《Galbadia Prime Online》


 Chapter 1

    January 1, 2030: GameStop 11:50 PM


    The eve of 2,030 is throwing a huge curveball for humanity. This year, Time Square is brimming with all walks of life, but not because of a festive ball dropping to signify a new year. No, this year, Alchemy, creator of the highly critically acclaimed Galbadia Prime Online is having a field day, because it is launch day. Ethan Patterson, eager to get his hands on this game since its initial announcement at E3 2025, was just one of the many thousands packing the lines of this New York City GameStop for a chance to immerse themselves in a world which they could shape long-term only by becoming a permanent resident. For Ethan, he was ecstatic. He felt like this world, as real as it may be, offered him nothing of significant value.


    Sure, jobs were coming back to the country, but for Ethan who worked at the local Starbucks, this mattered little. He had no family to speak of, save for a mother in Florida who did little to raise him, unless childbirth and being dumped at the nearest police department is actual parenting.


    Ethan looked down at his designated number so that he can pick his game rig up and get to exploring. ¡°Only 14 more people to go...¡± he sighed. Alchemy¡¯s marketing campaign was in full force for this game. Around the store, all one could see for entire wall lengths were screen after screen of starships in a galaxy the likes of Star Wars. Numerous displays featured ships firing lasers and cannons against what Ethan assumed were other players. Then, there were screens introducing other activities. Back at the beginning of the line, Ethan saw a small, simple starship gathering debris from other destroyed starships and other materials floating in space. Another showed a cargo delivery ship from Avogadro Industries, which Ethan assumed was a cargo delivery company, on-route to its destination when it was promptly shot and destroyed by a rival delivery company ship. The screen showed the victor gaining points, indicating a currier war system.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.On the way out of the store, Ethan, now carrying the box that held the secrets to his possibly only future, saw something on one of the screens that made his blood boil; it made him think he should do exactly what it says and smash this box right in front of store employees. The picture was sick and disturbing. A user of Galbadia Prime Online sat in his gaming rig, playing as usual. The helmet and everything else looked to be in place. There was something odd about this rig though. There were four spiked blades that issued fourth from the outside of the device, dismembering flesh, and bone as they sliced. They inflicted gruesome pain, as the face on-screen was a mask of horror, but it appears as though the user granted this request. Besides the rig turning against its user, the only words that can be scene on-screen were Yes, no, and the word Caution blinked continuously until the blades completed their handiwork. ¡°Handiwork¡± is quite the understatement. There was nothing left of the man. A stump of what used to be a knee, countless pieces of hair from God only knows where now, and the view screen didn¡¯t even show all of it. But, there was really nothing to see. Judging by the rumor mill surrounding the game, Ethan hoped that Galbadia Prime Online was heaven compared to New York. He hoped for the recently departed dead dude on the view-screen, and he hoped for the people that, if his assumptions are correct, will be going through that very same process over the next 24 hours.

 Chapter 2

    Once he was home and securely locked in his house, Ethan tried as gently as possible to place the box on his living room floor. Designed for a scenario like this one, it crashed with a loud thud but was otherwise, undamaged. No doubt thanks to some factory in China that was responsible for the creation of these gaming rigs. Out of breath and exhausted, Ethan grabbed a glass of water, took a few sips to calm down, and composed himself for the undoubtedly long night ahead. The rig box was about as plain as it got for any product these days. The only thing that was remotely visible, though small as hell, was the Alchemy logo. There was also another logo next to the Alchemy logo, which was probably the company that made the rig, the hardware that made this all possible. Inside the box was also pretty standard and plain. Despite being a three-thousand-dollar product, it was clear that Alchemy didn¡¯t want players investing their time in anything other than their online experience, when balls should be dropping and the world getting drunk. Ethan wheeled the rig out of the box first. A set of joke instructions was behind it, which indicated that one should simply plug the power supply into a wall outlet first, followed by two other plugs that were labeled with pictures and arrows to where they should be inserted into the hardware. Anybody surely could have figured that out. Anyhow, the only other thing the box had is the three chords that power the rig. Ethan simply followed the instructions and the rig powered on in short order. The display, small for now, simply told Ethan that he should not be alarmed; the rig will stay powered on indefinitely from now on. It also said that under no circumstances should the rig be inadvertently or otherwise, unplugged from its current power supply.


    On the next screen, Ethan was asked to select a Wireless network. He selected his current home Wi-Fi, entered his password and was inundated with Alchemy policies, rules and other standard information developers want new players to know for connecting to Massively Multi-player games. Finally, after signing that he understood the Perma Player policy, something that he no doubt would have to sign again; the Alchemy account screen displayed. After filling out his basic info and verifying his email, Ethan sighed with relief as he logged in with his account. Now, he was getting somewhere. His character avatar, for now, was just a tiny blob on-screen. Tutorial text along with an arrow to show where this blob was headed displayed on his screen, and Ethan read it internally with interest.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it¡°Welcome to Galbadia Prime online. This tutorial will guide you through your first steps creating your character, followed by some introductory first steps in the world on Galbadia Prime On line¡¯s capital planet, Galbadia Prime.¡±


    As Ethan scrolled through the text with his hands, the blob which represented his character continued to move to what Ethan assumed was the first room for his avatar¡¯s appearance. It was not; it was race selection. To Ethan¡¯s dismay, races were still ¡°in beta¡± and would be opened to players later. The game selected Human by colliding with a human face. Now, the game gave Ethan two options to save time. He could either customize every part of his character appearance and waste time not actually playing, or he could select from, according to the game, a ¡°variety of templates¡± to create his character appearance. The tutorial went on to explain that character appearance is the only thing that really matters in character generation. ¡°All skills that you will acquire can only be found in-game. There are starting bonuses to skills you will gain during the tutorial, but otherwise no veteran player has advantage over someone starting from the ground up.¡±


    Ethan, not one for appearances, selected the quick start option. A variety of options came up for Quick start for each part of the human body. Ethan however was content to select the last one, ¡°Random Appearance.¡± This resulted in quite frankly, several ugly appearances that Ethan hoped he¡¯d never have to look at in-game or in any life. Despite this, he did come across an average appearance that the computer selected for him, which suited him just fine. He accepted, and the Galbadia Prime spaceport landing pad swirled around him as though he was standing there, the gaming rig forgotten.


