"You want a ride home?"

"No."

"Where do you live anyway?"

"I'm not telling you where I live"

"Why not!"

"I foresee untold trouble."

"Okay…"

…

"So, you gonna get in?"

"No."

"But why not!" Clark wailed. "Why not? Why not? Why not? Why not? Why not?"

With signage reading Rich's Sports Ware unlit and darkness seeping through the windows, Zein remained unflinching. Clark's cries continued.

"Your car is too flashy."

"Don't you say that about my baby!" Clark said aghast. "Don't listen to him my love, he'll never understand how special you are." he kissed the wheel of his chromatic purple T*y*ta Su*ra. Repeatedly.

"Please, find someone already." Zein advised.

"Why would I need anyone, when I have you." Clark stuck his hand out. Zein swatted it. "Owie." Clark pouted, massaging his hand.

"I'm heading home." Zein said, hand raised like Buddha.

Clark stopped massaging. "Hm? Are you still sure you don't want a ride?"

"Yes." Zein replied, eyes narrowing.

Clark's pout worsened. "Okay, text me when you reach home. Goodnight my sweet-"

"Goodnight." Zein interrupted. "Let me know when you reach too." Zein readjusted his drawstring bag and began walking away. Clark leaned through his window, watching him. He grinned.

HOOOOOOOONK.

Zein startled. Clark cackled. He returned to his seat, reversed, and sped into the night sky. Zein scratched his head. "Bastard." he muttered with a smile, walking the other way as lights shone bright.

Zein ambled home as shoes squeaked, people chattered, and cars and buses blared. Amid all this noise, his mind started to wander.

"Do I have all my stuff?"

Zein rustled through his bag. He heaved a sigh of relief, before spotting the store keys.

"Did…Did I lock the door? I think I did? Should I run back to check?"

Sweat ran down his neck. He peered from whence he came. Multiple TVs stood behind him in an electronic store, showing the Babel announcement.

He laughed worried "I-I think it should be fine." he scratched the sides of his hangnail. Zein swung his head back around and paced down the street, fists clenched. He checked his phone for the time, distracting himself.

"11pm…1 more hour huh…Should I switch to a morning shift?" he stroked his chin, leading to scratching.

"When did the manager leave? I couldn't have locked him in cause of the post-it note, but I didn't hear him enter the lockers." he pictured the manager and his round, rosy-cheeked face- laughing like Santa Claus. Zein's face embodied bliss.

Zein meandered down the street, leaving his worries behind as the noise around him reduced to a murmur. While on his way, Zein came across a convenience store. The signboard lights flickered erratically; It read KH-Mart. By the entrance of the store, a machine with boxes in them and a sign atop reading Age of Divinity. Zein's heartbeat intensified. "Ah…right…I need to get one."He stared a little longer, his mind taken over by the noise of his heart.

Ding ding. Zein's attention was dragged to the sounds of children exiting the convenience store, rushing to the machine. Curious, Zein decided to check.

He stood behind the squatted boys as they smacked the machine. One of the boys had short, black hair and square red glasses. The other had dirty blonde hair with bangs falling across his eyes. Their names were Ren and Johnny. Ren had his hands clutched, praying. Johnny, lollipop in mouth, hit the machine harder until his hand turned red.

Johnny fell over. "I told you we shouldn't have bought candy." he huffed. "We don't have money to buy a card anymore!"

"But they taste so good!" Ren cried. "I'm sorry…"

Johnny sat up. "We can't ask for more money either." he caught his breath. "Okay. No problem. We just need to keep smacking the agepon like my brother said!" he said reinvigorated.

"But what if we break it?" Ren asked.

"We'll uh run." Johnny replied

"Where will you run to?" Zein asked,

"Our home of cour…" Johnny looked up.

The kids startled; Zein flashed a smile.

"Ah! A cop!"

"A cop…frick."

"Please, please call me anything but a cop."

The boys looked at each other and calmed themselves. Zein kneeled beside them.

"Alright! Back to smacking."

Johnny raised his hand to hit the machine, Zein interjected. "Stop."

Johnny faced him. "Why?" Johnny realised. "You aren't going to snitch to our-"

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"How much do you need?" Zein asked, reaching for his wallet. Johnny sat unmoving and unable to answer.

