A World Apart 2 - by LFox (c) 2008
Continues on from where A World Apart left off.

The gang continues their adventures in Eden while learning more about the mystical virtual world.  Also as time goes on the presence of the game slowly begins to show an impact on the real world as new technology is spawned from it.

(c) 2008 by LFox
A World Apart 2
Chapter 01: Displacement

Nathan glances at each of the girls.  “So who’s place is she going to stay at?”

Jessica shakes her head.  “Well can’t be mine, I live with my girlfriend”

Elwyn looks at Nathan hopefully.  “Can’t I stay at yours?”

Nathan looks at her surprised.  “Mine?  But…”

“I’d really like to stay with you”

Elisha smirks.  “Well, you’ve already been fucking each other so I don’t see the harm in living together”

Nathan looks at her with a dreary expression.  “…well, that’s some way to put it.  We don’t have an extra bedroom though”

Elisha glares at him angrily.  “What did I just say?  God sometimes you give me a headache, just sleep in the same bed.  You two are both as stupid as each other.  Couldn’t be a more perfect match”

Nathan and Elwyn both blush and turn a little pale from her words.

The four of them continue talking for a while and after several minutes one of the male clerks comes over and hands Elwyn a stack of laminated papers.

The clerk smiles warmly.  “Here you are”.  With that he quickly walks off.

Elwyn starts flipping through the papers.  “So what are these?”

Nathan takes the papers off her and looks through them slowly.  “Wow you really do have proper identification now”

“What name?” asks Elisha.

“Elwyn Assari, same as in Eden”

Jessica smiles.  “Well now that that’s sorted out I’m gonna head home”.  She turns and starts walking towards the elevator.  “Vanessa will be waiting for me”

Nathan raises a hand.  “Hang on we’re coming”

The four of them head into the lift and take it down to the parking lot.  As the doors open Elwyn stares in amazement at the hundreds of cars and motorbikes parked neatly about the place and after a few moments they start walking to where they parked.

“What’s all this?” asks Elwyn.

“The large ones are cars, just think of them as horseless carriages.  The little ones are more like horses I guess except none of them are alive” explains Nathan.

They come to a stop in front of their motorbikes and Elwyn looks them over carefully then turns to Nathan.  “So, these are all machines?”

Nathan nods.  “That’s right”

“You ride them?”

Nathan nods.

“How do they work?”

“They run on solar power”

“You mean the sun?”

“Yeah”.  He grabs his helmet from his motorbike and puts it on then takes the spare one and hands it to Elwyn.  “Put this on”

Elwyn quickly puts the helmet on.  Jessica and Elisha watch the pair from nearby on their motorbikes with small smiles.  Nathan gets on the motorbike and turns to Elwyn.

“Get on” says Nathan.

Elwyn looks over the motorbike curiously.  “Just sit behind you?”

“Yeah and put your arms around my waist”.  Elwyn slides onto the motorbike behind him and wraps her arms tightly around his waist.  “Hold on”

Suddenly the three of them speed off through the parking lot toward the entrance.

“This thing goes pretty fast” says Elwyn.

“This is only slow it can do a lot faster” says Nathan.

As they come out onto the street Elwyn stares up at the hundreds of skyscrapers in amazement.  She glances around them quickly at all the people, the lights, the cars and noise.

“Oh my god.  What is all this stuff?” says Elwyn.

Nathan smiles softly.  “I’m gonna have to sit down with you and explain everything.  For now look around and try not to get scared”

Elwyn nods and continues to look around at the amazing city.  After only a couple streets the gang splits up going in their own separate directions to head home.  After driving for a while Nathan comes to a stop in front of his house and the pair get off.  Elwyn looks over the cleanly kept house and lawn with amazement.

“Is this where you live?” asks Elwyn.

Nathan nods.  “Yeah”

“It’s really nice.  I hope your parents won’t mind me staying”

“Try not to worry”.  Nathan takes Elwyn’s hand and together they head into the living room.  As they do Nathan yells out.  “Mum?  Dad?  I need to talk to you guys, its important”

After several moments Nathan’s parents each appear from a corner of the house.

Nathan’s mother looks at him seeming concerned.  “Is something wrong?”

Elwyn waves slightly.  “Hi”

Nathan rubs the back of his head nervously.  “Uh, mum, dad…this, this is Elwyn, my girlfriend.  Listen sit down I really need to talk to you guys”

The four of them sit down across from each other and Nathan begins to calmly explain in detail how Elwyn ended up in the real world.  Afterwards his parents stare at him silently.

