“Man, that’s what I hate about playing this late at night!” whined Kuhn. “No cute girls are ever on! They’re all getting their ‘beauty sleep,’ I guess… That’s good for me! But I’m so bored…” To match how late it was in real life, the field Kuhn was wandering around was dark, only lit by a full moon and a million beautifully-rendered stars.

“Thisis the right area word…isn’t it? Pi said the AIDA signal was at [Delta Yada yada yada, didn’t she?” he muttered, stopping in his tracks. “I guess that would explain the lack of monsters… But I haven’t seen any friggin’ AIDA either! What’s—huh?” He went silent when he realized that the field music had changed. He was dumbstruck, listening intently to this track he’d never heard before (and that was saying something; Kuhn had been playing The World for a while). In fact, someone was singing.

Slightly dazed, Kuhn wandered toward the sound (the further he walked, the louder the singing became). He realized, vaguely but happily, that the singer was female.

Maybe, he thought in his stayed-up-too-late-delirium. Maybe I’ll meet her…and she’ll be cute… Man, I had too many jelly beans; I’m losing it…

It was at this point the blue-haired steam-gunner noticed that he was no longer alone. He saw that there was a figure dressed in white, sitting there in the sand near the water, its head swaying slowly side-to-side. Upon further inspection, he saw that it was a girl, with blonde hair that went to her elbows. She looked slightly young, which was odd; most characters in The World were roughly the same age.

“Um, excuse me?” called Kuhn, making an effort to come back to reality. The girl didn’t acknowledge him, so he tried again, stepping over to her. She did look like a regular player, but that was no reason to let his guard down. “Hello? Miss…?” He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, finally getting a reaction.

She gasped and her singing stopped as she turned to look at him. Kuhn blinked. He’d been right; she was very cute… Something about her big yellow eyes just seemed so…innocent. That wasn’t something Kuhn saw a lot of, especially in the girls he dated (probably because he lacked it himself).

“Er, hi,” he said eventually, switching on the charm. “My name is Kuhn and I couldn’t help but notice you sitting out here all alone. What level are you; it’s dangerous out here.”

“Huh?” Why?” she asked, cocking her head to one side. “You mean…my friends? But they’re so nice; they wouldn’t hurt me…” Yup, young, innocent and naïve (that would make things easier…).

“After seeing your adorable face, how could they?” Kuhn flashed the girl a winning smile and she just stared back at him blankly, not responding to his compliment. He decided to try a different approach. “They say music soothes the savage beast; maybe it was your beautiful singing that’s kept them away.” She smiled at this, turning away and looking out over the water.

“I don’t think that’s it,” she told him. Kuhn sighed inwardly; this girl was a little too modest for a girl. “I’m a good girl, so they listen to me…”

“A…good girl?” he asked. That could be a minor set-back… “What do you mean?”

“That’s why I can do that kind of thing,” she replied, confusing Kuhn. She raised a hand, curling her legs up to her chest. Kuhn stared, confused, as a soft glow formed around the girl’s fingertips; what character class was she? And more importantly, what was she doing?

“Wh-what is that?” She glanced over at him and smiled slightly.

“Watch,” she raised her hand above her head and the glow disappeared. For a moment it appeared nothing had happened, but as she lowered her hand, rain began to fall. It was light at first, but soon became heavier. Kuhn noticed that while he (like any other PC in The World) remained dry, she appeared to be really getting doused.

“It’s fun to do things like that,” she giggled, shaking her head and flinging her wet hair all over. Kuhn was amazed at how she could take something that would normally have been so sexy and make it innocent and cute…like her.

“You never told me your name,” he said, finding himself interesting in this odd girl.

“Nope…” she replied simply. “Why do you need to know? Are you leaving?”

“Well…no,” he said, wondering why all her answers were so…strange. He decided to make random conversation; he wanted to learn more about her. “I guess not… So, how long have you been in The World?”

“All my life.”

“No, I mean this World.” She looked at him like he was an idiot.

