"One of the glasses contained vodka. The other is taking more time to analyze, but the results should be ready in an hour," the lab worker informed Pierce through his transceiver.
"Understood," he replied.
Pierce turned to Cantarella and said,
"I'm going to go for a walk."
"That's fine, I'll be here," she replied indifferently, while sitting in a chair with her legs propped up over the armrest.
Pierce left and headed for Veil's room. Finding it empty, he spoke into his transceiver.
"Can anyone tell me where Veil is right now?"
Moments later, a man replied,
"He's currently in the rec room with some others."
Pierce made his way there. As he approached, excited shouts could be heard through the door.
"That was so close!" Shade exclaimed.
"Come on, Fenix! It's up to you to dethrone him!" Vision cheered.
Caster watched the gameplay silently as Fenix and Veil faced off.
They were both one hit away from defeat, cautiously observing their opponent before making a move.
"Veil! It's time for our chat!" Pierce called. Veil was startled, and Fenix took that chance to deliver a low kick to Veil's character's ankles.
"K.O! You Win!" the game announced, and Veil groaned, clawing at his face as everyone else cheered.
He bitterly passed the controller over to Shade and mumbled,
"Your turn."
Then he reluctantly followed Pierce out of the room.
He followed him into a surveillance room, where there were three others seated at desks with their eyes glued to the screens in front of them.
"Alright... I'm here. Could someone play the footage?" Pierce ordered.
A tired-looking woman stood up and carried a laptop over to him.
"Right away, sir," she mumbled as she frantically typed something. She then spun the computer around to face Pierce and Veil.
It displayed a video of Veil standing in the hallway talking to Dartz. The footage flickered, and Veil's position shifted several feet to the left. He then calmly walked toward his room... while Dartz trudged away with a dazed expression.
She clicked to another video that showed Flow's door opening, but no one was there, and she was seen sitting on her bed. She looked at the mysterious opening door with an excited expression. It closed after that.
"Care to explain what's happening in this video?" Pierce asked.
"...Well, it looks like this was recorded before curfew, so I don't see a need," Veil replied calmly.
Pierce let out a long breath, then said,
"Alright, I'll accept that, but the same phenomenon happened an hour later... after curfew. Play the video."
The woman nodded and showed footage revealing Veil's door opening, an odd distortion, then, a few moments later, Flow's door swung open, and the video feed flickered erratically.
Veil stared at the footage for a second before covering his mouth and bursting into laughter.
Everyone there watched him, startled and dumbfounded.
"Perhaps... this ship is haunted," Veil stated once his laughter died down. He then looked directly into Pierce's eyes with a defiant smirk. "I wish I could help, but I'm not an exorcist."
Pierce was too stunned by this response to utter a reply, and Veil chuckled again while leaving the room.
He promptly headed to Mirror's room and knocked on the door.
Only Flow heard him since Aura and Mirror were still in the VR world, so she got up to answer.
Her breath caught at the sight of him.
"Hey... I missed you," he greeted, lifting a lock of her hair to his lips and kissing it.
"M-Mirror, Veil is here... is that okay?" she muttered.
Mirror glanced at the light from which Flow's voice came, as she reloaded her gun.
"Yeah, he can play next. If he wants." Mirror replied.
Veil looked over at Aura and Mirror seated on the bed with their headsets on, then he leaned forward and whispered,
"Can they see us?"
Flow's pulse shot through the roof. Flow took off the game's glasses and quietly replied,
"No..."
Veil glanced back at the hallway camera with a smug smile. He then cupped her cheeks and kissed her deeply, gently guiding her back into the room before kicking the door closed behind them.
In the game, Aura had created tree soldiers who helped them subdue the remaining raptors. The fight dragged on for several minutes until, finally, Mirror had her gun pointed at Mr. Maniac, who was pleading for mercy. He was sweating buckets but couldn't move because of the vines that Aura had wrapped around him.
"You don't deserve mercy. You fed on the weak, hunted people for sport."
Aura's soldiers stood behind Mirror as backup in case he tried something. After Mirror pulled the trigger, the words,
"You win!" floated in the air, followed by the question, "Would you like to play again?"
She and Aura selected "No."
Upon returning to the real world, they removed their headsets to find Flow pinned up against the wall with Veil's lips on her neck.
"Oh... are you guys done? That was fast," he mumbled with an air of disappointment. They were stunned and silent. Flow shakily stepped away from him with a beet-red face.
Mirror cleared her throat.
"Would you like to try the game next? It's Flow's turn," she said while holding out the headset toward him.
