The next day I awoke quite sore from the beating King gave me the day before. Deciding that I couldn't start at ACU with one of the professors pissed off at me I decided that I should apologize. So I got out a pad of paper and wrote a formal letter of apology to King, and included a box of fine chocolate as a token of apology. With that done I set about making some breakfast.

I was about half way through making the tea, when a knock came at the door.

Ethan: O_o… I wonder who that might be?

Throwing on my yakuta I went to the door and opened it. To my surprise there was no one there, only a letter lying on the floor. I picked it up and returned to my tea, and ignored the letter until my tea was done. Mysterious letters that are left on the floor are not to be addressed until one's nerves are prepared to handle the shock. After finishing my tea I tore the letter open. I immediately regretted doing so. The letter was short and to the point.

No replacement found. Prepare for assimilation Geekboy! Meet me at the holo-chamber at ACU at 9:00 tonight. Or else! >=|!!!

EDG…

(Flashback alert!)

I was standing on a street corner in Muncie, it was mid winter and the snow was coming down in droves. It lay in drifts 3ft tall and I was out on my own that day. Why was I out? An old scam of mine, people tended to pity an orphan like myself and they would gladly give me money if I looked pitiful enough. I refused to be a helpless victim.
The wind whipped my hair, and pulled at my tattered clothes. I hated this miserable existence…

I walked around the corner and quickly ducked back. Was that a robot I had seen standing near the Drycleaners. I looked around the corner again… Yup, that was a robot all right. It had a trashcan shaped body and its head looked like a dome that was pressed in on either side. Its long tube like arms were crossed and it was tapping one large metal foot in annoyance.

EDG: >=|!!! Where the hell is that kid! I’m freezing my bolts off here!!

It glanced in my direction, and I pulled back again. Had it seen me?

*tap* *tap*

Someone had tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around slowly.

EDG: Boo.

I nearly jumped out of my skin. The robot had seen me all right.

EDG: Well I found you finally. Now hold still, I wanna be quick in using the Conversion Matrix.

I backed off. That made the robot angry.

EDG: >=|!! DAMN IT!! I’m not in the mood for this shit! HOLD STILL!!

I turned and broke into a full run. What the hell did this thing want with me? My stomach gave a sickening lurch as I jumped over a low divider behind the cleaners. My only chance was to cut across the city park and come out on the main street. He wouldn’t be able to do anything to me in front of all those people.

I could hear the robot’s footsteps right behind me as I jumped a small creek, and began to run up a hill. But I felt the wind get knocked out of me as the robot tackled me from behind.

Ethan: >_ <!! Let go you bucket of bolts!!!

EDG: >=|!! I’m gonna kick your ass so bad for this!!

He pulled me around and slammed a metal fist into my stomach. I folded quickly after that blow. The next sensation I felt was something being pressed against my neck and an explosion of pain….

(End Flashback)

I felt the scar that was still on the back of my neck.

Ethan: >=|… EDG…

Well if he was coming to "collect" me I wouldn’t go down without a fight. It was time to rumble.

* * *

ACU… the Holo-chamber…9:00 PM…

I stood in the main chamber, arms crossed, with my entire battle ensemble at the ready. I took the opportunity to run through my equipment.

Ethan: Hmmm…Hackmaster +12…check… Crossbow…check… Battle Dice… check… Dice of Wrath… check… I’m all ready to go.

Then a voice echoed through the room.

EDG: Well…Geekboy showed up!

Then a man’s voice.

???: I thought I was Geekboy EDG?

EDG: Trust me, he’s more of a Geekboy than you.

I turned around. EDG was there along with two new faces. One was a bald man with glasses that wore a green and white jumpsuit. The other was a very beautiful woman. She had long brown hair, green eyes and she was wearing a tight gray spandex outfit that made her look like a Marvel comic book character.

Ethan: >=|… So EDG… You’ve come for me…

EDG: We have. Please allow me to introduce my associates. Baldy here is Graveyard Greg, and my lady friend here is Radical.

Ethan: >=|!! I don’t care! Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?

Graveyard Greg stepped forward.

Greg: Perhaps I can explain better. Ethan, we are members of an organization that is sworn to protect all games. It’s called the Gaming Guardians. We came here to recruit you into the organization.

Ethan: e_e… Yeah right. Like a buncha games need some organization to protect them. >=|!! Get the fuck outta here!!

Radical: e_e… I told you he wouldn’t believe us.

EDG: >=|!! Then we’ll have to take him by force!

Ethan: >=|!! OVER MY DEAD BODY!!!

I whipped my crossbow out and fired it at Greg. He fell backwards as the bolt hissed through the air above him. EDG ran at me, and I drew some dice from my battle bag. I threw them at EDG’s feet and great clouds of smoke billowed from the dice. And I backed away to reload my crossbow.

But EGD ran right through the smoke and hammered me across my jaw. I stumbled backwards but managed to compose myself at the last minute. I drew my Hackmaster +12 in a smooth motion, and swung it at EGD’s head. A laser sword flashed from his wrist and it blocked my sword.

EDG: >=|!! Obi-wan has taught you well! But I am the master!!

Ethan: >=|!! Only the master of….O_O… ok… No bad Star Wars puns during this battle please…

EDG: Fair enough…

He kicked me in the gut and I fell backwards again. I dropped my sword and drew out some explosive dice.

Ethan: Eat dice!!

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

Explosions riddled the room as explosions engulfed the Gaming Guardians. I laughed for a moment, but that quickly faded away when Greg, EDG, and Radical emerged from the flames.

Radical: >=|!! I thought you said this kid had a glass jaw! You hit him twice and he’s still standing!!

EDG: Hmmmm… the Conversion Matrix would explain some of it… but still he’s showing more resistance than the Matrix would allow for…

Ethan: >=|!! You forget where I work!!! I’m in the UCTF!! So far I’ve had my ass beat by Will Clarke, Guy, and Leona!! Stuff like that tends to toughen you up a bit!

There was a stunned silence for about five minutes.

Greg: e_e…We didn’t count on this did we?

EDG: e_e…Bite my bolts geekboy! What were the odds the kid would join the freaking UCTF? Radical…just KO him and be done with it.

Radical: >=|!!! With pleasure.

Then she was gone.

Ethan: O_O!!! WTF!!!

*WHAM*

Ethan: X_X…

I blacked out.

* * *

I came to; only god knew when to find myself in a sparkling white room. It looked like a prison of some kind. Moaning I rolled off the skinny bed and stood up to get a better look at my surroundings. It was defiantly a prison all right. The skinny bed was bolted to one wall. There were no doors, no windows, and instead if bars there was an energy field.

Ethan: =\ …Well the hell am I?

???: Hey you!

Ethan: O_o…

I turned around and my jaw must have dropped to the floor. A cheetah man was standing at the edge of the energy field. His SWAT team type outfit told me that he was obviously the head of security around here…wherever "here" was.

Ethan: o_O…Who the hell are you?

???: Names Raynor. I’m the warden in these parts.

Ethan: >=|…Mind to tell me where the hell I am!

Raynor: Prime System.

Ethan: O_o…What?

Raynor: Just come on. You’re wanted over at Guardian HQ.

Now as you can imagine, at this point I was really, really confused. But owing to the fact that he was a cheetah man, and the fact he had a stun gun, I decided that it would be better NOT to argue with him. He tapped a keypad that was mounted on the wall outside my cell and the energy field vanished. I walked out of the cell and followed Raynor down the hall. We eventually came to what looked like a monorail track. Raynor sighed.

Raynor: Damn, tram system. Late as always…

Almost as soon as he said that a monorail came sliding up silently, the door opened and the surliest bunch of people I’ve ever seen in my life came stumbling out. They were all handcuffed, and being led by a bunch of assistant wardens. A few shouted obscene comments at Raynor as they passed.

Raynor: >=)!! Ahhh…the daily round up! Serves the bunch of Chummers right!

Ethan: O_o…Chummers?

Raynor: People who jump from world to world to steal technology, and treasure from those worlds. That’s the most common kind of criminal we deal with here. Every one and a while we’ll get a World Terrorist, or a World Hacker, fortunately they’re rare.

I had no idea what any of that meant. Other worlds? Did he mean other planets? Knowing Anime City it wasn’t too far fetched. Stories of alien abductions had been known for years. Was this another incident? I followed Rayor into the monorail and with a slight lurch we were off.

Raynor leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

Raynor: We’ll be there in a few minutes, so just relax.

I looked around the cabin. It was mostly empty, except for a woman sitting in a seat near the back of the train. She was dressed in very simple clothing, a navy blue sweatshirt, and navy blue pants. Judging by her pitch-black skin, white hair, and pointed ears she was a Drow Elf. Her long white hair was draped over one eye. She fixed me with her deep red eyes and flashed an evil smile. I quickly pulled back.

Raynor: O_o…What’s eating you kid?

Ethan: That Drow back there….

Raynor peered over his seat.

Raynor: What Drow?

Ethan: O_O!

I looked again. She was gone. Had I been seeing things? The monorail pulled to a stop and we got out. We seemed to be in an even larger structure than the prison. All around various humans and non-humans were rushing to do their jobs, whatever those might be.

But I became distracted by the last person…or should I say "thing"… that I wanted to meet considering the situation.

EDG: >=)!! Good morning geek boy!!!

Ethan: >=|!!! YOU!

EDG: Come on. We have places to go, people to meet.

Ethan: >=|!!! Not until you tell me where the hell I am, why you took me here against my will, and what you want with me!

EDG: You’ll find out soon enough! Now if you don’t come along willingly Raynor there’s gonna have to rip you a new one! >=|!!!

Ethan: O_O!

Raynor: *crackles knuckles* >=)!

