The group soon arrived at the arranged meeting place, a discreet restaurant with a similar private room to the one inside Gravoid. The group met the head of Gravoid Industries' representative in one of their private rooms.

"Greetings, this one is Adara," the person greeted them in a strange manner.

"Magnus, and this is Sam, and Hevna," Magnus introduced them.

"Then, you would be the one I am to first address today," the woman said, turning to Sam. She then pulled out a stack of papers, and set them on the table.

"Please read over this, and sign," she told him, not even explaining.

"Wait, can you explain what's going on?"

"Ah, yes, sorry, I forgot to explain," the woman responded to Magnus's words. Hearing this, Magnus relaxed, only to tense up again when she said, "Read the documents, and you will understand what you are signing." Sam gave her an inquiring look, and she added, "I cannot speak this aloud, their ears are everywhere, not so much other senses."

Sam read over the papers, they detailed information on an island, and the facilities present on it. The island was in international waters, and not owned by any country. It was in a safe place, and rarely experienced storms, but there was little in the way of beach, so it hadn't become some tourist destination. Due to some strange occurrence, it was near the mainland of the continent they were on, within clear view of it actually, despite being in international waters. There were few predators on the island, and forest covered roughly a third of it, another third was a natural grassland with a lake, and the other third had a crag of rock, a smaller copse of trees, and a small cove. On the clearing sat a large manor, plentiful fields, and a small village with a number of small businesses. Within the cove, was a dock where small ships could be sheltered. For the most part, all of this was up on top of a sort of plateau with cliffs rising above the sea, while the cove was on a small section that was down near the water, and sheltered on the side closest to the mainland.

Following this information was a message saying that the owner of Gravoid Industries was apologetic about what had happened to him, and offering him the island and everything on it. He could run away, and disappear onto the island, or use it to shelter others who were in a similar situation to his own. If he so chose, it was even possible he could organize a resistance on the island, and fight back against those intent on enslaving the people on the mainland, it was all up to him.

The owners of the small businesses and farms were contracted to Gravoid Industries at the time. They would continue to live and work on the island, and were all locally owned businesses.

There was a small solar-fusion power plant that served as the power supply for the village, and had no environmental impact, yet would provide enough power for a small city and barely shrug. It had an estimated lifetime of several thousand years. There was even data on how it worked, by using special panels to concentrate magnetic fields to create a centralized gravity field, and hold a miniature sun in place. The fluctuations in the magnetic field caused by that small star actually provided the main power source for the device, in addition to other means of collecting, and producing energy. It was a comprehensive system that had little in the way of danger despite the terrifying fact that it held a miniature sun. There were dangers, so necessarily it was under the watchful care of a family that understood it's workings, and a few of the beings from inside gravoid were controlling artificial bodies to stand guard, and watch to ensure the small power plant did not have a breach.

The paperwork that followed included a contract, which would allow the small businesses to continue working and living on the island after he became the owner, as well as providing for those taking care of the power plant, and various other details. In fact, the contract even included payments for the permanent use of a portion of the island for the unique communications array the game system used to make the pods work. Sam couldn't quite understand why the owner of Gravoid Industries would do such a thing, and voiced his doubts. The response surprised him, as the owner hoped he would provide shelter for others like him, and even hoped he would create his own small nation on the island to that end. It was an investment of sorts one he couldn't guarantee would get anywhere, but which, if it did pan out, would be worthwhile in the long-run.

Magnus was included, with a separate contract, which Sam was required to sign as well, which would allow his new friend to legally create a gaming company which would sponsor tournaments, and professional teams world wide. Gravoid Industries would provide initial capital, but after that it was up to Magnus to arrange everything. There was a rewards system, where he would gain certain bonuses for each yearly tournament setup, and invested in by outside sources without endangering the company to outside forces. Magnus was chosen because of his recent stance, and the popularity it had garnered for a movement to push back against the destruction of their society that would be caused if things continued as they were.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Understanding all this, Magnus actually chose a name for a whole tournament series he wanted to attempt. A request was made for Sam to produce a tournament venue, and offered the resources to pay for it but he was not keen on such an idea, and actually objected, requesting that Gravoid Industries give the additional money to either Magnus, or contract the tournament venue through The Guide Company, as he was currently entertaining the idea of possibly playing the game for a living. After some talking, Hevna was the one to convince him that his status as the world's first mythical tier gravoid owner might better serve to promote the venue, and he could still participate in tournaments or tournament stages held there. After some consideration, he acquiesced to her idea, and accepted the contract for production of a tournament venue. He wasn't sure how to fit such a large structure on the island, but then Magnus suggested he build it in the waters around the island, similar to an oil rig, and raise it up to the level of the island cliffs with a bridge in between as a means for spectators to get to the tournament. This would also funnel them through the village, and help the shop owners provide for themselves and their families.

