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Relevant

By Nex Canis

Chapter 1

Lieutenant Cameron Keiss picked up his phone off his desk and slung his jacket over his shoulder. The bullpen was almost completely empty at this time of day but all the arrest warrants and case reports were finally filed and he could go home. Night shift would soon come in and he was sure his 'desk buddy' would be here soon to take over. Crime never slept in New York City even if it was just misdemeanors. As one of the detectives for his precinct - and a lieutenant at that - the red-maned lion with a little gray tuft as a forelock had to work extra hard to meet the demands of the brass. A constant pressure to 'bring down crime' loomed over his head and his captain was always insisting that their crime stats needed to be higher or lower depending on his mood.

Unlike many of his colleagues, however, he felt energized after a long ten hours on the job. The sun was just setting over the skyline of New York City. Here in the midst of the concrete jungle with tower skyscrapers already blocking out the golden orange and reds of the sunset, twilight had set in. Cameron didn't mind it at all. He waved a good evening to the desk sergeant at the reception and stepped out of his precinct through the revolving doors. He headed over to the garage dedicated to the precint where his powerful motorcycle sat. The bright crimson beast greeted him with a glimmer in its headlights, an old friend eager to greet its master. That little golden-horned unicorn painted on the rear even seemed to wink at him. Smirking to himself, he slipped on his helmet, revved up the engine and was out of the garage and weaving his way through the evening traffic of Manhattan - obeying all the road rules, of course.

A soft beep and light vibration came from the phone resting in the breast pocket of his leather jacket. Just a light punch of the device through the cloth and his bluetooth earpiece picked up the voice of the caller on the other side.

“You're finally off work?"

“What?" he laughed softly, “Are you tracking me now?"

“Of course. I got worried when you said you were going to be off work and on your way back an hour ago. I've been keeping an eye on your phone's GPS. I was five minutes away from calling you."

Cameron grinned broadly, flashing sharp fangs that he meticulously maintained through a daily regimen of rigorous brushing, flossing and mouthwash. Discipline was key. “I love how much you care, Bi."

“Bite me, Si."

It always amused one of the Kage of the Custodes Libertatis how his pseudonym had come about. Back when the Watchers of Liberty had first started out, the Kage had insisted on identifying themselves using the first initial of their names. Signing off with 'C' became almost second nature. When the Watchers grew, however, his identification mutated from the third letter of the alphabet to 'Si'. Phonetically sounded the same but different spelling. The added anonymity helped especially since he was considered one of the 'heroes' that had taken down the Leoman Brothers who had become Overlords and had been directly responsible for the Global Financial Crisis. Every corporation would be after them if they knew any of the Kage's identity.

“Maybe later, Bifrost," he said, addressing his IP directly by name. He came to a stop at a red light. “I'll be home in the next twenty minutes."

It took him all of a second to realize something was wrong.

No reply came from Bifrost. In fact, it should have been peak hour in Manhattan yet the four-way intersection he stood upon was completely abandoned. There were no screaming pedestrians, no honking cars and no homeless begging for change on the street corners. Everyone was masked with a layer of dark gray like all but the brightest of colors had been sapped from the environment. He immediately realized he had somehow made it into the Overworld, the parallel dimension that was a physical representation of the mortal imagination.

“What the…?" he began, reaching for his phone and pulling it out. The Independent App was on, dominating the screen with its blue, tessellated background. This confirmed his suspicions. Had he accidentally triggered it when he had accepted the call from Bifrost?

Impossible.

He had been talking with the unicorn for an entire three minutes before he was suddenly here.

“Then how…?"

“How arrogant would you have to be to automatically assume that just because you defeated two Overlords, you now know everything about the Overworld."

Si was immediately on edge as a black-cloaked figure silently glided past him. The figure's features were completely hidden by an ever-changing pixelated effect like he was viewing the enigmatic man's face through a computer screen on low resolution. The rest of him was hidden by the long, black cloak, black boots and black gloves, giving no indication of his species or true identity.

Cue the most mysterious member of the Kage and arguably the Prodigal Son who had only made a reappearance a few months ago after years of absence.

“Cue," Cameron stated, pulling off his helmet. “I didn't know you could drag anyone into the Overworld at will."

“Do you know what else you do not know?"

One of the irritating things about Cue was that he only ever spoke in questions. Never answering his own questions. Just condescending questions.

“A lot apparently," he growled. “Why did you suddenly bring me here?"

Cue pulled out a hard-drive, completely jet black and no bigger than Cameron's paw.

“Do you want to know what is contained in this drive?"

“If you're dangling it in front of me, then yes," he sighed, running a paw down his face. All the energy he had mustered as his second wind from leaving the office was quickly being drained by Cue. “What's in it?"

“What if I told you that this drive contains the last shred of evidence you need to identify those that could potentially become Overlords and those that already are?"

Lightning struck the lion and he was immediately attentive again. Over the past few months ever since the defeat of AllAle and their Overlord, Cameron had been using his connections in the police force to find out who else could have been connected to Emile Santos and could potentially be an Overlord. Keeping his investigations under the radar of his captain and the rest of the force was hard but he also had connections in the Overworld. The other Kage were not so supportive of his methods and obsession with the Overlords, preferring to stay low so as not to provoke the ire of the corporations. Despite all their strength, the Custodes Libertatis were still outgunned and outnumbered by all the corporations with access to the Overworld. Against one corporation they would be evenly matched but against multiple or even all two at once…?

That was his driving motivation to preemptively find the Overlords. They were the true threats to the balance of the Overworld.

“You're kidding," Cameron began, reaching for the drive. Cue didn't pull back and deposited the drive in the feline's paw.

“Would I ever joke about such a thing?"

“How did you even get this?" he asked, holding the drive in both paws like it was the Holy Grail. “I've been trying for months to find out if there were any other Overlords out there and here you are, just dropping it on my lap!"

“Did you believe you are the only one searching for the Overlords? What makes you think that I only started over the past few months? What did you think I was doing in my absence?"

All good questions and all equally condescending as they were irritating.

“Fair enough. I'll bring this to the other Kage and we'll start looking into it."

“Would you accept a stipulation for this information?"

Without thinking, Cameron Keiss shrugged. “Yeah, of course. You're a Kage. You're a colleague."

There was a pause on Cue's side before he posed his next question. “Will you involve Ryker Wall in your next raid?"

Recalling the young lupine who was also an aspiring game-developer that had been at the center of AllAle's fall, Cameron was forced to regard the drive and wonder if he should be pulling someone so young and innocent into an all-out war. As an officer of the law, he still considered Ryker a civilian - even if some of the other Kage would oppose him. The poor kid had gone through hell so that AllAle would fall. Dragging him back into another battle just seemed… wrong.

“I -"

Hoooooooooonk!

He jumped as a cab right behind him blared its horn loudly.

“Stop standing there like a dumbass!" roared the bull behind the wheel. “It's fucking green!"

He was suddenly back in the Realworld.

Cameron raised a offesive finger at the man before revving his engine so that it blew a big, cloud of black smoke right into the cabdriver's face. Pocketing the drive, he zoomed down the street, back to his home.

“Cam?" Bifrost said, his voice coming over his earpiece. “You okay? I lost you for ten minutes or something. I got worried."

“Yeah… Yeah," Cameron breathed, still processing everything that had transpired. “I had an impromptu meeting with Cue. He dragged me into the Overworld somehow."

“He can do that!?"

“Apparently so." The lion took a deep breath as he pressed himself down against his bike to make sure he was as streamlined as possible. “Call the other Kage. We need to meet. Now."

