The next several hours could be considered a divine experience for Joshua — that is, if one remembered that both Heaven and Hell were divine creations!

Shopping for clothes is normally a very straightforward experience for a man on his own. It’s simply a case of, ‘walk-in, grab first item in the appropriate size, walk to cashier and check out’. Now, not all men shop for clothing in such a manner, but many do — and with Joshua’s father being a no-nonsense construction worker at heart, it was definitely the way he taught Joshua.

Going shopping with a woman, however, was a little bit different…

And going shopping with three excited ladies who are drunk on the joy of life? And all vying for his personal attention, with each one trying to outdo the others?!!

Joshua felt like he’d aged twenty years by the time they’d finally all climbed back into the car!

At first, things weren’t so bad, as the saleswoman’s stern gaze kept everyone from going too far. All it was in the beginning was the three girls dragging armloads of clothes into the changing rooms, and then taking turns opening the curtains to get his opinion on whatever they were wearing.

After a few minutes, however, that all changed when Maria stealthily slipped several dark green bills into the saleslady’s hand, apparently tired of waiting on her turn. After that, it didn’t matter which of the girls dragged him into the small changing room with them — the smile never once wavered on the saleslady’s face, and she never seemed to notice.

From that point on, Joshua was dragged from room to room, bombarded by a sea of barely covered female flesh; and sometimes that barely only covered one-half of the female flesh — usually the bottom half as one of the girls wanted his opinion on a skirt alone, but not always. Being young, male, and heterosexual, the experience was beyond his wildest dreams! Being an inexperienced virgin, and being pulled back and forth every few seconds, the experience was also frustrating and bewildering beyond his imagination!

It wasn’t until over an hour after they’d all arrived, that Olivia dragged him into her changing room, giggling happily. Wearing nothing more than a skintight mini-skirt that looked almost as if the black was panted onto her, she reached over and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. “I think you’ve endured enough,” she giggled lightly, as she slowly slid down to her knees and began to undo his belt.

By the time Joshua’s addled brain registered what she was going to do, Olivia was already well on the way to helping him relieve his stress, with a first experience that only took a few brief moments to come to conclusion. “Sorry,” he blushed, feeling as weak and calm as a newborn kitten immediately after.

“You’re right,” Olivia giggled. “I do like the taste of your man-milk!” Eyes twinkling, she carefully helped tuck him back inside his pants and then carefully zipped and fastened them back up for him.

“You… You didn’t have to do that,” Joshua assured her, blushing brightly.

“You’re wrong on that,” Olivia giggled, before getting up and twirling lightly to model the skirt for him. “It’s my job,” she told him, “and the truth is, I’ve got to become the best at it — for you,” she stressed, “if I want to keep the position as your First Lady.”

“Sor… Sorry,” Joshua apologized, feeling incredibly guilty.

“Are you kidding?” Laughing, Olivia leaned over and hugged her arms tight around his neck once more, before leaning in and kissing him fervently once again. “I think I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life, thanks to you! Mother’s laughing! She can feel her legs, and she’ll be walking and living life again! If it weren’t for my promise with mother not to lose my virginity until Prom, I’d be doing a lot more than just that for you!

“I’m happy to be the First Lady in your harem,” she assured him. “Even if you won’t tell my what you think about my little black skirt,” she pouted, playfully.

“Honestly,” Joshua smiled, moved by her words, “I hate it. When they’re that tight, and that short, it’s almost like you’re trying to share the view with the world.” Sitting down on the small bench in the changing room, he slowly reached around and rubbed the tight leather covering Olivia’s butt, before gently tugging the zipper down and pulling the outfit completely off her.

Taking her hand, Joshua gently pulled her nude body down to sit in his lap, before wrapping both arms around her waist. Relaxing in thought for several long moments, the two simply enjoyed the calm and the quiet together, until Joshua finally spoke again. “I think,” he smiled, “of all the styles you’ve chosen so far, I like the longer skirts and belly-button tops on you. Something thick enough to hide the fact you’re not wearing anything under them,” Joshua explained, “and long enough so the wind can’t blow it up and let any of those perverted jackasses at the school see your goodies.

“The idea shape would be loose — very loose,” Joshua smirked, “so I could easily work a hand — or anything else — all the way up it,” he stressed, “any time I want to.”

“I guess with a slit all the way up to the hip,” Olivia giggled.