Having received a beating from King the day before I wasn’t too keen to receive another. So I gave in and followed EDG. Saying good-bye to Raynor, EDG led me down a long hall. Eventually we came to what looked like one of those turbo-lifts from Star Trek, except that it was all glass, with the exception of a few support beams. We walked in an EGD hit a few buttons. The lift rose rapidly.

Ethan: You still haven’t told me what you want!

EDG: In good time, but I can show you where you are. If you would look out the window, we should be able to see it just about…now.

I looked out the window, and for the 2nd time today my jaw dropped. We were over looking a massive underground region, but it was not barren by any means. Forests and plains stretched outwards, and hills dotted the horizon every now and then. To the east a massive tower rose from the center of a pristine lake. To the west a squatter series of buildings that looked like a movie studio dotted the side of some hills. The north was dominated by a more gothic looking tower surrounded by mountains. And to the south a tough fortress stood guarding a sprawling city. I looked up. There was a ceiling up there, I could tell do to the monorail that snaked its way towards the ground.

EDG: Welcome to Prime System geek boy.

I was stunned, and did nothing more than gape at the sight for a while until the lift slid to a stop.

EDG: Come on.

I walked along side EDG while we traveled along another long corridor

Ethan: So are you gonna tell me what I’m here for?

EDG: e_e…Yeah. I can now.

He held up a file folder, and I took it. Flipping it open I saw an elderly man, that looked kind of like Albert Einstein. He was standing near a large TV set on which a vision of a dragon could be quite easily seen.

EDG: In 1954 Albert Einstein was experimenting with a new type of long distance radio wave monitoring. To explore galaxies long distances off or something like that. Well…what he stumbled across were other worlds. Alternate dimensions if you would.

Ethan: O_O…and what does this have to do with me?

EDG: I’m getting to that. What was even more surprising than other worlds existing was that we already knew they existed. They were video games, movies, famous books and TV shows. This is when we discovered something important. What’s fantasy to one world is cold hard reality to the next.

Ethan: So why this organization?

EDG: We found out very quickly that once we opened these worlds that people would take advantage of them. Remember Tron?

Ethan: Yeah.

EDG: That was a good movie originally. Then some lunatic jaunted over to that world changed a few things around and now its shit. But that wasn’t the worst part. There were a few acts of terrorism. People used stuff they stole from the other worlds to pull some serious shit here.

Ethan: How serious?

EDG: A lunatic brought a Red Dragon here from the D&D world. He attacked a Boeing 747 en route from London to Boston. He got the idea from Shadowrun. USAF and RAF fighters were scrambled to save the plane. They got there just in time to see the dragon destroy the plane with its fire breath.

I looked at the next picture in the file. It was the plane captured in mid explosion.

EDG: Then in 1961 JFK was assassinated by a lone gunman that used a Tox Rifle from the Warhammer 40K world, and that was in the US alone. There were over 78 acts of terrorism across the world that year. By this time the world had had enough. LBJ singed the bill into law that created the "Guardian" system. And that’s what we are today. We stop the criminals from destroying the world or messing with other worlds. We’re quite highly thought of by the public.

Ethan: O_O…I’ve never heard of you.

EDG: Which brings me to the next point. Your world is one of the alternate worlds we watch. In this world the UCTF is the worlds most popular on-line RPG, with about 10,000 viewers watching 23 of the worlds best role players and story writers duke it out weekly.

Ethan: O_O…So you mean to tell me…that I’m some fictional character created by someone in THIS world…and the only reason I EXSIT is because someone else created me from the back of their mind!! >=|!!! IS THAT WHAT YOUR TELLING ME!!!!

EDG: e_e…It’s a grey area. There are people who argue it both ways. But either way I wouldn’t concern yourself with it. You’re a PC. You’re aware of things and not subject to control by people from this world.

Ethan: o.O…That doesn’t make sense.

EDG: I’ll explain it better some other time, we’re here.

We had reached a door.

EDG: Welcome to the Guardian System HQ geek boy.

He pushed the door open.

TBC…

EDG: Welcome to Prime System geekboy.

As the doors slid open I noticed a few things. Firstly that Graveyard Greg and Radical were also in the room The second thing was a group of three people who were sitting on a raised platform.

On the far left was a man with long flowing white hair, a goatee, and a mustache. He wore a black vest over a bare chest and had a pair of dark sunglasses on. He had his fingers pressed together and was obviously lost deep in thought. On his immediate right was a man with curly brown hair, a brown beard and deep black eyes. He had a cigar clamped between his teeth and he was chewing on it. He wore gold rings on his fingers, a grungy tee shirt and battered blue jeans. Next to him was a face that I recognized at once. His bushy beard, they pony tail over one shoulder, the thin glasses. The godfather of gaming, the king of Polyhedrons, the creator of the gaming industry…Gary Gyax. He was looking over a report.

Man with long white hair: Please come forward Ethan. We wish to speak with you.

I moved forward to the center of the room. I noticed that I was strategically placed so that all could look down on me. EDG joined Radical along the side of the room. Greg moved to my side and gestured to the men, starting with the white haired on who had spoken to me before.

Greg: Ethan, I’d like to introduce you to Reverend Sean Jaffe, Gareth-Michael Skarka, and Gary Gyax. These three are the head of the Gaming Guardian division of the Guardian System.

Ethan: That’s all well and good but I’d still care to know why I was forcibly dragged here. And what you want with me and this Guardian thing…

Jaffe was the one to answer this question.

Jaffe: Always direct in matters Mr. Rice. That will do you well in life. To be perfectly honest in return we want to discuss with you the possibility about joining our outfit. We’re always on the look out for new recruits.

Ethan: And how did you come to choose me as a potential recruit?

Gary held up the report he had been reading.

Gary: We survey potential recruits from Prime System. Once we find potential Guardians we bring them back here for an interview and a few minor tests if we think it’s required. Then the final decision is left with you.

Ethan: So, if what EDG has told me is true. My job would be to protect all the various game worlds from idiots trying to screw them up.

Gareth: Right in one.

Ethan: e_e…What’s in it for me?

Gareth: o_O…Well we’re a non profit organization so we can’t pay that much…

I started towards the door.

Ethan: >=|!! Later…

Gareth slammed his hand down on the platform.

Gareth: >=|!! God damn it boy! You work at the UCTF! I don’t think that money is much of a problem fro you!

Ethan: >=|!! Well you think wrong!! I’ve lost every match I’ve been in so far! That hasn’t exactly endured me with the salary department! I’m bordering broke here!

Jaffe gave a sideways glance to his fellows.

Jaffe: Guardians do get salvage rights. You can take away treasure, providing there aren’t any major magical artifacts in the haul.

Ethan: O.o? What...

Gary: For example. If you were to travel to the Lord of the Rings world, you could take gold or mithril from the depths of Moria, but you couldn’t take the One Ring. Got it?

Ethan: ^_^! Ahhh. I got it! e_e…But you still haven’t convinced me. There’s a catch, there HAS to be a catch in this somehow.

Gareth sighed.

Gareth: e_e…I told you greed wouldn’t blind him. Well kid, I’ll be very frank with you. We Guardians are forbidden to live in worlds outside Prime System. If you become a Guardian…you’ll never be able to go back to your world, unless you’re on a job there.

That tore it.

Ethan: >=|!! Lemme get this straight. You want me to take up a job that might be risky and life threatening, and then separate me from my friends, my job at the UCTF, and my future at Anime City University…just so I can take loot from other worlds?

All: O_O…*nod*

Ethan: >=|!!! FUCK YOU!! It ain’t worth it!

I turned and started to storm from the room. Then Jaffe called out.

Jaffe: e_e…We know you have a crush on Lina Inverse.

I fell flat on my face.

Ethan: >=|!!! WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU PEOPLE BEEN DOING! Watching my entire life?!

Gary pulled out a huge stack of papers from under his desk and slammed them down on the podium.

Gary: e_e…Does this answer your question?

Gareth: Think about it Ethan. You could do anywhere you wanted. You could walk the paths of the Shire, explore the depths of Moria, go to the Slayers universe and live in the towns for as long as you liked then come back here. You could go meet the Lovely Angels and explore their world… Come on.

Ethan: e_e…You offer is tempting Gareth but you said not three minutes ago that Guardians were forbidden from living in other worlds. I’ve heard enough. I’m going home.

As I made to leave again, I heard them whispering amongst themselves. Gary spoke up.

Gary: Mr. Rice…we will discuss this matter further. We may be able to make some…concessions. EDG, Greg, Radical, please accompany him to the break room. We will discuss his case and ask you to return when we have reached our decision.

I decided to let them go on with it. The sooner I refused them again the sooner I could go home. I followed Radical, EDG and Greg to the break room, which was actually just one of many on this floor. It was a plush room, with a fully stocked fridge and big screen TV.

Ethan: ^_^! Sweet! I wanna see if I can catch the UCTF Saturday Massacre from here. It should be coming on in a minute…

I flipped through the channels on the TV, trying to find the station that carried the UCTF among the five billion there seemed to be in Prime System. It’s TV stations seemed to carry channels from both this world and others. Eventually I managed to find the right channel and I collapsed into a fluffy couch.

EDG: Catch!

He threw a Dr. Pepper at me and I managed to catch it no problem. While we waited to see what concessions they were willing to make, we all decided to watch the Massacre.

Meanwhile…

Gareth: Well I say we let the kid go home if it means that much to him. We can get plenty of other Guardians.

Jaffe: We need him.

Gareth: No we don’t. Like I said, there’s no shortage of people who WANT to be Guardians. So we shouldn’t force him.

Jaffe: You are an ass Gareth. That kid is what we need. The Gaming Guardians are seriously lacking in his kind of strength.

