Sam stared at the campfire before him in silence. He thought back to what had happened just hours ago, and let out a sigh. When Sam first met Magnhilde, he freaked out. He experienced terror. His hands began to sweat. His instincts screamed at him to run, to get away from the effeminate man as quickly as possible. His butt clenched, and he experienced a sense of discombobulation, like he wasn't even in his own body anymore. He felt a pressure bearing down on his brain, and his subconscious screamed at him to get as far away from that person as possible. As such, he did the only thing he could think to do in that situation. He screamed out, "Get away from me, you freak," in a terrified voice, one that sounded like a little girl.

You see, Sam was one of those people who experienced homophobia, the "irrational" fear of homosexuals. The only problem was that Sam's fear was not irrational, it was very rational, and experiential in nature. Sam had been the subject of abuse from a homosexual person. He had been abused for five long years by an uncle who was such a person, and had developed an absolute terror of such people in that time. The horrors he had gone through at that man's hands were too terrible to tell, and so shall not be named, but they were the source of that fear, one people used incorrectly, and maliciously to bash political opponents. It was an utter injustice in Sam's eyes. After all, here he was terrified of every effeminate man he had ever met, and psychology could do nothing about it, but these morons were using what he experienced every day to push down their political opponents, even if they only spoke out against homosexuality on a religious basis. Did they not ever consider that someone would actually experience a true fear of homosexuals? It was utterly unfair for them to use such a thing to influence public sentiment when there were people who honestly suffered from such things!

Anyway, Sam had fled after realizing what he had just done, and the way the public would view it. Some jerk politician, or news personality would undoubtedly use it to forward the "homosexual agenda", and further crack down on "anti-homosexual sentiment", all the while not caring that the person involved had a true fear of homosexuals, and was not in the least bit able to control his reaction! The problem was, he couldn't control it!

Sam had eventually met up with a friend from real life, who understood his situation. Brad had given him a brand new gravoid in exchange for his beginner one, this one being a unique unit he had recently come across. Such units were truly unique, and could not be found on the model market. They were only found within the online game, and the parts could be printed out for free once upon successfully bringing it back to base. They were also bound to the account of the person who first equipped them, but equipping had to be done in a base camp, or home base, as the starter bases were called in Gravoid. Gravoid Industries had a policy that such units would not be registered and bound until they reached such a base. The player also had to ride them back, and they couldn't use any of their special abilities during that time. If the unit had been lost during his trip, he would have lost it, and the unit would have been truly destroyed upon destruction, leaving him bereft of a gravoid unit, and he wouldn't have been able to play the game beyond that point.

Brad had only been willing to offer him such a unit because Sam had chosen the very same unit his friend had once chosen, and he wanted it for sentimental reasons. Thus, he had been blessed to receive such a unit. The sad thing is, he had almost lost it on the way back, when he had unknowingly wandered into a temporary PvP zone. Thankfully, one of the pilots involved had saved him, but Sam was terrified, and horrified to find that it was Magnhilde, or Maggie as everyone called him, who had come to his rescue. He was terrified because of his fear, but horrified because the one who saved him was the one he had screamed at uncontrollably earlier. Now he sat at the fire, trying to not allow his fear to get the better of him.

"Can I ask why you reacted the way you did earlier, Deary," Magnhilde asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

Sam unconsciously tensed up, and showed a terrified look for a moment before he showed an ashamed look. It wasn't right that he was treating the person who had saved him that way, despite the situation, but he couldn't help his reaction. He let out a sigh, and began to explain his fear to the man. When he finished, Maggie let out a little laugh, but he didn't dare to comment on it because the man had saved him.

"Relax, Honey, I'm not now, nor have I ever been gay, unless it's in the sense of happiness," Maggie told him, causing some relief, but also guilt to sprout in Sam's breast. "Although I can understand why you would react that way now. To think you would go through such a thing," Magnhilde let out a sigh, and shook his head while his face showed anger.

"Wh-why do you have such a... Feminine character if you're not homosexual," Sam asked after some time.

"That was the doing of a cousin of mine, dear boy. You see, she purchased the account for me, and setup the avatar before sending it to me. She always thought I should just wear make-up, and wear feminine clothes because of the way I act. So, she set this character up with makeup, and a feminine name. It's a limited edition, lifetime account and gravoid unit that she won in a contest. I couldn't afford a new pod, and customer service was unable to do anything about it, nor could I get a new character anyway, due to the company's policies. It came with a special feature she chose, and she chose one that makes my clothes look effeminate, and clingy no matter what I wear. Thankfully, the feature does come with some bonuses, but I'm unable to use units that are not feminine in shape. So, now I'm stuck with it, and the account if I want to play the game, and I just have to deal with the inconvenience. I'm still very much into girls, honey, so you don't have to worry." During his explanation, Maggie showed a look of consternation while speaking of his cousin's choice, and stared at the campfire for most of it.

"W-why do you talk that way if you aren't homosexual," Sam asked, curious as to the answer. He didn't even realize that he was no longer as guarded around the man.

