“So, can you do it?” Blueberry asked.

“I mean, I already have,” Kira said with a light chuckle before she flipped through a few more of the pictures. “Really? This is all you want? I figured you’d want something a bit more…” Kira trailed off, struggling to find the word.

“Yes?” Blueberry asked.

“Intense, I guess,” Kira said. “This would only take a day or two to make. At most. It’s really simple. If you don’t mind me asking, why?”

“Honeymoon,” Blueberry said.

Kira let out a gasp, whipping her head around to stare at the man. “Wait, WHAT? You’re going on your honeymoon? I didn’t know you were even engaged! How long? Who’s the girl? Or, err, boy? Are they nice? Are--”

“Not mine,” Blueberry said, raising his hands in surrender. “Not mine, dial it back. It’s for my parents. On their honeymoon they went to this resort a few years back. Got a ton of pictures, they talk about it all the time. The place is long gone now. Ended up flooded a while back, but they always regretted not going back. I figured it’d be a nice thing for them, a way to get them to try VR stuff without worrying about all the issues that come along with it.”

“Ohhhhh,” Kira said, before glancing back at the pictures. The building wouldn’t be too hard to recreate at least. “Err, just so you know. This would be a private commission. You wouldn’t be able to sell it, as a lot of the designs and such would belong to the company, if they still exist.”

“I know, I don’t intend to. It’s just a personal gift. So you can do it?” Blueberry asked, his obvious excitement about it actually a little adorable and not what she expected from the large man.

Kira gave another nod. “Easily. Shouldn’t take more than a day to get most of it done. I’ll just modify an old beach base. I should have some time to do it this friday. Is saturday delivery okay?”

“Their anniversary isn’t until next month, so that’s fine,” Blueberry said.

Kira nodded before taking a deep breath. Now came the hard part. Finances. She glanced back to Blueberry. “Err, so about the payment. I can do it as a base modification route. So it’ll be about five hours of work, I imagine. We’re friends so I can give you a discount on--”

“I can pay the full rate,” Blueberry said with a shake of his head. “Kira, I’m not going to get mad at you for charging me for your work. I wouldn’t have asked you to do the job if I didn’t expect to pay for it from the beginning.”

“Right, right,” Kira said sheepishly, the knot in her stomach only growing. She always felt guilty when she did work for friends like this. “Okay. So I can have the demo ready by saturday. After that, you can pay me and I can release the full--”

“Can I just pay you now?” Blueberry asked. “I’d rather get it out of the way now.”

Kira froze, her mouth falling open. Of all the responses she expected, that wasn’t one of them. After all the clients who she had to struggle with to get payment, having one offer to pay up front was almost mind boggling. “I’m sorry?”

“Paying you now. Can I?” Blueberry asked.

“Right. Of course. I mean, are you sure? What if it’s not what you want fully?” Kira asked. “Or I mess up or I’m a bit too slow or--”

“I don’t think you’re going to screw me over this,” Blueberry said with a roll of his eyes, cutting her off. “And it’s not really that much money, all things considered. So I think I’ll be fine. Besides, if you did, it’d make staying in the guild pretty awkward for you. So I’m really not worried about that. Here, just send me the invoice.”

Kira gave a small nod before bringing up her out-of-game menu. It took a few moments for her to navigate it and calculate the price. “Are you sure you don’t want a discount? I mean, it’s--”

“Just charge me the full rate. If I give my parents a discount gift they’ll probably guilt trip me for weeks,” Blueberry said with a shudder.

Kira gave a light chuckle at that. “How would they know?”

“Parents always know,” Blueberry said with a haunted look in his eyes.

“Okay, fair.” She sent the invoice over to the dragon. To her surprise, a moment later, she received a notification that payment had been made. “That was quick.”

“I wanted to get it out of the way,” Blueberry said with a small smile. “Besides, now you can’t run away.”

“Why would I run?” Kira asked.

“Oh, because this,” Blueberry said before tapping on the air a few times. A moment later an alert popped up, warning her that a guild meeting had been called.

Kira rolled her eyes. “Really? You think I’m going to panic over a guild meeting?” She paused and then pulled up the guild information, checking who was even online. “Half the guild isn’t even here right now. Wait. When did we get so many people?” she asked. She knew they had expanded a bit, but there were at least twenty people. Most of them she didn’t recognize.

“Some of them are from prior games, some are new, like you. You know Orion. He always wants to recruit new people. Really get things going,” Blueberry said.

Kira shook her head, her mind wandering to the far too over worked leviathan. “Does he ever take a break?”

“Not particularly, no,” Blueberry said. “Come on, let’s go. Besides, I want to see some of the updates you’d made. I’ll be using this new meeting room you made. I hope it’s everything you said it would be.”