"... Sure," he replied. Flow sat on the bed, and Aura stood up so Veil could sit down next to her.
"She watched us play, so she should already have the basics down," Mirror explained. Aura sat at the desk, still too flustered to speak.
Veil and Flow put the headsets on at the same time, and Mirror put on the spectator glasses, ready to guide them if necessary.
They were instantly pulled into the game's world. Veil looked down at his clothes and frowned.
"... I don't feel any connection to my powers," he grumbled.
"D-don't worry!" Flow started, struggling to make her heart relax. "After you level up a few times, you should unlock some of your abilities."
He smirked at her and stepped closer.
"Hmm..." he cooed, lifting her chin. "You feel normal though... soft... warm... I wonder what we could get up to." Her eyes widened, and then a tiny light floated in between them.
"Calm down! You're not alone in here!" Mirror's voice rang.
Veil clicked his tongue and lowered his hand.
"Are those humans I hear?" A familiar voice called.
The two looked in the direction it came from, and Mr. Maniac revealed himself, this time with twenty raptors following close behind and two pterodactyls hovering overhead.
"The difficulty must have increased since we've played through the game a few times," Mirror commented.
Mr. Maniac smirked, saying,
"Mmm... a woman and..." he glanced at Veil, eyed him up and down, then wrinkled his nose. "A male."
Veil stared back at him, annoyed.
"He looked at Caster the same way," Mirror commented.
"We'll be eating good tonight, boys!" Mr. Maniac shouted before his dinosaurs rushed forward.
"We need to run!" Flow said, as she grabbed Veil's hand. She tried to pull him away, but Veil stood firm and pulled out the gun in his holster. He shot one of the pterodactyls in the wings. The creature plummeted from the sky and slammed into several raptors below. Its allies paused for a moment to look at the chaos. That's when Veil took off running, tugging Flow along behind him.
They sped through the trees, and Flow pointed to the cave that Mirror had used earlier. Veil nodded and ducked into the cave with her while the dinosaurs continued their futile search outside.
"Congratulations! You got away successfully! You also defeated 3 Enemies! Reward: 100 xp. Bonus: 200 xp."
The game declared. Veil was caught off guard for a moment, then he grinned widely and said,
"Awesome."
The two could feel their bodies growing stronger and more agile. After they leveled up, the game made another declaration,
"Anomaly recognized. Special powers activated!"
The words floated before Veil, and his eyes widened as his body began to glow.
His hair began to defy gravity, flowing around him as though he were underwater. Long bull-like horns protruded from his forehead.
His shirt disappeared, revealing his toned torso, and everything below his hips became covered in dark fur.
His feet became hooved, and he grew a reptilian tail.
Huge black-feathered wings spread from his back, and his fingernails darkened into black claws.
Veil looked down at himself, and Flow covered her face, blushing.
"... Excuse me for a moment," Mirror muttered. Her light then disappeared from the game.
Back in reality, Mirror slapped herself.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Aura inquired worriedly. Mirror groaned and said,
"The game suddenly got too erotic."
Aura stared at her blankly for a moment.
"What?" Aura asked blankly.
"... Veil's transformation... looks like something straight out of some x-rated fantasy novel," Mirror explained. Aura didn't seem any closer to understanding what she meant, so Mirror just sighed and put the glasses back on, returning to the game.
"Sorry about that, I was just caught off guard," she said. Veil was casually skimming through the information on his status window, and Flow was deeper in the cave, frantically fanning herself.
"It's okay," he replied. Flow got up from her spot and kept her eyes down as she approached Veil.
"So... did you find out what your abilities are?" she mumbled. He lightly pecked her cheek, and she squeaked.
"I think I have a good grasp of what I can do," he answered.
"Alright, guys, we should leave the cave before the raptors find you here!" Mirror warned.
Flow nodded and readied her pistol, taking the lead while Veil strolled leisurely behind her.
"Found you!" Mr. Maniac yelled as he charged after them while his family of dinosaurs rushed in from the sides.
"We've got to hurry!" Flow yelled.
Veil merely chuckled.
As they were running, Flow shot two bullets. One hit a raptor's leg, and it fell over, tripping the one running right behind it.
When they got into a clearing, Veil picked up Flow and began running at an impossible speed.
"Oh my god!" she exclaimed, clinging to him. Only to become flustered a moment later when she touched his bare chest.
They approached the rope bridge. He rushed across it, and the pounding of his hooves made it swing unsteadily. Flow forgot her shyness again, screaming in fear.