The body Amber had in John’s Mind’s Eye was a perfect copy of her real self. That she had a form meant she had put the work in to create one as John had, except he had made his form stand at a much greater height than his real body.

Amber wore a sundress similar to the one she wore on their first buddy-date, shoes without heels, and had her hair in a ponytail. He was glad to see she was showing her ears. Seeing her in human clothes caused his heart to flutter again. He had to clamp down on his emotions.

Amber was frowning and had crossed her arms. “Okay. What,” she demanded sternly and angrily. She then said, “Fine, I’ll admit it. This is impressive. I was told this couldn’t be done until the third Tree. Or when the Magnus title can first be used, the very peak of Transcendent when the Between can be accessed. How’d you do it? Pull me in here?”

“I needed to speak with you.”

Amber rolled her eyes and huffed. “Don’t answer. Whatever. Jerk. Animal.”

“I don’t know how, Amber. I needed to talk to you, and this was the only way. I wouldn’t allow it to not work. The g’athu did it to me. If a Bronze g’athu can, I can. We can’t speak openly out there. How they steal secrets from brainwaves doesn’t work while in here.”

Amber shouted out, “They don’t need to read brainwaves, John! Not the Mele!”

After huffing for a moment, Amber said, “We’re gonna get in trouble. I’m always being watched. Closely. If they pick the wrong Kahaka to be the first Oli cannon-fodder, that isn’t a big deal. Messing up with an Alii would really…it’s just a big deal, okay? So, I don’t ever…ugh, you’re such a…ugh! What? What do you want? I don’t wanna talk to you. You’re an animal. And a real jerk.”

John took a breath to try and center himself. “Did you know what their true plans were for Earth before we left?”

“No! Of course not, you psycho! How could you ask me that? Jesus, I woulda never…you’re…you’re just an animal, you know that? A dirty, rotten animal!”

John couldn’t help but match her angry tone as he snapped out, “I had to know if you lied to me! You said they weren’t that bad. Before we left. And now you say all these good things about them when I see you on the screens. You paint your nose and hide your ears. They all love you.”

Amber’s eyes became crazed and her voice much louder. “They love me! Oh, buddy, what do you think I see on the screens! Oh, it’s the man I gave my heart to…just…ugh, it’s…ugh…ugh…I wanna punch you so bad! You’re an animal. A wild animal. How could you?” Amber’s voice took on a tone mocking John’s own. “You say nice things on the screen about them.”

Amber’s hands covered her face as she began to cry and sob. “What about you!? I say things. You did things! You slept with three of them! I see it every day! You slept with a patroness I see all the time! She tells me about how great it was and the stupid, gross nectar thing. I don’t wanna hear about that. Just because I gave my heart to you doesn’t mean I’m gonna let you walk all over it and…and make me a chump! I want a guy that appreciates me and treats me right and never, ever hurts me.”

John wanted to tell Amber that he was drugged that night, that he could hardly recall any of what happened, but he knew he wouldn’t care if the situation were reversed. He accepted one drug to help with the merging of concepts he was tasked with. A task he meant to fail, but he even failed his attempt at failing. He did little to resist the other sniffing drug.

John never wanted to and never planned on sleeping with the enemy. Or told himself that. If truth be told, he had always desired the Alii equally as much as he hated them. He knew he needed to leave. He hardly tried. Instead of being a man and doing his all to stop what happened, he behaved as a boy and did little at all to prevent it. Part of him greatly wanted what happened to happen.

If John had living sons, he would tell them a good man could fall off his path and was bound to make mistakes, but the best of men never allowed themselves to fail or make mistakes. He would tell his sons to be the best of men. To reject setting their aim so low as to only be a good man. Strive to be the best. And be the best. To accept nothing less.

John had always tried to be a good man, but he had faltered and made far too many mistakes to even accept that he was one. At the very least, he would be man enough to face up to and admit his wrongdoings without hiding behind childish excuses. He would be truthful with himself. He would be truthful with Amber.

As John was about to apologize, Amber continued her sobbing rant. “I hate this! I hate it here! I hate them! I don’t wanna lead a…a battle-harem. Any harem. I’m not into that poly…shit. Sorry I swore but I don’t care. I know it’s not ladylike, but ladies don’t hafta save themselves. I just wanna be saved and go back to…just…I wish the Tree of Life never…everything sucks so much!”