Kira rolled her eyes before tapping a few times on her menu, teleporting her through the guild hall and into the meeting hall she’d made. It really wasn’t anything special, modeled after the roman senate hall. One side of the room was filled with chairs for members of the guild to sit, with a stone stage rising in the center. Pillars surrounded the room, holding the roof up and allowing anyone to walk in and out between them. Granted, it wasn’t really an empty space as walking between the pillars would actually open the teleportation function, allowing a person to go to any of the other locations of the guild hall, but it LOOKED like it connected to the main coliseum of the guild hall, which she felt was really the important part. She saw Ervent sitting at one end by herself and she quickly walked to her, giving a small wave. “Hey. Do you have any idea what this is about?” she asked before glancing towards the stage in the center of the room.

“Not a clue,” Ervent said with a shrug. “Apparently it’s something that Blueberry and Orion have been talking about for a while. They won’t tell me, though. I figured if anyone would know, you would. You’ve been one of the officers longer than me.”

Kira paused for a moment, trying to process that. “Err. I’m one of the what now?”

“Officers. You know. Guild leaders,” Ervent said.

“No, I’m not,” Kira said quickly. If she was an officer she was certain she’d have known.

“Yes, you are,” Ervent said.

“I think I’d know if I was,” Kira said.

“How have you not noticed? Look at your guild settings,” Ervent said before tapping on the air, likely bringing up her own menu.

Kira shook her head and opened the guild menu again, bringing her name up. She then rolled her eyes when she realized what Ervent had meant. “Okay, I’m, technically, an officer. But I’m not an actual officer of the guild. I just have guild hall permissions.” She glanced through the list and chuckled. Orion was listed as the leader, Blueberry as second, then there were a few other officers aside from her. “Wow. Ervent, I never would have thought you’d take on the officer role. I’m proud of you.”

The angel blushed and looked away. “Blueberry suggested it. He said it might help me get a bit more confidence. There’s not really a lot to do, though. I mean, I sometimes organize minor group events and stuff, but nothing massive. It’s really easy. Fun. I really don’t do anything compared to them, though.”

Kira reached out a hand and ruffled the girl’s hair, shaking her head. “You know, it’s okay. I’m not going to get mad at you if you take pride in your work. If you work hard, you deserve to enjoy it. So, training newbies, right? What’s that been like?”

“Fun. Weird but fun,” Ervent said with a small smile. “I-- oh! Blueberry!” she said, pointing towards the stage.

The talking in the room went hushed as the room seemed to dim, all except for the stage. One of the features that Kira had put in. Only officers could go onto the stage or grant permission from there. While on the stage, all lights off of it would dim slightly, while the stage itself would amplify its light. Finally, all volume in the room would be brought down heavily, while the voice of the person on the stage would be amplified to get to everyone in the room. A simple, but effective, method to make them the center of everyone’s focus. Additionally, while people COULD talk while off the stage, if they got disruptive then the person on stage could mute them with a tap. They could also amplify another person’s voice and put a spotlight on them. That part had taken her nearly an hour to figure out how to make work properly, but it had been fun to design.

“Okay, everyone here?” Blueberry yelled, making Kira cringe from the volume blast. One problem with it, though, was if the person yelled then that volume was amplified as well. Blueberry cleared his throat and tried in a lower volume. “Sorry. Better?”

“Yes!” someone in the audience yelled.

“Okay. I won’t bother everyone for too long, just have a quick announcement. I’ve been talking with Orion and we’re going to try hosting a guild meetup.”

Kira blinked a few times. What in the world was a guild meetup? She almost raised her hand to ask, but before she could, the dragon continued.

“Now, for those of you who are new, a guild meetup is a real life event where we all go and, well, meet each other. Some of you have done them before, others not so much. It’s not a mandatory thing, of course. But more a way to put faces behind the characters. First comes organizing. The end goal is to try and get as many people as possible to come, so we’re going to try and select a location that is close for most of us.”

Kira stared at the dragon, her mouth falling open. They were really going to meet up in person? That sounded so real. She felt a small quiver of excitement run through her. However, out of the corner of her eye she could see Ervent. The angel looked pale as a ghost. “What’s wrong?” Kira asked.

“Wrong?” Ervent asked. “Nothing is wrong. I’m just surprised. I can’t come to something like that.”

“Really? It sounds like fun,” Kira said.

“I’d have to take a lot of time off work. Not to mention travel could be expensive. All we get out of it is seeing each other face to face, right? It’s not that big a deal, is it?” Ervent asked, the angel nervously shifting in her seat.

Kira started to object, but then stopped herself. As much as she hated to admit it, Ervent was right. If they met face to face, what would they really get out of it? Worse, she imagined trying to get William to let her go at all. Money was already tight, how could she possibly get him to okay an expense like that? Just so she could go meet her online friends face to face? Though, there was one more idea that came to mind. Very slowly she lifted a hand.

“Yes, Kira?” Blueberry asked before tapping on the air a few times. A small glow formed around Kira and she suspected her voice would now be amplified as well, assuming everything functioned correctly.

