Origin, located in the far northwest part of the great elven continent, Ever-land, is a mixture of farm, city, rural, and upper class living, centered around nature. It was bustling and always busy. Players needed to eat, sleep, buy items, weapons, armor and everything in between. This made Origin more of an economic hub than it already was, business was booming. It was also a safe haven for the moment and gave players a little peace of mind while trying to figure out their next move. Origin was divided up into five circular districts and looked like a gigantic spiral sequence from above.

Dis(1) was farms, and markets, situated directly in the center of the spiral and all the other districts. For this reason the cove river, which connected to Ever-lake and the Ever-ocean, ran directly through the center of Origin supplying more than enough water to the small population of about 200,000. It was smartly covered once it entered city limits, and well maintained and protected, and because the land was mostly untouched, it was still pure, pristine, and nutrient dense. The same could be said for the soil and the air. Crust fuel wasn’t utilized as far as players could tell, anywhere in Ever-land, but there was still so much yet to be explored and discovered in not just Ever-land, but NFNty-laND as well. Magnetic, thermal, and solar energy, that yielded little to no negative by-products was widely used. All the structures, which were surrounded by mountains, trees, vegetation, ponds, and lakes, were advanced looking, but simply made out of mud and/or clay. Even the farms were advanced, requiring very little actual manual labor, instead, artificial intelligence handled most of it, preventing corners from being cut, and greed compromising the integrity of the produce. By no means was it a perfect system, but it was pretty darn close and it worked, the city thrived, and nature flourished, they’d found a balance.

Dis(2) was shops, restaurants, inns, bars, clubs, living areas, and training arenas. Dis(3) was factories, power plants(thermal, magnetic, solar) and everything else service wise needed or necessary to keep a city running clean and efficient. Dis(4) was considered to be the upper echelon of all the districts, where the officials, city guard, and council lived. Origin was something of a unicorn in more ways than one, the foremost being, that it was the only human civilization in Ever-land and it was a well kept secret from some. The other being, it was an entirely melinated society, though the people varied in hues, the entire population was of ethnic descent. In Origin, the elves were actually the minority, but there was no racial tension, everyone got along peacefully, working together to create a federation that was progressive and intelligently structured.

Though some of the upper echelon of Origin were wealthy, they were not lazy spoiled brats that inherited or acquired funds by doing whatever they wanted or not doing anything at all. The uppers of Origin society consisted of doctors, nurses, teachers, scientists, inventors, engineers, agriculturalist, economists, philosophers, and explorers. They all understood the importance of working together, spreading the resources and services to all of the population, and for that reason, the uppers also held the top positions in the Federation council, with the top position, Federation lead, rotating between the ten original families of Origin. Each family brought something different to the table and the one that best represented the interest of the people at the time and how the city of Origin could further progress or evolve, was picked by the seven member Federation council, and the five district councils that had two hundred members each. The uppers were also all born citizens of origin and every born citizen of Origin had to serve in the cities military for 8 years, and were well trained, conditioned, taught, and groomed to be the future protectors leaders their of society.

As beautiful as it was to see a society run the way it was meant to, it did little to help the current situation. Origin was like it’s own nation, but also just one small part of a vast land, a land so immense, so infinitely huge it made Origin seem like a small village. Kaia, Vinn, and all the other players were in a world they felt they didn’t belong or perhaps didn’t want to belong. And so they made their way towards the meeting, set to take place in Dis(2).

“ Where are you going? I’m not done with you yet! Players are so satisfying, I just can’t get enough.”

A young beauty, copper-skinned, and athletically thick with long dreads, plenty of tattoos, and piercings, including a well-placed nose ring, that attached itself to her personality so well, that anyone she met thought she had to have been born with it, reached one arm out to pull her best customer back into the bed, while the other loosely held the covers over her impressive and sweat glistened chest.

“ For fucks sake lady, don’t you ever fucking get tired? What the hell would I do without all this stamina, dealing with you! Isn’t your profession suppose to get the deed done as quick as possible, you know, squeeze that shit tight and fucking right, so we don’t last more than a minute or two, take the coin and send us on our fucking merry way with a delusional sense of self accomplishment. I mean I’m no pimp but…….

“ and I’m not a hoe!” She exclaimed in a serious tone.

…….right that wasn’t what I was implying, didn’t mean nothing by it, but like I was saying, I ain’t no pimp, but I don’t think you’re fucking doing this right.”

