A World Apart - by LFox (c) 2007 - 2008
Special thanks to my friend Collins for his help on some things

A group of three teenagers sign up to a virtual reality game called Eden.  In Eden there are no experience levels or stat points and death in the game means death in the real world.  Combat and magic experience must be self learnt through painful months and years of training.

The group is quickly captivated by the realistic and refreshing atmosphere the medieval fantasy world offers.  This follows the first month of their adventures showing what a massive impact a mere game has on their lives.

(c) 2007 - 2008 by LFox
A World Apart
Chapter 01: Welcome to Eden

Year 2057
Eden Version: 2.74

School is in session, students sit in white chairs behind glass desks armed with laptops.  Their attention is squarely focused on the front of the class where a large glass hangs against the wall with the various mathematics equations from their current session.  The teacher in front wearing a white lab coat looks to be a skinny Russian man in his early 30s with short spiky blond hair.  He promptly pushes his small round glasses back in place with a finger as he looks over the class.

“That will be all for today.  If you had problems with anything please review it at home or stay after class”

He turns to the glass board and taps the side causing everything on the board to be instantly wiped clean.  A young 16 year old boy named Nathan relaxes back in his chair.  He has short brown hair, blue eyes and wears the school uniform like everyone else.  The uniform itself is a suit which consists of black pants, a white shirt, a white jacket that has the school emblem on the front and a red tie.  Females wear the exact same thing with a skirt substituting for a pair of pants.

As Nathan relaxes a young girl the same age as him appears overhead.  His childhood friend Jessica, her green eyes sparkle and her strawberry blond hair hangs down to her chin as she smiles at him.

“You coming to sign up to Eden?”

Nathan stares up her blankly.  “I don’t know I’m not sure I want to”

“Oh come on it's so awesome you gotta try it out.  Besides it's more fun if all 3 of us start out together”

The final person of their trio and the other childhood friend of Nathan, a female student named Elisha walks over to them.  Her long raven black hair hangs down to her shoulders as her cold logical brown eyes look forward at her friends.

“So, what’s up?”

Nathan spins his chair around to face her.  Jessica looks at her with a somewhat annoyed expression.  “I'm trying to get Nathan to join us in Eden but he’s still as indecisive as ever”

Elisha shoots Jessica a cold glance.  “Hmm I thought you said he was coming?”

Nathan perks up and looks up at Jessica seeming surprised.  “You what?”

Jessica quickly smiles brightly and waves her hands about.  “Well I was sure I could convince you”.  She suddenly puts on a more serious expression.  “Come on at least try it they got 7 day guest passes and it doesn’t cost a thing”

Nathan gazes up at Elisha still seeming unsure.  Elisha smiles “You do have to try it, it's pretty amazing”

Nathan lets out a heavy sigh of defeat.  “Fine”

Jessica pulls her arm down in victory.  “Yes”

Nathan cuts her victory short as he speaks.  “BUT” Jessica goes silent and looks at him.  “That’s assuming my parents will sign off on it.  After all you need a guardian’s permission if you’re under 18 right?”

Jessica turns pale.  “Y-yeah...I, I forgot about that”

Elisha doesn’t seem bothered by that news as she flicks her hair back with a hand.  “I'm sure your parents won't mind”

Nathan leans back in his chair seeming deep in thought.  “Well my dad will probably be fine, I'm not so sure about my mum though”

“Well you only need one guardian’s signature”

“Alright lemme call my dad”

Nathan pulls his mobile out of his pocket and flips it open.  He flips through the menus quickly then hits call.  After a few moments of ringing a man in his 40s with short brown hair wearing a grey suit appears on the screen.

The man smiles.  “Oh hey Nathan what’s up?”

Nathan looks a little uneasy.  “Hey dad listen I gotta ask a favor, you know that game Eden right?”

His father puts on a serious expression.  “That virtual reality one?”

Nathan nods.  “Yeah”

Elisha leans toward Jessica and whispers.  “You think he'll allow it?”

Jessica looks a little agitated and whispers.  “I sure as hell hope so, it's more fun if all 3 of us go”

Nathan’s father lets out a sigh.  “So you wanta join your friends playing this?  I don't know it's pretty dangerous isn't it?  I mean if you get killed in the game you die in the real world”

Nathan rubs the back of his head and seems a bit worried as he tries to think of a convincing argument.  “Yeah, I know, but I know Kendo anyway so it's not like I'm defenseless or anything.  Please”

Nathan’s father lets out a heavy sigh.  “Alright alright, I’ll meet you over there.  I'll just...have to think of a way to tell your mother”

Nathan looks relieved hearing his words.  “Thanks”

As he ends the call and puts his mobile away Jessica jumps in the air and yells.  “Alright we’re all set”

Elisha heads for the door.  “We better head over there”

As they come out into the parking lot their greeted with the familiar scene of hundreds of motorbikes standing about while several dozen students go up to them and drive off.  Outside the school the grass is lush green, the hedges well trimmed, the decade old school buildings stand as white monuments, their large glass windows sparkling in the sunlight.  Most importantly not a spot of graffiti or chipped paint can be seen on the magnificent structures.  Ahead of them beyond the parking lot hundreds upon hundreds of glass skyscrapers disappear into the clouds overhead.

