"Welcome to the antechamber of VR2L Third Earth," said the image of a cat-headed woman on the monitor at the far end of the room. The new arrival had no way to know this, but the chamber had become more sophisticated than before, its stone walls and benches lined with padded cusions and soft wall hangings "I am your hostess, Lady Bast. Please state your name and step up to the screen to choose your character format."

The woman looked a bit puzzled. "What kind of character format?"

"Please state your name."

Pausing as though to debate the matter, the player finally said "Melissa."

"Welcome, Melissa," smiled Bast. Sensors quickly scanned Melissa's body and presented the player with a picture of herself on the left half of the screen with a blank form on the right. "You require a character to enter the world of VR2L Third Earth. What race will you be?"

Melissa's eyes narrowed and gleamed. It was wish fulfillment time. "Ice Lunatak," she said with no hesitation.

"Male or Female?"

"Female!" the player quickly responded as though surprised that the question should even be asked.

"Would you like to make any alterations?" asked the voice of Bast.

Melissa raised her eyebrows questioningly at the screen, forgetting momentarily that she was in a preprogrammed environment. "Guess virtual reality takes some getting used to," she muttered to herself before adjusting the figure on the right. When she was done, the figure was approximately six feet tall with medium blue skin, white hair loose to her waist, and typical Ice Lunatak eyes. Her clothing consisted of a white leather bodysuit, sleeveless, with a black vest that reached the ankles and numerous black-zippered pockets. Black, knee-high boots completed the look.

"Character designated 'Melissa' is saved," said Bast. "Basic equipment includes food, water, and basic bedroll. You may choose one weapon and one additional item of equipment. Others may be gathered in time."

"This weapon is in addition to my Lunatak powers, right?" asked Melissa with some suspicion.

"You will have all the powers of the Ice Lunatak Template, Chilla," confirmed the voice of Bast, "though your skill and power levels will not be equal to hers until you have made sufficient progress in the game. The weapon you choose will be in addition to these skills."

"Can I have a Star Trek phaser?"

"Not without copyright issues," replied the voice. It sounded amused. "But the weapon banks of VR2L Third Earth contain a listing for similar item: the Newt gun."

"Newt?"

"Newt is the designated short form for 'Neutralizer'," explained the cat-woman. "The pistol will allow you deliver an energy blow capable of stunning your enemies temporarily, rendering them more premanently unconscious, disrupting their heart and brain functions, or...in more advanced levels of the game...disintegrating them into atoms."

"That's pretty neutralized," admitted Melissa. "Is it even possible?"

"You are in a gaming environment," replied the voice of Bast with almost feral delight. "Virtually, anything is possible."

Melissa groaned inwardly at the pun. "I'll take the Newt," she said before considering her equipment. "Look, I build things. I do carpentry and work with sci-fi stuff...but I can't think of a specific item that will fit the bill. What kind of equipment do you *have*?"

"A fair portion of the equipment file is dedicated to kits," explained the computerized voice. "Perhaps you would like one of these: we have kits for architects, carpenters, industrial designers, engineers..."

"Taking a kit won't make me more proficient in a particular area will it?"

"No, but you can adjust your skills and attributes to favour a particular career and your experience in the game will determine your proficiency."

Melissa bit her lip as she considered her options for a moment. Her character, Psikaris, was an engineer...but she would not begin at Psikaris' level. She wasn't sure she could even *reach* the level she had set for Psikaris. And Third Earth was full of engineers, inventors, and architects...

"There are specialization skills," prompted the voice of Bast when the silence continued.

"Specialization?"

"An architect's kit does not mean you must work on general architecture. A skill can refine your talent. An architect who specializes in gothic works will have more dificulty designing a modern building, but quickly surpass his or her peers in designing for a Medieval era."

"And an engineer, let's say, who specializes in engines..."

"Would have difficulty with the outward design of a vehicle, but excel at making any vehicle actually run. Couple with...say...an industrial designer who specialized in vehicles, the pair could develop virtually any form of transportaion in record time."

This actually made things more complex from a Lunatak standpoint. Skytomb was known for the difficulty it had with its engines. On the other hand, other than looking cool, its outward design had little purpose. Melissa intended to join the Lunataks and set things to rights. "I'll take the engineer's kit," she said finally.

"Very well. Please balance your skills and your attributes."

Melissa did so, paying special attention to her intelligence and manual dexterity. For her skills she was pleased to find that a choice of three were available. She immediately filled them up to amplify her characters manual powers chosing both engineering and industrial design specializing in all fields of vehicular transportation. She kept her drawing ability, partly out of vanity and partly for the ability to make quick sketches of concepts that were both accurate and easy to read without resorting to careful measurements.

