The Search for Snoink

The phone rang loudly, waking Grif from his sleep. Grif grunted and rolled away from the phone, but to no avail. The phone rang again. Grif turned towards the phone and picked it up.

"Mehlo."

"Grif?"

"Meh?"

"Grif, this is Mesh. Get down to the Mod Hall now. This is a priority level november-alpha-tango-echo." Grif sat up.

"Confirm, november-alpha-tango-echo?"

"Yes, november-alpha-tango-echo. Get moving." Grif hung the phone up and got out of bed.

"Adelaide, what the heck was that all about?" Grif asked the AI.

"I don't know, all I know is that the same code is going out to all the Moderators and Distinguished Members."

"JM's?"

"They're getting mike-echo-echo-papa directives."

"Put Snoink on the line."

"I tried. No reply."

"No reply?"

"No reply."

"I don't like it," Grif said, putting on his shades.

"Shouldn't you put on your other clothes?" Adelaide asked.

"No. Today I'm going commando... SPEW Commando," Grif said as he left.

"This is only going to end badly..." Adelaide said.

*****

This story is set in YWS City, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty. Snoink has disappeared, so a team of experts has been assembled to find her. Unfortunately, they were hit by a bus, so Nate has to rely on you guys instead. Will you find Snoink before the storybook dies?

Rules: For your first post, you must include at least one Beatles reference. For instance, "No reply" is a song by The Beatles. No repeats, but lyrics can be used from the same song, but not the same lines.

Don't focus too much on your appearance. As Popeye said, "I am what I am."

Don't kill other members. That's just not nice.

You are your normal human self. If you say you're a vampire and then bite someone, you'll be arrested and charged with assault if not attempted murder. None of this super-natural mumbo jumbo. Because this storybook is all about realism.

You can only play yourself. Dono, pick one.

No chatspeak. In YWS City, chat speak = lynch mob.

No member-member romance: this is a realistic story. If you must have a romance, then all romantic sub-plots must include yourself and a Llama. No exceptions.

Note: The Llama can not be a YWS member either. Alpacas are fine.

All posts must be 250 words or more. Posts that are less than 250 words will be given to starving children in Africa.

Snoink has many clones. You may find one Snoink, only to find that she has been bio-chemically engineered by the original Snoink in a mad attempt to gain immortality.

Oink. Grunt. Squeal. Play ball.

Ooh, sounds fun! If you've got trouble, I'm there! One question: Do you have a format or anything? And does this count with one of the two hundred and fifty word posts? This seems like a good idea, so I'd like to join.

Yrclever watched the crazy Llama approaching from the other end of the dirt road.
"Help!" the Llama screamed in a sexy feminine voice, "Snoink is missing."
"Calm down lady," yrclever soothed. "Who did you say was missing?"
"How can you be so darned calm. Snoink is missing. I need somebody. Help!" She paused as if coming to a sudden epiphany. "Who are you anyway?"

A look of sheer shock covered yrclever's face. His response to the Llama would become legend in the days to come. Well, as legends are usually forgotten, this might actually be true.
"Look lady," he said, "I don't know who you are or where you come from, but I'm willing to ignore that fact if it means finding Snoink."
"Call me Llama," the Llama replied gratefully. "But, hey Jude, we got to get a move on."
"Technically the term is dude, Llama," yrclever responded, "but I appreciate the attempt at slang... Anyway, I've only ever dreamed of being a paperback writer before, how in hell's name am I going to play detective?"
"Well," said the Llama seductively, "I think a good place to start looking for clues might be in the farmyard! Besides, what is the point of being a writer if you can't write crime?"
"I think it's time," yrclever said boldly, "that we take a sad song and make it better."

Llama the llama ignored the pounding winds, and walked towards the farm yard. The pair would endeavor to take on the missions of their lives: They would find Snoink, unless someone beat them to it.

Jabber wasn't going.

No way, Jose.

Those judges aren't getting her flute if it was the thing she'd do. And it probably was, but who's counting? No, instead, she was going to do something else. Something dreadful. Something like... cooking.

Her pet cat saw her pull out a pan, and she dashed to the opposite side of the building. A little bit of this, and a little bit of that--this was going to be the best meal anyone's ever had.

Riiing!

Jabber pursed her lips and debated. Phone or food?

That was not a tough decision. She poured in the noodles. The best Mac & Cheese ever!

Riiing!

"It's Jabber, the One and Only! 'Sup, yo? Beep!"

