*Somnium Venatus – Kira’s POV*

I was speeding my way along the highway towards the capital of the planet. I had quite a bit of time so I decided to see if Karen was awake at all or if she could still talk to me in her sleep. I quickly tried to get a hold of her, “Hey Karen, you awake?” It didn’t really take her long to respond, “No, but I can still talk to you. What’s up?” Apparently she can talk to me in the same way that I access the game. I asked her a question, “I found out that twenty four hours in the game is equal to one hour on Earth, does this mean that if I spend twenty four hours on Earth that twenty four days will go by in the game?”

Karen took a little bit longer to respond this time, “Well, not really. This question is actually kind of difficult to answer. You know how when you look at a star during the night you are actually seeing the light from millions of years ago right?” I said yes to that and she continued speaking, “Well the game kind of works on the same principle in a sense. The human consciousness can actually travel faster than the speed of light by many times and is able to access planets much faster than even the fastest ship made right now. That is how you are able to play a days’ worth of the game in one hour. That is actually the easy part to explain though.”

She stopped talking for a second and I just waited for her to continue and a few minutes later she did, “The other part about the days going by on Earth compared to the game is actually very, very tricky and a highly guarded secret by the company. In simple terms and all I can really tell you is that the company has found a way to completely erase your existence from the universe until you log back in. Everything that deals with you, from your room on the Heart Suite to the weapons you own are forgotten by everyone. If someone was to walk by your room they would see nothing but a wall were the door should be. How this is done nobody knows except for the higher ups in the company. Players on the other hand will know that you logged out and logged back in as soon as you log in.”

I was highly shocked by what she was saying, I nearly sideswiped another vehicle. Before I could ask another question she continued talking, “As for the time difference, yes twenty four days would go by in twenty four hours on Earth, but the company has a very powerful being that has developed something that will basically send your consciousness back in time to the point you logged off. So even though you have been logged off for hours or days it will seem like no time has went by in the game. The players will notice that you logged off and instantly logged back on.”

My head was starting to hurt listening to her, but I asked another question, “So basically I am changing the future of whatever planet I am on every time I log back in?” She answered promptly, “Sort of, but not exactly.” The information that she was telling me was making my normal Earth human brain almost have a meltdown. I immediately got a little worried, “Where you supposed to tell me any of this? I mean it sounds like highly important information. I mean now that I know that what if I figured out a way to get the history files from the company and then know exactly what was going to happen on the planet I was on.”

She answered me quickly again, “They don’t believe that the information is that important because no one has been able to steal anything from the company since its founding billions of years ago. They have quite a few powerful beings protecting their information and the company itself. The founder of the company is a being that was born at the same time as the universe itself.” You mean that the founder of the company is over fourteen billion years old? Holy hell that is a long fucking time to be alive, he has to have seen so much in his lifetime.

I put the thought to the back of my mind continued driving, “Thanks for the info about that Karen.” I heard her giggle before she responded; “Don’t mention it dear, it is what I am here for. Now if you don’t have anything else I am going to go back to the dream I was having about you.” I smiled while responding, “What am I doing in your dream?” She snickered, “If you are a good boy maybe you will find out later” I smiled and was looking forward to it, but first I had one more question, “Before you go I do want to know one more thing.”

She once again answered, “What is it babe?” I asked the other question that I wanted to know, “Can you tell me anything about the planet I started on?” She answered instantly, “Oh that is easy to do. The planet that you started on is called Xandros and it is named after some famous being from a long time ago that first colonized the planet. The population of the planet is about eight point five billion people and it has five continents and three oceans. The climate is almost exactly the same as Earth except for the fact that the ozone layer of Xandros is a whole lot better than Earth’s.”

I was listening to her explanation while driving, “Xandros is about five hundred years ahead of Earth in everyday technology and about a thousand years ahead of Earth in space travel and military technology. Why the difference you ask? It is because Xandros is a military based planet, that is why the Playing Cards chose it as its home planet. Xandros has been invaded three million six hundred fifty four thousand seven hundred and fifty nine times since it has been colonized and out of all of those times they have been able to push the invaders out within a few months to a year at most. I will say though that ninety-nine percent of the time they don’t even make it past the orbital defenses.”

