The damage was pretty bad. After cleaning up the mess, they found three of the Nikora women had died. All the women had radiation burns from running through the Icarus, which could have been worse if Chetaara hadn't shut down the leak before coming out of hiding. Yet the rest had survived and the mercenaries were dead. Byron thought they would be upset but Chetaara seemed almost happy.

"They died in combat," she said. "While not as honored as being bonded, death in battle is a path to the ranks of the Great Temple. They will be known forever as mighty warriors."

Byron looked at the assault rifle the mercs left behind. They all required a level ten to use.

"I can't wait to level up," he whispered.

After shoving the bodies of the mercenaries back into their ship, Scarlett set the merc frigate to crash land on the planet then they all turned their attention back to Aegis.

On the bridge, she tapped keys. "I'm sending the flag codes for docking now. I rewrote the code so it would be a little less fucking obvious that the flag is fake. Hopefully this place doesn't look at them too closely and they let us in."

As the massive space station floated before them, the communications screen lit up to show a thin man's feathered face. "Hailey Corps 25-B, we read you. You are cleared for landing at Deck Seven."

He vanished as Scarlett held out her hands. "Am I fucking good or what? Let's drop these bitches off and go party."

Chetaara narrowed her eyes. "My mother and sister are among those 'bitches.'"

The robot turned her hands up in surrender. "Hey, no offense. I just wanna get outta this hen party."

Chetaara shook her head. "You are a strange one, mechanical woman."

Scarlett stuck out her tongue. "And you can't get enough of me."

Byron watched as their freighter glided into one of the huge bay doors on the space station. After passing through the doorway, they moved into a bay filled with larger and smaller ships all rising and falling over landing pads. Their freighter moved to a landing pad, hovered for a moment, and puffed out jets that guided it safely to the ground.

Scarlett led the way out of the bridge. "I got through to the Republic of Beriza. They're sending someone to meet us."

He took his gun and slipped it into his holster. "Okay, ladies. Let's go."

He tapped the keypad to open the airlock. The airlock swung open to reveal a ramp leading down to the floor of the deck.

A tall alien stood at the end of the ramp, one who looked like a blue bird standing on his hind legs. The alien looked at a glowing tablet in its hand. "I understand we have forty Nikora applying for asylum?"

Byron nodded and tried to keep his dialogue in keeping with the game he had found himself in. "That's right. They were held as slaves from the Necralia Empire."

The alien nodded. "We are a member of the Republic of Allied Worlds, but we do not support the republic's involvement in the slave trade. We will find these women asylum and a transport back to their home world."

Chetaara threw her arms around Byron, and her large breasts pressed against him. "Thank you."

Her family Ionla and Pratorra came forward to hug him as well. He expected it to be awkward between them, but they looked calm and smiled as if they had shared nothing more than a glass of wine.

Ionla had a crystalline necklace that she held out to him with a bow. "To show our gratitude for your kindness and bravery in rescuing us, we wish to present to you this token of our appreciation."

Byron held out his hands. "Oh, no, I couldn't--"

Chetaara widened her eyes. "Master, to reject the gift is a grave insult to my people."

He looked at her worried eyes, and the wide eyes of all the other Nikora women.

He sighed and gave her his best bow. "Uh, thank you. I appreciate it."

When he reached out to take the necklace, game text showed:

SHOATHIL NECKLACE

VALUE: 1000 CREDITS

"Cha-ching," Scarlett whispered before he silenced her.

Chetaara spoke to the two feline women briefly and the three bowed to each other before Ionla and Pratorra walked off with the other Nikora.

OBJECTIVE COMPLETE

+500 XP

Scarlett clapped Byron on the shoulder. "Okay, let's get down to fucking business. Time to spend some of those credits and get some gear. The real shit. Now's the part where we have fun."

He pointed to the freighter. "What do we do with this?"

She snorted. "We'll have them take out the Icarus and leave the freighter behind. We don't need all that shit dragging our asses down."

Scarlett beckoned and led them off through the station. They left the hangar bay to walk into what looked like a shopping mall. The stores had signs that read "Intergalactic Guns and Ammo," "Medi-Kits," and "Armor and Gear." As Byron walked through the station, he looked around at the aliens and strange creatures. Most of them looked like random characters but a few had glowing red stars over their heads to indicate they were real players like him.

