“What in the world…?” Esmay’s head swiveled as she glanced to her friends, wondering if they had any idea about what had just happened.
	She took in their surroundings, then flexed her hands in front of her, making sure they were real. Her attention snapped forward to where the fox creature stood, his body appearing as real as hers felt, as he spoke.
	She gawked at him, the desire to place her hand in one of the gaps in his body to see what, if anything, held him together almost overwhelming. She stared at the dragon he summoned, an amazed grin spreading on her face before one sentence rung through her ears: “If you don’t, then you will be dead.”
	Esmay blinked at him. “Wait, like [i]dead[/i] dead, or game—”
	The fox continued speaking, interrupting her question and making Esmay scowl. She startled as she felt a small knife materialize in her hand, then turned it over, examining the puny, all but useless blade.
	She subconsciously rubbed her wrist at the visual the fox’s words brought.
	When the fox finished addressing them, Esmay stood still for a moment, glaring at the spot where he disappeared.
	She looked to Simon as he spoke, questioning the knife’s abilities.
	“Fox-guy said it’s just for trimming his lawn, remember?” She gripped the meager knife and slashed at an invisible enemy, stepping after the boys. “Gotta watch out for those man-eating weeds…” she paused, realizing that such a thing could very well be out there. 
	She looked back to Press at his warnings, her face tightening at the repeated concept of death. “Right.”  The last thing she wanted was to see any of her friends die. Even so, her curiosity grew steadily, the desire to see this world, a world inside cyberspace she had never even thought existed making her antsy to see what such a place held… as long as it did not end with her or the others six feet under or in in the stomach of a monster, anyway.
	“Well, we’re not going to get anything done by just standing here like a bunch of dazed idiots, are we?” she said as lightly as she could. “We’ve got a world to explore, and I have a bag of Cheetos waiting for me back on Sydney’s couch.” She strode onward, her slow steps confident. Even so, she remained alert and her grip tightened on the knife, even if it was only good for cutting down Fox-Man’s flowerbed.