“Like I said, all my life. This is my home…” she told him. “I don’t spend much time in the towns; I like it better out here by the water…especially when it rains… But Mommy told me she wants me to spend more time with people. That’s why I told my friends to leave; no one seems to like them. But…no one ever comes here anyway… It kind of hurts my feelings. I get a little lonely…”

“Um…are you…I mean… What character class are you?”

“I’m not. I don’t have one.”

“What?! Then…can I have your member address? Maybe it’s—”

“Don’t have one of those either…” she replied, shrugging.

“But if you’re a legit player you have to have both of those! What’re you, a hacker?” That was a major turn-off; Kuhn couldn’t stand people who didn’t respect The World and its rules.

“I dunno,” she shrugged. For some reason, Kuhn didn’t think she was just some sarcastic hacker trying to be coy. She sounded genuinely…confused. “I don’t think so… I’m just…different.”

“Are you…are you actually a player?” asked, finally getting a hunch. She smiled back at him.

“Took you long enough,” she giggled. “A friend of mine once told me I was something called…an NPC. A…self-teaching AI… I never really think about it much; I guess it’s not that big a deal because I’m never around anyone but Mommy anyway. Do you…I mean, are you going to leave now?”

“I…” began Kuhn, unsure of what to think or say. He wondered vaguely,Who’s your “mommy”? Do you have a Daddy? Heh…do you want one…? No! She’s a kid! Stop thinking that way!

“That happens. Whenever I do talk to someone to someone, when they find out that I’m…‘not real’…they always leave. Or…sometimes they attack me…like they think I’m a monster or something…! Like I said, it gets kinda lonely…” she muttered sadly. “I mean…how would you like it if someone said you were an error? A bug in the system…”

“I don’t think you’re an error,” he grinned. “And I’m not going to leave because of something like that. Even if you aren’t playing from a computer, you’re still there; you’re still a part of The World and that’s what matters.” There was a moment of silence between the two, broken only by the rain around them. Then the NPC girl smiled, looking as though she was about to cry.

“I like that,” she said, reaching up and wiping water away from her face (whether tears or rain Kuhn couldn’t quite tell). “I…like the way you said that. You told me your name earlier; what was it?” Ouch.

“It’s, uh, Kuhn,” he replied, putting a hand to the back of his head. “Or Kuhnie to a select few of my best friends…” He laughed nervously and she giggled.

“Well for now, I think I’ll just call you Kuhn,” she decided, standing. He noticed that the rain was beginning to lighten. “I have to leave now. Mommy was expecting me back a while ago…”

“Wh—you’re leaving?!” cried Kuhn, standing as well. “You mean after all that you just said about being lonely and no one staying around you,you’re leaving?!”

“I have to,” she replied simply, shrugging. “Or Mommy’s going to be mad at me. Sorry.”

“Wait, so that’s it? You’re just…gonna go? I…I mean I…” What the heck was he trying to say? He just met this…“girl” 5 minutes ago; why was he tripping all over himself? This was Kuhn! Kuhn! He was the charming ladies’-man that lonely, jealous chumps talked about in The World’s community forum! He was practically famous (or infamous)! So what about this AI/NPC girl was getting him so worked up?

“I mean am I just never gonna see you again?” he asked, sounding way too dramatic.

“Well, that’s your choice; you know where I’ll be,” she replied, giving him the most adorable smile he’d ever seen. It was weird; her smiles were just really….sincere. Unlike most of the people in a game like The World. “Let’s just hope you remember the area words.”

“Oh, wait!” he said as she turned to leave. She sighed and glanced back at him.

“What is it now?”

“You…never told me your name…” he muttered sheepishly, kicking at the well-rendered dirt beneath his feet. It didn’t move much or make a cloud because it was wet.

“Okay. But I’ll only tell you if you promise you’ll have a chance to use it.” It took him a minute (uh-duh), but when he finally figured out what she meant, he grinned again.

“Sure. So what is it?” She smiled as she turned away, raising a hand in front of her. A blue radiance (similar to a Chaos Gate) appeared in front of her. She said nothing, disappearing and leaving him with just a single word in a window on his monitor. Kuhn just sat there in silence, staring at that word. Finally…

“Zefie…”