Mind Break [open]

The sun was barely lighting up the horizon as sand snuggled in between her dark toes. The blues, purples, and pinks of the skies were beginning to disappear as the reds and oranges of the sunrays fought their ways to shine against the ocean. Birds sang as they zipped across the morning's sky. Java watched them with interest as she kicked up sand, sending it into the high tide of the waves. Her toenails, colored a pale blue, matched some of the pebbles littered through the sandy beach. Dipping her big toe in and out of the sand, she glanced down from the birds of the heavens and studied her toes for a bit. She noticed the temporary tattoo on her ankle from the crazy night before, the Japanese character for "bitch" in purple ink. She barely remembered when and where she got it, but she knew that it was temporary. She saw on her HUD that the tattoo had about a day left before it expired. She also knew it was purely decorative since she was not going on any intense missions today.

Taking no intense missions was the main reason why she left Core and came here: Eden. She came to this side of the universe rarely, since she preferred the party scene more so than this picturesque environment. However, there were times where she needed to break away from her work and preferred planet to travel to a close second favorite.

She took in a deep breath and smelled the fresh ocean water. The birds were beginning to fade away towards the other side of the island and their singing was distant and hard to distinguish. Her purple eyes looked away from her toes and stared at the ocean again. There were no worries, no cares, and no stresses in her mind. All was quiet and tranquil. This type of solitude should not be ruined by the presence of another.

There were not very many places in Conduit that you could hide from SWAT. Having access to nearly every database in the world, SWAT tracked any and all activity. Where Velox was headed now, was untrackable. The last mission he completed had utterly drained him and he needed to get from under SWAT's radar before they attempted to send him on another mission again.

That's why Velox had spent a good portion of the last hour trekking through the most exotically rendered forest he had ever set eyes on since his beginnings in Conduit. Bark covered in deep ridges surrounded massive trunks that stretched high into the sky, ranging in color from dark browns to light greys. These mighty trunks reached their solid branches out, holding up brightly colored green leaves that let splashes of sunlight play along the forest floor in yellows and orange. Bushes with dark colored leaves and bright colored berries grew wildly all around the trunks of the mighty trees. Small coniferous bushes overlayed the path that Velox had crossed, leaving an aromatic smell of pine lingering in the air. Flowers ranging in every color of the rainbow dotted the entire forest floor, whether popping off of dark green brush, or springing up on their own straight from the ground.

Velox came to the final part of his journey where hundreds of monolith trees stood, their red bark a stark contrast against the bright green leaves that hung from their branches and the black dark wood that lay further in the forest behind them. For every red trunk that reached into the sky, there appeared to be triple that amount in purple-needled conifer bushes that sprung up haphazardly around these trees. The forest floor was littered with bright purple needles interspersed with green leaves and dark rich soil. Velox always admired the mighty red trunks of these trees.

Walking closer to one on the bright red trees, seemingly at random, Velox unsheated one of his great short swords. He thrusted it directly into the thick red bark of the huge ancient tree with a flourish that bespoke his swordmanship. The weapon however, did not puncture the tree, but instead seemed to phase through it. Satisified that he had found what he was looking for, Velox sheathed his sword, glanced around and checked behind him to verify that he had not been followed. Content that he had not been, Velox walked directly into the tree, and disappeared!

Coming out the other side, Rex could feel the cool breeze on his face and the sing song of birds fading into the distance. His mind, of course, made it all seem real. Velox looked down the beach and saw a woman lounging in the sand, admiring her toes. He smiled to himself, it was not an unusual sight to see people on this beach, but rarely did people enter from the way he had come. The way he came disrupted his signal, making it impossible for SWAT to trace. He waved to the woman, never knowing when to keep to himself and leave others alone.

He yelled out, "Hello! Want some company??"

Feeling the relaxing sea breeze across her face and the hearing the fading lullabies of the birds, Java had laid back on the rock, her current chair of sorts. Her feet still gently kicked the sand here and there as she contemplated as to where she should head next. She figured that she could return to Samora and check out the club scene there. It was in the middle of the third quarter and at the end of September the bosses would be looking to see who did what and who did what exceptionally well. Her latest club, The Candy Shop, was appearing to become an overnight hint with the male players and some female players. Yet, in order to make a better, strong impression with her bosses, she needed to figure out what other clubs were doing. But did she actually want to work today?