"Attributes designated to character 'Melissa' are saved," said Bast. "Thank you for joining the VR2L test group already in progress. I hope you enjoy your stay on Third Earth."

Already in progress? Melissa wondered about that. She knew she'd be signing in a little later than everyone else, but hadn't thought she was that far behind. Still, she supposed that if even one person had already entered the game then it was, technically, already in progress.

She waited patiently for the wall on the far side of the room to raise and, with a final breath, stepped into the world of VR2L Third Earth.

*********************

"Red-Eye! What is the meaning of these alarms!" shrieked Luna, banding her riding crop on the computer console from her vantage point on Amok's back.

"There seems to be a UFO approaching from the South-West," rasped Red-Eye in his gravelly voice.

"Are you trying to tell me that there is an alien craft in Skytomb's airspace?" demanded the trollish woman.

"No, Luna, but it is an object, it is definitely flying, and as of yet we have no idea what it is," smirked Alluro in a voice as smooth as silk.

Luna was unimpressed with the Psi Lunatak's tone. "Well find out what it is!" she snarled, turning Amok around so that she could clip Alluro on the back of the head with her crop. "Do I have to do everything myself?"

"Eet would help eef you deed *some*teeng," muttered TugMug under his breath as he tracked the object through the sky.

"Do you think it might be a missile?" ventured Chilla with a gusty exhalation.

"It's too slow to be a missile," said Red-Eye, "and it's flight pattern is too erratic."

"It looks...it looks like some type of creature," Alluro added, thinking out loud.

"Winged creature," confirmed Red-Eye now that it was close enough for his infrared sight to pick up the monster's heat signature. "A winged creature with two smaller ones on it's back."

"Cheeldren?" suggested TugMug. The sooner they discovered what was causing the disturbance, the sooner he could leave the control room and everyone in it.

Chilla snorted. "Hshhh...What creatures do you know of in Darkside that carry their young on their back?" she hissed in contempt.

The conversation served one purpose if no other: it filled the silences until the creature was close enough to identify. Red-Eye increased the magnification of Skytomb's telescopic scanners and enabled the single-user eyepiece for a more precise view. "One of the dragons of the western regions," he declared. "A small one at that...probably a child. It seems to be under some kind of control."

"But what about the creatures on its back?" snapped Luna, tired of pussyfooting around.

"They look like Lunataks," said Red-Eye, somewhat stunned.

This revalation caused a mad scrambling in the control room as everyone crowded together to get a glimpse of the image that was only now beginning to form on the viewscreen. "A Psi!" screeched Luna in some surprise and perhaps with some delight. A Psi Lunatak's powers were useful in a combat situation.

"What about the leetle green-headed one?" prompted TugMug.

"Hshhh...Hyperaudio," said Chilla, squinting. "I remember hearing about them, but I've never met one. I thought they're race had mostly died out after the destruction of their moon."

"Well apparently one survived," said Alluro. His amused arrogance was meant to discredit Chilla's knowledge, but she blew off his remark with a frosty puff of air.

But Luna was already putting the newcomers to good use in her mind.

"TugMug, Alluro, Chilla...come with me," she ordered. "Red-Eye, you stay here in case our 'guests' give us any trouble. We want to make sure we give them a warm Lunatak welcome...don't we?" she cackled.

"STEER RIGHT! STEER RIGHT!"

"Look, this thing may be slow to respond, but I don't think it wants to hit the tree any more than you do," hissed Cheezey as the dragon-like creature suddenly veered, narrowly missing the strange, tentacled tree.

"ARRRRRGH! GAS CLOUD!"

"No one likes a backseat driver!" snarled the Psi Lunatak gripping her rope harness and issuing a mental command as her mount banked sharply to bypass the noxious fumes from Darkside's numerous mini volcanoes. "And stop breathing through my loincloth, I'm getting a draft."

Sonarion dropped the tail end of the long, skirt-like garment which only flapped in the wind once released. "I see London, I see France..." sang the younger Lunatak.

"I'm going to kick you in the pants," finished Cheezey, scowling in concentration. Not only did she have to keep the creature under thrall so that it wouldn't toss the both of them off of its back, but she had to try and steer it in the direction they both wished to go. This mental strain would have been enough by itself, but the dragon insisted on fighting her every step of the way. Needless to say, Cheezey was not in the mood to play games.

"Loop the loop!" demanded Sonarion.

"No!"

"Barrel roll!"

"NO!"