Gareth: What’s so special about him anyway? I certainly can’t see anything that separates him from your average Guardian.

Gary opened his file on Ethan.

Gary: Ethan Rice. Born in Muncie Indiana, USA. Identified as a natural Guardian by his passion for gaming and his natural ability with dice. EDG was sent December 1993 to use a Conversion Matrix on him to accelerate those natural abilities he already had. He’s shown an odd ability to untie people. As shown when he lead the Muncie gaming community to Anime City.

Jaffe: We need him to untie the Gaming Guardians. We’ve become nothing more than a bunch of hotshot groups that keep trying to out do each other. The original sprit of the Guardian system has been broken and drained away.

Gareth snorted.

Gareth: Give me a break. This isn’t Middle Earth and he isn’t Aragorn. We don’t need some once and future king deal going on here.

Jaffe smiled.

Jaffe: All that’s gold does not glitter.
Not all who wander are lost

Sounds like Aragorn to me.

Gareth: But he’s no king. Look. You guys know my feelings on this matter. I’ve always hated all these rules and stuff. Not letting Guardians live outside Prime System. Total bull shit. Either let the kid live in his home world or let him go.

Before anyone could argue something in return, the giant world monitor in the back of the room flickered to life.

All: O_o…

Back in the break room, Ethan and his companions watched the Saturday Massacre frizzle out and become replaced with a Drow’s face.

Ethan: O_O! Hey! It’s that girl from the train!

EDG: >=|!! What the hell?

Greg: She looks somewhat familiar…

Radical: O_O…Yeah….I can’t help but think I’ve seen here before…

The Drow smiled, flashing her pearl like teeth.

Drow: Welcome Gaming Guardians, to my little show. I am Jade, Jade Zana.

Greg: O_O! Zana! I know that name! Malkor Zana! He tried to hi-jack the Big Eyes Small Mouth system a few months ago! We ended up killing him when he wouldn’t come willingly.

EDG: >=|!! I should have known! We never did account for his sister! That two bit whore!

Jade stepped back from where ever she was filming from so that we could see her entire body. She sneered now, as if remembering something unpleasant.

Jade: Three months ago my brother roared into the BESM system and tried to take it over. And of course, the big bad Guardians rolled out to deal with him…Well, they killed him as you are all quite aware of. Now I have come to Prime System to deal with the tiny little matter of revenge.

Ethan: O_O! Revenge?

Jade held up a small device.

Jade: I will take the most deadly weapon in the known gaming systems and unleash it upon the others. I will destroy what you Guardians love the most, your precious games.

Greg: O_O!!! >=|!! That bitch!!!

Jade: >=)!! Good bye fools!

She tapped a few buttons on the device and vanished.

Back with the leaders of the Gaming Guardians….

Gary: >=|!! Get a trace on her now!

The other leaders swung into action, bringing up tracking sensors from computer councils hidden in their platform. Soon the process of Jade was being tracked through the various gaming systems.

Jaffe: She’s following the sci-fi/fantasy mix systems.

Gareth: Shadowrun!! She’s stopped in the Shadowrun system!

Gary: >=|!! Get a team out there!! NOW!! Send Greg, EDG, and Radical! Hell, send that Ethan kid to!

Jaffe: He’s not a Guardian though…

Gary: >=|!! I don’t care! This is to grave a situation to deal with formalities! Send them all! And give the order! They are to find Jade…and kill her. We can’t risk her getting loose in the systems again!

In the break room Jaffe’s voice blared over a speaker.

Jaffe: Guardians! We have a situation on our hands.

EDG: I know Jaffe. We saw her too.

Jaffe: We traced her to the Shadowrun system. We need you and Ethan to leave at once.

Ethan: O_O!! Wait a minute! Why do I have to come!?

Jaffe: We don’t have any other Guardians available at the moment! Look, Ethan. Help us with this job, and we’ll send you where ever you want once it’s done.

Ethan: …….All right. You convinced me. I’ll help you this one time. Then I’m going home.

Jaffe: Fine!

There was a bite of impatience in his voice. I noticed that EDG, Greg, and Radical had also pulled out similar devices to what Jade had. EGD tossed me one.

EDG: This is a Jaunt System. We use them to travel from world to world. They’re so simple even YOU can work it.

Ethan: >=\…Yer to kind.

*FLASH*

The next thing I knew we were falling, falling through what looked like a tunnel made entirely out of energy. It crackled and flashed as we sped by.

Ethan: O_O!! Where the hell are we?

Radical: This is what it looks like when you pass through the gates between worlds. It can get a little rough at times, if you make the jump during a period of storms.

Greg: We’re coming out.

*FLASH*

We reappeared again. We were on the roof of a building, and from out position I could hear a thousand sounds from the streets below. The sounds of gunfire, shouting, police sirens… I walked to the edge of the roof. I had played enough Shadowrun in my day to recognize the city for what it was almost at once.

Ethan: Seattle…We’re in Seattle. And we gotta go find one Drow in the middle of all this mess…

I turned back to the guardians.

Ethan: >=)!!! Let’s game!

TBC….

Shadowrun. It’s a dark world and you gotta have a lot of strength to live there. To understand what I went though here, you must understand what this world had been through before I arrived. The history is really long and involved and I couldn’t even begin to tell it to you here. Just take a look at this web site. http://www.shadowrunrpg.com/newbie/timeline.shtml and it will tell you what you need to understand. (Seriously, I tried to write out a condensced history 3 times before I just gave it up. Just use the link.)

Anyway, there we were standing on the top of a building, in the middle of Free Seattle. Now I was quite ready to go and get that Drow, but as I made for the stairs, Greg grabbed my shoulder.

Greg: Hold on Ethan. You’re missing a part of the Conversion Matrix.

Ethan: Missing a part?

Greg held out what looked like a small microchip. I took it.

Greg: Put it against your scar.

I did. It felt like a few red-hot needles shot into my skin and anchored to something.

Ethan: =/…Now what.

Greg: Ok. With this upgrade you’ll be able to take the skills and abilities of characters from this world and use them for yourself.

Ethan: o.O…What?

Greg: Just try it. Close your eyes.

I closed my eyes and was shocked to see what looked like a mini computer screen that was, somehow, being projected on the inside of my eyelids. By moving m eyeball I also moved a cursor. With a little bit of work I managed to maneuver the cursor to a file marked Shadowrun. I opened the file by flexing my eye muscles. There was a list of the various character types from the Shadowrun system. I selected my personal favorite, Street Samurai.

A violent shiver ran through my body and when I opened my eyes I saw what Greg had meant. I was now wearing a black T-shirt and dark black pants. Though the change in wardrobe was nothing. I had actual muscles now. Not oversized in the DBZ style but I sure looked a lot more toned than I had been before. I noticed three holes in the top of my left hand. I flexed some new, hidden muscles in the back of my arm. Three stabbing blades shot from the holes and glinted in the light from the surrounding buildings. I relaxed my arm and the blades slid back in. In a holster on my side was a CZ-75 pistol.

Ethan: >=)!!! I’m hardwired!

EDG: e_e…Good for you Geekboy. Now we do have a job to do…

But I wasn’t listening. I had power now! Power beyond anything I had ever had before! And I wanted to test it out! Turning I ran full speed towards the edge of the building. My new artificially enhanced limbs made everything else look like it was going in slow motion. I dove over the side of the building. Now you may call me insane. But I was a Street Samurai now.

I twisted in mid air and reached out for a ledge My hand found it and I flipped onto the ledge, which was no more than a foot wide. Laughing I ran along the narrow strip of concrete. My artificial senses were so keen that I had almost no chance of falling. I slid around a corner and came to a stop. I head a scream drifting up from the streets below. I dove off the side again and dropped like a hidden shadow towards whatever crisis was going on. I fell another 40 stories and landed silently on the cold hard street.

There was some kind of battle going on. I began to run towards it. Then I bumped into Radical. Somehow she had managed to get in front of me.

Radical: >=|!! What the hell do you think you’re doing?

Ethan: >=|!! Out of my way!

My claws slid out of my hand and I punched at her. I wasn’t going to let anyone spoil my fun. Faster than my eyes could follow her hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. The next thing I felt was excruciating pain as she bent my arm back towards my body.

Radical: >=|!! Kid. Let’s get a few things straight. One, you are NOT a Gaming Guardian. You shouldn’t even BE here. The only reason we brought you along was that we needed you’re extra firepower. We did not give you free reign to run amok in this world or any other!

I nodded, dumbly. The pain was almost un bearable.

Radical: Two! Even if you were a Guardian. You would be sworn to PROTECT these worlds! Not use them for your own amusement! Are we clear on this?

Ethan: >_ <!!! YES!!

Radical let go of my arm.

Radical: =/. Come on. We’ll do this job, and then you can go home.

I nodded and withdrew my blades. Greg and EDG came up at about that time. EDG hit me on the head for being an idiot. And Greg looked like he was ready to kill me. However, we soon managed to return to the task at hand.

EDG: We gotta go find our contacts in this world.

Greg: I think they still use that club on Dragon Street and Hydra Alley as a front.

So we took a cab to the corner of Dragon and Hydra. The club was called Tasteful Entertainment Inc. and was quite obviously a strip joint, if the low red lights and porn film music floating out of the open doors were any indication. We headed inside, past the pair of Troll bouncers.

Once we had wound our way through the tables to one in a dark back corner, Radical went off to find the contacts. EDG and Greg became engaged in conversation about what Jade might be doing.

EDG: Jade promised to steal the most deadly weapon in the gaming systems. What could that be…

Greg: Could be the magic of this world. Summon it up and unleash it on the other worlds.

EDG: Possibly. But that would take a lot of manpower.

Greg: She might have contacts herself. That isn’t to unheard of.

