Earth Time (IRT): Day 3.5

Ethos: Day 7

News Outlets: Scrolling banner: 8pm live interview with Angela Maher, updating public on virtual life in the Realm of Ethos (ROE).

I woke to a hand shaking my shoulder.

Ah, holy fuck my head hurts.

I am laying face down on a bed with my face buried in a pillow and I feel an arm tighten around my waist, pulling me closer. Lifting my head I see my three mentors staring down at me with various looks on their faces.

Time for math, three mentors standing and yet there is an arm around my waist. Turning my head, I see a rogue of a demon smiling back at me. In his other hand he holds a bottle of ‘something’ and takes a swig from it.

I sit up quickly only to groan about my head. Then I notice I am butt ass naked and I am rocking. No, we are all rocking? Looking around, I see I am in a large room on a ship.

Fuck it.

Grabbing the bottle from my bedfellow and taking a long pull, I ignore the burning sensation as it slides down my throat. Then I lay back down and roll over to face the naked man besides me. Remembering last night I get a shit-eating grin. Grabbing the back of his head, I take a long deep kiss.

I hear the irritation in Ishtar’s voice. “You remember your interview today... yes?”

“Oh crap.” And jumping out of the bed I scramble for my clothes.

Effrion is holding parts of my clothing. Seems they didn’t fare well.

Crap. I grab the man's clothes off the floor, “Thanks for the night and the clothes.” I smile at him getting ready to leave. He gets out of bed, grabs an amulet and walks over.

Touching it to the pendent around my neck he says, “Pop in anytime you like.”

“Where will it take me?” I ask.

“To this room on my flagship,” He leans in for another kiss. “Pop in for a ride whenever you wish.”

“Let's go.” Ishtar growls. Grabbing my upper arm he leads me to our palanquin for a ride back to his home at the palace. I scramble, trying not to fall while holding up the pants. They aren’t staying up on my hips well.

In the hallway I pull back from Ishtar and growl, “You will not drag me. You can escort me, but try to drag me again and we will have issues. Then I turn and take the lead up to the deck. It is barely first light so I can’t get a good look at my first pirate ship. But, I hear whistles coming from the rigging above our heads.

I give a little wave to the crew and head down the gangplank to the waiting palanquins. Ishtar gets into one with Effrion instead of riding with me. Callisto jumps in and we are off.

Callisto is full out laughing at me. Reaching into his shirt Callisto pulls out a silver flask handing it to me. “Here, drink on this.”

Taking a swig I taste the Elven liquer I liked so much. “Thanks, but this may piss Ishtar off even more.” I said sheepishly.

“No bother and thanks for an interesting evening.” His smile is huge.

I ask, “Help me out. Did I sleep with the head of the pirate company? Name, if I remember correctly, is Sharran?”

“Yep.” Same smile is splitting his face.

“The succubus powers got the best of me and I challenged him, didn’t I?” I ask.

“Yep.”

“I had a shit-ton of fun... I think. I mean, it's coming back to me and it seems like I had a blast.” And then a memory hits me. “Did I really dance on the bar?”

Now Callisto is laughing all out, “Girl you almost caused a riot. Last night will go down in history as one of the best nights the Warehouse has ever had.”

I mutter, “So Ishtar?”

“He will get over it. It irritates him you challenged the pirate and not him. I think you are hurting his masculinity.” Callisto quips.

I shrug my shoulders and smile, “Well, it wasn’t how I expected to wake up, naked in a man’s bed with you three staring down at me.” Laughing, “That has to be a new one.”

We continue bantering as our palanquins weave through the early morning streets. The sun is just rising. This means I am not late for the interview. Thank goodness. Queen Lillith and Hunnington Corp will be pissed if I screw this up.

Upon our arrival Boonsri is practically ringing her hands out in her nervousness. We hurry to my room for a bath and clothing. Boonsri looks me up and down asking, “Pardon me for asking, but what happened to your other clothes?”

Smiling, I relate my night with the pirate captain. While we giggle Boonsri washes and then dresses me. She pulls back my hair from my face, but leaves the rest hanging down. Then the gold jewelry and light cosmetics finish my preparations for the interview.

My reflection in the mirror is amazing. My olive and red-tinged skin shines. The top wraps around my breast and then hangs down my back like a train from a wedding dress. An ornate collar piece lays across my collar bones, gold chains crisscross the front of my outfit. The skirt also wraps around and a large belt of gold hang from my hips. The top doesn’t come down to the skirt, leaving my midriff exposed. My waist looks tiny. I also have bands around my upper arms and bracelets jingle from both wrists. The entire outfit is blood red and gold.

When I meet with the men for a quick breakfast my breath escapes me. They are handsome, imposing and sexy. The three wear brocade silks. Long sleeve button up jackets, thick gold belts, and the gathered pants.

