[Erick Sanders] I stretched out on the hotel bed, set to rival and California king, except this bed was built into the floor, I had walked right over it before realised it wasn’t just overly soft carpet. The thing that this hotel room had, that no hotel on earth could match, was the view. Out the window, there were the sparkling lights of the space stations towers against the backdrop of a start speckled space. I had left the others with the valet as he directed us to our rooms, I was blown away by the service of the hotel when there was a knock on the door and I answered to find a young man with freckled scales waiting in the hallway, pulling a trolly behind him. He blinked at me for a moment, before speaking. “Good day sir. I have your dining spread.” He said, blinking at me again then glancing to the swords still strapped to my back. “I haven’t ordered anything, I think you have the wrong room,” I answered, still baring the door. “Sir, The food is complimentary for all guests on this floor. I can return it to the kitchens if you would prefer.” The young man said. He reached over to grab the handles of the cart. “No, It's fine, thank you. Please bring them in,” I said, stopping the young man from walking away with the free food. He nodded and dragged the cart past me as I stepped aside, on the table he lay out a mouth watering display of vibrant fruits, roasted meats, including small whole roasted lizards and miniature pigs. As well as a selection of Drinks in large Jugs. “If you require anything else, there is a menu of the services available, please feel free to contact the front desk.” He said, moving to the door, he hesitated, looking again at my face. I scowled. Yes, they are scars you little shit, I thought before sliding the door closed. I pulled a plate from the table and loaded it with food before moving to the window side chair to look out over the view as I ate. I was halfway through the plate before there was a loud knock on the door again. Answering it a second time I was face to face with Mia. She had shed her grey uniform for a light robe, completely in keeping with the fashion of the system, and set my eyes and mind wandering. I stepped aside and she moved into the room, “I thought I’d come eat with you,” She said smiling. “Help yourself, No way I’ll ever eat this much,” I waved her over to the table. She loaded a plate and joined me on the couch and handing me a glass filled with shinning purple liquid, I took a sip and felt the alcohol as it flowed over my tongue. “You know you don’t have to get me drunk again,” I smirked at Mia. She smiled as she made herself comfortable, sighing as she took a drink. “If I’m being honest, I was looking forward to a couple of weeks on a cruise ship,” She said, leaning her head back against the cushions, It would have been nice to have a break. She popped a small red grape shaped berry into her mouth. “You need a holiday?” I asked. “I haven’t had a holiday in… I’ve never had a holiday.” “What was it like for you guys? At the start of The Dream?” “It was fun, I’ve been in the military since I was eighteen, one of the first woman to be accepted into special services, But I learned more in the first week Dreaming than I have in years. It's amazing what life fire and real pain do for training,” She said, turning her head to look out the window. “Did you also have to assault a town on your first night?” I asked. I know Jack had the same scenario that I had. “Yeah, a desert planet. Scaratous, it was fun. Which did you have?” She asked. I looked out the window for a second. “Same one. Scaratous,” I muttered. “What happened? Is that where you got the scars?” “Yeah, I was stupid. I’d never been in a war, I’ve never even had a fight in the real world. I didn’t realise why no one was hiding behind the dropship. It was hit by a mortar while I was right beside it,” I said. Mia winced, “Rookie mistake.” She shook her head at me. “What was it like,” she asked. “I’ve already told you what happened,” I said, taking another drink. “Not what happened, I mean…How was it? Being a slave,” she said lowering her voice slightly. I sat quietly for a moment, we both did. I contemplated the question while she waited for me to answer. “It was horrible, at first. Maybe it was a type of Stockholm syndrome, maybe I was just in a bad state of mind, but the others started to make me feel like I belonged.” “Others? I didn’t know there were others,” “Not people like us,” “N.P.Cs?” “Not really N.P.Cs either. They feel real, their emotions were real, their smiles when we won in the arena, the sweat from training, the tears, when we watched one of our own dies,” I said, Sindis face was plastered in my mind. I could see the ashen face, splattered with blood, as clear now as the day he had died. Mia moved beside me, her hand reaching out and laying against my cheek. She wiped away a single tear that I had not realised was there. She leaned forward and kissed me, “I’ve lost people too,” She said. The food sat forgotten as she kissed me