EDG: It would take an army of technical and magical experts to pull that off. Somehow I doubt she can pull that off.

Greg: *sighs* Ethan. You got any ideas.

Ethan: ….

Greg: o.O? Ethan?

Well…I was distracted at the moment. Namely by the Eleven strippers that had just come out.

Ethan: H_H!!!!!!!!!

Greg and EDG: >=|!!!

One of the dancers, who had long green hair, came off the stage and over to me.

Ethan: H_H!!!! Thank you god.

???: Frag off Daisy! We got serious business to discuss!

The Eleven stripper pouted and headed off to find some gentleman at another table. Well, she might have been somewhat disappointed, but I was livid. Who the hell had decided to come along and ruin such a perfect moment?!

Jumping up from my chair, I extended my arm blades. My gaze fixed on a man with hair that was a mix of a ponytail and a shaved head. He was wearing a grungy jacket over a stained shirt. He had two earrings in his left ear and eyes that looked oddly like an Al Bhed’s.

On his immediate left was an elf woman, fully clothed unfortunately, with grease stained overalls. She wore her silver hair shaved to one temple to accommodate a set of rigger jacks. She seemed slightly amused at my outburst, if the smirk was any judge.

On his right was an Ork, though quite different from the Orks I was used to seeing. He had greasy black hair and a greasy black beard. His skin was an off grey color and he was wearing a long strip of white, I think, cloth for a headband. He did have armor plates, but his looked to be in better condition than the gear used by the Orks I was familiar with. What was oddest about him was the Star of David around his neck. A Jewish Ork…this was a new one on me.

And towering behind the new man was a Troll. Or perhaps I should say a Troll and a half. He stood about 16 feet tall and must have tipped the scales at around 1,000 pounds by my guess. He was wearing a leather jacket and pants that were made to order for his bulk. A pair of horns sprouted from the sides of his head, and in one massive hand he held was one hell of an axe, with a wickedly curved blade. On his jacket was a pin that read "Kiss me, I’m Troll."

But at the moment I was more pissed of at the man for denying me my Eleven Puppies, as Ralph would so eloquently put it. So I pulled back my bladed hand for a punch. But I found a set of blades at my throat before I had even tried to throw my punch.

???: Kid. You may have your fraggin Conversion Matrix. But you don’t have a drop of skill in the art of being a Street Samurai! So why don’t you just stand down before I rip you open like a fraggin turkey!

Well that did it. My anger quickly subsided as my sense of self preservation kicked in. I lowered my hand and retracted my blades. The ones at my throat were also retracted. I turned to see a Street Samurai in a wife beater, baggy pants and dark sunglasses al la the Matrix. The first man laughed.

Man: Thanks for the support nameless! I wouldn’t wanna be on the receiving end of a gamer who’s never been laid in his life.

Ethan: e_e…God I hate you…o.O..Who are you anyway?

Neddy: Call me Neddy. You already met Nameless. My Eleven friend here is Iris. The Troll is Smedly and grey boy here is Tragat. We’re Shadowruner’s as you should have guessed by now. Now sit down. We got things to discuss.

We all sat down again. This time the debate started up again over how Jade was supposedly gonna destroy gaming as we knew it. Things were basically revolving around the magic angle and weather or not there had been any odd activity recently. Our Shadowrun connections said no. Personally I didn’t think the magic angle was correct either. It would take a whole lotta juice just to destroy that many worlds, to "destroy gaming as we knew it". I let my mind wander, but this time not to the dancers. This time my eyes fell on a TV that was positioned above the bar. There was a reporter in the middle of a story. With my Street Samurai senses I could make out what the announcer was saying.

Announcer: …and in other news, the last known samples of the VITAS disease are being transported to Mukashira Chemical Industries tomorrow to supply researchers with enough of the virus to continue to produce vaccine in the event that a third wave might sweep the globe.

Ethan: O_O…

Announcer: As we all know Virally Induced Toxic Allergy Syndrome (VITAS) broke out first in New Delhi in 2010.In the worst epidemic since the Black Plague half of the worlds population was left dying or dead.

Well ladies and gents. I’m sure you realize by now Jade’s plan. Steal the samples of the virus and unleash them amongst the game systems that we all know and love. With a disease like that running rampant, you could quite literally kill off the systems. Imagine your favorite video game without the main characters. Imagine your favorite RPG with the world you played in a total ruin. And with the game systems destroyed the blame would fall squarely on the shoulders of one organization. The Gaming Guardians.

Ethan: O_O…Uhhh…guys.

They kept on talking. Oh sure. Ignore the new guy! Really professional.

Ethan: >=|!! Hey Greg!

Still nothing.

Ethan: >=|!! HEY FUCK FACES!!

That got their attention. They all looked at me, and I explained what I had heard and my suspicions. Well they all agreed with my take on things.

Ethan: We better get over to Mukashira…

Smedly: No.

Ethan: o.O..Wha…

Iris: That was just a front. There’s no way that’s where the VITAS samples are heading. We are going to have to find out where the VITAS is really going. And that means a little trip to the Matrix.

I groaned.

* * *

The Matrix. Now lets get a few things straight right here, right now. The Matrix of the Shadowrun world is NOT like the Matrix of our world with Neo and Agent Smith and all that. In the Shadowrun world the Matrix is essentially the World Wide Web with a very serious upgrade. In the Matrix you have physical form, but it’s still very digital. I liken it to the Cinema Scenes in Final Fantasy 10. Really detailed and accurate, but still obvious that they’re computer generated. It’s like that.

Anyway, there is only won way to enter the Matrix, and that is with a "Matrix Imaging Cybernetic Interface Device" or cyberdeck. Leave the big bulky tables that Neo used at home. A cyberdeck is your average keyboard with all the required hardware built in. To connect to the grid, you splice one end into any Matrix portal, and then you power up the deck and jack yourself into the equation. The deck connects to the user either via an electrode net that slips over the head (the way of cowards), or via a direct cybernetic interface through a data jack in your skull (the only way to fly). Though I didn’t have that jack, it as something I could easily rectify.

EDG: Switch over Ethan.

Ethan: Yeah yeah. I’m doing it.

I accessed the Conversion Matrix and selected Decker option. The shiver passed through my body again. And when I opened my eyes I already had a cyberdeck in my hand. I un-coiled the cables and set to work. One into the station, one into the new jacks on the side of my head. Then I hit the power switch. I was on. I was in the middle of what was known as "simsense" (simulated senses).

The simsense signal translates the code of the grid into a graphic representation of the Matrix. The cyberdeck then sends that into your brain, over ridding your normal senses. Voila! Welcome to the Matrix kiddies. I was in what was known as an LTG (Local Telecommunications Grid), kind of the Matrix version of an area code. EDG phased into existence right next to me.

EDG: I’ll lead the way. Iris showed me the LTG we’re looking for.

Outside the Matrix my hands flew across the keyboard entering a few hacking codes. Back in the Matrix a pair of rapid speed motorcycles appeared before EDG and myself. This would get us to where we were going to fast enough. We traveled from LTG to LTG, providing false identity codes to the security points. Eventually we reached the LTG of Mukashika Bio-Tech. The security point here was cracked with a high powered hacking program. It was inside this LTG that we would be hitting the real problems.

The LTG of Mukashika Bio-Tech looked like a Edo Castle. Not to odd, it was a Japanese company after all. Anyway I changed my Matrix appearance, just for the hell of it.

Ethan: *in ninja outfit* >=)!! I am ninja!!

EDG: e_e… Shut up.

We slipped by the outer walls easily enough.

Ethan: EDG, where are the files we’re looking for?

EDG: Basement. That’s the high security section.

Ethan: Great…

TBC…

Well when I last left off my tale EDG and I were trying to hack some info out of Mukashira Bio-Tech’s computer system. A straight in and out job. Easy, right? Wrong. One thing I had learned very quickly at the gaming table is that plans NEVER go the way you want them to. It seems to be a rule or something. Anyway…

EDG and I managed to make it into the basement easily enough. The employees who were wandering the system were to wrapped up in their own work to worry about us. The basement was decked out in very much the same way as the rest of the system was. The files looked like boxes that you would store gold in. A rather appropriate image, for in the world of Shadowrun knowledge is money if you know how to use it. EDG scanned the files.

EDG: *points to a box* It’s this one.

Ethan: Right.

I flipped open the box and a little window appeared.

Window: File transfer in progress. 2 of 100%

Ethan: Right that should…

EDG: ETHAN LOOK OUT!

Ethan: O_O!!

*SLASH*

Ethan: >_
A ninja in the standard black outfit skidded to a halt. I felt like shit. The wound that the ninja’s blade had made was burning. It was almost like a poison was eating away at me.

EDG: O_O!! Shit!! Black Ice!! We have a Black Ice!!

Ice. Slang for IC or "Intruder Countermeasures". Computer programs designed to deal with intruders. There were three grades of Ice. White Ice simply severed your connection so you had to reconnect. Grey Ice fried the circuits on your deck so you had to shell out more Nuyen for a new one. And Black Ice…well Black Ice induced lethal bio feed back into the Decker, frying their brain.

Ethan: >_O…Perfect.

I chanced a glance at the file transfer. 50%

Ethan: >=|!! *draws a sword*

One thing I love about computers. The only limits are what you want them to be. I ran at the Ice program, sword drawn. It met me with its own blade. It didn’t work out that well…for me anyway. His sword slipped past mine and dug into my chest. More pain in my head as the backlash tore at my brain cells.

EDG knocked the Ice off of me. The Ice darted off into the Shadows, with EDG in hot pursuit. I lay on the floor, trying to stay even semi-conscious. It kind of hit me all at once that what I was doing was insane. I was just an average guy who liked to play RPG’s. I wasn’t any hero or Shadowrunner. I just wanted to do this damn job and then never deal with these people again. I hauled myself back up and looked at the file transfer. 94 %.