Nathan grabs a helmet off one of the motorbikes and hooks his school bag onto the side of it.  Across from him Elisha puts on a helmet of her own and secures her own bag on a motorbike before hopping on it.  As Nathan climbs on the motorbike Jessica quickly puts on a helmet and takes a seat behind him with her arms wrapped around his waist.

Nathan sighs and glances back at her.  “I wish you would get your own bike so you wouldn't have to ride with me all the time”

Elisha smirks.  “If you ask me she deliberately doesn't get one for that very reason”

Jessica shoots her an angry glare making Elisha smile.  Nathan revs up the motorbike.  “Alright alright let’s go”

He quickly speeds off, Elisha not to be left behind quickly revs up her motorbike and speeds after him.  As they drive past the streets look spotless, completely devoid of dirt, graffiti and homeless people.  Like the school building the other buildings look brand new, almost sparkling under the brilliant sunlight.  Police patrol every second block and young mothers walk busily about without a care in the world or fear of being mugged.

After only several minutes of driving the gang comes to a massive skyscraper.  They quickly turn in on the driveway that goes by the entrance and drive down to the underground parking section below the building that goes almost half as far down as the building goes up.  As luck would have it they manage to find a parking spot close to the entrance between the hundreds of cars and motorbikes.  They quickly park their motorbikes and head over to a nearby elevator.

After a moment they arrive at the ground floor.  Inside the building is massive spanning almost a hundred floors up.  The main hall is a round circular area with beautiful brown painted walls and a grey marble stone floor.  To the side a set of massive glass doors lead out to the front.  Beside the entrance on one side is a stylish brown counter for room assignments with computers setup manned by a pair of male clerks.  Across from the main desk are several chairs beside large plants that face a large section of wall.

On that wall is a massive TV screen taking up almost the entire wall with a dozen smaller TV’s around it.  The large TV plays out various scenes around Eden while the smaller TV’s phase in and out showing fighting and the beautiful landscape of the world.  Overhead the TV’s is a massive sign saying “Welcome to Eden”.  On either side of the TV’s are rows and rows of glass railing as each floor looks down into the main room.  Finally a pair of glass elevators sit next to the pair of elevators the gang up from.

As the gang walks over to the main desk they find Nathan’s dad already standing there waiting for them.  Seeing them he smiles and waves.

Jessica smiles brightly.  “Hey Mr Wells”

“Evening Mr Wells” says Elisha.

He smiles at them.  “Hey Jesse, Elisha.  Alright let’s get you signed up shall we?”

Nathan and his dad head over to the main desk and start talking with one of the clerks.  Jessica glances to her side at Elisha.  “This is gonna take a while”

Elisha walks over to the seating.  “Come on let’s sit down”.  They both sit down next to each other and gaze up at the TV’s.

At the desk Nathan’s dad has a flat metal panel in front of him that’s displaying the terms of agreement on its screen.  He glances at Nathan.  “You’re sure about this?”

Nathan nods.  “Yeah”

Nathan’s dad quickly whips a pen across the panel as he signs his signature.  One of the attendants takes the flat panel and says “Alright, that’s done”

The other attendant steps away from the desk.  “If you'll come with me we'll finish creating your account”

As Nathan walks off with the attendant his dad lets out a heavy sigh.  Seeing his concern the other attendant speaks up.  “Don't worry about it he'll be fine.  Both of my kids have been playing this game for about 6 months now and their perfectly fine”

Nathan’s dad looks at the clerk still seeming unsure.  “Isn’t it dangerous though?”

“A bit but it generally depends on the person.  My kids took lessons in martial arts, I'm not sure how handy martial arts can be but they always say it's a big help”

“Well Nathan took lessons in Kendo, honestly I never thought that it would EVER be of any use but he enjoyed it so what can you do?”

The attendant smiles.  “He’ll be fine then.  People who know martial arts, archery or some sort of sword fighting seem to really breeze through things in Eden”

Nathan’s dad taps his hand on the desk.  “Well I gotta get going.  You don't need me for anything else right?”

The attendant smiles.  “Nope that’s everything.  We can finish up the rest without you”

“Okay good, see ya later”.  He walks over to where Jessica and Elisha are sitting.  “Listen girls I’m gonna take off I got things to do.  Just do me a favor and look after Nathan okay?”

