Origin ARS 5 (25 page)

"So cool." said the Redhead once more.

"Now look at these fools. One bitch wishes
she was Origin, and the other is trying to be that mystery asshole
that she's dating." said First Guy.

"Why do you care so much, man?" asked Beady
Eyes. "It's not like you know those fools."

"It just grinds my gears, dammit! All these
idiots dressing and acting like those two. This is the third couple
I've seen this week!" raged First Guy.

Redhead waved her hand back and forth in the
air. "Come on man, just let it go. They're a couple of kids having
fun."

"Fun my
ass
. I went through hell
trying to get Origin's attention, and now these feebs are sitting
around playing make believe that they're someone they're not!"
snapped First Guy.

Beady Eyes glanced at the redheaded woman and
then they both looked to First Guy. "Uh, isn't that what we're all
doing?"

First Guy pointed at Beady Eyes without
looking away from Rhea. "This and that are two different
things."

Redhead quirked her eyebrow at the irate man
then glanced over to the fake Origin. "What's her character name
supposed to be anyway?"

"I think its Ray, or something." said First
Guy dismissively.

"It's Rhea Ardent." Beady Eyes said before he
snorted. "You call yourself in love with her and don't even know
her most common character name."

"Idiot. I know that much! That's her
character on the casual server. Why would she be the same person
here?" said First Guy.

Beady little eyes pierced the man for a
moment then their owner sighed loudly. "Whatever man, it's just a
couple of posers and their little friends. Let it go."

"Hell no. I want to teach those fanboy noobs
a lesson. I recognize some of their gear, low-end trash." said
First Guy.

"I'm out. I don't do PVP if there isn't
something in it for me." said Redhead.

First guy glanced toward her. "You can take
some of their loot."

Redhead rolled her eyes. "Come on. What could
a noob possibly have worth taking?"

It was then that Scott pulled out his
Crysta-Com to check on something. Redhead's eyes lit-up. "I'm in.
That's a gold coin or two at least at the pawn shop."

A sinister laugh was First Guy's response to
his companion's sudden change of mind. This promised to be
entertaining.

They waited patiently as the noobs continued
to have their dinner. The quartet laughed, and occasionally sang
cute little songs, the happy bastards.

After a while First Guy became irritated.
"When are those happy singing bastards going to leave?"

His beady eyed companion shrugged his
shoulders. "They seem like they're having fun."

First Guy grumbled lightly for a moment, and
Redhead decided to force the issue just to shut him up. She stood
up from her table and strolled over to where the other group was
sitting.

"Greyson! What are you doing here with this
whore!" snarled the redheaded woman passionately.

The four people at the table flinched under
the verbal assault then turned to look at the newcomer. She was a
statuesque common elf with flaming red hair and a dash of freckles
across her nose.

Scott glanced up at her with a flat
expression. "You have the wrong guy."

"How can you say that to me after the
wonderful night we spent together!" cried the Redhead.

Ero started munching on another peanut. Today
was truly fascinating. Dinner was proving to be better than
television at every turn! Oh, the drama!

Rhea frowned at the weird elf, and Herbert
merely looked confused. Scott was the only one who spoke among
them. He had formed an idea.

Something about this situation did not seem
like an accident. He had a better idea of what might be going on
when he saw two men staring intently at the group. It was obvious
that they wanted to cause a scene for some reason. There was no way
that she could mistake him for someone else. "You're right. How
shameless of me. Won't you have a seat?"

Redhead blinked, as did the others at the
table. Scott merely smiled pleasantly at her while she formulated
her next move.

"N-no! I won't have a seat, you womanizer!"
She reared back and slapped him, or rather she tried to do so.
Scott dodged her attack casually.

The redheaded woman was as surprised by how
easily he had dodged as she was by the fact that he was not rising
to take her bait. Wasn't this guy a total noob? He was dressed like
a noob. Reincarnated people would be dressed in stronger gear.

Scott winked at Rhea briefly then turned back
to the redheaded woman. "I'm sorry that I mistreated you. How can I
make it up to you?"

Confusion had begun to rise up within the red
haired elf maiden. "What, I don't think you can make it up to
me..." she said in a non-comital manner. What was happening
here?

He reached out and took her hands, "Such a
beautiful and intelligent woman. Clearly you can think of
something."

Redhead's cheeks turned as red as her hair.
"No, no... There's nothing."

"I've been a horrible person, haven't I?
Dallying with you, just before I take the time to have a nice
dinner with my family. I should have told you that I plan to marry
her. Can you forgive my indiscretion?"

"What the hell are you saying?" asked Rhea,
her eyes wide in surprise. She had caught his wink earlier, but
even so, this was annoying on many levels.

"This is freaking weird..." said Redhead. Why
was this guy playing along?

"Ah, yes... I can see how this would be
awkward for you. If only I were a better man, perhaps I could have
been worthy of someone as warm and captivating as you."

"Yes, that's right... If only..." murmured
Redhead. This was becoming an entirely different sort of
conversation.

"What is this?!" exclaimed Rhea.

Scott turned to her. "Oh, sorry honey. I
didn't tell you, yet! This is the girl I told you about, the one
who might spice up our love life."

