Today was a rare day, one of the few where Rachel had dragged herself out of bed and had elected to not log into the Game, instead getting herself freshened up and dressing in her typical attire: A pair of white sneakers, a short grey skirt, white button-up shirt with short sleeves and a long-sleeved black jacket completed with a golden cross necklace which she wore around her neck. After dressing herself for the day, Rachel picked up a book bag she left by the door which contained her wallet along with a few other essentials before then leaving the apartment of her friend who had elected to let her stay there for a time after Rachel had left her parent's house. She then hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and walking away from the apartment, moving down the streets to a nearby bus-stop where she would board and begin a short trip to the downtown area of the city, where she intended to visit a particular cafe and bookstore which she had grown attached to over her few months of living here as it was one of the few places where she felt truly safe and at-home, rather than alone or in some alien environment. Closing her eyes and placing her bag on her lap, Rachel did her best to tune out the sounds around her and let the trip peacefully continue along until she eventually heard the sound of the brakes on the bus which ground it to a halt and signalled that they were at a stop which she had memorized as being the one connected to the Cafe. She opened her eyes, took up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, standing up and moving to the front and ensuring that she paid the driver before then stepping off onto the sidewalk just outside of a quaint little bookstore which seemed almost out of place among the other garish and larger businesses that surrounded it, not that Rachel minded all that much. Outside of the store, she took note of something that she had not been expecting and yet she could not help but feel elation upon reading a sign that read: "New Release! Tera Nova: A novel about Terrasphere by a former player and developer." She knew that whoever wrote this book might have been a player, but doubted that they could have been a Developer seeing as they were being so open with it on some novel - then again, anything was possible, she figured. Further, it was not as if simply being a part of the Development Team was illegal seeing as they had likely ceased much if not all of their work on the project after it was outlawed; or at least, that was how she saw it. Regardless of the "ifs" surrounding the book, Rachel saw the release of this book as a way to not only get some more insight into the game she was currently obsessing over; but also as a way to potentially meet others that were interested in the game and maybe, if she was really lucky, make a few friends while she was at it. Entering the store confidently, Rachel approached the counter where a clerk was just finishing selling one of the copies of the book and spoke up toward them with a slight smile on her lips and a perpetual hint of sadness in her eyes that seemed to stick with her as of late: "Excuse me... Do you have any more copies of 'Tera Nova'?" She asked, to which the gentle-faced old man behind the counter chuckled and produced a copy from a large stack he seemed to have ready beside him. "Been through almost a hundred of these in the last few hours, at this rate, I'll be out of these by lunch!" He said with a jovial smile and a warm laugh coming from his lips, before then placing the book on the counter. "It's twenty-five-ninety-nine." He added almost as an afterthought, as Rachel moved into her bag and withdraw the necessary bills and paid the man, placing a few dollars in a tip jar next to him before then moving off to the side where she would take a seat at a nearby table and begin reading while keeping a casual eye on the door for any new arrivals. At this moment, she was hardly paying any attention to the words on the page at all. Her main focus was on the door and waiting for any new people to show up so that she could maybe work up the courage to talk to them, after all, she promised herself that she would do whatever it took to get herself out of her shell - even if that meant loitering around a bookstore waiting for people to purchase a certain book so that she could talk with them about it and then hopefully somehow turn that into a friendship. Today was probably going to be a long day.
