The students that were once falling asleep jolted awake and leaned in closer to listen to what he had to say.
"The first one is the Alive gear. It seemed to be aimed at creating more social interaction with their surrounding neighbors and people that they had not ever talked to with the help of real-world quests. Doing this forces the younger and even the older generation to interact more with people by making it a fun social activity. In the past, there has been a sharp decline in who you knew next door. As the introduction to the quest, the number of social settings has increased exponentially. With the forcing of players to stop playing the virtual reality game for a week in a sense, it gives players a different route to play the game and keep the activities between people." Professor Stein stopped for a moment collecting his thoughts. Then, he placed the marker on the desk and faced the student head-on.
"To know your neighbors and start to take the initiative to understand and learn them brings people of different races and religions together. Yes, there would be bickering and arguments, but the goal of the Alive gear is interaction, whether good or bad. The outcome is always changing."
"Then what about the Sense gear?"
"That one seems a bit complicated. I haven't truly seen many detailed patterns yet, but being the first game to have all five senses is an achievement. The coming of new-age technology opens up new doors to different activities one could not do in real life, but now it can be done in a virtual setting. Though there has been something that has been bothering me…." Professor Stein's voice trailed off into the distance as he thought about something. "It's not important. All in all, it seems the concept that the game focuses heavily on is the interaction between people. Anyways back to our main focus about game design."
Professor Stein continued on with his lecture. One-by-one his teammate's voice was heard softly through his Alive gear. Kiyro had to focus on hearing Professor Stein's voice. Luckily enough, he was able to hear them.
"I'm in location," Eve called out.
"Same," said Jack in an irked voice, "I'm in a damn female bathroom. What the hell. Let's get this over with."
"Are you serious?" Eve whispered and laughed. "Don't get caught, pervert.
"I'm not trying to be one. Let's hurry it up, people." Jack was peeved at where he was at.
"I'm in the maintenance room. It's quite dark in here," said Isabel.
"You guys are better off than me." Alex's voice-over encompassed the others. "I'm in the principal office."
"That's not too bad," replied Jack.
"I think I'm in trouble."
"What happened?" Eve gasped. "You alright?"
"Got into a small fist fight."
"You serious? You could've avoided all that."
"I know; something happened where it was necessary to pull a few punches. It's fine; I'll get myself out of here today. Either way, it seems almost all of us are ready. Who else are we missing?"
"Kiyro," Eve called out. "Hey, Kiyro. Are you there?"
Kiyro slipped the Alive Gear off his head and placed it on the desk. He hunched over with his arm around it and whispered into the Alive gear.
"I'm here in a classroom. There is a class going on."
"Are you going to be fine over there?"
"Yea. Give me a moment." Kiyro rummaged his hands in his pocket and pulled out the small pyramid selenite, and held it out in his hand. "I'm ready. What next?"
"I'm not sure. We wait?"
"How much longer?" Jack asked impatiently. "I can't stay here forever." He whispered into the Alive gear.
"Same. I think I hear footsteps on my end," Isabel's voice was in a panic. "Come on...Yes! I got something."
Please recite this word on the Selenite.
"Ignis"
"Ignis," whispered Kiyro, trying not to bring attention.
"Sonus," said Eve
"Ventus," said Isabel.
"Aqua," said Will.
"Humus," said Jack.
"Inritus Irritus," said Alex.
Each said their words simultaneously.
Please place your empowered Selenite onto the designated area and follow the map to complete this quest.
Kiyro's Alive gear pulled up a map on his gear, and an arrow blinked towards the window. He leaned over towards the window, gently reached over, and placed the Selenite to the window. Satisfied with his deed, he quickly returned to his Alive gear and whispered back to his group.
"It's going to be a bit difficult getting out of here. Let's meet up at the end."
"Affirmative," replied Jack. "Now, I just need to not get caught."
"Way ahead of you all," said Eve. "I think I'm close to you, Kiyro. I'll hook up with you soon."
The others agreed, and the line went quiet. Kiyro sat back onto his chair and scanned around the room, trying to figure out a way to slip out of class. The professor paced back and forth in the front while the students sat around the professor like a semi-round table. The door was on the right, whereas he was on the other side of the room. He would use the old routine that everyone used to be excused for a moment.
"Sir," Kiyro raised his hands. The professor stopped what he was doing and faced Kiyro.
"Yes?"
"If you don't mind. I'd like to be excused from using the bathroom."
"You do know we are in the middle of a lecture."
"Yes. I do. I'm sorry, but I can't hold it any longer." Kiyro pretended to squirm in the chair. It was embarrassing to act like a child, but he needed to get out of the classroom to finish the quest. The normal lecture for a college class usually runs for three hours, and he didn't have time to listen to the whole lecture. Even though he didn't mind listening to it.
"Sir." Kiryo wiggled harder, emphasizing how serious it was.
"Go." Professor Stein rolled his eyes and continued on with his lecture.
That was easy, though, Kiyro. He was glad that it took little effort. He got up as quickly as possible but without paying much attention to the group. Kiyro walked out without many difficulties.
The other students watched him leave in a hurry, Kiyro closed the door behind him, and he sighed. The deed was done, and Kiyro pushed himself forward onwards towards his goal: to end the quest.