Post by Anonymous 9:36 AM, April 2nd, 20XX

So, last night my lover and I were about to get into some BDSM play. A fucking pop up just showed up in front of my face asking if the violence I was about to go through was consensual. It warned me that we could get taken for re-education. I was so shocked I accidentally said, “no,” but the Passivity Precept somehow knew what I meant by that.

I whispered in the ear of the Rogue guild’s leader, Janrei Burntwind. “I swear to you that my information is good.”

“Lore,” She warned.

“I know that I said it was good last time. It was, but they moved their ledgers at the last minute.”

The doors opened to the hall, and I assumed it was another batch of newbies entering the sim from that new client of the Passivity Precept. The prompts had announced something to that effect earlier and called the planet Earth, after dirt.

She frowned. “Fine. But I’m not using any more of my Rogues’ time and resources on this. You get me a copy of the books, and I’ll get you the Mirror of Answers. Same deal as last time, only if you don’t succeed you’ll get no more chances.”

Something about that batch of newbies felt off. It was almost as if...

A tightening feeling overwhelmed my brain, and an unnatural giddiness bubbled up from nowhere.

No! Not this. Not me. Not at this time when I was so close to freedom.

But every good bard had read the poems and songs, and I was a fantastic bard. The simplest poem rose from the slush in my head. Forte Cloudbourn’s A Bonding:

Constriction of a hug. Happiness overwhelming. Forever joy is come. Never alone again. My bonded love, now mine.

Disgusting.

The classics always made it out to be the peak of romance and the epitome of relationships, but I knew better. I’d seen first hand how bonded lovers could break up a family and ruin each other’s lives in and out of the sim. They could destroy families and clans.

I turned my head and saw her. A woman with long auburn hair pulled into a messy braid wearing a noob’s spun wool shirt. Her face was cute, almost beautiful with its near-perfect bone structure, small nose, and rose lips. Her ears were an inch or two longer than usual. As she scowled at me, her straight pearly teeth gleamed. The flats of her teeth, instead of being flat were slightly, almost insignificantly, pointed. Decidedly strange but not altogether unpleasant. Her green eyes pierced mine with their hard untrusting gaze.

That was good. The last thing I wanted was a bonded who immediately fell under the spell of attraction. Someone who didn’t trust the pull like I did would be a bonded I could easily stay away from.

But wait! There was something about a bond within the sim that had me searching through my vast memory of stories, songs, and poems for a specific paragraph:

And as I sat alone for the fifth day my heart tore with the pain of missing him. There was no choice for me. I had to join him outside the sim and see the fields of pink blossoms he spoke of. But he was not of my universe. Nor my species. Still, my heart told me that I would die if I could not live beside him, always. When I logged out, I thought of nothing but that string of golden purpose that wed us together. And a new question appeared. With a bliss I had not felt in too long I selected the choice I would always choose again. To return to my love’s side in this crazy multiverse.

Yes! That one. That was my answer. I would still need to continue with my plans for freedom if this path didn’t work but if it did, I could be free without all this troublesome work.

But this meant I would need to get closer to this unknown woman, who would probably make my life into constant misery and strife. I would also need to befriend her to be my guide on her alien world.

But no matter what, I was getting out of this sim. My body nearly shook with the need to leave.

“Lore, are you finished gawking at our new recruits?” Burntwind asked, jerking me out of my head.

I turned back to the guild leader and continued our whispered conversation, “I understand how much you don’t want to waste another of your higher level member’s time. And I know you have many other cases to investigate. But what about one of these?”

Her brow rose. With that small gesture, I knew I had an in, I just needed to push the idea forward.

“I can do the work myself, my skills are high enough, but I need someone for backup, as a lookout.”

“Lore, they’re untrained. They’re not even level 2. Won’t they only get in your way?”

I shrugged. “So, train whoever I pick until they reach level two or three. They just need to be ready in 4 days.”

“Hmm.” She rested a finger on her cheek. “And, it will count as good training. I admit that I like it. So, who will you choose? The big guy looks promising. At least his name is more natural than Noob Slayer.”

“An excellent question,” I said and winked at her.

I turned to the noobies and used my level 32 observe skill on my bonded. To mask my actions, I grinned at all three while reading the screen out of the corner of my eye.

Name: Mia

Class: Not Chosen

Race: ?????/Elf

Status: Healthy

HP: 33 MP: 44

Likes: Games, Puzzles, Money, and Facts

Dislikes: Conmen, Liars, Insects, and Fire

Just great! Fate decided to make my bonded a halfling, and one with an unknown creature for her non-elf side. But that did explain the longer ears and sharper teeth. On top of all that she was from some backwater called Earth.

I pointed at the big guy named Barrett and recited the beginning of the child’s choosing rhyme. “Fire.” I pointed to her. “Water.” Then to Noob. “Air.” I returned to her. “Life.”

When I looked at the leader she rolled her eyes but nodded.

I bowed to show that I would take my leave and she gestured for me to hurry up and get out. After I turned on my heel I walked through the group of newbies, causing Barret who stood a little too close to Mia to step back a couple paces. I rested my hand on her shoulder and smirked.

“See you later, Mia.”