Darkness.

  He felt the shock at the base of his neck, less violent than the first time.

  The voice murmured:

  Entering system

  Player logged in

  A flash.

  The world around him slowly took shape, like a trickle that first becomes a stream, then a river. And everything resumed its time and space, even though everything was there, everything had changed.

  The blinding midday sun, game time, when they had disconnected that morning, had given way to a golden glow stretching across the towers and streets.

  The light was softer, the shadows stretched out, and everything around suggested that the afternoon was now well underway.

  Nico found himself in front of the white walls of the city.

  He felt an involuntary contraction in the pit of his stomach, the impression that the walls wanted to imprison him, that that imposing door was an enormous mouth ready to swallow him up and that there was no escape for him.

  Indistinct voices came from all sides. People crowded the gray stone-paved street. Melodies from the taverns mingled in the air in a chaotic symphony.

  Numerous inns with bizarre names such as “The Dancing Goat” or “The Tamed Hen” alternated with shops whose signs had no writing, only drawings: a piece of cloth, a knife on a grindstone, a barber's razor, a needle and thread with scissors, a vase, a boot. Floral decorations could be admired everywhere: garlands, wreaths, and the like hung on doors, signs, and windows of houses.

  As he walked through that maze of streets and wide avenues in search of familiar faces, he saw light and dark skin, round or almond-shaped eyes, round or pointed ears. And then horns, pointed wings, stone faces, and tree-like hands. Clothes varied as much as the creatures wearing them. Jackets with high or low collars, bright or dark colors, worn or new. Some wore long beards, sometimes braided, sometimes with two or three points; the latter often dyed bright colors. Some were clean-shaven, others had tattooed faces and shaved heads. The women were also very different from each other: their hair ranged from jet black to almost white blonde; their hairstyles varied, braided, tied up or loose, on short or long hair. The women were as different as the clothes they wore. Nico blushed when she saw a dress with a very skimpy, elaborate bodice. There were dresses made of old raw wool or pure silk, in soft solid colors or bright and multicolored, with lace decorations or simple embroidery. One thing was common to all: whether it was a crown of roses on their heads or a daisy in their collar, everyone had a flower as decoration.

  A familiar voice made him turn around.

  "Excuse me."

  "Sorry."

  “Move, can't you see I'm here?”

  Nico turned around, waving his hand in the air. "Leo!"

  "Hey! Have you seen Kiah?" Leo asked, looking past Nico.

  "No. Maybe she hasn't logged in yet."

  "Have you seen this chaos?"

  "No chaos," Kiah scolded them, amused, appearing behind them.

  "Today is Elan Din, our summer solstice. Do you see the flowers?"

  "How do you know that?" Leo asked, astonished.

  "I read," she said curtly, then raised her head to scan the sky. "I did some quick math: twelve hours connected equals forty-eight hours of play."

  Nico nodded, mentally following the calculations.

  "Someone did their homework," Leo muttered mockingly, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe of the inn to look inside.

  Nico laughed, shaking his head.

  "And when we're offline," said the girl, seemingly unaware of everything around her, "I think the game slows down: every real hour, outside the game I mean, is only worth half an hour of game time. Twelve hours outside of here? Only six virtual hours pass."

  Nico nodded in amazement. He had noticed all the changes, but hadn't yet formed an opinion. Nico found himself surprised by Kiah's mind once again.

  She would be an excellent ally.

  Nico laughed, shaking his head.

  "And when we're offline," said the girl, seemingly unaware of everything around her, "I think the game slows down: every real hour, outside the game I mean, is only worth half an hour of game time. Twelve hours outside of here? Only six virtual hours pass."

  Nico nodded in amazement. He had noticed all the changes, but he hadn't yet formed an opinion. Nico found himself surprised by Kiah's mind once again.

  She would be an excellent ally. "Great, no dragons conquering the city while we're away, then."

  Nico smiled again, reflecting on what Kiah had explained: the world continued to live, but without overwhelming them. It was a logic that protected them, but not entirely.

  "The game probably slows down to decompress the data we're online in."

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Leo shrugged, feigning drama.

  "Good. At least we can be heroes without finding out that everything imploded while we were away."

  Nico looked at the two and smiled. Then a thought flashed through his mind. He took the summons out of his pocket and read:

  "Soldier Jacob Carew... blah blah blah... ah, here it is: royal summons at noon on the day of Elan Din."

  But if they had been kicked out at noon, game time, then that meant...

  "So, shall we hurry up? I think the ceremony for those summoned is about to begin," said Kiah in her usual know-it-all tone.

  Nico handed her the summons. "I think it's already happened," he muttered hesitantly, and his heart sank. They had lost what was perhaps the most important quest in the game.

  "But that's not possible."

  "What?" asked Leo, snatching the letter from Kiah's hands. "What kind of joke is this? We travel all this way and we can't even accept the quest?"

  Nico watched Leo's eyes dart from right to left as he read the letter, then handed it back to Nico.

  "Come on, guys, you're making too much of this. It's a game, isn't it? So what? Just show up and the quest will activate. The game is built around the player, not the other way around."

  "You're wrong," Kiah muttered. Her legs gave way right there on the street. "This game simulates every aspect of real life. Even the passage of time, whether you're in it or not. It's up to you to try to keep up."