He felt himself shrinking as he always did in crowds. He even caught himself scratching his cheek, a semiconscious habit he had developed to hide his scar. He forced himself to stop. He wasn't in the real world with a short, fat body. He was handsome, muscular and had two hot women by his side.

As he walked past a huge, hulking man in armor with a massive chain gun, he took note of the glowing star over the soldier's head. The soldier's eyes flicked up to look at Byron's star before giving him a nod. A kinship passed through them, knowing they were both real in an unreal world.

Byron nodded back as he felt a sense of relief and felt less alone. He suddenly realized he had a chance to find out more details and reached out to stop the soldier. "Hey, you're a real player, right?"

The soldier narrowed his eyes. "Uh, yeah. Duh."

"I just got into Venus Online. It's a little overwhelming. Can I ask you a few questions?"

The soldier winced. "I just came in for some more ammo. Got a mission on Rourek Seven. I ain't your fucking tour guide. That's what she's for."

He jerked his chin at Scarlett.

Byron noticed a robot woman standing behind him. She had black hair instead of silver hair and a blue gown covering her body, but looked almost identical to Scarlett. He remembered what Scarlett had said about how every player got a copy of her. This version of Scarlett didn't look as happy, though. In fact, she looked scared.

Byron gave the soldier a wave. "Hey, just wanted a little help. Don't have to be a jerk about it."

The soldier gave him the finger. "Fuck you, you noob bitch. Your momma sucked my dick, fag."

The soldier lumbered away, trailed by his robot who gave Byron a sympathetic wince.

"Sorry," she whispered.

Scarlett folded her arms. "Assholes are all over the place."

Chetaara bared her teeth and took a step towards the soldier. "Let me tear out his tongue to teach him some manners."

Byron held up his hand. He felt angry and he wanted to do something about it. "No. Scarlett, is this a PVP zone?"

She grinned. "Abso-fucking-lutely."

He whipped out his pistol and spun around. Byron wanted to kill the soldier but reminded himself the player would die in real life. Instead, he fired into the back of the soldier's left leg. A health bar popped up over the soldier and dropped by ten percent as he dropped into a crouch, screaming in agony.

+100 XP

775/10,000 XP

25 CREDITS

He holstered his weapon and walked away from the soldier. "I'm starting to like this game. So what do we do first?"

Scarlett held up a finger. "Okay, first we should get some ass-kicking gear to level up your stats. That's Guns and Ammo over there."

She led the way to the store with a sign reading "Guns and Ammo." They pushed their way through the doors into a huge warehouse with weapons of every shape and size mounted on walls, shelves, and in glass cases. Other aliens and humans wandered around, pointing and hefting some of the weapons.

Byron whistled. "Wow. Nice."

Scarlett had her hands on her hips as she nodded. "Yeah, this is the shit. We don't have enough credits for all the really good stuff but there's a few things we can get. Got any suggestions, Chetaara?"

Chetaara smiled. "Indeed. Many would have you load up on many weapons but with low damage for variety or because they look or feel cool."

She said "cool" with contempt and continued, "I favor having one weapon with enough power to handle many situations."

She walked over to a rack of pistols and pulled one black weapon down. At least, she appeared to pull it down. The pistol itself stayed on the shelf while a semi-transparent version filled her hand. "This is the Scorpio T-90 laser pistol. It holds standard ion ammo clips. It is five hundred credits. Not cheap, but the most powerful weapon you can buy for the lowest cost."

Scarlett folded her hands over each other. "Nice. It's in your price range and it'll boost your strength stats."

Chetaara tossed the pistol at Byron who caught it. The moment his hands touched the ghostly pistol, text lit up in the air in front of him.

SCORPIO T-90

LEVEL REQUIRED: 3

DMG: 14

ACCURACY: HIGH

AMMO: 10

+1 STRENGTH

COST: 500

PURCHASE Y/N

Byron admired its sleek line and spiked muzzle. He didn't feel anything in his hands, though. "Okay. Sounds good."

He reached out and tapped "Y" next to "purchase."

The transparent outline of the pistol filled in and he felt the weight of the pistol drop into his hands as it became real. He spun it on his finger before slipping it into the left holster on his hip.

New stats appeared in the air.

MARINE - LEVEL 3

STR: 13 (+2)

DEX: 7

NRG: 1

ARMOR: 4 (+3)

HEALTH: 100/100

CREDITS: 4500

Scarlett moved on to another rack of ammunition and tossed a handful of ghost ammunition at him. "Can't have guns without ammo."

