-guildmaster and founder of the Raven Guild in the city of Embers. I am here as one of the two fourth members of the 8 guild alliance and am the second general supervising the public safety committees on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows."
"Attending representatives of the Raven Guild. My name is Noah, co-guildmaster and founder of the Raven guild in the city of Embers. I am here as one of the two fourth members of the 8 guild alliance and am the first general supervising the public safety committees on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows."
"Attending representatives of the Felix Guild. My name is Cross, guildmaster and founder of the Felix Guild in the town of Terras. I am here as the fifth member of the 8 guild alliance and am the supervising officer of the quest control committees on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows."
"Attending representatives of the Autumn Guild. My name is Lancer, guildmaster and founder of the Autumn Guild in the town of Constellation. I am here as sixth member of the 8 guild alliance and am the supervisor of the Medical Corp on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows."
"Attending representative of the Nightingale Guild. My name is Frost, guildmaster and founder of the Nightingale Guild in the city of Kale. I am here as the seventh member of the 8 guild alliance and am the supervisor of the Forgers Corp on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows."
"Attending representative of the Blade Guild. My name is Caden, guildmaster and founder of the Blade Guild in the city of Aero. I am here as the eighth and final member of the 8 guild alliance and am the supervising officer of the Civilians' Emotional Health Corp on the U.S. server of Land of Shadows.
"I am Taro Kagemune, representative of Land of Shadows solo players on the U.S. server and the player who called this meeting of the 8 guild alliance on the U.S. server. Welcome to Shade Tower," Taro said from her seat, looking around at the other guild masters, all handpicked by Taro herself. She smiled and rubbed her fist over her cheeks to color them.
"Taro, are you okay," Masa whispered to his sister. She nodded with a bright smile which only furthered her brother's concern, but he made no move to question her again as it would be futile. "Okay then," he whispered to himself before looking up again. "Well then, with that out of the way, I will hand over the stage to Taro and we will begin this meeting."
"What is this all about," asked Caden, the black-haired guildmaster of the Blade Guild. "It's not that I'm not glad to see you, Taro. I mean, you are the reason my guild exists, but I have a ton of important matters that I actually know about. This was a vague invitation. I didn't even really know that it would be you, but I took a chance. If this is just some stupid-"
"I've found a way to contact the outside world." Taro's voice rang clear, her previously bright tone gone and replaced by her signature serious mask. The room went dead still. It was questionable if anyone was even breathing as her voice resonated through the hall. Caden, who had risen during his little speech stood stock still, eyes wide and mouth agape.
"You what," Masa asked loudly, the silence shattering. He turned to look at his sister who still sat in her chair. He sprang up and turned, grabbing her shoulders and gripping firmly. "Taro! You what?"
"She said she contacted the outside world. She was able to break through," Soren said from his position behind his guildmaster. He said it nonchalantly, as if it was obvious, paying no mind to the other representatives, those visiting guild masters and their party of representatives standing behind them.
"Impossible," Caden shouted, breaking through the shadow of shock. "We've been stuck here for how long? We would have figured it out before now! And it would have been one of the programmers in the Syntax Sub Guild! Not some solo playing woman with a tendency to play hero one moment, villain the next, and then finish off by abandoning everyone who relied on her!"
"That's enough, Caden!" Taro stood from her seat, eyes blazing. "And you had asked why you were the last man I approached about starting a guild. You have such little faith in others, and such a bleak outlook on life! I did it for you, you idiot! I did it for all of you!"
"Taro," Soren growled as Taro fell back into her chair, a hand raising to her chest as pain flashed through her eyes, not that anyone was paying enough attention to catch it, not even Masa. "Watch it!"
"I set up a video link to Towa VRGames and the Coraline Institute for VR Victims where all U.S. players are being monitored, including me. The link was stable enough for me to give them updates and develope new system updates that include text messages to be sent to family, other gamers on all servers, Towa, and doctors and nurses at all of the VR victim institutes for updates and information on health matters." Taro stayed completely serious, unflinching in the face of the whispers that erupted in the room.
"Taro," Masa called, "Did you contact Makoto?"
"He said he would save you a little sukiyaki for when we got back and said to make sure that the medical bills don't postpone our visit to the rest of the family."
"Oh my god," Masa said, falling into his chair. "Oh my god! You really did..."
"Taro?" The whispers continued to ring throughout the hall, nobody looked at Taro, not even her brother. Soren rushed over to her, noting the way she had begun shaking. He knelt down beside her. "Taro, what's wrong?"
"Soren, get me out of here and try to get through to Coraline. Something's wrong." Without another word, Taro fell out of her chair onto the ground, her avatar flickering.
"Taro!"
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