She sighed and stared up at the sky. Her mind went blank again for a little while before she heard someone shouting at her and asking if she wanted company. The answer was simple.

"No," she whispered and then sat up, looking at the man that called to her. The annoyance on her face slowly faded as the man became clearer to her vision. He was a tall, dark-skinned man with what appeared to be green eyes. That was interesting. His build was healthy and looked as if he could be someone of importance. He carried himself with a mature disposition and was somewhat simply dressed. He wasn't flashy at all like those no good, immature little brats that racked up experience points and credits and then proceeded to flaunt the wealth around.

The hello was a too cheerful and the question was too bold, but Java decided that his appearance was worth at least starting a conversation with the guy. So, she hopped off her rock and smoothed out her navy blue sarong and white tank top. Nearing him, she held out her hand and gave a brief, halfhearted smile.

"Company sounds nice," she lied, her voice not betraying her dis-appreciation of the sudden emergence of the other person, "I'm Java Codr, Java or JC if you prefer. What is your handle?"

When the woman did not respond right away, Velox had decided he would head down to the surf and build sand castles. It was a simple, mundane, childish act, but Velox found building complex structures out of microscopic grains of earth infused with drops of sea-water to be a challenge that both relaxed and sharpened his mind.

He turned to head toward the surf when the woman dismounted her rock, with elegant grace he noted, and began to stroll easily towards him. He quickly adjusted his path advancing to meet her halfway.

She extended her hand and as he glanced down, he couldn’t help noticing her purple-hued toenails. It was a color he greatly admired, but could never wear for the jeering he’d receive from the guys at SWAT. Looking up, he noticed her deep purple eyes for the first time and he couldn’t help but note the hardness that was hidden in them. This was not a woman he wanted to mess with. He stood up taller, his broad shoulders stretching the simple army green t-shirt he wore. It extended down to his waist, covering the dark black cargo pants he wore. His feet poked out of his dark sandals. His two swords strapped to his back barely stuck up over his shoulder, but for some reason, having them here made him feel foolish.

He took her hand and shook, impressed by the firm shake she gave in return.

“Java Codr?” He said, a smile tugging the corner of his lips, “That’s a beautiful name.” For a beautiful woman. He thought, but decided not to voice it. For some reason, he got the impression that she would not be impressed by his usual one-liners.
“Folks call me Velox Cogtanis, or Velox for short,” Velox responded, releasing her hand and placing his hands on his hips. He spoke quickly, explaining his name as he did to everyone he met. “Velox is latin for “quick” and Cogtanis is from the root word “cogitanis” which is latin for “thinker”. Even as he was saying it, Velox felt like a fool blabbing on with boring un-necessary information. Turning his head to look out to sea, doing his best to look dis-interested, Velox continued speaking.

“What brings you out to this remarkable area this evening?”

The complement upon her name was not something she usually heard, but it did not score this new character any cool points with her. To her, it was simply a handle that fits well with what she had been doing for part of her career as a developer. She shrugged her shoulders, somewhat agreeing with him about her own name. Then listening to his handle, she felt that she should probably clarify the reasoning behind hers. He obviously cared about the little details such as that, for what other reason would he possible go onto a long discussion on the origin of his name. Perhaps this man was the talkative sort? If that was the case, she should just gone with her initial instinct of ignoring him. Yet, she was already in this situation and besides, he was attractive and she knew that she never truly tired of looking at a pretty face.

Once he finished, Java nodded and said matter-of-factly, "Mine is a simple handle. It is an acknowledgement to my career. I am a programmer for Paradise Lives and I had previously worked with older code that had been created in the language Java...I do believe that you are intelligent enough to understand the meaning behind the name. Also, you must have jetlag, for it is morning…not evening."

Java looked away briefly from the man, Velox as she knew him now, and stared off into the digital sea, thinking about the programming that went behind the making of this. It was so lifelike. She looked upon the waves, transfixed on the ripples they created, as she answered him.

"I am relaxing from missions and work," she sighed, "Or more simply, I am taking a mind break. And yourself?"

Java Coder !!

