"Not yet. I'm trying to decide if I should. But it seems to me that it might be a good idea."

"Roger. You know she'll have a fit about missing classes."

He nodded to George. "I know, but--" he stopped short. His eyes widened and his face twisted with a pain. "Oh dear God," he whispered.

"What is it? Roger!" George now stood beside him, trying to get him to answer. What was wrong? Should he call an ambulance?

Roger stood up. "Something's happened," he said.

"Is it Susanne? What's wrong?" Roger had told him about the Otaku-Guardian relationship, and that a Guardian has a psychic connection to his Otaku. If something had happened to Susanne...

Roger shook his head. "I don't think so. It hurts, but..."

"ROGER!!" Susanne burst into the room, followed closely by Meredith and Zeke. She stood for a moment just inside the room, trying to catch her breath, then fell to the floor. "I... I felt that... I thought... I was afraid..." She looked up at Roger. "WHAT HAPPENED JUST NOW???"

Roger knelt and placed a comforting arm over her shoulders. "We'll find out. Where are the others?"

"In the gate house. We just left them. They're fine."

"I see..."

"Well, I don't," Meredith said angrily. "I don't see any of this. All I know is that Susanne, Zeke, and I all felt something. And Susanne felt it more strongly than we did."

Roger nodded. Yes, Susanne was more deeply involved in the Game. That made some sense. It was one of the others, then. Probably Celly or Nyx. Though he wasn't exactly sure which one it was.

He glanced over to see Susanne's gaze levelled at him and saw that she was thinking the same thing.

Susanne pulled away from Roger, pushed past Meredith and Zeke, and ran down the hall.

"Matte!" Roger called.

George held out a hand to stop him. "She's not likely to go anywhere. She's headed either to her room, the studio, or the garden."

"Not the kitchen?" Meredith said absently.

"Maybe a brief stop to get a coke," George joked. "I'd let her alone for a little bit, if I were you. She'll meditate for awhile, then come back. Most likely with answers."

Roger raised an eyebrow, then walked out in the direction Susanne had gone.