Wishing Phantom a nice day, Alan stepped back into the elevator, taking it to his quarters. The elevator rose a few floors until it emerged from the field that prevented AIs from working, opening up into Alan’s new quarters. He had expected a small dormitory at best, perhaps a cramped space similar to his bunk in the Haxlard ship. Instead, the door opened to reveal a luxurious suite, complete with bathroom, which had a sauna and bath, a kitchen with a food dispenser, meaning Alan never had to visit the cafeteria again, a small personal gym, basically a smaller version of the treadmill room Alan had trained in earlier, a king-sized bed with giant screen, and what was labeled as a communications/media room.

As it was about time to begin his meeting with Icewolf, Alan entered the communications room. With Eve’s help, Alan was able to quickly start and set up the secure communications protocols on the device, although the settings and controls were fairly self-intuitive. Alan was sure he could have set up the call himself. Probably.

He began the call to Icewolf, who answered almost immediately. A screen appeared before Alan, displaying Icewolf, as lean as ever. With large bags under his eyes, Icewolf appeared more stressed than Alan had ever seen before. He wore a battered dark suit of light power armor that looked almost identical to the basic Scout Power Armor Alan first received. Behind him there was a dimly lit metal space, like a solitary confinement cell. Alan noted that the communication protocols Eve had set up simply showed Alan with a completely black background.

“Adampwnage! Or, I guess Alan now. Great to see you in the Game. Congratulations on joining the Black Rose guild! You and Kitana are only like the thousandth or so human to join a major faction,” Icewolf said to Alan, smiling widely.

“Um, thanks, it’s good to see you too," Alan said. "It really wasn’t much, Eve did a lot of the work.”

“Nonsense! Modesty doesn’t fit one of Earth’s brightest prospects. Trust me when I say I expect you’re going to make waves. I hear you’re going to the Academy and everything! Well, anyways, I guess I’ll cut straight to the chase, I’m sure you’re wondering what your class quest will be,” Icewolf said.

“Class quest? Oh, right, you’re my rogue mentor. So you get to choose my class quest or whatever? Maybe something easy?” Alan said.

“Ha! You wish. Unfortunately it seems almost all the quests I can offer you are difficult, but with great risks come great rewards, right?”—Icewolf scrolled down, looking at a screen before him—“I decided on a specific task a while ago, one which I hope you’ll be up to. I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but things on Earth are not as stable as they appear. Have you been following the local news lately, Alan?” Icewolf asked, looking up from the screen.

“Um, not quite…” Alan said sheepishly. He silently requested that Eve send him the most recent headlines on Earth. A number of articles appeared before him. Alan read them quickly, mouth agape. Each listed a series of escalating terrorist attacks and bombings around the world, all perpetrated by the Legion of Man. Within the Game, of course.