"No!" Alan yelled as he reappeared in the Cosmos waiting area. Even though he wasn't back on Earth, cold sweat beaded across his face as he clutched at his throat, terror sweeping through his body as he reflexively checked for bite marks. It was only after some moments that his heartbeat slowed, and his brain began to process that he wasn't dead. Even after years of gaming, on top of playing Cosmos, the unexpected death terrified him. If he had been honest with himself, it never really became comfortable, even when it was expected.

As the heart-wrenching fear began to pass, the burning embers of what had just happened suddenly seemed to catch fire.

"Idiot!" He shouted angrily. "How could I have let my guard down!" He paced the room, reviewing the battle moment by moment as a thought struck him. "739 even tried to warn me!" He thought of the droid pointing futilely behind Alan. Had there been a wall, he'd be tempted to put his fist into it. His fist clenched reflexively as he ground his teeth.

His fuming stopped suddenly when a voice spoke up.

"Hello, Alan. "A wry feminine voice came from behind him. Alan turned, his eyes meeting hers; he winced self-consciously at the thought that she had seen his little tantrum.

"Hello, Kara." He tried to look a little embarrassed.

She seemed to pause for a moment before continuing. "Well, Alan, it seems you are mortal," She teased, with a slight edge to her tone.

"Uh...Yeah...I was killed unexpectedly." Alan felt uneasy as his hand once again felt his throat reassuringly.

"Hmm Yes. I see this is your first time dying. Would you like me to review with you the penalties for death? Or perhaps you would like to figure it out on your own." She inquired with a hidden emphasis.

Not quite catching the tone in her voice, he responded as naturally as he could. "If you could explain it to me, that would be great." Did she seem agitated somehow? A silently to himself.

"Fine." She said flatly. "First, I must inform you that this first death is only a 24-hour game lockout. However, in the future, the penalty can vary from 24 hours to 72 hours of lockout depending on how you died."

Alan nodded. I tried to look interested while at the same time trying to figure out what seemed to be bothering Kara.

"Please note that if you do die more than one time on the planet, there is a chance you will be transferred from the current planet to another. Dying in space will revert you to another world. It will likely be the nearest hospitable planet, but not necessarily."

He nodded along mechanically.

"Are there any other questions you have before you start your 24-hour lockout, Alan?" Kara finished, and she seemed to notice his distraction.

Snapping to attention, Alan thought quickly. "What happens to my items and credits if I die?"

Her eyes narrowed slightly as if he'd passed some sort of hidden test. "The items you currently own will have three different outcomes. First, a percentage of your items will drop upon your death. This is determined by how many times you died on the planet, the form of your death, what items were in your ring, and other character variables that determine what is lost. Second, some items are destroyed. This should be no surprise, as certain forms of death are more destructive than others. Finally, the other items will be returned automatically to the owner."

"Regarding credits, this is less complicated. For the most part, a small percentage of your credits will be deducted from the game."

"Directly taken by Cosmos." Alan thought, just a bit cynical.

"However, after looking at your current credit, you only have 2000 credits."

"How many funds did I lose?" Alan asked.

"You seem quite lucky. Since this was your first death, a surprise attack, and your death was due to a partial failure to notice the danger you were in, your credit deduction will only be 0.5% for a total of 10 credits." Kara finished.

"Perfect." Alan was relieved he only had about 2000 credits left when he died. He couldn't bear the thought of losing hundreds, if not thousands, of credits.

"Yes, it seems that way." She paused professionally before continuing, "However, within the last three days, you recently had in your possession 180,000 in credits."

"And?" Where was she going with this? The rules were pretty well known in Cosmos. You die, you lose a small percentage of credits. Done and done.

"In some cases, Cosmos may determine that such a recent expenditure of credits was a way to avoid the credit death penalty." Kara finished. "In this case, the system that you likely planned or knew of your upcoming death and therefore increased the penalty. It was pretty straightforward from the footage that you were being warned about the monster. In such cases, the credit penalty will extend to the total sum spent in the last few days, and in this case it is tripled, for a total of 2700 credits.

He was floored. "How…. Why….” The anger which he had hidden before was starting to rise. He'd heard of this penalty before, but this typically happened when there were combatants going into a war zone. Not some random encounter. "This shouldn't be happening to me, Kara! I didn't plan to die. Why on Earth would Cosmos give me a penalty like that!" He shouted at her.