He caught them, purchased them for ten credits each, and looked up at a glass case beside them. "Whoa."

An assault rifle sat on a podium inside the glass case. It gleamed with glowing red lines and sharp edges.

"Whoa, what's that?"

Chetaara looked over his shoulder. "That is the Vulcan FG Launcher. It fires ten gravitational force grenades, the most powerful handheld weapon in the known universe."

Byron whistled and reached into the case. When he touched the launcher, the text lit up in the air again.

VULCAN FG LAUNCHER

LEVEL REQUIRED: 50

DMG: 1000

ACCURACY: LOW

AMMO: 10

+50 STRENGTH

COST: 5,000,000

PURCHASE Y/N

He sighed. "Well, I'm not getting that any time soon."

Scarlett made a fist and shook it in his face. "Life goals, my brother. Anyway, the Scorpio pistol is good enough for now. Come on. Time to get your fucking NRG on."

She led the way out of the Guns and Ammo shop to another store with a sign "TechMage Haven."

Pushing through the doors, Byron's eyes widened at the sight of dozens of other players. They all seemed to be doing amazing and otherworldly things. One tall female soldier waved her hand, tracing lines of fire in the air. A short Nikora jabbed her fingers to create balls of blue light that slammed into practice dummies, knocking them over.

Chetaara sighed. "As a techmage, it worries me to see NRG used so frivolously."

Byron looked at her. "You're a techmage?"

Scarlett reached out to him. "Shit, forgot we need to walk you through everything. Okay, here's how to look up somebody's stats. Touch your bracelet with two fingers and blink twice."

He obeyed, and the text floated over Chetaara's head.

TECHMAGE - LEVEL 2

STR: 1

DEX: 3

NRG: 14

ARMOR: 1

HEALTH: 120/120

He looked at Scarlett. "So that means what?"

"It means she's a fucking wizard, dude. She's totally into all this NRG stuff." Scarlett rubbed her hands together. "Let's get you an implant."

A woman drifted up to them with a hazy, cloudy outline like something out of Ghostbusters. "Greetings, travelers. Do you wish to enhance yourselves?"

Scarlett leaned an elbow on Byron. "Sure as shit. Hook him up."

The ghost woman waved a hand at Byron, and text lit up in front of him with his stats. "I see your NRG is low. You require an implant."

"Uh, yeah." Byron nodded. "I guess so."

The ghost woman floated over to a tank where small electronic devices floated in a shimmering blue fluid. She reached in to pull one out. "A thousand years ago, NRG was discovered on a remote world."

Scarlett rolled her eyes. "Here we go with the backstory shit."

The ghost woman held the tiny device with a reverence reserved for religious artifacts. "NRG stands for Neurological Regeneration Generator, a form of powerful energy that can enhance the power that lies dormant in all living things. With it, all things are possible."

She held the device out to Byron. "This is a basic NRG kit. It will not take you to the upper echelons, but it will begin your journey."

Scarlett waved her hand in a circle. "Yeah, yeah. We'll take it."

Byron reached out to touch it.

NRG IMPLANT I-4

LEVEL REQUIRED: 1

+5 NRG

COST: 1000

PURCHASE Y/N

He tapped "Y" without hesitation.

The implant jumped out of the ghost woman's hands and right into Byron's skull.

He gasped and jumped back as he felt a burning sensation growing inside his brain. His hands groped at his scalp as if he could claw it out. "What's it doing?"

Scarlett smiled. "Making you more fucking awesome."

The burning faded away, leaving Byron with a light feeling. He looked around and everything seemed a little bit brighter.

His stats popped up again.

MARINE - LEVEL 3

STR: 13 (+1)

DEX: 7

NRG: 1 (+5)

ARMOR: 4

HEALTH: 100/100

CREDITS: 3000

"Okay," he murmured. "Now what?"

The ghost woman floated over to another wall with small colorful boxes. "Now choose your first NRG program. NRG programs allow you to interface with your implant and harness the power."

Scarlett reached out to take one of the boxes. "You don't have much you can do at your level, but this is a good starter program. It'll make a shield."

Byron touched it.

SHIELD LEVEL 1

COOLDOWN: 5 SECS

+5 NRG

COST: 300

PURCHASE Y/N

Byron shrugged. "Okay."

He bought it, and the box melted into his fingers. Glowing blue light flowed up his hand, arm, and into his head.