“Oh… Okay. If they ask why, what do I tell them?"

Cameron considered his next words carefully.

“Tell them, this time, I have proof."

******

The morning sunlight shone through the curtains, golden beams that broke through the twilight of the small room. Predictably, the noise of New York City followed shortly after. The honking of aggravated drivers, roar of the L-Train and a few heated exchanges were like Ryker Wall's alarm clock. The 22-year-old, gray-furred wolf bent his ears back, trying to block out the noise but they were instead assaulting by something far more jarring than the sounds that, for the better part of his early twenties, had been his wakeup call; Takoshi's snoring. The thunderous roar was akin to an avalanche and an airhorn violently mating. His bright, green eyes fluttered open and a soft groan left his lips. He couldn't complain too much, however. This is what he got for spending the night in the polar bear's room.

Taking stock of his surroundings through bleary eyes, the first sight that greeted him was the large Japanese wall scroll that was mounted beside the bed. According to the big, muscled male who currently had a meaty, vascular arm wrapped around him, the scroll said 'Determination'. When he had looked it up the word in traditional Japanese it had come up with only two characters in Kanji. This one had five characters in Hiragana. He hadn't asked Takoshi about it as he figured his boyfriend-slash-IP-slash-guardian would tell him at his own time.

Ryker's gaze floated down to the thick arm that was currently draped across his flank, almost gripping him possessively. His own arm was curled around the bicep that was bigger than his head, his fingers hovering over Takoshi's knuckles. Not a bad sight to wake up to. The smell, though, was something else entirely. Sweat, sex and cum. He was somewhat ashamed to admit that this was not the first time he had fallen asleep after having shoved his cock up Takoshi's ass and bred the burly bear.

The sad part was that it was a dynamic that had developed after the first few nights they had started sleeping with one another. The first day since he moved into their new apartment atop Hayden Okonjo's gymnasium, he found it difficult to sleep because it was such an alien environment. Sensing this, Takoshi had entered his room, curled up around him and promptly went to sleep. The problem was, Ryker still couldn't sleep because of Takoshi's snoring.

Too ashamed to admit that the kind gesture only deprived him of more sleep, Ryker didn't say anything for a whole three more nights before he reached his breaking point. He couldn't exactly remember how that ended up with him and Takoshi having sex and the most blissful night's sleep he had in three days but he suddenly had a way to sleep in Takoshi's arms.

Sadly, the morning after always came with some rank stenches.

Takoshi never minded but for someone with a sensitive nose like Ryker, it was another wakeup call.

Slowly, he wiggled his lean frame closer and closer to the edge, gently wrapping his fingers around the back of Takoshi's much bigger paw and slowly lifting the meaty limb. All that mass and muscle was understandably heavy but with Takoshi out cold for at least another hour or so, it wasn't too difficult to give himself an opening to shuffle free. His bare footpaws pressed against the awful dark-blue carpet that Hayden had installed in all of the apartments. It went terribly with the lime-green walls and ceiling. Everyone had silently agreed that they would try to fill the walls with as many paintings or wall-hangings to hide the bright green as much as possible.

At least the carpet was comfortable to the touch.

There was no need to be overly stealthy. Takoshi was a ridiculously hard sleeper. Ryker was fairly sure he could scream bloody murder and his IP and lover wouldn't realize. That thought alone was enough to bring the lightest touch of a smile onto his lips as he once again found his eyes drifting towards his boyfriend.

Golden beams of sunlight were streaming in from between the blinds. The glistening bands highlighted the chiseled frame of Takoshi's light-gray-white fur, perfectly highlighting the bush of black chest hair that only served to accentuate the curves of his big, broad, slab-like pectorals. A treasure trail led teasingly down towards his crotch where that monster dick was currently hidden from view by a similarly monstrous thigh as the polar bear lay on his side. Takoshi's broad, square muzzle was left wide open, unleashing that thunderous snore. His scruffy chinstrap beard left traces of a tickle on Ryker's cheek and lips even now, bringing memories of the passionate kiss that had started them on their path of wild, untamed sex. Takoshi's dark hair was matted with sweat with his white forelock still sticking out like a beacon in the darkness.

Ryker turned his gaze away before he started to get lewd ideas and reached down for his pants. There was no need for underwear; he would get dressed and showered the moment he got back to his own room. He didn't even bother with a shirt and just haphazardly slipped on his jeans before hurrying out the door of the studio-like-room.

He stepped out into the corridor which contained all the staff's living quarters.

About a month and a half ago, Hayden had finished the renovations on the old apartment complex that he was now overseeing. The bottom three floors were dedicated to the gym that he was running with the first two floors being the gym itself while the third was for the administrative side for the staff. The remaining three floors were exclusively for the living quarters and comfort of the staff itself.

Instead of one or two bedroom apartments on each of the floors, Hayden had basically turned the three floors into one massive frat house. Each of the staff members - which really only consisted of six people at the moment - had a single bedroom. Each was big enough to fit a king-sized bed, a desk and some other pieces of furniture. Ten similar rooms were positioned on the fifth floor and another ten on the sixth. At the end of the hallway with the bedrooms was a large, communal bathroom. A kitchen and lounge area took up the rest of the fifth floor. The sixth floor was a sort of 'entertainment floor' filled with a pool table, a bar, a dance floor and even a patio that had a hot tub alongside the currently unoccupied bedrooms. The fourth floor which was just above the administration floor acted like a barrier between the public areas of the building and the private and was mostly like a 'common room' area or a large, extended lounge room for communal meetings and as a sort of sound barrier between the living spaces and the gym downstairs.

Cliff Runner and Arthur Penn, another two members of staff and Ryker's friends, absolutely adored the idea. Considering the two were basically fratboys themselves, this was no surprise. Cliff worked as a light-weights trainer and Arthur ran maintenance. Decanter, another member of staff, sided with Ryker in disapproving with Hayden's choices. They both agreed that Hayden could have easily moved everyone up to the fifth and sixths floors for living and left the fourth floor as a sort of studio for group workouts. But there was no stopping Hayden when he got an idea in his head.

Speaking of Decanter…

Ryker opened the door to the room across the hall from him and nearly jumped out of his fur at the sight of the tall, lean, athletic rhinoceros with stark-white hair sitting on his bed absently flicking through the contents of an iPad.

“Jesus Christ, Decanter!" Ryker cried. “Why are you in my room!?"

Decanter was taller than Ryker and had a strong swimmer's build. Even though he had spent the majority of his life wearing a suit, the man in charge of the gym's finances and accounts had dressed down to a collared shirt and dress pants. He still had the bearing of a butler including the dry wit and disproving tone.

“You clearly weren't using it and I could hardly sleep in the room next to Takoshi's given the loud bestial noises emanating from it."

Ryker's cheeks burned and he stepped inside his room before anyone could see him standing in the hallway with - yes - the same awful blue carpet. “Fair enough," he mumbled in embarrassment. “But in my defense, Takoshi was giving me some advice on how to deal with some… thing… and he was shirtless and we were cuddling and…"

Decanter held up a hand to cut him off. “No need to explain. Takoshi flexed. You flicked out your dick. It's happened almost every night since we moved in. It is nice you are finding a ritual for yourself to better acclimate to your new environment." He handed the iPad to Ryker. “Better get cleaned up, showered and ready for work. I've taken the liberty of organizing your schedule today and made you lunch. It's a tuna salad sandwich. Be sure to eat it after your workout with Arthur at one. Also remember you're meeting with Teresa Yale this afternoon during your lunch break."

