Excited to test out his new armor and abilities, Alan hurriedly exited the capsule, but when he glanced at the time, he realized that it was nearly 7 p.m., five hours after the final assessment was to take place! He quickly messaged Phantom.

Alan: Hey, did I miss the final assessment!?

Phantom: Yeah, there were a few… complications with the upgrades I did. As you should see, everything worked out in the end, just took a bit longer than I expected. There was no need to participate in the final assessment, as you already joined as my squire, right? Anyways, I can send you the VODs if you want later.

Alan: I sort of wanted to test my new armor and implant. It seems like it synchronized with my class.

Phantom: That was one of the complications, getting it to work with that Machine Lord augment; it's quite the piece of work. Anyways, it worked out in the end, and you may get the chance to test your new stuff sooner than you think. Keep your abilities hidden, it will keep people guessing. I'm not saying I don't trust other people in the guild, there's just lots of friendly competition. Anyway, come to the Great Hall, there’s a celebration for all the new recruits.

Alan: Eh, parties aren’t really my thing, I think I’ll go to a training room.

Phantom: Do you want to embarrass me, squire? Come to the party, and that’s an order! An opportunity for you to earn credits might arise. Oh, one more thing, don’t use the X-Ray or Program1 vision while on guild premises. The amount of trouble you’ll get in otherwise is no joke.

Alan: Okay, see you at the party, I guess.

Alan walked over to the Great Hall, testing out his new implant. Unfortunately, walking and moving with a different magnification of vision was practically impossible, as it threw his sense of direction and balance way off. Additionally, he was having trouble understanding what he was seeing when he looked around with a different type of vision, accidentally walking into a couple of different animate and inanimate objects. If he closed his eyes and concentrated, Eve could now show him detailed objects or diagrams in his mind’s eye too. This would definitely be explored further later.

Eventually, Alan made his way into the Great Hall. Within, he found a raucous crowd of recruits, gleefully consuming all manners of food and drink, relieved at having managed to successfully join the guild. With a quick glance around, Eve easily found Kitana, who was talking with Sidestep and Aurora. Besides them was Aurora’s mother, the guild leader Elissandra. As Alan approached the group, Elissandra gestured for Alan to come over.