The plan still holds. Sorp is now inside the wagon, his eyes shut. The carriage room reeks of booze. Every last one of the guys are a sleep. Jarem was sent to control the wagon.

This happened because Jarem drank too much earlier and decided to take a nap. This nap was the finishing blow. He had no way to argue his way out of it.

“Can’t even nap.”

He was honestly pissed of. His hand held a half empty bottle of beer. He had projected a screen in front him and was watching a comedy movie.

He was still too angry to laugh but he couldn’t help but cheer up everytime something funny happened. This was who he was. He was an easy going guy.

He also had a had another window open. In it were a list of people who publicized their location, and were on the ‘pronged road’.

It was called this because at the end of the road it pronged in two direction, one to each of the bridges. It was like a snake’s tongue.

On it were people walking. Some were on corses and some were on wagons. But they were all behind them.

The extraordinary detailed searched allowed them to search only for people that were south of them. Which meant they were ahead of them.

This is now small amount of people. Many people got overtaken. Their pleads for a ride went ignored. It is currently Jarems favorite past time to reject the guys on the road.

“That might be her.”

On the road are a few women. But Jarem is a man of taste. Only women he ranks above a six can reach his eyes.

Jarem carefully peaks into the wagon. Five of the guys sit there in uncomfortable positions sleeping. The rooms reeks of alcohol.

“Good, with this, there is no one to bother us.”

While Jarem is more reserved than Pal and Ret when chasing women, he can be considered a fiend on his own.

The woman’s hair is tied up into a bun. It is loose and shoddy, looking like it might fall apart any second.

The sound of four corses and a wagon are hard to ignore so she looks back. What meets her is a drunk addled Jarem.

Once in sight it doesn’t take Jarem long to catch up her. The corses are creatures of great stamina. Even after almost moving for a day and night they stay strong.

“Hi.”

Jarem’s expression is not of a drunk, instead his face shows impeccable restraint. His eyes still a bit bloodshot, but nothing obvious.

“Hey!”

The woman’s response is cheerful. It can’t be helped, there have been fewer and few people out here.

The last two days all she has seen is what is obviously virtual humans working the plantations. Anything else has outpaced her or she outpaced them.

Jarem can’t help but nod to himself. He didn’t misjudge here from her screen. She is a bit athletic for his tastes, but nothing off limits.

“You been walking on this road since release?”

“Yes. I think I’m the leader right now!”

She was far more excited than she expected to be. She even startled herself. But she only felt embarrassed for a moment, she felt too proud.

“Oh? No one has passed you?”

“I don't think so. I did fall asleep in the plantation for a bit. But I don’t think anyone overtook me.”

She hadn't it been overtaken. But she was not the leader right now. There are four people ahead of her. Two of were traveling together, they were third and fourth.

The person in second was just far enough to not be in line of sight of them. The first was far ahead of them all. This was a long distance runner, his advantage clear.

Unlike this woman though, they all knew they weren’t in the lead. The long distance runner had passed them all on the first day.

His jogging pace outmatched their running and his walking outpaced their jogging. He was tired as all hell and had to rest like them. But his lead kept increasing.

“You must be tired from walking for so long.”

“I’m exhausted.”

Jarem’s eyes narrowed slightly. This really was an opportunity from the heavens.

“We’ve only been on the road since late afternoon. We’ve passed uncountable number of people.”

Jarem was building up to something here.

“Really? Only since this afternoon?”

“Those four fellas are really reliable. We even have all kinds of food and drinks aboard. Enough for many days.”

Jarem’s eyes narrowed even further. Anyone that watched this from an outsiders point of view would be clear what he was doing. He was bragging, or creating a bait.

He was also aware that she was broadcasting. She still hadn’t sent a request to unblur him. She felt it would be rude.

“They are very big. Where did you get them?”

“We got them from a farm that breeds them for food and to tame them.”

“I haven’t seen any farms with livestock.”

“They are all closer to the city, so the meat doesn’t have to travel far.”

She unconsciously looked back. The city felt so far away now.

“By the way. You said you thought you were in the lead, and I feel like I should tell you.”

“What? I’m not?”

“Afraid not. There are at least four people ahead of you.”

“Ah. I had a suspicion, that Orlan guy looks like he is moving fast. I just never saw him pass me.”

“Orlan. Then there is a guy called Termin and a couple of guys walking together that are called Yimter and Dimter. They look like brothers.”

“Hah. So many?”

“It is already impressive you made it this far on your own. But you are at least a day behind Orlan and there is still no end in sight for him.”

Jarem is now painting a picture of despair. It is obvious to her now that the best option would be get a ride from him.

“At least a day?”

Just as Jarem wanted, her face paled a bit. She was now staring into the distance, thinking something to herself.

“Alright. I have to keep going, the guys in the back will be mad at me if I stop for too long.”

The corses began slowly moving forward, a very leisurely pace.

“Ah wait!”

“What is it?”

“I-uh.”

“Ye?”

“I was wondering if I could get a ride?”

Jarems expression turned into an awkward smile. This was a very authentic embarrassed expression. And she picked up on it instantly, he wasn’t going to say yes.

“Sorry, we are very private people. We can’t have someone recording on board.”

“I can shut it off! See!”

She didn’t even think about how he knew she was recording. She was a bit flustered and not thinking straight. The idea of walking for days on end was very fresh in her mind.

