The night seemed to have been colder than it should have been, but they had their sleeping bags, so they were all nice and warm. Morning arrived, and Bobby, always the first to rise, went outside before returning to wake Josh.

  “Josh, something’s wrong. I’m not sure what, but something’s off.” His voice held a tinge of worry.

  What was he talking about? “Go back to bed, Bobby. It’s too early for this,” Josh mumbled, not yet ready to get up.

  But it wouldn’t wait. Bobby shook him again. “No, Josh, this can’t wait.” He then woke Manuel, followed by the others.

  Bobby waited outside for the group to assemble. Still half asleep, they didn’t pay much attention to their surroundings. Although it was a forest, it was unlike the one they had fallen asleep in. Bobby had noticed the difference immediately, but he wasn’t sure what it signified.

  Josh, ever the leader, looked around for a moment, then back at Bobby. “Okay, so something is definitely different. These trees and some of these bushes weren’t here last night.” But it wasn’t just the landscape; the weather also felt different—still summery, but not the summer they had left behind.

  “Before we start exploring, let’s clean up and change.” They had each brought a bag of clothes to change into after swimming.

  Once they had cleaned up and changed, they regrouped. “Everyone ready?” They all nodded. Erin led the way in the direction of his house. After about five minutes of walking, they still hadn’t reached it. It made no sense; his house was no more than a two-minute walk from their campsite.

  Erin stopped and turned to his friends. “We should have arrived already. Maybe we got turned around somehow. Let’s head back to our things and try again.” So, they turned and returned to their campsite.

  As they cleared the trees next to their campsite, they noticed something strange. Beside one of their tents was a floating metallic orb, above which a holographic word, “Welcome,” was projected. They approached it cautiously, puzzled by its presence.

  They exchanged glances, then looked at the floating orb. Pepe looked at Manuel. “?Qué es esa cosa?” he asked. Manuel shook his head, equally clueless.

  The orb began to beep, then spoke. “Translating… what is this thing?” It beeped again. “This thing is Registration Node 1A25, but you can call me Regi.” It chuckled. “Please form a line and register.”

  Get in line to register for what? Perhaps it knew where they were and how they could return home. Josh stepped forward, addressing Regi directly. “Regi,” he said, “where are we?”

  The node beeped again, processing the request. “Apologies,” it said, “unable to comply. Registration has not taken place.”

  “So, we have to register before you can answer any questions?” Manuel asked, shrugging and nodding to his friends before getting in line behind Josh. The rest followed suit.

  Beep, beep, beep. “Sí, mi amigo. Have to register first.” The way it spoke was rather amusing.

  “Fine, then let me register,” Josh said, ready for whatever the node was going to do.

  Bloop, beep, screech. “Place both hands on the registration node, as indicated by the flashing lights.” Small blinking lights on either side of the node indicated where Josh should place his hands, and he complied.

  Beep, beep, bloop. “State name for the records.”

  “Josh Casters.”

  “Josh Casters, welcome. Scanning to optimize recommendations.” Lights flashed on either side of Regi, and Josh felt a pinprick on his right hand, as if a small bug had bitten him. “Please step aside so your companions may register.”

  And so they did, each stating their name.

  “Manuel Lopez.”

  “Registered.” A pinprick followed on his right hand.

  “Erin Duvoi.”

  “Pepe Garcia.”

  “Bobby Smyth.”

  Bleep, blop, screech. “Registering party of five. We will now move on to party roles.”

  “Wait, what? What do you mean, ‘party roles’?” This was starting to sound like some kind of video game.

  “Yes, party roles—as in Defense, Offense, Support. You know, like in video games.” Had this thing just read Josh’s mind? They all likely thought the same thing. “Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, please hold any questions until the end of this presentation.”

  And so Regi began his explanation, and just like that, they were in some kind of game—but it felt so real. How had they gotten here? Why were they here? And what did they have to do to go home?

  “The Warrior class is your standard meat shield.” Ah, yes, the good old tank class.

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  “Un guerrero—sweet! I am so down with that!” That was Manuel; for some reason, he liked playing that role in all his games.

  “The Healer—it’s in the name; if I have to explain it, you all aren’t going to make it.” Regi seemed excited to be explaining this; its tone suggested it didn’t often get the chance.

  Both Erin and Bobby looked interested in that role.