“Nope,” Joshua corrected, instantly. “No higher than halfway up the leg. It’d have to pass school rules, you know,” he reminded her. “What is that rule? At least fingertip length, or something?”

“Fingertip length,” Olivia agreed, “when standing upright, with your hands hanging loosely by your sides.”

“So, a few inches longer than that at least,” Joshua chuckled. “No need to go around looking for trouble…. OH! If we’re talking perfect skirts here,” he chuckled, “then it shouldn’t have buttons, zippers, or belts. The top of it should be a nice stretchable elastic so it’d hold it in place properly; yet allow for easy access down inside. Then, if I walk with my arm around your waist, I can sneak my fingers down to caress your butt.”

“Gee, aren’t you specific about what you like,” Olivia giggled lightly. “Something like that’ll probably have to be custom ordered, but it shouldn’t be a problem,” she assured him. “What about tops? Or shoes? Accessories?”

“Honestly,” Joshua smirked, “I think I like the top you’re wearing now, best.” Looking over, he deliberately let his gaze run up and down across her bare chest several times before sighing lightly. “But, since that’s not allowed in public,” he chuckled, “then a shirt in a similar style to the skirt. Loose enough for easy access from either the top or the bottom, yet thick and heavy enough not to flap around in a common wind and showcase anything embarrassing.”

“Awwww... Aren’t you the sweetest thing,” Olivia gushed, meaning every word of it. She’d always imagined some guy cackling evilly while rubbing his hands together and pulling out weird little playboy bunny outfits, or something similar, if they ever had a woman who wouldn’t deny them. She’d even imagined such odd things as chains and whips, but never one did she think the guy might actually try and protect the girl’s modesty!

Olivia’s mind told her that most men would flaunt and show off their prize, but Joshua didn’t want that! Sure, he wanted to be able to enjoy her goodies easily — what red-blooded male wouldn’t — but he was also truly trying to protect her! “I’m supposed to be your knight, you know,” she told him contentedly.

“You are,” Joshua assured her. “That’s why I’m not picking out any of those really slinky looking high heels for you to start wearing. Knights need firm footing much moreso than sexy footwear.”

“Oh ho ho,” Olivia chuckled. “Now I know what type of shoes to make mother and Maria start wearing now. I’ll get them both…”

“Hey! Are you two about finished in there, yet? It’s getting close to three and we haven’t bought any phones yet!” Olivia’s mother called into the changing room, and then shamelessly stuck her head inside the curtain to check on them. “Quit snuggling,” she giggled, “so we can get going!”

Arriving back at the school just a few minutes before the buses arrived for the evening, Joshua leaned back and simply enjoyed the feeling of Olivia snuggling her naked body warmly in his arms. Almost as soon as they’d finished shopping, and gotten back into the privacy of the van, she’d laughingly slid her dress back up and off her head, before nuzzling down contentedly in his arms. Now, they were just resting silently snuggled together while Maria watched the school for the students being let out, and Olivia’s mother transferred contact information back and forth between all the new phones.

“Sorry guys,” Maria finally told them, “but all the buses are here, and students are starting to come out of the building. You need to hurry to catch your bus,” she prompted Joshua.

“Wait! Here’s your phone,” Olivia’s mother giggled, passing it over to him. “I’ve got everyone’s numbers in it now for you, as well as have you set up for a private group chat server with us. Call us when you get home!”

“Umm…. I will, and thanks for everything.” Cautiously taking the phone from her hand, Joshua grabbed his bookbag and climbed around the front seat to exit out the passenger door. He certainly didn’t want anyone to see Olivia relaxing so casually in the back, dressed as she was! Slamming the door behind him, he quickly strolled behind his bus and turned to climb up and rest in the very first open seat he came to.

“So did you enjoy our private outing?” Olivia asked while stretching naked in her room again. “What’d you think of mother? And Maria?”

“I still think she looks too young to be your mother,” Joshua told her honestly, as he relaxed down across his bed after getting home and finishing his chores. “I can’t talk long right now,” he warned Olivia, “as it’s not long until supper. I would like to talk to you privately in a bit though, if you can,” he admitted.

“Sure,” Olivia agreed, happily. “We ate before we came home, and Maria has helped mother with her bath and already put her to bed, so you can contact me anytime you want tonight. Why? What’s up,” she asked, curiously?