Jessica smiles.  “Don't worry Mr Wells we'll be careful”

“Thanks, see ya”

They wave to each other and he quickly leaves.  Jessica stares up at the TV’s watching the beautiful scenery that’s being shown.  “Eden is such a beautiful place.  I can’t wait to explore it more”

Elisha sits beside her with a serious expression.  “It might be pretty but a lot of those places are high level zones so they’re not exactly safe for people like us”

Jessica seems a little sad.  “I guess…man how long is it gonna take for them to create his account?”

Elisha shoots her an annoyed glare.  “God your impatient we haven't even been waiting 2 minutes yet”

“Mmm, but it's boring”

Elisha lets out a sigh.

After waiting for about 15 minutes the Attendant and Nathan come back.  Nathan’s holding a thin metal panel that has The Eden Handbook embroided on the front.

Jessica stands up.  “FINALLY, god that took forever”

Elisha glares at her.  “That coming from someone who almost fell asleep in the 15 minutes we were waiting”

Jessica turns to her angrily.  “I was not falling asleep, I was resting my eyes”

Elisha flicks her hair back with her hand ignoring her.  “Whatever”

The attendant motions his hand over at the main desk.  “If you come over to the front desk I’ll book you in a room.  All 3 of you right?”

“Unfortunately”

Jessica shoots her an angry glare.  “What did you say?”

Elisha smiles and waves her hand.  “Nothing, nothing”

Nathan glares at them.  “Knock it off you two”

They walk over to the main desk and the attendant walks around behind it and goes to work on the computer setting up a room.  He grabs a keycard from a box and slots it into a small disc drive like unit.  He hits a button on the computer and the keycard is quickly reprogrammed and a small paper prints out from the top of the unit.  He grabs the keycard, the paper and with a smile hands them to Nathan.

“You’re in room 367 on the third floor.  Just punch in the code and swipe the card.  When you’re done bring the card back to the main desk”

Nathan nods.  “Okay”

“Do you need some help to get logged in the first time?”

Jessica smiles and grabs Nathan’s arm.  “It’s okay I know how it works so I can show him”

“Alright have fun then and be careful.  And don't forget to read through the handbook later it has a lot of important information”

Nathan glances down at the handbook in his hand.  “Right”

They head over to the elevator and quickly take it up to the third floor.  Jessica grabs the keycard and the paper off Nathan then starts leading them through the corridors while looking at the numbers on the doors.  Suddenly she stops and looks around.

“Hmm it should be around here somewhere”

Elisha looks to the side then points at a door labeled 367.  “There 367”

Jessica walks over to the door and looks at the access panel that has two red lights.  She quickly swipes the keycard and one of the lights turns green.  “Hmm let’s see the code is…” she starts punching in the code.  “These things are so long”

“That’s for security reasons” says Elisha.

As Jessica finishes punching in the code the access panel chimes and the other light turns green as the door unlocks.  Jessica smiles.  “There we go”

As they walk through the door Nathan looks around.  “Wow they really need all of this equipment?”

In front of them the room is domed shaped.  Inside the room are three full length padded chairs in laying positions built into large machines with a console on the side and several mechanical arms on the side for injecting needles.  Overhead are three helmets one for each chair, the helmets themselves resemble buckets more than actual helmets as their meant to cover the entire head.  The helmets hang from the ceiling by a metal arm that can be moved around and extended as required.  The top of the helmets however have a large mass of wires the size of a thick block of wood that runs along the mechanical arm and extends into the ceiling.

Jessica turns to Nathan with a serious face.  “Listen make an elf character and stay exactly where you arrive okay?  Me and Elisha will be there in a moment to meet you”

Nathan nods blankly.  “Okay”

Jessica walks over to one of the chairs.  “Alright now hop up on the chair and lie down”

Nathan looks a little uneasy but does as he’s told.  Jessica grabs his right hand and puts it over a screen like panel on the side of the chair.  She then reaches up and gently pulls the helmet down over his head and tightens it with a strap under his chin.

Once the helmet is properly in place a female computer voice rings out around the room.  “User detected, enable login sequence?”

Jessica looks down at Nathan.  “Just say yes”

Nathan quickly responds.  “Yes”

“Initiating login sequence”

The helmet around Nathan’s head tightens as thousands of censors take place over his head.  The screen his hand is on flashes with light momentarily as it scans his finger prints then a small needle stabs one of his fingers as it takes a blood sample.  A light flickers under his helmet briefly as the helmet scans his eyes.

The computer voice fills the room again.  “User confirmed”

Nathan’s body suddenly goes limp.  Jessica smiles.  “Alright let’s get logged in”

Elisha looks down at Nathan’s lifeless body with a hint of concern.  “You think he’ll be alright?”