“But you’re doing it right, oh so right! You’re not my best customer because of how frequent you come see me or because you pay me more than I ask for, but because even a working girl needs to be touched right, and baby you touch me more than right.”

“Well I’m glad I could be of fucking service to you then, maybe you should start paying me instead.”

“Carla don’t pay baby, she just likes to play.”

It went both ways, the sex was good for him too, and considering the situation he now found himself in, it was good to find something and someone to distract his mind from it all. Even better was the level of conversation she offered. He loved talking to her.

“It must be good for you too, you never go to any of the other females and you always pay much more than I require.”

More was an understatement, he had not ask that she stop seeing other clients but the length and frequency of his visits, to go along with that large amount of extra coin he would give her, made it possible for him to be the only one she saw, and save up enough to retire from the life all together. At least that’s what she was telling herself, but all of the other clients and the other working females could see the real reason, even if Carla and him were in denial.

“Baby I been saving, Carla is retired as of last month. You’re now the only one I see!”

“Do I fucking pay you that much then, well at least I can say I’m not wasting my hard earned coin, sending those things back from wherever they came from!”

That hard earn was visible, all over his tanned where it shined and pale where it didn’t, body. He was muscle and scars, surprisingly with no tattoos considering his personality. He was tall, even for an elven male, but a well put together tall, everything fit and he didn’t just look the part either. Regardless of level or tier, no player or npc wanted the wrong side of what he had to offer.

“Stop staring at me like I’m a fucking alien, if you got something to say, lady, then just spit it out already.”

“But you are aren’t you?”

“I’m from another land, not another fucking planet, you smart ass!”

“ Why so many Scars?”

“ What do you mean, I’m not fighting fucking unicorns, and baby birds out there you know!”

“Yeah but I thought with the potions or a heal ray, you can completely heal?”

“It does, but it’s a bunch of bullshit, erasing the truth, that is. I heal the natural way, I don’t want my reminders erased, that’s all.”

“Your reminders?”

“Yeah, my fucking reminders sweetheart, of how much stronger I need to get if I want to survive this place!”

“Maybe I ought to make you my husband, have your babies, settle down……..

“Am I fucking hearing this right? You want to domesticate me, and even further, am I not the male and you, not the female?

……..don’t tell me you ain’t never been propose to before, I’m looking at and hearing too much apex male to believe that.” Carla stated in a joking manner

“The offers tempting, and I wouldn’t fucking mind having a dime like you as my better half, but I ain’t staying around here long, so unless you plan on going out into this world with me, we begin and end in Origin.”

“Where you going in such a hurry? You can’t lay and talk for a while, I enjoy your company.”

“Oh, I enjoy you too, but I got a meeting to get to about fucking getting out of here and back to where I came from.”

“ it’s shame so many of you came here to help us and ended up getting stuck. Where you’re from, is it far away?”

“Oh, it’s fucking far alright!”

“How did you and all the others get stuck here?”

“It’s like this pretty lady, and this is the short version, some people like to play games and some people like to play fucking games. I like to …………

“Ooooh, I love to play fucking games!”

…...that’s not the fuck I’m talking about sweetheart.”

“I like to play games, but the whoever or whatever that trapped us here likes to play fucking games, and boy did they royally fuck us! If I ever get back, I’m going to return the favor!”

“You coming back later?”

“ Where else do I sleep, lady?”

“The bar……..

“.......You’re right, you really are, you’ll come find me then?........... I’ll see you later.”

He finished putting on his gear, that made it appear he was a part of the battle twins unit, that’s what he called them anyway, twin soldiers was weak he thought. He holstered his sidearm on his left thigh, slung his shotgun across his chest and then pulled it around to his back so he could lean in. She placed one hand on his face, and fondled his cheek with her thumb, while the other moved across his closely shaved head and rested on the side, her fingers gently grabbing the back of it, her thumb caressing his ear, all while pulling him in until he was close enough for her to give the type of kiss a woman gives a man she’s in love with. She’d never say it though, she knew he didn’t take the marriage thing seriously, but she was serious. She figured he was, even before coming to Ever-land, the type that like to pick up and go, which meant no serious attachments. Which also meant, he was the type you didn’t say those words to, the type you’d never see again if you did. Carla figured all this because she was exactly the same but the trouble with love, specifically the real unexpected kind, is that it could often have you figuring things out all wrong.

“I fucking love you lady, I really do!”

She couldn’t believe he said it at all, let alone first. It caught her off guard and made her soul melt. Her shock and happiness came through in her reply.

