52 The Space

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF LIGHTYEARS FROM PLANET ERA

An old man in a magnificent suit peered at the top-secret report before him.

He was Chancellor Souley, the political leader of the whole Federation of United Planets. The report he was reading had been submitted to him by Admiral Azerof. The events it described were absolutely incredible.

It spoke of a genocide committed by the Orc Empire on the protectorate planet of Era, involving some strange ritual created by the Orcs with the blood of the Tyottings. This ritual had resulted in the appearance of interdimensional portals which summoned a group called the Eternals, humans who were all endowed with the power of Ascension..

According to the report, these Eternals had not joined the ones who summoned them. Instead, they courageously fought the Orcs alongside Federation troops.

Chancellor Souley could hardly believe it!

Not only was the Eternals' sudden appearance a major galactic event, but the Orc Empire, the most militarily powerful galactic nation, had violated intergalactic law by attacking a Federation protectorate!

Chancellor Souley sent an order for Azerof to clarify this report, then commanded the Federal Secret Service (FSS) to investigate the events on Planet Era.

But the chancellor knew that he couldn't hide this information indefinitely. Eventually, the report would be made public, and it would surely cause a real scandal! Only time would tell whether these two cataclysmic events would be an overall boon or a hindrance to the Federation.

Regardless of what came afterward, the first step was to inform the Galactic Community of the Orc attack.*

***

PLANET ERA

Two more days passed. Though there was much fighting against the anti-Federation players, Apophis still had a large amount of free time. Though Lotus never seemed as giddy as she had at the end of their first mission, she and Apophis made their attraction to each other known, and they began to date within Horus.

For Apophis, everything finally seemed to be as it should be. He had allied himself with the powerful Federation and had reconnected with Lotus. Though the Federation's political and military situation would soon be filled with turmoil once again, Apophis knew that he could manipulate it further to serve him when that happened—so long as he continued to grow in strength.

And with powerful players like Lotus at his side, there would be nobody who could stop him.

However, even though he appreciated the time he was spending with Lotus, Apophis eventually realized that he hadn't seen his family for almost a week. He flushed with guilt as he thought about his sick mother—and he certainly missed his father as well. Though Apophis was in a gaming booth, so that his body was being fed with nutrients, he also had to preserve his mental health.

At this point, it was time to come back to reality. After all the recent PvP, Apophis had collected 113,000 GC, bringing his total to 513,000 GC. He'd also reached Level 12! This was the advantage to open PvP, which earned the victor all their victim's money and a piece of their equipment, as well as costing the loser a whole level.

Apophis considered selling some of his GC to earn real-world credits, but this was a terrible time for it.

The exchange rate was still very low because of the recent nuclear strike and the collapse of the player economy. Apophis would be patient and wait for the exchange rate to rise once the pro-Federation players traveled to another planet with Admiral Azerof.

At that point, players would have access to the full spread of the game's economic functions: the stock market, the Galactic Auction, and various investment opportunities.

Apophis kissed Lotus one last time and gave her his holo-watch number. Then he left her and visited his underground shipyard. He left Antanria some more food and explained that he'd be gone until shortly after the Zetark Experimental Corvette was completed.

***

Alexander disconnected from the game—and his head spun worryingly! He'd played for much too long without a real-world break! Without actual physical exercise, even the special gamer vitamins could only do so much to keep a body healthy.

He struggled to his feet, careful not to repeat the scenario of his first death. I should probably install some better padding on the sharpest corners of the booth, he thought. For such an expensive item, I shouldn't have to worry about such things!

Alexander took the opportunity to look at his holo-watch while he caught his breath.

You have 999+ unread messages.

"Wow," he said in a voice so dry and cracked that he barely recognized it. "Well, I guess I'll read those later."

For now, he would spend some good time with his family.

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*Galactic Community: An organization similar to the real-world United Nations. It groups together all the galactic nations and establishes intergalactic law, which all members agree to uphold.