Otherlife Awakening: The Selfless Hero Trilogy

by William D. Arand

  Srit’s eyelids slid open to reveal her bright green eyes. She stared into him unblinkingly.

  He imagined multitudes of planet servers and ships were ramping up into full usage in a single second as she woke up.

  Three seconds passed before her eyes came to life, a tiny smile blossoming on her face.

  “Good morning.”

  “Morning, Sunshine. Good dreams?”

  “I’m unsure if you would qualify them as dreams, though I do see things while I sleep. System change notifications. Ship messages. It’s interesting and creates some awkward thoughts.”

  “That does sound different.” Runner reached out to poke Srit in the nose. “Today will be interesting. I didn’t get a chance to talk to you about it last night, but after yesterday’s assassination attempt, I’m going to be moving my timeline up.”

  “Ah. I understand. I’ve been running multitudes of scenarios through my resources. I’ll provide whatever consultation I can for you.”

  “Thanks, Sunshine.” Runner leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips and then patted her cheek. “I appreciate it. Time to start the day I’m afraid. Kitten has been coming in the mornings to make sure I’m up and moving.”

  Srit only nodded her head, watching him from the covers. Runner slid free of the covers, stood up from the bed, and made his way to the wardrobe.

  Pulling at the knobs, he opened it to reveal the interior.

  He had taken to using furniture as it should be used in the real world. Removing a set of clothes from the inventory window that opened for him, he checked his character pane.

  Name:

  Runner

  Level:

  37

  Class:

  Race:

  Human

  Experience:

  99%

  Alignment:

  Good

  Reputation:

  5,020

  Fame:

  18,455

  Bounty:

  0

  Attributes-

  Strength:

  1

  Constitution:

  1(31)

  Dexterity:

  15(45)

  Intelligence:

  15(45)

  Agility:

  9(39)

  Wisdom:

  1

  Stamina:

  1(31)

  Charisma:

  64(124)

  He was using what he had come to call his “generalist” build. It provided him with the greatest flexibility.

  Able to adapt to most things but not being able to dominate in anything. It was his modus operandi, except for charisma.

  Master of charisma. The charisma sorcerer. Enchanting motherfucker.

  He quickly confirmed that everything was in order. Which meant it was time to get this wagon train rolling. As well as his plans for conquest.

  Vix will be mine.

  9:01 am Sovereign Earth time

  12/22/43

  “Good morning, everyone,” Runner greeted his cabinet. Everyone already had a full plate and was waiting.

  “Any updates today? I know we had our staff meeting yesterday, so no need to repeat old news.”

  Hannah cleared her throat and dove in before anyone else could step up.

  “A bunch of emissaries from Helen, Vasilios, and Basile arrived this morning. The one from Basile is a weaselly little politician.” Hannah paused and looked annoyed.

  “I’ve already taken the liberty of finding out their reason for being here. They’ve all brought the answer from their sovereign. They’ve all elected to nominate Norwood as the host location.”

  “I don’t understand. Do they mean wherever I decide?”

  “No, they mean North Wood, except they all call it Norwood. Even our own people call it Norwood. Change the name already, fuck stick. I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea of hosting it here. Especially after yesterday.”

  “I’m not so sure, Hannah,” Thana said. “Honestly, I think it would be good for us as a nation. Though I do agree with her, dear heart. Change the name already.”

  Isabelle tapped the table as if she’d come to a decision of her own. “I’m with Thana, my lord. If we can get ahead of this, I think we could really boost our economy. Not to mention establish some more relations with business owners. I’m sure they’ll all travel with their courts.”

  “I cannot disagree more. Sir, this would stretch Norwood’s Own to the very limits. Let alone Katarina’s city guard. It’s not something we can support completely.”

  Katarina grunted and nodded, throwing in her agreement to Sophia’s point.

  Runner looked to Faye and quirked a brow.

  “Don’t look at me, Lord Runner. I agree with both Miss Hannah and Miss Thana. I’m a general, yet I can see both sides being valid. Give me an army and a direction and I’ll do anything for you.”

  Finally, Runner looked to Srit.

  “Any statistical answers or scenario thoughts?”

  “No. Nothing that would help sway the conversation one way or the other.”

  “Right, then. Pause on this for a few then. My own topic will answer this to a degree. Any other updates?”

  “The emissaries will ask for an audience with you today, I’m sure, dear heart. How would you like me to schedule them?”

  “Ugh. Can you handle them, my beloved chancellor?”

  “Possible, but why?”

  “Because the timing annoys me. On top of that, they arrive the day after an assassin makes an attempt on my life. Call me paranoid, but I’d rather not give them another opportunity that would be so easily expected and easy to predict.”

  “In that case, I understand. I’ll take care of it.” Thana jotted down a note in the ledger she had been carrying with her to morning meetings.

  “What else?”

  “Sir, the reserves have received their kits. Though at this point, there is little difference between the reserve and the active, other than pay.” Sophia rested her chin on her fist, leaning to one side in her chair. “Maybe I’m being greedy, but I’d like to activate the reserve, and then recruit a new reserve to take their place. You already admitted there’s enough gear to kit even the new reserve if needed.”

