Another email soon followed that agreed with her suggestion. With that, the meeting was set. Sasha started up Dungeon Busters again after a quick shower, ready to do another boss raid. As the game loaded she called up her talent window and scrolled through it. The way the panel just floated in thin air, made of seemingly nothing, was just perplexing. The distribution of points on the talents were something she could agree on : high points in device manipulation and sleigh of hand made a lot of sense. However, there were several talents she didn't know she had. Acrobatics? Stealth? She ought to give these things a try.

That gave her a sudden idea. Could these statistics be improved just by doing everyday activities? Dungeon Busters's main theme started playing as the starting screen appeared. Sasha logged into her character. Just as the name might suggest, Dungeon Busters was an action RPG that focused on clearing various dungeons. The game also had a heavy emphasis on quick reflexes and timing. It was famous for its outrageous difficulty level.

Sasha was a seasoned veteran, standing in the highest echelons of player rankings. There were still some dungeons that were practically impossible even for players of her skill to complete alone. However, the beauty of this game's design was that such a great was theoretically possible. The player just required inhuman levels of concentration, reflexes and perseverance. 

Sasha moved her cursor and selected the Black Knight dungeon, one of the hardest dungeons in the game. She had completed it before, but in a party of six. This time, she entered alone. Maybe when placed under stress something would happen. 

~~~~

Sasha had not slept a wink when the meeting time was drawing close. She had been so focused on her video game that all thoughts of sleeping had disappeared. Her watch showed that it was already 10:24 am. With a sigh she dragged herself away from the computer to get dressed. 

She called up her inventory window. On one side of the panel was the shape of a human with boxes at various points. What she was wearing appeared in those boxes. On the other side was a series of empty boxes. Anyone who played RPGs would be able to instantly recognize it for what it was. Sasha grabbed her can of pepper spray from the cabinet and held it to the panel. She half expected nothing to happen. To her surprise the item actually pushed through and entered the panel. An empty slot became filled with the picture of the pepper spray. 

"Whoa. Now that's proof it's not just some elaborate prank."

No technology could have produced such an effect. Not for a hundred years, anyway. She changed out of her shorts and tank top using the inventory interface as well. The jeans simply appeared on her legs the moment she dragged it onto her leg slot. That was actually a pretty handy trick. She put on a clean shirt and a grey sweater. Pulling up the hood hid much of her blonde hair, making her much more inconspicuous than she would have been otherwise.

Sasha left her house and walked to Septemberes. Her apartment was very near to the entertainment disrict. Ten minutes later, the giant neon signs of the largest mall of Neo Tokyo was already in sight. Sasha headed straight to MsDonald's. Sasha's foreign features and blonde hair would usually stick out like a sore thumb in the crowd of black haired Japericans, but today the hood saved her. However, she looked slightly suspicious instead. She got to the store early, and decided to order a happy meal while waiting for her fellow "Gamer".