Jarem saw she turned off her recording. The chat wasn’t very active but it got turned off as well. She did have a few hundred people watching. But she didn’t care.

The world of Perpetuity was an authentic experience. She felt her feet ache. Every step stung. She had eating nothing but raw greens from the plantation for a while now.

But still Jarem only let out a sigh and showed a complicated expression.

“I don’t think the guys will like it if I let someone onboard for free.”

“I can pay.”

“Eh. We don’t exactly lack money. One of us is actually very famous.”

“Oh.”

“I guess they would understand if it was something else.”

“Something else?”

“Well.”

This was where Jarem dropped his conflicted expression and put on a smile. He wasn’t as handsome and charming as Ret, but he had his own charm.

“If you were willing to play a bit with me, they would understand.”

“Play?”

It wasn’t that she was an innocent maiden. She wasn’t unused to casual sex. But Jarem wording and the situation made it too ambiguous.

“Come up here, i’ll explain.”

Jarem reached out his hand, she was quick to grab it. He pulled her to the front of the wagon. The Corses were on a slow stroll. The moonlight lighting the way.

Once she sat down. Jarem put the lease to the corses on a hook meant to hold them. His hands then moved to the woman’s thighs.

“What’s your name?”

It became all to obvious now what Jarem wanted. She had experienced a rollercoaster of emotions and now this.

She felt a bit sick to her stomach. It was like if someone had punched her. But Jarem is a handsome and charming man.

“Here.”

He handed her an unopened bottle of beer. She popped it open and drank in one swig. This gave a bit of time to think. She felt it wasn’t too bad.

After double checking that she wasn’t still recording she felt a bit more assured. It was nice to sit down. Her breath was a bit uneven.

“We got more in the back. We even got cooked and dried meat.”

He could see her swallow. She felt it herself and was very conscious of it. Jarem felt she was an open book.

But she wasn’t as innocent as Jarem made her out to be. He was a bit taken back when her reached out and landed on his chest.

“You are a devil.”

Since this was the situation. She felt a bit of a rush to her head. She was confident in her looks. She was confident in exploring on her own.

She had plenty of friends who were in this world as well. But none of them had the drive she had. She felt the call to adventure.

When Jarem heard her call him a devil with a playful tone he smiled even brighter. He was like a kid caught in a lie. He didn’t care because he got what he wanted.

His hands became more unrestrained. She let out a little moan and her hand lowered to his stomach with no intention of stopping.

“Wait.”

Jarem felt like he crashed into a wall.

“What is it?”

“I’m hungry.”

Jarem laughed lightly. He jumped to the back of the wagon grabbed some dried meat, some fruits and a few drinks.

“Eat. Eat.”

She tore into the food. She really missed the taste of. She missed the taste of anything that wasn’t raw vegetables or whatever it was that grew in these plantations.

While she ate Jarem made the corse’s move at their usual pace. The disturbance didn’t wake the guys inside as they had all drank themselves to sleep. Even Sorp.

Once they were at a steady pace he let his hands free on her again. She didn’t stop him and just continued eating.

To jarem this was also a new situation, he was enjoying himself. When she finished the last bite of dried meat he grabbed her firmly and began kissing her.

Since she was going to do this, she might as well go all the way. This was what she thought. She threw herself into the moment.

Before long things began to escalate, she was lowering her head towards his unbuttoned pants. Jarem put one of his hand on her head and let it rest there, the other played with her chest.

It can be said to be audacious to do this in the open moonlight. She forgot about any additional members on this wagon.

When they finished she was sitting in his embrace. Her legs around his waist. She was a bit muddled headed but she couldn’t help but think this was very real.

Once it was over, she put her clothes on and fell a sleep in a few moments. She really was exhausted.

Jarem was tired as well but he had a job to do. He opened another bottle of beer and smiled contently.

With her asleep Jarem had nothing to do but resume his comedy movie. He was in a phenomenal mood now.

The next day when the sun was already out in a blaring style, the guys began to wake up. To say they were surprised there was woman on the wagon was an understatement.

She felt really awkward now. She thought they heard everything they did last night. Her face was lit up like a fire. But no one mentioned it.

Jarem did tell them he was taking her with them. They didn’t protest, they instead inquired how he found her.

“You can even find women on the road?”

Ret and Pal were in deep thought. It didn’t seem all that bad anymore. They didn’t look down on jarem, but when they thought how even he caught a women out here. It all became a bit more reasonable.

Jarem moved into the wagons interior with Daisy. He fell asleep in a few moments, she sat by a window and watched the sky.

The guys chatted with her a bit. Mostly trying to get her to introduce them to girls. But they never set their eyes on their friends girl. This was a code amongst brothers.

The heavy stench inside the wagon was bit overwhelming but she soon got used to it. She sat by the window and could feel the breeze on her. It made it bearable.

She wanted to turn on her recording but remembered that it wasn’t welcomed here. She sighed to herself and began browsing her palm device.

On the next indication of a village, the guys took it. It was a detour but they had to stop to let the corses rest. They were hard working animals but not invincible.

They needed a farm because they needed a lot of water for the beasts. They mostly had alcohol with them.

The village they entered was like other plantation villages. It was quiet but still somewhat busy. It would be fair to assume that everyone here was a virtual human.

It isn’t obvious that they are. But it would be strange if other humans made it to this place before them and stuck around.