FSE

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Chapter 5

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Truth, Drink, Kiss or Promise

There was a reason that Aileen Raskeil always needed a very strong dose of coffee every morning; she got very little sleep every night. Not because she was stressed, had nightmares or was overworked. Well... that last one was not true. One could say that she 'worked' very hard indeed. The proof of this currently lay in her bed in her top floor New York apartment with a rather commanding view of the AllAle building. Yes the building that cute little Kanoth had purchased and had renovated was an impressive fifty storeys tall but the apartment she lived atop was sixty.

It was all about power and as she stood on her balcony, holding a mug of coffee in nothing but her creamy, white fur with patches of light brown, she mused at how power was simply everything in this world. Even if someone had the top paying job and most powerful position in the country, if they didn't have power, they might as well be a castrated doll. That's why she respected Emile Santos so much. He held all the power in AllAle and had ambitions to seize more. As his Chief Operations Officer, Aileen was eager to help him in that endeavour if only because she could benefit from it herself. One day, she might seize power for herself but for now, she was loyal to Emile and the other head officers of AllAle.

A soft moan came from behind her and she glanced coyly over her shoulder at Decanter, her IP. Not too long ago, she had earned the title of the 'Witch of Wine' simply due to her uncanny ability to identify and critique wines with an almost unheard of level of expertise. She could place a wine's location, type of grapes, what year it was made and any other special ingredients added with a seemingly divine level of accuracy. This reflected in her IP, Decanter, who one would commonly consider a wizard in terms of abilities and his general attire when in the Overworld. However, when stripped of his flowing robes and with his staff placed between his teeth to muffle his moans of pleasure, the rhino was anything but an elderly spell caster.

Sure his hair was white but Aileen had it cut short to appear more youthful and his body was lean, muscular and one befitting a supermodel. Of course he had to have an equally impressive package to boot but he never got to use it; at least on Aileen. It was all about power, after all, and every time she dragged him to bed, he was bent over with a strap-on buried deep into his ass. It was one of those double-edged strap-ons too so that even as she fucked him, she was stimulated herself. The greatest pleasure, however, came from his moans and when he came over and over again at her behest.

That was true pleasure.

The sun was just rising on this Monday morning so it would soon be time to head to work. There would be time enough to get another cup of coffee before seeing what the day brought her.

She turned with an elegant flourish as she walked from the edge of her penthouse suite, gliding her fingers along the silver railing of the wall before stepping directly on top of the glass platform that covered her pool. Not one for swimming herself, she had placed this long ago to keep the pool clean and make the space useable. The fact that it still gave the illusion of one walking on water was only just an added benefit. As she stepped back inside, she was once again hit with the strong smell of sex that had permeated her bedroom since early last night. Walking up to her IP she gave his bubble but a light slap. Decanter mumbled a little protest and rolled onto his back, only for him to suddenly realize that he still had the strap-on buried in his ass. The sudden renewed shock to his prostate caused him to moan and made his prominent morning wood leak even more precum onto his hard and chiselled abdomen.

"You planned that..." he accused sleepily, one arm draped over his features and a golden eye regarding her with affection. She could only imagine how she appeared to him silhouetted in the rising sun.

"Naturally, my dear," she cooed, leading down and lifting his chin with a single finger, her manicured claw just hooking some of his leather-like skin. She leaned down and gave him an elegant peck. He naturally pushed out his tongue, trying to slide into her muzzle but no man would ever be inside her. Not even him.

She pulled away and glided across the floor towards the bathroom. "Work calls, my love. I shall bathe first. Be a dear and clean up the bed."

"Yes ma'am."

After a quick shower, she was fresh enough to apply makeup and get dressed. As expected of Decanter, he was already ready by the time she had finished, doused in copious amounts of cologne to mask the previous night's activities. He was dressed in a black suit that gave him a deceptively slim figure. He acted as her personal assistant most days but every night, he assisted her in more carnal tasks.

The car ride to the AllAle building was short, and although she could have potentially just walked, she would not sully her shoes on the filthy streets of New York. After Decanter parked the car, he escorted her all the way up to the top floors where she entered her personal office. Decanter began working on brewing her another cup of coffee while she took a seat at her desk, logging into her personal computer and scanning her emails for anything of interest.

The first thing that caught her attention was a situation report from the supposed raid that occurred the previous night against the Independent that the fool, Oliver Klein, had tried to take down himself. Her mood immediately soured as she read the report. A knock came to her door a moment later and she lifted her gaze.

Kanoth Lameer entered escorted, as always, by Cedar.

"Have you read the report?" asked the deceptively mousy gopher. His suit hid his well-toned body. "Even down to the point where Klein has gone missing?"

"They have him, don't they?" she sighed, drumming her fingers along the curve of her mug. "Custodes Libertatis."

Just saying the name put a foul taste in her mouth. Acknowledging people with greater power than herself was a given but in her mind, the self-styled 'Watchers' of the Overworld were not more powerful. They were rats. Rats carrying disease that just happened to bite and infect people in the right way thus corrupting and eventually killing them. They were vermin.

"Emile wants to see us in his office in an hour," Kanoth said warily. "We will need to come up with a plan of action against them. They might just target one of us as a 'warning'."

"I suspected he would." She set down her mug and regarded the report on her desktop one more time. "I don't think we should be panicking just yet until such a time that they actually make a move against us. We have investors and a public image to uphold. If our chief officers start going around with armed guards or escorts, the media is likely to notice and start asking questions. We wouldn't want that especially with other Overworld corporations just waiting to pounce."

The unfortunate truth about the Overworld was that there were not governing bodies or regulators to determine rules of engagement. It was entirely within the realms of possibility for a corporation targeted by the Custodes Libertatis to also_be targeted by competing companies. Any signs of weakness had to be avoided at all costs. Aileen would _not let any of her power slip between her fingers.

"We can't_not_ do anything," Kanoth murmured in his ever so cute, adorable way. He could be hard and calculating when the need arose but she knew he went weak in the knees when around him.

"Oh, of course we will do something, my little buttercup," she cooed. "Just not outwardly. We cannot let our enemies know we are concerned, after all."

AllAle's CFO gave her a thin smile. "Yes. Yes, of course." He turned to leave. "I'll see you in an hour."

The moment he left, Aileen's smile turned into an immediate frown.

"Get me everything we have on Oliver Klein.

******

"RAM replenishes every 24 hours," Cliff explained. "So you can't just drop in and out of the Overworld hoping that your RAM will be there for you to use whenever you want to Exit a fight. That's why generally, it's a good idea to keep at least one block of RAM for Exit or you'll be trapped in the Overworld for a whole day."

It had been so long since Ryker had breakfast with Cliff. Normally, his roommate was too drunk or tired to socialise in the mornings. Now he realised that most of those was likely because the burly tiger was off doing stuff for the Libertatis or being exhausted from fighting for the lost IPs and abused Hosts out there. It really was admirable. Scary but admirable. That facade of the dumb frat bro who had aspirations to be a lawyer were all thrown into the wind. Maybe the tiger's sense of justice is what drove him to become a lawyer or perhaps it was because he wanted to become a lawyer that he joined the_Libertatis_.

All four of them were crowded around the kitchen island with a healthy helping of eggs, bacon and sausages. He preferred his eggs sunny side up but Takoshi preferred his scrambled - he didn't like runny yolks. Arthur had a huge helping of scrambled eggs while Cliff had his hardboiled.

"Is there any other way to replenish RAM apart from waiting?" Ryker asked.

"Get people to be subservient to you and enslave their IPs to become Dosers," Arthur answered bluntly. "It's how the officers are able to execute Functions indefinitely. They basically take all the processing power that would normally be reserved for an IP's freewill and convert it into RAM that is uploaded to their servers."

"And if we destroy the servers, that freewill will return to the Dosers and they'll be made IPs again?"

The King of Knights shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately, no. A lot of the Dosers you encounter are just copies of IPs that have been turned into Dosers. Corpsmen generally don't have enough imagination to create their own IPs. They're mostly grunts. Klein is special in that he was forced to become a Corpsman by signing his IP over to AllAle and you saw how they treated him for his failure."

They rebranded Summer, warping Oliver's vision into something that would be more 'marketable'. It was still sickening thinking about it one day after the realisation. He felt so sorry for Oliver who was, at the moment, taking a shower in his bathroom. The tabby didn't feel safe going back to his apartment as, by now, AllAle would have learned of his failure and was probably stalking him.

"When you destroy the Server, that RAM is lost forever," Arthur continued. "Destroying it will turn Dosers back into IPs but generally, a Server is like the Hope Diamond or Crown Jewels. Getting at it much less destroying it while the officers are still around is next to impossible. The only other way to convert a Doser back into the IP it used to be is if you were to find the Contract that signed that IP over to the corporation and destroy it. But, bro let me tell you, that's no walk in the park either.."

"They don't just keep the Contracts in one repository, do they?"

Arthur shook his head sadly. "Good_corporations would scatter them all over the place and have them well-guarded. Even better ones would put an exit clause on their Contracts that would be _severely detrimental to the Host." His gaze lifted as Oliver emerged from the bathroom. "Hey bro! Pull up a seat! I made you breakfast!"

It was so strange listening to Arthur speak so eloquently and then switch to 'bro speak' a second later.

The tabby was quite lean and had the faintest outline of abdominal muscles on his belly. Dressed only in a pair of shorts Ryker had lent him, the feline looked to be more fur than man with all his fur sticking out. It was quite adorable.

"Thanks," Oliver said, managing a smile. "After everything that happened last night, I forgot that I hadn't eaten until I got in the shower and smelled your eggs."

"I could_so_ corrupt that if I wanted," Takoshi snickered. Ryker gave him a puzzled look at the samurai, now dressed in a black singlet with green edges and white shorts shrugged back. "You know. Eggs. Testicles. That sort of thing?"

"Way too obscure." His IP huffed at him as he turned back to Arthur. "What's this about an 'exit clause'?"

"Right," Arthur answered, switching back to his regal tone. "Some of the more sinister corporations put exit clauses on their contracts. Things that will protect them should their Corpsman do something bad. Like say if a Corpsman were to try and defect to the Libertatis, the Contract could force their Doser to turn on them or self-destruct or something equally as horrendous. It can only ever affect the IP, though."