Holy fuck! They have been invaded over three million times and only one percent of that has been able to actually land on the planet? That military power that this planet much have is astounding. When I came back to reality Karen was talking again, “The planet is about one point two times bigger than Earth and it is the fifth planet from its star. There are a total of eleven planets orbiting the star, known as XZ-427, and it is around one point seven times bigger than the Earth’s sun. The planet hosts a wide verity of species both intelligent and non-intelligent, but the entire planet is ruled by one nation. The nation is called Xandaria and it actually controls all of the planets in this solar system along with a bunch of planets in the neighboring solar systems. The nation itself is controlled by an empire that controls thirty-five percent of the entire galaxy called the Space Serpent Empire.”

Why all of the names that start with X? The planet and the nation are named after the same guy is sounds, but what is up with the empire name? Space Serpent Empire? It sounds so xanxia or wuxia that it isn’t even funny. I shook my head once again and thanked Karen. She laughed and then she made a kissing noise before she cut the connection. The reason I had to get going is because I was finally pulling into the capital. Crap, I didn’t ask her what the name of the capital city was. My question was answered when I drove by a sign that said “Welcome to Xander, capital of Xandaria.” If I wasn’t driving I would have facepalmed.

I pulled into the capital and then made my way to the palace. After another fifteen minutes of driving I finally pulled up to the parking garage. I showed the guard my mercenary ID and he let me in after a brief check. I found a spot to park and then got out of the vehicle. I heard Deuce hollering my name when I got out and after a quick look around I found him standing next to an elevator. I walked over to him and he greeted me, “You sleep well man?”

I nodded my head and then looked to see what he had equipped; he was wearing a black tactical vest with matching black combat shirt, cargo pants, and combat boots. He had a pistol on his right hip and a sword on his left. At the small of his back he was carrying two daggers that where in two sheaths crossing each other. He pointed to the elevator and when I nodded my head he led the way up. We stepped out of the elevator and we walked up to the security desk. I saw Deuce put all of his weapons, including two more daggers that he pulled from his boots into a tray that was given to a guard. After that he walked through a metal detector and gave his ID to a lady at the desk. Five minutes go by and he is given his ID back and his weapons.

It was my turn to go through the same process; I did the same thing as Deuce and then walked through the metal detector. I handed my ID to the woman and she typed some things in the computer. During this time the guard is still trying to pick up the tote that has Heaven and Hell in them. He was straining with all of his might to pick it up, but no matter what he did it wouldn’t budge. He was starting to curse at it and I laughed while mentally activating party mode. When I did the tote immediately lifted up and the guard almost fell on his ass from the force that he was exerting. It took everything that I had not to laugh, but Deuce on the other hand was busting a gut.

The lady gave my ID back and when I went to grab my weapons from the tote I could see the guard turning a little red. I turned off party mode and then put my weapons back in their rightful places. The guard led us to the twentieth floor and told us to wait in a room. We hung out in the room and talked for almost two hours before the door was opened and a couple of guards led an elderly gentleman in. I say gentleman, but that was just an honest guess. The reason being is that he literally looked like a walking grasshopper.

He reminded me of the grasshoppers from the kids movie Bugs Life that came out in the early two thousands back on earth. There was a slightly smaller and younger looking grasshopper that came in behind him. At first glance I didn’t like the insect, yes I say insect because the look in his eyes when he looked at us pissed me off. There was disgust and arrogance radiating from his body and it took everything I had not to punch the mother fucker in the face.

Behind the young shit-face was another grasshopper looking man, but this one was huge. He literally had to duck to walk in the door. He looked like fucking Arnie back during his Mr. Olympia days except times three. Due to my fifteen points in strength I wanted to see how I compared to the big man, but something in me said that I wasn’t ready for that yet. He had a giant claymore strapped to his back and a massive pistol strapped to his hip. The pistol was literally the size of an assault rifle from Earth, it was massive.

Now the doors in the palace weren’t small, they stood about nine feet tall if that gave you any inclination of the roided out grasshopper’s height. The door was also almost five feet wide and he could barely walk through it without turning sideways. He looked at me and then smiled revealing a sharp row of teeth; they literally looked like they came out of fucking Jaws. I smiled back at him and then put my attention on the older looking grasshopper.

He actually had a gray beard and gray hair surrounding his antennas and he had this imposing air about him, it felt like something a ruler would have. When he talked to us he didn’t have any arrogance though, “Hello gentle man, my name is Gripket and this is my son, Zipket.” He gestured to the jackass behind him who was still standing their looking at us with distain.

