AN: I hope you enjoy this little tidbit of the tale. We'll be heading back to ARS after this post, and there was soon be more grinding and the like if people are into combat as much as character interaction. :)

Also, I want to bring attention to a story that I have become intrigued by. It is by RRL author Snowmelts. It's an interesting little tale called BreakDown. Female main character, gaming stuff... murder trial? What?

It only has a few chapters out, but the paragraphs are well designed and the characters actually seem like people. The author has managed to create a voice for the creations found therein that seems distinct to each character despite its third-person viewpoint. It is not the typical story as far as what I have read, and I want to spread it around a bit.

Try BreakDown if you want a break from terrible grammar and want to immerse yourself in a story with a little actual depth.

I may do little 'author blurbs' like this now and then if I can somehow tear myself away from writing long enough to read other stories. So, if anyone has any suggestions on stories that might be intriguing let me know.

Chapter 80.1: Divinely Human Nature

A wistful sigh echoed across the interior of a well-appointed dressing room. Origin gazed into sadly into the mirror. Her chin propped up by her hands, the girl in the mirror looked as though she had not a friend in the world.

She flew an errant hair from the side of her face then said, "Just started the tour and it's already this bad."

Origin had grown accustomed to being near Scott whenever she liked. It was difficult for her to understand exactly what it was about him that made her immortal heart beat quicker, but it did.

Curiosity, and loneliness, got the better of herself. Origin bit her bottom lip slightly then reached for her cell phone. "It wouldn't hurt to just see what he's up to, would it?"

Justified in her actions, Origin lifted the phone up and tapped on an application that would turn her mirror into a one-way view-screen. A bright smile appeared on her lips as she saw the interior of Scott's house. "Oh, so he went to Earth for some reason?"

She performed a quick search scan and the image zoomed in on Scott's location. Her warm smile slowly faded as she saw something she had not expected. "What's she doing there...?"

The images shown on the screen were of Scott holding Shara close while he gently stroked her hair. Off to one side, Herbert ate popcorn and watched the human drama unfolding before him.

Shara began to cry a little, but Scott seemed to do his best to comfort her without comforting her too much. "Since when does Shara go to him like this on her own..."

Eventually, the sweet and somewhat infuriating scene came to an end. Origin watched Scott kiss Shara on the cheek then nod to her. The bridge of the girl's nose turned right pink, an action that made Origin's stomach knot a little.

She hesitated a moment, but then sent Shara a message. It wasn't prying if it was her sister, right?

The minutes ticked by as Origin nervously waited for a response from her little sister. She nearly said something unladylike when her older sister, Mid, poked her head into the dressing room. "Hey, you ready to go?"

Origin sighed at her phone then sent Shara another message telling her that she would like to talk later. She had to do another meet and greet with the fans.

"Yeah, I suppose I am." said the blue haired goddess as she rose from her seat. She made a point of looking at Mid, however. "If one more of those fan boys tries to grab my butt, I'm calling lightning."

"They'd probably love you forever if you did." said Mid with a laugh. "You know how they can be."

Origin frowned at her sister. Must she be so entirely reasonable in her assertions? "Yes. I do know."

The divine sisters left the dressing room and went off to meet their fan-base related destiny. Origin would simply have to wait to discover what her younger sister had discussed with the love of her life.

**

Scott waited patiently at a stop light for a military convoy to cross the road. Many things had happened since the last time he had gone to speak with Captain Johnson. The base had not changed much, but who knew what was in store for its future?

His cell buzzed briefly as another message arrived for him. "Sarah again?" he said before placing it back down with a sigh. What would it take to get the woman to accept the reality of the situation? She had dumped him with no forewarning. He had moved on after a time, and now her needs were simply not important to him.

"I'll be glad to get back to ARS after this. How 'bout you man?" asked Scott.

Herbert chittered once then waved at the air with his paw. He could take it or leave it, really.

Once they arrived at the headquarters building, they headed inside to meet up with the good captain. Herbert rode shotgun on Scott's shoulder so no one would get any crazy ideas of about chasing him with a broom.

"Ah, Lieutenant Jacobs. You're here." said Captain Johnson, before the lieutenant on duty at the front desk had a chance to greet him.

"Sir. It's good to see you." said Scott. He had to walk the walk, and talk the talk, once again. Ah, the life of an on duty soldier. Well, now a commissioned officer.