The two continued filling out contracts, and soon were done with the process. It was actually quite a long time before they were done, and the representative treated them each to a meal before they were finished. This was provided for in one of the contracts along the way. When they were finally done, they found Cordelia and Axel had come to meet them, and were waiting to spirit them away while a group of protesters who had already found their location was none-the-wiser.

Thankfully, they had been able to get their things from the van without the protesters actually getting anything ahead of them, and the group were able to leave safely. Before they parted with the representative, they said their goodbyes, and she told them, "I am going to the outside. I will see if I can pose a distract for you."

On the trip away from the meeting place, Axel asked, "So, what was the meeting about?"

"Oh, nothing big," Magnus responded in his sing-song, "just giving Sam an island, and investing in us to setup a series of tournaments."

"Wait, what," Axel asked in confusion.

"Whomever is behind Gravoid gave me an island, and a ferry, and a lot of funds. I was requested to setup a tournament venue, and provide shelter for others in similar situations to the one I am currently facing," Sam explained. "I was also given a large sum of funds aside from the investment to use as I please."

"That's right, and I was given investments to begin a tournament series~," Magnus told the other two.

"There is much more to it," Hevna stated, "but Master Sam is essentially correct. He will be in ownership of the island, and was requested to take care of those already present. There are details we are not at liberty to explain, so please bear with us."

"What are we gonna do about these protesters," Cordelia asked, "They keep finding Sam to make trouble."

"I'll just move to the island," he said reluctantly.

"That's not a permanent fix, and we have to get you there first," Axel stated.

"Yes, if they track down your route via transactions they can waylay you on your route to pick up the boat," Cordelia said, as she was looking over the details for picking up his new boat. "Maybe you should change your name. The details would take some time to get to them, and even if it's not a huge delay, their being delayed will help you to avoid a bit of trouble."

"What if they find us while we're doing that?"

"They didn't see this vehicle, and we went out a secret way, so we should have some time before they can locate us. We'll just get it done as fast as possible, and leave quickly."

"I suppose I could,' Sam responded.

"Great, let's go do that now, I have a friend who works in the local department and can ensure it stays discreet for a time," Axel said. He then placed a call, and setup a quick appointment.

"What name will you use," Cordelia asked.

"May as well just use Greile," Sam responded, "I mean, they can't use the name to steal my identity in the game, and it can be used to verify who I am. Identification systems Gravoid uses are also not sketchy like those chips those politicians and multi-national conglomerates are pushing to have put into people's hands, and foreheads. After what I've been through I really don't want anything to do with things that can track me. I'm sick of invasion of privacy."

"Somehow I never thought of it that way," Axel responded. "They've been pushing for those things for passports, and I thought it was a good idea, but now it doesn't seem so great. Something to consider, I suppose."

The rest of the trip continued in relative silence, the situation Sam was facing was getting to all of them by this point. Soon enough they arrived, and Axel took Sam in to meet with his friend, and get a name change and new I.D. completed. The process was actually very fast, strangely enough, and the new I.D. was expedited so that he had it in hand within half an hour of filling out the paperwork. They left with the new I.D., and headed off.

"So, I forgot to ask what surname you chose," Axel asked in a roundabout way.

"Zendive," Greile said.

"Like Artor Zendive from the original novel?"

"Like Greile Zendive from the Gravoid novel," he responded.

"A lovely choice," Magnus smiled as he spoke.

"It's quite fitting," Cordelia agreed.

"Well, for now we'll get back to company headquarters, and discuss how we can get Greile safely to his new property."

"Did you come from your business," Greile asked.

"Yeah, we were in a meeting when my assistant contacted me, and told me to turn on the news. As soon as we heard where it was, and some other details of what they were planning, we rushed over, worrying they would take drastic measures. We managed to get the stuff out before they got to the rental van, but I'm not getting my deposit back, and have to pay additional fees," Axel said, and grimaced. "How these people get away with this crap, I will never know."

"How'd you get away in time?"

"Ran away with your best unit, I went back to get it just in time, or it'd be destroyed," Axel explained. "We were moving the last of your stuff when they came, and would have taken the vehicle back to the rental company if we'd had enough time to drive away after moving it. Mobs are scary Greile, very scary."

Greile let out a sigh, "I guess I'll have to lay low for a while once I get to the island," he said.

"I wouldn't," Cordelia said, "laying low makes you look like you're in the wrong, and you aren't. The ones in the wrong are the ones trying to paint you as a demon in human skin for having faced such a situation, and trying to intimidate you into silence."

"Actually, laying low might not be a bad idea, at least for a while, in order to rest and recover."

"Rest is fine, but we've all seen where laying low got us," Cordelia responded, sighing heavily, "We've been constantly moving Greile because we were trying to keep him as low-profile as possible. He didn't purposefully step out to engage them, but he got dragged into this situation regardless. They didn't back off, but instead went on the offensive when he didn't fight back. People find it easy to bully someone who doesn't fight back."

"I suppose you're right," Axel responded, "We'll discuss more when we get to the board room, we're here."