I clenched my fist and Deuce nudged my shoulder and when I looked at him I could see him shaking his head slightly. He looked at Gripket and spoke politely, “Hello Mr. Gripket, my code name is Deuce and his is One. We will be responsible for watching over your son for the duration of your stay her in Xander.” Gripket nodded his head, “I will trust that you won’t let anything happen to him while we are here?” Deuce nodded his head, “We will try our utmost to make sure that he is safe from harm.”

While they were talking I was in the midst of a showdown of the glares with Zipshit. He was glaring at me and I could almost hear all the degrading names he was calling me in his mind. After a few minutes of this, Zip-no-nuts mouthed under his breath, “Peasant.” It took everything I had to not make his nickname a reality. I had taken verbal abuse for almost all of my life and now that I had the power possibly prevent it I wasn’t able to and it was driving me fucking loco.

I sneered at the little pile of shit and then put my attention on Gripket. He and Deuce had just finished talking and he was about to take his leave. He looked at the Hulk and told him it was time to go. The guards escorted the two out leaving the Kit-Kat with us. After a few minutes he broke the silence, “Well I guess for the next two days you guys are my slaves, so let’s go I want to find some women.”

I was about to say something when Deuce stopped me, “Lead the way sir.” I gritted my teeth and then followed them out of the room and then out of the building. Deuce told me to bring the car that I had brought around to the front of the palace. I quickly did what he said, glad for a couple of minutes away from the fucking cockroach standing behind him. I showed the guard my ID and went to grab the vehicle. I pulled around front and Deuce opened the back door for the noble jackass. Deuce entered the address for the nearest high-end brothel bringing a raised eyebrow from me. He just winked at me and then we both laughed before I followed the GPSs directions.

We made it to the brothel, which was called the “Flower Field” and parked the car in the VIP parking section. I showed the guard our IDs and then gave him dipshit’s. When he saw it he immediately turned pale and then did a bow to him before allowing us in. I sighed, jeez an ambassadors son sure is treated nicely. I got out of the car and looked around the area making sure there wasn’t anyone suspicious and that I didn’t see any glint coming from the nearby roof tops.

I didn’t find anything and knocked on the back of the vehicle. Deuce got out and let Zipket out and then led the way to the entrance of the brothel. I was running out of nicknames so I decided to just call him by his name or Zipshit from now on. I stayed outside of the front door for a minute while Deuce took him inside. After making sure we weren’t followed I went inside as well.

Zipshit had gotten a private room and I saw Deuce standing to one side of the door. I walked up to the other side and took my position. After a few minutes there was a very beautiful girl walk up. She had blue skin, decent tits, and a very voluptuous body; she was carrying a tray with some glasses and a bottle of some sort of alcohol. We stopped her at the door and I gave her a quick frisk while Deuce took a drink of the alcohol.

He didn’t take a big drink, but just enough to test it for poison. I found out earlier that Deuce was immune to almost all kinds of poisons, viruses, bacteria, and whatnot. He could still detect that they were there as long as he ingested it or contracted it. How you contracted something you were immune to I don’t know, but it at least wouldn’t kill him. He nodded his head and let the woman in the room.

I looked over at Deuce, “What kind of poison and whatnot can you actually be hurt or killed from?” He looked over at me and spoke in a very serious tone, “The kinds that can kill all life in a galaxy or even gods.” I paled at the thought of a virus that could wipe out life on a galactic scale not to mention killing gods. From what I was told about gods, they are beings that a powerful enough to wipe out an empire or two by themselves. They aren’t the strongest beings in the universe, unlike what the people on Earth think.

I didn’t even want to know about the beings stronger than something that could kill an empire that controls thirty plus percent of a galaxy. I sighed and then continued to be vigilant, but my concentration was broken from the lewd sounds that started to sound from the room behind us. Some high class brothel, they can’t even sound proof their rooms properly. My thoughts were interrupted by another woman that came up to the door.

This woman was actually a loli believe it or not; an actual real life loli was standing in front of me. She had an ID clipped to her outfit which showed that she worked here and I gave her a quick frisk and then Deuce let her in the door. When the door opened I caught a glimpse of a sight that I wanted to quickly forget. Even though he looked like a grasshopper his anatomy downstairs was actually the same as a human, albeit quite a bit smaller. I snickered at the last part and then went back to guarding the door.

After almost two hours the noises finally stopped and the girls walked out of the room. I could see that the loli was crying a little and that there was a red mark on her face. I stopped her for a second, “Hey are you okay?” She jumped in surprise and then nodded her head before attempting to leave. I could see that she was walking funny so I told Deuce to watch the door for a minute. He raised an eyebrow but just told me to put my communicator in. I nodded and stuck the small communicator in my ear and tested it.