“You’re…not lying are you?” says Nathan’s mother.

“Mum, dad, I’m not lying okay” says Nathan.

“So, she’s an NPC?”

Nathan nods.  “Can she stay here?  Please?”

His parents turn to look at each other seeming confused and doubtful about the whole thing.  After a while Nathan’s dad turns back and smiles.  “Yeah, okay, she can stay”

Nathan’s mother stares at Elwyn.  “Where’s she going to sleep?  It’s not like we have any spare rooms”

Nathan rubs the back of his head nervously.  “Well, I was thinking.  She could maybe sleep in my room”

Nathan’s mothers eyes firmly fix themselves on Nathan and she glares at him coldly.  “YOU’RE ROOM?”

“Hey hey calm down.  What’s the big deal their boyfriend and girlfriend right?” says Nathan’s dad.

Nathan’s mother softens slightly but still looks doubtful.  “Still, I’m not so sure it’s a good idea”

Nathan’s dad smirks and winks at Nathan then whispers something in her ear making her turn deathly pale.

Nathan’s mother rubs the back of her head nervously.  “Yeah well I guess.  Okay she can sleep in your room”

Elwyn and Nathan smile at each other happily.

“Thanks” says Nathan.  He turns to Elwyn.  “Come on I’ll show you my room”

The two of them quickly disappear upstairs.  As they leave Nathan’s mother sighs heavily.  “I know I said I wish he’d start dating but come on this is a bit much.  And I’m still not so sure it’s a good idea”

While Nathan’s parents talk downstairs upstairs Nathan shows Elwyn around his room.  Inside his room is much like one would expect with a single bed, dresser, cupboard and an empty desk with a chair for setting up his laptop.  Next to his desk is a small tower with rows and rows of small game cds packed in it.

“If you don’t mind me asking why were you parents so accepting?  It seemed kinda weird” says Elwyn.

“We’re pretty close and I’ve never ever lied to them.  I’ve always tried to be honest with them” says Nathan.

Elwyn raises an eyebrow.  “So their willing to accept such an insane story?”

“Well, I’m not so sure they accepted it but, they trust me.  Anyway I guess I’ll have to find a blanket or something so I can sleep on the floor”

Elwyn moves close to his face with a smile.  “We’ve already slept together.  I’m sure it’ll be fine if we do some actual sleeping”

“You, you sure?  The beds kinda small”

Elwyn nods then suddenly lowers her gaze and looks somewhat sad.  “I’ve been meaning to ask you something since I arrived here”

Nathan leans down slightly to look at her face.  “What is it?”

Elwyn turns to him nervously.  “Do you, do you still like me?  I mean I have a totally different body now”

Nathan smiles.  “I love you for you.  I’ll be honest though, I did prefer the body you had but, you’re still very beautiful”

Elwyn smiles.  “Thank you”

“What about me?  You’re not disappointed with my body?”

Elwyn shakes her head.  “I like it”.  She suddenly puts on a mischievous look.  “Why don’t we try out my body to make sure everything works fine?”

Nathan stares at her blankly.  “What do you mean?”

Elwyn smiles and starts unbuttoning her blouse.  In the morning the two of them are lying naked in bed with her cuddled up against him.

Downstairs through the door Nathan’s mother can be heard yelling.  “Nathan, Elwyn breakfast is ready”

Nathan sits up and stretches with a loud yawn.

Elwyn sits up and rubs her eyes sleepily.  “It’s morning already?  I slept like a log”

“Well we better get up”

Nathan crawls out of bed and heads over to his dresser.  Several minutes later the pair come down with Nathan dressed in his school uniform and Elwyn wearing just one of his t-shirts.  As they take a seat at the kitchen table where plates of food are laid out Nathan’s mother turns to them.

“Sleep well?” asks Nathan’s mother.

Elwyn blushes and nods.  “Thank you for letting me stay here”

Nathan’s mother smiles.  “No problem.  You’ll have to excuse me but I’m still a little skeptical”

Elwyn nods.  “I know, I don’t blame you”

“So what now?  She going to school?”

Nathan looks at her blankly.  “Uh, yeah I guess, um, we gotta enroll her or something though”

“I’ll call the school.  You can go to the principal’s office then and get her enrolled properly.  What about clothes?  I assume she doesn’t have any”

“Umm, I was thinking, maybe Jess has some old ones I can borrow she looked like she was about my size” says Elwyn.

