Hi guys, it is Author-sama here! Things have been more than a little crazy in my life, between the death of my beloved computer and my full time job eating me basically alive. Two weeks ago tonight my shift leader got fired after being egged upon by someone who's been stealing shit from stores around the area over the phone. She ended up costing the store nearly 800$ in cellphone prepaid cards so she was fired literally on the spot.

So I've been filling in and trying to help train a new guy, although that still only leaves 3 of us on 3rd shift, which goes from 10PM to 6AM central standard (US) time. I finally got a day off, so that is something! I can finally rest and recharge a bit.

I have not been idle though, even though I'm not able to write anywhere near as much as I'd usually like to. To make up for this, I've decided to jump into writing something directly based upon my experience working at that hellish place. I'm calling the new story World Seed, and if any of you enjoy the stories of Origin A.R.S., Blackthorne, or Change: New World or the like then you'll definitely also like World Seed. Well, without the virtual reality aspect, anyway. Lol.

World Seed is a mixture of adventure, action, fantasy, harem and a slight touch of comedy and mature content. I started playing around with the idea of it while reading Riddick/Against Heaven while on break at work and it just sorta stuck with me all last night so I decided why to not at least try. If nothing else it'll be something to sink my teeth into while I'm waiting and working.

It probably won't get as explosive as Master of Dungeons or Universe Online however. If my computer hadn't died I would still be all over them and not working my ass off. As it is I'm getting ready to request going to part time so I'll have more time to write and deal with everything else that has backed up on me recently.

And finally, I have an excerpt from World Seed to share with you all! It is the first few pages of the first chapter. Hehehe.

Here you go:

Chapter 1 - The Update

He could almost feel it happening, the same way you’d get that shiver down your spine everytime someone walks over your potential grave. It was a depressing feeling, but at the same time he was convinced that it was very much real. The feeling of this gods damned job sucking the very soul from him; one tiny bit at a time.

He’d been here for only about three months now, and already he despises the place, even though the sad fact is is that he’d originally jumped at the chance to work there full time.

As a cashier in a convenience store.

It however is not one of those 24/7 shops where a person can run in, get what they want and get out as quickly as possible. Oh no. That’d be far too easy on the ‘customers’. Instead, the Minut Mart store is a gas station, truck stop, convenience store and grocery all rolled into one. Each and every surface, countertop, and isle is set so that it’ll slowly bleed the unwary customers of both their hard earned money and motivation to live.

Kolan Mists was definitely convinced that there was some sort of witchcraft or Voodoo involved in the construction of the place, given how obvious the change comes over those who come through the doors. Happy and cheerful on the outside, the smiles soon fade and the ever increasing lines of worry appear upon the foreheads of those who take a chance to glance around. It is the same almost each and every time.

By now, Kolan knew that look, and what it meant. It was the worry of not knowing what specifically to get, and the fact that the customer will be seemingly trapped in an endless hunt of going through brightly lit, colorful, and extravagant isles marked with propaganda and advertisements to find just the thing to fill that uncertain need they have. Only those few who already have a list and know what the hell they want can come out of the start of the Maze untouched by the dread that comes to the others.

Or those who’ve just run inside to get a specific amount of gas without paying at the twenty pumps outside. Those people tend to have a look of fear on their faces; the fear of paying too much with their credit or debit cards that they all somehow believe can be hacked through the pumps themselves. Even then, those that pay in cash may be better off… except they are often coerced into buying a bottle of soda, or a chocolate bar, or a pack of cigarettes at the counter.

The entire Minut Mart enterprise is a massive scheme designed to take every single dollar it can, and Kolan has been there long enough to have even felt that pull himself. It is so devious that even the employees end up buying this and that with their own paychecks! It is a nightmare, and Kolan hates it.

But even more than that, he has come to hate two very specific things. The first is breaking twenty dollar bills for a pittance. People who break a 20 for a 50 cent piece of chocolate, for example. Or for a bottle of coke for $1.05. It drives him crazy and makes him dive straight for the safe to float out fives, ones, and quarters on a near constant basis. All while the shift lead is eyeballing him as if he is doing something wrong.