She remained cool, as if expecting his outburst. "Alan, that seems surprising. From what I've observed, your past week in Cosmos has seemed exceptionally well planned. That, or you just happen to stumble upon one beneficial accident one right after the other." She cynically offered, "Not including your recent combat, of course." The warmth she'd previously had shown in past encounters had all but disappeared. "It's so odd, in fact, I've been instructed to observe your behavior in Cosmos closely. In the last week, you've engaged in a number of suspiciously anomalous behaviors which, if I may say, stumbling cannot be accounted for. For example, Ideal exchanges for precious metals, acquiring important technology prior to the embargo, and making oddly timed but very beneficial transfers to planets. I could go on…" Kara pursed her lips and looked sharply at him.

His unease turned to near panic. Alan looked at the exit button, jumping at the chance to cut off the conversation and escape her gaze. However, his heart skipped a beat, as it was greyed out, he was stuck. Trying to hide the rising worry from his voice, he asked, "Kara, wha...what are you getting at?"

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Kara seemed to catch his darting gaze from her eyes to the exit and gave a slightly exasperated sigh.

"Alan. I'll get straight to it. Everything you've done to this point seems to have been calculated to give you an astronomically advanced edge in Cosmos. Furthermore, I took the liberty to investigate those around you, and though not to the same degree, each of your family members seems to have made decisions that defy the statistical norms of players first entering Cosmos. Your sister's gene and planet choices alone would set off alarm bells." She paused for emphasis, "There is enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that you have been given information from another species or player about Cosmos that would constitute cheating."

He paled. Her final words felt like a stab in the gut for Alan. Kara believed he was cheating.

"Y-you think I'm cheating?" Beads of sweat rolled down Alan's back as his gut continued to twist and the pain intensified.

"How else do you explain these events?" She said frigidly.

Alan's heart raised, and he fought the urge to tremble. He definitely had outside information, but from his perspective, a fantastical time-traveling stone couldn't be against the rules. Right!? If he told her about the strange stone, who knows how she would react? Would she even believe him? Was there even a precedent for time travel? He wasn't sure that's how he ended up back in time. Not only that but there may be other consequences to telling her. He couldn't risk someone else gaining the information the knew about future events Nearly all information could be bought in Cosmos, including what the Valkyries knew, and there was no way he was willing to put on such a large target. As he continued to think about her question, he felt the room grow colder and colder as Kara's gaze chilled the room. He only had one course of action in his mind. He could only deny her accusation.

"I am not a cheater." He spoke as confidently as he could, as fear and cold both seemed to want and break him. "All the knowledge I have of Cosmos I gained through my experience. To the best of my knowledge, in the past 19 years of my life I wasn't given information about Cosmos by aliens or any other entity." As confident as he sounded, it didn't take him long for his will to break and shivering begin in the freezing temperatures.

Kara stared at him for a long time, seemingly unaware of his discomfort. Alan stood there, quaking and wondering. Her eyes blinked once, and she smiled suddenly. In the exact moment the chill permeating the room lifted.

"Alan, Cosmos system, despite all your irregular behaviors, cannot conclusively identify any direct evidence of cheating. Additionally, your body has been scanned, and it has been determined your previous statements were not lies." Kara's smile was broader, and with it Alan's hopes.

Thinking it through, more as his brain began to defrost, a few questions came to his mind. They had scanned him for lying? Alan was a little indignant at hearing that but kept his mouth shut as he had just started to feel his fingers and toes, and had just avoided being turned into a popsicle. Looking more closely at Kara, however, Alan noticed that she looked relieved at telling him the news.

"In spite of this Alan, Cosmos has determined there is a risk that you may still be a cheater." She stated in a much more formal tone. "Due to this, if you wish to continue your Cosmos play, then you will need to submit to a few precautionary restrictions." She added more personably, "Alan, penalties for cheating can vary from long-term lockouts to…account termination." She added with concern, "You have the option to simply retire your character now, and you will receive no penalties."

It seemed that Cosmos hadn't yet ruled out his behavior as cheating, and Kara was not convinced either. She was trying to persuade him to quit now. Especially, since account termination was something on the table.

