It had started, as many of these things do, innocuously enough, with Kaydence Roberts returning home from a Friday night outing.
The downtime between Kobber seasons was fast becoming something she appreciated. The months between frantic battles, mystery solving and punching bad guys had become her 'me time', as she'd put it. Do some shopping, catch up on her socials, do extra streams for additional income. And, on the odd night, she'd make a beeline for the town and do what she loved best - drinking and dancing. The perfect way to not worry about villains or reality twisting itself into a knot.
And this had been a productive one, too. Cheap drinks thanks to a special offer at her favourite dive bar. The local club had played all the old dance standards when she'd arrived. And an encounter with a very handsome young man which, without going into details, had ended with swapped numbers and a promise to look each other up again.
So she was in a very good mood indeed as she reached her front door and, after fumbling with the keys for a moment, unlocked the door and threw it open. Flushed and grinning, she sauntered straight to her bedroom and immediately began to undress. Alcohol still buzzing away in her system made her careless, elated and unworried by any expectations of decorum. She was all too ready to immediately slide into bed, without even showering or putting on pyjamas, and drop right off to sleep, knowing that the weekend was coming up and she didn't have to do squat the next day.
Then she saw the envelope on her bedside table.
It caught her attention initially because the whiteness of it stood out so sharply against the black wood finish of said table. But when she stopped and actually looked at it, she realised why. Because it was a level of white that was... well, unnatural. Even for paper. It was so pristine and pale that it looked as though it had been dipped in bleach.
"The fuck?"
She picked it up, noting how light it was even for something made of paper, and turned it over. There was nothing on the front. No name, no address, just a completely blank white sheet. And that was even weirder than the fact that it had just... appeared.
She stood there in her bedroom, fighting against the mild drunkenness fogging her brain as she went down the list of options. Did she lock her door before going out? Stupid question, she was fumbling with the keys not more than a minute ago. Did she shut her bedroom window? A quick glance over at the pane confirmed that no, she had indeed closed it - the curtains did not rustle with the chilly March breeze. Had there been some other method by which somebody had snuck in? She wasn't sure, but then again, she was drunk...
Deciding not to dwell on that idea, she ripped the envelope open.
If she'd been confused by the presence of the blank envelope, she was utterly bewildered by what she found inside it. A piece of material that might have been plastic, but shimmered a bit too much for that to be true, no bigger than a birthday card. The entirety was plain white, almost the same shade as the unnatural whiteness of the envelope, with the exception of a golden border around the edges.
No, not plain. When she turned it over, she saw words, seemingly engraved into the material.
CONGRATULATIONS
Kaydence Roberts of Earth ZF-001,
You have been cordially invited to participate in the
16th PARALLEL GAMES
To confirm your acceptance to participate, speak aloud before
APRIL 30 2026
(according to your dimension's timescale)
and further details will follow.
If you have further questions, speak them aloud.
Her drunk mind, already not putting in much effort when it came to rational reasoning, threw up its metaphorical hands altogether.
"...am I being punk'd?" she asked aloud. "Because if I'm being punk'd-"
And then, suddenly, she wasn't there.