    A speaker above his character blared to life. ¡°Welcome, Julian Matthews. Please await the next merchant ship coming in for a landing. The ETA is three minutes. One Kimberly Aldrich is on-board; a player who volunteered herself to assist new players of Galbadia Prime Online to get settled.¡±


    Everybody else in the spaceport heard it too. People poked their heads out of nearby shops to look at the newcomer and waved. Ethan, meanwhile, kicked himself for not having the decency to choose a bloody name for his character. ¡°The game chose Julian Matthews for me. It¡¯s as good a name as any,¡± sighing.

 Chapter 3

    Julian looked up to see that a small shuttle Merchant Ship class was coming in for a landing. He had no idea how many classes there were or the differences between them, but the information was provided by a standard ship terminal. It provided ship takeoff and landing information, as well as doubling as a security camera for the landing area. The ship touched down smoothly, and a woman dressed in formal attire disembarked.


    ¡°Hey there! Let me be the first to welcome you to this wonderful world!¡± She beamed a smile that would have anyone at ease, and stuck out her hand for Julian to shake.


    ¡°I¡¯m Kimberly, but you can call me Kim. Everyone does.¡± Julian took her outstretched hand and shook as best as he knew how. Firm, but not a death grip. ¡°I¡¯m Julian. I¡¯m glad you volunteered your help. I think all I¡¯ll need is the basics of this general area and some starter items, and I should be fine.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll need all the resources you can get in this world. When you become Perma, it¡¯s more than a game. It¡¯s a way of life. First, let¡¯s go next door to the communications store.¡±


    Julian tagged along behind her as they passed the starship store on the left. Julian hoped that was where they would be going next after he could communicate.


    Looking at the shops from outside, he thought he was just imagining that the small interiors of the buildings had no visual element to them. As they stepped into the Communications Store, he was right. The stores in this world seemed only to attract the people that know what they want and leave.


    ¡°Luckily, Kim says, the mentor program allows us to give our prot¨¦g¨¦e¡¯s a handful of credits to get started with. Since you have no way of knowing any financial information without a computer hooked up to the Galactic Network...¡±


    Kim manipulates a shopping terminal in the shop. A few seconds later, a small portable device deposited itself at the bottom of it; her transaction completed. She grabs it and hands it to Julian.


    ¡°Pressing the only button at the top left hand corner will activate its menu system. Go ahead, try it.¡±


    Julian did as she instructed. There was only one option that appeared, and that option was to register for the Galactic Network.


    ¡°The Galactic Network doesn¡¯t know who you are yet,¡± Kim explains. ¡°Once you register by fingerprint, several things are created. Most pressing right now though is a bank account to store funds, so you¡¯ll need to do that now.¡±


    Julian did so, and the process was surprisingly simple. He thought he¡¯d have forms to fill out or some other process to hold him back, since these are how these things usually are, but his print was accepted in just under thirty-seconds, and the computer presented its simple to use menus. One of particular interest to Julian was ¡°Messages¡±. He noted that he had two messages, one from Alchemy with a Welcome Message, another from ¡°Galactic System Message¡± saying that a bank deposit account was created in his name, where he could directly deposit, withdraw, or create multiple funds with this account. They said they gave his account the standard amount of credits to keep it opened, 1000. Obviously that wasn¡¯t going to be enough to buy him anything, even in this store.


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m set,¡± Julian says. ¡°You can transfer some credits. I¡¯ll pay you back once I¡¯m on my feet.¡±


    ¡°That is not really necessary, Julian.¡±


    A message flashed on his information computer indicating that Kimberly Aldrich transferred credits to Julian Matthews account totaling 2,000,000 credits.


    ¡°All right, looking good so far. Now, the first order of business is to buy a communicator. Pick the option to buy at the shopping terminal here, pick that you want a standard communicator, and then pick your look and feel.¡±


    Julian nodded and did just that. He went with a black and blue communicator with big, square buttons so that they could easily be felt. He turned it on and was immediately swarmed with people on a bunch of different frequencies and channels.


    ¡°Well, I know it¡¯s working. Is there a way to filter this thing?¡± asks Julian.


    ¡°There is. Press the ¡°Tune¡± button. That will enable you to filter out communications that don¡¯t interest you. As you¡¯re just getting started, I recommend tuning out combat for now. There are many combat missions going on, and it may overwhelm you.¡±


    Julian nodded again, thankful for her help, and tuned out several channels. General, combat and alliance chatter, just to name a few. Once he learned more about those things, he¡¯d decide whether to turn it on.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.¡°Next up, buy a Flight Control Scanner. This will help you in many situations. Namely, it will help you avoid combat when starting, as the low level ships don¡¯t have any on-board offensive weaponry. Same process as before,¡± Kim explains.


    Julian nodded. He was getting used to this. A starship would be nice right about now ... Kim told him that the Flight Control Scanner can be programmed just as the communicator can, by filtering out announcements that he didn¡¯t want. He didn¡¯t want a lot of them. He didn¡¯t need to know every time any starship took off and landed, nor when it jumped into Hyperspace, or any of that. All he wanted to know is where the shooting was, so he can avoid it, for now.


    ¡°Looks as though we¡¯re set on communications gear,¡± Kim beams. ¡°It¡¯s time to get your first shuttle and start working!¡±


    ¡°Sounds fun. Lead the way.¡±


    The Starship Store was just as plain as the communication store. What stood out in this beast of a store were the starships. From small ships to large combat ships, this place appeared to have it all.


    ¡°So, let me guess. I can only afford the first small shuttle?¡± Julian asks.


    ¡°That would be correct,¡± Kim frowns. ¡°But, you¡¯ll be back here in a few garbage loads ready to buy the next upgrade in no time. The next upgrade is nothing special either, it just has more cargo space, but that means more money per load.¡±


    ¡°I get it. Well...¡±


    Julian brought up the shopping terminal and decided then and there that this terminal was evil. In the communication store, he could see all items available for purchase. Now, he sees only the ship available for purchase at his level 1, ¡°Small shuttle.¡± The cost was around 1,000,000 credits that explained why Kim had given him an extra million just for good measure. The terminal asked what he wanted his ship name to be for this shuttle. He decided to name it ¡°Kim¡± and engraved the hull of the ship with the words ¡°Working Class Low Life¡± for laughs.


    His transactions complete; Julian nodded in approval to himself. ¡°Cool, my ship can be found on the landing pad. You¡¯ll never guess whom I named it after.