"I never signed something that evil," Oliver said through a muzzle full of scrambled eggs. "The thing you've got to learn about Lameer is that he gets tougher on you the more you fail or aggravate him. His first offer is usually the best but every subsequent offer is harsher." He swallowed what was in his muzzle and offered a faint smile. "The thing about the exit clause is that once it's conditions are met, the Contract is null and void."

So if a Contract demanded that if a Corpsman were to betray their corporation and turn to the Libertatis, their Doser would subsequently turn and attack their Host. That could imply that upon the death of the Host, the Contract would be destroyed and the Doser could become an IP again. But the point was moot because that IP wouldn't have a Host to bond themselves to.

It was cruel and spiteful.

"Do you remember your Contract's exit clause?" Ryker asked.

Oliver shook his head sadly. "Sorry. I signed that over six years ago. I think I have a copy of it on file back at my apartment but that's not the copy. The actual Contract is probably somewhere with AllAle."

With the heat likely on Oliver, they couldn't exactly go back to his apartment to examine the Contract and determine the exit clause. Thankfully, it didn't seem like it had triggered and Summer was still obedient albeit a Doser.

"So what are we doing today?" Takoshi asked. "Training in the Overworld?"

"I've got class, bro," Cliff answered. "I'll be back around three."

"Me too," Arthur added. "Four for me. We can do the training afterwards." He tapped at his tablet, his fingers nimbly dancing across the screen despite appearing big and somewhat clumsy. "Sent you a few exercises you can do to train up on manifesting your Function."

Ryker offered the boar a sarcastic smile. "Do I have to focus or something? Am I supposed to empty my mind?"

The King of Knights gave him an exasperated stare. "Don't be an ass, man. It's about figuring out your password." He pointed at Ryker's phone where the email was sent. "There's a certain password that every Independent gets that helps them manifest their Function but the problem is, no one knows what that password is until you sort of just... feel it."

A lot like that phrase that had bonded him and Takoshi. It just... came to him. The situation had been somewhat dire at the time, though. Did he have to put himself in extreme danger again before he would realise what that password was?

"You didn't need to say a password before you manifested your Function," Takoshi said, pointing his chopsticks at Cliff. "Come to think of it, we weren't even in the Overworld when you summoned that dagger."

Cliff beamed brightly. "Yep! That's the advantage of being an Independent versus a Corpsman. I can manifest my Function in the Realworld and use it through that. I can't go around flinging Functions like that officer, Lameer, but if I can pull up my Function as a weapon, I can use it on anything in the Realworld."

"What is your Function?" asked Ryker, ears swivelled forward.

"Open," replied the tiger simply. "Any lock, any door, anything I can literally open. Comes in handy with tough to open jars. It's why I'm called 'Bandit'."

That made a lot of sense and sounded like a very powerful Function. Less offensive like Ryker's Break but still very powerful. If any corporation got their hands on it, it could spell the end of privacy as they know it.

Cliff glanced at the clock. "Damn. We gotta get going."

Arthur nodded and stretched. "Econ 101 in an hour. Just enough time to shower, fuck, shower again and then head off to campus."

Funny thing was, now that their relationship was out in the open, it wasn't so hard to believe that these two very horny men would indeed have to take a second shower before heading off to class. There was a bit of guilt in Ryker knowing that he had somehow kept these two from being who they were. Did he come off as bigoted or anti-gay?

"Have fun you two," Oliver said with a thin smile. "I guess I'll stick around given that I really can't go home yet."

"We've got agents of the Libertatis watching your apartment," said Cliff. "They'll let me know once it's safe to go back."

In all likelihood, those agents had used Save to quietly spy on Oliver's place to avoid actually being spotted by the Corpsmen of AllAle. Ryker quickly glanced around, wondering if they had enough to entertain the tabby. Thankfully, he didn't have work or class today so he had the time to devote to making sure Oliver didn't go stir-crazy.

"It should be safe to wander around a few blocks," Arthur said. "Just don't make a scene. Also avoid the college. Corpsmen are all over that place and since we're dealing with a beer company, you can bet they have a shit tonne of Corpsmen looking to get college students wasted."

That was very true. Fraternities were probably a rich target for AllAle.

As predicted, Cliff and Arthur took a long while in the shower. Considerate of them for keeping their volume low but there was an inordinate amount of splashing that could be heard even through the concrete walls. Ryker sat on the large, leather lounge set that they had facing their TV that was mounted on the wall. Both he and Cliff had split the cost of the set when they first moved in together. In retrospect, he should've suspected there was something odd about Cliff given he_was_ just a second year and could somehow afford to pay the $250 for the complete lounge set. Admittedly, they had bought the set on sale. He was perched on the sole recliner while Takoshi commanded the ottoman. Oliver, placing some distance between himself and Takoshi, was on the other side of the sofa. Oliver had switched on the TV, absently flicking through the news and clearly avoiding anything related to the investigation around the High-Fen incident.

When both Arthur and Cliff emerged, they were cleaned up and doused in a heavy coating of some sporty body spray.

"Hey Cliff," Ryker asked, lowering his phone. "How do you manage to pay rent between classes and stuff for the _Libertatis?_I've never heard you mention anything about a job."

Cliff waved the concern away dismissively. "Give me some credit, bro. Not like I use the Overworld to steal money or shit. I build computers for guys on campus and around town."

It still baffled him how a fratboy like Cliff could juggle being a lawyer, fighting for the Libertatis and build computers for money all at the same time.

"I help too," Arthur chimed in. "Part time construction worker. Since I don't actually have a place to stay, we just sneak in here through the Overworld when you're not looking."

"I would've been okay with you moving in if you had just asked."

"Honestly, we weren't sure if you would be okay with us being together."

That brought a frown on the wolf's features. "Do I really come across as that homophobic?"

"Not homophobic," Arthur winced. "More like..."

Cliff chimed in. "... We know you wouldn't care_if we were fucking but would keep reminding us to use protection, not sleep around and that sort of shit. Probably remind us about rent, homework and all that stuff. You tend to worry about people a _lot, dude. You'd be our dad."

Takoshi clasped a huge paw over his muzzle, desperately trying not to burst out laughing while Oliver took no such pains and giggled. Ryker gave them both withering stares.

"Your dad?" he asked incredulously.

"Bro, you barely ever want to go out clubbing because 'you got to get up early and maintain a good sleep schedule', you throw me those disproving stares whenever I get home late and you're still up and you keep sending me email reminders two weeks before rent is due. They're not automated emails either. You type them manually."

The white fluff in his ears turned slightly pink. "Rent is important..."

"And that's why we love ya," Arthur said with a bright grin. "Every group needs a guy like you." He turned to leave, waving at them as he did so. "We'll be back as soon as we can. Stay out of trouble."

Once the two left, Takoshi unleashed his thunderous laughter. "You're our dad!" he laughed.

"I am not your dad!" Ryker snapped back.

"Remember yesterday? At your place of work? You were reprimanded by your manager because you were distracted over the guy I was talking to!"

Ryker's ears turned an even deeper shade of pink. He was a dad. Twenty-two years of age and already a dad. He felt sick to his stomach. At least he wasn't perceived as homophobic.

Grumbling, he brought up his phone again and began looking through the documentation that Arthur had forwarded him. There were apparently a lot of utilities that he had yet to unlock or use. He quickly excused himself and retrieved his laptop so he could view the documents while he experimented with the Independent app.

There was the obvious utility of transferring or sharing Functions from one Independent to the other but there was a very big drawback. Using someone else's Function used more RAM. When he brought this up with Oliver, the tabby confirmed it. Functions native to the Host would only take a single RAM but other Functions would consume much more. Apparently, Oliver's 'Pause' took two RAM to execute while Loop took three. In their first battle, Oliver wouldn't have been able to execute any other Functions except for Exit.

"You were still pretty tough back there," commented Takoshi. "Seemed really in control even if you were basically fucked and had to rely on Summer."

Oliver grimaced as he flipped to another channel. "I've stared down AllAle's goons. You two weren't nearly as intimidating as them. I think it's the suits. When you see a guy walking towards you with paws behind his back in a clean, pressed suit you know you're in trouble."

Ryker ignored them for the moment and continued his research. Apparently, tapping the application from his dashboard automatically sent him to the Overworld but if he just switched to the application using the app switcher, he could keep the app open without slipping into it. With a bit of navigation, he managed see the main menu of the app which showed his current shared energy pool with Takoshi, his RAM and his synch rate; the latter being at a miserable 22%.

Upon tapping at the energy bar, he was able to see a breakdown of his and Takoshi's relative health, both of them being at 100%. From the manual, he could be at a 100% but Takoshi could fall to 50% during battle. By hitting the Refresh button, he would be redistributing the energy amongst them, possibly causing them both to go to 75%, healing critical wounds and bringing Takoshi back to fighting order while weakening him. No new wounds would appear on him and any injuries Takoshi suffered would heal. In the heat of battle, both IP and Host had to keep a sharp eye on one another thus the all-important synch rate. A Host had to know when to siphon off some energy from his IP to support himself and similarly when to provide energy to his IP to keep them in the fight.

Arthur had made notes on the document and he guessed that this manual had been given to him by the Libertatis. The boar noted that it was possible to increase one's energy reserves through healthy living, exercise and - in emergencies - carrying energy bars or energy drinks. Common sense in all regards but if not specified, such things could likely go unnoticed and taken for granted.

Curiously, the manual stated something about 'Contacts'. Denoted by a little icon that showed the silhouette of a phone, Contacts were a visual representation of a Host's relationship with other people regardless of whether or not they were linked by the Independent app. Since the Overworld was basically a psychic overlay over the Realworld, strong connections with people could cause reactions in the actually app users. Emotional connections with other people could have tangible effects. This was most evident amongst Hosts and IPs but could also be seen between Hosts or even Hosts and other people. The greatest evidence of this was amongst the corporations and their chief officers.

"They force people to use the app as their Corpsmen, making them part of their 'Contacts' list. That only adds to their power..."

"What's that?" Takoshi asked, rounded ears perking towards him.

"The Independent App has a Contacts feature. Every Corpsman under a corporation is forced to become a Contact of an officer or even multiple officers. This siphons more power to the officers. So the more people under the officer, the greater their power." He scrolled a little further on the document. "Says here that people can even suck out power from their Contacts if the need arises. It's never as demanding as between an IP and a Host but it can still be debilitating."

The samurai gave a nod of understanding. "Probably why the Libertatis wants to take them down one by one. Gives less power to the CEO when we eventually do take him down."

Ryker lifted his gaze towards Oliver. "Hey Oliver, think you want to be my Contact?"

