The World

Hector does just that, heading for the Recorder.

Aroma: I'm just glad you didn't leave me.

"I wouldn't dream of leaving you," Noct replied.

Mortal leaned close to Sab and whispered, "Is she hitting on a game?"

"Maybe?"

*Monudon follows Hector*

"So..." Hector asked the Recorder after reaching it and saving his progress. "Do the words 'Skeith, Innis, Magus' mean anything to you?"

Something Horrible

*Right when the Recorder finishes telling him that he doesn't know about that, but they can save their adventure there, a burst of static hits the screen. The sky darkens & the mountains & bridges under their feet become a barren plane of rock floating in the middle of nothingness. Binary can be seen in exposed fissures.*
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*Aroma smiles right before the burst of static. After the scene & music change, the air shimmers near Noctis & friends. Out of it emerges the freaky monster depicted in the video.*

"What the fuck?" Hector unsheathed his cutlass and turned to Monudon.

*Monudon shrugs*

Monudon:<Server problem?>

*Monudon readies his spear*

Noct looks up at the monster before arming herself, and stepping between it and Aroma. Mortal and Sab take a step back, confused by the sudden change.

Noct noticed the scene around her, as well as the buggy nature of the monster, "We should go, this thing isn't normal. The data for this monster is incomplete or corrupted."

"Go where?" Sab asked, "We're already in town, or were."

*Skeith tosses its staff, which comes to rest behind Aroma. Her arms become outstretched by an invisible force, which also levitates her to the cross in the center of the staff. When the monster holds out its other hand, a bracelet of oddly-shaped, translucent blue crystals forms on it. Streams of binary fire out of it, piercing Aroma's chest. As Skeith summons its staff back to itself, Aroma falls to the ground, drained of color & face frozen in shock.*

Sab is freaked out by the sight and uses a Bi Juk Rom on the monster.

"Well... I highly doubt that is is unrelated to the statue and those words," Hector said, taking cautious steps towards a fissure. "But I don't know what to do. It's pretty cool, though."

*Monudon follows him*

Monudon:<I honestly have no idea ether. We may just have to wait for a server announcement.>

*Hector & Monudon can kind of make out Noctis & Friends getting pwned. Every strike from the Bi Juk Rom comes out as a miss. Euryale manages to connect solidly with Skeith's body as it lazily lifts its staff, but no damage is visibly done. It then slams the staff's point in the ground, producing a shockwave that reduces the entire group's HP to single digits.*

Luna: What the Hell? What is this?! What level is this thing?

Thiera: If I have my numbers right, it's at least in the 70s. Possibly even 99.

Euryale: Anyone else feel light-headed & ache-y? Is that normal?

*While they're freaking out, Aroma's body dissolves into points of gold light that drift off to parts unknown.*

Monudon:<Do you see that?>

*Monudon points at the hazy figures*

"Yes. Let's investigate," Hector said, advancing towards the scene.

"Yes, I feel that," Noct answered, "No, it definitely isn't normal."

Sab used Ola Repth on whoever was in her party.

*Skeith reforms his bracelet & levels it at Noctis, but another burst of static causes him to look off-screen. Soon after, the screen goes dark & the words "SYSTEM ERROR" flash on everyone's screens, before depositing them back at their desktops. Noctis, Sab, & Mortal receive E-mails from Thiera & Euryale almost immediately asking if they're okay.*

OOC: Ah, my mistake.

Monudon:<Well, that wasn't unexpected.>

*Monudon attempts to log in again*

OOC: Leafy, everybody was sent back to their desktops including Hector and Monudon, apparently.

Hector attempted to head back into the game.

Noct stopped typing on her keyboard, then let out a sigh. Quickly she typed out a message to them back, after setting up an IRC.

I'm Fine:

She also sent a similar message to Sab and Mortal, who had just got done finding out that they were both alright.

*Monudon & Hector have no problems logging back in, & when they do, they find that everything is back to normal, but they don't see any other PCs in the Root Town.*
======================================
*Thiera and Euryale quickly log into this IRC of hers.*

*Monudon runs over to Hector*

<Are you ok?>

"Uh, yeah," Hector replied. "How about you?"

Noct responded when she saw that everyone had logged in.

Noct: Alright, can anyone tell me what in the World just happened?

--

Mortal: Did you just make a pun?
--

Noct: What no?! Now is not the time for this. Seriously, what the hell happened? Did that thing really kill Aroma?

--

Sab: I'm not sure. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. A glitch definitely, but I've never heard of ANYTHING like that happening.
--

At this point Noct realized that Luna had yet to be heard from, so she shoots an e-mail her way, asking if she was okay, and linking her to the IRC.