After seeing that it worked I followed the loli for a minute, but when she entered the dressing room for the ladies I stopped. I found a girl carrying a tray and stopped her, “Hey do you guys have any lolis?” She looked at me and had a hint of disgust in her eyes, “No we do not, we only have a few younger workers who are mainly just refreshment bringers.” I nodded my head and then asked another question, “So you don’t have any lolis who do other services?”

She was starting to get mad, “No we don’t sir. We don’t offer that kind of service here at this brothel. The owner is not a fan of lolis and will not hire any for anything other than refreshment girls.” I then asked the most important question, “So how old are the refreshment girls you have now?” She finally got pissed off and almost yelled, “They are around twelve; now leave me alone you pervert!”

She stormed off and I was starting to get pissed. If what I think happened is what really happened then this mission may be over on the first day. I waited for the refreshment girl to walk out of the dressing room and then I stopped her, “We need to talk.” She jumped and then slowly nodded her head. We walked to a couch and then sat down on it, I could see Deuce giving me a strange look from across the room and I quickly told him to give me a minute over the coms.

I looked at the little girl sitting beside me, “Did the guy in the room hit you?” The girl stiffened up and shook her head vigorously. I sighed and then spoke again, “You don’t have to lie to me. I won’t let him do anything to you again if he did.” She looked at me with some tears forming in her eyes. I quickly asked her again, “Now did he hit you?” She looked at me for a second before slowly nodding her head once. My anger was starting to build.

I looked at her with concern in my eyes, “Did he do anything else to you?” She stiffened up and then visibly paled. After a few minutes she finally broke down and started bawling. I held her in my arms and rubbed her head, “It’s okay, he won’t ever do anything like that to you or anyone again.” I was fuming, if lolis were a service they offered here then so be it more power to the shit-face in the room especially if they were of age. Those services weren’t offered here and the refreshment girls were only around twelve which was just a kid in my eyes no matter what the laws.

I held her for a few more minutes before she wiped her face and got up. She thanked me and then walked back to the refreshment bar and started to talk to another refreshment girl. I looked at her with sadness in my heart, I wonder why the other girl didn’t try to stop him? I hope that she will be okay and this won’t drive her to suicide. I looked at her while she was acting like everything was okay in front of her co-worker and I felt a little surprised by her acting skills, but the anger quickly started to take over every other emotion. I got up from the couch and headed to the private room. Deuce seen me and asked what happened. I looked at him and pointed to the room, “This dead mother fucking grasshopper is what happened.”

I could see the confusion on his face, “grasshopper?” Before he could really ask anything I kicked the door in. Zipshit was in the middle of pleasing himself with another woman, but when I burst through the door he screamed out and his little soldier got even smaller. I looked at the woman and spoke with killing intent in my voice, “Leave.” She immediately complied and grabbed her clothes before running out of the room.

Deuce walked in the room behind me, “Dude what the hell are you doing?” Zipshit spoke up to, “Yeah what are you doing!?” I looked at him and gave him a glare that made him shut up on the spot before I spoke to Deuce, “This mother fucker raped the refreshment girl that came in here before.” Deuce paled at that, “Are you sure?” I nodded my head, “I am positive, she told me herself.”

Zipshit spoke up again, “I raped no one! That refreshment girl works at a brothel and every girl is a product at a brothel!” I couldn’t stop myself and I punched him in the face. Blood splattered and he fell back on the couch in the room. I started yelling at him, “This brothel is one that doesn’t offer their refreshment girls as a product! Also that refreshment girl was only twelve you sick fuck!” I could hear Deuce gnashing his teeth behind me. I looked back at him, “This is the exact same situation that The Dealer was talking about right?” Deuce nodded his head while staring holes into the soon to be squashed bug.

I smiled wide, “Good, which means that I won’t get killed or fired for what happens next. It’s not like I care though considering he raped a twelve year old. Deuce go and watch the door while I take care of our bug problem. Give me one of your daggers before you go though.” He smiled and nodded, he handed me a dagger and then walked out of the door shutting it behind him.

I held the dagger in front of Zipshit and sneered, “Well I don’t have a big enough flyswatter or boot to deal with you, so this will have to do.” I laughed at the look on his face and spoke one more time, “I normally wouldn’t enjoy this, but because of what you did I am going to enjoy every fucking second of this.”