The tabby shrugged absently. "I don't see why not. How do we exchange numbers?"

He had to glance back at the manual to see exactly how_the procedure was executed. It took a bit of fidgeting. Apparently, there were unique serial codes there generated at request that had to be exchanged to form a true Contact. It was possible to verbally agree to becoming a Contact as well but only in the Realworld. This was to prevent people from using certain Functions to manipulate thought processes. Certainly it was possible to have a third person plant an idea in the Overworld to make another person into their Contact but they would never be able to make themselves a _direct Contact since that same third person would be in the Overworld.

After they exchanged codes, his phone beeped as if he had received a notification and Oliver's name appeared on his list of Contacts. It flagged him as Oliver 'The Keg' Klein."

"Did you choose that?" he laughed softly, holding up his phone for Takoshi and the feline to see.

"What? No!" Oliver exclaimed. "I am not 'The Keg'. Who assigns this shit?" He glanced at his own phone. "And of course, you're 'Wild Card'. I bet this is some _Libertatis_hack."

"I'm not so sure. The app is mysterious, remember? I don't think the Libertatis has unlocked everything about it."

"Whatever. How do I change my nickname...?"

Turning back to his phone, Ryker noticed that there was a synch rate bar right beneath Oliver's name. It was pathetically at 8%. Little wonder given how they had met as enemies and just recently become... allies. Not even allies. Probably the best term would be 'enemy of my enemy'.

Takoshi glanced over his shoulder and squinted his icy-blue eyes at the screen. "Huh... Apparently you give us a small bonus against hangover effects."

The tabby let out a cute, confused purring sound akin to a mewl. Ryker's ursine partner took the phone and showed it once more to Oliver. "So... because of our connection through the Contacts link, I make hangovers not so bad?"

"Let's get shitfaced!" Takoshi announced, pumping a fist into the air. "I make it so that dad here takes more beers to get him wasted so we can drink as much as we want!"

Ignoring his IP's ridiculous suggestion to get drunk before noon, Ryker leaned over to Oliver. "What's my bonus for you?"

Oliver lifted one eyebrow. "Apparently you reduce the recharge time for RAM by ten minutes."

"Ten minutes out of twenty-four hours?" he uttered bitterly. "Might as well just wait the whole day."

Oliver shrugged. "Who knows? Those ten minutes could be the difference between life and death. Besides, I bet if we get to know one another more and our synch rates get higher, our bonuses might increase." He showed Ryker his phone. "Looks like since Takoshi is your IP, I get his bonus too but it's only at 5%."

It was strange having a quantifying number on one's relationship with someone else. Dating simulations had far more ambiguous conditions that were generally hidden from the players. Here, he could actually see_how well he was doing with someone. Then again, this wasn't a _relationship meter. This was synchronisation rate; a measure of how well they were working together. The two weren't necessarily mutually exclusive.

"I guess we should get to know one another better," Ryker said, removing himself from the recliner and sitting beside Oliver, placing himself between Takoshi and the tabby. "So..."

Oliver inched back a little. "So..."

Suddenly, there was a loud clap that made them both jump. Takoshi jumped to his feet, a devious grin on his face. "Oh! I've got an _amazing_idea! Let's play a game!"

"Do we have to?" Ryker moaned.

"Yes. Otherwise you two are just going to stare awkwardly at one another and talk about the weather, sports, politics and then go back to weather to start it all over again." The big bear padded towards the kitchen, each footstep causing a little earthquake thanks to his bulk. "First we need some beer."

"We don't have beer." He glanced towards Oliver with a helpless shake of his head.

"Your roommate is a fratboy. Beer is a given." A second later, Takoshi let out a loud, "Ah-ha!" and returned with a full six pack. "Told you! Cliff definitely has a stash."

"Of course he does..." Ryker sighed. "I'm not getting drunk. It's not even noon!"

"That's why this game is called Truth, Drink, Kiss or Promise."

Oliver grimaced. "I already don't like where this is going."

Takoshi handed them both a cold bottle of some cheap beer likely from a corner store. "Rules are simple. In each round, you get to ask one other person a question. You can't ask a question to a person who has already answered unless the round is over. The person that is asked, has a choice." He held up one of his fingers. "Either answer with the truth." Then he held up a second finger and a third then a fourth with each choice. "He drinks a whole mouthful. No sips. Or he kisses the person who asked the question or, the last option, you got to make a promise to that person."

"This has got to be the most childish game I've ever heard of," grunted the tabby. "Are you sure you didn't get this idea off a series of novels for teenage girls?"

Takoshi let out a shout and pointed at Oliver. "Ah! You asked a question! And I'm gonna take a drink!" He immediately took a mouthful of the beer which - given how big his mouth was - drained nearly half of the bottle. "Ergh... that's terrible... We're going to need better beer."

"Yeah," Ryker groaned. "That's not going to happen."

"Another rule is the one answered the question gets to ask the next one." Takoshi grinned brightly, turning to him. "Hey boy, did you like sucking my dick two nights ago?"

Ryker's cheeks went bright red as Oliver turned to him in surprise. Truth, Drink, Kiss or Promise. Promising would be the easiest. He could simply say that he'd promise to tell Takoshi the answer in private. The problem was, he would have to answer eventually. He could just _kiss_his IP and that seemed the most correct answer as he was sure it'd throw Takoshi for a spin. The truth would also be plausible...

"Clock's ticking, boy."

Swallowing hard, Ryker lifted the beer to his lips and drank a whole mouthful. It was horrendously bitter and the alcoholic taste was almost like downing battery acid. "Ack..." he gagged. "You're right... This shit is horrible..." He coughed, fanning his nostrils. "Fuck... I can actually _smell_the alcohol going up my throat and fuming out my nostrils!"

Oliver lifted his phone. "I'll order us some decent beer."

Both he and Takoshi exchanged glances and they immediately lunged at Oliver. "Wait!" they cried in unison.

If that didn't jump their synchronisation rate up, nothing would have.

"What?" demanded the feline, stunned. "I'm just going to order some beer using the Bar-To-U app. It's like Uber Eats except it caters just for beer."

"Don't be stupid," Takoshi said, snatching the phone from him. "That thing uses your account. AllAle is probably tracking that. You order something from them and they'll bring it straight here." He nodded towards Ryker. "You got that app?"

Ryker shook his head. "Downloading it now. Just give me a second to order something decent. If we're playing this game, I'm not drinking this stuff... Honestly don't know how Cliff can stand it." He then glanced at Oliver. "But I guess I get to ask you a question, right?"

The tabby gave him a sly smirk and he immediately realised he had just fallen into a trap.

"Yep."

He wasn't going to fight what he knew was a losing battle. Takoshi just laughed, patted his back and squatted down in front of them, leaving both Oliver and Ryker on the sofa.

Oliver, still not having touched his beer, turned to Takoshi with one eyebrow raised. "How'd you get that scar?"

To that, Takoshi just lifted his bottle, drained the rest of it and popped open another one. Whether he genuinely didn't want to answer or he just liked the beer more remained a mystery just like the origins of the massive scar running from his left shoulder down his chest.

"Let me ask you a question," said the ursine samurai, a devious grin on his face. "Ever thought about fucking your IP?"

Oliver's cheeks immediately went bright red. "N - No! Of course not!"

"No because he's now a dude?"

"You only get one!" snapped the feline, claws out. Turning towards Ryker, Oliver said while pointing at Takoshi, "Has _he_ever pulled the moves on you?"

Ryker looked towards his IP, wondering what answer the bear would like. "I can honestly say that he's been a perfect gentleman. He's comforted me, supported me, encouraged me and yes, I sucked off his dick but that was only so that he could go to bed and I could get back to work."

Unsatisfied with the answer but unable to ask anything else, Oliver huffed and crossed his arms. That left Ryker with the power of the question which he directed back at Oliver.

"Now that Summer is a guy, do you feel any sexual attraction towards him?"

The foul stare from the cat spoke volumes of how he felt about being ganged up by a Host and IP. Refusing to answer, he instead took a mouthful from his beer. He turned his slitted brown eyes towards Takoshi. "Are you just going to gang up on me until I'm shit-faced drunk and spilling all my dirty little secrets to you?"

Takoshi... just took another mouthful leaving both Oliver and Ryker to sigh in exasperation. The two exchanged glances... and the briefest of smiles before leaving themselves at the mercy of Takoshi's question. Ryker found himself in the spotlight of those icy blue orbs.

"Got any siblings, boy?"

Ryker shook his head. "Only pup. It's against wolf instincts, I know, but my dad died when I was young, leaving my mom to take care of me by herself. She's remarried now to a lion. Neither of them want any kids and they're currently in... Germany? Or was it France?" He rattled his head, trying to remember. "I can't really remember. He's in the navy and takes her along to wherever it is he is deployed. He works while she explores and has fun."

A soft smile touched Takoshi's lips. "And the award of giving away too much information goes to you, Ryker. You know, you're meant to avoid giving away all your secrets at once so people have more to ask you, right?"

"I know." He gave the bear a smug smile. "But now I bet you're curious to know more about my mom and step-dad. You either ask about that or something else." Tail absently thumping the couch beside him, he turned towards Oliver. "What about you, Oliver? What's your family like?"

"All in Alabama," Oliver responded. "I'm the only one here. I send them Christmas cards every year and gifts on their birthdays but don't contact them for any other reason." He paused, seemingly waiting for a follow-up question but since the rules didn't allow it, neither Ryker nor Takoshi asked it. So he instead turned back to Ryker. "How'd the corporations screw you?"

Ryker relayed his old tale of how he had worked hard on a videogame for the past four years, got funding on a crowd source website only for a Triple-A developer to steal the idea and deploy it faster than he could. The cease and desist order was just the icing on the cake.

"I'm sorry," Oliver mumbled. "At least I got hired by AllAle. Sounds like _Syntax_just wanted you dead and gone from the industry."

"Yeah," he agreed with a sigh.

"Do you want revenge on them?"

Takoshi was just about to protest to the extra question when Ryker held up his paw.

"I'll give you this one for free," answered the wolf. "I honestly don't want revenge. After what I've seen, what I've learned, what I want most of all is for people not to be in the same boat as me. I don't want corporations muscling people out just for profit. I don't want IPs being lost and left to die because their creators were told there won't be money in their idea. I can't just sit by and let people suffer like that."

Oliver lifted the beer towards his lips. "Fair enough." He took a sip and then gestured for Ryker to ask his question.

