Maze of Twisty Passages, Part 1

“Are you sure this thing is actually working?” Ace asked. They'd been in this new Raid for almost an hour. It had given them a chance to familiarize with the new control layout. But literally nothing had happened. They had walked endless twists and turns with no fights or other challenges in sight. Dee seemed to be tracking where they were, but she was the only one.

“Absolutely,” Dee replied. “I have a unique insight into the matter. We are seeing as close approximation as the Raid sim can manage for human perception.”

“So what are we doing, then?” Zee asked. “Just wondering around, letting this thing scope us out? Or maybe this just its trick? It knows we kick ass in a fight, so maybe it's just given us an unbeatable, endless maze instead.”

“An unbeatable maze would imply a complete disconnect from the outside network,” Dee replied. “And that cannot be true, for here I am, looking from the outside in.”

“So this is you?” Gee asked.

“In part,” Dee replied. “I do not pretend to a level of complete self-understanding. All I know is that there is a vital part to my existence inside.”

A quiet voice broke in. El spoke for the first time since they first arrived. “If this pathway connects it to you, then... wouldn't a trail through connect back to you? Couldn't we follow it?”

“A perceptive insight,” Dee replied. “Precisely what I have been trying to accomplish. Unfortunately I appear to be blocked from that view in some way.”

“Wait,” Zee said. “Like an illusion? A disguise or something?”

“Perhaps,” Dee said.

“There's this new icon on my toolbar called 'Truesight',” Zee said. “I've been messing with it but all it seemed to do was make you look a bit pink.”

Dee paused, turning her avatar to look at Zee dramatically. “What shade of pink?”