"Please choose the pnet you wish to spawn on," Mumei said.

  Looking at the interactive dropdown list, she saw 3 pnets: Earth, X07 and Gaia

  'What sort of name is X07?' Ataraxia thought

  "X07 is a pnet that is simir to Terra. It is the only pnet controlled by the Contractors, making it the only permanently neutral pnet." Mumei expined. "Earth is the Refulgence counterpart and Gaia is the Eventide counterpart."

  'Do you have a recommended pnet to spawn on?' Ataraxia asked

  "Terra, Gaia and X07 are all beginner-friendly pnets since they're the only pnets you can spawn on. But, I recommend spawning on X07 as it is controlled by the Contractor's."

  'Very well, X07 it is.' Ataraxia thought, pressing the icon to spawn on x07.

  'Holy shit is teleportation rough.' Ataraxia thought as she tore off her mask and immediately ran towards a bush to throw up. Looking around, Ataraxia and Mumei found themselves in a picturesque park. Breathing in the fresh air, the sickness Ataraxia felt from teleporting disappeared nearly instantly. The lush trees were a sight to behold, a stark contrast to the withering pnet humans inhabited in real life.

  "You should file a compint with the developers about being mute and ask for a pen and notepad," Mumei suggested, seemingly unphased by the scene in front of her.

  'Good idea.' Ataraxia thought as she put her mask back on and opened her menu. Navigating to the [File a Compint] tab, she wrote: #I'm mute and can't communicate with anyone but the assistant. The assistant recommended I ask you for a pen that doesn't run out and a notepad.#

  'And send.' Pressing the send button, Ataraxia turned her attention back towards Mumei. 'So what do you do now?'

  "I help you accept contracts and jobs. I inform you about things during your time in Kill Zone as well." Mumei gave Ataraxia a brief expnation of her role.

  'Can you fight?' Ataraxia asked, her tone neutral, masking her curiosity with practicality.

  "Hmmm. I would require training to do so effectively since the devs hadn't intended someone to make us assistants fight, but I would be able to." Mumei responded after pondering for a while.

  'Any preferences on weapons or equipment?' Ataraxia questioned, focusing on how to use this new information. 'And what if you... you know... fall in battle?'

  "Not until I've tried shooting and fighting. As for dying, we assistants will always respawn in the morning of every in game day." Mumei ughed at Ataraxia's hurriedness in finding her weapon preferences. "You're really obsessed with guns and firefights, aren't you? You haven't even had a gunfight yet."

  Ataraxia's eyes narrowed slightly, but she chose to deflect the question. 'Anyway, what should I do now?' She didn't like being teased about her eagerness. In her eyes, eagerness was a more positive form of impatience, and impatience causes death.

  "Nothing. Or rather, there is nothing you can do, since you'd have to communicate with people to progress, and you can't exactly do that right now." Mumei said.

  'What if I tell you what to say and you convey it to them? Like a transtor.' Ataraxia suggested.

  "You see. The moment we leave this park, my ability to read your mind will cease to exist, and we'll be back at square one, without the ability to effectively communicate with each other." Mumei sheepishly said.

  'So you're saying, the moment we leave this park, you become practically useless until I can communicate with you, whether through writing or some other way?' Ataraxia asked, trying to get confirmation.

  "Yes," Mumei said sheepishly.

  'What is this prejudice against mute people?' Ataraxia thought with a sigh. 'Do we have phones or something?'

  "Well yes.. but-" Mumei said before she got mentally interrupted.

  'Buuuut?' Ataraxia interrupted.

  "But you need to talk to the guard, who will give you a phone that acts as your main form of contact, marketing etc." Mumei finished, "And you will be forced to speak... So we're stuck here until the devs decide to grace us with their presence... In the form of a notepad and pen. So get comfy."

  'Well... fuck.' Ataraxia said as she headed towards a bench she saw on her way to a bush.

  [You have a new message in your inbox.]

  'Thank the fucking gods. I was about to die from boredom.' Ataraxia thought as she looked at her watch, careful not to disturb Mumei, who was peacefully sleeping with her head on her shoulder. 'It took them 5 fucking hours to respond.'

  Nudging her new friend slightly, Ataraxia tried to wake Mumei up. In the five hours, it took the lousy customer service team to reply, Ataraxia had gradually let her guard down, allowing Mumei to befriend the usually cold Ataraxia successfully.

  'Wake up Mumei. The devs finally responded.' Ataraxia chirped.

  "Mmmhhh." Mumei drowsily acknowledged before realising what Ataraxia said. "They finally fucking responded?"

  'Yup.' Ataraxia nodded as a visual response as well.

  "And what was the message back?" Mumei asked curiously.

  [This request has been forwarded to the Accessibility department. Please wait for a response from them. Thank you for your patience.

  From the Compints Team.]

  'Mumei.' Ataraxia said without hiding her anger. 'I am about to punch the closest living thing other than you.'

  "As angry as I am as well, it would not be good for us if you punched the nearest contractor here." Mumei reasoned as she tried to hold back her anger as well.

  'I waited 5 hours for this.' Ataraxia thought as she massaged her sore eyes. 'You can go back to sleep or something if you want.'

  "Sure." Mumei rubbed her eyes before going back to sleep.

  'She sure can sleep, that's for sure.' Ataraxia thought as she looked at her sleeping face on her shoulder.

  Another 5 hours ter, with both Ataraxia and Mumei asleep, with Ataraxia's head resting on Mumei's, the narrated notification of "You have received a new message in your inbox" served as a loud arm that wouldn't stop bring in Ataraxia's ears.

  'This fucking notification. I'm up, so stop your fucking narration.' Ataraxia drowsily rubbed her eyes.

  Once again nudging Mumei, who stirred awake quicker this time, Ataraxia mentally read out the message to her.

  [Your pleas have been heard and we, the gracious devs, have decided to gift you a notepad and pen that won't run out.

  From the Accessibility Team.]

  'These arrogant pricks.' Ataraxia thought as she felt a vein bulge on her forehead.

  "These arrogant pricks," Mumei said, gnashing her teeth at the arrogance of the Accessibility Team. "Making us wait another 5 hours."

  Patting Mumei's head to get her to calm down, Ataraxia thought of the positives, which weren't plentiful. 'At least we got the notepad and pen.'

  "Indeed. Are you ready to leave?" Mumei asked.

  'I dunno, maybe I'll feel a bit homesick after leaving this park. After all, we did spend 10+ hours here.' Ataraxia joked, 'Of course, I'm ready to leave. So what now?'

  "Talk, or write in your case, to one of the guards and he'll give you a phone and let you leave," Mumei said. "Haaah, I don't think I'm ever going to want to see another tree again."

  Leaving the park, Ataraxia tapped the shoulders of a guard who fell asleep on his job and prepared her pen.

  "Huh wah?" Waking up, the guard looked around, seemingly aloof. Landing his eyes on Ataraxia and Mumei, he sighed in relief that it wasn't his superior who woke him up. "So you just arrived?"

  'More like we arrived 10 hours ago.' Aiko retorted silently.

  The guard handed the duo a phone before letting them through the gate behind him. "Here's a phone. You may leave through the gate. I recommend visiting the General Sector's Head before leaving though."

  #Thank You.#

  "Writing? Are you mute?" The guard asked out of curiosity. Seeing Ataraxia nod, the guard responded, "I see, anyway, welcome to X07, contractor."