  “In other words, you’re telling me you want to triple Norwood’s Own.” Runner’s curiosity was piqued. Sophia didn’t ask for things without being able to justify them.

  “I do, sir. After yesterday, and hearing the news about the royalty wishing to come to Norwood, I desire this. I would ask this of you as a personal favor if it would sway you at all, sir.”

  “Done. Belle, make the arrangements.”

  “Ah, just like that, sir? I’m not going to complain about it but…” Sophia looked shocked. Runner imagined she had prepared all number of arguments for him.

  “Yep. I know for a fact that not one person here would disagree with you.” Nods around the table emphasized that point. “Rather than waste time, I’ll agree. Though that means I’ll need to make a triple set of replacement gear. I’ll try to have that together soon, but I need to work with Kitten and Sparky.”

  Runner suddenly moved his eyes to Faye.

  “Speaking of, you didn’t get me your form.”

  “I, ah, apologize. I saw Srit waiting for you outside your door. I felt it would be best to come back at a later time.”

  “Alright, you’re with me after the meeting then.”

  Faye nodded her head in acceptance of his order.

  “Nothing else? Good. As a general reminder, the clusterfuck in the mainland has gone from war to outright genocide. It’ll only get worse. Rike, Rannulf, and Lambart are all competing for resources down there.

  “Next, while it doesn’t concern you, you’ll be glad to know that the medical server stopped disconnecting people. Apparently, it was removing everyone who failed mental stimuli, including an EEG. Everyone else is alive and able to choose between stasis or staying awake and using the general systems of the ship. They won’t be returni
ng to the game. Ever.

  “For everyone I didn’t banish from the game—those who didn’t stand against us—I’ve moved them to the medical server but I haven’t logged them off as of yet. I’m still contemplating on what to do with them. From what I can tell, most of them realized they were immortal and fled for the mainland.

  “Finally, I’m moving my timeline up. Considerably. I want Vix as a whole under our control before we play host.” Runner let that statement settle over them.

  The proclamation struck the room like a lightning bolt.

  “Sparky, tomorrow you’ll be taking our forces and moving southwest. I need the frontier towns put in order. Find a location for a fort down there to act as a training camp and garrison. Use the engineers to get it set up and begin drawing resources from here. We’ll discuss your requirements after this, so use the time from now till then to update your needs.”

  Faye had a grim smile on her face. She was a soldier. Something like this would give her a clear-cut goal and an end result that she could put herself fully into.

  “Kitten, Lady Death, you’ll be leaving day after tomorrow as my emissaries to Helen, Vasilios, and Basile.”

  Both women looked shocked at this, Katarina opening her mouth to argue with him as Thana actually stood up.

  “Please. I know, I don’t like it either, and I’ll miss you both terribly, but this is my need. I have to use both of you for your skills and connections in this.”

  Thana sat back down, mastering herself with the poise and force of will he knew her for.

  “Yes, dear heart,” came the clipped response.

  Katarina looked like she had been told her meal was made of poison, braised in toilet water, and seasoned with horse shit. Eventually she nodded once as her bright mind more than likely came to the same answer he had. Sending her and Thana was truly his best course of action.

  “Grace, you’ll need to be quick on your hiring. Or hire a recruiting team to work on it when you’re indisposed. Actually, that’s not a terrible idea. We don’t exactly have a solid human resources department.”

  Runner pulled his brain back on track as it started to wander off.

  “Anyways, you’ll be sending half the active company with Kitten and Lady Death, the other half with Sparky, and leaving the new active company here. They’ll need to train and get themselves put together into workable groups before they’re viable. You’ll also need to get your new reserve up to snuff quickly. I can’t even begin to imagine we’ll keep casualty free forever. On top of that, make sure your second-in-command is up to speed.”

  “Immediately, sir.”

  “Minxy?”

  Amelia popped into existence, dressed in her normal dark leathers. Her face was unblemished, her eyes bright and healthy.

  Whole.

  “Anything for you, lovey. Anything.” She sat on the table next to him, putting herself between him and Hannah. Her hands leapt up on their own to hold onto his armor.

  “Hanners, I plan to accept the request to play as the host nation. I need you to work with Minxy to get us into top gear for intelligence and counterespionage. I expect you two to be talking. Daily.”

  “That… could be a challenge, lovey. I’m a goddess and we operate within a certain rule set. I admit I’m not exactly the poster child for following it, but—”

  “For every hour you spend with Hanners, I’ll give you thirty minutes of my time.” Runner interrupted her. He was betting that deals favorable to a divine’s disposition would allow rules to be superseded. “Alone time. No, that doesn’t mean sex either. That means time with one another to be spent as we see fit. I’m open to suggestions on how you’d like to spend that time, but I won’t promise anything.”

  “Done.” Her hands gave a soft tug on his armor, as if she wanted to pull him closer.

  “Thank you, Minxy. Hanners, make use of her. Squeeze everything out of her. Make her time worth my time. She’s a goddess after all. A powerful one. Aren’t you, Minxy?”