The duty officer stared openly at the blue haired weirdo. Scott had never met him before, but the man recognized him easily enough. Few people with bright blue hair walked into the building. Despite expecting his arrival, the duty officer could not help but stare at a commissioned officer with long luxurious blue hair.

"Lieutenant Danielson, is there a problem?" asked Captain Johnson after he noticed the way the man was staring.

"No, sir..."

The captain glanced at the man briefly then turned his gaze back to Scott. "I was about to call it quits in about ..." He looked at his watch. "Ten minutes. Can you wait till then?"

The duty lieutenant blinked stupidly for a moment. By his personal recollection, the captain was not one to wait on the needs of a lieutenant. Though, he gave a great deal of leeway to his warrant officers.

"Yes, sir. That would be fine." said Scott. It felt strange to him, calling a man sir after everything he had gone through. Years of military indoctrination had been tossed aside in only the time span of a single year.

"Alright. I'll finish up. Come on up to the office." The captain turned away smartly. Scott could not quite avoid falling into step. Old habits die hard sometimes.

Up in the office, Scott plopped himself down in one of the surprisingly comfortable office chairs at the request of the captain. "So, not to be rude and informal, but how do you like ARS?" asked Scott. Any pretext of being the captain's subordinate had disappeared the moment they were alone.

Captain Johnson nodded, a slow smile spreading across his lips. "I have only just begun, but I'm thoroughly fascinated."

"It is addictive. I know." said Scott. He gestured toward the grassrat on his shoulder. "Oh yeah. Herbert, this is Captain Johnson." He gestured to the captain. "Captain Johnson, meet Herbert."

"Ah, hello... Herbert." said the captain. Herbert waved at him then chittered in a friendly fashion.

Adam blinked then smiled at the small rodent. "You're not from around here are you?"

Herbert closed his eyes then slowly shook his head. No, he was certainly not.

Scott waited patiently while the captain finished a report that he had been working on prior. Why the man had not simply done it before going down stairs to wait for Scott's arrival baffled the blue haired man, but it was not really a big deal.

It was not long before the captain finished. But afterward he showed the report to Scott. It would need his signature.

"Oh, so it's a candidate list." said Scott. He now understood a little of the captain's thought process. There was no point in trying to finish until Scott had seen the report, but he had not wanted to divulge information in front of his subordinate officer.

"Yes, it is also a transfer order. They have seen a little of what I could do, even without leveling up. We'll be moving shop to a new unit specifically set aside for this." said Adam.

"Sounds good. Meeting here would have been problematic if we continued for much longer."

Scott nodded while he looked through the list. He saw no sign of Sarah's boyfriend on the list, which was good. Most of the names listed were Rangers or Special Forces, which was better. "What makes these guys eligible?"

"A few things. Mostly their home life situation and time in service. They are all single men or women without children who have undergone at least one full tour in the sand box."

"Says those selected will become a Special Forces unit." Scott looked up toward Adam. "Makes sense, but if I have to go through selection training it won't happen. They couldn't even begin to properly assess me with the standard tactics and it would take too much time away from ARS."

"Don't worry about that. Now that they know the possibilities, paperwork is to be shuffled. Besides, they know that it is entirely possible that you would shut the program down and simply leave the planet."

"How did you convince them that it was real?" asked Scott curiously.

"I showed them what it looked like when I logged into ARS, and I healed a man who had severe burns." Adam smirked then waved his hand dismissively. "They came around."

Before Scott could comment, his phone buzzed again. Upon checking it, he sighed. "Again? Damn, give it up woman."

"Trouble in paradise?" asked the curious captain, a sly smile on his lips.

"No, paradise is great. It's my ex-fiancé. Somehow her idiot boyfriend discovered I was part of a new project that would fast track his career." Scott eyed Adam for a moment. "Despite the crap that was pulled last year, she keeps calling me to try and get him into the program."

"Do you want him in? Should we accept him?" asked Adam evenly.

"I want him to stick his head into the nearest pond and take a deep breath. What I'd accept is them getting a damned clue." said Scott, exasperated.

Adam laughed loudly then said "Fair enough. I've not had any relationship troubles in a while. Although..."

"Although?" asked Scott. There was something about the way that the man had said the simple word that caused Scott to become intrigued.

"I can't show you because items don't cross over, but it seems Lord Blizrum wants to groom me to be his champion."

