I slammed my laptop shut, ignoring the pang of guilt over my unfinished Creative Writing homework. After four days slaving on the subject, I had managed to trigger chemistry between my two main characters. Sure, my play needed fleshing out, but that could wait, right? I had till the end of November to submit my work.

Tonight, I would reward myself with a stroll on Rosings grounds, and perhaps invite Theo to accompany me, if he was available and willing.

Giddy with exhilaration, I applied the Bridge, and prepared for my bedroom to fade to the wooded park enclosing the De Bourgh estate. However, an alarming red notification popped up, blinking for my attention.

Update 15.10a:
• New custom NPCs
• Minor bug fixes

This package requires root access to be installed. Do you confirm?

"Of course."

New NPCs? Who could it be? Would my extended family be used to portray the Philipses or the Gardiners? Aww, Jarod and Grace would be precious in Regency outfits.

While I mused with the possibility, the device had completed its maintenance task, and after a few seconds, the melodious tinkle of a nearby watercourse enraptured me. With a nervous giggle, I patted my skirt, confirming that my drawers were not apparent this time, and pronounced the passphrase.

"Hey, let's do Get Help."

To my dismay, no one appeared. I turned my head left and right, spotting a track leading down a steep hill, a shrub of wild strawberries, and two squirrels, fighting for a stash of hazelnuts.

I lowered myself down on a dead log, and eyed the muddy path, debating if I should stay in this clearing or go in search of Theo, when a tall silhouette, hastening in my direction, caught my attention. I peered at the gentleman's face, the shadows cast by the surrounding trees preventing me to assert his identity. Upon glimpsing at me, he raised both arms, gesturing for me to stay put. At last, he passed the grove, and I exhaled at the sight of Darcy's enthusiastic grin.

Once he had reached the little hill I was waiting on the top of, he waved a white envelope. "Hello."

"Hello to you too." I giggled, motioning for him to join me on my makeshift bench.

He sized up the hill, took a few steps back, then sprinted up the mired track. Or should I say attempted the climb? The first foot he put on the fresh slush sent him, arms flailing about, down on his noble arse.

With a frightened gasp, I hurried down by his side, and helped him stand up. "Are you okay?"

His hand brushed his soiled lower back, and he flinched at the touch. "Yeah, I'm alright." An adorable pout turned down the corners of his mouth. "But Darcy's confession letter has seen better days."

Indeed, the envelope containing the truth about Wickham's past laid in the dirt, soaking up the brown water of a gleaming puddle.

I shrugged. "Don't worry. I know he fed me lies."

Theo offered me his arm, and I accepted it right away, my skin prickling from the awareness of his presence. His real presence. He guided me towards the lane bordering the property, his pace aimless and leisurely. When a row of beeches shielded us from the glazed windows of Rosings Park, he broke the silence. "I thought you'd never call."

My heart sang in elation, and it took me an awful number of seconds to reign it in and provide a composed reply. "I was working on my assignment."

"Oh. What are you studying?"

"Creative Writing. For my English Literature Bachelor of Arts. I aim at working in advertising."

He beamed at me, his smile instilling glee in my walk. "I knew you were the artistic type."

"Did you?"

"Yeah. Your digressions were particularly difficult to handle."

I giggled, remembering my torturing Darcy on the dancefloor. "Sorry if I caused you trouble."

"Meh. Don't apologise. You challenged me, and forced me to up my game. I gotta admit that I haven't felt this stressed out since my internship."

"Under Victoria Kowalski's mentorship, right? How is she? Is she as awesome as she seems to be? Oh, my goodness, I cannot believe you know her."

A mocking smile crept up Theo's face at my fangirling. "She's a wonderful person. Kind, generous, excellent pedagogue. Not to mention her exceptional coding skills and understanding of the human mind. People say she's unsociable and prefers working alone, but that's because it takes her a while to warm up to someone. I count myself amongst the lucky few."

"You guys sound close. Were you saddened by her leaving InfiCorp?"

I regretted my curiosity when a grieving expression dulled his blue eyes. "I haven't seen her since the end of summer, but she helped me settle in with the DigHandling team, and ensured that my on-call shifts would not impact my studies."

"IT studies, I presume?"

"Not at all. I am majoring in Psychology at McGill. Computer science and programming are just a hobby. Well, a hobby that pays the bills and the university tuition."

"Aren't you full of surprises?" I elbowed him playfully with our linked arms. "Kinda like Miss Bingley. I loved how you improvised and made her enjoy calculus."