again and pulled herself on top of me, pushing us both back onto the couch. An hour later we were laying in bed, Mias fingers trailed over my exposed scars as we watched the stars through the window. There was another knock on the door as she trailed a finger of the scars across my neck. “Shit, It’s probably Jack or Sam,” I said, pulling myself from the bed and her arms. I tried to reach out with my EM sense, but there was a constant electromagnetic field inside the walls that blocked my sight. Sighing I moved to our pile of clothes. “Or worse, Keg. Get rid of them,” She said, rolling over and watching me walk naked towards my clothes. Pulling on a pair of pants I went to the door and tapped the panel to open it. On the other side was neither Jack, Sam or Keg. Instead, there were five guns pointed at me, held by five men I didn’t recognise. I twisted the dial in my mind and began reaching for the panel to close the door, my arm forcing itself through the thick air. Before I could hit the button, the barrels flashed and hissed. Five bullets slammed into my chest. Instead of sinking into my skin, they imbedded themselves onto me, all five popping open. Electricity raced through my body, with my slowed time perception I watched the sparks and felt as every muscle in my body constricted. I twisted the dial to alleviate the pain as I fell backward to the ground, stunned. Mia had jumped from the bed as I fell, at the same moment, the closes man jumped through the doorway and fired twice at her. She was unarmed and naked as the two rounds slammed into her chest. She contorted in pain as she too was shocked. The rest of the men moved into the room, then behind them came the freckle scaled bell boy. He stepped over me before tapping the door closed. “Creators boy. You were right. It is him.” The lead man said, tapping his old scanner and looking between the screen and my face. “Scars and all.” “What about the other?” One of the other men said. I couldn’t turn my head to see which one was speaking. “Kill her,” The first man said, watching Mia struggle on the ground. I tried to move, to do something. Mia didn’t need to die again, not like this. I looked over at the pile of clothes on the floor beside the bed, under which Havars swords and our weapons lay. They were too far away, and I failed to even raise my arm in protest. Mia’s eyes were full of anger and hatred as she watched the man step over her and pulled a knife from his belt. I watched, unable to do a thing as he lent over and plunged the knife into her heart, then he twisted it and pulled it free. I watched as her eyes glazed over and she died. She didn’t deserve to die like this, I thought. The leader leaned over me, a rough hand grabbing my face and jerking my gaze away from Mia. “She was pretty,” he said. She will be back, I thought. Looking quickly at the bed. In a couple of hours, she would respawn in that bed and be pissed. If I didn’t kill these men first, she would rob me of the chance. “Get him packed,” The man said to the others. “What about my money?” The bell boy said, looking nervously at the leader who nodded and reached out the arm with his scanner. “You did good. It was a nice spot. Now check the hall and make sure no one is around. Bring in the cart. ” he said. The young man tapped his scanner against the man's arm then rushed to the door, and when he returned he was pushing a long trolly covered in a stack of silk sheets. From under the sheets, the men pulled a large box. One half was glass while the other was a dark metal. They opened it and hoisted me inside after ripping my scanner from my arm and tossing it onto the bed. Once the lid dropped closed the leader spoke to me again. “I like to call this the snap pack. If you struggle it will start twisting one end. If you keep struggling, it will twist you in half. I’ve heard it happen, makes a big snapping noise.” He laughed. They loaded me onto the cart and my world went black as they covered me with sheets. I would have scowled at the men if I had the ability to move my face. The cart jostled and shook as they rolled me from the room. Then I could only guess the hotel. They didn’t stop and I could hear the bell boy smoothing their way. His voice disappeared and was replaced with the sounds of grinding metal. I had expected them to take the street, to load me onto one of the self-driving carts. Instead, when they whipped the sheets off of me, we were in a dark service tunnel. My limited view of the ceiling showed small pegs that ran through the railings. We are under the street, I realised. It hadn’t occurred to me that the moon that the station was built on would be full of tunnels. The kidnapping crew moved unmolested, even when I saw faces looking down through the ‘snap pack’ glass. The faces looking in were dirty and unkempt, one woman had patches of missing scales and twisted teeth. I shocked myself as my jaw began moving as I tried to mouth help to the woman. “Who the fuck are you?” I hissed, “Oh look who’s vocal again. So