Velox mentally kicked himself as realization dawned on him. It all made sense now. Perhaps he wasn’t as intelligent as she painted him to be.
“I must have heard incorrectly,” Velox started. “I thought you said Javaah Codair which, to me, sounds like a very exotic name.” Velox ran his hands over the top of his micro-braids nervously. It was something that did not happen very often. In fact, Velox had never felt apprehensive in front of anyone, including the time he was interrogated by several dark elf assassins.

“If you’ll pardon my aberration, I am a bit of a language connoisseur,” Velox continued, glancing from the sea towards Java then back again. “I really enjoy all languages and their origins.” Velox looked down at the smooth sand, watching a small dark red spike studded crab scurry by.

“And for my reason being out here,” he started, looking up at the sea and back toward Java, staring deep into her mysterious violaceous eyes. “Let’s just say that I am also on a,” Velox paused, letting a knowing smile touch his lips, “mind break.”

Her purple eyes blinked as she looked upon the sea with an uninterested gaze. Watching it was starting to bore her, and so returned her attention to the man beside her once more. He certainly was more interesting, especially when she turned around and noticed that he started a bit. She assumed that his surprise referred to her name, but it should not be so. Did he just now get the connection?

Wow…she thought, a grin appearing on her full lips and clearing her throat to prevent the coming-forth giggle, He just now got it.

She nodded thoughtfully when he explained at he must have misheard her. She appreciated his attempt at covering up a mistake. At least he was smart enough not to admit that he didn't get it until she practically had to give it away. Since he was cute, she decided that she wouldn't complete destroy his ego and thus, allow him to say that he heard Javaah Codair.

"I do tend to give certain words more of an accent. I'm Belgian," she said, smiling at him, "I am also a language connoisseur. I currently know seven languages fluently and I am beginning to learn Arabic."

She then nodded to his reason of being at the beach. It was one of the most beautiful places in the entire Conduit, arguably of course. It takes all bad thoughts and worries, destroys them from the mind, and gives its visitors peace and tranquility as exchange. It is Java's favorite getaway place.

She moved away from Velox and headed towards the water, stepping into it softly. She raised her sarong and gathered up into her arms to prevent it from getting wet. It wasn't too hot yet with the sun barely breaking the horizon. She did not need to be wet with any sort of breeze beating along her skin. She splashed some of the water around as it kicked back against her ankles.

Velox decided it was time to bugger off before he made himself sound even more asinine than he already did. He acknowledged Java’s response and turned to walk towards the water’s edge. Coincidentally, Java seemed to have the same idea in mind. Laughing sheepishly, Velox turned a full 180 and headed back the direction he came. Only after walking roughly 25 yards did Velox turn around to see what Java was up to. Noting her with growing interest, Velox looked out to sea. The sun no longer painted the horizon in a myriad of marvelous colors, but was now a full blast of rays playing on his face.

Velox sat down in the sand, sitting cross-legged; he closed his eyes and absorbed the bright warmth of the golden orb rising into the morning sky. Letting his mind fall into a meditative trance, Velox began to chant slowly and rhythmically to himself. This was one of the methods Velox used to recover energies he had lost during heavy magic use. In this case, Velox had to re-enchant all his equipment and thus was entirely drained.

Even while Velox was chanting and humming and recovering his lost energy, his highly active and intelligent mind was still processing other information. The processing of this information did not slow the “healing” process. It was a way for Velox to continue to think and plot, even while performing other tasks. It’s what made him such a great multi-tasker.

Seven languages fluently. Velox thought. Wow.

The water continued to wash against her skin as the silence surrounded with Velox retreating to his own quiet place. She noticed it and relished in the peace that it brought. She enjoyed the company of others, but there was a time and place. This was neither the time nor the place. It was her mind break and while she thought that Velox would be a wonderful companion, he just happened to introduce himself at the wrong time.

The sun was getting ever higher in the sun. No longer was it hiding beneath the great ocean, but the more vibrant blues and ceruleans shined bright from the sun's rays. Some minutes as she stared out into nothing, allowing her mind to go blank. Suddenly, a message popped into her inbox and she sighed rather loudly, unknowingly. She stared up at the sky and asked a simple question: why? It was not a day off, but her work knew exactly where she was and that she was resting before the night began. Yet, here was some urgent message, saying that she would have to fix one of the AI girls for the Candy Shop. Someone hacked her and messed her up big time. She's prudish. After rereading the message and seeing that an intern would start the work, Java decided that she had some time to kill.