    ¡°Kim smiled at him. ¡°Let¡¯s check it out.¡±


    Kim beamed when she saw that she had a ship, an insignificant ship, but a ship nonetheless, named after her. ¡°All right, handsome, press your thumb near the fingerprint censor on the airlock. The only door available to you right now, and get in. I¡¯ll be right behind you.¡±


    Once Julian had placed his thumb near the door, there was a hissing sound, a pop, followed by the airlock opening, beckoning them forward. Julian, followed by Kim stepped into the airlock when it quickly closed behind them. Since this had been a small shuttle, the airlock was cramped and it was hard to breathe, despite the airlock matching the planets environment.


    ¡°Let¡¯s move into the Control Room and we¡¯ll talk about communication linking,¡± Kim says.


    Julian was ever so happy to comply. A message on Julian¡¯s communicator flashed red, indicating that someone is trying to link with him.


    ¡°Linking allows us to talk privately with each other, even if we aren¡¯t in the same location. There is a mentor communication channel, but you¡¯re being a student with me only lasts so long. This way, we can be friends after that.¡± She smiled at him again.


    Julian happily accepted the link request and heard the satisfying audio chirp, indicating success.


    ¡°It was pleasant meeting you, Julian. This ship isn¡¯t a very fine place to sleep when you¡¯re Perma, but if you lie down on the ground now your rig will log you out. When you log back in, you¡¯ll appear right here. It¡¯s important not to sleep out on landing pads or public places.¡±


    Julian nodded. ¡°Thanks. I haven¡¯t decided on whether to become a perm or not.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t take the decision lightly. Some players I¡¯ve heard already regret it. When you become perma, you have nobody else to go back to.¡± Kim explains. ¡°Another thing: Your computer has a database of information for help on the game. Feel free to browse it at your leisure and salvage a few pieces of debris if you wish. I¡¯m off.¡±


    Julian nodded his thanks and waved goodbye. She exited the ship, and Julian contemplated what he would do. Though his time in-game had been only an hour or so, he decided to take a rest for a few hours and clear hi??s head. He simply laid down on the ground, and the rig did the rest, simulating a peaceful journey into deep sleep. He was logged out in under a minute, and Ethan got up from the rig; marveling at the world he¡¯s about to go explore.

 Chapter 4

    Ethan tried to get a good night¡¯s rest; he had been playing the game for just over three hours. Something had been nagging at him for some time. He took deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling deeply, and tried to close his eyes again. Eventually, he fell asleep, but his mind entered a dark place. He willed himself not to go there, desperately commanded his mind to leave the past behind, but his mind slipped into the dark, disturbing dream as though it occurred yesterday.


    He was just seven years old. Trapped in the dungeon that his mother crafted for him, his feet were shackled together by way of very sturdy chains. Another chain was coiled around his neck, which was in turn, jutting out from the ceiling. Thus, Ethan Patterson, neglected and forgotten Ethan Patterson, was dangling fifteen feet from the ground. Any attempt to turn his neck resulted in choking pressure, and he did only that when the precariousness of his situation forced him to.


    She had cameras throughout the room, no doubt to show that she was the supreme commander here. She was in charge of what she called her useless slave of a boy, and she decides how he will learn. The basement door just opened then, forcing the aroma of the real dinner she was cooking down. Ethan¡¯s stomach rumbled with a vengeance, and he swore that once he got out of this situation, and he would, he would confront his older brother, demanding he fight for him. At only age fifteen, his brother was very intimidated by their mother. After all, she killed their father by castrating him, sliced his head off, and then serrated his damned body as if it were a piece of meat so that she could easily discard it in the garbage disposal. She was pure Hell Spawn itself.


    Ethan heard her before he saw her. Sherry descended the basement stairs like a sly cat; she descended quickly, as if she enjoyed this horrible torture.


    Suddenly, Ethan¡¯s neck was bent at an odd angle downwards as Sherri adjusted the chains to force Ethan to look down at her. How on earth she was controlling the chains, Ethan didn¡¯t know nor could he look to investigate. He needed to be ready to fight. Making the chain choke him would be playing right into her sick, twisted little hands. That was good for nobody, especially his fifteen-year old brother.


    ¡°Feeling good up there, insignificant worm?¡± ¡°I brought you some food! How does that sound?¡±


    That sounded not very exciting. Usually, the food she brought was dry, and contained very little substance. She was being very generous today, as there were two pieces of food in her hands today instead of one very small piece. She would make him eat it anyway, despite what he thought. He did his best to nod slowly and open his mouth as best as he could.


    ¡°Do you really think I¡¯m going to just feed it to you?¡± She reached up and slapped him in the face hard enough for the neck chain to snap upward, causing his neck to turn up, which sent the back of his neck into excruciating pain, bending his neck further than it will allow.


    Giving him no time to recover, Sherri yanked the chain back down, causing yet more pain. This was all parts of the process; Sherri would probably get off to this tonight. How Ethan looked, his face turning all different shades of color, him trying to hide the tiers, all parts of her masochism.


    ¡°Oh, all right, all right.¡± ¡°Shh,¡± she soothed, attempting to play the role of the mother that she was to his brother. ¡°Open up your hole and I¡¯ll throw.¡± ¡°Hah aha!¡±


    His hole was obviously his mouth. She had never done this before, and this was a new technique to obviously humiliate and get under Ethan¡¯s skin. ¡°C¡¯mon, the hole needs to be a bit bigger than that; doesn¡¯t leave me any opening at all!¡±


    Disgusted, Ethan tried to make the opening bigger, tried to please his bitch of a mother just for the God damn food. Had he not been starving, he told himself he would never allow this mistreatment. But then would come the tightening of the chain around his neck until he surrendered. She had never strangled him enough to kill him, but he has passed out before.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report itHis jaw threatened to kill him as it was all pain, but that was how she wanted it. The more pain he was in even while eating, the more she enjoyed it.


    She threw, and Ethan caught the small piece of bread on the edge of his teeth. He bit down on whatever was there, and used his lips, as painful as it was, to pull it in the rest of the way. The bread was just that, a piece of bread. A dry, plain piece of bread. Ethan will take anything, especially after being cooped up like this for weeks on end.


    ¡°Good!¡± ¡°Ready for your next prize?¡± Sherri asked, gloating in her power over her son she never wanted. ¡°My goodness!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°You must be enjoying this if you won¡¯t even fight against it now. Very well...¡±


    The next piece of bread almost made Ethan vomit right on top of the bitch¡¯s head. Fitting that would be. Whatever was on this piece was almost surely going to make Ethan sick later. Ethan thought it smelled like Bleach.