Nathan perks up at her words.  “That’s a good idea.  She should have a spare school uniform too”

Elwyn turns to look at him.  “So that’s why you’re wearing that?”

Nathan nods.  “Yeah”

Nathan’s mother thinks carefully.  “Come to think of it she’ll need a laptop for school won’t she?”

“Yeah but I got an old one lying around still, she can use that”

“Well I guess you better head next door to Jess’s after breakfast and pick up some clothes”

“She’s not next door anymore remember?”

Nathan’s mother looks at him blankly then suddenly realizes he’s right.  “Oh that’s right she lives with her girlfriend now doesn’t she?  I still can’t believe she’s a lesbian now.  She always had such a crush on you.  I guess you’ll have to drive over”

Elwyn pauses in eating and holds her right hand open on the table.  After several moments she looks up.  She stares at the salt and gestures her hand at it.  Nathan grabs the salt and puts it down in front of her.

Nathan smiles.  “No magic here remember?”

Elwyn looks at him in surprise then blushes.  “Oh, right”

“I guess that’ll take you a while to get used to”

Later on the pair of them are standing in a hallway with Elwyn dressed in her clothes from the other day.  Nathan presses the doorbell and several moments later Vanessa opens the door wearing a white silk robe with clearly nothing underneath.

“What are you doing here so early?” asks Vanessa.

“Sorry but we really needed to talk to Jess and see if Elwyn can borrow some of her clothes” says Nathan.

Vanessa turns to look at Elwyn.  “Oh that’s right Jess told me she ended up in the real world.  Please, come in”.

Vanessa steps aside and opens the door letting the pair inside.  As they walk in they start looking around the beautiful expensive looking apartment.

“Wow, this place is amazing” says Nathan.

Vanessa smiles.  “Jess is still in bed at the moment she’s awake but you know her, she’s slow to get out of bed”

“Should we wait?”

Vanessa shakes her head.  “No, I was just about to drag her out of bed myself”

The two of them head over to the bedroom door.  Inside they find Jessica sprawled out naked in bed with the covers a mess and only half covering her body.  Nathan takes one look inside then quickly averts his eyes and knocks on the doorframe lightly.

“Hey Jess, you mind getting up?” asks Nathan.

Jessica rolls over and stares at them sleepily.  “What are you guys doing here?”

“Sorry but we were hoping you got some clothes Elwyn could borrow”

Jessica sits up and draws the covers up around her to cover herself.  “Oh right”.  She looks over at her dresser and points at a black nighty.  “Can you throw me my nighty”.  Elwyn looks where she’s pointing and quickly throws it over to her.  “Thanks”

Jessica quickly puts the nighty on then gets up and goes over to the dresser and puts on a pair of panties.

“Sorry about showing up like this especially when you’re…” says Nathan.

Jessica turns to him with a smile.  “It’s okay and it’s not like you haven’t seen me naked before”

Nathan turns and looks at her oddly.  “That’s a big change from your usual attitude”

“Yeah well, I got a girlfriend now and since you’re only a friend it doesn’t bother me so much anymore.  Besides you’re still sweet enough to look away”.  Nathan blushes at her words.  “Anyway clothes, some casual right?”

“And a school uniform”

Jessica turns to the dresser and starts rummaging through it.  “Alright let’s see”.  She suddenly pauses and looks at Elwyn.  “Uh Elwyn you need some, some…”

Elwyn perks up quickly realizing she’s talking about underwear so she nods.  “Oh, yeah, yeah if you don’t mind”

“Oh by the way what size you got now?”

“Size?  Oh, I, I haven’t even checked”

Nathan glances at the two girls.  “I’ll, give you two some privacy you can sort things out”.  With that Nathan walks off and sits down on the couch in the living room.

Vanessa walks over and sits next to him with a smile.  “I’m guessing you’re pretty excited to have her in this world aren’t you?”

Nathan nods.  “Yeah, yeah I am.  How’s things with you and Jess going?”

Vanessa smiles.  “Good, very good.  We’re getting along really well I think and she’s gotten used to me being a woman”

“That’s good I’m glad things are working out.  Look sorry again to drop in on you two like this”

Vanessa waves a hand.  “It’s fine.  Anyway I better start cooking breakfast”

Vanessa gets up and walks off to the kitchen.  Several minutes later Jessica comes out with Elwyn who’s dressed in their school uniform.