Jessica smiles brightly.  “He’ll be fine”

The girls head over to their own chairs to log in.  Meanwhile Nathan appears in a large circular stone room with no exits but fifty pedestals positioned around the edge of the room.  In the middle is a very large pedestal and a hologram display quickly appears around it.  On the pedestal is a hologram of a male human standing moving slightly as he acts as if he’s waiting for someone.  Beside him is a hologram display with dozens upon dozens of options.

A computer voice echoes in the room.  “Welcome to the Eden character creation system.  As this is your first time logging into Eden this voice over has been prompted.  In front of you is the creation system for Eden characters.  Here you can select race, gender and customize your character with a large variety of options.  You can customize your character via the slider options by voice command or hand gesture.  You can also hand sculpt your character molding the body parts into the exact shape and size you want.

Finally you can also select the visualize option, with the visualize option your thoughts will be read and your character will automatically be adjusted to suit your thought.  Simply create your character how you see fit then click finalize and accept.  Should you need help on any aspect of the character creation system simply say help and the help prompt will display in front of you with detailed information on everything.  For your first character it's advised to play as the class incubus/succubus and enable the tutorial menu.  Due to the high strength and quick healing of demons their much easier to play for newbie players”

Nathan looks over the hologram display surprised at how heavy the customization is.  “Okay, uh race, elf”.  The hologram of the human male quickly switches to a young male elf.  “Visualize”

“Visualize initiated, for the next 10 seconds please visualize your character in as much detail as possible”

Nathan silently thinks with his eyes closed.  Meanwhile in front the display changes rapidly as dozens of sliders fly in different directions to fine tune the character.

The computer voice echoes in the room again.  “Visualization completed, please look at the display.  Do you wish to accept the changes made, redo them completely or re-visualize and fine tune the current character?”

Nathan looks over the male elf.  “I’ll accept the changes”

“Changes accepted, if you change your mind please issue the undo last action command”

Nathan looks over the elf male carefully to determine if it’s how he wants it.  The young elf looks to be in his early 20s as he stands at around 5’8ft with short fluffy blond hair, crystal blue eyes and long slender 6 inch long ears.  Being an elf the body is muscular yet very lithe and frail at the same time.  His clothes are a simple yet elegant pair of fluffy light blue pants with a white long sleeve shirt that has a light blue vest over it.

“I’ve finished creating my character”

“Are you certain your finished?”

“Yes”

“Creating character...Character created, the created character has been added to the character selection.  You can delete it, play it and change the name plate below its pedestal.  Your previous character creation settings have been saved.  These settings will remain until the character creation system is used again.  Should you change your mind about your current character simply delete it and recreate it”

Nathan looks around then turns to his left where he spots a hologram image of his male elf character standing on a pedestal.  He walks over to the character and looks over him.

“If you wish to login as this character step on the pedestal and say login”

Nathan steps forward onto the pedestal then takes a deep breath.  “Login”

Blinding white light engulfs Nathan then a moment later he finds himself opening his eyes.  Looking around he finds himself in a large stone building with glass windows.  Around the place are dozens of brand new looking beds.  Sitting up he quickly realizes he’s sitting on a bed himself and in the distance outside young female voices can be heard.

“Hmm I wonder how long it's going to take”

“Depends how much he's going to customize his character, it only took me a few minutes”

“You were that quick?  It took me about 2 hours”

The other female snaps at her in an annoyed tone “I know, I was waiting for you at the time”

“Oh yeah” she replies in sheepish tone.

Nathan stands up and slowly walks toward the distant voices.  As he nears them he sees two female elves standing around.  The first stands at 5’8ft with short strawberry blond hair down to her chin with deep green eyes.  Her clothes, a brilliant white skirt that covers her thighs, a elegant white top that leaves her belly visible and a pair of boots with 4 inch high heels.  Around her waist she has a small short sword with a tiny tan pouch.

The other stands at the same height with dark blond hair down to her shoulders with cold dark blue calculating eyes.  Her clothing and equipment identical to her friend except she has the addition of a wooden bow hung around her shoulder and a quiver full of wooden arrows on her back.

Nathan looks at them a moment then speaks up.  “Uh excuse me?”

The two girls turn around to face him.  The one with shorter hair looks at him intently.  “Are you Nathan?”

Nathan seems a bit surprised.  “Uh, Jess?”

She smiles at him brightly.  “It is you, wow you made a pretty cute guy”

Nathan blankly looks at the other elf woman.  “Then you’re?”

“Elisha” she coldly replies.

Jessica moves closer to him with a bright smile.  “So whaddya think?”

Nathan looks at the world around him.  It doesn’t look computer generated, it doesn’t look even slightly fake.  Everything right down to the grains of dirt look completely and utterly real.  So much so that you’d think he’d stepped through into another dimension rather than a virtual reality.