Ryker regarded the iPad which had a very organized calendar displayed on it. It was even color-coded. “You know you don't have to keep planning my days…"

“I am your IP now and you are my Host," replied Decanter, striding past him with his head held high and shoulders back. “It's what a good IP would do." Decanter gripped the doorknob and opened it, placing a foot out the door. The snarky smile on his lips was barely hidden. “Besides, I didn't plan your entire day. You're free to have whatever you want for breakfast."

He gave the white-haired rhino an exasperated, disbelieving look. “Really?"

“Of course." Decanter lifted a finger tauntingly. “Of the approved brands of cereal and milk."

“Goddamnit…"

While he was definitely not looking forward to breakfast, the stench of the previous night's activities spurred him to head over to the wardrobe positioned at the foot of the bed and fish out a fresh pair of underwear and his work clothes. For a brief moment, he recalled the first time he and Takoshi had met… and the instant when the big bear had literally come out of his closet wearing a pair of borrowed red shorts that looked like a pair of red posers on the big bodybuilding bear. Sadly, his new accommodations didn't have a walk-in closet so that was not a scene that could be repeated.

Clothes in hand, Ryker headed back out into the hallway and over to the communal bathroom. It was very strange for him to be living in this frat-house like building. Showering with other guys was somewhat awkward so he made a point to get cleaned up much earlier than anyone else. This was something that the ever-organized Decanter had taken into consideration. Sadly, even Decanter couldn't sway Hayden from making the awful decision to use neon-pink tiles for the bathroom. Ryker swore that his retinas burned every time he stepped into the bathroom.

Stepping up to the gym-like showers, he stripped off what little clothes he was wearing and started the running water. The blast of cold water that took about 30 seconds to fully heat up woke whatever part of him remaining asleep. His mind was jump-started and his thoughts started to race as it always did.

“Okay," he told himself as he rubbed some soap into his paws. “The gym opens up at ten so I've got about three hours to look at all the mail and get organized. I'll confirm with Tess that she still wants to meet tonight. Workout with Arthur later too."

He grimaced at that last comment and rolled his right shoulder out of instinct. Hayden was a very easy-going guy and didn't mind at all what his staff looked like but Ryker knew very well that if you saw a skinny, twig-like wolf manning the reception area of a gym, you were probably not going to sign-up. So he had taken it upon himself to start working out. Decanter seemed like the logical choice but sadly, the rhino didn't have any idea about anatomy despite being ripped and sculpted as he was. Cliff was the next option but the tiger was more interested in maintaining their friendship than pushing him hard. Takoshi took fitness extremely seriously and their one session together led to a strained shoulder. Arthur was the good in-between.

Having lathered his gray fur, he moved on to massaging the shampoo into his brown hair. His blunted claws from years of tapping away at a keyboard felt good against his scalp. That and the now-warm water. The gentle massage of the running water felt good on his sore muscles. Arthur had insisted that they work out at least every weekday with weekends reserved for rest. Their workout regimen had only started a month and a half ago and it had been naive of him to think that he'd see any improvements on his body but there was some part of him that had hoped his relationship with Takoshi and Decanter would at least upgrade his stick-like figure to something a little more… meaty.

Such was the relationship between a Host and their IP.

Ryker Wall was no ordinary post-graduate student currently working at a gym while he simultaneously studied to get his Masters in Information Technology in the hopes of building his own videogame.

He was an Independent.

A freedom fighter, a warrior for liberty and, to some, a hero. To the corporations of the world, however, he was a terrorist, a threat to their monopoly and a thorn in their profits.

As an Independent, he had access to the mysterious parallel dimension known as the Overworld; a bizarre psychic realm that represented all the ideas and concepts of the collective mortal consciousness. Within the realm, strong ideas gained physical form. Brand mascots, corporate identities and even imaginary friends became physical, living entities known as IPs. Most of the time, IPs were bound to their creators and were thus influenced by them. At the same time, changes to the IPs could change the creator and indeed those who were connected to the IP. An IP for a very popular product could draw strength from all the people who bought, used and even just thought about that very same product so if a corporation were to kidnap that IP and manipulate it, they could in turn manipulate people's thoughts.

And that was where, as an Independent, Ryker stepped in. Alongside members of the Custodes Libertatis - the Watchers of Liberty - he fought for IP independence and against corporate oppression. Anyone who would access the Overworld and use it for their own gain was a target for him and the Libertatis. Despite not actually being part of the Libertatis, he was nonetheless considered an 'honorary' member after recent events.

Ryker switched off the shower and rested his forehead against the tiles, letting out a long, exhausted sigh.

It felt like forever when he, along with Takoshi, Cliff and Arthur had charged against one of the corporations that had been abusing the Overworld; AllAle. A corrupt beverage company that specialized in alcohol, the corporation used mob-like tactics to forcibly acquire small businesses and their IPs in the hopes of fueling their rapid expansion. Ryker alongside his friends, assaulted AllAle with the Libertatis. They were successful and severed the CEO from the Overworld.

Since then, Ryker - AKA 'Wild Card' - had maintained a level of anonymity amongst the Libertatis. If any of the corporations found out that a scrawny postgrad and his fratboy friend were responsible for taking down one of their own, literal hitmen would be knocking on their doors trying to take them out. One of the reasons that the Liberatis leaders, the Kage, kept their identities as secret. Even to the other members of the Libertatis, no one knew who was responsible for the defeat of AllAle. Most of the credit went to the one Kage who had fought the CEO alongside them - Si. Not that Ryker minded.

“I wonder if Si likes being the local celebrity," he mumbled softly to himself. A soft, dry laugh escaped his muzzle as he straightened and shook his fur out. “Not sure I want to be a famous videogame developer if it means being on anyone's hit list."

Thankfully, he had Decanter. Originally an IP for one of the executive officers of AllAle, Decanter had been bequeathed to Ryker in a last ditch attempt to save the rhino's life. Decanter had made it clear a major driving force in him agreeing to work with Ryker was to figure out who had killed his Host. Ryker was glad, however, that the white-haired rhino was not entirely consumed with that desire.

The rhino's presence protected him from the corporations who presumed that the presence of the IP meant that Ryker and those around him had been allies of AllAle before it fell. Few knew the reasons for Decanter's link to Ryker but as far as most were concerned, he was still loyal to the idea of corporate dominance. At the same time, the Kage kept everyone off Ryker's group. For now, they flew under the radar.

At that very moment, when Ryker turned to leave the showers only to find a long, gray arm holding out a towel for him.

“Did you remember to wash behind your ears?" Decanter asked, his body out of view.

“What?" Ryker responded, taking the towel.

“Takoshi has lately taken to nibbling your ears during your lovemaking and licking you behind your ears. You apparently love it. It makes you rumble like a puppy. Unfortunately, it also leaves bacteria and dried saliva behind your ears which, if unwashed, is not only incredibly unhygienic but can develop a foul odor."

Blushing once more, Ryker wrapped the towel around his waist, stormed out from the showers and towards the rows of sinks. Decanter was standing off to the side, straight-backed and hands wrapped behind his back.

“I did, thank you," he grumbled, standing in front of the mirror. With one towel around his waist, he grabbed another from the stack sitting off to the side and began drying himself off more thoroughly. There was no point in asking why Decanter was waiting for him to finish showering. His newest IP and apparently his personal butler always did this. Sometimes, Ryker wondered if the former AllAle IP enjoyed tormenting him with this level of invasiveness out of spite.