Amber’s body was racked with sobs for some time before she calmed enough to say, “I just wanna be a housewife and clean in sexy outfits. That’s it. One husband that loves me and only me and treats me real good. I don’t wanna lead…anything. I know I’m supposed…ugh, I hate how everyone wants more from me. Like what I want doesn’t matter. Or what I want is wrong. Yeah, I like being pretty. I was ugly for so long and then no one could see me for…”

Amber trailed off as she cried harder for some minutes. Eventually, she said, “Yeah, I like when guys find me attractive now but I’m not like Lilly. At all. You said I was and I’m not! I’m not! You’re the one that cheated! You’re supposed to fall in true love with me, not cheat! I know we’re not officially together, but we are! In my heart we are, and you can’t do that to me! Not and expect me to tolerate it and wait for you like a chump! It was cheating. To me, it was.”

John’s heart gladdened to hear Amber hated the Peerless. A worry that weighed heavily on his heart was lifted. “Amber, I will never spend credits again. I’ve striven to be a good man. Here, now, I give you my word I shall be the best of men. If I am to destroy the Peerless blight, I can tolerate no more mistakes, so I shall make none.”

Amber wiped her eyes and nose and looked at John like he was crazy. “Destroy them? John, I just…you can’t destroy them. You understand that, right? Oh, God, I hope you understand that. Just save me. Please, I need to be saved. Please. Just find a way to save me and get me as far away from them as possible. That’s gonna be hard enough, but at least that’s in the realm of possibility. Maybe…can you contact Sublime Sunshine? Can he help us? Can he get us away from here?”

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Worry infused John. He and Amber weren’t on the same page. The Peerless were destroying Earth. The people of Earth needed to be saved and avenged. The Peerless blight had to be ended. Men didn’t run from such tasks regardless of how hard and impossible they seemed. He had made vows.

Before John could reply again, Amber approached him and tried to hold him. Her hands went right through his form. She made a surprised face and said, “Oh! I thought we’d be able to touch. I hoped. Well, this stinks. It’s like when I try to touch Party-pooper.”

Anger flared in John’s heart. “Why were you trying to touch Party-pooper,” he sternly demanded.

Anger flared right back on Amber’s face. “Seriously! Holy Jesus! Seriously! Seriously! I can’t be with a jealous guy, John! You didn’t try touching your avatar after you formed your body? I would never cheat on my man, but you have to understand this jealousy crap isn’t cool. No cap. You gotta stop. If we’re gonna be together, you hafta trust me. Trust I’d never cheat. Never. Unless…that’s why you gotta save me. Before…before they make me.

“Please, John. I love you. With all my heart, I love you. I have since back in the Trial. You’ve never said it to me, but I know you feel the same. Why haven’t you ever said it to me? I wanna hear it. I need to hear it. If you want me to get past the…the highlights. If you want me to wait for you.”

John took his time coming up with a response. He would save Amber, but his priority had to be the destruction of the Peerless. That would accomplish saving Amber and Earth too. He also couldn’t let himself be destroyed. He had found a new purpose in life, and he couldn’t risk it.

“Amber, I can’t say it because I feel it too much. If I say it and make it real and you become mine in my heart and mind, if you were to betray me, I wouldn’t survive it. My mind would break. My soul would…it’s too much and I can’t. Not now.

“As for Sunshine, I have hope. I can’t contact him, but I am no longer the ruler of Earth in the NCS. The contract I signed is null and void. I believe he’ll search for me now. That contract was his ticket to wealth and advancement.”

Amber’s eyes filled with tears again. “The Peerless are honoring most of that deal. They grilled me about Sublime Sunshine. They don’t care about our playz and serials and literature. That’s all he’s making money off of. They’re letting it go so they don’t piss off a Divine. Dang it all! Do you think you can save me? And how soon? I need to be saved soon. Real soon.”

John cursed and steeled his resolve. Sunshine could’ve made things easy, but even if he could contact him, he wasn’t sure Sunshine would help anyway. Not in the way John wanted.

This changes nothing. My goal is still the same as it’s always been, he thought. “How pressing is your need? Are you at risk? During your interview, you said they’re modifying you to bypass your rules? The rules for your forms? The carnal knowledge rule?”