It seemed obvious to ask the tabby if he genuinely wanted revenge on AllAle but instead, he turned to Takoshi.

"You're with me on this, right?" he asked. "We're not going to fulfil some revenge fantasy. We're in it to help people."

For the first time since the game began, Takoshi did not take a drink. He reached out with a paw, resting it on Ryker's knee. "I'll make this promise to you, Ryker. I am with you until the end. I don't know if we're going to die in a fucking ditch or save the entire Overworld but I'm your IP now and I'm going to damn well fight as hard as I can with you."

That warmed his heart. Tempted as he was to peek at his synch rate with Takoshi, he instead lifted his bottle in a toast. Takoshi tapped the necks of the bottles together. Just in time as well as there was a buzz at their apartment door.

"I'll get it," announced the samurai and quickly bolted off out the door to fetch their order. A moment later, he returned with two cardboard cases; one in each paw. "Alright! Let's get this party started!"

The beer was cold - a promise that _Bar-to-U_made - so they were able to crack open the cans and start the game anew.

"So, you out for blood on this trip, Klein?" asked Takoshi.

Oliver took a sip of the beer then nodded his approval. It seemed he was just going in for a taste and not submitting the drink as his answer. "Definitely. They screwed me over and I know that if I don't break free of them, they're going to hunt me down. I mean, I'm _trapped_here. I can't go back to get my stuff and I probably can't get to the airport without them finding me. I can't live the rest of my life like that."

It was a fair point and Ryker felt guilty for not being able to do more to help the poor cat.

"Sorry we got you into this mess..." he mumbled.

Oliver gave him a weak but genuine smile. "It's not your fault. The way I see it, you saved me. Either I ended up here fighting with you guys or I would've wound up with AllAle until I died or became a corporate big shot that's just as bad as Lameer. I'm grateful."

There was a tinge of... deception in that answer. Perhaps not deception. Omission. Oliver wasn't telling the entire truth. Perhaps not intentionally either. Maybe he didn't know what he wanted. Ryker could relate. If he Cliff hadn't taken him out to High-Fen, he was sure he would've just wallowed in the in his room, lost and not sure where to go. Those feelings of being lost and with nowhere to go were all too familiar.

The questions started getting into the inane. Oliver apparently had girlfriends before as he was considered a bit of a stud back when he was in high school and college. When asked whether or not Summer's original design was based off some of the girls he dated, the tabby decided to drink instead. Takoshi asked that question. The bear had the uncanny ability to zero in on what would make a person uncomfortable and possessed no shame whatsoever so he couldn't be really embarrassed into drinking. He even turned that talent towards Ryker a few times when asked about more intimate things.

"So how big is your dick?" Takoshi asked suddenly.

Oliver did a spit take and burst out laughing. "You're kidding me! You're his IP and you don't know how big his cock is!? Didn't he blow you?"

Ryker, cheeks afire, downed the rest of his can and set it aside. "Yes, I did and the idiot immediately fell asleep after he came."

"Shit... Must've been one hell of a blowjob."

"I'm a canine. My tongue is magic."

"I'll say," Takoshi said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Ryker turned towards Oliver. "What about you? How big is your dick?" He couldn't stop himself before the words came tumbling out. Was he already drunk? How many beers had he had? A quick glance over his shoulder revealed that along with the first bottle, he already had... five beers.

Uh oh.

"Fuck... I think I'm seven... eight inches?" said Oliver, his words slightly slurred. "Let me check."

The tabby rose to his feet and Takoshi, still completely lucid, threw his paws into the air with a loud, "Oh! And he goes for it!"

Oliver pulled down his borrowed pants, revealing a modest five inch, pink, flaccid cock, unsheathed. Ryker's cheeks began to go red again as he realised that between the three of them, he was the only one with a sheath. The feline picked it up immediately and glanced at him, eyebrow raised.

"What's got you all flustered? Not like you've never seen a dick before. You sucked off the bear here."

"Yeah he did," snickered the samurai.

Ryker swallowed. "I - Is that your question or...?"

Oliver groaned and slumped back down into the sofa, his bare, furry ass on the leather. "Fuck... It is... Whatever. Plenty of beer to go around."

Glancing at his beer, he wondered whether or not he should answer, drink, kiss Oliver or just make some random promise. Having a sheath wasn't bad but it just carried a certain stereotype. It was said that those with sheathes were just a few bones from being like their feral cousins; wild animals. Hollywood perpetuated the stereotype and there were even political campaigns that were broken over the fact that the candidate was sheathed. With Takoshi watching them both with the eyes of a predator and Oliver already drunk, revealing that little fact of his anatomy could lead down road he wasn't sure he was ready for.

"It's because I have a sheath."

Takoshi, who had lifted his beer to his lips, paused, his eyes wide.

Oliver gawked at him for a second. Then, the cat pounced, suddenly on his hands and knees, tail doing loops in the air and feline eyes focused on him. "Really? Can I see?"

Ryker shied away, lifting an arm to defend himself. "Uh..." Fighting to remember that they were still technically playing a game, he said, "You're really eager..."

"I've never met anyone with a sheath before." Oliver frowned. "Actually... Maybe I have. I've just never seen it."

"I remember having a sheath as being considered a marketable trait amongst pornstars," Takoshi added, causing Ryker to flinch. "Apparently, there's a whole thing about watching a dick rise out of a fuzzy tube that's more appealing than just watching a cock get hard. I mean, most porn stars as soon as they pull down their pants... boom!" He made an exploding gesture with his free paw. "Hard as steel. But with a sheathe, there's a whole, slow reveal..." Takoshi licked his lip, gazing off to the distance. "You actually see the thing rising out, blood filling it. Like watching a guy slowly, bit by bit, get hornier and hornier. Plus there's the whole 'primal anatomy' thing."

Possessing a sheath meant more than his dick being contained in a 'fuzzy tube' as Takoshi put it. He didn't have the rounded, mushroom-like glands either Oliver or his IP possessed. His cock was more lupine and that included the knot that swelled at the base of his dick when he was near orgasm. Some people didn't like that in their mates. Other species with sheaths or similar anatomy had more primal dicks as well. Dragons, for instance, had two cocks - hemipenises - tucked inside a scaly sheath while other reptiles tended to have genital slits. That could make mating a little more difficult. Felines had barbs and that wasn't to everyone's liking. Equines got their menial ring and flared heads and their inherent size actually wasn't as appealing in terms of fathering children. His sixth grade teacher once told them that the vagina had to be intact to bear a child and that wouldn't be the case if it was destroyed by a horse cock, ripped to shreds by barbs or if a knot was stuck in there in 'penis captivus'.

Those anatomy classes were very long.

Ryker shook his head free from thinking about cocks. It was disturbing just how much he knew about dicks.

"Why do you even know so much about what's marketable in the porn industry?"

Takoshi gave him a smirk, making him realise he had just wasted his question. "I ate a few Dosers from the porn industry and they carried some of that knowledge with them. I used a lot of their traits to modify myself to make myself stronger and... let's face it... more marketable. Why do you think I have such a huge dick?"

Oliver's tail was thrashing wildly from side to side. "You have a huge dick?"

The bear smirked. "You really seem eager there, kitty cat. You wouldn't happen to be gay or bisexual would you?" Pointing a finger at Oliver using the same paw he was using to cup his beer, he said, "You know what? Don't answer that. Just kiss one of us and - "

Before Takoshi could even finish, Oliver let out a loud, ferocious yowl and pounced on the big bear. Beer went flying into the carpet as the two collided with one another and Oliver drove his tongue deep into the white-furred samurai's muzzle. This wasn't just a simple peck on the lips either. He was ravaging Takoshi. The tabby's paws shamelessly ran all over Takoshi's hard, muscular body, roving the crevasses and squeezing the mounds of his perfectly chiselled frame. Whether from his inebriation or the heat of his arousal, Oliver's cheeks were bright red.

The cat pulled away, a small bridge of saliva briefly connecting his tongue from the white bear's lips. Their eyes met and there must have been some sort of silent communication between them because the next thing Ryker knew, they were once again mashing lips. Oliver was running his paws all over Takoshi's broad shoulders, grinding his hips madly against the bear's groin. Takoshi's big paws were hastily fumbling for Oliver's shirt, tugging at the fabric and breaking their heated contact just to pull that over his head and toss it aside.

Ryker's first thought was, 'Wow, that's hot.'

Then he wondered if he should join in.

This was followed by the third most horrifying thought of all: 'Were Oliver and Takoshi falling in love!?'

The moment Oliver's shirt was completely off, Takoshi's paw immediately went towards Oliver's rear. That dark brown, striped rear with the cutest white fur teasing at the entryway into the tabby. Those feline balls bounced enthusiastically against Takoshi's crotch while the bear's paws groped those soft, fluffy buns. Intentional or not, Oliver's tail lifted briefly, swiping in Ryker's direction and blasting the tabby's scent into Ryker's nostrils. Apart from the strong musk of arousal, he got a distinct smell of citrus with a slight sweetness like fresh, spring flowers. It really brought to mind summer... summer in heat... Heat...

Ryker blinked and he suddenly became aware that he was panting and has his paw shoved down his pants, gripping his plump sheath. Before he could stop, Takoshi caught sight of the scene and grinned even as his muzzle was partially engaged in Oliver's ravenous kisses. He turned slightly, tongue sliding out of Oliver's muzzle even as the cat nibbled on his bottom lip. The gesture pulled the tabby's attention towards Ryker. Eyes still partially glazed over in his drunkenness, Oliver had to squint to realise what Ryker was doing.

"You've never seen a sheath before, right, Keg?"

Oliver ignored the nickname and began crawling towards Ryker, claws out and tail lifted like he was stalking the wolf. "Fuuuuck... I wanna see that cock."

Whimpering, Ryker found himself paralysed by both fear and uncertainty. Oliver's soft paws gripped the edge of his pants and pulled it down. The last defence against intrusion was his paw which was now clasped firmly around his dick. A soft, white muzzle was suddenly pressed up against his crotch and before he knew what was happening, Takoshi's tongue had snaked past his fingers and gently lapped at the opening to his sheath. A warm tingle radiated from the contact, numbing his grip around his cock.

"Oh fuck that's hot," meowed Oliver. The tabby's nose pushed up against Ryker's fluffy, white balls, gently lapping at them and stimulating the juices within. Ryker's paws fell to his side as he found himself unable to resist the two muzzles attacking him from two directions.