In the age of digitalization, in a time where people could feel Virtual Reality on a level that hasn't been thought possible for at least another 20 years: were books still a thing? Shouldn't these stores have gone extinct in the same way online-media-libraries and streaming services replaced video rental stores? Even your daily newspaper could easily be checked on a smartphone! So why was it that, right here, right now, Charlotte stood in front of such a rarity? Has it always been here? Had the dark-haired woman simply been oblivious before? Or was it because she had caught glimpse of a sign that read 'Terrasphere'? Then again, books never truly died out, huh? The game had been a hit, and hot stuff, with the customers even at Nex King. Heck, it was the reason she started playing that in the first place. But a book? For a modern game? Maybe someone tried their luck to make some big buck in a quick way. Shaking her head, Charlotte continued smoking her cigarette. She was in no rush anymore anyway. First, they called her in because someone else was sick, just for 20 minutes later for everything to be alright. Because if there was one thing Charlotte enjoyed on one of her days off it was being called into work just to get told everything settled while already halfway there, right? Sure, if she had decided to take the offer about living on the gigantic Campus, it would have been a different story. But it was already bad enough she had to see all these faces at Nex King anyway. The woman sighed before she threw the cigarette into a public ashtray and straightened her work clothes a bit. It was a sort of suit —because a prestigious academy needed fancy workers in a goddamn fast food chain— that didn't even look half-bad. In fact, she quite liked it! And, while usually, it had the stench of fried-everything, the clothes were freshly washed. So no need to worry. Thus, with nothing better to do, Charlotte entered the little book-store with the intent to buy this book. "The Terrasphere one, please." She told the Clerk with a half apathetic face as she took a quick glance around while listening to the Clerk how he talked about how great that thing sold. There was another girl reading the exact same thing, huh? "25.99? You take credit cards, right?" Charlotte murmured, unsure if an old place like this moved with the times? "Of course!" Was thankfully the reply, allowing Charlotte to quickly pay. Right, when was the last time she even read a physical book? And why again did she buy it? Some sort of impulse to get over her frustration about work? Really, though? A book instead of some clothes? The purple-haired woman simply stood there for a few seconds, absorbed in her own thoughts. Making her the perfect first victim for @Remiel's new conviction! Too bad Charlotte wasn't the kind of girl to just chat up random strangers, huh?
A faint smile crept onto Rachel's lips as she noticed the other woman purchasing the book. It had not taken too long after-all for someone to actually come in and buy a copy, so she hadn't had to sit there for a long time staring at the door, and for that, she was already grateful. Her only misgivings at the current moment were the fact that she was about to try and start a conversation with a complete stranger, and the fact that she was going to do so over a book about a game that she was currently obsessed with as a means of escape. Steeling herself, Rachel cast aside her doubts and stood from her table, politely closing the book with a soft 'thud' before then placing it down and making her way over to the stranger, raising a single hand in greeting as she spoke timidly to her in a voice that suggested a lack of familiarity with itself due to her occasional tripping over her own words and a slight slowness to her tone as if she were thinking of what to say as she spoke: "Ah... H-Hello there." She began, her gaze moving cautiously up from the ground to lock her soft blue eyes onto the stranger before her. "S-Sorry to bother you, but that's a copy of Tera Nova, right?" She added, anxiously shifting her weight as she continued. "I... I was just wondering if you played at all." She concluded awkwardly, trying desperately to come up with more things to say as she held her necklace and one hand, moving the cross between her fingers as she looked to the stranger, occasionally averting her gaze in an attempt to not seem as if she were staring impolitely. "My-- My name's Rachel, er, and my Character Name is Remiel - I haven't really... leveled her at all yet, but I-I'm going to, soon!" Rachel stammered further in an attempt to prolong whatever conversation she was going to be having, though it was clear by her posture and her sad, downcast gaze that she was quickly losing heart and that she would likely just let the other woman walk away if she did not wish to put up with her conversation.
"H-Hello?" Charlotte replied in slight confusion as she gave the stranger a gentle smile she was so used to by now. The purple-haired woman didn't stutter because she was shy or anything, but rather, kinda weirded out? Who talked up strangers just like that?! "Unless I'm suddenly illiterate I believe this IS a copy of Tera Nova, duh." It became quickly apparent however that Rachel, as she introduced herself, simply wanted to talk about Terrasphere, or rather if Charlotte played. Yeah, it kind of made sense? The girl didn't strike her as the kind of loser who spend the rest of their life in their parent's basement. Maybe she lacked online friends or something? Seemed shy enough. At the very least, first impression and all, Rachel seemed like a decent human being that got maybe just got wronged too often. Charlotte Breuil wasn't the fucking charity though. Nonetheless, not like she had anything better to do right now anyway. "The name's Charlotte." She older woman finally continued after a few judgemental seconds of silence as her unnatural smile faded to her usual, kinda bored/apathetic, face. "Charlotte, Charlotte! You know, a super cute name for a very cute person, why bother changing it. Rachel's cute, too." Yeah, nobody had to give HER lessons in self-confidence. "It's a neat game, right?" Taking a few steps to the side to leave space for whatever else customers are crazy enough to buy real paper-like books she now added. "I'm not really that far into it yet either, but it's a great stress-relief! Swinging around a giant axe at enemies I named after annoying people!" This time Charlotte gave Rachel a genuine, nearly-too-happy, smile. Saying what she said as if that had been the most normal thing in the world. "So, what got you into trying it? You don't strike me as a Gamer." Charlotte ultimately asked if Ramiel hadn't been creeped out yet.