“Well, a face to face meeting might be hard for most of us. But if the end goal is everyone is together, I have a business license. I could setup a server and everyone could join there. So long as everyone has their scans done within the last year and validated, there wouldn’t be any issue.”

Blueberry stared at her for a long moment, seeming to be measuring the words. She could hear others already whispering amongst themselves about it. “Are you sure? That might be expensive.”

“Not really. Cheaper than trying to organize hotels and travel to anywhere else. A lot cheaper if anybody lives in another country. I already have the license due to work, so it really wouldn’t be too hard,” Kira said

Blueberry sighed before giving a small nod. “Okay. I’ll work out the details with you. So we’ll put it to a vote. Everyone, I’d like you to fill these out over the next few days. We want a guess of how many people can come.”

A moment later a popup message appeared in front of Kira. When she tapped it, a simple poll appeared. The options were if she could attend in person, on a business server, if the former which location she would prefer and finally which her preference was. It only took her a few minutes to go through as there was no way she’d be able to attend offline. Just the idea of trying to ask William if he was okay with her going made her feel nauseous.

The light went off her and she gave a sigh, leaning back. After a moment she felt a nudge to her arm. “Hmm?” Kira asked, glancing over to Ervent. “What?”

“What’s a business license have to do with anything?” Ervent asked.

Kira stared at her, her mouth falling open. “You’re joking, right? I mean, don’t you setup these things? I thought you worked with this kind of stuff?”

“Hardware. Not much in virtual reality. I mostly do the wiring,” Ervent said nervously. “Is it really that weird?”

Kira gave a sigh and shook her head. “No, I guess not. It’s actually not that surprising, I guess. A lot of businesses don’t even use them, mostly just the paranoid ones. I only have a license for it because a client I got a few years back demanded it and once I passed the requirements, well, it kind of stuck around. So, you’ve done the scans, right?”

“Yeah, when I first got my setup registered. Was weird, but okay. What does that have to do with anything?” Ervent asked.

“Okay. So the scans don’t, technically, have to be done regularly. In many cases, the system comes with easy ways to do it. But then you can get certified ones if you like, they can be a bit more of a hassle. A business license lets you setup a server that ONLY allows people to come in with certified scans. No edits. Can’t even change your voice,” Kira said.

Ervent’s eyes bulged. “What? Why? That’s half the point of being online! Isn’t it kind of creepy?”

“Kind of. But there’s a lot of other things as well. You can set it so nothing can be recorded, things like that,” Kira said. “It’s actually pretty useful for more high security uses, but in most cases it’s more hassle than it’s worth. But it IS a way to let everyone meet face to face. The next best thing to actually being there in person.”

The angel, however, just looked more worried. “So you have to show your real face? Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”

“Eh. About as dangerous as meeting someone face to face in person. Possibly less so. If you’re worried about someone taking your picture or recording things, though, you’ll be fine. Trust me. I’ve set these up a few times before. Actually built an office once that would probably be perfect for this. Could allow everyone a lot of space to see and socialize, without the issues of having to actually be right up to each other.” Kira reached out and lightly poked her forehead, trying to startle the girl out of her panic. “You okay, Ervent? You look like you’re going to be sick.”

“Sorry. Just a little nervous about all that,” Ervent said.

Kira sighed and looked the girl over. As nervous as the angel normally was, now seemed a dozen times worse. Slowly she reached a hand out and put it on her shoulder. “Hey, Ervent? Are you hiding from someone? Or is it the girl thing?”

“The girl thing,” she said sheepishly.

“Okay. Well, we’ve been in the guild a while, right? And I know there are a lot of stories about girls getting into trouble because some guy in a game decided to be creepy and stalk them. But it’s not as common as you’re likely worrying,” Kira said. “On top of that, this is specifically WHY I don’t allow any recording or pictures on the business servers. Besides, Orion is a pretty great guy and got you into this game, remember? If anyone starts making inappropriate comments, just talk to me and I’ll make sure they get to him. Then he tosses them out on their butts. I promise.”

Ervent looked up at her, a small smile on her lips. “Really? You promise you won’t let anyone cause trouble?”

“Promise. Besides, I can’t let you get driven off. You’re like my mascot at this point. If not for you, who else will I have to cheer me on when I go and almost get myself killed?”

That made Ervent burst into laughter, her hand covering her mouth when she struggled to keep it in. “I mean, Blueberry at least laughs.”

“He laughs at me, not with me,” Kira said. “Now come on. Let’s go do a dungeon or something, okay? Can’t spend all day just waiting around and talking about who may and may not have a zit on their face for the event.”

Ervent froze and went pale again. “Wait, those show?”

Kira gave a snicker before reaching out to grab the angel’s hand, pulling her to her feet. “Ervent? Never change. You’re far too fun.”

MelodyAvant

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