His body's reaction was inevitable. Like a force of nature or gravity itself, blood began rushing towards his dick, engorging the member and causing the bright red prick to slip out from the embrace of his white-sheath. The moment it emerged, Oliver pounced. His rough tongue grazed it, a gentle, wet embrace that immediately sent shockwaves throughout Ryker's system and a burst of precum to drip from the tip.

Shaking, Ryker could only dig his claws into the couch, trying to keep himself from thrusting too hard as his cock grew inch by inch into Oliver's muzzle. The tabby gagged for a second when five inches filled his muzzle and he was forced to retreat.

"I've got an idea," Takoshi began. The bear suddenly rose to his feet and seized Oliver by his waist. The tabby clung onto Ryker's leg for a second like a baby being deprived of his bottle before he was fully extracted. Showing surprising strength, Takoshi hoisted the tabby over his shoulder in one smooth gesture and even managed to fit in a little slap on the cat's ass. Oliver let out a short yelp followed by a contented purr. A little river of precum began pouring down Takoshi's chest for that.

"Come on to the bedroom," invited the bear.

There was still a chance to pull away, to stop this before he did something he would regret. What was that saying about office relationships? They never worked out. He had to work with Takoshi and Oliver. He couldn't have a relationship with them. Just as he came to his conclusion, he came to the realisation that he had somehow moved from the lounge room and was now in his bedroom. How that, happened, he wasn't sure but now he was standing at the foot of his bed, naked, with a semi raging between his legs.

A big paw suddenly shoved him forward, sending him diving into the bed. The newly made king-sized bed instantly became ruffled as he scrambled to turn around. He did not want his ass exposed to the two. This was just in time to catch Takoshi licking his lips. Ryker noticed that his IP's shorts had vanished and he was now sporting his enormous erection.

That must have been it. That must have been how Takoshi had managed to get him here. Some sort of magic hypnotic voodoo with that cock of his. How else could he not remember crossing the lounge room without his pants to get into his room? Albeit there was the far more likely_reason that he wanted to but there was so much more about his bond with Takoshi that he didn't know. It _had to be something about the Overworld; something about Takoshi.

The bear suddenly grabbed Oliver's waist, lifting him to the air was one would a baby. This was the first time the cat got a good view of Takoshi's dick and his eyes went wide like saucers. Bottom lip quivering, Oliver slowly inched his bare feet towards the massive member. His big toe tentatively touched it and immediately retreated upon the cock's reaction to squirt a bit of precum onto his feet.

"Oh my fucking god..." he mumbled. "It's fucking real."

"You bet your sweet ass," rumbled Takoshi, placing his muzzle against Oliver's neck. His hot breath caused the hackles on Oliver's neck to rise and the tabby to mewl adorably. "You're going to touch it."

It wasn't a question. It was a statement and slowly, Takoshi lowered Oliver. Ryker's own dick spasmed with excitement as he imagined that huge slab of meat skewering the tabby. His full nine inches up from between his paws, dripping like a faucet all over his belly. His knot had yet to form but he could already feel the pressure at the base of his dick as it began the final stages of his arousal.

Strangely, Takoshi purposefully slipped his cock between himself and Oliver, allowing the cat to cradle it between them and grasp the member between his paws. Oliver's own dick pressed against the monstrous member. A shiver ran down Oliver's spine, visible in his lean back. The tabby pressed himself against Takoshi, holding that cock tightly and grinding against it like a pole. Takoshi nibbled a little on the feline's neck, making Oliver close whatever gap that remained between them and his legs to curl around the bear's waist for stability.

But his eyes weren't on Oliver.

They were locked with Ryker.

That look was all the young pup needed to realise exactly what Takoshi intended.

It wasn't the sexy samurai that was going to fuck Oliver.

It was Ryker.

There was no time to think about protection or any other forms of preparation because Takoshi was already inching forward, lifting Oliver mightily onto the bed and then slowly lowering the tabby down onto Ryker's dick. For his part, the wolf could only hold his cock tightly, even angling it a little towards the expectant whole.

"O - O - Oliver..." he managed to stammer in warning.

"Fuck me," Oliver panted, his claws raking across Takoshi's fur. "Just fucking stuff me!"

He was willing. He wanted this.

But did Ryker?

There was not time to question further as his cock touched the tough ring of Oliver's ass. Instincts took over and he immediately pushed himself forward, pushing an inch into the feline and eliciting a mewl of ecstasy.

"Oh, he likes that," chuckled Takoshi. The bear nibbled a little more on Oliver's shoulder and then dragging his tongue all the way from the shoulder, up the cat's neck and all the way to the tip of his ear. There, Takoshi nipped at the tip of the fluffy circle, causing Oliver to melt in his arms and relax. That gave Ryker a little more of an opening and the wolf slowly pushed himself a little more into the cat before another tightness met him.

The sensation of having his dick in someone was something Ryker had never experienced before. Only two inches had entered Oliver and the rest of his dick begged to be included. He was a slave to his own carnal desires as he began pulling back, never fully removing himself from Oliver, and then pushing himself in once more. The moment he hit the blockade of tightness, Oliver ground his hips forward, pressing his dick and the rest of his body against Takoshi's member.

Takoshi lifted his right paw...

Smack!

... and then brought it colliding with Oliver's ass.

The cat let out a yowl through a broad-faced grin.

"Yeah!" he begged. "Just like that! More! Fuck me harder!"

Takoshi exchanged glances with Ryker. "You heard the man."

But he wasn't really listening. The jostle from Oliver had driven Ryker's cock a little deeper. Every inch that slipped in and out of that juicy ass was another moment of heaven for Ryker. Panting uncontrollably, it was all Ryker could do to keep himself from thrusting like a jackhammer into Oliver but his restraint was falling away piece by piece with every passing second.

Smack!

Another slap. Oliver's thrusts into Takoshi's quickly outpaced his own. Every time the lusty faline pulled back, he was spearing himself more and more onto Ryker's dick. Ryker was forced to play a bit of catch-up as Oliver's insatiable lust brought the two of them closer and closer until every thrust had the tabby's ass literally bouncing off his groin. Oliver was mewling like he was in heat, purposefully using Takoshi like a pole to pull himself off Ryker's cock up to about seven inches before driving himself back down to the hilt.

"Oh shit!" Oliver cried. "Uh-Ah! AH!"

The tabby's entire body tensed, clamping down on Ryker's dick about midway. The young wolf dug his claws into the sheets, gasping for breath as the warm embrace squeezed more precum out of him. His body compelled him to thrust deeper into Oliver and as he did so, he felt the tabby's entire body shudder as the convulsion of orgasm rocked the cat's body.

Oliver suddenly slumped against Takoshi, panting heavily with his eyelids fluttering to a close.

And once again... Ryker found himself devoid of an orgasm. Perhaps there was an achievement out there for making other people cum but not himself.

"Looks like we wore him out, eh?" asked the grinning bear.

"Guess so," Ryker sighed, coming down from his sexual high. Realising that it wasn't going to get further than this, he offered the bear a lopsided smile. "Guess we both get a little blue balled, huh?"

"Not necessarily." To his confusion, Takoshi reached past him to where his phone sat. He must've brought it with him as they migrated to the bedroom. "You remember how you said you can extract energy from your Contacts? Well, you can also give energy to your Contacts as well. There's a conversion rate as well. The better your synch rate, the more energy gets transfered and not lost in the process. And would you look at that, you're now at 20% with Oliver." He lifted his eyebrows rapidly at Ryker. "Guess sex is a great way to get to know a person, huh?"

"What's our synch rate at?" he asked before he knew what he was saying. Still a little tipsy apparently.

Takoshi flipped the phone towards him, beaming proudly. "32%. Not bad for just a few days, boy."

"I'm not -"

"Yeah, yeah. Not 'boy'. Not 'kid'. Ryker. Whatever." He winked slyly at the wolf on the bed. "So what do you say? Shall we give the kitty a little jolt?"

It was clear Takoshi wanted this. If anything, he wanted to finish. Looking down at his own dick, his knot still not fully formed, Ryker knew he wanted - no, needed - this as well.

"Do it," he growled.

With a press of a button on the phone, a soft light encased Oliver. Ryker honestly didn't feel any strain on him save, perhaps, for the faintest sensation that someone was sucking the breath out of his lips from a gentle kiss.

Then Oliver gasped, suddenly very awake.

"Oh fuck..." moaned the tabby. His arms slackened, sliding further down into Ryker's cock until his ass was kissing the base of the lupine member. Takoshi slowly lowered Oliver onto Ryker, placing the tabby entirely atop the wolf but without crushing him. Oliver instinctively reached a paw up over his shoulder, grabbing the back of Ryker's head.

For a second, Ryker's mind went blank. He wasn't sure where Oliver was going with this. Then their lips met and he melted. The tabby's tongue pushed into his muzzle, the tender caress adding a new level to this wanton act of drunken sex. His mind raced with the possibilities, the implications but his cock buried into Oliver said so much more than his mind could ever properly process. He just dove into the kiss, sliding his own tongue over Oliver's and the two organs slipping and sliding over one another as they explored their sexuality. His paws slipped out from under Oliver's ass and glided up the tabby's flanks, feeling the firm muscles there, the warmth that radiating from the fluffy body and quivering form beneath. Oliver's other paw wrapped around one of his, holding on tightly.

Above them, Takoshi pressed his enormous form above them both, the looming form like a canopy of muscle that shielded them from the world. The bear's enormous, muscular arms rested on either side of them and Ryker could not help but stare at the vascular vines that coiled around those steel-like muscles. The slight movement of his head broke the kiss he shared with Oliver but that allowed the tabby to turn his attention to the titan above them. Sensing his need, Takoshi leaned forward and their lips met.

Ryker's dick twitched at the thought that, in some way, he was sharing a kiss through Oliver with Takoshi. That brought a reaction from Oliver, the cat arching his back and moaning away from the kiss. Takoshi, a devilish grin on his face, began grinding his hips into the tabby beneath him. This pressed more of Oliver's ass into Ryker, causing the wolf to moan as his dick was stimulated. The desire and lust that radiated from Takoshi's dick must have been infectious because even after having just ejaculated, Oliver's cock was still rock hard and already leaking more precum. That power radiated throughout all of Oliver's body, seeping into Ryker's and spurring the wolf to begin his thrusting anew.

