Chapter 1- A Weird Link Naomi was sneaking online. Again. Looking at the door to her bedroom rather guiltily, the young woman quickly clicked on the Internet icon and waited for the home screen to appear, nervously glancing around. The clock above her PC stated that it was around half past ten, and the darkness outside her solitary window declared that it was nighttime. A fan quietly whirred away in the far corner of her room, gently blowing at a few loose papers that lay strewn about her desk. Finally, the Internet browser screen appeared. Quickly, Naomi typed in her email address and password, and hit the ENTER button. I really shouldn't be doing this, her conscience protested. I really need to do this! retorted the rest of her mind. If I don't email that project to my science teacher and he doesn't get it in his email tomorrow, then I can kiss any semblance of a good grade in that class goodbye! She firmly shoved away her conscience- which was now loudly complaining that she should have just gotten it done on time in the first place- and smiled in relief as her login screen appeared. "Finally," she whispered. "Let's see…" Her eyes automatically found the blue, highlighted letters in the center of the screen that said how many new messages she'd had since she last got online. It said that she had one new message. She started to reach to click on the link, then shook her head. "Damn it, not yet," she told herself firmly. "Later." With that, she hit the COMPOSE button, typed up some excuses for the report being so late, and added said report in as an attachment. During all of this, the fourteen-year-old girl paused to listen, seeing if anyone was being disturbed by her constant clicking noises. Apparently, no one heard her; the report was sent without a hitch, and she leaned back in her swivel chair with a sigh of relief, smiling slightly. "Ha. Finally, I'll never have to think about that thing again," she muttered, stretching her arms over her head. Then she reached out to click on the blue, highlighted text. "Now to see this message…" Once again, she ignored her conscience, which was now telling her to shut off the computer and get to sleep- she had a test tomorrow- and looked at the email. "Okay now…" She frowned. "Huh? That's weird." The new message didn't have an email address listed next to it, or even a name. The subject title was not really helpful, either; it was blank. "What the…" Naomi reached for the DELETE button. I have no desire to explain to my parents why I got a virus when I've supposedly been off the damn thing for the past month. However, just as she hit the DELETE button, a pop-up screen appeared in front of her browser. "You don't want to do that," the message informed her in flashing letters. "What on earth?" She moved to close the pop-up, only to be confronted by another one. "This link is worth at least looking at. No way." She closed that one, too. To her consternation, another pop-up appeared. "At least look at it! How about no?! This is really freaky…" Naomi closed the third pop-up, frowning as she tried to figure out why the pop-ups seemed to have to do with whatever was in the blank email. If this isn't a virus, I don't know what is. Maybe I'd better just shut it down manually, and check this out tomorrow night. Or just get another email address. It's certainly not the first time! Before she could act on her decision, though, her Media Player suddenly appeared, looking as though it was readying to play a movie for her. Oh, no. She quickly muted the sound on her system, then moved to shut down the computer. The Media Player caught her eye. An SD character was watching her. Naomi was a semi-otaku; that is, she liked anime enough to know what SD meant and what it was. She also played a number of video games that had anime-like graphics. She had at least one bookshelf filled with manga and DVDs. Indeed, the young woman knew almost as much about anime as a fully-fledged otaku would. What she didn't know was what an SD anime character was doing in a movie on her Media Player, at ten at night. The SD character immediately sought to remedy that fact. A bubble appeared over the SD, as a sweat-drop formed on its head. "This is really frustrating, you know," the bubble read. "The link's not all that bad; just take a look, will you? You'll feel horrible if you don't…" Naomi stared at the SD, then at her Internet browser. She sighed. "If this is a virus, it's a really good one. Fine, why not? Let's tempt fate and invite a virus into my life. It's just what I need." The SD character suddenly seemed all smiles, as though it had heard her statement. Then it waved, and the Media Player disappeared. Naomi blinked. Then she moved the mouse and entered into the email. All there was to it was a link. She glanced at it, then at the clock, which was now reading ten forty-five p.m. Well, I'm screwed for that test anyway. I might as well see what all that fuss was about, she thought, and clicked on it. Naomi didn't have too long to wait; almost immediately, the screen loaded. Once again, the fourteen-year-old blinked. All that fuss about an anime website? Granted, it looks interesting, but… Well, that wasn't exactly an accurate description of the site. Indeed, anime characters seemed somehow involved; they lined the margins of the screen, mostly in SD form. The top of the screen showed what looked to be a giant Poke-ball (The hell is this? Pokemon? she wondered) that seemed to project multiple images of shadowy, slim figures. A girl leaned against one side of the giant silver and black ball, and a guy did the same on the opposite side. Both wore odd black belts around their waists, and held what looked to be cell phones in one hand. "Welcome to the world of Bishies," she read underneath the image. "Here is a place where you can interact with the people that you've always dreamed of meeting. Bishies include characters from anime, manga, books, video games, or even movies. You can gain a permit with your Bishies to enter fighting or other such contests, or you can hang out with them. Or, if you're not that interested in Bishies but have always wanted an odd pet to raise, you can try out our Chocobo and Grunty stalls. Or you can raise anything and everything you please! The choice is yours. "The link below will lead you to this world. Good luck on your journeys!" Naomi scrolled down, and sure enough, there was a link. Another SD was hopping up and down on the screen, pointing enthusiastically at the button. Huh, she thought. I guess this is some sort of RPG thing. A good idea, really, but… oh, what the hell. I can sign up tonight and come back to check things out again tomorrow night, if I get a chance. She clicked on the link. At first, nothing happened. Naomi wondered if perhaps her computer was malfunctioning, but she found that she could move her mouse and even click on a few icons on her screen. Then, the screen began to fade, slowly, the bright colors of the site began to meld together into a confusing mix that seemed to catch hold of all of her senses, even as footsteps began to sound outside her bedroom door. The colors created bizarre rainbows and mysterious twilight, swirling on and on. Naomi felt as though she were being gently sucked into something, felt as though she were drifting… Naomi's mother opened the door an instant later to see the computer off, and the room dark. Her suspicious frown melted into an expression of serene sleepiness, and she quietly closed the door to return to bed. She didn't even notice that the room was empty. Nori swore loudly as he made his way through the soaked forest that hid his home. "Someone friggin' falls on me, a fangirl tries to capture me, and it's friggin' raining. What on earth did I do to deserve this?!" At this outburst, the sky seemed to open up further, providing him with a fresh downpour. A vein throbbed dangerously on the youth's forehead as he attempted to brush his fiery locks out of his face for the umpteenth time that day. "I'm not showering for a week," he swore. "Not that I'll need to- with any luck-" this he said sarcastically "- it'll be raining the whole week!" Thunder boomed in the distance. "Damn it. If one more thing happens to me while I'm out here-" At that point, one more thing did decide to happen him. In the form of a confused young woman, who appeared, unconscious, five feet above him, then promptly landed on his back, smushing the young man's face into a pile of fresh mud. If he hadn't been busy getting acquainted with said mud, he probably would have exploded at that point. Instead, he spent a moment muttering obscenities into the ground before pushing himself upright and wiping the dirt and water off of his face. Then he turned around to see who had fallen on him. His eyes widened, then narrowed, his lips forming a tight line as he stared at the young woman. "Another one. Why the frig' does this have to happen to me!?"