Theo scratched his head. "That wasn't exactly me. I panicked when you kidnapped her, and asked a colleague to step up. She dived into Caroline while I donned Darcy's appearance."

"Two DigHandlers, just for me? Should I be flattered?"

"Two? What about the Netherfield ball? Counting her and my other colleague in Sir Lucas' shell, we were three poor wretches, beating a hasty retreat from your formidable ire." At my satisfied chortle, he concluded, "I believe that was a record for the Montreal team."

The lane we were strolling on brought us out of the plantation, and soon enough, Hunsford came to view. Unwilling to spend time listening to Mr. Collins instead of discovering the Pride and Prejudice universe, I proposed, "Let's keep walking. I wanna see if there is a temple similar to the one in the 2005 movie adaptation."

"Sssh." Theo put a hand over my mouth and led me under the shade of a birch tree. He glanced at the parsonage, and, content with its quietness and immobility, explained, "Be careful when NPCs are nearby. Our behaviour might have triggered a manager's dive, to monitor my handling of your digression. And as I told you, I'm not allowed to mingle with players."

I nodded in understanding. "Is that why you hid under your hoodie the other day? Aren't you a bit too cautious? The probability of someone recognising you, guessing that I'm a Bridge user, and going through the hassle of reporting you is almost nil."

Darcy's gaze flickered. "I guess you didn't read the Terms and Conditions when you allowed the device to access your memories?"

"What if I didn't?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Security section, paragraph 6. To protect the intellectual property of InfiCorp, should the Bridge owner wear the device at nighttime, the engine will use the opportunity to analyse their daily interactions--including out-game interactions--to ensure that none contains the proof of a security breach."

"Okay..." I mumbled, unsure of the meaning of this.

"In other words, the memories of all Bridge users wearing their device while sleeping will be dissected in search of the unauthorised interaction of an employee with a gamer."

"Oh." I peeked at the peaceful little cottage, half-expecting a SWAT team to burst out of it and slam us to the ground.

A glance at Theo's anxious face achieved to distress me. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realise you took such risks to meet me."

With a tender smile, he tucked a stray hair strand back behind my ear. "Don't fret about it."

A soft sigh escaped my lips. "I wish there was somewhere safe, either in the real world or here, where we could chat without fearing to be overheard."

His brows furrowed while he chewed on his lower lip. "There might be something. Victoria revealed to me her backdoor to a secret and private virtual space. But perhaps her code has been discovered and erased in the meantime, or maybe I won't find it, unless I'm simply unable to wrap my mind around the algorithm and copy it."

With a hesitant smile, he swirled me around and pushed me towards Hunsford Parsonage. "I'll contact you when I'll have an update. Speaking of which, did you accept the latest Bridge hotfix?"

"Yes, I installed it today."

"Great. I'm relieved."

I cocked my head to the side. "Why?"

"I suppose I can reveal it at present. Hackers have been able to remotely connect to Bridges and extort memories from sleeping users. It took the Cyber Security team a few months to notice the increase in used bandwidth. They've been working non-stop this week to deliver a correction."

"Oh, my God. What were they even doing with the memories?"

"They sold some to people interested in living other persons' experiences. The copied memories also contained confidential data, such as passwords, or secrets. I believe there was some blackmailing and industrial espionage."

I shuddered at the idea that a pirate could have explored my brain and stumbled upon my unhealthy Backstreet Boys addiction.

Theo shooed me, his stare on the sun. "Go, now. I have to delete our conversation logs and take Darcy back to the mansion." He wiggled his brow up and down and added, "Unless you want me to leave him here with you?"

With an embarrassed chortle, I started on the gravel walk leading to the cottage, and whispered, "I might rewind, anyway. Don't wanna miss the events following the ball."

"See you, then." After a few moments, Theo's steps faded away in the direction of the estate.

"I'm back home." I announced my return in the entrance, and tugged at the yellow ribbons maintaining my straw hat.

Mr. Collins opened the parlour door and exclaimed, his palms turned heavenwards and an ecstatic expression plastered on his face, "Miss Elizabeth. Lady Catherine did us the honour of visiting after breakfast."

Lady Catherine? Yikes.

Though I was curious as to the Bridge rendition of this stuffy character, it was time to resume the original timeline.

"Bridge, could you please rewind to Mr. Collins' proposal?"

The green walls of Longbourn breakfast room materialised around me, along with a chilly draft to remind me that I was back in November.

I inhaled deeply, scramming all my meditation classes into putting up with the nonsense to come.