She look around her, seeing if her previous companion had remained. He did, despite being some yards away. She started to towards him, wondering what in the world he was doing. He couldn't be sleeping…did he log off for a short while? It didn't appear so since he was chanting…or something. Shrugging her shoulders, she stopped a couple of feet from him and sat down on the sand next to him. She stretched out her legs in front of her and just watched him. She could easily poke him and get his attention, but where's the fun in that? She waited to see exactly how it would take for him to notice her. And besides, when she wanted to be alone, he let her be. It was only logical to return the same treatment.

Heat and energy flowed around Velox like a smooth river breathing and sighing around the bends of some dark jade forest. Light played in front of Velox’s closed eyes as it swirled around him, ebbing and flowing with each echo emanating from his lips. His mind worked on a million different ideas at once as waves of energy, cascading over his head and down his shoulders, flowed and rippled away from his body in dissipating haste.

His current mental capacity was considering the implications that would occur if he decided to build that sand castle by the shoreline anyway. At the same moment he was deciding whether to remotely access the computer system installed in his Bugatti in order to gain access into the SWAT secure database of files to find out more information on Java. He decided it wasn’t worth it. He found it more interesting trying to decipher the woman himself anyway. And besides, SWAT would more than likely be monitoring every line in order to assault him with more off time work.

Suddenly, the energy swimming around Velox changed and darkened, as if some dark creature of the deep had suddenly entered the waters. Velox panicked, recalling a time he had done a healing this way in his own home. Assassins had entered the back door without him knowing and had gotten close enough to kill Velox. The energy around Velox had darkened and Velox instinctively exited the trance, just in time to dispatch the two assassins.

His first instinct was to reach for the SAFT blades attached to his back, disable the chant, and protect his flank, but his mind immediately recalled where he was. Going against all his instincts and doing his best to remain at ease, Velox opened his eyes. Bright sun light splayed across the smooth sandy landscape, reflecting off gorgeously rendered sea shells and illuminating his emerald green eyes. He stared out to sea, as waves of energy died down and his mind slowly stilled.

“You surprised me,” Velox said, continuing to stare out to sea. “The last time someone surprised me during a chant, I killed them.” It wasn’t meant to be a threat and Velox only hoped it came off sounding nonchalant and thoughtful. He looked to Java and found himself once again enraptured by those deep lavender eyes.

Velox decided to hazard a question.

“You doing anything later?”

As she approached her latest companion, Velox, she noticed the energy that encircled him. She wondered about it, figuring that he must be some kind of magic caster like herself. It most likely was not elemental magic unless he has tapped into a new kind of element that she has not mastered. Yet, her intuition told her no, it wasn't elemental magic, but something else. She wasn't for sure as to what, but it intrigued her enough to want to find out more.

Sitting down next to him, she invaded his personal space…at least by her standards. She leaned into him in order to examine the energy more closely. It seemed to swim and twirl around him, matching the words that he mumbled. Despite her vast knowledge of languages, she could not quite understand him. She frowned in frustration and tilted her head to the side, contemplating if it was indeed a language she recognized. His words were so low. She sighed silently and started to sit back when she saw his eyes open. Yet, he seemed not to really notice her as he stared off into the blue of the sea. She blinked her eyes, confused.

"You surprised me…The last time someone surprised me during a chant, I killed them," he said, answering her confusion. She nodded, having heard the slight deadness in his voice. For him, it was as if he was stating the weather. No big thing in his eyes. Now, one might expect Java to become worried about what sort of company she was seeking. Yet, for Java, she never really liked safe men. That was one of the main reasons why she was alone in the real life.

Smirking softly, she said, "Thankfully, nothing is permanent here, then."

Sitting down and crossing her legs "Indian" style, she glanced at him, staring back into his green eyes. Certainly she had seen a pair of similar eyes before, for green was a rather popular color in the Conduit. Yet, there was something different in his eyes and she could not determine to the difference.

"I just got a message regarding an AI that needs to be reprogrammed. I may need to tend to that. However…" her voice trailed off as she glanced off into the sea and smirked.

"Until I am called, there is nothing for me to do." She glanced at him again, her eyes slowly beginning to match the smirk she gave.

Stretching his arms, Velox unfolded his legs and then refolded them again. Leaning back, he reached his hands back to steady himself and instead of his dark strong fingers slipping into the beach sand, he felt them sliding along smooth soft skin. He pulled his hand away quickly, placing it in his lap.