The whoosh of something heavy moving through the air caught my attention. A rolled to the side and the Black Ice’s blade hit just where I was just laying. Beautiful. I was barely able to duck another blow.

96%

A rising slash…

98%

…that hit. Suddenly it was pain again. I hate pain. It was burning. It was killing me. I could hear shouting somewhere near by…

There was an unpleasant jerk as I was brought abruptly back to reality.

Ethan: @_@…What happened?

Tragat: I pulled your connection. That Black Ice would have killed you if you had stayed in the system any longer.

Ethan: @_@…I think I’m gonna be sick still. @_@!!! URK!!

I lost my lunch at that point. Smedly patted me on the back to help me get it all out, but he was so large he almost knocked me over. EDG removed the jack from his circuit boards and turned to our pathetic little group.

EDG: Atlanta. The VITAS is heading for Atlanta.

Nameless: Where in Atlanta though?

EDG held up a disk.

EDG: Got all the specifics right here. We can head out as soon as we’re ready.

???: Thank you so much for doing the hard work for me!

All: O_O!!!

It was Jade! She had fused us to get the info on VITAS that she was looking for! She was hanging upside down from the roof of the building we were at. She snatched the disk out of EDG’s hand and flipped back up onto the roof.

Ethan: >=|!! FUCK!

I slipped back into Street Samurai mode and took off after her. Nameless and Radical joined me in the roof top chase. We quickly moved from roof to roof, heading up words all the time as we reached the skyscrapers. Radical decided to give up the chase on foot and go by air instead. She shot ahead of Nameless and myself and caught up with Jade.

Radical tried to punch Jade, but the Drow back flipped out of the way and pressed something against Radical. She screamed and collapsed to the roof. Nameless sprang across the gap between the buildings and attacked Jade. He stared out with a flying kick aimed at the Drow’s head. She blocked the attack with her one arm and then grabbed his foot with her other. Nameless had his face planted into the concrete.

I attacked next, extending my blades. Jade met my blades with a set of her own, and while they were locked together she slammed her knee into my gut. I went down, quite winded. At this point Nameless decided to take another shot at bringing the rouge Drow down. He cracked her across the back of her head. Jade kicked him in the chin in response. Then they were gone. I could only catch blurs as they fought. Colliding, breaking apart again, circling, and dodging. Apparently Jade got lucky. For Nameless reappeared in front of my clutching at a broken leg. Jade took off again.

Swearing I rejoined the chase. Jade dove over the side of the building we were on. I was right behind her. We both ended up landing about 100 stories down, in what was obviously a sprawling apartment complex. The building was covered with snaking walkways that wound their way up the brickwork. Jade and I were running along one of them. Jade darted around a corner and I was right behind her. Things didn’t go well at this point. I saw a boy who couldn’t have been older that 14. Jade had an uzi in her hands.

Ethan: Oh shit…

She let loose a volley of bullets right into the kid. He jerked and twitched as the bullets repeatedly pierced him. He collapsed to the walkway, still twitching. Jade smirked.

Jade: Save the kid or get me! Your choice kid!

She ran on laughing. I was about to run after her when the kid started to cry he was not only still alive, but also still conscious. The screams cut through me like a knife. I didn’t think it could have gotten any worse. Then one of the many doors in the building’s wall opened and a little girl that looked like she was about seven. She saw the kid.

Girl: O_O!! *SCREAMS* Big Brother!! Big Brother!!

She looked up at me.

Girl: ;_;…Please…help my brother. He’s all I got left…

That did it. Call me a bleeding heart, but this cut through me like a hot knife would through butter. I knelt down and picked the bleeding kid up.

Ethan: Where’s the nearest hospital?

Girl: 5 blocks that way. *points south*

I slung her brother over one shoulder and picked her up with my other hand. I ran full speed…I let Jade go.

* * *

Greg: >=|!!! YOU IDIOT!! YOU LET JADE GET AWAY! She had the disk!!! Now there’s no way we’ll be able to get to the VITAS before her!

I glared right back at him.

Ethan: >=|! The kid was dying. I couldn’t just leave him there.

Greg: >=|!! He was just an NPC! He was worthless! Now thanks to you Jade’s going to destroy gaming, as we know it.

Ethan: >=|!!!! OH! I’M SO FUCKING SORRY! I forgot that just because someone’s a character in a game they automatically loose all rights of being a living, breathing person!

Greg: >=|!! They aren’t living breathing people! They’re just creations of a game master!

Ethan: >=|!! OH I SEE! THEN I GUESS I’M JUST A DISPOSIBLE RECORCE TO YOU!! I CAME FROM A GOD DAMN GAME SYSTEM! SO I MUST BE WORTHLESS!

Greg: >=|!! YOU ARE WHEN YOU LET CRIMINALS GET AWAY!

*WHAM*

Smedly had slammed his sizable fist off the table were we all sat. After loosing Jade we had come back to Tasteful Entertainment Inc. to plan our next move. That discussion had disintegrated into an argument about weather or not saving that kid’s life had been a good idea or not. But in my opinion, Greg had conducted a tactical error. By going on about that NPC stuff he had essentially told our Shadowrun friends that they were "worthless". And they didn’t look too pleased about it. Greg shut up and didn’t bring the matter up again this trip out.

Neddy: Well the question is. Can we still salvage this situation?

Greg: No.

EDG: Yes.

Tragat turned to EDG.

Tragat: Well don’t leave us out of the loop.

EDG: When I saved that file, I saved one to disk and a copy of it to my own hard drive, just in case something like this happened.

If looks could kill, the glare Greg was giving EDG at the moment would have disintegrated him.

Greg: And you didn’t mention this before because?

EDG: You didn’t ask.

Greg: ….

EDG: Anyway. If we take the next plan outta here we should still get to Atlanta in time to head off that psychotic elf bitch.

* * *

So, about 30 minutes later we were on a jumbo jet on its way to Atlanta Georgia. Which was one of the first Southern states to join the Confederated States of America. Anyway I was next to Tragat on the flight down. We were talking about how I managed to be recruited on this venture.

Ethan: *finishing up his story* …and here I am.

Tragat: Ah. That’s quite a story my young friend. But may I ask. Why don’t you want to be a Gaming Guardian? From what you told me you sound like a natural.

Ethan: ‘Cause. I don’t want to give up my life back in my world. I was accepted into ACU, I have a steady job at the UCTF, and I have friends there. If I become a Guardian…

Tragat: You have to give all that up, and live in Prime System.

Ethan: Yeah. And as far as I’m concerned they can take that condition and shove it up their asses. I like my life fine thanks.

Tragat stared at me for a little while. Then said something in Yiddish.

Ethan: o.O…Come again.

Tragat: Oh. Sorry. I didn’t know you couldn’t speak Yiddish.

I laughed.

Ethan: The only words I know are a few choice curses in a smattering of different languages. So, what did you say again?

Tragat chuckled.

Tragat: It was an expression that we use a lot around here. Plus ca change, plus c’est meme chose.

Ethan: Sounds more French to me.

Tragat: It is. But I usually use Yiddish.

Ethan: Could you elaborate please.

Tragat: The more things change, the more they stay the same. Little things can change, like where you live or what you do. But the big things, like who you are. Those things will never change. No matter what.

Ethan: Bull.

Tragat: It is not. I was born a human in New York City. Rebb Moshi. When I turned 12 I underwent UGE. I was an Ork. Forbidden from being a citizen. I changed my name and moved to Seattle. But, even though I am an Ork. I’m still Rebb Moshi. No matter what.

I turned this over in my head. In a way it made sense. But I still wasn’t convinced. I’d still just rather play the games then live in them.

We touched down in Atlanta just as night was beginning to fall. We left the plane with the crowd. We came to customs and I got into the line. I wasn’t in there for more than a minute when I was dragged back out by a security guard.

Guard: >=|!! Hey Met lover! Get in the line with the rest of you freaks!

He shoved me into another line. I bumped into Iris who kept me from falling over.

Ethan: >=|!! Oh yes. I had forgotten about the Meta-human prejudice in this world. "Probationary Citizens" my dice slinging ass!

Iris: Just let it go. We’re used to this by now. I just hope we can avoid any idiotic Humanis members.

We made it through customs easily enough. We headed for the car rental center, and we let Neddy make do the job. He was human and had a fake SIN number. Something the rest of us were without. We got a nice sized SUV to carry the lot of us. Iris would be driving.

Meanwhile… At a Humanis Policlub Meeting…

*RING* *RING*

Policlub Member: *picks up* Hello?

???: I thought it would be fair to warn you, a group a metahumans and some metahuman ass kissers are heading for the Mukashira Bio-Tech company. They plan to steal some bio weapons and use them to destroy the Humanis Policlub.

Member: >=|!!!!!!!!! GATHER THE MEN!!

On the other end of the line.

Jade: >=)!! Sometimes…it’s just to easy!

Back with our heroes…

We had just pulled out of a warehouse, where a few of Iris’ contacts had managed to equip us with all the required equipment to make the raid. We were doing just fine…that is until the streets became filled with purple robed figures.

Neddy: Shit…this can’t be good.

Smedly: Humanis members…

Targat: Did we remember to get an SUV with tinted windows?

I looked out a window…to find myself face to face with a Humanis member who was staring in the glass. He was looking murderous. Then something heavy hit the side of the car.

Ethan: e_e…Does that answer your question.

Namless: Floor it!

Greg: No! I got a plan. EDG, Radical and Myself will stay here and deal with these guys. Ethan, you go on ahead with our Shadowrun friends and get that VITAS before Jade does!

