Wick arrived at the Café after around 5 minutes by bike, parking his bike in a slim "Parking Pod". This may seem odd to some, but cars are delegated to flying short distances with their Hover-Tracs in the air and being parked in special Parking garages. To get around the city one must either go on foot or use a "Speed-tech Personal Vehicle", which can range from bikes, scooters, and mopeds to slim, one- two person shuttle-like Speedsters that use a low-powered Hover-Trac system with built in autopilot instead of wheels and steering wheels.
After inputting his Universal Lock Identifier, Wick nodded, swiping his hair to the side to make it look neat, before heading into the café, whistling happily to himself. As he walked into the bar, he was glad to see the comforting low lights, tan walls, and brown-woods-style furnishings, before letting out a "Hey old man, I'm here! Give me a hot cocoa yeah? With some of that good cinnamon stuff~"
A tall man with a wide back turned around towards the sound, his red eyes staring at the voice in annoyance, before realizing who the speaker was, causing a small sound of exhalation to escape his nose, shaking his head at Wick. He brushed his Navy blue hair to the side, rearranging his ponytail, quite obviously ignoring Wicks "order". "Ai…. Where is the wind drafting in from… if only the wind would call my name rather than a stupid nickname, then I might think about the winds request~" the man mumbled, locking eyes with a regular patron of the café, both sharing a knowing look about Wicks shenanigans.
"Tsch. Fiiiine… The wind kindly asks Mr. Michael Denrick to please let it have its usual, as a pittance from the heart of such a strong man…" Wick said, putting on a small act of Puppydog-eyes, before his eyes turned wide as he quickly ducked, as a plastic baking sheet got thrown at him.
"Knock it off, kid. You know during work hours its Mr. Denrick. Have a seat, I'll get you your usual. Jeez… Kids these days! Thinking the world is their oyster on their birthday…." The man named Mr. Denrick[1], muttered jokingly, shaking his head in a 'sad to see…' way towards the regular patron, both giving a soft chuckle because of this.
"Ohh… Fine. And I aint a kid. I'm 21 old man!" Wickley said, sticking his tongue out at the retreating back, which caused a "You call me Old Man, I call you Kid. Simple as!" to be uttered from the man. Wick shook his head, smiling at the banter, before sitting at a booth next to the regular. "So uh, while I'm waiting… Mr. Galou, are you going to play Worlds End tonight?" Wick asked, putting away the completely childish attitude towards the regular patron.
"Oh, jeeze, Wick. You and your friends have talked so much about it here while I'm trying to have my coffee, that I ended up getting myself a capsule from Paradime. I think, I'll just relax and choose one of those, ah, support professions you spoke of, and perhaps make a shrine for Eldqyn there as well. So that way I have a place to come back to and take care of, both here and there." The older gentleman mused. He looked to be about 65, even though life-enhancers exist, which can make a normal human live for a good 500 years if they take the enhancer at certain points in their life.
Montava Galou is his name. He refused to take any enhancers since he was 45. After all, his wife, and best friend since birth perished on her 44th year of an unknown, uncurable disease. Since then, Galou made a shrine for his wife, Eldqyn, and swore off life enhancers, simply saying he wanted to pass naturally, so he can return to his Eldies' loving arms with a natural life well spent, so he can tell her his stories once he passes.
Wick nodded, patting the old man's shoulder. "I'm sure she would love that. You can tell her your fantasy stories that you accumulate there. Show her just how much you're living life." He stopped patting the old man's arm, as he sat back in his chair, to wait for his friends. It was already almost 11 and his friends weren't here yet.
The old man shook his head, nodding towards the youngster, before heading off with a "I'll send you a friend request later on if you're still going to use that Username you made up, Wick." Waving his hand as he left. With him, time seemed to leave so easily too, and after reaching 3 p.m., two sorry-looking guys came in at once, offering Wick an apology for being late.
Apparently, there was a Hover-car crash that completely blocked their way forward as they had crashed onto the street. The boys had to find a way to go around in this big city, having to use a path filled with traffic, endless red lights, and another road obstruction due to broken power poles laying on the street.
Wick sighed, looking at the two who were in a sorry, sweaty state due to this. He motioned to the seats beside him in the booth. "Cmon, guys. Sit down, there's no need to worry, I aint mad at ya, its out of your hands, the problems that happened. Let's just give you all a moment to relax and cool down, your drink is on me. Once you're rested, you still got time to talk about everything."
The two friends, Rudy and Michael, nodded, sitting beside of Wick. A few hours pass as these friends talked about what's been happening in their lives, as well as other games they've had fun with, for a few hours, before the topic got to Worlds End.
"So… I was able to scrape some more information than what I expected out of all the announcements made by Cai, the company behind Worlds End, has made. I've figured out two major things from them. The class system is strange, while yes you got basic classes, you also have classes that are affected by something called "Bloodlines", so they say. These classes can't be found by looking in the class list without the proper Bloodline and aptitude. So I can only imagine what types of classes and bloodlines exist and interact! Speaking of bloodlines… My scumming of the announcements suggest that bloodlines might be mythical bloodlines belonging to either Ulta Terra, Forma Terra, or the world within the game, Forj. That's really all I have right now, but I still think its important." Caleb said, pushing his glasses up his nose, his gray eyes shining with excitement. "Quite honestly… The fact that there isn't MORE that's been said about it is surprising… And just makes me amped up for the Launch time…"
Rudy laughed, sipping on a fruit tea, nodding, before sighing, and looking at his watch. "Ah, Cristo, we need to move if we want to get on the game in time, Caleb. The mess is still there, and its already 5:45. Wick, dude, I'll catch you on the flipside, and happy birthday, bro." He yelled out, dragging Michael behind him as Rudy mumbled "Hmmm… I should have enough time to get that money from those jackasses…" cracking his left hand using his thumb, before heading out, with an anxious looking Caleb behind him.
"You too, dude. Be safe." Wick said, sighing at his friend and his willingness to drag people around. Wick looked back to the counter as he stood up, making sure his glasses scanned the Bill for the drinks, before sending the money over to Denrick. "I'm heading out, have a safe one, Old Man." He said, as he opened the door to head to his parking spot.
"Yeah, you too, kid. Safe travels on the road." The broad backed man said, waving Wick off.
Wick hopped onto his bike, before weaving through the nearing night time dark, relishing the slight breeze of nature that somehow existed in this giant city, thanks to the Sunsa generators and their capabilities of reducing pollution everywhere, as well as producing electricity.
Within minutes he got home, parking his bike in the garage, patting its greened-chrome side, before heading up to spend some time with his mom and sister. They had fun with each other as they ate dinner, talking about the day they had, with Mother Fateway sighing happily after a long day at the office for the government. Soon enough, it was 8:50 p.m. The game would release in 10 minutes. They finished up with the cleaning, before heading to their respective rooms.
Wick entered his room, looking at the FD Capsule that replaced his bed. These capsules from Sandshard can provide a body and mind a good sleep, whether they were playing a game or not. After taking off his shirt and shorts, he stretched for a bit, and got in the capsule at 8:59 p.m.
The release of the game is upon us. Trials and tribulations abound, but we must stay fierce and determined. Together, we can move forward, and make a difference.
[1] Anyone referred with a title of some kind before their last name will hence be referred to as by their last name.