“Well, really, I just wanted to ask you about how the heck I even got those two as my concubines. And why I can’t pull up any information concerning them? And I wanted to ask about what you’d said you’d learned earlier. And talk about my Second Lady and get your opinion on her…”

“Wait!” Olivia sat bolt-straight up in bed, asking, “You’ve already chosen a second lady? Who? When? Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“You may not know her,” Joshua sighed, feeling like he was going to have to wait even longer now to get the answers he’d been looking for. “Most of the kids call her The Dark Lady Glass behind her back, and they all avoid her as much as possible.”

“The girl with the heart problem?” Olivia asked, raising an eyebrow. “She’s not really that cute or anything. I figured you would choose another beauty for yourself,” she admitted, sounding shocked.

“I figure loyalty and companionship trumps beauty,” Joshua told her, shrugging slightly. “I didn’t want to drag some unwilling cutie into my clutches, where she’d be endlessly unhappy and resent me, so instead I tried to think of someone who would be happy to join us.

“You’re the one who gave me the idea,” Joshua chuckled, “when you asked about your mother joining the harem. If she would be happy just getting back her legs, how much favor am I going to gain with Rebecca when she gets another eighty years of life?”

“Well why isn’t she on my companion list?” Olivia pouted. “All this is news to me!”

“Probably because she hasn’t gone to sleep and been upgraded yet,” Joshua reasoned. “You’ll have to set her up with one of those extra phones your mother bought today. I still can’t believe she purchased a cool dozen at once! And all the newest, top-end models!”

“Well, mom said there wasn’t any reason to keep money in the bank much longer,” Olivia giggled, “if the world is going to end in about a year.”

“She’s probably right,” Joshua frowned. “We can’t be the only people who’re participating in the beta. You know, those other folks are going to be thinking the same thing as us. There’s probably going to be one heck of a sell off of stocks and a pull out of investments in the next few upcoming months.”

“I hope everyone’s wrong,” Olivia sighed, “but right now, it does seem like it might be a good idea to forget about saving for fifty years in the future, and to spend freely to prepare for the immediate future. Mom and Maria are already talking about remodeling the house, but it’ll probably be impossible to push all the permits through and have construction finished in less than a year. I may have to end up doing the unthinkable,” she sighed deeply.

“The unthinkable?” Joshua asked, curiously.

“Contacting grandfather,” Olivia sighed again. “He’s got enough money to move the world, but at the same time, he’s never really been someone awfully close to any of us. All he cares about is ‘leaving his legacy’ in the world. Honestly,” Olivia smiled sadly, “I don’t think he really thinks of me as a person. To him, I’m just an incubator to the next male in his household.”

“Then you shouldn’t feel bad about taking advantage of his money,” Joshua snorted. “If all he cares about is what comes out of your womb, then he shouldn’t care about what comes out of that tomb which is his bank account!”

“But you still haven’t told me how the heck I got both your mother and Maria as my harem members,” Joshua pouted, all frustrated.

“Oh! That’s simple,” Olivia reminded him, “I added them this morning.”

“Without consulting me at all?” Joshua asked, looking a little hurt. “Shouldn’t I have some say on that type of thing?”

“Apparently not according to the system,” Olivia giggled. “The best I can figure, you get to choose the primary members of your harem, and then they get to choose a group of concubines under them. It seems to be an extremely strict, hierarchical caste system, with each group overseeing and controlling the group below them.”

“Wait… Does that mean Rebecca is going to have two concubines she can add to the group?” Three women today were already hell on his poor heart! Joshua couldn’t imagine what he’d do if they kept growing uncontrollably.

“Probably four concubines, to be honest,” Olivia giggled. “I still have two more open spots which I haven’t filled for you yet.”

“Greeeaaaat…” Groaning, Joshua almost felt like crying. It might be something every young man daydreams about; but having to face the reality of the situation was almost overbearingly daunting. Four and four and then Olivia and Rebecca made ten... How the heck was he supposed to service that many women, go to school, do his chores, and prepare for the apocalypse all at the same time?!!

“Don’t worry,” Olivia laughed lightly. “I think that’s the whole purpose behind you not being to access the concubine’s stats and stuff. It’s up to me to manage the members I bring into the harem, and it’ll be up to Rebecca to keep track and control of hers. All you have to do is keep control of your ladies and then trust us to take care of the rest.”