  “We also have your standard Damage Dealers. For those of you who like to get up close and personal, we have the Thief. And if you prefer long-range combat, we have the ever-popular Ranger.” Regi paused for a few seconds, as if letting it sink in and preparing for a sales pitch. “And of course, we have the magic pew-pew types as well—we can’t forget them: the magically wild Wizard. Oooooh.”

  They waited for Regi to continue, but it said nothing more about the classes.

  The friends moved to the side to discuss their options.

  Manuel, having already declared his desire to be a Warrior, spoke up. “Amigos, I’m the Tank. You know I’m always the tank. Go, meat shield!”

  Pepe chose the Thief.

  Erin decided on the Ranger.

  Josh opted for the Wizard.

  The Healer role fell to Bobby.

  And so, they registered for their chosen classes, one by one.

  “Excellent choices! Role registration is now complete. Welcome to Reladur. We hope your stay here is pleasant and that you will visit us again. Now, for the FAQs.” A screen materialized before their eyes.

  “Try not to die, if at all possible. There are some rather nasty effects if you manage to get yourselves killed—effects that last a while. Also, avoid getting the world’s inhabitants killed; unlike you, they will experience true death. Any other questions?”

  “So, what do we do now?” Although Bobby asked the question, the others had been thinking the same thing.

  “That’s an easy one: you go to the Starter Town, of course. Where else would you start? I’ll add that to the FAQ. Please bring up your [GUI] and let’s see what we have.” The screen changed, displaying information about them.

  “You can see your base stats here.” Each of their names was highlighted one by one. “Now that you are registered for these roles, you will need to seek a mentor to teach you more. I will provide you with a map so you know where you’re going.” The map appeared out of thin air and floated in front of Erin, who grabbed and unrolled it.

  The map depicted a small area surrounding their campsite and the direction they had taken in search of Erin’s house. To the south was what could only be described as a town—just as Regi had said—labeled “Starter Town.” The map lacked detail; only the area they had explored was shown.

  “Again, welcome, and have a great time. This is Registration Node 1A25 signing off.” There was a flash…

  “Wait!” Regi was gone. Whatever Erin had intended to ask would have to wait.

  At least they had a direction and a purpose. They needed to reach Starter Town and figure out the mechanics of the roles they had chosen. But was “play” the right word? While this all resembled a video game, it was anything but. The prospect of getting hurt was unsettling, and what about the “nasty effects” Regi had mentioned? He hadn’t elaborated, and none of them looked forward to finding out.

  Each of them was alerted by a beep that made them jump; they hadn’t been expecting it. “?Qué es eso?” Manuel asked, looking around for the source. The beep sounded again and again.

  Bobby figured out how to access the GUI. “GUI?” he questioned.

  “Um, yes, he is.” They all heard the Help Node, even though they hadn’t accessed their GUIs.

  “Oh, good, he is… Well, let’s just say I can’t believe we’re related.” A hint of frustration laced the Node’s voice, a young woman’s voice, in contrast to Regi’s, which had sounded like that of an older teenage boy. “But where are my manners? I am HelpNodeX223. It’s nice to meet you all. I will be here for the duration of your stay. Regi should have introduced us before he left—he always has to be in the spotlight.” The frustration was evident again.

  “Oh, it’s nice to meet you, HelpNodeX223. Can we call you something else? Your name is a mouthful,” Josh asked. The others nodded in agreement.

  “Le podemos llamar María,” Manuel suggested. He had a crush on a girl in class named Mary and often referred to her as María.

  Bleep, screech, blop. “Registering new name. Request complete. You may refer to me as Maria from now on.”

  Bobby took the lead. “Maria, what’s the safest way to Starter Town?”

  Bleep, bleep. “Map updated. While I can only provide limited information, I have provided the safest route. I will be learning alongside you as we progress on this journey. I am your keeper of knowledge. However, like Regi, I unfortunately don’t have many answers.”

  Erin examined the map again. Although it lacked detail, dashed lines had appeared, guiding them to Starter Town. “Thank you, Maria,” he said.

  “You’re most welcome. I’m glad you have good manners. My sibling node wasn’t so lucky.” That was interesting; perhaps other groups were here as well.

  “Time to go, muchachos.”

  They broke camp, packed their belongings, and began their trek to Starter Town. The group wasn’t sure what any of this was about, but what else could they do? They would play along and reach Starter Town.