Ethan: Best plan we got. Let’s do it.

Greg opened the door on his side of the car and EDG, Radical and Greg all pilled out of the car. The Humanis member stepped back to give them enough room to get out. EDG slammed the door shut. A man in a particularly large hood emerged from the crowd.

Leader: So…metahumans…trying to destroy Humanis? I’m afraid we can’t let you do that.

Radical: Destroy Humanis?

EDG: Probably a set up by Jade.

Leader: o.O…What’s with the trashcan with legs?

EDG: >=|!!!!!!!!

*WHAM*

Leader: X_X

Smedly/ Iris/ Targat: LOL!!!! Nut shot!

Namless: Now would be an opportune time to make our escape.

Iris: >=)!! With pleasure.

The SUV shot forward, bowling people over as we mowed through the mass of purple robed individuals. The Humanis members tried to run after us but they had their hands full, cause Radical started going to work.

Radical: >=|!! RAAAHHH!!! *chucking Humanis members all over the damn place*

EDG: >=)!! *nut shots all around*

Greg: >=|!! *beating the hell outta Humanis members with a baseball bat*

Humanis Members: X_X…

Humanis Leader: X_x…Get the Variant in the air…Uuughhh…

In some hanger someplace….

An EFA Variant fighter rises out of the hidden hanger and slips through the night sky. It’s target? Our friends back in the van…

TBC…

We had managed to ditch the Humanis members. I didn’t envy any of them. Those three would be able to beat the living daylights out that entire mob. Then I saw a flash of light in the sky.

Ethan: o.O…What the…

*KA-BOOM*

Iris was barely able to keep us on the road. Smedly swore loudly.

Smedly: Shit!! That was an Arec 579 Armor Piercing Missle! Only an EFA Variant fighter carries that kind of firepower!

Ethan: Where the hell did a group of backwater hicks get that kind of hardware!?

Targat: Get the spotlight up there!

Smedly picked up a portable spotlight and turned it on. The white beam penetrated the darkness like a knife. There it was, sliding through the sky like a shark.

Ethan: Hmmmm…did we remember to get any anti-armor weapons.

Smedly and Targat held up several Rocket Propelled Grenade Launchers.

Ethan: >=)!! Now that’s the stuff. Pass me one of those things.

Smedly took the rear left window, Targat took the rear right window, and I took the sunroof. Before any of us could take a shot the EFA let loose another volley of missiles. Iris twisted the wheel and we slipped around a corner onto a larger street. The EFA was right behind us, skimming so low that they were making scorch marks on the pavement. Smedly managed to snap off a shot before the EFA could launch another attack. The grenade spiraled through the air heading for the tail of the plane. The pilot managed to jink the plane out of the way, just in time. The grenade passed just beneath the tail and smashed into one of the many buildings lining the street.

Smedly: -_-…

Ethan: >=|…

Things didn’t go to well for our little band. The EFA pilots were top notch. Which I found very odd for a bunch of racist hicks. They were dodging everything we were throwing at them. Then the worst thing happened. We ran out of RPG’s. We ran out of them at a rather un opportune time as well. We were speeding through what was obviously gang territory.

Ethan: >=|!! Damn it! We can’t be out of RPG’s!

Targat: e_e…Well we are.

Smedly: Now what?!

I slammed my fist of the side of the SUV. We were royally fucked at this point having no more explosives other than my dice…

Ethan: O_O!! I got an idea! Keep em busy.

Needy, and Nameless opened the back window and let loose with a pair of heavy machine guns. Smedly and Targat returned to their firing positions and opened up with medium machine guns. Meanwhile I had taken one of the firing bars, which you snapped the grenade itself onto, and a roll of duct tape. What did I do you ask? I took out my new, and highly explosive d100’s and taped em to the bar.

In the plane…

Humanis Member: >=)! They’re all out of RPG’s! Get close!

Humanis Pilot: >=)! Roger.

Back with us…

The EFA swooped low and was almost right on top of us. I popped out of the sunroof and fired.

Humanis Members: O_O!!! OH SHIT!!

*KA-BOOM*

My improvised RPG tore the front of the plane off with a teeth-jarring explosion. The rear end of the plane spun through the air lazily for a second…then dove right for us.

Iris: HANG ON!!

I don’t have that may clear memories of what happened next. When I came to again, we were lying among the wreckage of both our SUV and the EFA fighter. I was lying under what was left of the roof, on my back.

Ethan: >_O…Is everyone all right?

Iris: >_O…I’m ok.

Ethan: Neddy? Where are you?

Neddy: Calm down kid…I’m not dead yet.

He pushed the remains of the back trunk off of him, and brushed the dust off his clothes. Smedly came shambling out of the shadows, walking with a slight limp. He pulled the roof off of me and tossed it aside. I stood up, and nearly fell again. My feet weren’t too sure yet.

Another pile of twisted metal was torn away by the steely flash of arm blades. Nameless stood up and shook the cobwebs out of his head. Targat crawled from under another pile of metal. Smedly picked up his axe.

Smedly: How far?

Nameless looked at his map.

Nameless: It’s not to far. But we’re going to have to cut through the slums.

Great. This would be some real fun.

Ethan: How are our weapons?

Targat took a quick stock.

Targat: 2 Colt America L36s with 10 clips of ammo, 2 Ares Predators with 5 clips in the hand gun department. We have an Uzi III with 3 clips. An AK-98 with 3 clips of bullets and one clip of micro-grenades. And a Medium Machine gun with 2 belts of ammo.

Neddy: What about other equipment?

Targat: A pair of Smart Glasses, 5 hand grenades, a micro recorder, enough armored vests for all of us, a shotgun mike…and that’s about it.

He looked up.

Targat: We should divvy it up.

I ended up taking the 2 Colt America’s, an armored vest, the smart glasses, the micro recorder and the shotgun mike. I took the micro recorder because no one else wanted it. I, however, wanted some visual record of my exploits on this world. Neddy took the Ares Predators and an armored vest. Nameless took the Uzi III and a vest, while Targat took the AK-98 with a vest. Iris took a vest for protection, but she was heading back the other way to get EDG, Radical, and Greg. Smedly slung the Medium Machine gun over his shoulder and gave an odd sort of smirk.

Smedly: We’re all fools ta be doing this you know.

Ethan: Who’s more foolish, the fool or the fool that follows.

There was a general chuckle to the corny Star Wars reference. It seemed to lighten the mood a tad. I shifted back into Street Samurai mode, and we headed off through the slums, hopping that we wouldn’t find trouble.

* * *

Well, my hopes HAD been answered…somewhat. We hadn’t found any trouble. Trouble had found us. We had run into one of the many gangs that infested this area. They were the Weeds, as their burnt grass tattoos indicated, and they weren’t too happy about or trespassing. I was staring down the barrel of a Browning Max Power, and the girl on the other end looked like she wouldn’t hesitate to use it.

Her eyes were the most striking feature. She had apparently had her old ones removed and replaced with Anime style cyber ware eyes. They were wide and staring, giving her a childlike appearance, but there was nothing child like about the gun pointed at my forehead or the very nasty smile she was giving me. She wore a black T-shirt with the sleeves rolled back to reveal her tattooed arms. Those same arms were covered with muscles like braided wire, the result of constant climbing up and down building faces to get to her squat in the concrete jungle above our heads. Her trousers were navy blue with a red stripe down the side; military issue. Probably taken off of some poor CSA army man who had wandered into the wrong part of town.

Smedly was staring down a troll about two feet shorter than him, but significantly broader, which was saying something. The rest of the gang was an assorted bunch of humans, meta-humans, and meta-human wannabe’s (ah. The wonders of cosmetic surgery e_e). It was a found reminder that among such gangs, the prejudices of human vs. meta human melted away. In these conditions you hooked up with anyone you had too in order to survive.

Leader: Where you goin? Why you trompin through our territory all armed like that?

Crap. Perhaps we should have concealed these things more carefully.

Leader: I asked ya a question pretty boy!

At this point I decided to avoid telling any lies. These were experienced gang members we were dealing with, and I never was a great liar.

Ethan: The Mukashira Bio Facility.

Now that threw her for a loop. But she managed to recover quickly.

Leader: Why ya going there.

Ethan: A woman named Jade is planning to steal a sample of VITAS from the lab and release it. She wants to start another epidemic. We have to get to the VITAS before her.

That got their attention like nothing else I said could have. There was a lot of muttering and exchanging of dark glances among the other gang members. The gang leader went wide-eyed, which almost made her look absurd at this point.

Leader: Awww man… not VITAS, anything but that.

She looked up at me again.

Leader: Is she nuts!?

Ethan: e_e…Oh yeah. Her brother was killed a few months back. Apparently it sent her over the deep end. But if we’re gonna stop her we gotta keep going.

Leader: *snorts* You’ll neva get past the main gate alone. That’s a mega-corp installation you’re thinking about hitting.

Ethan: Well we can’t let Jade take the VITAS or we’re all fucked! >=|!!

The leader stroked her chin, lost in deep thought. Then she turned and shouted into the shadows.

Leader: Hey Sound Man!

There was the roar of some horrible monster from the shadows and I saw something move back there. Was the hell was back there. I half-expected to see a dragon emerge from the shadows. But to my surprise it was a man. He was dark skinned, and had long lanky grey hair. A Dr. Sues hat was balanced on top of his head, and baggy grey pants. A mega-phone was strapped to his side. As he walked he touched different parts of his body and shook others. Whenever he did this sounds would emerge.

Ethan: I got it. Sound Synthesizers embedded in your skin.

Sound Man: =D!! Right in one my Samurai friend! I can make an army out of thin air! Explosions out of total quiet! Dragons or ghouls! A group of men or a single wacko! I can imitate them all!!

