Contrary to his expectations, when Bor logged off, he found everyone fast asleep. It was late, and they had a strict schedule. Bor wondered how come there was no one there to chew him out for his tardiness and being online for too long.
Thanking his lucky stars, and thinking that that would come the following day, Bor proceeded to the rest area and promptly slept.
The following day, nothing happened, except following the routine. Bor noticed that Keita and his fellow trainees were looking at him funny. Even Walumbe and other trainers, they too looked at him as though he was somehow, more special that he had been the previous day.
Despite this, his friends still maintained the casual banter as they did their exercises and training well swimmingly. Even by the time the evening came, no one chewed him out. No one called him out. When he went to log into Morendat, no one tried to stop him.
It should be known that if anyone had overstayed in their solarbeds, they would be punished by being denied a chance to use said solarbed for a time. Bor had expected that he would face severe punishment, but surprisingly, no one did anything to stop him. He was even partly scared.
Things did not go as expected, which meant that something was off somewhere. Unfortunately, Bor was in the blind side, and not even his comrades let out anything. How could an overly suspicious Bor remain calm.
When he lay in the solarbed, he didn't immediately log in, he didn't even put on the helmet, just switching on the solarbed and waiting. In fact, for the next two days, he wouldn't allow himself to log in, afraid something might happen to him while he lay there, exposed.
However, even the most paranoid would eventually move, so on the third day, Bor decided to log in.
Polaris was the same as ever, leafy green parks all over, beautiful sunshine, wonderful environment. The perfect virtual paradise man could create.
Walking over the golden pathways, Bor took the time to admire this paradise. There were various people on the streets, others in stalls hawking and selling, basically, life as he knew it.
Since he had not been in the market for a while, he decided to check out a few things. He wished he could buy some things, but since he didn't have a registered address, and the solarbed he was using was not his, he was barred from buying anything.
All this while, he kept expecting something to go wrong. He kept playing it over and over in his mind, how he would be suddenly ejected from his solarbed, and then only hell would follow. However, all his paranoia made him do was seem a little wary, notice a lot more than he would usually.
Perhaps due to his vigilance, or paranoia, he noticed a pigeon staring at him. He nearly laughed at himself as he saw it, but he couldn't shake off a thought, rather, a horror story Susanne had told him once.
Way back when he was just starting out, he was straight as an arrow. He believed no illicit business or other sinister activities could happen in Polaris. This was as close to paradise as a virtual world could be.
To get there, Polaris had to be extremely strict and protective of its users. No one had powers, levels, and any other such nonsense, they left that to the gamers in Morendat and other such RPGs.
Power to walk, run, do whatever things was determined by the users body and muscle constitution. The more powerful someone was in real life, the they would be in Polaris. That was why there were still bouncers and bodyguards employed. They would have same power in Polaris as IRL (In Real Life).
Polaris did its best to protect its users, even going so far as instituting anti-harassment features that one could institute to protect themselves from robbery, even rape. Bor thought such things to be nigh uncrackable, how wrong he had been.
Where there was order, there would also be chaos. In a calm and peaceful society, crime thrived. Bor realized there were specialized hackers who made it their lives work to break all restrictions. There were even bullets that could disable the anti-harassment feature, making someone vulnerable to the other's vicious machinations.
There were ways to block someone's user account, making then unable to get back into Polaris. All these were happening behind the guise of a peaceful paradise called Polaris.
Susanne's horror story, if it could be called that, involved a colleague she once had. He once created a dummy account where the user could get in as bird to scout a mark, someone they planned on stealing from.
Moreover, her friend had been the fence when they finally stole from the mark. This whole time he had been using a dummy account, and the moment he got the funds, he took off, hoodwinking all his partners.
Bor had been sure that that was a made up story, but maybe there could be some truth in it. As he looked at the pigeon, he remembered the good times he had with Susanne. They had been quite a pair, boss and subordinate. He was the enforcer, she was the fearless leader.
There were even hints of romance forming, which was why Bor had been so adamant that she would never betray him. Of course, her betrayal stung more because of this, but there was really nothing Bor could do.
As if reading his mind, the bird stretched and started flying towards him with purpose. It the settled on a nearby dirt path. Not really a dirt path, more like the space between the beautiful manicured lawns and the golden pavements where he was standing.
Surprisingly, the bird bent down and started writing with its beak. A very shocked Bor waited patiently as the bird moved its neck, scribbling on the ground. After it was done, it moved a few steps back, waiting for Bor to read the message.
"Its me."