    ¡°Good, good,¡± Sherri soothed again, and Ethan nearly had enough of this test in act. ¡°Why, mommy?¡±


    ¡°Why what, worm? Don¡¯t you love me? Don¡¯t you enjoy this?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± ¡°I want out of this! Why don¡¯t you have Ryan down here so you can play with the both of us! I¡¯m sure you can train him to be your little toy and have fun with I¡¯m! Would you, Mommy? He would be helpless too, just how you like me!¡±


    ¡°Aww, Ryan doesn¡¯t deserve it like you.¡± ¡°Unlike you, he will put up a fight. A fight that I cannot afford to lose. No, he is living the good, hard life while you serve me as my plaything.¡± ¡°It took some time, but you are proving useful, training you are better than a night of television.¡±


    Silence.


    ¡°Hey, I was once like you,¡± Sheri announced in a somber tone. ¡°My mother made me fight for what I earned. I¡¯m just making it a lot harder for you because I can, and you are completely powerless to stop it. Oh, I simply love it!¡±


    ¡°Our time tonight has come to a close,¡± Sherri announced.


    Being none too careful, she adjusted the chain so that he was lowered to her eye level. She gave him a kiss on the lips, not because she loved him; Ethan was not stupid enough to fall for that. No, she wanted him to know that there was better food in the house. Food that he will not be eating as long as he¡¯s down in this damned dungeon of a basement.


    Without so much as a goodbye, Sherri pulled a lever that forced the chains back to their default positions, sending jolts of pain throughout Ethan¡¯s body. He hung there, suspended, alone again.


    Ethan, now back in the present, woke with a start. That dream hadn¡¯t come up in a long while. Thankfully Sherri is now six feet underground, thanks in no part to Ryan, his older brother by eight years. He had, eventually, fought the good fight to give his brother a fighting chance. Once he had been of age, Ryan moved out and was living on his own when he brought it to the attention of the police. Ryan had no intension of telling his mother where he moved to, so the police came when Sherri was out, searched the home and saw Ethan tied against his will in the basement ... That was all they needed to launch an official investigation. The rest is history. Ethan simply moved in with Ryan until he could move out on his own, and then relocated to New York City where he took and promptly lost an IT Specialist job at a local Life Insurance firm. The ensuing years of Ethan¡¯s childhood were full of counseling and therapy for mental stability.


    That leads Ethan to his next major decision. He thought long and hard to become one of Galbadia Prime On line¡¯s finest, by becoming a Perma player. He had no idea what that means, but he had a vague idea that that¡¯s what he saw on launch day when that poor, unlucky player was killed by his own rig. Ethan lay back on his pillow, content not to get up and play just yet. He was going to sleep on this Perma Player decision for a while. Fortunately for him, his body relaxed, before easing into a deep sleep. He slept that way for eight hours.

 Chapter 5

    Ethan let his body wake him up whenever it wanted; he wasn¡¯t very pleased when he had to force himself awake for one reason or another. Looking over at his bedside clock, it was 7 AM. The earlier he ate a good breakfast, the faster he could play Galbadia Prime Online. It would be his first whole day in the game, and he planned to spend all of it soaking up the world and its gameplay like a sponge.


    His goal today was to ultimately decide if the game was for him and whether he wanted to live there. Though the real world shunned him in every possible manor, he still questioned whether throwing his real life down the toilet and putting a new one in the hands of a corporation was just as equally foolish. He sat down at his gaming rig, got comfortable and tapped the view-screen.


    Julian faded into view, right where he was when he slept for the night. He was in his very small, very cramped shuttle control room that only had the size to fit one person. Sure, another person could tag along, but there¡¯s no point in doing so at all. Julian simply powered on his new toy by pressing power on the console. A low rumbling could be heard from the bowels of the ship as it powered on, and Julian got the distinct impression that mostly everything was automatic. The ship computer told him that everything was online and fully functional. After that, he didn¡¯t need any help to know that the ¡°launch sequence¡± button was to initiate takeoff. He pressed it and the ship obeyed without question. It was when he got into space itself when his sight got completely overloaded with stars, what he assumed were other planets in the distance, and countless pieces of space debris.


    Julian read the help information on starship movement, the activities listed, and lastly, salvaging. It was referred to by trash collecting by most players because it is a bit of a grind to get the points needed for the next resource activity, Asteroid Hauling. Salvaging was quite simple really. Scan the current sector of space, tell your ship to move to the debris, and press salvage. The ship uses salvaging lines to tow the item into the cargo hold. Rinse and repeat until the cargo hold is full. Shuttles unfortunately had only 25 units by default, making it a piece of cake for Julian to salvage 25 small pieces of debris.


    Consulting help again, Julian read that he has to land at a spaceport to transfer the debris to get his reward for the activity. The closest planet was, Galbadia Prime. He instructed autopilot to take him back there. In the distance, Julian saw a ship he couldn¡¯t quite make out and something just in front of where ships to stop to land on Galbadia Prime. It looked like this ship was looking for a fight, simply because whoever this person was had blocked ships coming in for a landing. Julian guest it was that he wanted to fight. Julian knew this ship was incapable of any fight. Looking at his weapon status readout, he had only a short range laser that didn¡¯t output much, if any damage at all. Against a ship with even the poorest armor available would probably be able to best him.


    Regardless, Julian needed to land. He had cargo to transfer, and he needs the credits. He instructed autopilot to bring him to Galbadia Prime, and suspected nothing would get transferred on this day.


    As suspected, his ship didn¡¯t crash into this ... barrier, but it had stopped one damn inch from where autopilot deemed safe to land. A ship, a standard basic fighter was blocking incoming ships from landing on the capital planet. Julian waited, but the ship didn¡¯t respond. Via his ship console, he sent out a sector wide communication.


    ¡°Why are you blocking ships from landing here? I need to transfer cargo.¡±


    Sector Communication [Fighter Prime] ¡°Oh, nobody told you? Let me be the one to inform you that you need a salvaging license for that. I can easily issue you one, provided you hand over 1,000,000 credits immediately.¡±


    Julian encountered his first scam. Scammers still exist in space huh? There¡¯s no law here?