The games developers really like Thailand... I can’t blame them, everything is gorgeous.

Not stopping my mouth from running away I say, “You all look yummy.”

Ishtar looks me up and down. Grunting, he leads us to breakfast.

I go for a wine, still trying to fix the hangover. Damn, I didn’t realize that I can have hangovers in the digital world. Could have lived without that one. A component of the hangover cure is greasy food. I go for sausage with my eggs and then fruit. With the wine this will either fix me up, make me puke or get me drunk again.

As we eat, I ask the men where the interview will take place and I am informed it is on the same small garden island of Queen Lillith. The plan sounds great; it is a beautiful location.

Looking at Ishtar I ask, “When do we head out?”

Standing, he holds a hand out. “Let us go now.”

Helping me stand, Ishtar places my arm through his and leads us to the garden island. The closer we come to the palace the more jewelry I see. I guess these are nobles. Many of them stare as I am escorted through different areas. We finally reach the floating bridge to the island. The countess and servants await our arrival.

We have fifteen minutes until I open my email and the attachment. They place me in such a way to highlight the scenery surrounding us. The water, swinging limbs from weeping trees, vines tangled around stone artworks. Blooms in various colors add punches of color. Servants with large fans stand back from our group. They swing the fans back and forth in time with each other, staving off the early morning humidity.

My hands sweat, I am not looking forward to this interview. In fact, the hangover is still kicking my butt. That will not help this process. I just hope the queen and the corporation get over it, because my mouth will, more than likely, overload my ass.

With two minutes to spare I announce, “Lets get this started.” I open my interface and see the usual gray except for messages. There is one notice from Harb with the expected attachment. Thinking about the attachment opens a large viewing area in front of where I sit.

It looks like a large tv screen hanging midair. I see Peter Suciu’s, from TechNewsWorld, eyes go wide and hear, “Holy shit.” Blushing and then coughing he continues, “Hi Angela, to say you look different is an understatement.”

Smiling, I nod my head and inform him, “My name is now Asura.”

“Ok Asura, we go live in one minute. How are you doing?” Peter asks.

“Good... no great.” I smile at him. “This is unbelievable.”

Peter says, “We are starting soon. TechNewsWorld is overwhelmed with the questions sent to us. Millions are interested and you are the main talking point on every channel.”

Blushing, I tell him, “I will do my best to answer as I can. But, don’t forget, I don’t know if I will discuss my abilities. This is a game, I will keep that information and anything else I deem harmful, out of our conversations.”

Peter looks away and back to me, “Ok, I understand that. The producer is counting down now... and we are live.”

“Hello to all of our fans out there. We are here with Angela Myer, who I am informed now goes by Asura.”

I can watch Peter talk to his audience.

Pretty cool.

“Hello Asura, I will start with what I assume everyone’s first question is, your looks and body. What can you tell us about your character build? Essential your new body.”

I can’t answer Varuna highjacked my ass and I had zero input... not cool.

“Peter, thank you for having me on your program and the choices for character creation are incredible.” I start my semi-false explanation.

“I had choices that may only be available to FIs. Players may not have the options I had... but, anyway... I went an unusual route and these are the results.” I show my body with a hand wave and continue to smile.

“Yes, your avatar is beautiful,” Peter coughs. “If you don’t mind me saying that?” He embarrassingly asks.

Nodding my head no, “That’s ok, I appreciate the compliment.”

Peter continues, “You are doing very well for yourself. Is that gold you are wearing? And exactly where are you? It looks amazing.”

“I am on a continent with my race. As for the jewelry... well, I am requested to represent my race and the other Elder Races in recruiting FIs wanting to migrate . The jewelry represents the position. Queen Lillith wants this overture represented properly. Here that includes clothing, jewelry and titles.”

Peter’s mouth hangs open, “This isn’t how I expected our conversation to go.”

Laughing I say, “I never dreamed to end up here or doing what I am doing.”

Peter is jotting down a few notes and thinking about his next question, “We have questions concerning the game, your life, quests, character build, eating, bathing, sex...” Peter blushes, “But having the game ask for migrants... well, that is not on our list of questions.” He ends this statement with a smile.

“Please explain to our audience how a game requests the FIs live with them.” Peter encourages.

“Ok, as I understand Realm of Ethos came into being with the help of an AI. The purpose of the realms is the corporation keeps the game running while the AIs act as in-game controllers. Thinking on this means, the NPCs...”

Peter holds up a hand, “For those of you that dont understand NPC, it means a Non-Player Character... please continue.”