He looks at her in surprise.  “This is Eden?”.  Jessica nods happily.  “It, it looks completely real”

Elisha begins to explain.  “This game is made to be a real life simulator in a fantasy world”.  She glances around quickly.  “Still I know how you feel I was expecting realistic but nothing like this”

Jessica smiles and holds out her hands down by her waist to display herself.  “So what do you think of my character?”

Nathan scratches the back of his head.  “Uh, really, really cute”

Jessica smiles brightly and nods in approval.  “She is isn’t she?”

Elisha stares at them silently.  Noticing her Nathan turns to her.  “I think your character looks really beautiful”

Surprised at the comment Elisha blushes and looks down slightly.  “Uh thanks”

Nathan looks around and at his friends.  “So what now?”

Elisha puts on a serious face again.  “That would be a matter of personal preference, most people come here to play.  Some people just come here for the scenery others come to have free sex with strangers without any repercussions”

Jessica gets a little nervous hearing the free sex with stranger’s part.  “Uhhh…let’s go talk to the city guard.  They have a quest for newbie characters”

“Have either of you done it yet?” asks Nathan.

Jessica nods.  “Uh huh we did it yesterday.  But we'll stick together, we only did the first quest so after that we can all do another together”

They slowly walk off and start going through the streets.  As they do Nathan looks around quickly realizing their in a beautiful Elf city.  The streets and buildings are all made out of beautiful white stone, large trees hang overhead along the streets and a massive fountain towards the center of town provides a lovely sight.  The streets themselves are filled with dozens and dozens of elves busy talking, shopping, relaxing and practicing their magic skills.  Overhead the sky is a brilliant blue with sun shining through small clouds as they drift overhead.

Jessica looks around the city quickly trying to remember something.  “Hmmm now where was the city guard building?”

Elisha lets out a sigh and points ahead of them.  “It’s over there, you were here yesterday and you already can’t remember that?”

“Mmm it's all new it's not like I'm going to remember everything on the first day”

Elisha smirks at her.  “I bet you even forgot the guys name didn't you?”

Jessica turns a bit pale.  “Uh, well umm, it was, uhhh...”

“You forgot didn’t you?”

Jessica looks a little annoyed.  “I didn't forget I just can't remember right now”

“Same thing”

“That's not the same thing”

Nathan rubs the back of his head.  “I guess even here some things don’t change”

Jessica looks at him.  “What do you mean?”

Nathan turns his head away.  “Never mind”

“Let's just go” says Elisha before running off ahead.

They run on ahead and go into a large two story building.  Inside they find town guards busily walking around.  Just inside near the wall an elf male dressed in heavy plate armor with scruffy blond hair and blue eyes is busy talking to some newbie looking characters.  After a few moments they rush off happily.

The gang slowly heads over to the man, seeing them he smiles warmly.  “Well hello again”.  They quickly all greet him.  The man looks at them noticing Nathan as a new addition to their group.  “I'm Alberryus captain of the guard here in Salandee”

“Uh I’m Nathan” says Nathan.

Alberryus smiles.  “I take it your here for the newbie quest?”

Nathan nods.  “That’s right”

“Well you see the local foxes are causing real problems especially when it comes to the farm animals.  All the guards are too busy keeping the peace and hunting down much bigger threats so we've been passing it off to adventurers.  Your job is to thin the numbers out a bit, bring me 20 fox tails as proof and I'll give you a small reward for helping out.  Here”.  Alberryus grabs an empty bag from a nearby table and hands it to Nathan.  “You can put the fox tails in here.  I'm guessing you two are going with him so I won't need to bother explaining where it is right?”

Jessica smiles brightly.  “That’s right”

“Okay then, be careful the foxes are pretty slow and dumb but they can be dangerous if you give them the chance”

Nathan nods then thinks for a moment.  “Say I was wondering there’s NPC's in this game right?  How do you tell them apart from other players?”

“Well the thing is you can't really, even we staff members have trouble telling them apart.  I'm not positive but I believe World keepers can review logs or something like that to help on the matter.  Your best bet until you get more experienced in Eden is to only attack those that attack you first.  That way you'll never be in violation of any laws or rules”

Nathan nods.  “Right”

“So you work for the Globex Corporation?” asks Jessica.

Alberryus smiles.  “That's right.  The Globex Corporation has several key employees placed in the game world to help out newbie’s or for key quests.  You'll find that a good portion of the quest givers in starter cities are employees”

“One other thing with NPCs are most of them aware their NPCs and is there any restrictions on talking about stuff?” asks Nathan.