Ryker made sure to dry his armpits, behind his neck and across his back because those were points that Decanter had made several times since they had been living together and the rhino had become his second IP.

Another thing that most Independents didn't know; Ryker was the first in a long time to have two IPs. There was a general rule that having an IP meant that as a Host, you were devoting precious resources to allow your IP to manifest in the Realworld. That was why Independents only ever had one IP. However, Ryker somehow managed to make a Pact with two. He wasn't dead - yet - and Cliff theorized it was because unlike most other Hosts, Decanter and Takoshi weren't his creations originally. He had inherited them. Given that Arthur wasn't Cliff's original IP also meant that the tiger could theoretically make a second Pact as well but thus far, he had been unwilling to put his theory to the test.

Of course that was just a running theory and the leadership of the Custodes Libertatis swore them to secrecy. They didn't want people unnecessarily risking their lives to get more IPs. Worse, monopolizing IPs and gaining their power was exactly what corporations did and the Libertatis was not a corporation.

Ryker regarded his features in the mirror and grimaced slightly. A few stray bands of brown hair were starting to poke out from between his grey fur along his cheek and chin. The 'Bleeding Effect' as he had come to know it. In essence, having that intimate bond with your IP meant that some of that IP would eventually 'bleed over' to the Host physically. Before, he had always had trouble really growing a beard. It'd take him a few days to develop any semblance of stubble. Now, however, he had to shave at least once every day and he was fairly sure it was because of the hirsute Takoshi.

As if reading his mind, Decanter suddenly presented him with a short-fur razor; a special razor designed to bypass the shorter fur of most furred animals and trim down the longer facial hair. He took it with a nod of thanks only to realize that he was now stuck. The razor was in one paw and he was holding up the towel around his waist with another. He needed one or both to apply some shaving cream.

Decanter was there instantly. With practiced motions, Decanter applied some of Ryker's sandalwood-scented shaving cream onto his hands, lathered it up until it was nice and foamy and then applied it delicately to Ryker's cheeks and muzzle. It would be awkward if it was the first time the rhino had done this. With another nod of thanks, Ryker quietly began trimming down his beard.

“I've got to ask," he mumbled between the foam. “Why do you keep doing all these things for me, Cant?" He used his nickname for the rhino. There was the slightest twitch of a smile on the rhino's lips at its use. “I'm a grown wolf and I can do this myself. You don't need to wait on me paw and foot all the time."

“This is more for my benefit than yours," answered Decanter lightly. “You know I was effectively Aileen's manservant. Reverting to that role helps."

Ryker shrugged as he tapped some foam free of the razor. “Fair enough. You don't do this for Takoshi or the others, though."

“That's because the others don't have my respect."

The comment bough a sidelong glance from Ryker.

“Cliff is sometimes quite insufferable with his fratboy ways, Arthur is equally annoying, Hayden is a medical mystery given how much air is in his skull and Takoshi is an oaf. You, however, have a sensible head on your shoulders and, in many ways, remind me of Aileen." The rhino offered a very faint smile. “The fact that you and I agree on many things helps matters."

“You're talking about the lime-green walls, aren't you?"

“And the dark blue carpet. And these rose-pink tiles. And the purple drapes." Decanter grimaced as he ran a hand down his face. “Why did Hayden install purple drapes with golden tassels in the common areas… Seriously? Why? If he's hoping to turn a profit by the time he graduates to prove his father wrong, he's off to a terrible start."

Decanter was effectively the accountant of Hayden's gym. With no business sense or head of economics, Hayden just threw money everywhere and hoped his good nature would make sure everything worked out. They would quickly hemorrhage money were it not for Decanter's accountancy and business skills. That did mean that the rhino complained and moaned about it every now and then but Ryker fully understood and was more than willing to help where he could.

“If you need help looking over this month's expenses, I'd be willing to help," said the wolf, washing off the remnants of the shaving cream from his muzzle. “I mean my shift ends at six. That'll be a whole hour before we normally have dinner."

“I'd like that," Decanter replied with a faint smile. “And if you ever need any help with anything…"

Ryker's heart instantly began to sink. This was a tune he was very familiar with. The constant bombardment was something that he had to deal with for about two weeks now.

“… like say your program…" Decanter ventured.

“I'm fine, Cant," Ryker said, waving off the rhino. “I'm making good progress with the analysis and design. It's just between all my workouts , work, my studies and everything else, you'll have to cut me some slack."

That made the rhino shut his muzzle and with one piercing look from Ryker, the stiff-backed butler turned and left to give Ryker time to get dressed. Ryker shrugged off the frustration and began slipping on the gym uniform that Hayden had made for them. Thankfully, everyone on staff had a say in the design. Had Hayden gotten his way, they would have been dressed in white shirts with huge emblems of muscled men on their chests with the words '4 U Gym' drawn below the bust on a waving scroll. Their boss and resident airhead had the idea that they would all have ten different shirts each with ten different models on the torsos. Five would be men and the other five would be women to avoid any accusations of misogyny. His idea was that the varying shirts would inspire people working out there and give a sort of 'fun' atmosphere as the staff would always have different shirts on. Needless to say, commissioning ten different models and then make ten shirts for each staff member was needlessly expensive. Novel, but expensive.

In the end, Decanter and Ryker had both managed to convince Hayden just to buy them black shirts - because black was slimming - with a huge number 4 drawn on the left side that was slightly cropped out by the short sleeves and with the tail leading down the black shorts/pants of the uniform. Ryker naturally stuck to pants but bulkier guys like Cliff, Arthur and Takoshi went with shorts.

Once fully dressed and his hair done just the way he liked it - swept back and spiky, Ryker left the bathroom and headed down to the kitchen. Little surprise that Cliff Runner, was already there munching on a carb-heavy breakfast of toast and cereals with some pieces of fruit - all according to Decanter's meal plans. It surprised him that Cliff and Arthur were so willing to go with the rhino taking over most of their lives this way but there was no denying that they both reaped most of the benefits the fastest. Cliff was gaining weight and keeping down his fat index, having gained an impressive three pounds of lean muscle in the past six weeks alone and Arthur was starting to look less like the overweight off-season bodybuilder and more like a powerlifter.

Again, Ryker was struck with the lingering feeling that he wasn't changing for the better.

Cliff's keen ears picked up his footsteps and the blonde-tiger lifted his head, chin dripping with a bit of milk and flashed him a grin. “Mornin' bro!" Bright, blue eyes shining, Cliff waved his milk-covered spoon through the air as an additional greeting.

Ryker grabbed a paper towel and wiped the splatters off on the granite kitchen island. “Good morning."

The hallway from the bathroom led directly into the kitchen and lounge area. With ten relatively small bedrooms occupying what was once a multi-room collection of apartments on this floor alone, there was a lot of space left for other rooms. The kitchen itself was simply enormous with a four-stove burner and a flattop grill complete with all forms of ventilation. Their refrigerator was simply huge and there was space for a very big dining room table as well as the kitchen island. There was nothing separating the kitchen from the lounge room save for the lush blue rug that Hayden had bought - to 'match the bedrooms' - and the fire pole that allowed quick access from the sixth floor.

Just looking at the fire pole caused a pit to form in Ryker's stomach.

Hayden's entire arrangement with his father was that he had until graduation to turn the building into something profitable. His father, a corporate CEO, had grown tired of Hayden's reckless spending and posed a challenge to him; turn a profit or he was on his own. The problem was, Hayden was a very charming and charismatic guy and no matter how much Decanter and Ryker tried to talk him down about these needless expenditures, somehow the gorilla had managed to convince them that happy workers made for productive workers so it was in their best interest to have the best accommodations. Even Decanter was puzzled how the hell they had managed to end up with a patio upstairs with a hot tub.