“Sorry,” He mumbled, sitting straighter and staring hard at the rippling ocean. He hadn’t realized how close she was sitting to him. He made a weak attempt at changing the subject.

“An AI that needs to be reprogrammed, eh? That sounds interesting. Is that your line of employment?”

As Velox listened to her explanation, he continued to steal glances at her, admiring her strong demeanor and commanding personality. Her words resonated intelligence that foreshadowed a vast wealth of knowledge that lay locked away within her mind.

Velox smiled to himself, imagining traveling with this woman and having long wonderfully intuitive conversations with her.

He could get used to that.

As Java explained her situation, she paid little attention to the movement that Velox was making. She was more focused on the ocean and glancing periodically in his direction. She suddenly felt something against the upper part of her thigh. She narrowed her eyes and cut a look at him. He quickly apologized, but that still begged the question if his movements were accidental or intentional. Was he attempting to get fresh with her? She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her arms and head on them. She stared at him with a rather hard look in her eyes. He changed the subject about her work and she simply pressed her lips together, still cautiously wondering his motives. Deciding that it was not worth getting worked out simply because he touched her, she kept her silence, but that hard look should tell him that he shouldn't try that stunt again. At least not until they were better acquainted. Things are indeed more of a quicker pace in the Conduit, but Java had more class than most women here.

Responding to his question with a rather monotone voice, she said, "Yes, it is." She paused then, briefly, before looking at him and cocking her head to the side, "…Do you like strippers?" Random yes, but not completely a change of subject.

Staring out to sea Velox felt a twinge in his mind and knew something was wrong. One of his security firewalls in his car had been bypassed with nearly no trouble at all. He was always wired to his car in case of emergency and SWAT must have known this. Velox knew he didn’t have much time before the location of his car would be known and soon him. Once they found him, he would be sent back into the field and he wasn’t ready for that yet.

“Do you like strippers?”

Velox glanced at Java, registering her question, and then quickly switched his gaze back to the sea. Staring into the distance, data began to play in front of his eyes allowing him to begin bypassing SWAT security. He was attempting to repair the firewall on his cars network while also trying to get into SWAT database to find out what they wanted from him. He started to rise, quickly answering her question as he moved. “Uh. Sure. Yeah. Ok.”

The data in front of his eyes was moving quickly and Velox had no problem keeping up with it. He discovered that SWAT had a high payout mission for the capture of Core rebel. All of Velox’s missions were “high payout” and he wasn’t going to fall for that ploy anymore. As long as he kept his firewalls up and kept moving, SWAT wouldn’t be able to ping him.

“ I need to keep moving,” Velox finally said to Java. It occurred to him that “strippers” may be the answer to his problems. There was always great interference to be exploited near higher capacities of players and non-players.

“I’m not too big a fan of strippers myself,” Velox stated, glancing around frantically, “But I know this great place where many of the strippers are named after confectionery.” I should go now! Velox thought. They will know I’m here and I will never get a break again!

“Would you like to come?” Velox asked quickly.

Since it was so calming by the ocean, Java could completely relax her body, sinking more into the sand on which she sat. The sun was still blazing high in the sky, though not directly overhead. It wasn't quite noon yet here, but she would definitely have to find shade once that arrived. Sighing, she turned and faced Velox after asking her random question. She noticed that she did not receive much of a response from him…which she found quite odd. Usually she got some sort of rather pleased or disgusted expression from the question. With him, she only saw a slight panic in his green eyes. She tilted her head to the side and scrunched up her eyebrows. Before he was sliding his fingers along her thigh and now he was preoccupied with something else to truly answer her. She was unimpressed. Sighing again, she glanced away from him and stared back at the ocean. At least it was true in its form and found her interesting enough to stay put…not like it had anywhere to go.

He called her attention once more by declaring that he needed to keep moving. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "Then go." Yet, whether he heard her or not, he continued speaking. Not a fan of strippers? This surprised her since it seemed as if most men she met enjoyed looking at scantily clothed and/or naked women. But there was a first for everything.