Sandwiched between them, Oliver could only wrap one arm around Takoshi's enormous shoulders, pulling the bear closer to him as he held on. His other paw was still firmly curled around Ryker's. Takoshi's tongue snaked out, sliding along Oliver's sweat-coated grey-brown fur and forcing the tabby to twist his neck in Ryker's direction. The gravity of their shared passion brought their lips together and once again, Ryker found himself sharing the same breath as the Tabby. His mind still roiled at the thought of what this kiss could actually mean while his body had completely switched to autopilot.

Primal lust drove his hips to pull back, pushing into the mattress as far as he could, before thrusting back into Oliver's ass as hard as he could. This was countered by Takoshi's grinding which grew more and more intense with each passing moment. A deep rumbling like thunder filled the bedroom; the bear's growl. Long rivers of saliva dripped down Oliver's shoulder and onto Ryker's, a testament to the polar bear's hunger.

Ryker thrust and Takoshi pushed back down, grinding his dick against Oliver's, catching the feline in a sort of bizarre tug-of-war. Each motion seemed to push their bodies together, closing the gap between them boy physically and metaphorically. Takoshi's paws crawled closer and closer to Ryker's flanks and there was a part of him that hoped those strong, powerful appendages would hold him.

Wish granted.

Takoshi suddenly grabbed his shoulder and abruptly turned them to the side. This broke the kiss Ryker was sharing with Oliver, allowing him to gasp in surprise as he was suddenly placed on his side, his head resting on one of Takoshi's huge forearms. The paw attached to that arm closed around the back of his neck, bypassing Oliver who was still holding onto the bear's shoulder. Takoshi's other arm wrapped around the small of his back, pulling him closer and encouraging him to keep thrusting, to keep the pace even with the sudden change in position.

He didn't disappoint. In fact, being on his side gave him more room to move as he was no longer fighting against the firmness of his mattress. He was able to pull back farther and thrust with more power. Just in time as his knot was starting to swell, indicating the edges of his orgasm were near.

A high pitched whine escaped his lips.

It was almost time.

He thrust and Takoshi ground, their twin and opposing forces leaving Oliver melting in their grip.

The pressure in his nuts was almost at critical mass. There was no stopping now. No matter how much his brain tried to scream at him that cumming in another guy's ass was ridiculously gay, he just kept going.

He thrust and thrust and thrust harder, primal instincts telling him he had to tie with his mate.

"Oh god..." he moaned, tipping his head back against Takoshi's big paws. "Shit... fuck... I'm gonna...!"

Then, warm lips collided with his.

Oliver?

No.

He was surprised when Takoshi's gentle, broad tongue pushed into his muzzle. His eyes wide open, he melted as at the sight of the light blush on Takoshi's lips, the bear's eyes closed and his features softened.

There was no stopping the flood however. The levies broke and Ryker's howl of pleasure was muffled by Takoshi's flexible tongue. Hot cum came shooting out of his dick, pouring straight into Oliver's waiting ass. He felt the body against him tense and he was fairly sure that Oliver came as well. In fact, he felt warm splashes of cum splatter against his muzzle and flanks.

It took him a second to realise that the source of the freshly spilled seed wasn't the tabby, or it could have been, but the majority of it came from Takoshi. The bear's titanic dick and matching balls bathed Oliver in so much cum that some of it even managed to escape the compression of their two bodies and hit Ryker. Takoshi's passionate kiss was less a moment of romance and more a desperate plea for relief as his chiselled frame had tensed like water having flash-frozen. Ryker willingly gave it, sliding his tongue into Takoshi's muzzle. The bear visibly relaxed though his body was wracked with a few jerks as his cock continued to erupt and pour more seed into the sheets.

Ryker rode the sexual energies that the bear exuded and he was sure Oliver did the same. Their cocks spewed more seed until both were spent a minute later. Takoshi had three more jets from hid cock before his grip around both young men relaxed.

Mind muddled by the powerful orgasm and body exhausted, Ryker broke the kiss and rested his muzzle against the crook of Oliver's neck. He caught the scent of the tabby, Takoshi's and even his own melded with the overpowering odours of their spilled seed. There had to be some symbolism in there where sex bridged the gap between them. If he had the energy, he would've checked if their synch rates had jumped up.

But for the moment, he was content.

This felt right.

Small as it was, he had a pack.

******

There was something missing.

The space between his arms felt... empty. At least... emptier. Through the sleepy haze of waking from afterglow's lulling sleep, Takoshi grasped at the air a little. His paws found purchase on Ryker's velvety smooth fur and the young wolf mumbled something at being disturbed. He pulled his Host a little closer to himself and the wolf adorably curled up against him, wrapping one leg around his waist and burying his muzzle against his chest as if subconsciously asking 'hold me'. That was a request he gladly complied with.

Then he realised exactly what was missing.

His eyes snapped open. There was Ryker in his arms... but Oliver should've been between him and his wolf.

"Klein?" he rumbled, rising slightly and disturbing Ryker's slumber. He quickly cast his gaze around. The tabby wasn't on the bed. He hadn't fallen off the bed. It was just him and his Host. "Fuck..."

Ryker yawned, rolling his tongue in the process. "What's with the noise...?"

Takoshi was leaping out from under the sheets before the smaller, grey-furred wolf could panic about being naked, covered in cum and in bed with another man. "Klein is gone." In the back of his mind, he prayed Oliver was just in the bathroom taking a shower but he couldn't hear running water. "What time is it?" he demanded.

A glance at the clock revealed that it was just a little after five in the afternoon.

Cliff and Arthur should be back.

Still naked and still with evidence of the _multiple_orgasms he had shared with the two furs, he bolted out of Ryker's room. The lounge and kitchen was empty. No sign of Klein. Heart racing, he shot straight across the lounge and rapidly knocked on the wooden door there.

Cliff answered a second later and jerked back at the sight of the naked and slightly sticky polar bear. "Whoa! Dude! If you wanted sex you just - "

"Is Klein here?" he immediately demanded.

Confusion flashed across the tiger's features. "What?"

"Oliver! Oliver Klein! Is here with you?"

Cliff shook his head slowly. Arthur, who had been perched on the tiger's bed reading his tablet, rose from where he was seated. "I thought he was still cuddling with you guys..." began the portly boar. "When we came in, you were in your room so we decided to give you some privacy."

Takoshi's heart was pounding hard in his chest, panic starting to set in. "Take me to the Overworld!"

"Takoshi?" Ryker asked from behind him, the sleepy wolf just emerging from his room and rubbing his eyes. "What's going on?"

"Oliver is fucking gone!" he snapped angrily. "Please be in the Overworld..." He pleaded.

Cliff retrieved his phone and tapped on the Independent App. A wave of negative energy washed over them, plunging the colourful apartment into the writhing greyscape of the Overworld. The apartment was completely empty.

"Oh no... oh fuck..."

They returned to the Realworld a second later, worry crossing Cliff's features.

"He could've just gone out for a walk..." offered the striped feline.

"Let me call him," Ryker offered, reaching for his phone. Knots were forming in Takoshi's stomach. He hoped Oliver would pick up. Then, Ryker's ears perked up, a wave of relief crossing his features. "Hey! Oliver! Where are you?"

His heart began to slow its beat. Cliff was right. Oliver probably went out to bug some clothes or get some air. Several hours of sex would instill the need for a slight change of scenery. The smell of cum and body odour could get a little stifling after -

Ryker's features suddenly fell. "Oh... Uh... Okay." Then he held out his phone, staring at it in shock. "He... He's going after Lameer."

Panic immediately gripped Takoshi's heart. Fear flashed across Cliff's features. A steely determination hardened Arthur's.

"This is bad," uttered the tiger engineer. "The moment AllAle gets wind of an attack of one of their chief officers, they're going to swarm the site and start amping up their security. Any window we might have to take down _AllAle_will be closed within three days!"

The Libertatis member had told them as much the previous night. If they failed to take down the chief officer, the corporation would start ramping up their defences and any opening they may have had against AllAle could quickly slam shut. Libertatis' greatest advantage was stealth and the mystery of who they were targeting.

"What do we do?" Ryker asked, his eyes revealing that he could see many paths ahead of them but few were desirable.

"I've got to let the rest of the _Libertatis_know," Cliff confessed. "But I'm gonna be frank, they might just pull us from helping him out."

"What!? Why?"

This was exactly what Takoshi despised about the Custodes Libertatis. While they considered themselves the 'Watchers of Liberty' and advertised themselves as a sort of loose coalition of Independents with no real leadership, they still moved and acted like a corporation. No, they were worse than a corporation. They were politicians, a congress wielding powers that could topple entire companies under what they considered their 'rule of law and justice'. Just like a corporation, they had an image to keep.

"They're going to throw Klein under the bus," he growled, fangs bared and paws clenched into fists. "Think about it. Oliver is still_a Corpsman. He never joined the _Libertatis. At least not officially. If we went and attacked Lameer by himself..."

"_The _Libertatis could play it off as a lone wolf attack," mumbled Ryker in dismay. "A disgruntled employee that was hurt over his IP being warped into something far from his original vision. The public or even those just in the Overworld will see it as a personal thing, no affiliation to Libertatis. Maybe the officers will know we had something to do with it and might even thing that we're turning their own Corpsmen into suicide bombers or something."

His Host certainly had an imagination. Being around for as long as he had, corporate leaders were the last people to jump to conclusions and hit a panic button. Politicians could easily fly off the handle because ultimately, there were checks and balances that restrained their abilities. But corporate leads could make snap decisions that could change the course of the entire company without those checks. Maybe the board of directors might be able to undo some of the damage but unlike a politician who would need agreement from other parties, a corporate leader could just snap his fingers and send the market crashing if they wanted. That was why they needed to be level-headed, cool, collected and - on some level - a sociopath.

They wouldn't start fearing their own Corpsmen were being turned against them... at least initially.

"I have to tell them," Cliff insisted, holding out his phone. "It's part of my job. We've got the Libertatis agents watching AllAle. If Lameer triggers some sort of emergency, they could all be in danger."

At least Cliff wasn't entirely like the Watchers. He had concern over his fellow agents. Most would have just let them die.

"Fine!" Ryker snapped. "But that's not going to stop me from going after Oliver!"

"Didn't think it would, dude," answered the tiger, lifting his phone to his ears. "And for the record, I'm coming with you. Oliver is my responsibility too." He held up a finger as someone on the other side of the phone picked up. "Hey. It's Bandit. We lost track of Klein. Pretty sure he's going after Lameer. You've got to pull all agents from monitoring AllAle. They could be in danger."