“Well that should do you for now” says Jessica.

“Thanks” says Elwyn.

“So, clothes fit fine?” asks Nathan.

Elwyn nods.  “Yeah”

Jessica stares at Nathan with a stern look.  “Listen this afternoon you need to take her shopping.  Mostly for the necessities.  If you don’t, I’m going to kick your ass got it?”

Nathan smiles and nods.  “Yeah I got it.  Some of the more important items don’t fit too well I take it?”

Elwyn nods shyly.  “The, bras don’t”

A while later Elwyn, Jessica and Nathan pull up on their motorbikes in the school parking lot.  Just as they arrive Elisha pulls up next to them.

Elisha smiles.  “Hey guys.  How’s the love couple going?”

“I assume you mean us?” asks Elwyn.

Elisha smirks.  “Of course”

Jessica yawns.  “Well they dragged me out of bed this morning for some clothes”

“Oh right, of course you didn’t have any for her.  Why didn’t you come by my house?”

Elwyn stares at Elisha.  “Well, you’re taller and…” her eyes slowly drop toward Elisha’s chest.  “Bigger.  Jess and I are about the same size”

Elisha looks Elwyn and Jessica over sizing them up.  “Hmm, I guess you’re right.  Except for breast size you’re pretty flat compared to Jess”

Jessica glares at Elisha coldly.  “ELISHA”

Nathan just stares at her in annoyance.

Elwyn smiles and waves a hand in front of her.  “its fine I know.  But it’s like my body in Eden so it’s okay”

“Come on we better go see the principal before school” says Nathan.

Later on Elwyn and Nathan walk into the classroom and quickly head over to where Elisha and Jessica are sitting.

“So how’d it go?” asks Jessica.

“Everything’s sorted out.  As far as they know she’s a transfer student from London” says Nathan.

“So what classes are you enrolled in?” asks Elisha.

Elwyn thinks a moment.  “Umm, advanced mathematics, programming, art and of course the base classes”

Elisha looks at her surprised.  “Why the hell did you pick mathematics and programming?”

“Well, mathematics is needed for programming and I picked programming because I wanted to learn more about Eden and myself”

Elisha nods at her explanation.  “Makes sense”

Suddenly a male teacher walks into the room.  “Everyone please take your seats and Miss Assari please up here and introduce yourself”

Everyone quickly takes their seats and Elwyn goes up to the front of the class.  Elwyn looks over the class and bows.  “I’m Elwyn Assari I’m a new transfer student from London.  I hope we can all get along”

“Thank you Miss Assari you may take your seat now.  Try not to worry so much about the work right now and just try to get settled in”

Elwyn quickly heads over to Nathan’s desk and takes a seat next to him where he has both his and her laptops setup for use.  Nathan starts pointing over things and outlining the basics of using a laptop and showing her what she’ll need to know for the lesson.  The teacher notices the pair and turns around.

“Mr Wells, Miss Assari what are you doing?” asks the Teacher.

“Sorry but Elwyn isn’t much of a computer person so I’m showing her what she needs to know” explains Nathan.

“Very well but do pay attention”

After class the gang quickly heads over to the gym changing rooms for gym class.  Nathan quickly heads inside to get ready and several other students quickly follow him in.

“Come on let’s get changed for gym class” says Jessica.

Elwyn looks at her nervously.  “But, there’s guys in there”

Elisha looks at Elwyn with a straight face.  “EVERYTHING is coed in our world”

Elwyn turns pale and stares at her in disbelief.  “E-everything?”

Elisha nods.  “You’ll have to get used to it.  Trust me though nobody is going to bother looking”

The three of them quickly head inside and find a spot to change.  As Elwyn begins changing she looks around nervously at all the other male and female students that are busy changing to see if anyone’s looking but as Elisha said nobody seems interested in looking as it’s just an everyday occurrence.  While their changing Elisha’s eyes wander to Jessica and she quickly notices Jessica’s crotch is completely hairless.

“You shaved your crotch?” asks Elisha.

Jessica freezes in mid movement and turns slightly pale then turns to look at Elisha.  “Yeah”

Elisha smirks.  “You shaved for your girlfriend didn’t you?”

Nathan comes up behind Elisha and glares at her back.  “Elisha”

Elisha turns to look at him innocently.  “What?”.  He continues glaring at her.  “Oh come on I was just asking a question”

“Which you already knew the answer to”

Elisha pouts.  “Maybe”.  She quickly turns away and goes back to changing.