She finally noticed the strangeness of his speech and the panicked gaze in his eyes as he glanced around. She slowly stood, wondering what in the world was happening in his mind. He then asked if she wished to accompany him. This sudden change of character startled her. She was beginning to second-guess her choice of company. She was all for bad boys, but if he even seemed freaked out…

She pressed her lips together and put her hands on her hips. "Look Velox, I will come, but whatever the hell is going, you need to tell me. I must protect my career and reputation," she said, quickly, her accent and the slurring of her words growing very strong. She looked behind her shoulder briefly, noticing nothing. Facing Velox again, she waved her hands at him in a shooing motion, telling him to move it.

Velox was too preoccupied with severing SWAT connections and building firewalls to register all of Java’s movements. Behind the data that was streaming in his field of vision, he saw her get up.

"Look Velox, I will come, but whatever the hell is going, you need to tell me. I must protect my career and reputation."

Velox nodded quickly and mumbled, “Of course. Of course.” She made a shooing motion at him and Velox turned. “This way.” Moving up the sandy slope, Velox quickly hurried away from the sea. He moved farther and farther up the sandy dunes until he came to several huge stones that lay stuck in the pale gritty earth.

He quickly removed a SAFT blade and tapped each stone. Finding the stone he was looking for, he tapped out a slow Morse code beat. He wondered if Java would recognize that the pattern he was tapping was actually binary. Don’t all coders know binary? he thought.
Finishing the last bit, Velox watched as a stream of data began to flow from the rock, circling in the air in front of him. He shut down the data connection in front of his eyes. SWAT had already located his car, but knowing that Velox tended to leave his car in random places, they had terminated their connection and sent ground units. Velox had about 30 minutes before the ground troops would arrive. He and his car would be LONG gone before then.

The portal in front of him was complete. He pushed his SAFT blade through and pulled it back. Running his fingers along the blade, he felt the tell-tale signs of the cool shaded forest. Sheathing his SAFT blades, he turned to see if Java was still behind him and then turned back to the portal.

“I’ve never taken anyone through my secret entrance before,” Velox said, his green eyes glowing intensely as he stared at the portal. He looked over his shoulder with a dangerous glint in his eyes, a small grin tugging at one corner of his lips.

“I hope I’m making the right decision.”

Velox stepped through the portal and was gone.

Following Velox, Java looked behind them periodically and wondered where this random sense of danger and urgency had come from. The beach still remained at its calming rest, giving no reason to his actions. She faced his back again and saw his muscles contracting with each step. He definitely seemed tense about whatever this was.

She kept herself at a small distance from him, trudging along the sand hill and gazing around at the sea and sky, two connected. She sighed softly and finally noticed that he had stopped. Folding her arms, Java tilted her head to the side and tapped her fingers against arm. They had arrived at some stones, which looked pretty ordinary to her and she usually could see where the programming was slightly screwed with. However, Velox was tapped each stone with his stone as if waiting for something. She narrowed his violet eyes, giving him a puzzled look but remaining silent. He then tapped a beat, which sounded like…some kind of code. 'Binary?', she thought and stepped a little closer, closing the distance between them. She could not make out exactly what the message was, but she recognized it as binary. She was never strong with that language despite being a programmer. With the computers of today, there really was no need.

It appeared as if he had finished and suddenly, there appeared a flood of code spilling from the rock he had selected. She cut her eyes at him, wondering what in the world he was hiding. The code soon enough transformed into a portal of sorts and the temperature dropped slightly. She had not seen the slight kink in the coding that revealed the tell-tale sign of a portal. It was something that all programmers would not be able to remove…or at least she thought all. Whoever made this portal would certainly have to be one that she met.

Velox stuck one of his swords inside the portal, removed it and then inspected it carefully. She scrunched up her face in wonderment. He faced her briefly and then returned his eyes to the portal, staring into it fiercely as he revealed to her that she would be the first person he trusted with the location of his secret. She blinked, honored by the gesture. Facing her again, Velox grinned at her and hoped that he was making the right choice.

"Me too," she said as he disappeared into the portal. She took a deep breath and sighed heavily, walking cautiously forward. She gripped the side of the rock to stabilize herself and poked her head through. Nothing happened and so, she jumped through and noticed that she was no longer on a beach, but a beautifully coded forest, one that she had never seen before. Trees with bright red bark rivaled against the sharpness of their green leaves. They seemed to go on forever into the skies. She looked up and ooh'ed aloud and proceeded to go rambling off in French, which with aid from the Conduit's automatic translator is as follows: "Oh this is wonderful! Now I know why people live in Eden and never want to leave. This is still Eden, is not it?"