He spoke in an even tone but it was clear that he was concerned as well.

Suddenly, Cliff's ears perked and he stared straight forward in shock. "Wait... Really? Oh - Okay! You can count on us!" He hung up and broke into his trademark, ear-to-ear grin. "They're letting us go after Oliver!"

"What?" Takoshi asked, surprised.

Arthur clapped his shoulder in a display of camaraderie. "The Libertatis isn't as heartless as you might think, Takoshi. We want to preserve the freedoms of both IPs and Host. I'm sure they sympathise with Oliver's desire to break free of _AllAle's_grip and they're sending us to save him form himself. Often time, the greatest cage is the ones that we put around our own hearts."

Takoshi gave the boar a sour look. "Which fortune cookie did you pull that out from?"

Cliff was quickly tapping away at his phone. "None of the guys monitoring Oliver's apartment have seen him so he's probably going straight after Lameer. There were two locations that he would go for..."

"The gym!" Ryker exclaimed. "It's the most logical solution. Lameer will be exhausted after the workout and so will his IP. He'd be at his weakest."

Cliff tsked and gave one shake of his head. "It's Tuesday. Lameer only books the whole gym on Wednesdays. He might be there but it's not certain. What is certain is the park."

"Right, right... So the park then? What's the address?"

Cliff called an Uber while both Takoshi and Ryker quickly got changed. It would take a miserable hour to get out of the city and into the suburbs where Lameer lived given that it was a work day and it was peak hour but if they were having trouble navigating through traffic, so would Oliver. Even if Oliver took a path through the Overworld, he'd still have to traverse the exact same distance from the apartment to Lammer and that would take much longer on foot.

Takoshi squeezed into the back seats with Ryker and Cliff on either side of him while Arthur got to ride shotgun. Cliff was anxiously watching reports coming in from other Libertatis agents while Ryker was watching the normal news feeds. Takoshi felt helpless and useless as he just waited for the car to pull up a block away from the park. Arthur paid the driver through the app and then they were bolting down towards the park.

"Before we go," Cliff said, reaching into the backpack he wore. He took out a black, full-face wolf mask with that cartoonish, malevolent grin and LED goggles over the eyes. From where he stood, he could see that the space behind the visors offered a full view of the field beyond. Cliff handed it to Ryker. "Put this on. We don't want anyone for a corporation realising who we are. And from this point on, we use codenames, got it?" He pointed at himself. "I'm Bandit." Then he gestured to Arthur. "He's Avalon."

"I'm Wild Card," added Ryker. The wolf's brown eyes turned towards Takoshi who nodded grimly.

"Ronin."

The sun was already starting to set which left few people in the park itself. The only thing truly out of place was the big, black sedan which appeared suspiciously empty. Ryker slipped on his mask.

"Overworld," was all Cliff needed to say. Both the tiger and Ryker pressed the buttons on their phones and they were immediately taken into a battlefield.

"Oliver!" exclaimed Ryker, his voice slightly distorted by the mask.

The tabby was on his back, slightly propped up. Bruised and with one eye swollen shut, he was about a few feet away from Lameer. The squat but wide and muscular gopher was flanked by his towering, muscular IP, Cedar on his right and then the big, bald eagle that was Summer to his left. Summer had his bat out with streams of highly-compressed water spinning around its length.

"Ah," Lameer began, adjusting his tie. "And these must be the agents of the Custodes Libertatis that implanted their seeds of deception into you."

Oliver glanced over to them, teeth gnashed together in pain. "Get out of here! This is_my_ fight!"

"Don't be an ass!" Ryker shouted. "You're _on_your ass!"

He was such a dad.

Takoshi turned back to Lameer. Something struck him odd about the scene apart from the fact that Summer had apparently turned on Oliver. He thought back to the briefing he had received from Cliff and Arthur. Almost every night, Lameer would go to this park in sweat pants and a shirt, claiming that he was going for a run, but really was just getting fucked by his IP.

So why was he in a suit?

His heart plummeted.

"It's a trap!"

Corpsmen were suddenly emerging from all around them, charging in from their hiding places in the Realworld and then shifting into the Overworld. Beside them were their Dosers. There was further insult to injury in that there were only two varieties of Dosers; both of them being the two versions of Summer. One was the feminine peahen clutching a jug and the other was a brutish baseball player obnoxiously chewing gum.

Takoshi reached for his wakizashi but he wasn't sure if he could stand up against the dozen or so Corpsmen that had surrounded them. He had managed to take down Oliver but only because he had surprised the tabby when he had formed a pact with Ryker. Against twelve highly-trained Corpsmen with an officer standing so close...?

"Well fuck..." he admitted.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Cliff grin.

"Big mistake bringing more people into the fight, Lameer," said the tiger. "Avalon!"

Arthur, once more dressed in his steel and gold armour, reached for the sword hanging from his hip and drew it. The weapon was simply awe-inspiring. The cross hilt of the weapon was forged with a draconic design with the spread wings of the dragon forming the horizontal bars and the long dragon's neck snaking up halfway the silvery, almost-white blade. Brown leather wound tightly around the grip while a diamond as large as his eye was embedded into the pommel. The blade itself was decorated with arcane runes that he couldn't understand but simply radiated power.

The boar held the sword easily in one hand and in the other, he held a glistening white and gold shield emblazoned with a golden dragon. Barring his rather rounded physique, he almost looked rather heroic. It wasn't too far-fetched to think that this guy could have been an actual King Arthur.

Then his sword caught on fire.

Takoshi jumped in surprise when crimson flames erupted from the base of the blade, spreading all the way to the tip and illuminating the dark grey of the Overworld around them.

"Is that meant to impress me?" scoffed Lameer. The gopher gave a helpless shrug which slightly dislodged his glasses so he had to readjust them before continuing to speak. "Need I remind you that you are surrounded_by Dosers that specialise in manipulating liquids? Your fiery sword is _useless against them. Case in point..."

The Corpsmen with the peahen Dosers uttered a command, pointing directly at Arthur. All the birds pointed their vases at the flaming sword, sending a torrent of amber liquid launching straight towards the golden king. Takoshi was about to shout a warning when those pillars of fluid abruptly evaporated before even reaching Arthur. A good three feet before reaching the boar, all the liquid immediately turned to steam.

Lameer balked in surprise. "What!?"

"Need I remind you that you aren't just dealing with some random IP on the streets," Arthur said firmly. "I am Avalon of the Custodes Libertatis! I've prepared for fights like this!" He lifted his shield as the flames around his blade grew hotter and wilder. "You _will_surrender, Kanoth Lameer, and answer for your crimes! Bandit!"

Cliff lifted his phone. Beneath his mask, Takoshi was sure the tiger was smirking. "You got it, bud! Parse! Rule: No Corpsmen!"

Bright, blue lightning suddenly erupted from the large feline's phone and immediately launched towards the twelve Corpsmen. They were struck, letting out screams of pain and terror before their forms vanished from the Overworld. When Takoshi squinted, he could just barely see their shadowy silhouettes. A bright blue light emanated from the phone, washing over all of them.

Kanoth didn't seem impressed and kept his smile intact. "Parse," he stated coolly. "The Function that lets you place certain conditions on the battlefield. You could have restricted all attacks using water or maybe even removed me entirely from the battlefield had you wanted but you couldn't could you?" A dark smile touched his features. "If used incorrectly, Parse could just remove your own capabilities. Which is why you just removed those whom you consider Corpsmen, leaving yourselves, me and the... former_Corpsman." His eyes briefly glanced towards Oliver in disgust before turning back towards Cliff. "A major drawback, however, is that it takes _five RAM."

A sinking feeling pulled Takoshi's belly down to his feet. It was another trap.

Kanoth knew that members of the Libertatis had Parse up their sleeves so he had to make sure that there were as many variables out there as possible. A reason why he also kept Oliver alive. If Cliff had just commanded everyone form AllAle_to be filtered out, he risked sending Oliver _and Lameer back to the Realworld where they wouldn't be able to directly stop them from hurting the tabby. If he had filtered out all those that used water to fight, the real Summer would be lost and Oliver would be left helpless. The AllAle CFO had spammed them with too many variables to accurately filter out. And now Cliff only had one RAM left that he could use for Exit but he'd be leaving right into the arms of the Corpsmen who were waiting in the Realworld.

But all that for what?

One look at Kanoth's beady, black eyes, the greed in there and that predatory look said it all.

"He's after us..." Takoshi concluded. "Fuck..."

"Someone finally figured it out," snickered the gopher. His wide grin showed his enormous front teeth. "You thought that you were ambushing me. Really though, I was the bait that turned out to be the trap at the same time. It was fortuitous of me that dear, Mr. Klein decided to attack me tonight. We all knew that it was just a matter of time before you tried to attack one of us. It was just a matter of who and when."

Kanoth had deliberately kept up with his routine feigning ignorance when in reality, he had been ready this entire time to strike back if and when Libertatis attacked! He had this whole thing planned!

"You can't have planned this whole thing," Takoshi snarled, baring his fangs.

"Of course not but I did tip things in my favour." He grinned savagely as he nodded towards Oliver. "When I sent Mr. Klein that little text message, I was _sure_he would come after me."

Text message?

"Summer X was going to be sold in supermarkets starting from tomorrow," Lameer taunted, seeing Takoshi's confusion. "It was going to be a new, sportier version sold in a can. Part beer and part energy drink. I knew he couldn't resist. You Independents have such pride in your IPs."

"I'm pretty sure you'd also kill people if you mixed an energy drink with alcohol," Ryker pointed out.

"It didn't matter, did it?" answered the gopher with that smug smile of his. "It got Mr. Klein here to launch a 'pre-emptive attack'."

Cliff let out a low growl. "So you think you've got it all figured out, huh?"

"I do." The CFO of AllAle reached into the coat of his suit and produced what appeared to be a scroll made of golden paper and shone with a warm light. "I assume you know what this is?"

Oliver struggled to his feet at the sight of the scroll. His right leg was badly injured so he had to maintain his weight entirely on his left. "My Contract!"

"Indeed!" The gopher's grin was really unsettling. "I suspected that the Libertatis would try to scramble a small squad to try and rescue Mr. Klein which is why I invoked the Exit Clause of the Contract."