“You seen this lately?" Cliff asked, mercifully distracting Ryker from his money woes. The tiger held up his phone. The screen had that typical blue hue of the Watcher TV application; an app that allowed all members of the Custodies Libertatis to contact each other discretely. There was even a live news segment run by some of the members.

Currently on screen was a rare announcement from the Kage. As the 'leadership' of the Libertatis, the Kage were looked up to and admired. Ryker got to see them personally in action during the fight against AllAle and he knew how powerful they were. Whenever they made an announcement, it was usually pretty important.

“What is this?" he asked, visible confusion on his features and his brow furrowing.

“The Kage are holding meetings with individual groups apparently," answered Cliff, regarding his phone again. “Those being contacted have some personal stakes in what the Kage are talking about and most people are staying tight-lipped about it. Check it out."

Most of the time, the Kage were passive and quiet observers but it seemed that there was chatter all over the Libertatis about the Kage reaching out to people personally. Few revealed exactly what it was that the Kage spoke to them about and fewer still were immediately forthcoming about the news. Those that did speak out merely hinted at some relation to some big corporation. The direct message from the Kage asked the community in general to respect the privacy of those that they were meeting with and to always remember that privacy and individuality was something they all cherished; the core ideals of the Custodes Libertatis. To go prying into other people's business just like that was something the corporations would do.

“What are they thinking…?" he mused worriedly.

A bowl of cereal was placed in front of him by a gray hand. “Likely that after the successful attack on AllAle, they don't want anyone to go out of their way to attack any other corporations," Decanter said, pouring some low fat milk into his bowl. There was a nice, freshly brewed cup of coffee provided as well. “It doesn't seem like they're targeting any corporations in particular so I'm guessing this is more of a way to placate the masses and remind everyone that going after a corporation is akin to throwing yourself at an army with little more than a stick while they have guns."

Cliff gave the rhino a puzzled look. “Bro. What?"

Ryker let out a soft hum of thought as he lifted a spoon of milk and cereal towards his muzzle. “The Kage must've been getting questions about what's next now that the Libertatis took down a major corporation. I bet some people were getting a little impatient with them these past few weeks. This is them trying get everyone to calm down. They're just showing people that they're actually doing something instead of laying low until the heat dies down. Who knows if they've actually done any meetings? It might just be a publicity stunt."

“Oh!" Cliff's features brightened. “Why didn't you say so?" He began flicking through the various feeds. “I wonder if they'll contact us any time soon. Every time I try to reach out them, they're always busy." The tiger's ears folded back slightly in disappointment, his voice becoming a little distant. “Didn't use to be like that. At least one of them was always willing to accept my call before we fucked up AllAle."

Grimacing, the young wolf waved Cliff's despondence away. “How about we focus on making sure the gym stays open, huh?"

“Yeah. I suppose." Cliff shrugged and set down his phone. “You ever thought about reaching out to any other Independents out there?"

And here they were again. With a groan, Ryker set down his spoon, glaring at the feline. “Cliff…" he warned.

“I'm just saying, man. If the issue is that you don't have an artist to design the UI or need servers or something to run the app, I'm sure we can find someone to with a Contact that'd be more than willing to help. We can't just sit here and hope the Kage will dump resources on our laps!"

Hackles rising, Ryker fought hard not to bare his fangs. “Look, as I've said many times before, I'm kind of busy trying to make sure we have a place to live. Hayden spent a lot of his money on this place and we're basically living here rent free." He glanced off to the side. “Yeah, we're not exactly being paid to work here…" His eyes darted back to Cliff. “… but until we get to some level of normalcy, the most I can manage is maybe an hour or so every night trying to think things through. I mean, I've got tuition fees coming up in a couple of months and I am not going to go begging my mom and his Navy boyfriend to cover me." He jabbed a finger at the counter. “So unless developing this app is going to start raking in the thousands so I can survive in Manhattan, it'll have to wait, alright?"

From the corner of his eye, he could swear Decanter was shaking his head in an attempt to persuade Cliff not to pursue the subject.

“Okay, okay," said the tiger, lifting his big paws. “Fair enough. Just saying, if you want any help -"

“I don't need any help," Ryker snarled, lowering his spoon back into the bowl. Suddenly, eating in Cliff and Decanter's company didn't seem very appealing anymore. “I'm not hungry anymore." He pushed the bowl away and started heading for the doors.

“Ryker, wait!" exclaimed Cliff. “Where are you going?"

“For a run!" he barked back. “You guys keep telling me I should get more exercise so I'm going to go on a goddamn run before work!"

“Brush your teeth first!" Decanter exclaimed.

His response was to shut the door very loudly in their faces before charging down the stairs. He was just reaching the second floor when he realized he didn't have his wallet, phone or keys. A whole minute passed before he finally decided that wandering around in the streets of Manhattan without any identification probably wasn't a good idea. Tail stiff with annoyance and ears folded back in shame, Ryker made his way back up the flight of stairs, stomping with each step to make sure that he conveyed his annoyance. Unfortunately, going up four flights of stairs was the limit of his physical aptitude this early in the morning and his frustration quickly gave way to exhaustion.

He was panting by the time he reached the fifth floor door. Opening it was like peeling back the curtain to a production that was doomed to fail. Cliff and Decanter's puzzled stares were like daggers against his back. Fire burned his cheeks as he stormed through the kitchen back towards his room. Because the kitchen was so wide thanks to Hayden's architectural designs, it took even longer for him to get out of sight. He grabbed his phone, wallet and keys from where they sat on his modest desk complete with his desktop. The screen was currently displaying the mock-up of a GUI for the program he had pitched to the Kage, a sort of dating simulator that would have used IPs abandoned in the Overworld as genuine people that players could talk to.

IPs generally couldn't survive without a Host or someone pouring thoughts into them and as people grew and developed, ideas would eventually fall on the wayside and those IPs would fade from existence. The Overworld was filled IPs that were slowly dying because they had been abandoned. Corporations sucked them up, consuming them and turning them into mindless drones known as 'Dosers' or just outright killing them for the sake of removing any competition. Ryker's idea was to enable people to at least think of these abandoned IPs to give them a fighting chance and prolong their life.

All he had managed was a sign-in GUI that currently read 'Please enter your username'.

Ryker scowled at the screen. “Fuck you."

He turned around… before his frustration got the better of him and he delivered a swift kick to his table - his metal table. The ring of pain erupted from his big toe and he had to bite down on his bottom lip to avoid howling a string of curses. The inferno on his cheeks could have rivaled hellfire as he stormed back past the kitchen, hobbling slightly. If Cliff and Decanter were still on the island, he couldn't tell. He was just too angry and frustrated to care and slammed the door again as he made his way back down to the first floor.

The sight of the white walls with the big, red '4's' painted on them and the awful yellow rubbery floors with black polka-dots and little broken lines between each one only fueled his frustration all the more. Hayden had this whole idea that the dots and the lines would symbolize people moving from one machine to the other to keep up their workouts. Ryker and asked who would actually be paying attention to the floor while working out but was ignored. At least the machinery were top of the line. Too bad they cost so much that it would take them months to make up for the cost and that wasn't counting building maintenance, food for the staff, utilities and any other repairs they may have needed.

Ryker pressed a paw against his stomach. All this worry was giving him an ulcer.

