I didn’t know them. Not in the same sense most would think. We never sat at the table to eat together. Never introduced them to my dog. Not properly, anyway. Shared pictures. So many pictures. We considered one another close friends. I don’t know if I was the youngest or the oldest. I do know that I was the only one who remembered what needed trading to whom. They depended on me for that, a lot. They’d hold up a rock, or a core, or a tooth, and go ‘Hey Mirage, do we need this?’

I wish I knew what city they were from. Would help to know if they were dead or just disconnected.

There are two ways it could go. Either they disconnected whole, or they died. Some folks who have managed to come back have confirmed it. A lot of folks were hurt, and neurology is more important than ever, but at least in this server, many folks were booted out. It was a ghost town here, for a long while. Some were reported dead. There is a registry at the town center of people who were confirmed dead, so that people who never met them in life could mourn them. Funerals weren’t a thing this place was built for. We had to invent a way ourselves, and once a tradition caught on, an update rolled out to support it.

Those who ejected more-or-less safely had more harrowing news to bring back to their loved ones.

There have been reports from the others that many accounts have been corrupted, so people cannot log in again. Worse, there are accounts of those confirmed dead, but the account refuses to close, even after the death is reported. The Devs released an announcement, along with the Mourning update. I don’t know which one I am. I do not know if I am a glitch, or a ghost. I’m not sure I want to know.

Kinda wish I was on a server based at home, instead of a distant nation. There may have been a chance of local news getting back to me if I had. As it is, I have to wait until one team or another sorts out all the dots that connect back to me. The generous estimation is several months, for each server. I know for a fact that no one has enough staff to do every server at the same time.

I wish I knew what happened to my friends. I want closure. I can only check the list so many times, not sure what to hope for. I don’t know the names they wore when they went to work, but I have made their server-names part of myself. To look at me and learn my name is to also see theirs. That wasn’t my idea, either. Picked up the tradition from someone else, and they from someone else, and so on. Some profiles have the new Mourned markers next to some names. There are few people who carry any of the same names as I, but I have them saved in my contacts, now. If anyone learns of one, they’ll tell me.

I don’t have to stay in this city of Mourners.

Others have geared up and left, looking to see if people can be stuck in an a certain area. The plot of the game doesn’t matter, really, except that some people might be in places that had to be beaten to return to the safe zones. They might be in a boss battle, unable to defeat it without their party. Some may be stuck in a cutscene, and need other players to help force it to end. I can’t imagine, being stuck like that. I’m glad others are going to help folks. They’re good people.

I don’t know what I’m going to do, exactly. I don’t have a plan.

I only know that if anyone is gonna mourn me, on the outside I mean, they’re already doing it or don’t have to. If I come across someone who’s stuck, I'll probably help. No reason not to. I just. I might be stuck like this. There’s already talk of the servers shutting down, once the cleanup and paperwork is done. I don’t blame them. I have time, but not an entire life’s worth. I have to show people that we can live like this- I refuse to be a glitch or a ghost that needs to be put to rest.

If I can do enough things that the game is not designed to do, perhaps I can prove I am still alive.

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