[ANNI-24] Online

It took Aliya nearly thirty seconds to turn off her alarm this particular morning. The Mignyan had woken up with quite the headache, and a noisy alarm blaring into her ears certainly didn’t help. She angrily slapped the nightstand next to her until she finally found her phone, before promptly silencing the alarm. Aliya had been feeling under the weather all week, and it seemed like today was no different.

“Of course I get sick the moment I get a class-free week…” She muttered to herself as she sat up. She definitely wasn’t going to be doing anything productive today, not with that headache of hers. But it’s not like she had to be alone all day. She had a whole wide world of entertainment and communication…right at her fingertips.
Looking down at her phone once more, Aliya decided to see how her online mutuals were doing. Technology is certainly impressive nowadays. All it takes is a few taps, and you could connect with crabs all over the world. It was just that easy.

KoCrabKu: Anyone up?

Aliya waited a minute, before reluctantly putting her phone down and getting out of bed. She might as well get some breakfast if she was going to wait for a response.

She had just pushed her toaster’s lever down when Aliya heard the telltale ding of her phone. She rushed over to grab it, nearly falling over in the process.

MakinASplash: Yup.

MakinASplash: I should be asking u the same question. Lol.

That familiar username…oh, it was Tsumni! Their conversations always led to talking about the ocean, or about marine life. But Aliya didn’t mind, especially when she was cooped up in her dorm like this.

KoCrabKu: Feeling sick. And I couldn’t sleep either.

MakinASplash: Dang. That’s rough.

MakinASplash: You wanna mayb

The dinging of her toaster snapped Aliya back to reality. Time certainly flies by when you’re online. She hastily prepared her toast, before retreating back into her bedroom with the cooked bread in hand. Now she could properly read Tsumni’s most recent message.

MakinASplash: You wanna maybe play that new Intergalactic Fishing game? If you feel like it ofc.

Aliya couldn’t help but chuckle. She wasn’t surprised that Tsumni had found ANOTHER fishing game for them to play. She was about to send a reply, but something in her phone’s reflection caught her eye. Aliya slowly looked up, noticing just how quiet and dreary her room looked. Had she really been living in here for the past few days? Like some sort of apartment gremlin?

She was originally going to say no. That she wasn’t really feeling up to it, but they could play another time.

KoCrabKu: Of course I am. Could totally use the company.

Keyword; originally.

MakinASplash: Sweet! I’ll get my private server booted up and ready.

MakinASplash: You’re going to love the new update. They added a new s

POLAND: You guys arent talking about me right

MakinASplash: hark

MakinASplash: Nope

Ah, ‘POLAND’. They were…quite an odd fellow, to say the least. But they seemed nice enough.

KoCrabKu: nuh uh

KoCrabKu: We’re about to play Intergalactic Fishing 2. Wanna join?

POLAND: Hmmmmm

POLAND: Fine

POLAND: But not for long

POLAND: You dont know who you’ll come across on games like that

Alya put her phone down, a wide grin already plastered on her face as she rushed to boot up her laptop. It was old, but it would certainly get the job done. Before long she had loaded up Intergalactic Fishing 2. And true to his word, Tsumni was waiting for her in the game. And ‘POLAND’, whoever they were, was too.

MakinASplash: I bet I can catch a new shark before you do

KoCrabKu: You’re on >:3

POLAND: Theres sharks in this game?

And just like that, the hunt was on.
As she sat on her bed, virtually hanging out with some other crabs online, Aliya felt just the slightest bit better.

It was a good start.