“Hey dude!" came a cheery greeting. Before he could turn around to brace himself, a huge hand was slamming against his back, sending him staggering forward.

Hayden Okonjo, a football player for a local college and what many would describe as a trust-fund baby, stood there with a bright smile on his features. The gorilla was built much like Takoshi - wide, thick and ripped - though he was smaller than the bear in height and muscle mass. Hayden's dark hair was cut short and many would mistake him for a meathead given his easy-going grin, square jaw and often bright, innocent brown eyes. The muscular ape was wearing his red and black gym uniform and a pair of black shorts that showed off those mighty legs he used to carve down the football field. Something about Hayden just melted away Ryker's frustration. There was just this aura about him that made everyone or anyone forget about their troubles.

“Morning," he greeted with an unsteady smile.

“Something got you down, Rai?" asked the gorilla.

That nickname tugged at the edges of Ryker's lips. Even Takoshi referred to him using his full first name. This ease of familiarity from Hayden had the annoying habit of disarming the wolf and make him feel at ease, like he could just go out and have a beer with Hayden if he ever drank. Naturally, he couldn't tell Hayden about being an Independent, the Custodes Libertatis or his app so all he could do was make up an excuse.

“I just stubbed my toe," he said, holding out his left foot and wiggling it a little. “I figured I should walk it off."

“Dude, you should out some ice on that," came the genuinely concerns response. “You sure you okay to work today? You need a chair? Maybe one of those ergonomic ones?"

It was very hard to stay mad or hold any sort of negative feeling when Hayden was around. The gorilla was like a warm hug personified. He cared for everyone and would do whatever he can to make sure that they felt good no matter the expense. That was a flaw, however, not a good trait.

“I'll be alright," he responded. “It doesn't hurt that much. Might just go for that walk." His stomach growled. “And maybe go out for some breakfast…"

“We out of cereal? I can go grab some before we open up."

The thought of spending more money unnecessarily made Ryker's stomach turn. “No, no. Just… was feeling something else today instead of protein-infused cereal, that's all."

“I'll join ya!"

“That's really not necessary…" Ryker began.

“Naw dude," Hayden said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “Gotta make sure you don't accidentally trip and fall or something because of your toe. You sure you don't want the day off?"

Ryker wasn't really sure if him taking the day off would actually help Hayden or hamper him so he just shook his head and mentioned that he had an idea of where to go for breakfast. Even so early in the morning, New York City was already very busy. The sun had yet to fully rise over the towering concrete skyscrapers so most of the city was still in a sort of gloomy twilight. Naturally, breakfast places were packed for the to-go orders but sit-down tables were widely available.

The French-Japanese restaurant was naturally quite packed at the counter but the brightly colored red booths were mostly empty. Ryker sat down on one of the tables and picked up the menu while Hayden did the same. It didn't take long before a waitress sauntered up to them. Her long, lean, arms covered in white fur slammed against the table as she leaned down towards Ryker with sharp, brown eyes. Her teeth flashed at him through that familiar grin and her whip-like, pink tail snapped through the air, demanding attention.

“Well, well, well," Teresa Yale began, “is this why you finally decided to accept my invitation to go out after all this time, Ryker? You found yourself a new beau?"

If Hayden's presence had caused the conflagration in Ryker's cheeks to go down, it was Tess' jabbing comments that got it to fire up again. “What!?" he squeaked. “N - No! This is Hayden! He's my boss!"

“Breakfast with the boss, eh?" the tall, lean mouse said, turning towards Hayden with a smirk. She held out her paw. “My name is Teresa Yale." She gestured at her name tag with her other paw. “Just call me Tess. Please to meet you, Hayden."

That easy-going grin returned to Hayden's lips as he shook Tess' paw. “Nice to meet you too, Tess. You know Ryker?"

“We basically grew up together. I'm basically this little runt's big sister!" To emphasize this, she reached down, grabbed the top of Ryker's head and ruffled his hair a little. The growl he emitted didn't deter her and she just kept ruffling. “He's been avoiding contact with me for weeks, saying he was busy all the time. He said he moved recently and got a new job. I guess that's all thanks to you."

Hayden puffed out his broad chest proudly. “Yep! He's working for me at the gym I opened up. It's just a couple of blocks away. The '4 U Gym'."

“No kidding." There was an evil glint in Tess' eyes that made Ryker's heart sink. He quietly pleaded to any gods that would listen that they be merciful. “I'm actually training to be a personal trainer. Just graduating this year. If you're looking for any trainers…"

Hayden's features brightened. “No shit! That'd be great! I think we'd really pull in some female clients if we get you on staff!"

Ryker ran a paw down his face, quietly muttering 'no' over and over again.

“Now hold on," Tess laughed. “I haven't graduated yet. Though I am top of my glass." She winked slightly at him, flexing a bicep that was embarrassingly bigger than Ryker's. “I also do kick boxing on the side so if you've got a ring on site that'd be good."

“We don't actually," Hayden said, deflating slightly. “But we have a lot of punching bags. Though I can totally get a ring installed. We've got a lot of space on the second floor which we usually use for cardio machines so -"

“No!" Ryker exclaimed, holding out his paws and immediately garnering a surprised look from both Tess and Hayden. “Let's… We just recently opened up, Hayden. Let's not go spending more money than necessary, okay? At least until we're back on track." He looked towards Tess apologetically. “We've got this sort of arrangement between Hayden and his dad. We've got until Hayden graduates to make sure the place turns a profit. Not too clear on exactly what the consequences would be if we don't but Hayden is basically offering us free room and board while we work for him. Thing is, we don't really get paid…"

Tess sucked air in between her teeth. “Ooooh… Sorry, my sexy silverback." She winked at Hayden slyly. “A girl's got to keep up her figure and that takes money. I can't just work for free."

Hayden laughed it off and offered a dismissive wave. “Yeah. Don't worry about it. It's tough but we're making it work! Last month, we actually made money! Lots of people are signing up and everyone loves to workout out with Takoshi and Cliff!"

Not to mention Decanter was a genius with the accounts and books and Arthur was a brilliant handyman and secondary trainer. Cliff also had Contacts in the Overworld that also put the word out about the gym which ultimately led to more customers. Some worked in various industries and helped them set up things such as ads, supply lines and other essentials for a gym. Though they did make money, compared to the expenses of running the place, they were still in debt after all of Hayden's reckless spending.

“I won't be graduating for at least a few more months," Tess said, one paw on her hip. “But if you guys can start with a decent pay by then, I might just sign up." She gave Ryker a sly wink. “I'd be eager to see how that meaty bear of yours sizes up in the ring."

Hayden cocked his head to the side curiously. “Your bear? You mean Tako? Are you guys a couple?"

There was that somersault that Ryker's stomach was anticipating. Though he had never explicitly denied being Takoshi's boyfriend, he didn't go advertising it either. Hayden slept in a room a few doors down so he wasn't privy to the nightly romps that Decanter had to put up with. They had also kept their relationship very professional outside of the bedroom… most of the time.

“Oh my god," Tess gasped. “You didn't know?" Then she immediately switched to over-protective big-sister mode. Leaning towards Hayden, eyes narrowed and tail cracking threateningly, she said in a low, deep voice, “If you even think about firing my wolf cub because he's gay and likes dick up his ass, I am going to rape you until you're bloody and begging for more. First financially then physically."

Hayden's ever-present smile dropped and he glanced past her towards Ryker. “Is… Is she for real?"