“I really advise you read the handbook but I understand that you'd want to come here straight away.  Most if not all NPCs that live in towns are aware their NPCs.  Those in the wilderness however that haven't come into contact much with players tend not to know.  As for talking about stuff there isn't any restrictions in place at the moment so feel free to talk about the real world at your leisure, however remember that the role-playing server has rules against that sort of thing for town areas”

“Okay, thank you very much.  We'll be back later”

Alberryus smiles.  “Take care”

They leave and walk through town for a few moments before Nathan stops.  “So where are these foxes for the quest?”

Jessica points to the east.  “Over in that direction outside town”

“Okay, let's get going then”

They walk to the east side of town and exit over a bridge.  Nathan glances back as they leave, the town itself is situated directly over a large lake with exits at east and west.  After only a few moments of walking they come to a beautiful lush green meadow with short grass and patches of trees and bushes scattered about.

Elisha stops and looks around.  “They should be around here”

Nathan looks around the area which has nothing but the wind blowing through the grass and trees.  “Hmm I don’t see any”.  Suddenly they hear splashing behind them.  As they turn around they see a red and white fox climbing out of the water with a large fish in its mouth.  “So I have to kill them and bring back their tail?”

“That’s right”

Jessica looks a little sad.  “Honestly I felt kind of bad doing it, I mean they don't really look dangerous or mean”

Elisha sighs and shakes her head.  “Honestly this is what Eden's about, if you can't handle killing things you shouldn't be playing this game”

Nathan ignores their fight and concentrates on the task at hand then starts looking around.  “Okay, weapon…weapon?”

“On your belt”

Nathan looks down noticing a short sword strapped to his side.  “Oh”.  He quickly draws the sword and looks down at the fox that’s now lying on the grass eating its fish.  As he walks towards it the fox just looks up at him calmly.  Nathan looks back at his friends somewhat unsure.  “Should it be this calm when it’s about to get killed?”

Elisha puts on a serious face as she begins another explanation.  “The AI is fairly basic on these creatures, they roam, eat, sleep and so on.  When it comes to danger though most of them are quite brain dead”

Nathan looks down at the fox somewhat unsatisfied by her explanation.  “Mmmm...”

Jessica looks sad.  “This is why I felt bad doing the quest yesterday”

Nathan looks at the brain dead fox sadly.  “I know what you mean”

Elisha takes off her bow.  “Well if you can’t handle it I’ll collect the fox tails for you”

Nathan waves his hand slightly.  “No, no it’s okay”

He walks forward toward the fox with his sword ready.  He looks over it briefly then raises his sword about to chop off its head.  Realizing it’s not going to move or do anything he changes his idea.  He kneels down slightly and stabs the fox in the side.  The fox looks a little dazed then suddenly collapses to the ground dead.

Nathan stands up looking over the dead fox as he rubs the back of his head.  “That was a little too easy, so cut off the tail right?”

Elisha nods.  “That’s right”

He cuts off the fox’s tail and puts it inside the bag he was given then lets out a big sigh.  “I don't know if I can kill 19 more of these things if their all so placid”

The bushes rustle behind them causing them all to turn to see what’s causing it.  A moment later a fox bursts out of the bushes with its teeth bared.  Elisha quickly readies an arrow.  The fox lunges at them with bared teeth.  It flies for a few seconds before being nailed in the head by Elisha’s arrow causing it to fly backwards to the ground.

Nathan looks at the dead fox somewhat surprised.  “Wow, I guess some of them are aggressive”.  Elisha walks over to the fox and yanks her arrow out of its head.  “You’re a good shot with that bow”

Elisha looks at him.  “This body is somewhat different from my normal one but its similar enough.  One thing I’ve found is the better eyesight makes for easier aiming”

Nathan looks back at the dead fox again.  “I guess so.  How about we try to find more of these aggressive ones?”

Elisha shrugs.  “If you want”

Nathan goes over to the fox and hacks its tail off with a quick swipe then throws it in the bag.  They wander around the area a bit aimlessly as they look for more foxes when Elisha raises her hand slightly near some bushes.

“Stop”

Nearby they hear growling and rustling.  They creep forwards and part the bushes.  Ahead of them a group of five foxes are busy picking apart and fighting over a dead sheep.

Nathan looks a little surprised seeing the sheep.  “Huh, they are killing the farm animals.  I thought that was just for show”

Elisha readies an arrow on her bow then glances at them.  “Ready?”

They silently draw their swords and nod.  Elisha lets her arrow fly, it brushes past the bushes, whirls through the air briefly and nails a fox in the back of the head.  The foxes jump back in fright then move closer to inspect their fallen friend.  Jessica and Nathan spring from the bushes with their swords ready.  Meanwhile Elisha readies another arrow.  It flies right over Nathan’s shoulder and hits a fox clean in the eye causing it to spring backwards slightly from the impact.