He certainly had an up beat personality that was for sure. But already I was beginning to see the gang leaders plan. She smiled widely, her oversized eyes being reduced to mere slits.

Leader: ^_^! We’ll help ya. =|…VITAS is nothing to mess around with.

Ethan: My sentiments exactly.

* * *

Darkn walked the weary beat along the wall of Mukashira Bio Tech. The dwarf mercenary yawned widely. It was always the same routine. Walk the wall incase anyone tried to attack the compound. He highly doubted anyone would try anything serious. The fear of Mega-Corp guards, himself included, kept most people at bay.

Still, there were always Shadowrunners. They had enough guts, and sometimes desperation, to pull a job against a corp. And that’s when his job really got fun. His ears twitched as the sound of far off helicopter blades reached him. He dismissed them. Probably one of the news helicopters on the way to a murder scene or something. But the sound kept getting louder. The hair on the back of Darkn’s neck rose. It was defiantly coming this way. He fumbled for his radio.

At that moment, a rocket slammed into the gate, ripping a nice sized hole in the metal. No doubt about it. They were defiantly under attack. Darkn drew his gun as he rushed for one of the spotlights, even as the rest of the security forces swung into action.

* * *

I smirked, watching the panic that was sweeping the compound. The troll that Smedly had been staring down, his name was Trug, had dropped that shot with perfect accuracy. Meanwhile the Sound Man was projecting his helicopter sound effects through his mega-phone. Every time her wiggled his fingers, the sound synthesizers would trigger the sound. It was a pretty sweet set up in my opinion.

Sound Man: >=D!!! I’ll keep up the show! You and your Shadowrun pals go hit the place! Take that Jade bitch DOWN!

I laughed. This guy was one of a kind, that was for sure. I clambered down the side of the building we had used as a firing point, and dashed across the alley to Neddy and the rest of the group.

Ethan: Ready to role guys?

Smedly: Ready. Been ready.

Ethan: Then let’s go.

We ran low to the ground towards the far end of this section of wall. We crouched near the base and counted off the seconds in our head. At 10 a series of explosions at the front gate meant that they gangers had unleashed the missile barrage. The hope was that it would divert attention from our position. Smedly lifted me up and I peered into the compound. It was clear.

Ethan: Boost me up Smedly.

He THREW me up! He over did it so much that I missed my grip on the other side of the wall and hit the dirt face first. It didn’t get much better when Targat came down on top of me.

Ethan: X_X… Targat…get off of me…

Targat: O_O!! Oi!! Sorry.

He clambered off of me. And I stood up. Neddy and Nameless joined us next. It took a little bit for Smedly to clamber over, but he joined us next. We sprinted off across the grounds and slipped into the complex. At this point I was on my own. I had to find the VITAS while my friends kept the inside security busy.

Meanwhile…

A pair of workers carried the VITAS down the corridor to the processing plant. It was in a safe box that had more locks on it than Fort Knocks, and a large "bio-hazard" sticker on the lid. They froze as explosions from the battle outside reached their ears.

Worker 1: o.O…What was that?

Worker 2: O_O…I dun…X_X…HURK!!!

The first worker turned around just in time to get stabbed in the face by a set of arm blades. Jade tossed the first headless body aside as the second one slid to the floor. She bent over and pulled a laser from her back pocket. She melted the locks and popped the lid. She pulled out a small steel cylinder. It was clearly labeled with big black letters… VITAS.

Jade: >=)!! Heh heh heh…

Ethan: >=|!!! HEY!!

Jade: O_O!!!

I had come out of a ventilation shaft, just as Jade had opened up the container. Thank god for that shotgun mike. It had led me right to her; she wasn’t as quiet as she should have been.

Ethan: >=|!! Oh, I’m gonna get you SO bad for what you did to me during that last chase!

Jade: e_e…Then come and get me…>=|!! LITTLE BOY!!!

She turned and ran for it. I was hot on her heels. She was ahead of me, but I managed to catch up to her. We were on the roof . Jade stopped running and she set the VITAS on the roof. She then faced me and extended her arm blades. I extended mine, while drawing one of my Colt’s. She sneered at me.

Jade: >=/…What chance do you really think you have? You may have a Street Samurai power, but you lack any real experience! I’m going to tear you apart.

I didn’t say anything. I simply glared right back at her. A few drops fell from the sky, and turned into a full deluge. I shook my hair out of my eyes.

Ethan: >=|…

Jade: >=|…

Ethan: >=|!

Jade: >=|!

Ethan: >=|!!!

Jade: >=|!!!

Then I charged, arm raised to attack.

Ethan: >=|!!! RRRRAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!

Jade: >=|!!! YYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

I leapt at her…

Ethan: >=|!!! RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

Jade: >=|!!! AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

*CLANG*

Our blades met and locked. We jostled and wrestled for leverage, trying to break the hold. Jade managed to do it before me, and she flipped me back towards the edge. I managed to catch myself easily. We charged at each other again.

We ended up looking like something you’d expect from Goku and Vegeta. We were moving far to fast to be seen by anyone without super senses. I punched at Jade; she grabbed my arm and kneed me in the gut. While I was clutching at my stomach she kneed me in the nose, and I found myself sprawled on my back.

She jumped at me; blades ready to pierce my throat. I realized I still had my gun in my hand. Quickly I snapped it up and fired. The bullet grazed Jade’s shoulder and messed up her trajectory. She impacted into the roof right next to me, her blades barely missing my right arm. I rolled over and sprang back to my feet. I took another shot at Jade, but she managed to roll out of the way. We stood glaring at each other for a little bit, then we were at it again.

Things were becoming a confused mass of events, even with my improved abilities. Jade was painfully right about the lack of experience. She knew more tricks, more ducks, and more attacks than me. The only thing I knew was what was programmed into the Conversion Matrix. Jade had real experience from the looks of things. This became all the more painfully obvious, emphasis on the painful part, when she grabbed my around the waist and did a reverse slam on to the roof. I felt a stab of pain as and a snap sound as the Conversion Matrix was crushed. I felt my strength vanish. My Street Samurai outfit shifted back to my cargo pants and blue shirt with the Japanese writing.

I looked up at Jade. She dropped the pieces of the Conversion Matrix on the roof. The look she was giving me was along the lines of a cat looking at a mouse. I was officially fucked now…

* * *

Smedly let loose a burst of suppressing fire, at the group of guards near the gate. Things had gone distinctly down hill from when Ethan had broken off on his own. The guards that were all supposed to be on the inside of the labs had gone out to the front gate. Apparently they thought the Sound Man’s work was actually a full-scale invasion by another corp., and had acted accordingly. Unfortunately, it meant that their gangland allies were getting torn to pieces.

Nameless powered up his cyber ware and sprinted across the grounds. This caught the attention of a few Street Samurai that had been preparing to maul the gangers to death. Nameless ran up the side of a tree, and kicked off. The added momentum to his kick send one Samurai flipping backwards into a massive Willow tree. Nameless caped the other one with a smooth shot from a hidden palm gun, that flipped out from his sleeve. That Samurai hit the ground like a brick, whether he was dead or not Smedly didn’t know or care.

Targat was looping around the other side of the battle. He was ducking low and staying hidden behind a row of hedges. As he reached the end, he paused for a moment, and raised his Star of David to the sky. He then kissed it, let it fall back to his chest…and sprang up. He fired three times before ducking back down, behind the hedge.

One bullet winged an Eleven Combat Mage, who was in the middle of casting a spell. He shrieked in pain and the sphere of fire he had been conjuring vanished. A split second later a sniper shot from the roof, where the Sound Man was, took him through the head. He fell to the ground. The other two shots were wide misses, but it made the Corp men hit the ground.

Neddy, who had been hiding in a reflecting pond, not far off from where Nameless was now brawling with the other street Samurai, slowly crawled out of the water and capped an Ork mercenary who had been trying to bash the skull in of the Anime eyed gang leader. Smedly growled. Where the hell was Iris and the Gaming Guardians?

???: FREEZE!!

Smedly turned around and found himself face to face with the entire Corp army. About 60 individuals and every last one of them had their guns trained on him. He dropped his machine gun.

Smedly: O_O!! I give up…

* * *

*WHAM*

My body hit one of the ventilation shafts that stuck out of the roof. I rolled off of the metal and clutched at my chest. I think a few of my ribs had been cracked. Jade loomed over me.

Jade: e_e…Such a lost little boy…

She kicked me in the ribs a few times. This time I defiantly heard a rib break. I screamed in pain. This was hell…I was nothing without the Conversion Matrix. I felt her grab my collar and pick me up so I was eye level with her.

Jade: I won’t kill you. I want you to be alive and well when I destroy your precious little gaming hobby…and you know what…your home world is a gaming world…e_e…And it is a rather popular one…

Ethan: O_O!!!

Jade: >=)!! I think that will be my first target!

I spat some blood out of my mouth.

Ethan: >=|!!! GO TO HELL!!

Jade: e_e…No…I don’t think I will…

She punched me in the gut, dropped me to the roof, and hit me with a knee drop directly to my throat. I swore if she had done it any harder my windpipe would have been crushed. As it stood now, I already had trouble breathing. She kicked me again, which sent me tumbling across the roof. I managed to pick myself back up. I was gonna be dead at this rate. But then I felt my dice bags brush against my leg.

Ethan: O_O!!

I still had a chance.

Ethan: Ok…

I opened my black leather bag. At once a set of dice emerged from the bag and began to float around me. The Dice of Wrath. With them in place I opened my red leather battle bag.

Ethan: >_O…Let’s game bitch!

Jade: >=)! You amuse me.

She vanished. Going with my first instinct I unleashed the power of the Dice of Wrath.

