"Welcome folks, our first guest today most of you will know. Please give him a warm welcome, Mr. Todd Jennings, owner of Afterlife Corporation.' the crowd hooted and hollered as the man walked onto the stage waving to everyone before taking Jasmine's hand and shaking it before sitting down. 'Before we get into anything, thank you for joining us today Mr. Jennings." the hostess told him and he smiled at her.

"Jasmine, I insist you call me Todd and I used to watch the Wire before you were even made hostess to this show. Thank you for the invitation and a very warm welcome." Todd responded before looking at the crowd again and waving.

Jasmine smiled at him, "Well glad you enjoy the show, and since you are a fan you know we ask a couple of questions based on what our audience provides us and what our producers come up with as well. Our first question is from Bill, he is wondering if it is true that almost every NPC and Monster within Afterlife is run by an A.I.?" Jasmine prompted and I smiled.

"Yes and no, ever NPC's oversees a general area of each world, like a Dungeon or town, and they keep everything running. For example, planting crops to sell in a nearby city or control monster attacks in a Dungeon. Now at times yes an A.I. will take over a direct interaction because Afterlife has only a certain amount of scripted events, most of what happens in Afterlife is the results of the players' actions." Todd replied earning a smile from Jasmine.

"Can you give us an example?" the hostess prompted and Todd nodded.

"Absolutely, lets say you got PK Guild camping a mine or harassing a road where merchant caravans travel. If enough complaints are lodged with the local magister, it will generate a quest with the Adventurers Guild to patrol the road or help battle the group for the mine." Todd explained causing Jasmine to nod.

"Very well, the next question from Shanna is, do you plan on allowing Adventurers to explore the High Heavens or Abyss?" Jasmine prompted and Todd frowned.

"Both Planes are accessible from Midgard at this moment in time, just no one has discovered how to get to either location easily and no stable Portals exist between the Planes at this time. So mass travel between the Planes does not exist.' Todd replied with an apologetic shrug of his shoulders. 'Now before you ask, yes there are ways to create stable portals between the Planes, and there are even some events that could cause this, but none of them have happened yet?" Todd replied earning an appraising glance from Jasmine.

"Which brings us to the next question, would Adventurers have to worry about the Twice-Cursed gaining access to Midgard?" Jasmine asked and Todd chuckled ruefully.

"Once you open a door and leave it open, can you complain about who comes through? The Twice-Cursed all reside within the Abyss or the prisons of Tartarus or the Netherworld. Currently, none of them have made it to Midgard or the High Heavens. Is it possible for them to make it to either Plane, yes but it would be just as difficult for them as it is for any Adventurer or Blessed." Todd replied with a comforting smile.

"This question comes from Jacob, and this is a big one, rumors are flying around in certain circles that the Seals on the prisons are being compromised by the Forsaken, if that is true what could be the results from a breakout?" Jasmine asked and Todd froze slightly then frowned as he sat back.

"Worse case scenario?' Todd asked the hostess in return and she nodded. 'Currently, the beings within Tartarus and the Netherworld, from my understanding, are held in suspended animation. That is how Jaime, the governing A.I. of Afterlife explained it to me. It would take time for the beings there to recover and not all of them would be freed at once. Yet it would be an all-out invasion of the Abyss and Midgard, and possibly even the High Heavens depending on what the A.I.'s decided. These beings are Demons and Fallen gods that were very close to winning the first Great War when they were defeated and they will come back with a vengeance if released." Todd told her, no amusement played across his face this time.

"Wouldn't the Abyss and their people side with the Demons that were locked up?" Jasmine asked after recovering.

Todd snorted, "No, the people of the Abyss are not pure Demons like the prisoners of Tartarus and the Netherworld, they are the bastard offspring of Demons and Mortals. Few pure blood Demons exist outside the two prisons at this time. Comparing to those imprisoned is like comparing Humans to monkeys, very distantly related but not at all alike." the developer explained.

"But they have Demon in them, so that makes them evil, right?" Jasmine prompted and Todd snorted.

"Who and what you are doesn't make you evil or good, the choices you make define who you are. Let's say you take an Angel from the High Heavens and a Demon from the Abyss, the Angel wipes out a whole village to the last child and the Demon saves a life of a child, does that make their actions evil and good?' Todd prompted her making her frown as he continued 'What if I told you that the village was harboring a group of Forsaken and the child the Demons saved grows into a Tyrant that subjugates tens of thousands of people and kills hundreds of innocents? Good and evil are not so easily defined nor can we know the consequences of our actions easily. Only time will tell if someone is good or evil." Todd replied making Jasmine smile.

"Well, that is certainly something to think about. Now questions from Darius, has anyone been placed in the Abyss and given the Twice-Cursed status that did not earn it? I think our guest is worried that an innocent man or woman is having their memories stripped from them and doesn't deserve the punishment." Jasmine explained and Todd smiled.

"No, everyone that is placed in the Abyss as punishment, goes through all the normal channels demanded by the laws that govern us. If they end up in the Abyss or one of the prisons of Afterlife, they earned it and are punished under the laws every nation agreed to." Todd replied calmly.