"What? Are you high?" asked Rhea, her eyes
were wide and perfectly expressed her confusion.

"Wait a minute, pal! I am no one's spicy
addition!" exclaimed Redhead, flustered.

"Oh. Sorry to have troubled you then." said
Scott before he turned back to his spaghetti like nothing had
happened.

"Y-yeah, no problem." said Redhead, confused
and ready to leave the table. Everyone was staring at her. She
scurried back to her table and sat down, her face aflame with
embarrassment.

Rhea pointed her fork at Scott, an angry
scowl on her otherwise beautiful face. "Scott..."

"Never met her before in my life." he
remarked gaily.

"Sure didn't seem like it." said Ero while
she munched on a peanut. Herbert chittered his agreement.

He waved them off then casually said. "Don't
look, but she is sitting with two guys. They were staring at us
quite intently."

The blue haired high elf blinked then tried
her best not to look at the other table. "What are you trying to
say?"

Scott shook his head. "I'm not certain, but I
think she was just trying to cause a scene for some reason. So, I
went with it to see what happened."

"So, you don't know her?" asked Rhea.

He laughed a little then smiled at Rhea.
"Never met her before in my life, but it was obvious that she was
pulling something."

"Oh, OK." said Rhea. She didn't look like she
was fine with the situation, but it had resolved itself.

Herbert chittered something that sounded
thoughtful. Ero translated for him. "I wonder what she was up
to?"

"Who knows? Maybe they were just bored?"
asked Scott. It was likely to be something more sinister, but he
was not sure what they planned to do after making such an obvious
scene in a restaurant.

"They could be player killers." reasoned
Rhea.

Scott nodded to her. "The thought had crossed
my mind. Why would they target us so blatantly in a restaurant,
though?"

Ero supplied the obvious answer. "Maybe
they're idiots?"

"There's a thought." said Scott. What if they
truly were idiots? It would make a great deal of sense.

Meanwhile at the player killer table. First
Guy animatedly spoke his decision on the matter. "These guys must
be idiots."

"That would make a great deal of sense." said
Beady Eyes. Honestly, who just goes along with the scenario when
someone makes a scene in public?

Redhead sighed softly. "I don't know, but I'm
out."

"You're what?" asked First Guy.

She raised her hand and made a dismissive
gesture. "I'm just not feeling it now."

"What'd he say to you anyway? I only heard a
little of the conversation." said Beady Eyes.

The redhead woman sighed softly then made
another dismissive gesture. "He was pleasant. Unlike certain other
people I spend my time with."

"Pleasant?" asked Beady Eyes.

"I'm pleasant as hell!" snapped First Guy.
"You're just easy to fool when a pretty boy bats his eyelashes at
you."

"Whatever, I'm getting bored. If you boys
want to go hunt down some noobs, go ahead. I'm heading back to my
room." she said.

They watched her leave then sighed. Beady
Eyes spoke up. "Dammit. I thought she'd let us see her naked this
time."

"I know, right?" muttered First Guy. "Damn
that blue haired fanboy."

"Hmm?" asked Beady Eyes.

First Guy snorted at him. "Come on, man. She
was all hot and bothered about getting her hands on something to
sell, and then one little conversation with asshole over there and
she needs alone time."

"Wait, are you saying that she's going to her
room to..." said Beady Eyes.

First Guy nodded sagely then sighed. "It's
all his fault, man."

Beady Eyes took a swift drink from his wine
then stood up and started toward the stairs. First Guy called out,
"Whatch doin, man?"

"Our room adjoins our companion's room. The
walls are paper thin." said Beady Eyes without looking back. He did
stop just long enough to say, "You do the math." before he rushed
toward the stairs.

First Guy blinked. The proverbial hamster
wheel that existed within his mind began to turn at a rapid pace.
His eyes lit up. "Wait for me, man!"

Back at Scott's table the group had entered
an animated discussion about things to come in the future. Life
promised to be quite interesting in coming days. Once the current
job cleaning up the city was finished, they would need to begin
training in earnest.

The dynamic nature of this world, and the
strangeness of it all, excited Scott to no end. He could feel his
old desire for adventure begin to creep up within him. That spark
had been damped a bit when Rhea had started to reveal all of the
great truths of his current existence. He had mostly gone with the
flow after that point. Now, things were different. Everyone was
more or less on equal footing. They could each develop in their own
way, and become stronger as warriors, as people, and as a
family.

###

Thank you for reading volume 5 of Origin ARS. There
are a lot of interesting new adventures to come and I hope that you
enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them!

Whether you love the series, or loathe it, please
write a review at your preferred eBook retailer to share your
thoughts.

Thanks!

~ Scottie Futch

About the Author:

Scottie Futch is a lover of human pop-culture, overly
well-endowed elf maidens, and entertainment media of both great
renown and ill-repute. Zombies do not frighten him. However, he
does spend far too much of his time determining the proper exit
strategy from any given building that he enters for the first time
in case the currently pending zombie apocalypse finally starts.

Discover other titles by Scottie Futch

Origin ARS 1-4

Freelance Saga 1-5