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re just one of those thorns in my side. Care to tell me your name instead of hiding behind the mask of your ship?¡±


    Sector Communication [Fighter Prime] ¡°I could, but I could also lye to your face. Look, this matter could be resolved by just doing what I say and business can continue here uninterrupted. Otherwise, I¡¯ll have to shoot you down, in accordance with a Galbadia Prime law.¡±


    ¡°What law? There doesn¡¯t appear to be any law here of any kind. I suspect a fleet of patrol ships here, but nothing.¡±


    Sector Communication [Fighter Prime] ¡°That makes my job a whole lot easier ... Salvaging licenses is a good thing. They restrict people from just being able to salvage anywhere.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t say that in my help information that ships are restricted from salvaging. The Galactic Administration encourages it because it cleans space.¡±


    Sector Communication [Fighter Prime] ¡°They just informed me that it changed, and now all new residents to Galbadia Prime require a salvage license. I can supply you with one, as I¡¯ve said repeatedly now.¡±


    Julian could see that a cluster of ships was gathering behind him now, probably wondering what was going on and curious what the holdup was. Unfortunately, none of these ships were the fighting type. Two shuttles probably coming back from salvaging, an Asteroid Hauler going next door to Galbadia Alpha to haul a huge rock in, and a frater, which was a shuttle with more cargo space and salvage lines.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.¡°I don¡¯t believe you at all. Let me land.¡±


    Sector Communication [Fighter Prime] ¡°Thanks, but no thanks. Since this is your first fight ... I¡¯ll let you land, but it won¡¯t be pretty. You¡¯ll also have a few broken bones.¡±


    Suddenly, Fighter Prime¡¯s external lights flashed red, indicating Red alert. Julian also turned his ship to red Alert status; noting his single laser was operational. It wasn¡¯t meant for combat, and he knew he would lose, but Julian is not just going to take this laying down.


    The fighter Prime did get the first shot in. Pulling up the damage readout, Julian saw the hull was now at 80 percent integrity. The fighter Prime didn¡¯t even move when Julian locked on to his fighter with a cannon and two torpedoes, because he knew the weakness of shuttles. They aren¡¯t combat ships. Julian¡¯s puny laser, meanwhile, locked on and fired at Fighter Prime, but it missed. The fighter Prime got a second hit in, taking his ship down to 60 percent. He had just over half of his ship remaining. A third hit would knock it below half. Julian¡¯s laser finally hit, but it¡¯s not as though it did any good. It did only two points of damage, leaving Fighter Prime at 98 percent.


    Julian continued to fire with his useless weapon and Fighter Prime continued to prevail. When the shuttle had been finally destroyed and he was ejected into a rescue pod; he understood what Fighter Prime meant when they said that they¡¯ll let him land. The rescue pod headed to Galbadia Prime. Unfortunately, even the pod was blocked by that damned ... whatever the hell it was that Fighter Prime put up to prevent people from landing on the planet.


    There was no way to communicate in the pods, so Julian simply waited. It took a long time, but that thing, whatever it was, was destroyed and Julian¡¯s pod continued unabated to the landing pad of Galbadia Prime. Once the pod had ejected him, he was happy to note that he actually didn¡¯t have any broken bones.


    Julian now decided that the first order of business was to get a new ship again. Unfortunately, finances weren¡¯t the best right now. Sure, he has five million in the bank, one of that he could¡¯ve given to Fighter Prime dude and surrendered; what would be the point in that? Julian was a fighter, not a quitter. He resolved that he would buy a ship in a while, but first, he contacted Kim via his private link to see what she was up to.


    ¡°Kim? How are you?¡±


    Julian gave her the nickname Kim so her full name wouldn¡¯t show on-screen. Makes it easier on him at times.


    Private Communication [Kim] ¡°Julian! I¡¯m about to run a combat mission. Do you Wanna come along with us? We have four gunnery spots open, and one of them can be yours.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯m in. My ship was just destroyed by someone who thought it¡¯d be a good idea to scam people out of credits. I¡¯ll need a pickup from Galbadia.¡±


    Private Communication [Kim] ¡°I surely will. I would do that regardless anyhow. After a few of these missions, you should be able to manage the next shuttle which has more cargo space.¡±


    Soon enough, Kim¡¯s huge, armored to the teeth battleship landed.


    ¡°It¡¯s unlocked, come in.¡± Kim¡¯s voice blared over the ship¡¯s external PA system. Julian stepped into the airlock, followed by the ship proper. He was highly overwhelmed by the size of it when he noticed a sign point him to Weapons Deck 1. That taken care of, he noticed four weapon areas on deck. Three of them were already taken, but the fourth one was empty. He sat in the comfortable seat and proudly announced over the PA that he was ready in Weapons area 4.


    PA [Kim] ¡°I already got us a mission of moderate difficulty. Julian, I know it¡¯s your first time. Don¡¯t worry if you get stuck, we¡¯re working as a team here. I¡¯ll take you on an easier mission with just the two of us if you can¡¯t figure things out here.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the offer, Kim. I appreciate it, but I feel right at home using this weapon¡¯s console here. If your scanner sees ¡®em, I¡¯ll do my best to kill ¡®em. I did read up on this stuff before you picked me up.¡±


    PA [John] ¡°The noob has got this. Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Kim finally launched the ship. Julian had never been through a wormhole before using the jump drive in his ship; so the process the first time around was jarring to say the least. G-forces made him fall on his ass as the world seemed to warp around the ship at blinding speed. Since he wasn¡¯t the pilot, he had no idea where they were. Today, he fired weapons. It wasn¡¯t his job to be navigator.


    Julian felt the ship land ... somewhere. They waited for a while, as Kim just told them she had already accepted a mission from Golgard.


    ¡°So, what are we doing?¡±


    PA [Chris] ¡°Kim went to top off missiles. Relax man.¡±


    Sooner rather than later, they were in space again. The ship was moving, but as Julian wasn¡¯t in the control room, he had no idea where. He felt the ship go through a current. The ship was moving, but something felt different; it felt like some other force was pulling the ship to a new destination.


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    PA [Kim] ¡°That is a jumper, Julian. We have to fly to the Argons, our enemy. Either that, or they¡¯ll come to us, and that¡¯s a bad idea.¡±


    Julian nodded to himself, feeling no need to respond. The explanation was sufficient enough. Eventually, the first Argon ship came into view. Julian locked onto it, and fired his first missile of many. The fight was on!

 Chapter 6

    A barrage of missiles blasted every argon that came to confront Kim and her team of gunners. Julian, for his part, got a few killing blows in, but as Julian figured out; the fastest trigger fingers were given the credit for most of those. Julian noted that he got two million credits for that mission. That¡¯s great, but what are these points and how does he know how much he has?


    He kicked himself and scrolled through his computer menus to find that he had 20 points. That would mean he could do asteroid Hauling, litter cleanup, or go on a solo-difficulty combat mission. He didn¡¯t feel like buying the supplies for Asteroid Hauling. He decided he would buy a fighter and try solo combat.


