New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

\'Break the veil? Dungeons breaking? What the hell are they talking about?\' he wondered.

"Have you all lost your mind?" he asked, his voice clearly judgmental.

David clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Alex, just hang up on this buffoon. If he can\'t simply listen, then he\'s useless to us. I guess we lost the UK."

"Who are you calling a buffoon, you half-dead muppet? If I wanted to talk to you, you little wanker, I would have called you. Why don\'t you hang up, huh?" Killi replied, his anger leaking through his words. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Whatcha say to me, you fucking Brit?! Want me to fly over that ocean and make you swallow your fucking monarchy in bits and pieces?! What about that, you fucking high-class prick?!"

Alex listened to them fall into a verbal pissing contest, and he pulled his face down with his hand, already mentally tired of their bullshit.

"Alright, enough! You two better shut the hell up, or I\'ll find both of you and cremate you alive! We don\'t have time for your crap!" Kary shouted, having enough.

Alex could hear David\'s teeth grinding as he closed his mouth, not wanting to anger the crazy woman.

"How dare you?" Killi replied, astounded that she would threaten him.

"Shut up, Killi. Kary is right. Biting at each other is a waste of time. We need to figure out a way to counter-act the events before it\'s too late," Alex interjected.

"Killi, I will take some time to explain everything to you, but not over the phone. I\'ll come over to you. I should be there around tomorrow. But, until then, do as David asked. It\'s important that you follow those directions. Lives are at stake."

It was Killi\'s turn to click his tongue. But the promise of info quelled his annoyance.

"Fine. But if I do all this, and it\'s for nothing, there will be hell to pay. Understand? I\'m putting my reputation on the line here…"

Alex could easily understand why he was worried. If Killi suddenly outed himself, saying the world was in danger and that they needed to arm themselves, any logical person would think he had gone insane.

But it stayed the truth.

"Start the work. I\'ll come up with a way to make it all credible. Don\'t worry about your reputation. I\'ll make sure it stays clean. You are more valuable with it."

Alex heard David snicker in the back, and he snapped.

"You better fucking cooperate too, you idiot. Instead of antagonizing someone who can help, you should be trying to make more friends like him," Alex growled.

David sighed and grumbled into his phone, "Fine. I\'m sorry I said I would make you eat your monarchy…"

Alex could hear the reluctance in his voice, but he was still glad about his apology.

"What about the rest of your insults?" Killi asked.

"Don\'t push it, Brit-boy. Get to work."

Killi scoffed and hung up. But he wouldn\'t let his grievances tarnish his duty.

He didn\'t believe Khalor\'s words, but Astaroth had proved himself trustworthy.

\'Maybe I should start calling them by their names, at least when we talk on this side…\' Killi thought as he dialled another number.

The line picked up almost instantly.

"What can I do for you, sir?" a young but calm voice said.

"Gather up all our players. Tell them a guild event will happen at the headquarters, but keep our sponsors in the dark for now. Tell everyone that each of them that shows us will make a thousand dollars just for coming, regardless of whether they stay after."

There was a pause before the voice spoke up again.

"What should I tell them if they ask about the event?"

Killi smiled from his side of the call.

"Tell it\'s something unlike what they\'ve ever seen or done. And that the rewards will be plentiful."

"Yes, sir. Anything else?"

"One last thing," Killi said, opening up his television on the EG scandal.

"Call my press manager. Tell him I have an announcement and that every news outlet needs to be present. Tell him the government might try to shut us down and to have contingencies in place if they try."

"I will get to it, sir. If I may ask, should I warn the family as well?"

Killi thought about it for a moment. His family had been hounding him to accept their sponsorship for a while now.

Given how big it had become, they wanted to have their name out there when people talked about Knights of the Sun. Maybe now was the time to give in to their requests.

Killi thought about it momentarily, the girl on the other end of the call remaining quiet.

But his thoughts always brought him back to how his father dealt with anything that wasn\'t exactly as he wanted.

With a deep sigh, Killi replied, "Not yet. They can hear it at the same time as the rest of the UK."

There was another pause before the girl asked, "Are you sure, sir?" in a worried tone.

"Positive. Father would find a way to keep me from going public with what I\'m trying to say as long as he hasn\'t redacted the speech himself. I don\'t need his control. This is not his problem to deal with."

"Very well, sir. I will get to work," the girl replied, resigned, before hanging up.

Killi sat there for a moment, thinking about his complicated family matters.

\'If he weren\'t such a control freak, the family would have long since lost everything. But I don\'t need absolute control right now. I need flexibility. If anything they said is true, the future will require adaptability. And Father is all but adaptable…\'

His father was cold, calculating, and a genius planner. He could determine everyone\'s actions for days, weeks, and sometimes even months in advance.

His plans rarely broke down. He always had plans over plans over plans, with contingencies for all of them.

But that only worked in bureaucracy and business, where he excelled.

If the world became a battlefield, he would be as useless as any Tom, Dick, and Harry out there.

\'Especially since he\'s a coward…\'