"We both have 10 dollars! We bought so much mmph mmph mmph" Johnny slammed his hand on Ren's mouth, embarrassed. Ren's words garbled through Johnny's hands. Zein drew thirty dollars while containing his laughter. "Here you go, 15 each."

Jonny, skeptical "My mom told me not to trust strangers."

Zein, saddened "Well if you don't want it."

Johnny, pleased "We'll take it, good uncle!"

"I'm only 24!" Zein chuckled as Johnny snatched the money in excitement, releasing his hand from Rens's mouth. He slipped fifty dollars into the machine and brought it to life. The lights within the machine grew brighter and a digital screen below the sign read "Please hit the button". It scrolled from left to right. A red button sat below the glass of the machine. The boys hit it. Boxes started to bubble. One slides out. "Please hit the button". The boys follow. Another slides out. They picked the boxes up.

"You ready to open it?"

Ren gulped.

"You guys mind if I draw one too?"

"Sure uh, Mr. Guy."

"Thank you." Zein said warmly. He checked his wallet for cash. His warmth disappeared for in it sat a twenty-dollar note with a ripped edge. "Eugh. I knew I should have brought my card."

With a dodgy twenty-dollar note, a perfect five-dollar one, and a dream, he deposited the money. Seconds felt eternal.

"Please hit the button"

Zein pumped his fists and smashed the button. Bubble bubble bubble went the machine and out slid a box. The matte black finish of the box made it blend with the night. If it weren't for the stars and planets patterned on it shining ever so slightly, it may have been impossible to spot. All three give each other a knowing nod and open their boxes.

"A Cowboy!" Johnny roared, jumping in the air. His card depicted a lone person, a large stetson on their head and a poncho flowing with the wind. In a desert with sand painted red and buttes piercing the sky, They rode a horse atop a saddle with various bags hanging off it.

"Aw, man..." Ren wrapped himself around his knees. His card depicted tall grass climbing the wide-trunked trees with coloured leaves. Pink. Blue. Green. Yellow. Dotted amongst the trees, little lights lit up the night sky.

Zein held his card to the sky, reactionless. His card depicted destroyed pillars dusted with sand. Cracked limestone slabs laid below it, etched in ancient symbols. The heat of the sun could be felt from the card.

Ren eyed it. Zein noticed. Ren looked away.

"Would you like to trade?" Zein asked.

"Really!?" Ren asked, starry-eyed. "Yes please!" Zein obliged.

Johnny leaned over Ren in awe. "Ooh, that's so cool!"

Ren giggled, triumphant. "I know right!"

Zein picked himself up, brushing the dirt off his pants. "Alright, I better get going kids." he placed his card into his bag. "Will you be safe?"

"Yeah, we live across the street! Goodbye, Mr. Guy!"

"Goodbye! Thank you so much for trading with me, Mr. Guy!"

"Why am I Mr. Guy."

Zein watched as the kids scuttled away to the run-down apartment building across the street, leaving right after. The moon bathed him in its shine the further he walked. Reflecting off buildings and cars, Zein had his very own spotlight.

He made his way to his significantly smaller apartment building and rode the elevator. Inside, the only noise heard came from the flickering of lightbulbs. The doors creak and stutter open. Zein dug through his bag for the keys to his apartment, unlocking upon reaching.

An empty corridor greeted him. Zein gently removed his grey loafers, leaving them by a pair of slippers. He untied his apron and tossed it on his bed which lay in the centre of his studio apartment. The rest of his clothes followed suit. Zein tip-toed his way to the bathroom located by the door. The taps turned on. Water bounced off his bony body, echoing throughout the room. Until-

"Bump pa bump pa bump pa b-b-b-bump pa bump pa bump pa

Ohhhhh I wish I earned more money so I can get a cat.

But what if he gets lonely?

Then I'll get them a friend.

Then I'll get them a friend.

Then I'll get them a friend.

Then I'll get them a friend."

This continued through skin scrubbing, face washing, and towel drying. Zein hummed his little song, wrapped in his towel, slipped into his slippers, and hopped into a pair of shorts and a sleeveless tee he grabbed from the cupboard. He walked to his PC. It sat below the street-facing window. He switched it on and picked up his Spacequest. A device in the shape of a space helmet which allowed one to play VR games with no input delay between mind and action. Zein gazed at it. Zein gazed beyond it. Breathing slow. He closed his eyes, interrupted by the rings of his PC. It was a message notification from his Skycord.