Tess naturally moved to block his view. “Very real. In fact, I've got this big, black dildo that I call 'Horace' that I save for this very occasion. You see this…?" She reached down and gripped Hayden's forearm. “He's just as thick. So much so that if you ever wondered what it'd be like to ever fist yourself, he'd be a very good approximation."

Ryker ducked his head, lifting a paw to shield his features from anyone who would be eavesdropping on them. It was very typical of Tess to step in like this. She was very overprotective of him. If only she knew what he'd been doing during his off-hours.

“Huh," Hayden responded, a look of curiosity on his features. “Honestly, I've always wanted to try."

Ryker blanched and stared at his boss with slack-jawed amazement. “W - W - what?"

“I'll try anything once," answered the gorilla with a shrug. “I've been with girls all throughout high school and college so why not guys, right? I might want to ease myself into using a plastic dick first before I go using the real thing." It was genuinely amazing how Hayden was seriously considering this and even scratching his cheek a little in thought.

“First of all," Tess said, lifting a finger, “Horace is silicone. Secondly…" A devilish grin crossed her features. “I like you." She pulled out her notepad and began scribbling something on it with the red pen she always kept behind her left ear. “I'll order you two growing boys a big breakfast. Won't be long, kids!"

A deep, rumbling voice quickly followed and a huge shadow shuffled towards their table.

“Give me the biggest coffee you've got too," Takoshi yawned, parking himself unceremoniously right next to Ryker, even giving the gray-wolf a light bump with his toned, muscled ass. “We open in about two hours so I'm gonna need as much caffeine in me as possible."

Tess lifted an eyebrow at the polar bear. She had yet to warm up to him but Ryker accepted responsibility for that; he hadn't exactly given the two time to get fully acquainted. Stressful as it was, he devoted a good portion of his time trying to keep these two apart from one another. At most, they spent fifteen minutes in one another's company and always with Ryker present. They had never been left alone with one another. “Sure. I might need some help bringing it over. Think one of you strong boys can help me with that?"

“Sure!" Hayden exclaimed, leaping to his feet and flexing a thick, meaty arm. “I'll help."

Never mind that it'd take a few minutes to actually make the order, Hayden was more than willing to follow Tess towards the counter. No doubt this was just Tess trying to recruit Hayden to spy on Takoshi. Though she was studying to become a personal trainer, she was nonetheless also dabbled in psychology and social studies. The reasoning behind that was to understand her client's needs as much as she could; even those things that they didn't tell her. That was why Ryker always liked hanging out with her and at the same time avoided it at the same time; secrets could never stay secret for long with Teresa Yale around.

“So who ambushed you this time?" Takoshi asked, casually draping an arm behind Ryker's shoulders - a very boyfriend-like move.

It was a testament to their relationship that Takoshi knew what had soured his mood. That or it was because he often complained about being nagged about his application every morning. “Cliff and Decanter," he grumbled. “Didn't really get to eat because they tag-teamed me at the kitchen table."

The moment the words left his lips, Ryker instantly regretted it and grimaced.

“Damn," the bear snickered, sticking out his pink tongue. “Sounds like fun. And here I thought your first threesome would include me."

He returned the lewd comment with a sharp elbow to the ribs but it was like hitting a reinforced steel wall: Takoshi didn't even flinch.

“Listen," said his IP, “I know exactly what you need." With the faintest gesture of his chin, he gestured at the door.

Takoshi lowered his voice so that it was barely a whisper. “Cliff just told me that he got a message from the Kage."

In that instant, Ryker's brow furrowed. “About what?"

“They wouldn't say. They want us in the Overworld in ten minutes. Take your mind off all this shit. We got Independent biz to get to."

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Though they had only really known each other for about two months, Takoshi knew him very well. Perhaps it was because the big, muscled bear was his IP and there was some natural synchronization happening between them or it could simply be that they spent a lot of time with one another. Either way, Ryker drew comfort that Takoshi knew he needed something to distract him from people nagging him about his application, the stress of working at a place that didn't actually pay him with a looming deadline and his classes as a post-graduate trying to break into the videogame industry.

“Meet you back at the gym," he announced.

Takoshi barely nodded as he got up and waved a meaty paw through the air, catching Tess' attention. “I'll take that coffee to go, onee-chan!"

That nickname made him wince. Ever since they had made this restaurant their casual dining spot, Takoshi had taken it upon himself to start calling Tess 'onee-chan' which apparently meant 'dear older sister'. While he was not very well-versed in women, the implications of calling Tess older while simultaneously rubbing it in her face that Takoshi was comfortable enough to call her 'sister' really irked the white-furred mouse. It fit the Japanese-French-fusion theme of the restaurant so Tess could never call him out on it which only made things worse. Just by the slight reddening of the fur around Tess' big, rounded ears, Ryker could tell she was halfway tempted to throw the scalding hot coffee she was holding right into the bear's face.

Takoshi's challenging stare didn't help matters.

“Careful," she warned, handing him the to-go-cup. “It's hot."

“I've had hotter things in me," countered Takoshi.

Ryker buried his head beneath his paws, his large triangular ears poking out between his fingers so that he could hear what was going to happen next. “Please Tako… Don't say it."

There was a moment of silence and ever second that passed, Ryker wished that his boyfriend and IP would just take the high road, leave the implication unsaid and go out that door.

Sadly…

“I meant Ryker's di -" began the bear.

“I got it!" Tess snapped.

The blissful ringing that came from the door sensor was accompanied by Takoshi's booming laugh. Ryker wished he could just bury himself in the blissful darkness beneath his paws for all eternity but when he smelled Hayden's off-brand cologne that was an odd mix of floral scents and a distinct boozy scent, he had to lift his head up as Tess placed some food in front of them.

“Wow," said the gorilla, watching Takoshi go. “Now that I think about it, I can't believe I never noticed you guys are a couple. It's so obvious now."

“To be fair," Tess said as she set down their plates of food. “Ryker doesn't make the best 'gay man' either."

Ryker's soft 'Hey' of protest went unheard as both Hayden and Tess began discussing his flaws. The scent of freshly fried has browns, greasy sausages and fried eggs drew him away from their passive-aggressive mockery of him and down onto the plate. As was explained by Cue - one of the Kage - since he was now linked to two IPs, he shared a pool of energy with each of them. While each of them had their own individual energy reserves, they ultimately drew from the same 'main tank' if their reserves fell. This was dangerous for him given that he wasn't in the best physical shape and the two IPs could easily drain him of strength given the requirements of their powers and abilities.

That said, it also meant that they had access to three sources of energy. So long as each of them ate regularly and healthily, they would never have to worry about killing Ryker. That did mean, however, that Ryker's appetite shot through the roof as did his metabolism. In the back of his mind, he fantasized about these extra two sources of supernatural energy bulking him up overtime. Coupled with his work at the gym, he imagined he would eventually grow taller and more muscular. Though he wasn't sure if he wanted to be as beefy as Takoshi or leaner like Decanter.

As these thoughts were going through his head, his paws were already moving and shoveling food into his muzzle. By the time his mind had come back to the present, most of his meal was gone and Hayden was still chatting with Tess. That was Hayden's superpower - he was just really likable.

And a perfect distraction.

The two were still talking by the time Ryker finished his meal in a record six minutes. He dropped what little cash he had thanks to last month's profits and quickly headed out to the door before Tess could realize he was gone. Though he felt bad for leaving Tess hanging like that, he would make it up to her tonight when he would genuinely get to hang out with her.

Right now, the Kage wanted to meet.