“And honestly,” Olivia giggled, finding Joshua’s stressed expression quite endearing, “did you know that your harem will probably just keep growing over time? If you check the history books, some of the harems out there were so large that the guys who were over them ended up building a whole city to store their thousands of women!”

“Thousands of women?” Joshua’s mouth fell wide at the very idea. “My pecker would shrivel up and fall off,” he told Olivia shaking his head back and forth slowly. “When we were joking about a harem before, I was thinking of something like the modern-day anime concept – one guy and a handful of cute girls! I’d never even nightmared about thousands!”

“You have to remember,” Olivia giggled, “the World Renewal Project is apparently the work of God. So, if you keep that in mind, you have to try and think of things in a biblical point of view – such as the way women were treated, or the way harems existed centuries ago!”

“I’d… I’d never thought of it like that,” Joshua admitted, sighing deeply.

“Me either, to be honest,” Olivia admitted. “It was kind of an insight which mother had and shared with me this morning, after I got her and Maria to go to sleep and take a nap, with the help of some of her sleeping medicine.”

“They certainly didn’t seem sleepy to me today,” Joshua mumbled. “I couldn’t keep up with everyone at all! I think I’m going to spend my next thousand points in stamina and diamond-strength pecker power…”

“It’s not that bad,” Olivia giggled. “Now, I can’t promise what Rebecca is going to end up doing once she wakes up tomorrow, but I can assure you, I’m not going to be sending my concubines to you on a regular basis. One of the requirements for me to stay First Lady is for me to be the best at satisfying you. How the heck can I do that if I’m always pushing someone else into your lap?”

“Scheherazade me?” Joshua asked, smiling weakly.

“Bless you?” Laughing lightly, Olivia wrinkled her nose up cutely, showing she had no idea what he was talking about.

“Scheherazade?” Joshua asked. “You know – the lady who told 1001 Arabian Nights. She was the sultan’s favorite for her storytelling and not her bootylicious booty.”

“Never heard of her,” Olivia giggled, “though it sounds like I might want to do some research on the woman, soon.”

“You might know of some of the stories she told,” Joshua chuckled, “like Aladdin, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Sinbad, and many more. But those can wait for you to read up on, in your own free time! What I want to know now, is what all you guys discussed, and what you might have learned about our overall situation we’re in!”

“Well, I can’t say we actually learned anything definitely,” Olivia giggled. “More like we all tossed around a whole bunch of ideas and tried to speculate on things as much as we possibly could. Honestly, I was going to ask if you could give mother and Maria some sort of semi-official title like you did for me, when you agreed to make me your Eternal Knight.”

“Sure, I mean, I guess,” Joshua shrugged. “Why? Is it really important?”

“Maybe,” Olivia smiled sweetly trough the camera on her new phone at him. “We’re not certain, but we think that titles and such help unlock various quests, skills, and advantages and such, for people. Have you checked your quest list here lately? I swear, mine has grown to almost three times the size it was when I first saw it – and there’s a lot more things in it now than what I remember.

“I think,” Olivia mused, “when you knighted me, it unlocked a whole series of ‘guardian’ tasks. When we swapped over to the harem sub-system, it unlocked a whole series of ‘pleasure’ tasks. As your First Lady, there’s a whole series of ‘management and overseer’ tasks.

“Currently, there’s only a small listing of quests and such available for Maria and mother,” Olivia informed him, “and almost all of those are pleasure related tasks.”

“So you think assigning them a title will unlock more tasks for them,” Joshua asked?

“It wouldn’t hurt to try,” Olivia shrugged. “Maria thinks it probably some seven degrees of separation thing, but I don’t really know what she’s talking about,” she shrugged, uncertainly.

“Seven degrees of…”

“Hey Josh! Supper!” His father’s voice boomed up the stairs and cut off his question mid-sentence, causing Olivia to smirk uncontrollably.

“Sorry, I…”

“I’ll ask her about it while you’re eating,” Olivia interrupted, rushing to promise. “I’ll let you know what she says when you come back.

Looking tired and worn out, Joshua’s father was actually sitting at the dinner table for a change when Joshua finally made it down the steps. “Took you long enough,” he grumbled tiredly, while waiting on Josh to have a seat.

“So how’s school?” Slowly picking at his food, Joshua’s father tiredly try to make small talk.