quick too, Fener I think I owe you ten credits,” The leader laughed. “Who the fuck are you?” I said again. The man looked down at me, “Have you heard of the Lord's Fangs?” He asked with a toothy grin. “You’re one of the Lord's Fangs?” I scowled. “Surprised?” The leader asked, Still walking beside the rolling prison. “I’m going to rip your fat fucking heads off,” I growled. The man laughed again, “Not likely, but good luck.” “Where the fuck are we going?” I continued to growl. “We’re taking a little trip. Master Carlton's been looking for you everywhere. If it wasn’t for young Dant recognising you from one of the pictures we spread around, you would have slipped right out of the system.” He flashed a grin again. “I’ve already killed two of you fuckers. Killing five more will just be fun.” “Oh, so you did kill them. Shame. But lucky for us,” The fuck did I have to do to get him pissed off? I wondered. Maybe if he gets annoyed enough to want to hurt me he will open this fucking box. I had no luck. They pushed me through the dank service tunnels and into an elevator. When the doors dinged open they walked into an empty airlock, walking onto a ship. I swore to myself, knowing that Jack and the others would have a hard time tracking us once we were into the expanse of space. I had a suspicion and fear of where we would be heading, though I had no way to tell Jack until I woke from The Dream. It would be up to me to get out of this, alone. I was pushed against a wall of the ships loading bay and left alone. For the next day and a half, my only view was of a structural steel pillar, after counting the number of scratches on the light paint, I dropped into sleep. As the ship rocketed through space, further and further away from my weapons, and my friends, I feel out of The Dream. When I awoke in my bed, in my room, in the real world I swore loudly to myself. Slapping my alarm clock from my bedside table. I could talk to Jack and tell him what had happened, but without being in The Dream to see where I was being taken I could only pass on my suspicions. Even then, unless they could catch Petra and the Grey Scarred Companies crew before they left the station, they would be days behind. I grabbed my phone, almost snapping the charger cable as I pulled it free and immediately dialed Jacks number. He answered on the second ring. “Where are you?” he asked. “Fuck knows. Is Mia alright. Had the crew left yet?” “She’s tougher than that. She said there were five of them. You didn’t piss off any locals, did you? We had to radio Petra, they came back but we couldn’t track you after that.” Jack said. I reminded myself that Mia was as well trained as they came, and this wasn’t her first death. “They were lords fangs! The fucking bell boy was working for them. Probably on the side, He recognised me.” Jack swore, “Lords Fangs, they taking you to Scaratous?” “That’s where I would put my money, but I won't know till I get there. They took my scanner.” “We found it in your room. We’ll be a few days behind you. The Flair is fast, but it's not that fast. Can you manage on your own.” I sat on my bed for a moment before answering, “If they let me loose I’m going to start killing.” “Maybe don’t?” Jack said. Speaking slower now, his usual sense of calm returning. “You’re asking me to not kill the people that shot me, trapped me in a box and are taking me halfway across the system…great idea,” I said sarcastically. “You’re going to be alone on a hostile planet, or moon. If you start killing people you’re going to be in a world of shit.” “Then I will keep killing until there is no one left to kill,” I growled. “Just take your time. Don’t be hasty. We’ll be on your tail. Start killing once you have a way out.” I nodded, to myself. “I’ll take it into consideration,” I said. “I’ll be in contact as soon as I can,” I said before hanging up. I tossed my phone aside and turned on the T.V. There was a new channel, dedicated to In Dream news and events. After a few minutes of the presenters talking about last night and the battles which the guilds had dominated, they showed a quick warning of graphic content then clips from Dream streams. There, on the screen was the Grey Scarred company, and I realised immediately it was from the battle in Auckland. A camera drone drifted over the massive fight, and there amongst the bloodshed was Jack, Keg, and I. The presenter's voice-over contemplated and discussed our potential identities, hitting the nail on the head by assuming we were some of the few selected into the Grey Scarred. Then the screen changed and it showed Cameron, the presenter commenting on his rallying of The Dreamers in the battle, and how he had done such an amazing job of pushing back the Chinese. They tutted as it showed him swinging at me, unsuccessfully. I scowled at the screen, displeased that my face was now on national television. Working out twice with a pack march in between, I worked myself into exhaustion for the rest of the day. Itching for sleep and entry into The Dream.