He made his way back to the gym, using the employee entrance on the side and going up the flight of stairs to his floor. Leaping up several flights of stairs two at a time – wincing every time his throbbing toe was stimulated - on a full stomach wasn't exactly smart and he was starting to feel his stomach churn by the time he passed through the door. Takoshi and Decanter were already waiting for him with the blinds shut.

“Ready?" asked the rhino.

“Give me a second," burped Ryker, covering his muzzle with a paw. “I just finished breakfast."

Decanter gave him a disapproving look. “You didn't take the stairs two at a time again, did you? It's statistically more dangerous and takes the same amount of time if you were to -"

“Yeah, yeah," Takoshi grumbled. “We've got the lecture before. Hurry up, Ryker. Don't want to keep the Kage waiting. I suppose those Libertatis assholes will have other people to meet and I don't want them saying it was our fault that they gave us less than an hour's notice for an urgent meeting."

Takoshi's distrust of the Custodes Libertatis was probably the one thing that he and Decanter agreed to. None of the three were actually official members of the Libertatis. They didn't share any of the Libertatis' Functions - special powers Independents they could use in the Overworld with each Independent receiving a unique one upon first entering the Overworld - and they weren't on any official Libertatis roster. While Cliff and Arthur were real members, the Kage had been forced to give Ryker some of the Libertatis benefits such as a voice scrambling mask and codename to hide him from greedy corporations. More than once they had tried to convince him to join the Libertatis in an official manner but both Decnater and Takoshi had always refused. Even if he wanted to, he would have been outvoted two-to-one.

“Alright," Ryker said, taking out his phone. “Let's go." He pressed the blue icon on his phone that looked like a simple blue square with a white lower-case 'I' on it and the tittle - the dot on the I - taking the shape of an actually eyeball. The moment he pressed it, a wave of inverted light spread out from his phone in a sphere like the rapidly spreading globe was flipping all the colors as it expanded. The sphere passed over him, giving him that familiar yet still disconcerting feeling like he was falling for a brief moment as he reoriented himself into the Overworld.

The inverted colors faded, leaving him a heavily muted landscape like a sort of noir filter had been draped over his eyes and he now saw everything as if it were heavily faded. There were few true colors anywhere. Though he could not see it, the sky outside was now perpetually overcast. No stars, no sun, no moon. All the noises of New York City waking up faded entirely. Only the voices of the Kage and Cliff a few feet away interrupted the eerie silence.

Cliff had set up what he called a 'Conference Room' in the middle of the lounge room. Few things could truly be carried over from the Realworld to the Overworld but Cliff had managed to create a whole setup of computers and screens that brought to mind either a supervillain lair or a big monitoring station for superheroes. The enormous rig naturally didn't exist in the Realworld and was built entirely out of materials produced by other IPs and Independents in the Overworld. Still, it served to communicate with other Independents while in the Overworld.

Ryker noted the faint slivers of transparent petals idly fluttering about in the air; a sign that he was in a Safe House created by Cliff. One of the shared Functions of the Custodes Libertatis, the Safe functioned allowed a member of the Libertatis to claim a location as their own and render anything and anyone within it invisible and immune to any outside effects that the creator of the Safe House declared could not pass. To anyone outside, they simply were not there. Apparently the 'environmental effects' of the Safe House changed from person to person. Why it was petals for Cliff was still a mystery."

“Ah good," came the familiar scrambled voice from Si, one of the Kage of the Custodes Libertatis. “You're here."

Ryker frowned. If they were meeting with the Kage, there were usually occupying a screen each, their figures masked as silhouettes. In this case, only one was occupied by the leonine shadow of Si.

“It's just you?" Decanter observed, drawing on the same thought as Ryker. “Are we not important enough to earn an audience with the entire court?"

That last part was all Decanter.

Arthur Penn, the big, burly boar with dark brown eyes and similarly dark brown, curly hair elbowed Decanter in the ribs. Tall and broad, Arthur was Cliff's IP and just as friendly and easy-going as his Host. In reality, he was the IP spawned from an interpretation of King Arthur for a failed TV show. “Dude. Show some respect."

“It's quite alright," replied Si. “I understand your confusion and you must have questions. I'm sure by now, you've heard that we've already been reaching out to multiple other members of the Libertatis for various reasons. I am here to alleviate any concerns and give full transparency on what is happening."

Takoshi let out a loud, derisive snort. The bear's thick, hairy arms were already crossed in annoyance. “That's some manager-level bullshit right there. The kind of empty platitudes you get from middle-managers who know shit about what's going on but need to keep their peons happy so they don't go quitting on them."

“Dude!" Cliff protested.

“It's okay, really," Si continued. “I understand your reservations. But please let me speak." When Takoshi didn't interrupt, the lion continued. “We have recently come across some information. Information that could suggest that there are, in fact, many Overlords within the area or Overlords in the making. We have reason to believe that these Overlords are doing what they can to gain total dominance for their respective fields."

“Just like what Emile Santos wanted to do with beer," Ryker breathed. The memories of his first fight against an Overlord and how close he came to becoming a corporate slave sent chills down his spine.

“Perhaps. We only have some basic information which is why we haven't gone out on a full-on offensive like we did against AllAle_. We_ knew Santos was an Overlord or on the cusp of truly becoming an Overlord but these targets still need to be scouted out. We are reaching out to Independents and members of the Libertatis with a vested interest in the companies to gather information so that we can confirm the presence of an Overlord."

Takoshi took a step forward, lazily pointing a finger at the shadowed image of Si. “And let me guess. You want us to go after one such corporation."

“Yes."

“Forget it. We're not your mercenaries for hire. You want to wage a war against Overlords, do it on your own time. We've done our part."

“Now hold on," Decanter began, holding up a hand. “He mentioned that he is only reaching out to those people with a vested interest in the corporation that they're targeting. That would suggest that he's approaching us because we would be interested in the corporation that he's after."

The ursine samurai rolled his eyes. “Right. So you think that this corporation could be the one that hired the hit on that bitch of an original Host of yours?"

Decanter was already turning towards Takoshi, hands turned into fists with spears of glass appeared over his shoulders. Whips of water was dancing between the bear's fingers and Arthur had planted himself between the two, holding ups his hands against their chests.

Before things could escalate, Si interrupted. “Actually, this is related to both you, Takoshi, and you, Arthur."

Both the biggest members of their little ragtag team froze and turned towards Si.

Taking their silence was a cue, Si continued. “This particular corporation is directly responsible for Takoshi's original movie idea never seeing fruition as well as acquiring Arthur's TV pilot but never pursuing it.

Takoshi's eyes widened and his jaw went slack. A reaction that Ryker seldom saw on the bear. Then those icy-blue eyes hardened and his lips drew back into a snarl.

“You're fucking kidding me!"

Arthur let his arms drop, his own expression one of mute shock. “You… You must be joking. After all this time…?"

Si's shadow nodded grimly. “Yes and we have reason to believe that their CEO may well be on his way to becoming an Overlord."

Ryker gazed between the two men, their expressions like night and day. Takoshi was a burning ball of hatred and anger while Arthur was in shock, still and frozen in place. He sucked some air between his fangs and let out a soft sigh. This was not something he could set aside or ignore. Even if their bond wasn't perfect, he knew the kind of impact being abandoned as an IP was for Takoshi. It was the reason they had met, after all. The bear even made the trek through the Overworld from Hollywood here because he had been abandoned.

Lifting his gaze towards Si, he simply said, “Who are they?"

_“_The Horizon Channel."