    He entered the starship store to find that he indeed had enough credits, and the points necessary for a solo fighter combat ship. A triple million credits to the GCN (Galactic Network) saw Julian walking out to the landing pad with his very own fighter he christened, ¡°The Alamo.¡±


    ¡°Kim, I read in our help information that we get missions from Golgard in sector 25. How do we undertake them?¡±


    Private Communication [Kim] Use the jump-gate also located in the same sector.¡±


    ¡°I get it. I am Trying my first mission.¡±


    {Private Communication [Kim] ¡°Be careful, Julian. Do not be surprised if you lose this first one. Combat can be hard on a novice, but I will not discourage you.¡±


    ¡°That is some encouragement. Thank you.¡±


    Private Communication [Kim] ¡°Your welcome. If you learn to fight well, joining the GDF or Galbadia Defense Forces, is always an option open on the table. You may also want to think about choosing an alliance.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll consider my options. Right now, I¡¯m off to fight some Argies.¡±


    Private Communication [Kim] ¡°Good luck to you.¡±


    Julian soon occupied the Control Room of his single room combat ship. Just like in the cargo ships, the solo fighters had everything available on one console, unlike Kim¡¯s team purpose battleship with command decks, weapon chambers, and other amenities for leading groups of people. Julian would love to lead someday. For now, though, he launched his ship and headed for Golgard.


    Golgard, unlike his only previous planet he¡¯d been on, was a bustling city. Julian looked in awe at the interior of shops, homes, and even eateries. Julian thought about possibly renting a home here so he didn¡¯t have to sleep in his cramped ships. When he learned that homes can only be bought in Golgard, not rented, he was disappointed. He was even more dismayed to find out that they were for ¡°Perm residents of Galbadia Prime Online¡± only. He found what he was looking for. The ¡°Mission Center¡± located just inside the Spaceport Entrance. There are several places that Julian could venture around in here, but Julian went for the ¡°easy¡± difficulty mission. The mission data suggested it wouldn¡¯t be too hard. With only two ships he would have to worry about, Julian felt reasonably confident that he could pull it off. [If not, he would live and learn.]


    Julian selected the mission for his ship. He launched and was about to head for the jump-gate now visible on the Star-map.


    Private Communication [Kim] ¡°Julian, did you get some ammo for your weapons at Mission Center? Without it, you¡¯ll be crushed, even if it is only two standard Argon fighters.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think of that. How should I supply them? I thought that these fighters came with weapons.¡±


    Private Communication [Kim] They do, but no ammo to use them.¡±


    ¡°I see. Thank you for the warning; I would go commit ship suicide.¡±


    Private Communication [Kim] ¡°It is no problem. Again, I say to you, good luck.¡±


    Julian bought as many ammo boxes as he could afford of each weapon that was loaded into the weapon bay. Right now, he had it pretty simple. He hoarded every ammo box from the mission services store. He bought Missiles and Torpedoes ammo hopefully for some weeks to come.


    Back to the task at hand, Julian launched the fighter with a renewed sense of purpose, instructing autopilot to navigate him to ¡°Golgard mission Jump-Gate.¡±


    The jump was both uneventful and successful. Julian scanned the current sector to see where the closest ship was. Satisfied that he was far out of range, he decided to instruct autopilot to take him to the edge of the sector. While he still wasn¡¯t in range of any of the two ships, the closest one was gaining on him faster than if he had just stayed at the other edge of the sector after jumping. Suddenly, the argon had a lock on Julian. He quickly switched to manual pilot, moved one unit away, locked and fired a torpedo on it. The hit was successful, but Julian noted that almost no damage had been dealt because of the Argon ship¡¯s armor blocking most of the blow. He needed to get at the ship¡¯s systems, particularly scanning and weapons for greater effect. Before he had known it, Julian was boxed in by both ships. Scanning the second ship, Julian saw that this ship had a Photon Cannon. It also was packing more armor than its brother, making it all the more dangerous.


    Julian¡¯s ship didn¡¯t have armor, and the little armor it did have was pathetic. Julian didn¡¯t notice the Photon Cannon shot until it was too late to move out of the way and took the full force of the blast, right on the ship¡¯s hull. The ship¡¯s integrity went from 100 percent to 30 percent in an eye blink! Julian moved the ship three units east. The effort was useless because he can¡¯t fire on a ship less than one unit away. He started repairs on the hull of the ship. The nanite drones took their time repairing the hull, telling Julian that it would take two minutes, max. Julian started creeping to ship number one, which he had only hit with an insufficient torpedo. This time, he would fire on the bastard with a missile and see whether that would bring the ship down a few notches. If Julian could get through its one layer of armor, destroying it won¡¯t be much of an issue. It was big brother over their behind him, which would be a serious problem if he cannot stay away from that Photon Cannon.


    Julian was one unit away from the smaller ship. He reloaded his missiles and noted what a terrible mistake that was. Locked and loaded, it would fire on him when Julian quickly moved south one unit while the missile reloading cool-down took place. Reinvigorated, Julian moved north, locked and fired a missile. Now that was the proper move. The missile struck the ship dead center, burning through a good portion of the ship armor in the process. [Stupid five second cool down!] Julian waited and fired again. This time after he fired, he moved one-unit east. Big brother was only two units south of him. If Julian moved south, Julian would be in the path of that Photon Cannon.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.Now, he was in the same boat he was in earlier when the mission began. Little brother and Big Brother were one unit away from each other. They sat there, like the NPCs they were, waiting for Julian to fall for their rather simple trap. The trap was that right now, if he went head to head with them, he would have to go through big brother first. Julian thought he had a sensible strategy. Big Brother didn¡¯t sit in one spot for long; the ships do come after the player if they wait too long. Julian decided that no matter what, he needed to face Big Brother alone. Big Brother had powerful weapons, but had the disadvantage over his little brother. It was slower, which was to Julian¡¯s advantage now. He decided he would move 15 units east. In doing so, both ships will follow him as they always will, but he¡¯ll be able to get Little Brother far enough from Big Brother where he may have an advantage at destroying the sucker. Then, he¡¯ll deal with Photon Cannon like a boss, he hoped.


    Carrying out his plan, Julian noticed that Big Brother moved first. That scared Julian a bit, but Little Brother overtook him and soon enough, Little Brother was thirteen units east of his previous location. Two units later, Julian wasted no time in firing a missile at it. [Owned!] The hit was successful again.


