[SCAVENGERS GUILD HALL]
"It's good to see you guys…how have things been here?" Arthos asked seeing Hector and Percy.
"Crazy, have you seen our guild inbox? We are flooded with over a million notifications and alerts. Applications to join our guild, fan mail, hate mail, requests for meetings, you name it." Hector said.
"Unfortunately, we don't have time to handle all that right now. Let's jump right in and discuss what we have learned." Arthos said.
Wain summarized their findings to the group.
"So, it seems the ring was from earth…but how did it get here in Avalor?" Kristan asked.
The group remained silent…deep in thought trying to connect the many pieces of information before them.
Wain broke the silence by saying, "I have an idea…it's going to sound crazy at first…but just hear me out before rejecting it."
He took a deep breath and said, "What if Avalor is not a game…what if Avalor is real."
"You mean…real, real? As in, real life real?" Arthos asked in disbelief.
"I know it sounds crazy…but think about it. When you start the game, you are given an avatar that you can't customize. It grows and adapts the more you play…merging closer to the real you. When you kill mobs, they don't disappear or vanish…they remain there in that spot. The mobs don't even drop items like normal games…instead you get equipment tickets and coins which are all digital. When you die, you don't respawn…you have to start over from square one…in fact, you have to wait a day or two to restart in a new avatar. Have you ever heard of a game that does that?"
He continued, "then there is the super realistic game mechanics…even the food tastes real. Also, there is the mystery of NAVA and how they make their money. Unlike other videogames, they don't charge players a single dollar. Instead, they pay us to complete quests and…and…the dungeons filled with the…filled with the…the crystals!"
"It's the crystals! Now it makes sense…this whole time…it's about the mana crystals!" Wain said with excitement.
The group remained silent…thinking about this radical theory…what if Avalor was real? What if it wasn't a game?
"That's a good theory, but how do you explain the location? We are clearly not on earth. In fact, there is magic here that doesn't exist in the real world." Percy added.
"Magic is just a form of energy. It's possible that mana is simply energy from the sun…the sun in Avalor is blue-white. The sun on earth is yellow. Blue stars are the rarest in the universe…perhaps life adapted here to take advantage of the unique energy."
He continued, "the old lady said something about Heaven's Gate. Her husband was a theorical physicist…his specialty was exotic matter and space singularities…which includes worm holes. On top of that, Morgan Novaris was also a physicist…what if they discovered a way to create a gate that connects two worlds…earth and Avalor?"
"If that is true, why disguise it like a game?" Hector asked.
"Avalor is a dangerous place. It's full of mobs and magic creatures…too dangerous for ordinary humans to survive. What if they found a way to create synthetic bodies similar to humans but with the ability to use mana."
Arthos interjected, "they would need an army…millions maybe billions of pilots to remotely control the synthetic bodies to clear out beasts and mine for mana crystals…the demand would be too much for one military."
"Who better to control avatars than gamers? If you pay them, you will have billions of trained and capable pilots." Percy added.
"It's a good theory. I'm not going to lie…but there is only one way to find out…we break into NAVA." Kristan said.
[...]
[LUMINA, NEW MEXICO]
[The Next Morning]
"Are you almost ready? We are going to be late." Arthos said as he and Wain waited outside of Kristan's hotel room door.
The group spent some time the previous day brainstorming ideas for how to enter into the NAVA building. Lucky for them, with the release of Avalor's expansion, there were major public events taking place at the NAVA HQ building. Among those events, many nearby schools were invited to tour the building along with talks and presentations given by NAVA recruiters.
After 30 minutes of Googling online, the group found a list of schools that would be attending along with their respective school uniforms.
"If we want to blend in, we will need to go shopping!" Kristan said with excitement.
The three spent the evening at the mall shopping for clothing similar to the school uniform they selected to impersonate. The shopping process took much longer than what Arthos and Wain wanted, but they had a hard time saying no to Kristan.
"Just a minute…just need one last final touch to look the part." Kristan said loud enough to be heard through the hotel door.
The door handle moved, and the door lock rumbled as Kristan opened the door. She walked out with a bright smile; her dark hair was worn up revealing her beautiful facial features. She wore a tailored white blouse, smooth fabric with a faint sheen fitted to her curvy figure. A deep navy-blue blazer was worn on top further accentuating her thin waist and curves. It created the impression of poise and grace. The outfit was completed with a pleated burgundy and navy-blue pencil skirt that gave her the elegance of long lines that were both refined and striking.
Wain's jaw dropped and he turned bright red…Arthos had to prop him up to avoid Wain falling over.
She smiled clearly enjoying the undercover game too much.
She asked, "ready boys?"