Ethan: GRIM!!

The d6 of the set zipped directly above my head and cast an energy shield around me. It came not a moment too soon, Jade’s blow bounced off the shield. And she sprang backwards. I called upon the power of another die.

Ethan: >=|!! ZHARR!!

My d12 zipped forward and spat a ball of fire right at Jade’s head. She flipped out of the way, but I called down fireball after fireball. I was gonna barbecue this bitch! Well…that was the plan anyway. It didn’t work out as such. Jade dodge by my latest fireball and charged me. Very foolishly I forgot that my shield only lasted for about 30 seconds. She delivered a brutal stomach punch. I fell back quite battered this time.

Then I felt something in my head…well perhaps felt wasn’t the right word. More of a presence. It radiated hatred and malice, towards Jade and myself. I was, how you would say, intimately familiar with this force.

Ethan: *thinking* O_O!! SHIT!! NOT THIS!! NOT NOW!!!!

Then I slipped into a deep sea of fog…and I knew no more…

* * *

Down below the Corps. army had our hero’s surrounded. They were leading them, at gunpoint, towards their containment building. Their weapons were stacked in a messy pile a few feet away.

Neddy: If anyone has any brilliant ideas now would be the time to mention them.

Corp Guard: >=|!! QUIET! NO TALKING!

Nameless: *whispering* Unfortunately I’m all tapped out. They’d shoot us before we got one step.

The head guard was watching the prisoners get lead away with satisfaction. Another job well done…

*TAP* *TAP*

Head Guard: o.O?

*WHAM*

Head Guard: X_X…

EDG: >=)!!! Miss us?

Neddy: O_O!! EDG!!

Radical came flying over the wall and nailed the guards who had been guarding Smedly. While Greg began to smash on the Corp guards with his "Lightbat". The battle was joined anew.

* * *

Jade glared scornfully at the crumpled form of Ethan. The kid had been a waste, hardly worth her time. She walked forward; ready to send him back to his world where he’d watch everything die…

But about half way there, he sprang to his feet. Jade blinked. The kid’s posture was different. More hunched over and feral. She took another step forward. Ethan’s head immediately snapped upwards. Jade had to stifle a gasp. Ethan looked almost insane now.

His once deep green eyes were now a putrid, sickly yellow color. His canine teeth were more along the lines of fangs. Ethan was eyeing her with a very different gaze now. Gone was the bumbling kindness and relative innocence of a gamer that was forced into a dangerous situation. It was more of a steely, hungry, evil glint. Jade shook it off. It was nothing. The fool was a gamer. He must be Role Playing.

She ran at him again, blades ready to rip him open. The yellow eyes narrowed, as quickly as a flash. Ethan grabbed her wrist, all the while still looking straight ahead. Jade sneered and broke the hold…more accurately she tried to break the hold. Ethan’s grip was like iron.

Jade: How?!

Ethan threw her across the roof with a single smooth motion. Jade caught herself. Ethan’s lips curled into a full blown "I’m a homicidal maniac" smile.

Ethan?: >=)…Yes…you wasn’t expecting that. No. No you weren’t!

Jade was really confused at this point. The kid wasn’t even talking in his own voice anymore. Now it was as sharp and as grating as jagged rocks. It was now quite obvious that Ethan had been…"replaced" by a different person. Perhaps the kid suffered from a multiple personality disorder…

Jade: What the hell is going on here!?

???: I took control I did. Ethan wasn’t strong enough! No he wasn’t!! Couldn’t hold me back!!

Whoever was talking hissed. Jade snarled right back at him. Even if some other side was in charge, the kid still couldn’t match a Street Samurai. She came at him again. Ethan was ready this time. As Jade rushed in, his arm shot out and grabbed her arm. He pulled her forward right as he slammed his knee into her gut. She stumbled back winded, just in time to get a head but.

Ethan ran at her again and pounced. He bowled Jade over and sunk his new fangs into her shoulder. Jade’s scream rent the night air. Ethan let go, and spat out a mouth full of blood.

???: Eeech!!! Elf blood! Nasty elf blood! Tastes bad it does!!! Not like fish!! Sweet fish!! Nice fish!!

Jade: *thinking* e_e…Oh no. There’s NOTHING wrong with this kid! >=|!!

She kicked Ethan in the gut and he rolled away. Jade climbed back to her feet and drew her own gun. She didn’t think that she’d have to use the weapon against a child like Ethan, but this was an unexpected twist. Ethan’s eyes flashed at the sight of the gun.

???: Kills you I must! Can’t let you kill this body! Go back to hell I would!! And I don’t likes it there! Its all hot and nasty! It burns!!

Quick as a flash he scooped up a rock that had been lying on the roof and threw it at Jade. It hit her hand, forcing her to drop the gun, partially out of shock and partially out of pain.

Jade: >_
She felt a sharp jerk in her right arm. Even as she grabbed the wound, she looked across the roof again. There was Ethan, with one of his Colt America’s in his hand. He had that same cocky smirk that he had been wearing for the past 5 minutes. Fully enraged Jade extended her arm blades again.

Jade: >=|!!! WILL YOU JUST DIEEEEE!!!

*KA-BLAM* *TING*

Jade’s body crashed to the ground just in front of Ethan’s feet, blood already pouring from the bullet hole in her head. Ethan smiled evilly.

???: >=)!! Yes! Now, I’ll go back to the big city! Yes, precious! I will kill the ones who hold the belts, precious! Then I will have the preciouses!! Yes precious…

Then he felt a jerk in the back of his mind.

???: O_O!! No!! He can’t have any more strength!!

Another jab, stronger this time. The creature that held Ethan’s body began to clutch at his head, screaming.

???: >_

* * *

I was pushing my way back through the sea of mist that surrounded me on all sides. It was like trying to push your way through jello. Then again I never had pushed my way through jello, so maybe my opinion was off slightly… Anyway…

I came to a massive wall that stretched upwards so far it was impossible for me to see the top. There was a gate in the wall that looked like a castle drawbridge. It was open, and the red light from a raging fire on the other side cast strange shadows all over the ground. Somehow I knew that I should avoid that light.

I turned and ran deeper into the fog. It was disorienting. Where the hell was I anyway? I felt someone grab my shoulder. I spun around. It was Anra.

Ethan: Anra!! You’re a sight for sore eyes!

She nodded hurriedly.

Anra: Ethan. You must regain control of your body, now. Your other side will do much evil if he’s allowed to journey back to your world in control. He’s already planning the murder of many people.

Ethan: O_O!! But I don’t know which way to go!!

Anra raised her war hammer and swung it. A path was cleared through the mist. I saw a stone arc off in the distance.

Anra: >=|!! GO!!

I didn’t need the encouragement. I took off for the stone arc, running as fast as I could. Great tentacles of darkness lashed out at me, trying to trip me up and drag me back into the depths of the mist. I jumped over the last one, and did a kind of half roll into the arch…

Suddenly I was back. I could see the world again. But my other side was fighting with everything it had. Kneeling, with quite a bit of difficulty, I managed to pull a small box out of my sock. With fingers that refused to stay completely still I managed to pop the top. A pair of caffeine pills were inside, my emergency supply for just such an emergency. My hand was shaking so bad I was barely able to get them to my mouth. But I managed to chock them down.

Ethan: >_<…>_O…O_O…^_^!!! Much better.

Well at that point I noticed the carnage.

Ethan: e_e…Well…I can’t say that I’m surprised…

???: You! Ethan!

I turned around.

Ethan: Hey guys.

EDG ran up to me, and did a double take over the dead body of Jade.

EDG: O_O!! Wow! You actually plugged her! I didn’t think you’d have it in ya.

Ethan: e_e…Shut up. Can we go home now?

EDG: Yeah…

* * *

Back at Gaming Guardian HQ…

I was packing the last of my "haul" from the Shadowrun world into a duffel bag. I had kept the Colt America’s, the Smart Glasses, and the Mini Camcorder. I had also loaded up on some of the finer forms of entertainment the Shadowrun world had to offer. Namely enough Simesence chips to keep me happy for quite a while. And a few Shadowrun, Wrist Model Cell Phone. As I zipped the bag closed. I head footsteps. It was Greg, EDG and Radical.

Greg: =\…So you’re really leaving…You’re giving up on being a Gaming Guardian…

Ethan: Nope. I talked to Gary about it. I am now officially a Gaming Guardian.

Greg: O_O!! ^_^! Great! We’ll get you a barracks….

Ethan: No.

Greg: No?

Ethan: When I talked to Gary, I brought up that little "policy". He’s agreed to over look it in my case.

I threw my bag over my shoulder.

Ethan: I’ll see you guys later.

I fired up my Jaunt System, and vanished. Greg keeps on staring at where Ethan had been, for quite awhile…then

Greg: >=|!! He went over my head!! I don’t believe it! I’m supposed to be his superior!! He’ll never cut it as a Gaming Guardian!

Radical and EDG exchanged looks.

Radical: Oh I don’t know Greg.

EDG: Yeah. I got a feeling he’ll do just fine. >=)!!

* * *

I reappeared on the street in front of the UCTF Arena. I sighed and tucked the Jaunt System into my pocket. I walked slowly back towards my apartment. I felt…good. I had made a difference…I held up my hands and looked at them, half expecting to see some physical difference. Nothing. When I got home that night, I asked myself many questions.

I asked myself about a courage that I was surprised to find I had.

I asked myself about the whole concept of being a game character and whether I was in control of my own actions.

I asked myself about a Drow that I had, kind of, killed.

I ran everything in my mind over and over again. And when I realized that me figuring out answers to these puzzles was about as likely as me reading Yiddish any time soon, I pushed them from my mind, and went to bed.

End.