    Julian continued to fire missiles at Little Brother, whittling his enemy down. Julian, to thwart Big Brother, moved in a pattern of east and south a few units, and Little Brother followed along like Julian¡¯s little puppy dog. With a sigh of relief, Julian destroyed Little Brother with 100 percent ship integrity remaining. Now, it was time to prepare for the ultimate cat and mouse fight that was Big Brother.


    Big Brother, almost as though he knew his comrade is down, put on a bit of speed. It wasn¡¯t much, but it got things rolling a bit faster. Julian moved five units west; ready to move and fire at will. The cannon, unfortunately for Julian, had only a one-second Cool-down speed. This means that Julian had to be quick to move out of the way of any incoming cannon fire. So, it was just his luck that Big Brother got yet a second shot in with that blasted cannon when Julian attempted to get a lock on it. Since the cannon was designed to tear through armor like cheese, against unarmored ships it was all but unstoppable. This cat and mouse game was intense. Know, Julian did not have to find Big Brother at all. Julian kept moving one unit east every time Big Brother got close. Julian had to fire quickly enough to get a hit in while also moving directly out of the way of any cannon fire. Eventually, this whittled Big Brother down until he was destroyed, but not at the cost of Julian¡¯s fighter. It suffered critical losses resulting from the several cannon hits it had taken. Julian was dismayed that his jump drive worked, but the engine that was responsible to actually move the ship and land on Golgard was impossible. Time to enlist the help of his mentor to see whether she could help tow the ship there.


    ¡°I have an emergency here, Kim.¡±


    Julian waited for a while, but there was no answer. He tried again, and still, no answer.


    Julian tried to ask on the distress channel if anybody could help get a downed, non-fully functional combat ship to Galbadia Prime. Somebody named Ashley offered to help out. ¡°I have only shuttle, will that work? I not know what needs.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Will it?¡±


    General Communication [Shane] ¡°You need a docking bay for that, dumb dumbs.¡±


    ¡°How the hell should I get that? I can¡¯t help it if my engines are destroyed.¡±


    General Communication [Shane] ¡°Yes you can. Repair it next time, noob.¡±


    General Communication [Cory] ¡°If you have a basic fighter without a docking bay and any of its core components are toasted, you¡¯ll have to unfortunately say your piece with the ship and toast it, if you know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°Could I have gotten a docking bay on this fighter before going on my first solo?¡±


    General Communication [Shane] ¡°Yup, this is by far the truest noob on here right now. You couldn¡¯t even best me earlier when I confronted you after salvaging earlier this morning. Great, you destroyed two NPCs. They left you battered and broke. Feels great doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    General Communication [Cory] ¡°Shane, you remember when you were a newbie? Furthermore, do you remember when you were a combat virgin, taking the first step to truly understanding combat with your first solo? I do.¡±


    General Communication [Shane] ¡°Guess what, Cory? I happen to be smarter than you and actually spent time with some GCU members. We made friends; enemies, and we kicked hella ass. Julian who did the game assign you to for a mentor?¡±


    ¡°I was assigned Kimberly Aldrich. Let me guess: she sucks?¡±


    General Communication [Shane] ¡°No, actually she¡¯s quite hot, but that¡¯s it. She knows nothing about game mechanics, though she insists she¡¯s helping players at large by introducing them to the role-play. Bunch of no count pussy¡¯s I say. Whatever happened to killing everything in sight?¡±


    General Communication [Ashley] ¡°I no like killing everything.¡±


    General Communication [Shane] ¡°Well, you best get used to it, girl, because you will die a lot in this game. Now, Julian, about your problem you asked about on the distress channel? Self-destruct that junk and start Roid Hauling to get some money. Combat is too over your head right now. Little baby steps, baby steps.¡±


    General Communication [Cory] ¡°Shane, I¡¯d very much disagree with that. He came back from his mission victorious but just needs some help getting-¡±


    General Communication [Shane] ¡°Any mission that you came back from with core systems out of shape doesn¡¯t sound like a great victory to me at all, Cory. I think Alchemy fucked your brain over when they uploaded it to the Galactic Network. Come to think of it, that piece of shit network could be hacked in real life and if it blows up, we and the entire game wouldn¡¯t exist. Any of you ever thought of that?¡±


    Julian tuned the general channel out. It started off as a message sent to distress, but Shane changed it to general, naturally. Julian decided that the only course of action was too indeed self-destruct the ship, and forfeit any ¡°official¡± mission reward there might have been as a result of not being able to land or dock with any planet or space station.


    Julian self-destructed his fighter, and he was ejected into an escape pod. The pod safely maneuvered him to Galbadia Prime. [I think I need some shuteye.]


    Julian entered his salvager and closed his eyes. The game immediately complied, simulating a sleep environment.


    Soon, Ethan woke up in his gaming rig. He was sweating from the surprisingly long day of activities he did today. Next up, he would apply to become a permanent player.

 Chapter 7

    ¡°We congratulate you, Julian Matthews. The results of your Perma status are complete. We detect zero errors. Pleas awaken.¡±


    I heard that voice; that scary, creepy male robotic voice pound in my eardrums, snapping me awake. I felt great. Actually, I feel rested, something that was lacking when I chose to undergo this process two days before. There¡¯s many fragments to be filled over this two-day period. I wasn¡¯t the one to make this life-changing decision; for example, the person who was responsible, is gone. This other person controlled me from a console. To him, I was just some Avatar in some game. With him gone, I guess I have a brain of some sort now?


    First, I¡¯m glad to be alive and sitting in this chamber, ready to push this damn thing opened and get back to my ship. I have no memories of this other person, only what Alchemy staff told me during the briefing. I couldn¡¯t do anything. I witnessed it, but the person who was controlling the console somewhere completely different was responsible for my actions.


    I finally pushed the door of this small, dark chamber open to reveal a room with technicians. I waved at them, letting them know I was ready to go, and noticed one thing that was different. Every physical action I take now, whether it is pushing a door open just now or waving, I feel a small tickle behind my head. I opened my mouth for the first time as a perma citizen of Galbadia Prime.


    ¡°Hello.¡±


    I was happy to note that I still sounded the same. There goes that tickle though.


    ¡°Hey, why do I feel this tickle-like sensation in the back of my head every time I do something as basic as waving or moving my hand?¡±


    ¡°That is the nurrelisers taking effect.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it in time,¡± one of the techs said at me. ¡°The biggest notable difference to the entire process is that you¡¯ll sleep and wake up in the same place,¡± he says.


    I nodded. ¡°What do you acquire of me now?¡± I ask.