Jessica steps back as a fox tries to nip her then quickly swipes her sword at it slashing it across the neck.  Nathan rushes forward and stabs a fox in front of him right in its chest.  The last remaining fox leaps at him.  Noticing it he sweeps his left hand to the side smacking the fox away.  Moments after it hits the ground Elisha shoots it in the head with an arrow.

Nathan looks around at the dead foxes.  “Now that’s a bit better.  Alright let’s get the tails”

Elisha walks over to them and starts ripping her arrows out of their bodies.  Meanwhile Jessica and Nathan start collecting the tails and tossing them into the bag.  After looking around the area they end up managing to find enough foxes to fill their quest quota.  With the fox tails tucked away in the bag they head back as the sun sets to find Alberryus.  When they get to town they find him relaxing in a chair with a drink.

Nathan hands Alberryus the bag.  “Here’s your fox tails.  Honestly I don't see how those things could be of any nuisance”

Alberryus chuckles.  “Well they are rather dumb and slow but they can be a bit of a nuisance to the farm animals”.  He opens the bag taking a look inside.  “Thanks for helping out”.  Alberryus gets up and grabs a bag off from the wall.  “Here’s your reward”.  He tosses the bag to Nathan.

Nathan looks inside the bag briefly.  Inside is 500 Ethian, 1 bottle of no grade soulshot and 5 minor healing potions.  “Thanks, I don’t suppose you have some more advanced odd jobs do you?  We’re actually all pretty experienced in fighting”

Alberryus looks a little surprised.  “Oh I’m sorry, I didn't realize.  In that case why don't you talk to the gatekeeper Lainen she can transport you to Ralion.  It's a town further to the west, it's a human town but people from all races tend to live and work there.  I suppose you could say it’s one of the main cities in Eden.  If you just made new characters you should have some gatekeeper tokens so you can travel there free of charge.  When you get there talk to the guard captain, I heard there's some recent problems with goblins attacking merchants and alchemists as they travel the area”

“Alright thank you very much”.  They slowly walk off back into town.  “Taking care of goblins sound okay to you guys?”

Elisha smiles.  “It’s fine with me”

Jessica thinks it over for a moment.  “I guess that sounds okay”

Nathan smiles.  “Alright let’s head over there”.  He suddenly stops.  “Wait, actually it's probably time we head back”

Jessica turns to him looking confused.  “Head back?”

Elisha thinks it over.  “Hmm now that you mention it we've been in Eden for quite some time it must be getting rather late in the real world”

“Oh is that what you mean?”.  Nathan nods.  “Mmm I suppose we better, we got school tomorrow after all”

“So how do we log out?” asks Nathan.

Elisha cracks a smile.  “Just say logout”

“Uh, okay.  Logout”

A computer voice rings out around Nathan.  “Confirm logout please”

“Confirm logout”

Nathan’s body suddenly shatters into millions of white particles that slowly disappear after a few moments.

“Logout” says Elisha.

Jessica looks surprised.  “Hey wait for me, logout”

Back in the real world Nathan wakes up.  He unlatches the helmet and pulls it off then sits up on the seat looking around.  Near him Jessica and Elisha both take off their helmets and sit up.

Nathan puts a hand to his head.  “Man I feel mentally exhausted”

Jessica rubs her forehead slightly.  “Me too”

Elisha gets up and stretches.  “I suppose it’s a lot of strain on the mind”

Jessica jumps up and walks over to Nathan with a smile on her face.  “So what’d you think?  Cool isn’t it?”

Nathan smiles slightly as he rubs the back of his head.  “Yeah, yeah, it was pretty amazing”

Elisha smiles.  “So you going to be joining us again?”

“I think so”

Jessica becomes all bright and bouncy.  “Hey, how about we go after school again tomorrow?”

“That’s fine with me” says Elisha.

Nathan thinks it over briefly.  “Yeah okay, why not.  Say have either of you read the handbook?”

Jessica quickly winds down.  “Mmm, just a bit”

Elisha smirks.  “I’ve read through the entire thing”

Jessica turns and looks at her surprised.  “Really?  We just got it yesterday and you already read it all?”

“Is it important?” asks Nathan.

“It has a lot of important information about the world at the very least you should read the section on crime.  You can be permanently banned for a lot of different things” explains Elisha.

Jessica looks completely shocked.  “WHAT?  You can get permanently banned?  As in you can NEVER go to Eden again?”

Elisha smirks.  “Yeah, anyone who read the manual would know that”

Jessica turns a little pale at her words.

Nathan stands up.  “I guess I’ll sit down tonight and read through it then”

Elisha shoots Jessica a glare.  “I suggest you do the same”

Jessica looks depressed and replies in a sad voice.  “Kay”

“I wonder how long we were in there” says Nathan.

Elisha points at the console on the machine.  “The console lists how long you've been logged in”

Nathan turns around and looks at the console then steps back in shock with wide eyes.  “FOUR HOURS?”