"Jabs, it's Kitty15. Drop the cooking. You know it won't work. Just let it be."

Jabber frowned, turned off the stove, and picked up the phone. "Hi, Mind Reader," she muttered.

"Don't worry, Mind Reader. Someday, it'll work," Kitty15 replied in an attempt to cheer Jabs up. "Right now, however, you're getting a mike-alpha-echo-papa. Or was it mike-echo-echo-papa?"

"Psh, I dunno." Jabber inched toward the stove.

"Let it be, Jabs. And...just meet up with the JMs. And change into your light green suit, please. You're not purple anymore. I'm sorry."

"Aww..." She walked into the bedroom and pulled out the blue uniform from her closet.

"Jabs, this is an emergency."

Curse their mind-reading abilities. Jabber pulled out the light green suit. It was a little tight--to the point where she couldn't breathe, but hey. Rules are rules, right?

"Good luck, Jabs."

"See ya!"

She set the phone down, and yanked on the suit in an attempt to pull it on. Of course, it didn't work, and she was flung across the bed and onto the floor. A groan echoed.

-----------

Note: The mind-reading thing is an inside joke. Please don't arrest me and charge me with assault. -_-

"Hello," Boltageman spoke into the phone.

"This is a code penguin-remote-bookie-bot," A voice said through the phone.

"A what?" Boltage asked.

"You know its like the gorilla-marine-auto-hopper, but worse," The voice said.

"Do you have the right number, cause this is all gibberish to me."

"Stop joking, just meet me at the entry gate in an hour,"

"Wait I'm telling you, you have the wrong dude," Boltage said, but the phone had already hung up, "Great, I guess I better go. Maybe I'll find some answers there."

Hopping out of his messy room, boltage changed, and then poured some cereal. After a hardy breakfast of frosted flakes with strawberry milk he set off and went to the entrance. Passing many frantic mod, and confused blues and black, some purples were confused, but most were running to. What was going on?

Pushing through the crowds were tough, so many people crowded them today. But Boltage finally made it to the gate. There was no one there though, so he sat down and waited.

"Who are you," A voice asked and Boltage looked up to see...

_____________
Someone hop in here, make me very confused to.

"Mission abort, mission abort. Facility compromised. Red alert. All security personnel to their stations and await my memo."

Meep stumbled around in the dimly lit area, her hands groping the air blindly. Is that Firestarter's voice? she wondered. She could make out faint shapes, but nothing recognisable.

There was a sound of shuffling feet and rustle of clothes. Abruptly, a hard object, feeling suspiciously like an Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, struck her head. Meep swayed momentarily on the spot, before the darkness consumed her vision.
*****

A wet, cooling sensation washed over her. Meep's eyes flew open and she found herself soaked with...with grape soda?

She attempted to wipe her face, but her hands were tied down to the chair she was sitting on. She struggled in vain.

There was a faint click, and Meep found a bright lamp being directed towards her, its blinding light seeping past her closed eyelids. "Turn it off!" Meep pleaded to... whoever was there.

"Identify yourself, intruder." A voice barked in the shadows.

"I'm M-m-m-m-meep," Meep whimpered.

"M-m-m-m-meep?"

"No. M-m-m-m-meep."

"That's what I said," The voice growled.

"No. My name is Meep,"

"Liar! Do you think you can deceive us? You just said your name was M-m-m-m-meep!"

"Who's us?"

There was a pause. Slowly, a figure approached her, the light of the lamp gradually illuminated his features.

"Ahhh!!! Help!" Meep shrieked, "It's Create Space Guy!"

"You moron, I'm Teague! How could you mistake me for Create Space Guy?!"

"Sorry, my eyesight's failing me."

"Enough pointless chatter!" Teague snapped, pulling out another chair and sitting herself next to Meep. "How did you manage to infiltrate SPEW?"

"This is SPEW?" Meep asked dubiously, looking around the small room.

"You fool! This is a containment cell! You have trespassed on forbidden grounds, even if you're a Greeter."

"Meep,"

"What? Ah, nevermind. Stop dodging the question! Why are you here?"

"...Do you want a cookie?"

Teague sighed heavily and loosened her light green tie. She was in for a rough night.

“Cat, where are you?”

“June, I’m sleeping.”

“Get your butt up here. You are the reporter. You said you would always be there for anything that happened in the YWS City. This is something that happened. If you are not here, you aren’t doing what you said you would. Plus, lots of people want you to do it….”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Cat stood up from my bed and grabbed her clothes. “Just give me five minutes.”