I nod my head. “Yes, the game generated people. It only reasons that they are electronic intelligence that develop into AIs. These intelligences run this world. They know people are coming. Some to live and others to play. They know about respawn, the ability to come back to life. They feel that FIs will help in the coming troubled times.”

“And what are these ‘troubled times’?” Peter asks.

“Hunnington Corp or the AIs set the game up with prophecies that start with the launch of the game, you know, when the players arrive. The NPC understand that great changes will happen.”

Peter asks, “What is your part in the prophecies?”

“Me? None, I am here to liaise between the Elder Races and those waiting transition to RoE.” I answer... somewhat truthfully.

My part of the prophecies concern the corporation, not the game. They don’t need that information.

Peter laughs and waves to his tv audience, “Ok, go on and liaise.”

“For those waiting to transition to FI, the Elder Races, invite you to their territories. They will help provide training and transiting to this world. The elder races include; Dragons, Elves, Dwarfs, and Demons.”

Peter sits stunned, “Dragons? People can go live with dragons?”

Laughing at his expression, “From what I understand, yes, they can live among dragons.”

“Ok, never thought I would have this kind of conversation...” He pauses and moves on to his next questions.

“Please tell us about your game experience up to this point.”

“There isn’t much. I train all the time working on my defenses.”

Peter asks excitedly, “And magic, are they teaching you magic?”

“Well, Peter that is interesting... It seems the prophecies include instructions on what they cann’t teach prior to the game starting. I may learn magic on my own, but I recieve zero help. I don’t have a pop-up displaying my stats. In fact, my one tab available at is a contact list. I have one contact with Hunnington Corp and that's it. I don’t know what my level is. Basically, until the main event starts I am zero help to explain game mechanics. As far as I know, anyway.” I explain.

“Wait, you don’t know your stats? Your level? Skills, attributes, anything?” Peter asks shocked.

“We knew that FIs are handled differently but, I didn’t know I wouldn’t have access to a characteristic page.” Then I add, “It makes life interesting.”

“Then what are you training in? You mentioned training earlier.” Peter asks with interest.

“Self-defense. I am learning how to stop people from trying to kill me. They can and are helping with that training.” I reply.

Again with interest Peter asks, “What weapons?”

“Ah, I am not answering that.” Chuckling I explain, “I don’t want players knowing my skills. This is still a game and a very dangerous game that I live in. I don’t want to give people an advantage.”

Peter nods his head, “Yes, that makes sense.”

Peter asks, “How does it feel? Everyone wants to know how the food tastes, sleep, touch, hearing and we have had several questions about sex, oh and drinking... can you get drunk?”

I answer with a chuckle, “It is all the same as real life. And yes, you can get drunk. Quite drunk as a matter of fact.”

My head still hurts.

“I take it you have firsthand experience?” Peter asks with humor.

“Yep. Sure did. I can also attest to the pain settings. Everything hurts just as bad.”

Peter looks concerned, “Have you been hurt?”

“Yep, cuts and broken bones.” I answer with a grimace.

Peter looks me up and down, “I don’t see wounds or a cast?”

Now my smile is huge, “Magic Peter, Magic. This is a world of magic.”

“That has to be stupid cool. But, I digress. This is a tech outlet and we don’t have many answers about the game except you are waiting for the launch and the NPCs are asking for FI immigrants... Man, that is weird to say.” Peter seems to ramble.

Pulling himself together Peter wraps up the interview, “Asura, you have left us with more questions than answers. My final question for this interview is, “Are you happy with your decision?”

“Yes Peter, I am extremely happy with this decision. I didn’t expect to act as a spokesperson or liaison for the game. That eventually will go away. But, even with the additional responsibilities, I wouldn’t change a thing.” And I realize this is the truth, even the succubus and champion gig, I would still come the Ethos rather than live my other life.

Peter grabs my attention, “We are off air. I want you to know that there is a huge push in the disabled community for faster access to the game. On top of that, guilds are already building and the hype for RoE is over the top. After seeing your avatar, I think the push for quicker access will grow. Also, Hunnington Corp agreed to another interview. I don’t have the date yet.”

I know irritation shows across my face, “Ok... can we exchange information? It would be nice to have another contact outside of Ms. Harb.”

Peter grows excited, “Hell yes I’ll share contact information.”

“Great, this will facilitate better interviews. Thank you for your help and time.” I end the conversation by closing the viewing screen.

Closing the screen reveals a blinking message icon.

From: Harb

To: Asura

Good job on the interview. That went better than expected. The clothing and jewelry were a great touch. I didn’t think you had it in you. People are screaming to join.

BTW: The rest of the test subjects are in-game. With your success we didn’t see a reason to wait and the US Government agreed.

Best,

Harb

P.S. - More interviews are lining up. Will send a schedule soon.

What the fuck, more interviews?