Page 1 of 3013: Hellion

Prologue

The world hadchanged in the year 3013.

Earth rebuilt their civilization after the Alien Wars ravaged the planet and an unknown virus nearly wiped out the entire population, but nothing could ever bring back what once was. A new age of mankind was born, but some of the edicts set forth for humans to survive have become obsolete in the ever-changing universe.

What fate has in store is uncertain, though, one constant is clear. In a cosmos filled with endless possibilities, love is the ultimate prize. Warriors from every species search the stars for love, and they will risk all to fight for those who hold their hearts. But danger is always present when worlds collide. As new challenges arise, all the known races must adapt and learn from their allies. However, not all desire peace, or to live in harmony.

And as a new year dawns, the battle for the future has only begun…

Chapter One

Xian Renn wantedto commit murder.

In fact, he craved it so damn bad he could actually feel his hands ache with the need to wrap them around the throats of the idiots standing in front of him. That wasn’t an unusual feeling during a work shift, but this time he was actually close to giving in to the urge.

While Magnus, Nicolo, and Razar Artane were technically his bosses, Xian had practically helped raise them. That gave him unique status on Evo, the gaming planet they owned. Officially, he was one of the commanders on the security team, but he had far more autonomy than a lot of the other employees. Even so, he was pretty sure that strangling some of the guests would be frowned upon, no matter how fond the brothers were of him.

“Quiet,” he growled, holding up a hand to emphasize his demand for silence to the three humans who were talking over each other.

They looked offended by the order, but thankfully they shut their mouths. Once it was blissfully quiet again, he turned toward the bewildered security officer who had called him in for backup. Booker was a young Krytos who was still learning the ropes so he needed help dealing with three rich, entitled asshole elites who thought the universe revolved around them.

They were standing outside the entrance to the transport center located on Evo’s main island. The strong blue sunlight was shining down on them, making Xian glad he had worn the lightweight black security uniform instead of the regular one he put on most days. He’d been ready to transport to one of the jungle locations to do a routine check on the staff there when he had been informed there was a problem with unauthorized visitors trying to access a restricted location.

The woman and two men standing in front of him were obviously a bonded unit, and probably pretty important or well-connected if they had been invited for the beta testing phase on Evo. It was understandable that they were upset. Their son was missing, after all. But that was his own damn fault. He didn’t just wander off and get lost. He’d deliberately broken the rules and put himself and his friend in danger.

Unfortunately, that logic didn’t seem to matter to them.

Xian feared dealing with unreasonable people was going to become a regular occurrence on Evo. Honestly, he didn’t have the temperament to be dealing with these kinds of people, but it came with the job. He was wondering exactly how long it was going to take for him to snap…someone’s neck. Then again, he had more self-control than he gave himself credit for.

At least, that was what the Artanes kept telling him.

When the brothers had initially told him that they had planned on turning the planetoid they had just purchased into a live-action version of their new Evolution game, he’d thought they were fucking crazy. Granted, all visionary geniuses were a little insane, but he couldn’t argue the fact that they had pulled it off.

Evolution was an advanced multi-layered survival game that combined several different types of games into one complex universe. Once they began to play, there was no limit to what a player could do inside the game. People could live out their wildest fantasies. They could create a whole new dream life or construct an exciting new reality for themselves.

But to take that concept and make it real was true madness.

Evo was a planetoid comprised of an endless sea of vibrant blue water and multiple islands with different landscapes. Over a dozen islands had already been altered to represent various settings and stages from the Evolution game. Added to that, there were a few sites created specifically for Evo that weren’t inthe virtual version of the game, but most of those new locations weren’t open to visitors yet.

Magnus, Nicolo, and Razar Artane had put their hearts and souls into the creation of Evo, and it showed in every aspect of the game world. It was a masterpiece of innovation, technology, and magic. The entire planetoid was powered by a reinforced electrical grid, the use of nanotech, and a widespread network of satellites that completely surrounded Evo. Each island had been terraformed using a combination of magic and technology, giving visitors a truly unique way to experience the interactive video game.

While Evo was essentially a giant amusement park, it was also a complex community of several hundred employees. Besides the game sites, there was also a luxury resort, medical centers, shops, and other businesses available for residents and guests to enjoy. More hotels and inns were being built on the game sites that would fit the theme of each location, and they had also started taking bids from established businesses to rent out retail space.

The only facility on the planetoid that was completely independent was the massive sanctuary called Wonderland. Located on the main island, Wonderland was owned and operated by Fenris, Raek, and Charm Barra. Besides being a safe haven for those in need, there was also an enormous bar, a club, and a huge casino located on the property.

Xian was glad the sanctuary had its own staff to run everything since the security team had their hands full dealing with so many different locations. He knew at some point they would have to assign a permanent team to each site instead of rotating everyone around, but thankfully, that wasn’t his problem to solve.

Sometimes he wished the entire planetoid was run using sanctuary rules so he could just tell annoying people to fuck offand stop bothering him. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Instead, he had to deal with people like the three standing in front of him with at least a semblance of civility.

“Let me get this straight,” Xian said, trying to sound calmer than he actually felt. “A teenager who is here visiting Evo with his parents used a forged ID to rent a boat that he and his friend took to the restricted island that isn’t open to the public yet. And now these three are demanding access to that island to go find them. Is that correct?”

Booker nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“You have to let us go get our son—” one of the men said, but Xian cut him off.

“No, I don’t.”

“If anything happens to him—”

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