Steel used a separate room that night, letting Hunie have his room to herself. Mema set him up in a room on loan, saying that he could pay her back after the expedition. She had been talking with Hunie that evening, and she reported Hunie was feeling a lot better now, and was wanting to work in the inn in order to get over her experience. She told him to ignore his instincts and let the girl have some time. Steel had finally relented his concern; letting Hunie have the night and permission to work.

It kinda worked out for him though, as he had plans for next day with Dia. He woke up early and had breakfast with Mema, who assured him Hunie would be fine for the day. Thanking her, he walked out if the building and logged out of the game.

Stepping out of the portal, he walked over to his door, and stepped outside his house for the first time in a long time.

Cybercity was the name of the constructed world of the A.I.'s. While they lived in their own world of electrons and information, cybercity had been the first major online collaboration between the humans and A.I.'s, in order to create a place where the two could work and play together.

The city itself was a vast physical representation of the A.I. world in forms that humans could understand. For instance, the bank building was used for monetary interactions, and the clothes stores were where clothing code was designed and bought. Needless to say, humans and A.I.'s used the same type of payment, so exchange rates didn't exist. Well, it did but only for the dark gamers who sold items for cash. That particular shop was in it's own coded dark alley, complete with owl noises and other scary things, pregnant mistresses and the like.

Though he didn't really need it, Plat made a mental note to visit the store when he had found more rare items. Anyway, he was on his way to the cybercity plaza, which was located at the direct middle of the city. He walked down the street to the cab stop, and clicked the button. A cab materialized in front of him, one of the early 1990's design, and stepped in.

"Destination?" The program driver asked.

Plat dropped a coin into the slot, "Plaza please." He rotated the dial to 5 minutes for travel time, and sat down.

The cab zoomed up into the air into the traffic above. The streets on the ground were decorative, more for walks and cycling. The information highway was above the city, allowing for fast travel to anywhere in the system without any of the past traffic problems: like jams and accidents. Buffer lag did occur rarely though, and maintenance programs repaired the highway every once and awhile. Plat chuckled at the idea, staring down into the city sights below. His teachers had once taught that the cities before the wars had looked like cybercity, and almost as big too. He couldn't believe it, for cybercity was large enough that it would take a year of walking to get from one side to the other, not including the expansions that came from new A.I. businesses. The three human cities, Plat had learned, required only 30 minutes to walk across, so the difference was huge.

The cab left the highway and returned to the streets exactly 4:45 minutes later. It stopped and opened the door 15 seconds later. "Have a good day." The program said as Plat climbed out. It dematerialized and disappeared in a poof of light particles.

Plat walked into the center plaza. The plaza itself was a large 3 story round open-air building that held a fountain and trees at the bottom floor, and numerous eateries on the other two floors. Beautiful glowing insect programs and a constant moonlight setting in the forest made it a great place to meet with people for a meal and watch the purity of cyber nature in motion.

The center plaza was the second floor, the casual dining floor. Plat took the escalator up and sat down in a cafeteria style place. He checked the time; a little early, but that was okay.

'Better wait for Dia to get here before I get some food.' Plat thought. In all honesty, only A.I.'s needed cyber food, in was essentially a repair program that checked for errors and bugs, but human avatars merely ate for the sake of eating.

He didn't have to wait too long though, a huge set of arms wrapped around Plat and lifted him into the air in a bear hug that made his avatar choke in surprise. He was set down, and Plat turned around with a grin.

"Hey Dia, looking good."

Dia snorted, and gave a small smile. His avatar was different, showing his change in the physical world. His body was less muscular from the recovery, yet it seemed, tighter for some reason. A metallic shine reflected the light when Dia opened his mouth, showing off his new metal tongue. His hair was shorter too, not quite a buzz cut, but close to it.

"Plat, good to see you." He rumbled happily, taking the seat opposite Plat.

"Have to say Dia, metal is definitely your color."

A sad face covered Dia for a moment, before it was replaced with serenity and acceptance, "It helps ya know? I can talk again without the stupid sensors and sign language." He rubbed his mouth in appreciation, "Never thought I'd say this, but I missed my voice."

Plat laughed, and the two put their hands on the table and activated the tablet menus. Plat choose a traditional pizza, while Dia choose a little of a lot. The food materialized onto the table, and they dug in.

Plat chewed on his pizza slice, folding the end to trap the sauce. "So Dia, how are things going for you?" He said between bites.

Dia scarfed down a mini hamburger, "Better, been better Plat. My soul rating went up, and I was invited to internship at one of the monasteries."

"Really? Which one?"

A hot dog disappeared, "One of the martial arts, ancient karate I believe (nom). I leave to go see them tomorrow"

"That's great buddy, you finally got what you wanted." Plat congratulated him, savoring the new slice.