  "Kind of like real life," Nico said, frowning.

  Kiah nodded.

  "How do you know that?" Leo asked irritably.

  "I know, my dear, because I read it." With that, he pulled a huge leather-bound book out of his bag entitled: One Hundred Facts Plus One.

  "Wow, that's a brick."

  "Indeed," said Kiah, snorting contemptuously.

  "Excuse me," said Nico, thinking aloud. "You said that even though time passes, it's up to us to try to keep up with it. So let's do that."

  "What do you mean?" asked Kiah, his voice firmer.

  "Let's go to the palace. Let's find a way in, try to figure out what the summons was about, and then see what to do from there. What do you say?"

  Ox-drawn carts, sedan chairs, and lacquered carriages drawn by four or six horses struggled to make their way through the crowd, just like those on foot.

  From time to time, the avenues opened up into large squares where musicians with flutes, lutes, or tarabusi and jugglers with balls and pins performed, creating an even denser crowd around them.

  A pretty, chubby girl, her face flushed from dancing, grabbed Leo and spun him around a couple of times. Then she kissed him on the lips. When she pulled away, laughing smugly, she added in a cheerful, jovial tone, "Happy Elan Din!" He stared at her in a daze. The girl took a geranium from her thick copper-blonde curls, pinned it to his lapel, and scurried away, satisfied. Nico laughed, looking at his friend's dazed face.

  "Why?" he asked, bewildered, as he touched his lips, red as the flower in his buttonhole. "Not that I minded, but..."

  Kiah frowned and, turning her back on Leo, addressed only Nico: "It's Elan Din's feast day. Today, everyone must have a flower, and those who don't get a kiss." With that, she grabbed a couple of daisies hanging from a wreath on a door and tucked one into Nico's buttonhole.

  Nico was grateful for the attention, even though he wouldn't have minded a kiss.

  Kiah adjusted the daisy in her hair, muttering under her breath, "I'd rather not have my first kiss be with a ninety-five-year-old geezer."

  The new city was full of shops, the inns were bustling with life, and the rich, opulent merchants' palaces lined the street. As Nico and the others advanced, the city's splendor gradually gave way to a network of wide, tree-lined avenues that climbed gently up the hills. From there, Nico could see the ancient inner city, also surrounded by towers and white walls, as shiny as those he had left behind. The closer they got, the more refined the buildings became, with their elegant and harmonious shapes. At the center of it all stood the splendid royal palace: its towers seemed to touch the sky and its walls, crafted like fine lace, seemed to shine in the daylight.

  The royal palace stood on the highest hill in Taynor. They were all struck by its beauty as Kiah listed its merits, read from a book he had found at the academy of magic. He described the balconies with inlaid marble parapets, the walls expertly crafted to look like lace, and the stained-glass windows at the top, in perfect harmony with the pure white of the walls.

  A large wrought-iron gate, opening onto the courtyard, was guarded by two guards. The two wore silver metal helmets and breastplates over jackets and trousers as white as their cloaks. For the celebration, a small leafy branch was pinned to their right shoulders.

  Kiah seemed agitated, and Nico had the impression that if Leo opened his mouth, they would be thrown into the dungeons and the key thrown away. So he made a decision. “Leave it to me,” he muttered through clenched teeth, then stepped forward, addressing the oldest guard.

  "Hello, we're here for the royal summons," he said firmly, handing the letter to the soldier.

  "Get lost, kid."

  "But sir, I mean Captain, I..."

  "Hey, didn't you hear me?" roared the soldier, pulling up the visor of his helmet. His face was bearded and reddened; his skin, dry as parchment, was marked by nervous wrinkles. "It wasn't enough to be on duty during the Elan Din festival. I had to be on duty right in front of the gate to keep kids like you from sticking your noses in. Well done," he said, snatching the letter from Nico's hands, "you can write really well. It's all the King's fault for wanting an educated population. And here's the result: they even try to cheat with summonses. What do you think is in there? Gold, treasures? What do you want to steal?"

  "Look, this is genuine," said the other soldier, leaning over to read the letter. Then he looked at Nico with a frown: "You're not Jacob Carew."

  Nico jumped. "Um, no, sir. I'm his son, Robbie," Nico lied.

  Leo muttered something, stunned, and Kiah promptly elbowed him in the side.

  The semi-transparent screen at the side of his field of vision changed. An upward arrow signaled success in a subterfuge situation.

  Nico smiled.

  "Ah, I didn't know he was married," said the guard, smiling cheerfully. "Good for him. And how come you're here?"

  Nico lied again, imagining his skill increasing. "My father is very ill, sir; I took his place even though he didn't want me to."

  It was probably thanks to the many lies he told his grandmother. He felt a little ashamed, but thinking about how cruel his family was, it wasn't so bad after all.

  "Did you disobey your father?"

  Nico's eyes widened in terror.

  "You did the right thing, kid. I took care of my mother, poor woman."

  "Then stop chattering and send these brats away. I want to finish my shift in peace and go have some fun, if my legs still hold me up."

  "So, Robbie: with these summonses, you must return tomorrow. What happened today, a stone's throw from Taynor, has upset the Council; the king has therefore postponed the ceremony."