“It’s fine,” Joshua assured him, dipping out a large ladle of mashed potatoes onto his plate. “In fact, I wanted to ask if it’d be okay if I spent the weekend over at a friend’s house? We’re hoping to pull our grades up this semester and thought a study group might help. Their parents are going to be home,” Joshua assured him.

“Just one night, or the whole weekend,” his father asked suspiciously. “It’s not like you to take such interest in your classes,” he frowned, wearily. “Are y’all planning something you shouldn’t? Partying? Beer? Drugs?”

“No. No. No. Nothing like that,” Joshua assured his father. “It’s honestly a parent-supervised study session. There’s kinda a couple of girls I like,” Joshua blushed slightly, “and I don’t want to seem like a total idiot, if I want to ask one to prom, this year…”

“I’m… I’m also wondering if I could pick up more chores, or something,” Joshua asked? “If I do decide to go to prom, I’d need to get some flowers and such for a gift…”

“Oh ho ho! Girls,” his father chuckled lightly. “That’s even worse than beer and drugs”, his father smirked. “They make young men do stupid stuff — like study and go to work!”

“If it weren’t for the girls,” Joshua’s mother snorted, good-naturedly, as she twirled a strand of spaghetti on her fork, “you guys would just spend all the time on worthless pursuits like football, racing, and card games!”

“So is it okay,” Joshua asked again, before they all got off-track completely? “I’d like to just catch the bus to their home tomorrow, and then I could spend the weekend for the whole study group. I’d ride the bus from there to school Monday morning, and then come home here Monday evening.”

“I dunno,” his father grumbled. “If you’d asked us with more warning…” Trailing off, the conversation around the dinner table turned to silence as Joshua knew not to press his luck.

“Have their parents call us in a little while, before it gets too late tonight,” his father finally decided. “I want to here the details from them and know for a fact they’re going to be there and there’s adult supervision.”

“Got it!” Grinning brightly, Joshua shoved the last meatball whole into his mouth, before hopping up to go upstairs.

“Hey!” His father called out to stop him on the steps. “I haven’t said yes yet,” he stressed. “I want to talk to their parents first, and then we’ll let you know what your mother and I decide in the morning.”

“I understand,” Joshua agreed, before turning and hurrying on up to his room.

“…and that’s basically the deal,” he told Olivia, beaming brightly as he stared into the phone. “I may be able to come visit for the weekend, if your mom agrees to it and calls my father. All she has to do is say we’re having a study session.”

“That’d be great,” Olivia giggled lightly, while twirling her hair with her fingers as she stretched out across her bed. “I wonder if there’s any chance Rebecca could join us,” she mused, softly. “If your father somehow finds out later that it was just one guy and a girl together, he might get suspicious something’s off. If there’s more people, then it seems more above board,” she reasoned.

“Besides,” Olivia added, “I’d like to get to know my sister-wife and help catch her up to speed with what little we do know already.”

“I didn’t get her number this morning, or at lunch, when I talked to her,” Joshua sighed. “And I didn’t think to give her mine. My phone was busted, and I hadn’t swapped cards and stuff out to my old one yet, and I never once thought about playing hooky and going to buy a new one!”

“That’s okay,” Olivia giggled. “You can offer the invitation to her when you talk to her in the morning and make certain she feels welcomed anytime. If she can’t join us this weekend, there’s always another.”

“Oh!” Olivia beamed a brilliant smile, as she had a sudden thought pop into her head. “Mother might be able to help with the other part of your problem as well!”

“Other problem?” Joshua asked, uncertain what she was talking about.

“Well, didn’t you also say you asked your father about getting a job?” Olivia reminded him. “Mother’s a poor old, crippled woman, in a wheelchair, with just a daughter and caretaker to lean up,” Olivia sniffed, pitifully. “Why, there’s always something breaking down, or needing a man to do, around here!”

“Well… Maybe,” Joshua agreed, reluctantly. “I just don’t want to end up feeling like a leech, sponging off you and your family. I don’t want to take advantage of you guys.”

“Why not?” Olivia snorted. “We’re going to take advantage of you, and the system you introduced us to, as much as we possibly can! We need to grow as much as possible, and prepare for whatever the future might hold, together.”