“I wish I could hold you,” said Amber sadly. “They can’t get around the…my rules. Not by genetic modification. I was…I can’t tell you. They’ll find out. If I get a Peerless form that’s as attractive as my human form, they won’t care if I lose my human form. If I don’t get a Peerless form, they think…remember how my rules changed when I got all the body [Perks] and my human form became disgusting again?

“Well, that gave them ideas and they want to try things. Risky things. Like…never mind, just crazy things. I need to be saved so bad. Please, please, save me. How soon until you can save me and take me away from these perverts?”

“I don’t know,” replied John. “You know how it is. We’re always watched, and our movements are greatly restricted. They have many Transcendents. And now…I messed up. I helped them pass the bottleneck and become more powerful. How long until you become Alii?”

Amber sniffled and wiped her nose with her arm. “I know you did. They told me. And…a couple years? Maybe less. A year. Maybe five years. I don’t know. At least a year. I’m trying to slow it down. I can’t be Alii until I can…pleasure the guys in my kauwa. That has to be solved first. And they can’t risk a bad Alii. Not the first Kahaka to become Alii. I hafta be perfect, and they hafta trust me all the way. And they know…”

Amber trailed off to think for a minute before saying, “Listen, if you can’t get to me and get me away from here, we hafta play along. And play along super well. All the way. How it works is we get a certain number of points based on our…just a ton of factors. Like a bazillion.

“We spend those points to buy a ship and the members of our kauwa and stuff. Our Oli, all that. Silver Oli new graduates are super cheap. Real good Olini veterans are super expensive, even the ones on this Tree. Transcendent ones are super, super expensive. And they hafta agree. To the buyout.

“The total amount of credits an Oli has earned is a big factor in cost. Only new graduates that never belonged to a kauwa can transfer in with more than one credit, but that’s super rare. And the Oliua and Meleua can transfer in with credits banked, but they can’t take an Alii’s, um, virginity. And only credits earned in and for that kauwa by the hand of that Alii can take her virginity. Then she’s up for grabs by everyone else too.

“I’ll hafta have at least an Oliua and Meleua. I’ll…I’ll figure that part out. And what exactly I can get away with. But…listen. Get the best grades or whatever they have at the academy. The best you possibly can. Get into the best academy you can too. That’ll increase your cost. You’ll only be a Silver new graduate, so you’ll still be pretty cheap. Earn as many credits as possible. That’s the only way to really jack your price up enough. Credits. Earning credits before belonging to a kauwa isn’t easy. Don’t spend them! Or I’ll still buy you, but I’ll kill you! Just earn them. And a ton of them!”

John, brows furrowed in thought, asked, “Wait, the plan is for you to become an Alii and purchase me?”

“No,” exclaimed Amber. “The plan is for you to save me and get me the heck away from here as soon as possible. Like, today would be great. You hafta try and save me. I hate it here so much. If you just can’t, then me becoming Alii and purchasing you for all my points is the backup plan. You and an Oliua and Meleua. I think. I’ll hafta check on things and…and work some stuff out. You can’t really be the Oliua. You wouldn’t be able to…just let me think about it and work this out.”

Brows still furrowed, John asked, “Won’t you have to lay with the others?”

Amber angrily snapped out, “I’m not having sex with anyone, John! Ever! You know that! You said you were fine with that before. I’ll lose my human form.

“I’m not a Peerless. I’m not a demon. I’m not a bear, or a fox, or anything else. I’m human. That’s what I am. Just…more, too. And let me worry about the kauwa. You just worry about saving me as soon as possible. And earning credits. But don’t spend them! Promise me you won’t spend them. Promise you’ll never cheat on me again. Promise on…on your honor.”

John got on his knee and bowed his head. “Amber, I will never spend a credit on an Alii again. That was a great mistake I regret. I regret it very much. I’ve made so many mistakes. Never again. I will never fail again. I will be the strongest. I will be the best of men. And I will save you. One day, I will take you away from these filth. This, I swear to you on what honor I have left, and what I have left, I cherish.”

John only wished he could tell Amber his true plans. She would not be rescued any time soon.

Amber smiled and said, “Oh, John, I love you so, so much. I know it’s not official and you haven’t agreed but you’re my boyfriend. I have a boyfriend now! Every night I take out a different one of the little Hummel figurine things you made of me and hold it. Those are the only things keeping me sane. That and knowing you’ll come save me. How come you’re so tall in here?”