"Did you reach home cause I did :33333" Clark wrote. Zein checked the time. Midnight.

"Did you start playing yet? Did you start playing yet? Did you start playing yet? Did you start playing yet? Did you start playing yet?" Clark spammed.

"Not yet." Zein replied, annoyed. He exited the application as Clark's chat bubble popped up. He turned his attention back to the Spacequest, collecting himself. He pressed a button on the back of the helmet and a card popped out of an indent. Decorated with drawn, exaggerated cats coloured in baby pinks, blues, and yellows. He placed the card by his monitor and rummaged his bag, pulling the box out. Zein removed the card, lightly scratched the sides, cleaning any dirt, and inserted it into the helmet.

Zein jumped to his bed, making himself comfortable, helmet in hand. He took another breath, looking up at the ceiling. Eyes closed and helmet worn, a countdown began. 5,4,3,2,1. Welcome to Age of Divinity. Blink twice to begin. Zein blinked twice.

"Retina scanning...Retina scanned...Creating new profile...Profile created...Babel will be downloaded during play." the screen displayed, fading to white. Orchestral music rose as the screen transitioned to space. Space and narration.

Zein refreshed his memory. "Let's see if I remember. In a universe far far away, planets within the same system developed space travel with celestial stones. Races of all kinds existed and co-existed…sorta? I am a divine, a being born stronger than those of their species and we are tasked with clearing the dungeons and bringing peace."

The narration matched it beat for beat. Zein, proud, closed his eyes. A prompt popped up. "Would you like to skip?"

Zein blinked twice. The trailer skipped and opened on a character creation screen. Zein, in the form of a translucent soul in a blue room, viewed the five races as they stood side by side, covered in a chest binder and underwear. Human, Dwarf, Half-Goblenia, Elven, and Half-Animalia. All other species had sub-species besides Human, which Zein whinged at. Intrigued by Half-Animalia, he hovered over it.

"I haven't seen many people play as one. Wonder if they added new options." He selected it. There were more options. Zein, surprised, started to scroll through. Urusia, bear person, Rodentia, rat person, Haplorhinia, monkey person, and-

"I can play as a cat!"

He immediately selected Felisia, cat person, and got to the edit screen. The race had the head of a cat and the body of a human covered in fur, thinning at the hands and feet.

"What kinda cat do I want to play as." he giggled. "I like the usual blue Russians but also Tabbys." his giggle intensified. "I wonder when they added them? I should ask-" Zein imagined how Clark would react. Zein scrapped the idea.

"This sure is tough though…"

"Oh!"

Zein made his ears large and wide, eyes more downturned and a deep sea green. He coloured the top of his head a dark orange and the rest of his flat body a much lighter one.

"Abyssinian!" he said giddy.

"Would you like to proceed as a Half-Felisia?"

Zein blinked twice.

"Proceeding as Half-Felisia. Please name your character. "

Zein examined his feline body with joy. As he pondered a name, memories of his father came back to him, reading him stories about fairies and kings. "I could go with that." Zein figured.

"Would you like to proceed as Anodos?"

Zein blinked twice.

"Proceeding as Anodos. Please distribute your stats."

A stat screen popped up. Six stats in total. "Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Constitution, Charisma, and Luck. Each race had its own base stat distributions. Five being the lowest, ten being the highest. Hovering over each of the stat, Strength affected attack damage and weapon use. Dexterity affected stamina and speed. Intelligence affected mana levels. Constitution affected health levels and carry limits. Charisma affected NPC and monster likability. Luck affected crit and drop rates.

"So the cats have a 5 in Constitution, Strength, and Intelligence, a 7 in Charisma, and a 10 in dexterity and luck."

"Luck huh."

Zein dumped two points in Strength, three into Intelligence, and the rest into Luck.

"Mankei-neko!" he exclaimed. "I should buy one of those sometime."

"Would you like to proceed with these stats?"

Zein blinked twice.

"Proceeding with inputted stats. You'll now be transported to Aria."

"It's been a while."

Zein exhaled, deep and slow as the screen flashed white.

"Okay. Let's dive."