Page 1 of 3013: Dreamer

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

“Stop right there!”

Charm Barra sighed when she heard the order being shouted across the main floor of the casino. The noise coming from the various machines, as well as the sound of voices and laughter, nearly drowned out the security officer’s command, but there was no mistaking who it had been directed at. The Reema male running toward one of the exits clutching a bunch of chips was a dead giveaway.

To be fair, he really wasn’t running. It was more of a drunken stumble. Obviously, liquid courage had goaded him into doing something monumentally stupid.

Unfortunately for him, escape was impossible.

A few seconds later, she was proven correct when the Reema was tackled to the ground by another security officer. The stash he’d been holding went flying through the air, and a crowd of people scrambled to collect the fallen chips. The security officer who made the tackle easily rolled back onto her feet, then she stepped on the Reema’s back to hold him in place on the floor while more officers raced over to help clear the crowd away.

As the fallen man struggled to free himself and screamed to be released, Charm noticed that his words were slurred. Drunk people could do totally stupid shit sometimes, which made them a pain in the ass to deal with.

That didn’t excuse his behavior, though.

The commotion had caused more people to gather around. Some of the officers tussled with those who had grabbed the fallen chips, while the rest of the crowd simply watched the chaos with glee.

Everyone fucking loved a good spectacle.

From her seat in the small lounge on the balcony of the second level, Charm ignored the fiasco below, sure that it was being handled by the security team. The drunk hadn’t gotten more than a few feet before he’d been taken down. And if the dumb fuck had actually made it to the exit, there were thick metal gates that could be lowered at each of the entrances that would have trapped him inside.

Even though the matter with the Reema had been easily handled, something about it didn’t feel right. Call it intuition or instinct, but either way, something felt off. Over the years, she had learned to trust her instincts no matter how strange or unexplainable the feelings might seem at the time. In this case, the Reema causing the loud disturbance was too obvious, which meant it could merely be a distraction to cover up another crime in progress.

Now, she had to figure out what was really going on.

The casino was a barrage to the senses, but she had learned how to block out most of the noise and bright colors. The patterned purple, green, and black carpet had a hypnotic effect if one stared at it for too long, and the silver and gold accents reflected the bright lights that never dimmed.

It was a chaotic space, yet it represented the whimsical theme of Wonderland perfectly.

Since Wonderland was themost popular entertainment destination on Evo, the casino was constantly filled with people. Besides a casino, there was also a large nightclub and a variety of bars and restaurants located on the property. However, the most essential aspect of the newly made kingdom was its status as a sanctuary.

That meant they lived by their own set of rules.

Despite being a hedonistic paradise of vice, the casino at Wonderland was still considered part of the sanctuary. That meant sanctuary regulations applied. It was hard enough to stealin a regular casino, but trying in a magically protected one was absolute lunacy. Most people were smart enough not to even attempt it.

However, greed was a powerful motivator.

Self-governed and autonomous, Wonderland was its own little kingdom. That meant punishments handed out within the casino were determined by the sanctuary staff. If they wanted, they could simply make someone disappear, though that type of punishment was reserved only for the worst offenders.

If someone came to the sanctuary planning on harming someone, the consequences were dire and swift. They were a little more circumspect when it came to dealing with the greedy little fucks who tried to cause problems. Since death and dismemberment seemed slightly extreme for dealing with thieves, they had to think of other ways to punish them. A good brawl was always an option, but there were other ways to make examples of them.

Her eyes narrowed when she finally found what she had been looking for. Tapping the side of the glasses she wore, she activated the comms system. While she refused to get the nano-tech tattoos that would directly connect her to the supercomputer that ran everything on Evo, she wore a pair of glasses that allowed her to have constant access to the system.

The glasses acted as her comms unit and a portable viewing screen. Most of the time, she kept the rectangle lenses tinted a light purple, but she could change it to any shade that she wanted. The glasses were one of her favorite inventions the Artane brothers had created, which was why she had several pairs as backups.

“Evo, do you see the human wearing the blue hoodie sitting at the galactic slot machines? I noticed his machine hit a win, but the alarm wasn’t triggered. Can you tell what is going on?”

“Scanning now, Alpha Barra.”There was a long pause before Evo said,“He has a device in his possession that seems to trigger a win on a machine without setting off the alarm and lights. The alarm is what notifies the security system if a machine had been tampered with or is paying out too often. The device is not something we have on file, so I cannot tell you exactly what it can do. Once you confiscate it, I will run a full analysis.”

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