The Exit Clause. When invoked, it would trigger the dissolution of the Contract but it usually meant that the advantage was given to the corporation holding it. Each one was generally different but that could possibly explain why Summer had turned on Oliver.

Lameer unfolded the contract and began to read it. "In his particular Contract, and I quote, 'In the instance that the employer - AllAle - feels that the signatory has failed to uphold the Contract or performed actions that are not in alignment with the employer's vision, the signatory's Intellectual Property with henceforth be surrendered to the employer's command until the expiration of the signatory wherein the employer will acquiescence the IP into the public domain.'"

"What does that mean?" Ryker asked.

Cliff grit his teeth, whiskers twitching. "It means that at any time, if AllAle decided that Oliver was no longer worth their time, Summer falls under the control of the corporation until Oliver dies. Then and only then will the Contract be destroyed and Summer will be released from AllAle, left to wander the Overworld as a free IP."

That was dark. The only way to free Summer or Oliver from the Contract was for Oliver to die.

"And thus the next part of my plan," Lameer boasted. "I know as another member of the Libertatis you're likely tempted to use Parse on me again." He was looking directly at Ryker.

Lameer thought Ryker had Parse... that could play to their advantage.

"So I'm going to open negotiations," finished the gopher. "I am going to command Summer to attack. He's going to kill Mr. Klein. You have the option of using _Parse_to either eject him or Mr. Klein from this battlefield but neither option is in your best interest."

"And why not?" spat Ryker. The pup had caught on that Lameer thought he was a full member of Libertatis and was playing the role well.

The CFO of the beer corporation sighed and adjusted his glasses. "You must be new. Dosers cannot exist in the Realworld for very long. If you eject Summer, he will perish. Mr. Klein could always Exit and return to the Realworld to hopefully bring him back but then he'd have to contend with my Corpsmen waiting to pounce and even were he to return, we'd be back right where we started only you_wouldn't have the RAM to execute _Parse."

A sinister smile crawled onto the gopher's lips. "Similarly, if you use Parse to push Mr. Klein out, the same issue will arise from my Corpsmen."

"I could always push you out!"

"But then you'd lose me as a target. Sure you'd escape but then we'd know for sure that AllAle is a target of the Custodes Libertatis. We'll shore up our defences and you will never get this back." He waved the scroll tauntingly at Ryker. "So here is my proposal; I will return Summer into Mr. Klein's custody on the condition that you both come to work for AllAle. We will turn your IPs into Dosers..." He glanced towards Takoshi and then Arthur. "I'm thinking a nice sake and maybe an ale..." His eyes switched back to Ryker. "... but you'll both get to live. The life of a Corpsman is actually quite lucrative, you know. You risk your lives for the Corporation so we make sure you are very comfortable."

"I'd rather die!" Cliff snapped.

"Funny you should mention that," said Lameer with a dark smile. "Because the moment I give the command, you can be rest assured that both Cedar and I will join the battle. Do you think you can protect Mr. Klein from Summer's single-minded, relentless assaults while also fending both of us off?"

As confident as he was in his abilities, Takoshi had never preyed on another IP let alone the IP of a chief officer. He wasn't sure how strong Arthur and Cliff were either. Given that Cliff was down to one RAM as well which he had to reserve for his Exit command, the tiger was effectively neutered.

Then Ryker stepped forward, shoulders hunched and his phone in both his paws. Takoshi's heart plummeted.

He wasn't giving up... was he? He _refused_to become a Doser!

"The crux of this whole this whole thing is Oliver's Contract, isn't it?" said the pup. "We want the Contract to free Summer from AllAle. You're able to control Summer from the Contract."

"That's about the gist of it," answered the gopher confidently. "If you think you can take it from me before Summer kills Mr. Klein -"

"I don't need to take it. It's unbreakable unless Oliver dies. Unless..." Ryker suddenly pointed his phone in the direction of the CFO, brining a curious look from the gopher. Cedar lifted an arm protectively against Lameer's chest.

"Break."

Time froze including Takoshi's heart. A sound like ice starting to crack rang in his ears. Cracks appeared across the Contract's surface despite it being made of some iridescent paper. Scintillating light burst from the fractures like raw power was spilling out of it. Lameer shouted something but Takoshi was just focused on the Contract, his jaw visibly dropping as the cracks reached the edges of the piece of parchment and -

SMASH!

... shattered entirely.

Golden shards were floating away from Lameer, edges shining with the same light that had spilled forth from the original, formed paper. The gopher pawed at the fragments uselessly, a bit of panic rising from his voice as all his leverage, his greatest advantage, was just _destroyed_right in front of him.

Another gasp erupted from an unlikely source and this was quickly followed by the sound of crashing water and an aluminium bat hitting the ground. Summer fell to his feathery hands and knees, panting heavily with sweat dripping from his brow. His eyes no longer showed that dull, listless haze over it. They shone with emotion; surprise, fear, regret... and relief.

"Summer...?" Oliver squeaked.

The eagle glanced up, meeting the tabby's gaze. "Ollie...?" Then he broke into a smile. "Ollie!"

With surprising speed, Summer snatched his bat up from the ground and rushed straight towards the injured cat. He swept Oliver up in his massive, muscled arms, spinning him around even with a bat still in hand. They two laughed, tears of relief welling in their eyes like two lovers reunited after a long time apart.

"No!" cursed Lameer. "What kind of Function is that? How could you have destroyed the Contract!? A Contract is binding! It's the law!"

"Laws can be broken," Ryker answered, a bright smile on his face with his eyes never leaving Oliver and Summer's reunion. "When the law is wrong, you don't just live with it. You change it. You renegotiate." He puffed out his chest, looking much more confident than Takoshi had ever seen him. "So let's renegotiate, Lameer."

His hostage effectively freed and now with both Summer and Oliver on the side of Libertatis, Lameer found himself at a disadvantage. Still, that didn't stop the gopher from quickly recomposing himself, adjusting his tie and dusting his paws as if glad to be rid of the Contract.

"I won't be responsible for losing Mr. Klein's as an asset. I suppose there is nothing left to do but to..." That dark grin returned, a chill crawling down Takoshi's spine like a spider dancing on his vertebrae. "...renegotiate. Cedar!"

******

Si watched the entire exchange. The tallest member of the Custodes Libertatis' leadership, the Kage, stood silently in midair well above the battlefield and far from the vision of any would-be corporate spies or even the combatants below. Beside him were the other four members of the leadership, Yoo, Ecks, Aye and Es.

Yoo, the smallest of them all, was toying playfully with her long, white hair which stuck out from behind her mask. Ecks, despite the black mask he wore, was clearly a dragon as there was no missing his enormous, webbed wings and the stoic member just stood with his arms crossed, watching. Aye was quietly tapping out a sombre tune on the piano keys that hovered around his waist with no seemingly connected strings. Lastly, Wai, the biggest the brawniest of them all, paced impatiently, his footfalls falling on some invisible platform that maintained all their weights.

"This is_wrong_," Wai, an orca, snarled "Why aren't we stepping in to take down that bastard, Kanoth? They're kids and they're nowhere near experienced enough or have high enough synch rates to beat Lameer!"

"Oh you're such a worrywart!" Yoo sighed, her legs dangling off the edge of the platform. "Have a little faith, won't you, Wai? I mean, you did see Wild Card use that amazing Function of his, didn't you?"

"And that's one RAM he's used out of the six that he's limited to! He's going to have to use one for Exit meaning that he's only got four uses of that left! He doesn't even have any subprotocols! He's screwed!"

"I concur with Wai," rumbled Ecks quietly. "We can't afford to lose two members of Libertatis and a potential third. We should step in."

"We're not here to murder Kanoth," Yoo countered. "At least not outwardly. Even if we defeat him, he's going to go running back to AllAle with an announcement that the leaders of Custodes Libertatis actually went after him. You know they're going to hit the panic button after that."

"She is right," whispered Aye, his feathered fingers dancing along his 'skirt' of piano keys lightly. "Our appearance would trigger _AllAle_to panic and confirm our involvement in the Overworld. Our greatest strength is the mystery behind our identities and involvement. Disinformation keeps us in the shadows. To many, we are but a warning tale, the boogieman. No one is truly sure we exist but if Kanoth returns to _AllAle_with confirmation of _Libertatis'_involvement and our power, it would give all other corporations a scale of our abilities and set them to prepare."

"We cannot fight a war on countless fronts," agreed Si sorrowfully. "Most corporations don't believe we exist, thinking the Libertatis is merely rebels and lone wolves sharing Functions. If they realise that the five of us actually lead them and we are far above the average member, then our advantage fades as their information grows."

"We've spent years attacking corporations and bringing them down," Yoo said, lying back on the platform. "Most of what we're known for sounds so far-fetched that people don't believe they're true. If someone as reputable as Kanoth suddenly told the rest of AllAle and the company started acting accordingly, all the facts that were supposedly 'not true' becomes plausible."

Footsteps suddenly caused all five of them to turn in surprise. All five leaders suddenly froze with Yoo even sitting upright again. None of them could believe their eyes. The sole figure approaching them was dressed in an all-consuming black cloak like the rest of them but instead of a black mask that denoted their species, the man had what appeared to be a constantly shifting array of pixels over their hooded face, making it absolutely impossible to discern any features from them. He approached with confidence and a casual stride as if someone coming to meet them like an old friend.

"Cue..." whispered Ecks, unfolding his arms in surprise. "What...? How...?"

"Did I ever hint that I was dead or going to die when I left?" asked the 'missing' member of the leadership. Unlike the others, his voice was not scrambled, perhaps the only hint at his identity. Cue glanced towards the battle below. It was not going well. "Are you really going to stand here and watch while those poor kids are slaughtered by a corporate officer?"

"We have too much to lose if we interfere," Si said.

"Perhaps but don't you think you have more to lose if they obtain both the Open and Break Functions?"

Si glanced back down towards the battle, his paws tightening. Open could literally open anything including their best firewalls and even their masks. Break... from all appearances, it had the power to break even the ironclad Contracts that the corporations lorded over. The loss of both Functions and its spread could potentially be disastrous in the Overworld. He could just imagine Corpsmen sneaking in to young companies still unaware of the Overworld, stealing their secrets with Open or even breaking key equipment that would permanently cripple them.

"What do you suggest then?"

"Do you think I am here to suggest or to question?" answered Cue, as enigmatically and as infuriatingly as ever. "Can you honestly live with yourselves knowing that this was the turning point in the war for the Overworld and yet you chose to sit by and do nothing?"