    One of the female techs looked over at me now. ¡°Nothing, Julian, you are free to go,¡± she says. ¡°Be sure to talk to customs right next door. I hear they offer a few luxuries to those that have become a permanent resident of Galbadia Prime.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I won¡¯t pass that up. Thanks!¡± I say.


    Alchemy didn¡¯t allow anybody to bring anything when becoming perma, so I let myself out of the room and, just as the young female said, customs were right next door. Eager to get out of this building and return to life, I entered with a gate suggesting I meant business. I walked up to the counter and did a quick double tap with my knuckles. I¡¯m not sure why, considering that nobody was there. A sign above the counter suggested I should press the green button on it, and an officer would be there shortly. I did that, and a five-second buzz permeated the room.


    A short, scruffy male came out for me. His name tag read, ¡°Robert Smith.¡±


    ¡°Hello, Robert. My name is Julian Matthews-¡±


    ¡°You are the new guy who just became a Permanent citizen of this world?¡± He asks.


    I nodded. ¡°I am, and I heard there was some post-benefits afterward,¡± I say.


    ¡°Many benefits become available to you now that you are Perma,¡± he says. ¡°One such benefit is a new luxury vessel.¡±


    ¡°What are the features?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Most notably, it comes equipped with eight living quarters,¡± Robert says. ¡°These have beds. The ship is also fitted for combat. Two plasma cannons, missiles, and torpedoes for backup if you need them. They¡¯ll even throw in a laser that does extra damage,¡± Robert says.


    ¡°Is there a catch?¡± I ask.


    ¡°We don¡¯t pull any punches,¡± Robert says. ¡°What we tell you you¡¯re getting is what you get. However, the Galactic Council does hope that it¡¯s most valuable residents, of which you are one now, Julian, considers joining the Galaxy Defense Force or GDF,¡± Robert says. ¡°Not only would you serve the galaxy in a time of need, you will also increase your combat skills. The GDF pays huge sums of credits to those who can prove their worth on the battlefield,¡± Robert says.


    ¡°Got it,¡± I say. ¡°So how can I get my hands on my new ship?¡±


    ¡°Everything is setup,¡± Robert says. ¡°All you have to do is simply sign this, confirming that it is Julian Matthews.¡±


    I watched as he reached for a circular fingerprint scanner. First, he let the object scan his finger and held it out for me to do the same. I responded by placing my thumb on top of it. It beeped at me, indicating, I hope that my signing of the ship in my name is complete. Robert then handed me an item.


    ¡°Simply hand this to the ship store clerk at your home planet, Galbadia Prime,¡± he says. ¡°The clerk will do the rest, and from there it¡¯s just like buying a new ship.¡±


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.¡°Thank you, Robert. I appreciate this,¡± I say.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem. There¡¯s a transport taxi right outside to swiftly take you back to Galbadia Prime,¡± he says.


    I nodded and left customs. As expected, a hover taxi was waiting for me at the curb. It was on autopilot, so I hopped into it. The doors shut, and the taxi lifted off in one smooth, preset motion.


    ¡°Destination: Galbadia Prime,¡± the dashboard spoke.


    On the ride home, I reflected on what I¡¯ve done. For me, it was a higher quality of life. Before, I was just doing what somebody else told me to do. If this person told me to engage a fighter in a salvager, that¡¯s what I did. No questions asked. Would I ever do that now? No, I will never subject myself to that again. That fight was suicide. I knew it, and I¡¯m pretty sure the person controlling me knew it too. If I didn¡¯t have an escape pod handy, I wouldn¡¯t be in this taxi right now, going home to that very same ship. Provided this item works that Robert gave me, I shall sell the solo fighter ship I bought three days ago and had my very first victory in, for a much securer, much better fighting ship, so they say.


    The trip home was not long at all. The Taxi descended and hovered over the landing area which I¡¯ve become so accustomed. I stepped out, and the taxi hovered up and away. I was on my own. The first stop is the communication store, for a new communicator.


    I decided to go with a black and green unit this time and exited the store. The ship store, with all its blandness, was by far the most exciting. I walked in as I owned the place, and the emotionless, grey bot that was the ship clerk stood in the corner where it always was. It didn¡¯t have any hands, so giving my special item to it would prove difficult. I saw his one eye opened, and it stayed that way. I tried something. Taking out the item, I held it close to the magnetic eye. The clerk¡¯s eye snatched it from my hand as though I was never supposed to have the thing.


    ¡°Congratulations, Julian Matthews, for being a permanent resident of Galbadia Prime,¡± it says without any tone. ¡°Please hold your computer up to my eye to continue.¡±


    I held up my newly registered computer to the eye. The robot nodded, and instead of giving me a price for this new ship, it simply asked me what I wanted to name it. I named this new ship, ¡°The Regulator.¡±


    This ship is definitely bigger, and better, than my previous offerings. The airlock was the same, but once inside, the ship is a beauty welcome home gift. Entering from the airlock, I started on the Command Deck. In front of me was the Control Room. To the left of me was some room I¡¯ve never come across yet. Down below the control room was, the cargo hold. In the center of the command deck was a Turbo lift. Pressing the Call button, followed by a floor I wanted to go too would swiftly transport me there. There were Points of Interest buttons I noted as well. They are Living Quarters, Combat Deck and recreation Deck, among others. There are other buttons, but they all said Customize. I would have to figure out what that was all about in due time.


    Testing out the lift, I headed over to it and pressed the living Quarters button. The ship responded, by not doing anything. I suddenly remembered that powering on the ship from the control room would be a good idea. I went in and started up the power on sequence. Once done, the call button worked. I pressed to call, and while the lift came down, I pressed ¡°LQ¡±. As swiftly as I got in, I was immediately lifted one floor and forcefully ejected from the pod as it quickly resettled into the ground.


    Robert told me there were eight living quarters on this ship. Only one was marked Captain; however, and required my fingerprint to open it. I can see why this was designated my quarters only. It has the command functions in it to control some functions of the ship from here. I could turn off the power from here, there is a solar button, and I¡¯m not sure what that does, and there is also an Emergency button. I¡¯m not messing with any of these buttons now, only one, and that is power. It is 2 AM Galactic Standard Time, and despite still being rested, I do not have the energy to work right now. I pressed power, and noted the ship fade into a very soft, quiet sound as the systems powered off. I pulled down the cover of my very own bed, followed by the sheets over the pillow, and fell into a deep sleep. I did not simply fade out of existence and relinquish control. That person was gone. I am Julian Matthews, and I have full control of my destiny.