Nathan moves closer to Jessica to check on her.  “You okay?”

Jessica sighs.  “Yeah, thanks, you know she probably wouldn’t have stopped until I admitted it was because it’s less annoying for sex”.  Jessica turns pale.  “I did not just say that did I?”

Elisha turns around and smirks.  “I knew it”

Nathan sighs and shakes his head.

Elisha grins.  “So you gonna keep shaving there?”

Jessica turns and glares at Elisha for a moment.  “Yes and yes it’s for sex because when lesbian couples perform oral sex on each other its annoying are you happy?”

Elisha’s expression softens from Jessica’s forceful attitude.  “Hey I was just joking”

Jessica continues to glare at her.  “Well sometimes it’s just not fucking funny, okay?  Especially when we’re changing for gym class”

Elisha lowers her eyes.  “Sorry”.  After several moments she smiles and looks back up.  “So your girlfriend like you being shaved”

Jessica clenches her fist in front of her in anger.  “I am so gonna punch you”

Later on the gang heads back into the gym changing room after a long class.  Elwyn is probably the only person though that looks utterly exhausted physically and mentally.

“No offence but I’ve NEVER seen someone so bad at gym class as you” says Jessica.

Elisha nods.  “Yeah you really suck.  I can’t believe you actually tripped while running in a straight line”

Elwyn sighs.  “I can’t believe you guys do that kinda stuff three times a week.  I’ve never done anything like that in my LIFE”

Nathan looks at her sympathetically.  “It’s gonna take some getting to.  Your body physically can do it but…”

Elwyn moans.  “I hate gym class”

Later on during the day the gang is sitting down on the benches outside the school eating lunch.

“So did you enjoy your art class?” asks Jessica.

Elwyn smiles and nods.  “Yeah, it’s the one thing I could do well so far”

Elisha raises an eyebrow.  “Oh really?  Show us what you drew”

Elwyn turns to her bag and pulls out a flat metallic panel with a monitor screen on one side.  As she holds it out for the others to see they look at it closely realizing its displaying a beautifully sketched scene of Eden near the river between Salandee and Ralion that they always used to visit.

“Oh my god.  You drew that?” asks Jessica.

Elwyn smiles and nods.  “Yeah”

“That’s amazing.  I can’t believe you did that free hand” says Elisha.

Nathan turns to look at Elwyn.  “You never told me you could draw so well”

Elwyn smiles.  “It’s a little hobby of mine.  I’d always sit down and sketch stuff in Eden when I got bored studying magic”

Suddenly three female cops walk over to a nearby table where two female students are sitting.  All three cops are wearing full black bulletproof body armor with helmets.  Hanging over their shoulders they have huge automatic rifles with a small side arm pistol on the side.

Jessica notices the cops and turns to look at them.  “What’s that about?”

Nathan shakes his head.  “No idea”

The center cop steps forward and looks at one of the female students.  “Casey Parker?”

Casey looks up at the cops worriedly.  “Y-yeah?”

Suddenly the center cop draws her pistol and fires a shot in the girl’s forehead.  Despite a gun being fired off so close to the school Elwyn is probably the only person that actually jumps in fright from the loud noise.  The two cops on either side quickly grab the dead girl’s arms and drag her off while their leader stays behind to talk to the remaining girl.

“Casey Parker was positively identified for the murder of Betrisha Swan”

The girl shakes her head in disbelief.  “No way”

“We have fingerprints, DNA, the murder weapon and surveillance footage placing her at the scene at the time of the murder.  I just thought I’d let you know”

As the last cop leaves Elwyn turns to her friends looking thoroughly shocked.

“What just happened?” asks Elwyn.

“Cops” says Elisha.

“Most crimes warrant the death penalty.  These days cops don’t bother taking them back to the station or anything they just shoot them on sight” explains Nathan.

“That’s, that’s crazy” says Elwyn.

“Maybe so but with how the law is you never have to worry about getting robbed or raped” says Elisha.

Elwyn looks at each of her friends still seeming dazed about the whole incident.  None of them though seem the slightest bit phased or care about what just happened to one of their fellow students.  In the late afternoon the four of them are walking out of the main school building to the parking lot.

“So how do you like the real world?” asks Jessica.