Jasmine studied Todd then nodded, "Very well, there you have it straight from Todd Jennings owner and the original mind behind Afterlife. When we come back we will bring you Danial St. Claire of the Silver Guard and the great question plaguing Midgard currently. Is the Silver Guard serving the greater good or just themselves? All that and more when we get back from our commercial break people, stay tuned for the Wire." the cameras cut out as a commercial started playing.

I sighed as the tv started playing a stupid commercial about the latest energy drink, idiotic, and had a stupid song that got in your head no matter what you did. I looked around the room, I was one of about a dozen people to be called but considering the waiting line to use the facility I wasn't surprised and the only reason I was here is that my lawyer had encouraged me to do the long-term immersion and streaming package.

Six days in, one day out for six months straight. Afterlife racked in a huge amount of money and considering how much they charged per person, I wasn't surprised in the least. "Hey, you know what they were talking about?" I looked over to see a woman leaning closer to me.

"What country are you in?" I asked her in response.

"The Elven kingdom of Lithas." she responded and I remembered the small city-state.

"You know the Human kingdom of Shyrtas?' I asked her and she nodded and had a moment recognizing what I was talking about. 'Yeah, that is what she was talking about. It's a big political thing going on there currently and someone streamed it, spilling a bunch of secrets and dirt about the Silver Guard online a couple of weeks ago. It has had a lot of ramifications." I told her as another commercial wound down and suddenly the screen was filled with the smiling Jasmine again.

"Welcome back, I am here with Danial St. Claire, a Captain in the vaunted Silver Guard. Welcome, Daniel." Jasmine told the man as he smiled.

Unlike most nerds, Daniel was fairly well built, blonde hair, blue eyes, and a charming smile meant to disarm people. He reminded me of my lawyer, to slick to be true. "Thank you, Jasmine, and thank you for the invite and chance to clear the Silver Guards name," Daniel replied.

Jasmine smiled back at him, "Well what can we say, word out of the kingdom of Caldwell doesn't paint a pretty picture about the Silver Guard. The assassination of a King, murder of a Field Marshal, working with an Undead Lich in slaughtering hundreds of innocent people and yielding most of two provinces to the same Lich doesn't paint the Silver Guard or the Queen of Caldwell in the best light." Jasmine replied laying out some of the facts.

Daniel smiled and waved away her concerns, "All that information was provided by a former, disgruntled member of the Silver Guard. The same member also stole several items worth several thousand worth in gold. He is a thief and a liar, so how much can you really trust him?" Daniel replied and Jasmine frowned.

"Mr. St. Claire, I reviewed the raw unedited feed myself. Our technicians and even the people from Afterlife say that it was unedited.' Jasmine replied as Daniel paled slightly and tried to back peddle but she kept going. 'So we know for a fact the current Field Marshal helped assassinate the former Field Marshal of Caldwell, that the current Queen of the same kingdom is working with the Silver Guard and the Undead Lich for some reason and that your order is doing nothing to prevent the destruction that is ongoing in eastern Caldwell." the woman stated before continuing.

"Now in a later development that occurred over the last six real-world hours, the nations of Illaria and Argonia have withdrawn from the Argent Accords and the Silver Guards in both nations have one week to leave both nations. All the Silver Guards properties in both nations will be seized at the end of that time. Worse the King of Shefemel has demanded the Lord Marshal of the Silver Guard to provide an answer as to why the Silver Guard isn't doing anything to counter the Lich and why they are getting involved in the internal politics of host nations. Shefemel is where the Silver Guard was founded and if the Elves dissolve their charter, the whole Order would be broken. What do you have to say for yourself Mr. St. Claire?" Jasmin prodded finally letting up.

"JASON, JASON DANIELS!" I heard my name being called and I stood looking down at the woman giggling as the man tried to recover from the ambush.

"Over here!' I called back waving to the woman calling my name. 'As I said, shit hit the fan and a lot of things are happening. It was nice meeting you." I told her before walking away to the waiting technician.

"So, your payment cleared and according to your agreement with Afterlife, you will be pulled out every Tuesday for your mandatory twenty-four hours in the real world. Also, you are a streamer and your game stream is being forwarded to Alarm Entertainment to a...Seth Bridgers?" the woman asked and I nodded.

"Yes ma'am, he is the one editing my stream for me and posting it on all the sites," I told her absently as we walked deeper into the building.

"Ok, the contract is for six months, you can renew at month five if you wish. If any technical issues occur we will pull you out immediately and give you a new room. Any patches to the hardware will occur on your own day so it will not interfere with your gameplay. Questions?" the woman asked as we continued to walk.

"What happens if I am in a fight when day seven rolls around?" I asked her and she smiled.

"Don't worry about it, time will be extended if you are in combat or some sort of event, but the extension will not exceed more than twelve real-world hours.' she replied as we arrived at a room. It wasn't much bigger than a small hotel room, a real bed, pod, and a few pieces of furniture were present. 'This is your room, the folder on the bed has the credentials that will give you access to your room, pod, and the facilities within the building. Directions to everything are all over and you can always contact us for directions. The bathroom is through the door there and your sensor suite is hanging up in there. Please go in and change and we will get you plugged in and back in Midgard in no time." she advised me and I quickly stored what little clothing I had brought before heading for the bathroom.