Five minutes later

“Ah, look at all the lonely people,” Cat sighed as she stared at the picture hanging up in the hallway.

“You always say that when you pass that picture,” Springrain2693 sighed as she started to walk faster.

“Alright, here is the start: ‘As everyone knows who lives in the YWS City, it has always been peaceful and relaxed thanks to the moderators who help keep everything under control. We never had to worry about anything happening, especially anything happening to one of the mods. They were the awesome ones that always watched over us. But what happens when one of them goes missing?’” Cat looked up from her notebook to see what Springrain2693 thought.

“I think it’s good. Have you noticed that you always ask me if it’s good before you show anyone else?”

Cat paused. “Uh, yeah.”

“Okay. Just wondering.” Springrain2693 walked ahead. “But we have to figure out a way to find Snoink.”

“Well, we can’t do it by ourselves. It’s almost impossible.”

“We should get everyone in a group and search for Snoink together as a team!!!” Springrain2693 yelled, jumping up and down. “Yes! That’s it!”

“Good idea,” Cat muttered as she started writing in her notebook. “Good idea.” She paused. “Remind me, was it supposed to be a secret between the mods and junior mods, until someone blabbed?”

“Yep. We are still not sure who blabbed though.”

“Let’s find out.” Cat smiled as she walked out the door into the bright sunlight.

***
I hope that's okay.

"Cat, where are you now?" June asked as she came out of the Instructors headquarters. Cat was standing a few feet away, notepad in hand. "Have you got any news yet?"

"Not actually," Cat said, "everyone is trying to remember where they last saw Snoink-- here comes Evi. I'll ask her."

"Have you guys heard?" Evi gasped, "Someone said Snoink is missing!"

"We heard." Cat said, "who told you that Snoink went missing, though?"

"Um, I'm not sure... I think it was... Rosey Unicorn or Haruno Sakura... no, wait, it was..." Evi scratched her head, trying to remember where she had heard the news. "I can almost be sure it was in the Instructors HQ, but, that wouldn't make sense if Rosey told me. I think I heard something about it from Demeter, though?"

"Demeter?" June asked. "I haven't seen her all morning! I was supposed to meet her in the HQ, but, I couldn't find her."

"I saw her standing there," Evi said pointing towards the direction of the Greeters Headquarters, "but she said something about going home."

"Okay, thanks, Evi." Springrain said, waving Evi off.


"We're not making much progress, Cat." June said with a sigh.


"Patience, June." Cat said, "Every little thing is progress, whether we see it or not."

"You're right, but I just wish everything was easier to see."

"Do you want to know a secret?" Cat asked, her eyes lighting up.

June looked around before whispering, "What?"

"Nothing," Cat said, "it wouldn't be a secret anymore if I told you. And just so you know, it has nothing to do with Snoink."

"Get back to work, Cat." June said, rolling her eyes, "I'll meet you later. I was supposed to finish reviewing projects."

Rosey was jolted awake by the phone ringing.

She opened one eye to find the 'talk' button and put the handset to her ear. "Hello?"

"Be at Greeters HQ in ten minutes. Code Alpha-Beta-blue."

"Wha--?"

"And you can't wear pink."

The person hung up.

Rosey grumbled and put down the phone. Miserable monkeys. They were keeping her from her pink outfits!

Guess I'll have to wear blue... she thought, going to her closet. Not that she didn't mind being blue, but the pink gave things a purply hue. Something she aspired too.

Greeter HQ was almost empty, as usual. Rosey sat down and waited. Soon several blues came in, all looking just as confused as she was. When I get home was all she had time to think before a voice came over the intercom.

"Snoink has been declared Missing in Action. We need everybody's help, including you blues, to find her. Disperse and try to find her. That is all."

Rosey didn't stay and listen to the blue's babble. Somethings about asking everybody that's come into YWS city if they've seen her. But Rosey knew that Snoink was more closely tied to the Instructors then the Greeters. After all, if you went into the deeper parts of YWS city mainframe you would see her comments everywhere.

"Where are you going?" one of the blues asked.

Rosey smiled at them. "Don't worry, I'll be back. After all, we've got planing to do, right?"

Everybody dismissed her and let her go off. Rosey went and cut through some IM allies to reach the Purple side of town. Not many blues dared go here, and the boarders were often closed due to war. But people who spent a lot of time in the YWS mainframe to comment on things were welcomed here.

