Twisted Wonderland

Virtual Dice

You walk into the lecture hall with Riddle and Trey to see Idia fiddling with a device. He mutters to himself as he does so.

"Two hours to go until my research presentation." Idia groans. "I've tried everything I can think of to calm my nerves, but I'm still an anxious wreck. Seriously, why do we have to do this in person again? Isn't that asking a lot? Wouldn't it be way easier to use video chat with avatars? My voice software setup is perfect and all, but how sure can I be that I can type in front of an audience without making any typos?"

Grim leans to whisper to you. "Uh, there's some guy mumblin' to himself in the corner of this booth."

Riddle walks over to the flamed haired boy. "Idia? What are you doing there?"

Idia jumps. "WHOA! Instructor Riddle? What are you doing here?" His eyes widen when he sees you. "A-and Y/N."

Riddle quirks an eye. "Since when am I an instructor?"

Idia tears his gaze away from you and holds his arm. "Uh, n-never mind. Forget I said that."

"Are you all set for your on-stage research presentation?" Riddle asks.

"Y-yeah, I'm good, no worries. You'll see for yourself soon enough." Idia chuckles.

Riddle glances at him skeptically. "Your field of specialty, technomancy, is one of the most fascinating areas of study in modern magic. I'm looking forward to seeing you share your insights."

"U-uh, sure." Idia starts backing away. "Anyway, I've got last-minute prep to do, okay? If you want to get in some board gaming, talk with Ortho."

"High there!"

You jump and whirl around to see Ortho hovering in the air. Ortho looks to you cheerfully.

"Riddle Rosehearts. Trey Clover. Y/N. Grim. Hello to you all! Welcome to the Board Game Club's booth! You can enjoy tabletop experiences from all over the world with our club members here. Oh, and you can also play the technomantic VR board game my brother developed!"

"The techno what, now?" Trey asks.

"That sounds cool!" Grim cheers.

Ortho nods. "You put on these technomantic goggles my brother developed. And immerse yourself in the world of virtual reality. Different things can happen to players in the virtual world based on what space the dice puts them on. Rolls are programmed to be completely random."

Ortho rushes over and grabs a headset and the controls and shows them to you. "There's no way to game the dice and make them land where you want. Sometimes you slay monsters in the jungle. Other times you dig for oil in the desert. You consign your fate to a game of chance and make your way toward the goal. That's VR Magical Dice, the latest in board gaming!"

"How's that a board game?" Trey questions.

You let out a small laugh. "That sounds pretty fun."

Ortho smiles, or what appears to be a smiling behind his mask. "Ooh, did I pique your interest? By all means, give it a whirl."

Trey shakes his head. "Thanks for the offer, but we're making our last rounds right now. Could we come by and spend more time trying it later?"

"Oh, that's a shame. But sure, you're welcome to come see us anytime!"

You hear someone chuckle behind you. Turning around, you see Azul.

"Well, well. Hello, everyone. Welcome to our Board Game Club exhibit."

"Hello, Azul." Riddle greets. "I'd almost forgotten you were in this club. I thought you'd be throwing yourself into running the Mostro Lounge for an event like this."

Azul places a hand to his chest in mock offense. "You wound me! I'm a student here too, you know. As a member of a club, it's only natural I would take part in a culture fair. Besides, I've struck up an arrangement with some loafers, ah, I mean, a few of the sports clubs."

Azul grins. "They'll be running the shop and working the stands as drink vendors at each of the main stages. The center of attention at the festival will, of course, be the SDC on the Purple Stage."

"Wow, you've thought of everything." Trey says. "I should be taking notes."

"Jade and I are but two of the many Octavinelle students who belong to arts clubs. We would have been woefully understaffed to handle the expected flood of customers."

Riddle nods. "Oh yes, that's right. Jade started his own club. The Mountain Lovers Club. I did receive a booth application for that. The name sounded more like a sports-affiliated club to me, but I suppose it does count as an art."

"What kind of activities do they do, anyway?" Trey asks.

Azul shrugs. "I haven't the faintest, personally."

"Considering how intimidating the guy founding it is, it's gotta be somethin' scary." Grim assumes. "I bet they dig up crazy stuff in the mountains, and bury even crazier stuff."

Riddle hums. "I wouldn't put it past Jade. Perhaps we should go check on his booth. He applied to hold an exhibit, but there's no telling what sort of mischief he may be up to."

Azul waves a hand. "By all means, pay him a visit. I'm sure he'd be delighted to have company. I assume he'd be all alone and bored out of his skull otherwise."

Azul smiles to you. "Y/N, it's always a pleasure to see you."

You feel your cheeks flush. "Uh, you too, Azul."