"That's great! I'm happy for you." said Scott.

"Are you? I still don't know why he would choose me. I barely know what I am doing there." admitted Adam with a tiny little laugh.

"I can't say that I've met him, but from what my fiancé has told me about the other gods..." Scott mused for a moment then nodded. "It's probably got a lot to do with the fact that you're a decorated veteran officer from Earth. Gods are sort of fanboys after all."

"Really? So, anyone would do?" asked Adam, slightly saddened by the admission.

"Not necessarily." said Scott. Adam looked askance at him, and the blue haired man continued. "They only really get one champion at a time. He works for the gaming empire, and knows the deal. If anything, the gods probably already know the names on your list and he still chose you."

The captain reflected on the words he had heard. His musings were interrupted by Scott asking a question. "What sort of item did he give you?"

Adam laughed a little then said, "A shield maiden summoning crystal..."

Scott blinked. "It... summons a shield maiden?"

"Yes, that's the theory anyway."

Scott's left eyebrow rose into an arch. "Was he trying to give you a badass girlfriend or something?"

"That's what I said!" Adam laughed loudly, so loudly that both Scott and Herbert joined in. The little grass rat had been quiet for most of the conversation, but even he was amused by the situation.

Once the laughter died down, Adam said, "I don't really know if that was the intention, but I appreciate the possibilities. I'll be able to see more of the world before I make my decision."

"Feel free to ask questions, but you'll probably enjoy it more if you just get out there and see what there is to see." said Scott with a smile.

"I will. I'm taking it slow at the moment. The priests have told me that it is much easier to develop my level if I master my basic skills first."

"That's true. I sort of ended up power-leveled and missed out on the slow and enjoyable part of the journey. I'm getting back into that now, though."

"Ah, I see. So, mastering my skills before going out to level is best?" asked Adam. "I haven't played many role playing games in recent years. Not much at all since college, really."

"I'd say so. Your spells will max out quickly enough over time, but there is probably a lot that you can learn about the world simply by hanging out with the priests." Scott reached up to scratch Herbert behind the ear since the little fellow had started to scratch with his paw. Hopefully he didn't have fleas.

Adam nodded then placed his hand to his chin in a thoughtful display. "What about the situation with the board?"

Scott shook his head. "My fiancé and her family are doing a bit of hearts and minds to try and raise interest in ARS. She doubts it will keep the board at bay for long but it might buy a few years."

"It's strange to think that in a few years everyone there might be dead." said Adam, his eyes narrowed slightly even as the expression on his face hardened.

Scott snorted then nodded his head. He gestured toward Adam in a casual way. "I know, right? The board is a problem."

"It's true that they are only doing this because they are pretending to be like business men from Earth?"

The loud and obnoxious laughter that issued from Scott's lips surprised Adam for a moment. "What's funny about that?"

Scott made a little circle gesture with his index finger. "That's the thing about the gods. Most of them are nice enough, but they emulate us so completely that they don't realize they are doing a terrible things that even we shouldn't be doing."

"So, it is true." Adam frowned. "I can't believe anyone would murder the population of entire worlds just because of a loss in profits."

"It's not even a major drop from what I've been told. The board is a bunch of over-reacting asshats pretending to be draconian businessmen. No profits, no life." Scott shifted his weight to the side a little. The chair was comfortable but he had been sitting a little oddly. One of his ass cheeks had started to go numb. It was a surprising revelation really. His overall durability should have made that an unlikely scenario.

"That's..." Adam shook his head slowly then curled his hands into fists. "Someone needs to put a foot in their ass."

"I agree. Most of the company agrees too. It's a ridiculous situation, really."

Adam looked askance at Scott. "You're so calm about this."

"I've become accustomed to the bizarre reality of my fiancé's people. It took a while, and they still surprise me on an almost daily basis, but I understand greedy asshats. There's something disturbingly human about how the board is acting."

"That's human? Killing off planets for profit?" asked Adam, surprised.

"Ever hear the story about how America came to be a country that spanned a continent? How about the last world war, or the rise of pretty much any large nation in the history of the world?" asked Scott flippantly. He leaned forward then said, "Fucking someone over to get what you want is about as human as it gets with some people."

Adam really had nothing to say to that. There were a lot of good things about humanity, but he had to admit that there were many terrible people in the world as well.