Rosey ran down to the Instructor HQ, only to be barred by a mod by the door.

"Sorry, no Blue is allowed in here."

"Great." She looked down the street and smiled. "Hiya! June! Cat! Hold up!"

June and Cat stopped and looked behind them. Rosey waved and ran up to them. "So, any news?"

*I forgot about Beatles refrences...here's two that I could think of*
JC had been called to go to Greeters HQ just like everyone else. She saw a few familiar faces but not much. Help! She only became blue a little while ago. Rosey was standing in a corner so she went over to talk to her. She had been the first person she talked to when she first came to YWS City so JC was always eager to talk.

"Hey, Rosey!" JC said, excitedly.

"Hiya JC! How are you?" Rosey said, with a deep in thought look on her face. She was probably preoccupied with the Snoink mystery like everyone else was. JC didn't know Snoink either so it wasn't of upmost importance to her but of course she was happy to help.

"Good." JC replied.

"That's good."

The conversation kinda died off like it always does when JC tries to talk to people. You're such an Eleanor Rigby, she thought to herself.

Soon, Rosey started to briskly walk out the door.

"Where are you going?"

Rosey smiled and said "Don't worry, I'll be back. After all, we've got planing to do, right?"

And at that, Rosey was off.

Maybe I could be of assistance, JC thought. So she decided to follow Rosey without her knowing.

After awhile of hiding behind bushes, JC found out that she was going into Purple territory. She knew that most blues didn't go there but as I already said, JC was a new blue and barely helped out in the war against the two.

She saw Cat and June up ahead. Uh-oh, they spotted her.

*hope this is ok!!*

A phone rang once Jon got home, almost as if it were planned.

Picking it up, "Hello?"

"Headquarters, now." a deep voice said.

Jon's eyes widened, he had heard the rumors floating around of Snoink's disappearance, now he knew. He quickly ran to the corner of his home and lifted a poster up. Behind the poster was a button reading Wisemann210. He had only ever pressed it once, but this was important. Jon, with a fire burning in his eyes ready to search, slammed his fist on the button.

Alarms screeched and the floor dropped beneath him, soon he was sliding through an interconnected tunnel way that lead to the YWS Headquarters. Within a minute he was being thrown out of the tube and into a plush seat, his plush seat.


"Where is everyone? Oh, I know, They're probably too busy putting on their colors." He said to himself. "Well, I guess it's up to me. What are Wise-men for?"


Walking around the large glass table he walked to the Mega-computer. He type in a series of top secret passwords and then watched as his tracking device that he put on Snoink showed up. Everyone thought Jon to be a weaker part of YWS because he didn't have a special uniform/costume like the rest. However he was just about to crack this case wide open. He would surely find Snoink.


A little red circle appeared on the large screen and was near 85th and Broadway.

Broadway? he thought. Why Broadway?

In any case he left the Headquarters to get Snoink. However, he took the only speed vehicle YWS had, The YEWIS 2000. An aerodynamically built flying craft Snoink had built herself. He was soon in the sky and leaning back in the pilot seat, the jet on autopilot. Traveling 400 miles per hour he was sure to get there any minute. He sat back up in his seat and flicked the lever that read, Stealth.

He started descending through the clouds and when he was just 100 feet from the ground, he put it on hover-mode. He opened the top of the craft up and climbed down from an invisible rope. Why he used an invisible rope isn't known, maybe he was just feeling cool.


Once on the ground he looked at his watch and saw the dot in the same place as it had been before, Maybe she's resting He thought.


He went to the exact place on the map where the dot was and he found nothing. He looked everywhere and his eyes stopped on a crumbled up piece of paper on the ground. He bent down and picked it up, unfolding it and making the tracking device fall out onto the ground.

The paper had a note on it which read:


To whom this may concern, I do not want to be found. I am warning you, back off your teams. To SPEW: I will find and hurt everyone of your spies. I will. I am tracking every move you guys make, Leave me alone or you'll regret it.


-Snoink

*Reyu enters Nates bar, which was empty*

"Welcome Reyu, what brings you in here?" Inquired the pessimistic
barkeep.

"I'm not pessimistic you jerk!" How did he hear that?

"This is YWS City dummy, I know everything you're going to say." Replied Nate.

"Ringo Star." Said Reyu.