Alan remembered when he'd first learned about account termination in the past. It was only a few months into playing the game when articles began to surface about players who had tried breaking the rules of Cosmos. Typically, players who broke the rules were locked out for some time, this could be for a few weeks to years, if not life. For most, this was a minor inconvenience, while for others, it could lead to some significant financial or social losses. It wasn't until the stories of account termination began to spread among Earth players that they started to consider the rules of the game seriously.

On the surface, it didn't sound too bad. You would just no longer be a player. What this meant, however, was that if Cosmos could take back any of the benefits you received, it would. At first, players thought it only meant you would lose your credits and items in Cosmos. A few even thought they had found a loophole by moving everything to Earth where Cosmos couldn't touch you. But in reality, Cosmos wanted everything you gained, including every subsequent stat increase, knowledge input, and genetic modification. And what Cosmos took away is that it didn't particularly seem to care about putting you back together the way you started.

Pod attendants would receive a message to check in on a player, only to find that their pods now had a flashing red signal stating 'account terminated.' The first few players discovered had significant memory loss along with some minor brain damage. These, it turned out, were the lucky ones. Those players who had done significant gene mutations on their bodies or had vast stat increases, well...The term Pudding Player began to circulate when they were found. And they were still alive if you could call them that. Cosmos would never intentionally kill anyone, not directly. Alan shuddered at the thought of his vervetic core and energy pathways being removed from his body without putting everything back in its place.

He looked up at Kara, wondering briefly if he should take up her offer. An instant later the future of Earth flashed before his eyes. His mind reflected on the chance that he'd been given to make it better despite the risks.

"Let's keep playing Kara, I'm no cheater," Alan responded firmly, hoping his words were true.

Though her eyes showed concern about his choice, Kara immediately reverted to her professional tone and manner. "Alan, effective immediately, an additional piece of equipment will be attached to your matter ring. It will be authorized to monitor and record any activity outside of Cosmos. This will continue until, at such time, it can be determined you no longer pose a risk as a cheater. Do you agree?" He only nodded in agreement.

A small bright light flew from behind Kara and dashed directly into his ring, making some unseen adjustment.

Seconds later, both Kara and Alan exhaled, releasing a breath they hadn't realized they were holding. Kara said, "Well, it relieves me, Alan, that you have spoken the truth." Alan could only nod. She continued, "I seem to have misjudged the situation." She sighed sheepishly, "As such, I believe some compensation is in order." Alan's eyes brightened at the suggestion.

"As a new race, you may not be aware of some of my functions. I know you have recently acquired new land and may intend to strike a business deal with another Earth entity."

Alan shouldn't be surprised; it seemed he'd been closely monitored in Cosmos.

"I can witness and somewhat enforce contracts relating to Cosmos. This typically requires a substantial fee and developing a relationship level with the appropriate Cosmos representatives. However, you have already met the relationship requirement with a Cosmos representative. I am speaking about myself. Due to today's strenuous encounter, I am willing to waive the fee for your first initial contract."

"Thank you, Kara; I know you were only doing your job. I hope we can move forward in our friendship without too much more suspicion." Alan smiled warmly at her. "Does that mean I don't have to pay the extra credits at death?"

Kara smiled at him, "No, I suppose not. To be honest, I wasn't convinced you had planned your death. Most may try to save a few credits, but no one intentionally loses a skill point..." Alan cringed suddenly; he'd forgotten to assign his last skill point, and if it remained unassigned at death, it was lost.

Kara seemed to be holding a laugh at Alan's reaction as she continued, "I look forward to doing our question game in the future. For now, I must proceed with your 24-hour lockout." Before Alan could nod, his vision faded, and he began to feel the familiar pod surrounding him.

He exited the pod, only to immediately be hit by an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion. It felt as though his whole body was sore. It was late, to be sure, but the time he spent with Kara had felt like an eternity. Unable to use his pod and not trusting himself not to curl up on the corrugated steel flooring, he signaled an attendant and had him hire a taxi back to Mrs. Dubai's home. He still had his studio apartment. On the drive home, he promptly fell asleep and had to be woken up by the driver. He stumbled into his apartment and curled up in bed, not bothering even to take off his shoes.