It was dark and the moon had risen by the time Tagg had finally trudged up the stairs to his apartment. He sighed breathlessly, stuck the key in and pressed the peeling door open enough to slip through- reaching to flick the switch connected to a lamp. While this hadn’t been intended to be a long day, it certainly turned out to be one. The bag of convince store groceries he had been carrying was dropped on top of an empty pizza box as he unceremoniously collapsed at his desk. 

As if on cue, the phone in his back pocket vibrated again. [color=7ea7d8]“Ugh, can’t they deal with it themselves this time?”[/color] He grumbled while tapping the space bar, causing dual monitors and multiple LEDs in the keyboard and computer case to light up the surrounding area in neon colors. So he liked the stereotypical gamer setup- complete with well... Pretzels and Sprite were just so much cleaner than the alternative. But what of it? Except most girls he brought over dismissed it as immature and would then bounce, never to be seen again.

A soft meow sounded behind him, followed by the soft landing of paws beside his setup. The corner of his lip twitched upwards. [color=7ea7d8]“Yeah, yeah- I hear you. You wanna catch some Zs, but I’m not about to let some upstart just waltz onto the leaderboard.” [/color]

His hood slid off as he leaned forward to enter his password. Clicking followed as Tagg absentmindedly closed out of a VM left open and checked the VPN subscription was still active. Right. It wouldn’t charge renewal for another week. AJinX had rudely reminded him that much. Ugh, way to cut into his spending budget though. He deftly logged into the chat server and opened one of the game files littering the screen as his phone buzzed again, now on the desk. 


[hider=Rektx3#794]
[color=f26522][b]RexX12:[/b][/color] bro wYA !? 

[color=0054a6][b]Meister:[/b][/color] Best hurry, ain’t no time like the present

[color=f26522][b]RexX12:[/b][/color] UNBELIEVABLE. That fool was 

[color=f26522][b]RexX12:[/b][/color] JUST !!!

[color=7ea7d8][b]Tagg:[/b][/color] Sup 

[color=f26522][b]RexX12:[/b][/color] ONFUKNLINE !!!!!!

[color=f26522][b]RexX12:[/b][/color] o 

[color=0054a6][b]Meister:[/b][/color] loll 

[color=7ea7d8][b]Tagg:[/b][/color] >> << >P (>-0)//// online. Better hope the punk is worth my time- unlike last!
[/hider]


His eyes flicked down just as he was about to maximize the game. Hmm. That email notification had been there for a couple days now. One more day of being ignored wouldn’t hurt it, but if it was one of his old buddies trying to get in touch with him again… 

Curiosity got the best of him and he typed a quick [color=7ea7d8]“brb”[/color], before minimizing the chat room and opening his email. The new email sat atop a slew of unread but marked-as-read ones. His gaze skimmed over the sender with no lack of puzzlement. The Elder? What? This didn’t look like someone familiar- unless judging by the title “Th3 Calm” they had gotten into some nerd trash. His brow furrowed as he clicked the email, and he almost chuckled at how unpredictable this kept getting. That was until he actually read the message contents. 


[hider=Th3_Calm]

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[b]Th3_Calm[/b]

	From [b]The Elder[/b]
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello Tagg, 

Quite the portfolio you’re building. Funny how everyone relies on the IoT without understanding the associated liabilities. Have you found what you like yet? Or are you still bored? How about meeting a little group of people just like you? 

Bigger things await. 

discord.gg/R7aQXMt
[/hider]


Tagg suspiciously scanned the email again. He used discord frequently, but never for anything like this. Never for anything near serious business. Weird... New notifications popped up on his other monitor. RexX12 and Meister were still waiting. 


[hider=Rektx3#794]
[color=7ea7d8][b]Tagg:[/b][/color] Gtg boys, tell ajinx to deal with it! >P< 

[color=f26522][b]RexX12:[/b][/color] a W DUDE u promised! 

[color=f26522][b]RexX12:[/b][/color] for real? :(((

[color=7ea7d8][b]Tagg:[/b][/color] Something came up, believe in the me that believes in you! (~070)~** 

[color=0054a6][b]Meister:[/b][/color] Thx lol, later 
[/hider]


Alright! Now where was he? An wry grin slide lopsidedly into place as Tagg created another Discord account and joined the group. Not too many members, and he wasn’t quite sure what to make of the messages already exchanged. [color=7ea7d8]"Hfft. Well, that bot sure has a personality if I've ever seen one."[/color] Despite scrolling back a little ways, he was still unsure of the context… Leaning back in his chair, he figured he'd just check it again tomorrow. For now, he would go to sleep. [color=7ea7d8]"Maybe, just maybe..."[/color] this would be his big break. 

!!! [color=7ea7d8]"Ack- Ghost! Off the keyboard!" [/color]