"Doesn't this thing do *any* tricks?"

Cheezey grinned with sudden inspiration and ducked suddenly as the beast swung it's head around to breathe directly into Sonarion's face.

"ARGH! DRAGON BREATH!"

"Then shut-up and look for Skytomb," ordered the Psi Lunatak, concentrating on leading the beast deeper into Darkside and away from any active lava geysers.

It wasn't long before the distinctive half moon of Skytomb's tower could be seen on the horizon. Unsurprisingly, the dragon-thing was less than impressed by the command to fly toward it, but Cheezey managed to maintain her course.

"Do you think they've spotted us?" shouted Sonarion into his pilot's ear to counteract the rushing wind.

"They'd be stupid if they didn't," snorted Cheezey. She didn't believe the Lunataks to be stupid. "We're not exactly sneaking up on them."

If the dragon was reluctant to head for Skytomb, it was even more upset about the prospect of landing. Cheezey wondered if it was a hunted animal in these parts...certainly no creature BUT a Lunatak could be strong or smart enough to bring it down. Still, a compromise was made: the dragon would land of its own accord and Cheezey wouldn't fry its neurons by making it do so anyway.

She was not the least bit surprised to find the welcome wagon out and about.

Landing a respectful distance away so as not to alarm the other Lunataks, Cheezey waited until Sonarion untied his harness and slithered down from his perch before cutting away her own rope harness and the collar around the beast's neck and dismounting. Then she released her hold on the creature who immediately took to the skies in a panicked flight. Cheezey swayed slightly as her mind relaxed from the over-exertion. Her Psi abilities must have gone up a couple of notches from that exercise alone!

"Welcome, fellow Lunataks," said Luna in a shrill, but obviously friendly manner. "Did you tame that dragon all by yourself?"

"I...y-yes," stammered Cheezey. Suddenly all she wanted was to sleep. Was this the effect of the overuse of her powers? "It...it was...difficult."

"We were not aware that there were others of our kind on this planet," continued Luna, prodding at their purpose.

"We hopped a freighter," said Sonarion cheerfully before Cheezey could protest. "We were going to work to pay for passage, but there was a mechanical failure and we went off-course. We crashed," he said simply.

"A freighter, eh?" remarked Luna conversationally, distracting the youth from Chilla's casual call to Red-Eye. "What's you're name?"

"Sonarion...and this is Cheezey," grinned the Hyperaudio Lunatak.

"I see," said Luna quite pleasantly.

Cheezey had the sudden and very distinct feeling that something was wrong and moved to stop the younger Lunatak from speaking again until they could get their story straight. But she felt as though she were moving underwater...no...through mud or molasses, and her vision was starting to blurr as mental fatigue quickly set in. "So...Sonarion...don't..." she said weakly, her mouth full of cotton.

"And if you are new to this world, how did you know where to find us?" said Luna with false wonder.

Sonarion was begining to realise just what kind of bind they were in. The Lunataks were Lunataks: distrustful. They weren't about to welcome him with open arms just because this was a game. After all, as far as the Lunataks were concerned, they were *not* a collection of pixels in a computer.

"Rumour," he replied, with a tight, plastic grin. He was not a fighter...had never designed Sonarion to be a fighter...but he had to try. He kept as pleasant an air as he could as he very slowly reached for his bladed throwing ring.

"Luna," said Chilla quietly. "Red-Eye reports no recent crashes on Third Earth and nothing of unusual size entering the atmosphere. Certainly nothing as large as a freighter."

"Get them," said Luna shrilly, but without urgency.

Sonarion swore one of his made-up Lunatak words under his breath and flung his blade at Chilla, the closest and most likely to overwhelm him. But doing so left him open to TugMug who raised his gravity carbine and fired off a quick shot that hit the young Lunatak square in the chest. Sonarion suddenly felt very heavy...his knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground, fighting the effects all the way, until Amok placed one crushing hand on his back, pushing down to squeeze the air out of his lung until he fell unconscious in a heap on the ground.

Cheezey tried to arm herself, but she could barely grab the hilt of her knife. The dark and dreary colours of the world around her were starting to run together and her feeble attempts at focusing her mind enough to tell the Lunataks to leave her alone...that they had no choice but to leave her alone...only made her head spin. *Stupid dragon,* she thought incoherently. *Stupid dragon just had to fight me all the way here. See if I try *that* stunt again.*

"Never...again..." she whispered, voicing her thoughts as she collapsed in exhaustion. Had she been the slightest bit aware of her surroundings when she fainted, she might have been pleased to discover that it was Alluro who caught her.

*********************