Elwyn sighs.  “I keep trying to use magic since I’m so used to it.  I really don’t know how you guys do without it”

Elisha smirks.  “I’m not surprised you feel that way.  After all when was the last time you walked on your own two feet for more than a few seconds?”

“Quite a while I’m sure.  Then there’s school.  Gym class was just, hell.  Then those laptops.  Their so confusing not to mention I kept typing in Elvish by accident since it’s my first language.  Then that whole thing with the cops really freaked me out”

“I guess it’s gonna take you a while to get used to being in the real world” says Nathan.

“So we going to Eden today?” asks Elisha.

Nathan thinks a moment.  “Well…I gotta go take Elwyn out to buy some clothes”

Jessica smiles.  “I’ll come with you and, I’ll even pay for some”

Elwyn turns to her in surprise.  “What?  No, please no”

Nathan shakes his head.  “Can’t let you do that Jess”

Jessica looks at them sternly.  “Look Vanessa told me to use some of our money to buy her some stuff so I’m coming like it or not”

“Jess we can’t let you guys do that” says Elwyn.

Jessica turns and glares at her.  “Well too bad.  Now come on let’s get going we got a lot of stores to look through”

Elisha folds her arms in front of her.  “What you’re not even gonna invite me?”

Jessica turns to her in surprise.  “You wanta come?”

Elisha flicks her hair back with a hand and smirks.  “Well somebody has to come along to make sure you buy some decent clothes”

“Alright”

Elisha turns to Nathan.  “You know, you don’t have to come along if you don’t want to”

Nathan sighs.  “Well, I should really”

Elwyn shakes her head.  “You don’t have to if you don’t want to”

Jessica glares at them coldly.  “He’s coming like it or not.  We need at least one guy for opinions”

Nathan turns pale at Jessica’s dark expression.

Elisha grins at her.  “Well we do have you”

“Oh shut up” growls Jessica.

An hour later Nathan’s sitting on a bench in a massive clothing store in front of a row of changing booths.  The booth itself has a large white curtain across which is shuffling around as the three girls argue and move around inside.

“Try this one next” says Elisha.

“Where did that come from?” asks Elwyn.

“I grabbed it”

“We didn’t come here for stuff like that” says Jessica.

“Oh come on she needs at least one decent set of lingerie” says Elisha.

“But why’s it see-through?” asks Elwyn.

“Because it’s sexy.  Now try it on”

Elwyn squeals out and the curtain starts flailing about.  As Nathan sits watching with a mixed expression a female clerk walks over and looks at him.

“Is everything okay in there?” asks the clerk.

Nathan rubs the back of his head nervously.  “Y-yeah, umm, probably”

Hours later its pitch black outside and the gang is standing by their motorbikes with Nathan stuck holding four massive heavy bags in his hands.

“Now that we’ve sorted out all the clothes and female necessities lets go to Eden” says Elisha.

Elwyn looks at her in surprise.  “NOW?  Its pitch black”

“It’s already past eight we got school tomorrow” says Jessica.

Elisha waves a hand in front of her.  “I know I know, it’s not so we can play it’s just so we can get Elwyn’s account setup properly and teach her how to log in”

Nathan perks up and looks at the girls.  “Actually that’s not such a bad idea.  Next time we can just log straight in then”

A while later the four of them arrive in the parking lot of the Eden center.  As they get up and begin walking away Nathan leaves the bags sitting on the side of his motorbike.  Elwyn looks back at them and stops.

“Hey wait what if someone steals the bags?” asks Elwyn.

Elisha turns and looks at her oddly.  “Steals them?  Nobody’s gonna steal them”

Elwyn opens her mouth to say something but quickly goes silent as she remembers the incident with the cops earlier in the day.  Trusting their judgment she quickly follows after them.  As they arrive at the lobby from the elevator they head over to the counter where a pair of male clerks are relaxing in their chairs.  As they approach one of them quickly stands up and yawns sleepily.

“Yeah we’d like to setup a new account for our friend” says Nathan.

“Hold on, can you check if Elwyn Assari has an account?” asks Elisha.

“One moment” says the clerk.  He types something in on the keyboard.  “Yes she does.  For some reason her account is flagged as free lifetime membership, that sound right?”

Elisha smiles and nods.  “Yeah, that sounds about right.  Can we get a room for four?”

“Sure one moment”

The clerk quickly sets it up then hands Elisha the access card and key code.  As they walk off he plops back down in his chair and relaxes again.

Jessica looks at Elisha confused.  “How come she already has an account?”