Dia shook his head, anger tightening his features, "No, this is not what I want." He dropped the food in disgust and stared down at it. "You are crippled neuroly, Hank's upgraded dorms and friends, and Reva's a wreck. I can't even taste food anymore, only this...imitation." Tears formed around his eyes, "I don't like it, and I can't change it."

Plat felt both sympathy and anger at Dia's words. "Care to explain the other's circumstances?"

Dia snorted, "Once my tongue was fixed, I told the council what had happened. Hank was dropped out of soul faction ranking, but he was raised in mind. Apparently, it "was smart"." He made air quotes, "To eliminate unnecessary elements from the equation."

Plat slammed his fists on the table. His eyes burned from injustice, "Even though you testified, they still didn't punish him?"

Dia waved his hand, "Dropping his soul ranking eliminates him from any job with moral dignity, which limits him forever, but he's still in school with that smart guy jerk, you know, the guy who bullied you."

Plat nodded, he remembered who had tried to steal his Everlife copy.

"They hang out with him, but no one else does now. No one like hims, but he still has a future." Dia shook his head.

"Fine, I'll rage later, but what is this about Reva?"

"The girl was really suffered man, they found her to be innocent of intentional participation, so she just had a lowered soul ranking, but not eliminated. However, for her weakness and being used, her other two rankings also fell. Ironically, she's in the same boat as you now."

Plat didn't care, she had given him up; she was dead to him. Dia continued.

"Rumor has it she swore herself to Sarah in return for protection. Pretty lucky, them being roommates for so long. Now, she is never seen outside your girl's presence, always following her around."

"Wait, no, she's not my girl." Plat blushed at the comment, momentarily forgetting his anger. Dia raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Silly Plat, I may not be smart like you, but I know you liked her. She visited you when you were in bed right? Maybe she likes you too?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

Plat shook his head, "No way man, she was just being nice. You know I rarely ever talked with her, and just for schoolwork, there's no way man."

Dia shrugged, "Whatever you say man, but you should know that she's one of the strongest elves right now. Rumor has it she wants to leave to elvish kingdom as soon as possible. Maybe to visit a certain someone?"

"Drop it Dia." Plat said with finality, "More likely she wants to meet someone of her level." He changed the subject, "You still playing Everlife?"

Dia nodded, "Haven't been on too often lately, but the monastery also uses the game to practice their techniques, so I'll be on more when I get there."

"What? That sounds like a great place! Why haven't I heard of this before?" Plat demanded.

Dia shrugged, "It's not well known, and has a real funny name, Geromichi or something like that. The recruiter said I'd be one of the smartest guys there."

They both had a good laugh at that one.

Recovering, Dia wiped a tear away, "So Plat, you still a human right?"

"Yup, and so far enjoying it."

Dia's face hardened, "You should hurry and switch races man, make a new character. Hank's at the capital, remember? No doubt he wants to beat you if he sees you again, if not for spite then for misplace anger at losing a ranking. Why don't you make an orc and join me? We'd have a lot of fun together." He offered.

Plat shook his head, "Sorry Dia, but I have a good place now, with good people to rely on. I can't just abandon hard work because of future bumps in the road."

"Well yeah, but you my friend have a city sized sink hole down that road."

"Dia, Dia, Dia, did you just say something wise? How unexpected." Plat teased.

Dia gromphed and folded his arms, "I'm smart sometimes." He said defensively.

Plat smiled, and clapped his friend's back. They finished their meal talking about simple things now, letting the mistakes of the past flow away with the glowing forest light.

When they finished, they hit the trash button on the table, dissolving the leftovers into the light. They got up, embraced (rather another massive bear hug), and bid farewell to each other, promising they would meet up later when they were stronger. Dia logged out, and Steel called another cab to return him to his house.

He contemplated the future on the way back, thinking of what was coming. Hank would become a problem, Plat knew he was gaining fame and fortune on his own in the capital city. His new friends would most likely be dwarves or human, and they would make their own guild eventually. Plat would need his own friends to fight back.

"A guild." He muttered, looking at the city lights. Guilds didn't exist yet, they required things that hadn't been discovered yet.

He shook his head, "No, not a guild, a family."

He drew a bunny picture in the digital condensation on the window. First thing first, he had to survive the expedition.

When he got back, he checked the time. only a 10 hours talking, eating, and exploring. It would be late, but he wanted to check up on Hunie. He logged in, and found himself back outside the lively guild. A quick look inside showed him Hunie happily working, this time not intoxicated of course, He smiled, felt his hunger levels protest, and walked inside for his meal. It was served by his cute little maid, and she even managed to avoid spilling all of it onto him.

The little things mattered.

------------------

And that's the end of the story

Not.

Still a little while till the first book is done, 3-5 chapters, then stuff. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you guys later :)