We're all in this virtual space together.
Vasistha

Your footsteps awaken the sorceress and she jolts up, immediatelywondering how she appeared here and confirming your suspicions about theothers’ amnesia. It relieves you to know that they weren’t lying. The man withthe shield has not changed his grim face, and the swordswoman regards the otherwith compassion, extending a hand to help the sorceress up. You replace it strangeto see such a soft look adorn the harsh woman’s features. When she is on herfeet a doorway opens in front of you, and you nod to the rest of your party tofollow. You wonder if a pattern is beginning to emerge.

The next area is not like the others, with a dark hallway awaitingyou. You feel like you have been walking for eternity, and only the louddroning of humming code and your solitary footsteps greet your ears. You beginto lose sight of your party, glancing around nervously. You are sure theyfollowed you but can’t be positive. Why would they not follow? You do not wantto lose them. You do not want to again be Alone in this virtual space. Youthink you are starting to panic. Maybe you are starting to remember.

What do you do?

After going back to hisliving pod - a small, round bubble that jutted out with thousands of others intowers along the sides of the ship in designated residential areas - Myos wasdeep in thought. His pod was a relaxed and slightly cramped space, high alongthe walls. He barely spent any time here now, always on the move playing hisgames. Myos usually only came here to sleep and when he needed a quiet place tothink – like now. Sure, it was obvious someone had to stop the Empress, butwhat could one guy who spends his life playing ARGs and his friends do?

Myos sighed, turning to lieon his side and staring at the specks of city lights across the ship. If hesquinted just right, the lights would twinkle like stars and he could almostimagine it was the outside world. He wasn’t high ranking enough to have accessto a living pod with an outside view of the space around him, so day after dayhis view of the world was the same. It made him grow restless, aching forsomething more in his life than the monotony of the same blinking lights.Perhaps that was the only reason he was even attempting to change things aroundthis place - for his own selfish needs. He always had to be the one to save theday or rescue the princess - to have the highest hero score in every video andalternate reality game he had ever played. He craved the attention of heroism.Maybe all he wanted to do was become the next Emperor in the name of savinghumanity.

He shook his head andran slender fingers through his emergency alarm red hair, as if that actioncould also shake and remove the negative thoughts from his head.