The second is cleaning up after 2nd Shift. Those slobs almost never get their fuckin’ jobs done properly. They never clean the bathrooms, restock the soda fountain area, or make fresh coffee. They generally don’t take out the garbage or do their cigarette counts either. And don’t even start on the time they had gotten an order for 16 six inch cold cut subs and didn’t do them before clocking out without even warning Kolan or the rest of 3rd Shift that the customers were waiting for them!

2nd Shift has thirteen full time employees on it, including the evening manager, and yet they never do the jobs they are supposed to do! Yet the general manager and shift leads look the other way because they bring in the highest sales of all three shifts. They were like the golden goose that the managers don’t want to get rid of, even though it is breathing fire and constantly getting into trouble like some magical beast out of hell!

It was enough to give the 26 year old grey hair after only three months.

Tonight at least Kolan had something to look forward to, given that he had an entire week off after the night. A full seven days and seven nights of freedom! He’d finally be able to play those games, watch those animes, and read those books he’d been putting off ever since he started working in this miserable place. It was enough to make him smile in obvious defiance against the curse of the Minut Mart.

For all of five minutes, right up until the shift lead Cindy shows up at his register.

“Kolan, I need you to go clean up the men’s bathroom. Something is wrong with the urinal and it won’t flush.” (Cindy)

*Sigh* “Okay, I’ll check it out. But if someone tried to flush another wrapper down it to hide the theft I’m going to start wracking people on the back of the head…” (Kolan)

“Yeah, whatever. Just get it done and make sure you mop up the mess on the floor.” (Cindy)

Cindy’s disinterested voice was mirrored by the lack of even a glance from his two fellow co-workers. Kolan couldn’t really blame them, given that it could have just as easily been one of them who’d been picked to clean up the mess. Especially the new guy, who’s old enough to be Kolan’s grandfather.

At least it gets him away from the register and those accursed 20 dollar bills, right?!

He desperately tries to hold onto that feeling as he moves into the back room, through rows and rows of boxes and shelves holding all the inventory. It is in the opposite direction from the kitchen, which thankfully 3rd shift doesn’t really use much. Besides the pizza rolls, which are in constant demand. Those things disappear out of the heat boxes with distressing regularity.

Still, coming into the ‘cleaning room’, as it is joking referred to, Kolan grabs up the kit usually used to clean up the bathrooms and even goes ahead and fills up the mop bucket. It is one of those wheeled ones, so it is fairly easy to move across the store. He does have to hold the button down on the dispenser though, given that the latch is broken and the company hasn’t seen fit to pay out for a new one.

That leaves him leaning against the wall when something just seems to shudder. For a moment Kolan thought it was him, but he notices that he moved, along with some of the shelves and the brooms hanging on their rack nearby.

It was low, not even an earthquake, but it persists for several long moments before suddenly his vision also seems to shudder.

|+|+|+|

Warning: World Seed Update in Progress

Please sit down and stop all movement in two minutes for the update. Do not be alarmed. Everything will be just fine.

|+|+|+|

A glowing blue text box just pops up in front of him, and for several moments all he could do is stare at it dumbly. He’s so entranced that he doesn’t even notice the short scream that echoes through the back room as one of the others also notices it, or the sudden silence that comes from the store proper as every single person gets the same message.

Then it disappears, as if it had never been at all, and for a moment all Kolan can do is blink before he shakes his head.

“What the hell?”

He mutters to himself, but shakes it off. It just had to be his mind messing with him, right? RIGHT?! There is no way in hell something like that could happen in real life. It was like out of those stories he fancies online. So just like the dumbass he is sometimes, he dismisses it and only then realizes that his mop bucket is overflowing and leaking onto the floor around his feet!

“CRAP!!!”

+ | + | +

There you go! What do you guys think? Let me know. Hehe. I'll be finishing up the chapter in a couple of hours and posting it, so I'll update the Announcement here with the link then.

Here you go guys, the linky to World Seed! It was just approved. Hehehehehe.

World Seed