"Huh? Oh yeah, the Beatles reference. You know, you should put some thought into these things." Nate pulled out a glass from behind the bar and began to idly clean it with a dry rag.

"So do you already know what I'm going to say before I say it?" Reyu has yet to order a drink.

"First off, no. Second off order something."

Reyu ordered an orange juice.

"So, why are you looming about in my bar Reyu? There is a whole City to see." Questioned the mighty chimp. He even kinda looked like the guy from curious George, just give him some yellow rain gear.

"Now you're getting it, I don't take much offense to that." Nate nodded, pleased.

"I'm in here because only two percent of YWS members are twenty one or over. They can't come in here." Reyu took his first drink of the orange juice and grimaced, it had vodka in it.

"I know what you're gonna say, I spiked it. I confess. It's only one shot sissy." Reyu glared at Nate, not liking the current situation.

"Stop cluttering up my bar, go out there and find Snoink." Nate pointed to the door.

"I have no leads. Got any information?" Nate stared at Reyu for a long moment.

"Got any gems?"

Reyu got up and left the bar at that, Nate was quietly chuckling. Reyu opened the door and was hit in the head by a Simon Says game. It was destiny. Reyu turned on his heels and said:

"I challenge you to Simon Says." Nate said nothing, Reyu advanced, and they both played.

"Wow, I cant believe I just hit all those." Reyu had just finished pushing the twenty third button and passed the game to Nate. He flinched, worried, but with practiced movements started to hit the colored buttons. He messed up on twenty one. Reyu smiled.

"Check out SPEW headquarters. You might dig something up there. Take this." Nate handed him a coin.

"What is this?" inquired Reyu.

"Trust me, you will need it." Reyu left then and as the door swung back and forth you could see Nate, staring at the Simon Says game, epically shouting 'no!' with fists pumped into the air.

It was Raining. You know... Rain? Paul McCartney? John Lennon? CATCHER IN THE RYE, CATCHER IN THE RYE!

I'm disappointed at the lack of Beatles references. Fortunately, Reyu put in enough of them to make up the difference. Bonus points for the Sanctum reference.

***

Ten minutes after receiving the message, Grif found himself outside of the Mod Hall. The yellow colored guard checked his ID. This was the uniform of SPEW. They were not seen often, the obnoxious yellow color was enough to blind most members. Fortunately, they were allowed to wear any color they wanted.

"You're clear," Duskglimmer said. The door opened. Grif nodded to Dusky and went inside. The room was full of DM's and Mods.

"You're late Grif, take your seat. Adelaide, begin the briefing," Nate said. The AI nodded, before disappearing into the terminal.

"Snoink's beacon failed earlier today, when we attempted to contact her, she was non-responsive. Her location is unknown and all attempts to locate her have failed. This information is top secret, so naturally the entire forum knows."

There was a murmur of disapproval.

"Our computer network was hacked, I've already identified the leaks and have patched them. Once Nate gets the new YWS running next January, I'll be able to deal with these breaches in real time."

"It was only a matter of time before the members noticed a person like Snoink missing. What do we know about Snoink's last location?" Firestarter asked.

"Her last known position was here. SPEW secured the area and found this object." A hologram filled the room, showing a swirling blue ball of energy.

"I've analyzed the object and it appears to be some sort of gate to another world. I've consulted our Sci-Fi sub-routine and they have confirmed that this is some sort of plot device. They suggest that we put together an away team of members, composed of a mixture of high ranking members who have no business on a mission this dangerous, and a ton of expendable members who can randomly die as they encounter bizarre new civilizations and other associated hazards," Adelaide continued.

"Excellent work. Any volunteers? Not it," Nate said.

She was right outside the Junior Moderator Junior Headquarters (AKA: JM JHQ), fixing her suit so it didn't rid up her rear. The short, junior-sized guard (wearing light green of course--and the suit fit him) looked up at the tall JabberHut. He stood on his tiptoes to read her ID badge. Jabs groaned, ripped it off, and shoved it in his face.

"Gah! Watch it, sista'. No need t'get harsh 'bout it. Let's see... Yup, yer clear. Go right on in, take a left, then right, down the hall, right, upstairs three flights, left, south, north--"

"Wait-wait-wait...South, north?" Jabber wasn't that stupid. "What game are you playing?"

"Monopoly. And I'm making you exercise. Maybe you can lose some height."