"So how's it work?"

Chetaara reached out. "Simply concentrate. Feel the NRG and bend it to your will."

Scarlett whispered. "Tap your bracelet twice."

He tapped the bracelet on his wrist and a menu floated in front of him.

NRG CODE: SHIELD 1

"It's just the one code now, but it'll get bigger. Now blink on it to use it."

He obeyed.

A shimmering blue circle popped up on his left forearm, reminding him of a shield like Captain America or a medieval knight. The big difference is this one seemed to be made of energy and transparent. It followed his arm as he moved it, looking exactly like a force field he had seen in movies and TV shows.

Scarlett yanked his pistol out of his holster and fired at the shield. Instead of going through and burning his arm, the laser bolt bounced off the shield to hit the ceiling.

As everyone flinched and looked at him, Scarlett grinned and jammed the pistol back into his holster. "Nice, huh?"

He nodded as he looked down at the glowing shield. He felt a tingling sensation on his arm where it appeared. "Yeah, I can see how that would be useful."

It flickered and vanished.

"Only lasts for a few seconds and has a five-second cooldown before you can use it again, but it'll save your ass. And it's just the beginning.There's thousands of NRG codes you can download."

Chetaara nodded. "Indeed. The path you are walking is one that has been chosen by the gods for thousands of years. I myself have trained in the power of NRG for most of my life and have yet to scratch the surface."

As he rubbed his arm, Byron tilted his head towards her. "Really? Uh, what kind of stuff can you do?"

"I am most trained in three NRG codes. One is a healing program that can repair damage. The other is a telekinesis program that lets me move small objects. The third allows me to throw bolts of lightning." She held up her hands and a spark flashed between the fingers.

He remembered when she had shocked the mercenary general and nodded.

"Nice." He flexed his hands. "Can't wait to do that."

Chetaara wrapped her hands around his arm and pulled him closer. Her slitted eyes narrowed. "I would be happy to train you in the arts of NRG as you will teach me the arts of love."

"Uh, I wouldn't say I'm an expert on that--"

Her smile widened, showing her fangs. "Based on our earlier session, I would say you underestimate yourself."

Byron felt his face blushing again, both because of her frankness in front of the others and also because he knew he wasn't an expert in sex. He hadn't had much experience at all, and wondered if the game was just making him seem like a better lover or if it had enhanced him somehow. He didn't want to argue too much about it, but felt like a real fraud.

He cleared his throat. "Okay, I've got weapons and an implant. What's next?"

Scarlett waved a hand to the door. "You gotta get some bitchin' armor. Let's roll."

They headed out of the NRG store to another store that just had a sign for "Armor and Gear." Inside, mannequins held suits of armor ranging from leather to thick sheets of metal.

Chetaara led them over to a mannequin with a light suit of black armor. "I would recommend the Xucci Gold armored suit. It provides adequate protection for its value from bullets and laserfire. It even has a life support system to protect against open space for up to five minutes."

The mannequin changed from a plain white face and body to one that looked like Byron. He thought it looked a lot better than the jumpsuit he wore. In fact, with its black color and glowing red lines, he thought it looked pretty cool.

When he touched the suit, the stats looked like:

XUCCI CHROMITIUM SUIT

ARMOR +10

COST: 1000

PURCHASE Y/N

Chetaara and Scarlett had led him right so far, so Byron bought it. It appeared on his body, feeling a bit heavier than his previous armor but not uncomfortably heavy.

He looked down at Chetaara's bikini-clad body. As much as he looked seeing her half-naked, he didn't think that would work in a battle. "Shouldn't we get you some armor, too?"

She smiled. "I would appreciate it, Master."

She touched the suit, and the mannequin changed to show her. It looked a little different, cut to handle her generous boobs and had a slot in the back for her tail, but it remained pretty much the same.

When the purchase option came up for her, Byron tapped to buy it.

"Okay." He looked down at himself. "I've got a new gun, a new suit, and a magic implant in my head. Now what?"

Scarlett's smile widened. "Now we go get fucking lit, dude."

***

As Byron, Scarlett, and Chetaara walked off, they didn't notice the thin green alien in one corner who watched them.

The alien pulled out a holographic communicator and tapped keys.

The helmet of a Necralia Death Trooper floated in front of the alien. "What's your report?"

"The human," the alien whispered. "The one called Byron Jones. He's here."