“Mmm time really flies when you’re in Eden” says Jessica.

Elisha nods in agreement.

Nathan still seems in shock hardly able to believe the time went so fast.  “Wow that must mean it's around 8 o'clock already?  Good thing I said we should log out”

Elisha thinks for a moment.  “I believe there was something called the play timer which allows you to set alarms, so you set how long you want to play and it'll tell you when the time is up”

“That'd be very handy.  We'll have to do that next time.  I guess we should be getting home”

They head out of the room and ride the elevator to the ground floor.  They’re about to switch to the elevators leading to the car park when Jessica suddenly stops as she remembers something.

“Oh hang on I gotta return the keycard”

She quickly runs over to the main desk and hands the keycard and the paper back to the clerk before rejoining her friends.  In the car park they get onto their motorbikes.  Jessica hops on behind Nathan and puts her helmet on.

Nathan glances back at her.  “You ready?”

With a smile Jessica puts her hands around his waist.  “Yeah”

Nathan revs up his motorbike and speeds off with Elisha following close behind.  They exit the car park and get onto the street.  They drive for several moments before they come to a stop at an intersection with a red light.  Nathan and Jessica both put a foot down to steady their motorbikes as they wait for the light to change.

To the side of them on the side of a street a young boy is busy spray painting on a wall.  Suddenly two female cops run over to him and start beating the crap out of him.  After beating him half to death they pin him to the ground and cuff him before dragging him off.  Overhead the street the light changes green so they quickly take off down the streets once again.

As they near a T junction Elisha looks over at them.  “This is my stop, I’ll see you guys tomorrow”

Nathan nods.  Jessica raises a hand and waves as they turn off in the opposite direction as Elisha.  “See ya”

After a short drive they come into a residential area where the houses are brilliantly new looking with well kept lawns and spotless streets.  Nathan pulls up in front of a house.  Jessica quickly hops off the motorbike and hooks her helmet on the side then quickly grabs her school bag.

Jessica smiles.  “Thanks for the ride”

Nathan flips up the visor on his helmet.  “I suppose you need a ride tomorrow like always?”

Jessica smiles brightly.  “Yep”

“See ya later”

Nathan turns his motorbike and parks at the house next door.  He quickly puts his helmet on the motorbike then grabs his school bag and heads inside.

As the door swings open Nathan looks around.  “I’m home”

Nathan’s mother, a beautiful slim woman in her 40s with short black hair appears from around the corner.  “You’re late”

“Sorry, I was playing with some friends”

“Well dinners ready in a moment so you can come sit down”

“Right”

Nathan sits his bag down and heads into the kitchen to find his mother just finishing up dinner.

“So this playing, I take it it’s that Eden game?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess dad already mentioned it?”

“Oh yeah he told me all about it”

“Look it's not that bad I'm careful I mean...

His mother cuts him off.  “I know all about it so you don't have to tell me.  My friends and I have been thinking of trying it out for a while now”

Nathan looks at her in utter shock.  “YOU?  And you’re friends?”

“Don't sound so shocked it IS the number 1 game in the world after all”.  She turns around with a pair of plates in her hands.  “Besides I could use a break every now and then.  Going to a world full of magic and creatures sounds fun”

“Yeah but”

She sets the plates down, fixes the table and glances up at him.  “But what?”

“I don't know, I just never thought I'd hear you saying you’re considering going to Eden”

“Well there's commercials everywhere and it doesn't help that everyone else is already playing it, you just get curious you know”

“Can you even fight though?”

She waves her hand at him.  “Oh please, I can fight far better than you.  I may not look it but I'm a black belt in kempo”

Nathan looks completely shocked.  “YOU’RE WHAT?”

His mother looks at him a little surprised.  “I never told you?”

“No, no you didn’t”

Nathan’s father walks into the kitchen.  “So dinner ready?”

Nathan’s mother smiles.  “Just finished”

Nathan looks at his father.  “Hey dad mum claims she’s a black belt in kempo is that true?”

He looks at Nathan blankly.  “Huh?  Yeah, why?”

“Why?  I don't know I don't see how I've never heard of this before”

Nathan’s mother sits down at the table.  “Well you see back when we were your age things were REALLY bad most people carried a gun or took martial arts classes for self defense.  When president fox got in he absolutely destroyed the current laws.  Didn’t they teach you this stuff in school?”

“Well yeah but, its history I mean, it happened a long time ago”

“Well it didn't happen that long ago.  Anyway enough talk let’s eat dinner”

After dinner Nathan helps his mother and father clear the table quickly before heading upstairs to his room with his school bag.  He takes off his shoes, opens his bag and takes out the Eden handbook.  He lies down on his bed and flips a button on the side causing the panel to light up displaying The Eden Handbook in large letters on the screen.

To be Continued

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