"First off, Monopoly's illegal. Scrabble's the way to go. And secondly... Creep." Jabber stuck her ID back on her suit and walked in. There were no hallways and whatevers the guard was talking about. It was just a room. A room covered in light green. It blinded Jabber, and she was always reminded how much she missed her Instructor-ship.

Teague jumped up at the sight of her. "Wait! There are more--"

Too late. Jabber walked right through the second doorway, which shocked her every nerve. She jumped back like a frightened puppy, wide eyes and everything. "What?! What was that?!"

"New security system, obviously. We need to check fingerprints." She stood on the other side of the red-screen doorway, leaning casually against the wall.

Jabber saw the new security pad with ginormous letters FINGERPRINTS PLZ KTHXBAI. She put her thumb on the pad. A few beeps later, she was clear, but the door still didn't open. Grumbling, she looked to the pad. FOOTPRINTS PLZ KTHXBAI. At least the boots fit her. She slipped them off and did a strange, awkward maneuver to put her foot on the pad.

"Uh... Jabs, there's a foot pad on the floor.

"Oh, em gee, it cleared me, okay?" Jabs snapped.

EYEPRINTS PLZ KTHXBAI.

This lasted for quite a while, going through strange sequences until the door finally opened and she could join the rest of the JM squad.

"Isn't that fun, Jabbers?" TL-G Wooster asked, leaning back in her chair and seeming to enjoy life despite the dangers and emergencies. "It's great, especially when it asks for--"

"Who's leading this meeting?" Cade asked.

"I'll do it!" Wooster suggested.

"Nate was supposed to," Caligula's Laundurette said. "Unfortunately, the Mods and DMs got first dibs."

"But they also got Adelaide!" Jabber retorted. "What do we get?"

"We get Teague," Wooster said.

"Don't everyone clap at once," Teague said.

From outside Mod Hall, Evi is pressed up against the side of a window. The conversation inside, or at least the bits she was able to "accidentally overhear", didn't seem too promising. Except the last part.

"Expendable," she muttered grumpily, "I'm sure the members are going to be quite receptive to volunteering under that label. Expendable." She shook her head, trying to catch a peek of this mysterious portal.

"Evi? Hey, Evi, I was wondering--"

Before Demeter could finish the sentence (or blow Evi's cover), she found herself pinned to the side of the HQ building with a hand over her mouth. Evi glared.

"Gah, Demi, can you not see that I am currently attempting to eavesdrop?!?!" she hissed. What would SPEW do if they knew that she had been lurking outside their meetings? She shuddered at the thought, and pressed her ear up against the window.

Silence.

Demeter looked thoroughly concerned. "Evi, are you feeling okay? I don't think this is a very good idea. SPEW is dangerous, you know. I've been here longer than you have, and--"

"I feel fine." But Demeter was right. They should go.

Sneaking around the side of the building, the two of them kept their eyes on the entrance, just in case their presence had been detected. Evi bit her lip. What could SPEW be planning? She thought back to the mention of the mission to save Snoink. Surely every member on YWS would insist on taking part. But then, who would stay back at the forum in case she suddenly returned? And how was SPEW planning to select these team members?

She clenched her fist. Expendable.

Once they were a safe distance away from SPEW HQ, Evi turned to Demeter. "We should head back to Instructor Territory. See what everyone back there knows of the disappearance. Who told you about it?"

"I read it on a blog somewhere," she said.

Evi gasped. "Someone has been blogging about confidential information?"

"Someone has been eavesdropping on confidential information too, missy."

As if she hadn't heard, Evi neared the Instructor Gateway. PurpleBot, an incredibly clever robot designed to recognize Instructors and allow them to enter (and, if programmed by the right person, take over the world), was standing guard, looking quite official. Security at YWS had been stepped up since these strange happenings, so now everything was harder to access; on top of that, Chat had become a monster that sucked up all of YWS City's resources when too many people attended.

"Hey, PurpleBot," Evi said, reaching for her Purple Pass, which she normally kept in her wallet. It would allow her to enter the Purple HQ.

She stopped. Where had it gone? Was it in the other pocket? No. Had she left it at her Profile? It was possible, but it was miles away from Instructor HQ, and they didn't have any time to lose.

Sighing, she turned to Demi.

"Do you have your Purple Pass on you?"

With a wicked grin, Demeter reached into her pocket and produced two very similar cards, both a vibrant shade of lilac. "Yes. and I have yours, too. While you were eavesdropping on SPEW's secret meeting that could possibly decide the fate of YWS City as we know it, I took your wallet."