“ I……….love you…….. Too!”

She kissed him again, this time like she wanted to be his life, and the look she gave him was almost enough to make him skip the meeting.

“Fuck! They better be talking real talk at this meeting, or I’m going to tell them they’re all fucking assholes!”

She laid back, and let the covers fall away from her body, as she slid her foot across her leg, while raising her knee until it was the bottom point of a v. She caressed her chest, staring at him intensely, letting the v fall too the side, while pulling her other leg up and quickly letting it fall to the side too. Not less than, not greater than, but also not equal to, her equation of a position was like the riddle of all women. It was glistening like a sunrise on the top of a lake, and she was inviting him to dive in. Her eyes were half closed, one hand continued to caress her breast, the other made its way down her body slowly, dancing over her ribs, then her stomach until her fingers reached the edge, making her back arc passionately. He knew and she knew that the next time and every time afterward, would be different, they had both been holding back their true feelings.

“That’s too bad, the waters nice this time of day, you should hurry back from your meeting, I’ll be right here waiting for you, just like this!”

She wouldn’t have to come find him after all, she made sure of that.

“Fucking shit, their already assholes, the whole lot of them!”

He expressed his disappointment of having to leave under his breath on the way out the door, down the stairs, and out into the bar he’d spent those nights in. He mumbled to himself…

“At least most of you assholes showed up.”

His quick scan of the rest of the bar yielded unexpected results. Someone else had finally shown up too.

“Of all the fucking times, I’ve been looking for you!”

The bar had grown partially silent until they realize they weren’t the ones being spoken to.

“Yo!........Ro, I can explain………

The slight and fragile elven man, eyes wide and both hands extended out in front of him, almost tripped over the stool he sat in as he quickly maneuvered away from it. His jester pleading with Ro to stop his rapid forward advancement towards him. It didn’t stop Ro from grabbing his collar and lifting him a few inches off the ground. The bartender, while pouring another lost soul a drink, calmly said all she was going to say about the matter.

“TAKE IT OUTSIDE!!”

Everyone in perhaps the entire land of Ever, but most certainly in the city of Origin knew that if Tookey said to take it outside, then you took it outside. Ro didn’t hesitate, nor did he put the slight and fragile elven man down to comply. Everyone outside the bar had stopped what they were doing after seeing what had to be a elven man at least eight feet tall, walk out of the bar holding what appeared to be a human child at first glance. Once they all realized that human child was actually an abnormally small elven male, they continued about their business.

……….Ro!...Ro!......RO!! Listen man, I know you’re upset………..

“Upset? Why in the fuck would I be upset? Do I look upset to you? I can understand the confusion, considering you’ve never seen what I get like when I’m fucking upset. No, this is me in genuine fucking shock, you’d have the sacks to show your fucking face around here!

…...you talk to your mother with that mouth?” Ro tightened his grip.

“Ro! Listen, I can repay you for everything I took, just give me a few days……..

“Stop calling me that!”

…...just give me a few days and I’ll……….. What?”

“Don’t you fucking call me Ro, my friends call me Ro, people I respect call me Ro and since you fall into neither category…….

“Okay, Robbie……….

The fragile elven man said it in a way that unintentionally conveyed his true thoughts and feelings. From his perspective, what he called Ro was hardly the important issue at the moment but then he wondered if not being in either category meant Ro was going to kill him and he quickly regretted getting smart. His fear and terror quickly sprinkled the ground below.

“Oh you fucking pissing your pants now, you’re a timid little fucker aren’t you, starting to understand the situation?”

His voice was much softer now, with a mixture of that fear and now embarrassment.

“Robbie, listen……….

“Its Battle sergeant Robbie to you, piss sack!

……….battle what? I don’t know what that means!”

“Listen hear you little shit………

Both men were suddenly distracted by the fast travel ship that had flown quite deeply into the district, and now hovered over open space not that far from the bar, but it didn’t land, instead getting as close as they needed it to get. Two figures then leaped out of the still opening doors, and landed one after the other, the human male first, followed by an elven female directly in front of him. She grabbed his hand, and proceeded to walk powerfully towards the bar.

“Holy shit! That’s the………….

“Get the fuck outta here. I’ll deal with you some other time!”

……..you’re letting me go?”

“Well, don’t make me fucking repeat myself or change my mind, piss off, pun in-fucking tended!........The meetings about to start.”

Next Chapter: Can you hear it?(2)