  Amelia grinned at him and winked out of existence instead of answering him.

  Being generous to her only makes her more bold.

  “Belle, consider yourself on detached duty to me. I’ll need you at my side as we put everything in order for North Wood. Or Norwood, I suppose. Get the finances under control and start passing them off to whoever is your second and Sunshine.”

  “Happily, my lord.”

  “And speaking of our beloved Sunshine. You’ll remain here at Norwood and act as central command. Forgive me, but as proficient as you are at multitasking and providing support, no one could act as a hub better than you.”

  “I understand. The email system will be down for quite a while, however. I’m upgrading the entire network on the ship, and I’ll be unable to stop until its completion. All communications will need to be the slow, in game variety.

  “Equally important to this conversation based on your orders, it sounds as if you’ll be leaving Norwood as well. Can you elaborate?”

  “I am. A week ago our scouts brought info of a city that’s come together in the northwest. That was all the info we could get without endangering the scouts. I’ll be heading that way to bring them into my domain. This needs to be done as soon as possible.” Runner contemplated leaving it at that but felt he had to be honest with them.

  “On the return I’ll be visiting the port city of Vix and bringing them under the banner of Norwood as well. I plan on renaming the city so there is no confusion as to who leads this isle. Consider me open to naming suggestions.”

  Runner ran his hand through his hair as he fought back a sigh. Personally he had a name in mind for the city, but he wouldn’t share it with them until they had a chance to think up their own suggestions.

  “This will also provide me protection by not being here, where assassins will be looking for me. I plan on leaving within the week once everything is prepared. I’ll be taking Belle and Grace with me, and we’ll be traveling in Boxy. Grace, choose our guard accordingly. Consider the fact that we do not have any tanks amongst those already going and we’ll be a little light on the clandestine side of things.”

  “Sir,” Sophia affirmed.

  “Please don’t forget to feed Nibbles, Sunshine. Everyone, enjoy your breakfast. Sparky, I’ll be in my room. I expect to see you when you’re done here.” Runner had eaten his breakfast quickly while the rest still loaded their plates. He had wanted to give them time to talk without him being present after hearing the change of plans.

  When he exited the dining hall, his personal guard fell in behind him. Runner ducked into his private rooms, and half of his guard followed him in. They gave him his privacy during the evening and morning, but never during the day.

  Five came inside with him, while five stayed outside.

  Sinking into a chair in the antechamber, Runner went through his mental checklist for the rest of the day.

  Work out the numbers with Sparky. Lunch with Alexia, finish the receiver so I can take their unneeded resources.

  Runner felt tired already but knew there was a lot left to be done. After today’s “to-do list,” he would spend most of his time getting ready for the journey north.

  Before that, he still needed to figure out all that Srit had done.

  He opened the ship’s system and started to go through all the changes Srit had made. By her own admission, they might just become “space-worthy,” as it were.

  Runner sat flipping through the logs, requisitions, and system status screens for the better part of an hour before Faye arrived.

  “Sir, reporting as instructed.”

  “At ease, General. We’ll be moving to the bedroom. You may all remain in the antechamber or the study.” Runner looked up from the screen he was working through to address his guard.

  As one, his guard saluted while Runner took to his feet and stood up. Motioning towards Faye, he opened his bedroom door and entered.

  Faye looked uncomfortable when Runner glanced behind at her b
efore she finally followed him in.

  Closing the door, Runner clicked his tongue. “Relax, Sparky, you know that isn’t to my tastes. Forcing women into my bed is the last thing I’d ever do. I admit you’re definitely in the strike zone for me with your personality alone. Not what you’re here for though. You’re my general, not my sex slave.”

  Faye’s eyebrows slammed together at his comments. The human computer that could bulldoze through tactics and strategies, second only to Srit, looked puzzled.

  And annoyed.

  “That’s not what’s bothering me,” she admitted.

  “Then what is it? Be honest with me, you know I hate having to dig.” Runner sat down in a chair partnered to a small breakfast table. Gesturing at the chair in front of him, he waited.

  Faye sat herself down with the dignified air she normally had about her. Her gray eyes then latched to his and bore into him.

  “You are sending me away with the entirety of your army. To the point that I will be the highest commanding officer. You yourself will not be in Norwood.” Faye said it as if it had more meaning than the words themselves.

  Runner thought on that, running it through his mind a couple times before he finally got it. Without thinking about it, he had set her up in a perfect position for a military coup.

  “Oh. Yeah, I’m not worried about you, Sparky. I trust you implicitly. That’s not to say I’m naive enough to give the keys to the kingdom to someone else, but you? Not even a question. Was that all?”

  Faye looked at the table and seemed more annoyed if anything while crossing her arms underneath her chest defensively.

  “Faye.”

  Her gray eyes snapped up to his again. He rarely used their real names except to make a point or get their attention.

  “Faye, what’s wrong?”

  “I don’t understand you. Your personality. You don’t make sense.”

  “Yeah, and? You’re not the first to tell me that, probably not the last.”