Remembering that she had lapsed into French, she apologized and nodded, "Next?"

Velox stared happily at the familiar purple coniferous bushes that dotted the forest floor. He took in a deep breath, happy that Conduit made everything seem so real. The scent of pine lingered in the air mixing with the scent of the mahogany colored trees that stretched into the sky. He turned slightly and noticed Java taking in the view. He was happy to see that she had the ability to be impressed. He heard her suddenly speaking French before Conduit began the translation.

”Oh this is wonderful! Now I know why people live in Eden and never want to leave. This is still Eden, is not it?”

“Yes, yes,” Velox answered quickly, turning completely to face her. “I spent a fortune having this portal created.” Velox put one hand on his hip, the other waving and pointing at the surrounding land. “Everything was handpicked to make sure that NO ONE would ever be able to find this place. Also, the portal you saw there, was hacked into the system by a trusted source who actually is employed by Conduit.” Velox smiled, placing both his hands on his hips. “SWAT’s power reaches VERY far. “ He silently wondered if he had ever explained what SWAT was and quickly dismissed the idea; they had quite a walk ahead of them.

“No, our method of crossing worlds is actually in the form of a ship.” Velox brought some data in front of his eyes again before turning.

“My ship is roughly 10 kilometers from here. If we move quickly, we can get there long before they arrive.” Velox glanced back and thought he noticed a bit of skepticism on Java’s face. “I’ll explain as we walk, come on.”

Frowning up her face with his preoccupied state, she listened carefully about the details of the portal. She wondered what he considered to be a fortune. A few thousands or millions?

She nodded, understanding his reasoning for the care that he took in the portal's creation. She would have done the same if she had need for a secret portal. Her thoughts drifted back to what sort of line of employment (legal or not) he was in. Those vanished when he mentioned that someone who actually worked for the base company of the Conduit hacked the portal. Now, she understood how the trademark of a portal was missing. Just as she was about to ask a question, he mentioned SWAT. Confused, she waited for him to explain, but he never did and just continued on about moving onto the ship. Java shrugged her shoulders and followed him.

As they trudged along, she spoke up, "So what is SWAT? Or shall I remain in the dark? And this hacker…I want to meet him."

Heading down the same path Velox used to enter the red forest, Velox turned to see if Java was following him. Indeed she was and she was also speaking:

“So what is SWAT? Or shall I remain in the dark? And this hacker…I want to meet him.”

Velox smiled to himself as he continued walking, crunching purple pine-scented needles beneath his boots.

“SWAT,” he finally said after a time, “is actually an acronym.”

Reaching a hand up and running it through his braids, Velox spoke, attempting to explain the organization he worked for and once again feeling long winded. “SWAT stands for Soldiers Working Against Terrorism. We are a professionally trained elite team of super soldiers that protect ALL of conduit from terroristic activities. SWAT has a very heavy military atmosphere as most of the members were all soldiers at some point in their life. They do allow civilians to apply, but few rarely ever make it. I’m one of the few.” Velox half turned, glancing at Java to see if she actually cared, then faced front continuing.

“I passed the SWAT mental and physical exam with no problem and demonstrated talent that exceeded the potential of even their BEST operatives. I wasn’t very much liked, but that kind of thing didn’t bother me.” Velox reached a hand out and snapped a branch off a tree that was crossing the path. The leaves were bright green and reflected the bright sunlight that was falling through holes in the leafy canopy above them. Pulling leaves off as he walked, Velox continued.

“I rose quickly in rank and became a Class B operative." Velox paused scowling at the memory and then continued.

"I was one rank away from being a Class A operative, the highest ranking SWATop, but they wouldn’t let me have it."

He clenched his fists.

"Told me I was hardheaded, that I ignored orders, and that I was unfit to lead!"

Several snaps could be heard, but their source was unknown.

"They didn’t even care about the millions of lives I saved! Or even congratualate me on the thousands of missions I completed! I am the one who made them as successful as they are now and the only thing they care about are the rules?!”

Velox came to a halt, catching his breath as he noticed the stick he had been holding was crushed into several pieces. He glanced behind him to see if Java was still there.