“I’ll.. I’ll think about it,” Joshua promised. “But what were you guys saying about seven degrees of separation earlier?” He asked, trying to change the subject.

“It’s nothing, really,” Olivia laughed. “It’s just a crazy theory of Maria’s. I really wouldn’t pay much attention to it. She’s a good worker, and a great part of my family,” Olivia admitted, “but she’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, if you get my meaning.”

“Still,” Joshua shrugged, “I’d like to hear it.”

“Sure,” Olivia smirked. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you first.”

“Okay,” Joshua agreed. “Consider me forewarned of all foolishness.”

“Fine!” Sticking her tongue out at him, Olivia sat up on her bed and deliberately faced the camera phone on her dresser. Crossing her arms behind her back, she squirmed softly left to right, making her bare breasts sway gently as she watched Joshua, and told her story.

“Maria watched some show a while back that said humanity was connected by seven degrees of separation, in this modern world. You might not personally know the president of Russia, but your father’s bosses’ old collage roommate’s sister’s boyfriend’s cousin is dating his niece. It’s like that game where you try and connect two unrelated actors by the costars in the movies they played in,” Olivia snickered.

“It’s all some sort of metaphysical hogwash, if you ask me,” Olivia shrugged, dismissively. “I mean, what if there’s some hobo living in a cave on an island in the Bermuda triangle? Is everyone supposed to be connected to him by some ‘seven degrees of separation’? I don’t think so. It’s just hogwash.”

“And what’s that got to do with wrap?” Joshua asked, unable to see any connection.

“Wrap? I don’t know,” Olivia giggled lightly. “What’s wrap?”

“W. R. P,” Joshua told her, pausing for a second between each letter. “Seems to me like that’s how you’d pronounce it.”

“Wouldn’t ‘warp’ be closer?” Olivia asked, smirking at him.

“Nope. I coined it first,” Joshua smirked. “It’s now officially ‘wrap’. But what’s seven degrees of separation have to do with wrapping?”

“Maria said if she was in change of warping,” Olivia giggled, “then she’d use the seven degrees of separation to spread the system.” Seeing Joshua’s puzzled look, Olivia nodded enthusiastically. “That’s how I felt too,” she snickered again, “when she told me about it.”

“Apparently, her idea works like this. It’d be a pain to have to introduce everyone into the system, so Maria’s idea was to think of it as a virus. Introduce it to those key figures who make up the core of the ‘seven degrees of separation’, and let them introduce and spread it like a virus to the rest of the world.”

“Basically, you caught the pure virus,” Olivia snickered, “and then you mutated it somewhat and passed it on to me. ‘Dislike for underwear,’ for example. I then caught the virus, mutated it, and passed it on to mother and Maria. ‘Inability to wear underwear’, for example, there.”

“And according to Rebecca,” Olivia smirked, finding the whole concept funny, “apparently the more mutated the virus gets from the original strand, the fewer benefits the weakened virus carries. You might get the full-fledged chicken pox and gain an immunity to it, but after a few generations of mutations, that doesn’t mean Maria would have the same immunity when she catches Rooster Pox.”

“According to her theory,” Olivia told him, as she slow stretched back out across her bed, “the world will probably end up divided into castes. Those who, like you, get into the system naturally, are going to have more tasks, more skills, and more chances for growth. You’re going to become the champions of the new world, while everyone else is much weaker.”

“If you think of it like a video game,” Olivia explained, “then you get to be a player character, me and Rebecca are companions, mother and Maria are just hired henchmen, and the rest of the world are lowly NPCs.”

“Well…” Joshua frowned, thinking about it. “It does kind of seem like that, in a couple of ways.”

“Yeah,” Olivia shrugged, “but that’s only now. We’re in beta-testing at the moment, remember? In less than a year, warp is going to…”

“Wrap,” Joshua corrected.

“… roll out to the public,” Olivia finished, without missing a beat. “It’s impossible to guess how many people might get primary status like yours,” Olivia shrugged. “Maybe everyone will. Maybe only a few will. Maybe it’ll all change and God’ll toss the whole idea for a rewrite in a year’s time. We have no way of knowing, until that time comes. Heck, beta might even end, and it could be a thousand years before changes are made and the whole system goes live!”

“From what I’m thinking,” Olivia snickered, “I think right now we need to test and try out everything. You started on a companion system, which gave one set of skills and quests. Then we converted over to a harem system, which offers up completely different things. The reason we have more quests and such available to us is because we’ve decided to participate in extra sub-systems.”