Elisha smiles.  “It’s pretty obvious”

“Arcueid, she probably set it up for me” says Elwyn.

Nathan nods.  “Yeah, that sounds about right”

Elisha smiles.  “Let’s go get logged in”

They quickly take the lift up to their floor and find their room.  As the door opens and they walk inside Elwyn looks around at the chairs nervously.

“So, this is where you log into Eden?” asks Elwyn.

Nathan smiles.  “That’s right”

“It takes a lot of sophisticated machinery to put us in Eden” says Elisha.

Elwyn glances between them nervously.  “So, what happens?”

Nathan takes her hand.  “Come on I’ll show you”.  Together they walk over to one of the chairs.  “Lie down”.  Elwyn quickly hops up on it and lies down.  Nathan reaches up and grabs the helmet.  “See this helmet?”.  Elwyn nods.  “This goes down over your head and your hand goes over here”.  He points at the small screen panel on the side of the chair.

Elisha walks over to them and stands next to Nathan with a serious look.  “When you log in you’ll be taken to the character creation and selection room.  It’s basically a round room that shows your characters standing idly on platforms around the room.  All you need to do is change the options on the holopanel around the center platform to make a character how you want.  The tutorial should give you all the help you need anyway.  To log in stand on the platform of your character and say login.  To get back out say logout and confirm it.  Are you ready?”

“I’m, I’m a little scared” says Elwyn.

“It’s going to be fine.  Arcueid said there was nothing to worry about remember?” says Nathan.  Elwyn nods.  “Just make an elf character and we’ll meet you in Eden”

“Hold on.  You better stay here for a while just in case she needs help.  Jess and I will wait for you in Eden” says Elisha.

Nathan nods.  “Just logout if you need help.  You ready?”

Elwyn breaths deeply and nods.  She reaches up and pulls down the helmet.

After a moment a female computer voice speaks.  “User detected.  Enable login sequence?”

“Yes” says Elwyn.

A moment later Elwyn materializes in the character selection room.  She stands there for several moments in awe then turns around looking in all directions before finally stopping and staring on a single female elf standing on a platform.  She runs over to it and gasps out as she realizes the character is actually her former body.

“It’s, it’s me”.  She smiles and jumps on the platform.  “Login”

A moment later Elwyn blinks her eyes and looks around realizing she’s in Eden in the exact location she was yesterday where she was killed.  Standing nearby are Elisha and Jessica who are staring at her in utter shock.

“E-E-Elwyn?” asks Jessica.

Elwyn smiles brightly.  “There was already a character, me”.  She looks over herself quickly.  “I even got everything I had when I, crossed over”

Elisha smiles.  “I guess Arcueid had already thought things ahead”

“I’m gonna go get Nathan.  Log out”

Several moments later Elwyn perks up in the real world and looks up at Nathan who’s standing beside her looking rather surprised.

“That was quick everything okay?” asks Nathan.

Elwyn smiles.  “Login, I’ll meet you there”

“Are you sure?  I mean…”

“Trust me, just go log in”

“Alright”

A while later Nathan appears in Eden beside Elisha and Jessica.  “So Elwyn’s gonna teleport over here is she?”.  Elisha and Jessica look at each other and grin.  Nathan looks at them confused.  “What?”

Behind him Elwyn appears as she logs in.  She reaches a hand out and gently taps his shoulder.  He quickly turns around and she smiles brightly.

“You, you…” starts Nathan.

“I had one character, this one” says Elwyn.

Nathan smiles and hugs her tightly.  “That’s great”

Later that night Nathan opens the bathroom door in his house.  “Elwyn are you in he…”.  He stops mid sentence as the door opens.  Inside Elwyn is standing in front of the mirror at the sink only now she has long blond hair with gold earrings and a nice gold necklace.

Elwyn turns to him and smiles.  “Do you like it?”

Nathan stares at her blankly and in his mind a transparent image of Elwyn’s Eden form appears over her body.  “Y-yeah, it, it’s looks great”

Elwyn smiles.  “I’m glad.  Jess and Elisha said I should make this body my own.  They showed me some hair dye to make me blond”

“You look just as beautiful as in Eden”

“I look like me now don’t I?”

Nathan smiles and nods.

“So why were you looking for me?”

Nathan looks at her in surprise.  “Oh, right.  Uh, dinners ready”

Elwyn smiles.  “Let’s go then.  I think I’m all done now anyway”

To Be Continued

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