“Let’s say we started out on the main Hero-System,” Olivia explained. “You were the hero and Rebecca and I were your chosen companions. Things could’ve stayed simple like that, but then you — as the hero — helped me acquire a class change. I’m now part of the Knight-Subsystem, and you’re part of the Lord-Subsystem.”

“Basically, you volunteered us for bigger roles to test out more of the game,” Olivia laughed lightly. “Same way when we switched over to the Harem-Subsystem. Different quests. Different skills and advantages. Different restrictions.”

“Honestly,” she warned, “I’d be cautious thinking Rebecca had the same set of restrictions as I do. I was given ‘can not betray, deceive, or harm’ you while the Hero-System was active. Now, maybe,” Olivia stressed, “Rebecca will be bound by the same rules since you had a companion slot available then. Maybe not,” she shrugged slightly.

“Rebecca might just have Harem-system restrictions on her, you know,” Olivia warned. “Must learn to please the Lord. Must help manage his concubines… I don’t have a clue if loyalty or no harm is in there at all,” Olivia sighed. “After all, I already had them from previously.”

“And that’s why you want me to try and give your mother and Maria a title,” Joshua nodded, connecting the dots.

“Yeah,” Olivia nodded. “It might help them access more of the system, and give more chances to grow. And,” Olivia grinned as her eyes sparkled brightly, “if it ends up my ideas right, we probably have the chance to sign up and try out a lot of various subsystems. Think of all the life structures that are similar — the Military-System, with the general, corporals, sergeants, and privates. Or the Corporation-System with a CEO, board of directors, senior management, and workers.”

“Even the school has a similar setup,” Joshua mused, showing he was following her way of thinking. School board, principal, vice-principal, teacher, student.”

“Exactly,” Olivia laughed happily. “I’m thinking that’s a perk of beta-testing. You can choose and move between subsystems freely, to test them out. I’d bet there’ll be quests, or requirements to fulfill to swap, or get them, when the main version comes out in a year,” Olivia smirked.

“Only problem,” Joshua sighed, “is that I can’t give titles, or classes, to Maria or your mother. I can’t interact with them at all!”

“Well, I can’t give them any,” Olivia sighed, sounding downhearted. “I tried earlier and got a notice saying I had no titles to give.”

“That sounds like it might be the hierarchy system at work,” Joshua mused. “Maybe I have to give you the titles, and then you have to assign them, since they’re your subordinates.”

“I don’t know,” Olivia frowned, “but it seems worth a shot.”

“Then how about Dreamweaver, for your mother? She’d be in charge of making certain everyone had good dreams at night. Offer milk and cookies. Tell happy, sappy stories. Light those calming candles. Basically, she’d be in charge of making certain everyone rested enough and slept well.

“Or maybe Mistress Moaney,” Joshua chuckled, as a huge smile spread across his face. “The duties would be to be in charge of helping manage the finances, while learning to moan and enjoy submitting to those above her.”

“Hey now! That’s my mother you’re talking about,” Olivia snorted. “Be nice!”

“Well, you’re the one who made her a concubine,” Joshua chuckled, reminding her.

Olivia’s only response was to stick her tongue out at him while wrinkling her nose cutely.

“For Maria, she could be the Lady of Lace, whose duty is to always look nice, sexy, lacy, and clean, and to help make certain the environment around her is the same. After all, how sexy can a maid be, if the manor around her is a mess?”

“That... That actually kind of suits her,” Olivia giggled.

“Or maybe Sentinel of Seduction,” Joshua laughed aloud. “She’s always watching over you and your mother, so she’s kind of the defender of the household, while being a concubine as well.”

“I tell you what,” he smirked, “you can have all four titles and choose which one you want to offer them.”

“OH!” Bouncing upright in her bed — causing Joshua’s eyes to bounce in their sockets watching her better bits’ erratically energetic movement — Olivia was grinning brightly. “It worked! I now have four titles to choose from and assign!”

“Assign mother, Dreamweaver,” Olivia told the system, aloud. “Assign Maria, Lady of Lace.”

“Nothing,” Joshua sighed, shaking his head afterwards. “I can’t tell a single change.”

“I can,” Olivia laughed, energetically. “It worked like a charm!”