"That's my mother's and grandmother's influence," Maggie replied, "I wasn't raised around any men, and despite the fact that I'm not a girl, I picked up certain mannerisms. It's a bit of a quirk, but it's the way I am. I've never had any homosexual inclinations, and I don't see myself ever having such an inclination either. I don't think my wife would be happy if I did either~."

The two descended into silence for a bit before Magnhilde eventually broke that silence.

"We'd better get to bed, Deary. I'll get you back to home base in the morning. Unfortunately, you can't log-out while your unit isn't bound and registered, or I'd have you log-out while the night is ongoing, and stand guard while chatting with friends. I'll set my gravoid to sound an alarm if anyone comes near, pleasant dreams."

Sam reluctantly pulled out a sleeping bag, and went to bed. The gravoids couldn't be put into storage until they were registered, so he was stuck with his out, but thankfully registered units could be left out and sound an alarm should they sense an unknown being or gravoid unit. It took a bit, but Sam eventually nodded off.

The next morning, Sam woke up to find Maggie slumped against a tree, and snoring loudly. He didn't understand how he had slept through such a racket. He slowly got up, and looked around, then checked the wrist-comp all players received. It was rather early in the game's day, but being as he was used to getting up early he assumed he had felt that he had slept the normal amount of time, and naturally awoken. He looked around, and found the clearing in much the same state as it had been last night, although with no fire burning, as it had burnt to cinders and ashes over the night. This world was truly realistic, and he was awed at the fact that anyone could create a world so close to their own in nature.

The snoring stopped, and Sam turned to see Maggie rubbing his bleary eyes. He soon looked his way, and Sam couldn't help the fear that briefly washed over him before he could remind himself that Maggie was not homosexual, and he didn't need to fear him. It was difficult to fight a conditioned response, but he managed soon enough.

"Morning," Magnhilde greeted him, then got up. "How long have you been up?"

Sam managed to reign in his emotions after a moment, and responded, "J-just a minute or two ago."

"Alright, let's grab a bite to eat, and then we'll head toward base," Magnhilde responded. "Oh, what was your alias, your character name, I'll send you a friend invite, and you can ask me if you need any information or advice. Also, give me the alias of that friend of yours, he's been a bad boy, and I need to have a talk with him about having his newbie friends meet him in a level fifteen area. You're lucky you didn't get killed by a random mob and lose that gravoid, let alone lose it to a player. If you ran into a pirate you might even have it stolen! Then what would you have done? What could you have done without a unit?"

Sam was overwhelmed by the list of things that spilled out of Maggie's mouth. He really hadn't thought about this, and things had been far too awkward the night before to consider such things. Then there was the fact that he had pretty well spilled his life story to the man, and that they really hadn't discussed why he was out there much. Other than his original telling that his friend had asked him to come out to trade a gravoid unit when asked, he hadn't really said anything.

"Um, my alias is Greile," Sam told him.

"Like the one in the novel? The one that got this whole thing going?"

"Um, I guess," Sam responded, not really knowing if this was the case, as he couldn't remember the spelling from the book.

"How'd you get that name," Maggie asked. "That's not supposed to be usable. You know how many people have tried to use that name and failed? How'd you get it," Maggie asked, looking gobsmacked.

"Um, I didn't choose it myself," Sam said in a questioning tone, "I chose the randomize option for the Alias, and it came out."

"Wait, did you get anything for it? I'd expect something like that to come with something special," Maggie said, putting his finger to his chin in a very thoughtful, yet very feminine guesture.

"Uh, no, I don't think so," Greile responded. "Wait, there was some message, something about something I'd receive within the next few days, I think."

"Hmmm, we'll have to wait to see what you get then," Maggie replied. "Okay, sending a friend invite."

A message appeared before Greile asking if he'd like to accept the friend request of Magnhilde, and he answered yes.

"Okay, now give me the name of that friend of yours, and I'll have a talk with him," Maggie told him.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"It's Adriim, A-D-R-I-I-M," Greile told the man.

"Alright, seems he's online, I'll make the call. Let me talk to him for a bit," Maggie instructed, them pressed an invisible button.

Sam, as Greile, soon heard a ringtone as the call went through. Soon he heard Brad say, "Hello," in a questioning tone.

"Hello, is this Adriim, the friend who nearly got Greile killed, and almost cost him his ability to play gravoid?"

"What happened," Brad asked, his tone becoming very serious.

"Well, first, you had a newbie like him head out to a level fifteen area to trade with you. Then, you didn't provide him an escort, and left him to head back to home base on his own, when he had no clue which way the closest base was, let alone his home base, you bad boy," Maggie told him with a lot of feminine, and exaggerated movements, and a very feminine tone for a man. "It almost cost him his life, and his new unit when he stumbled into a PvP zone. Thankfully, I managed to protect him, and we are now on our way toward the closest home base."

Brad was silent for a moment. "I don't believe you," he responded as Adriim.

"Oh, and why's that boyo," Magnhilde asked in a curious tone.

"There's no way Greile would hang out with a homosexual person," Brad responded.

"Ah, yes, he told me all~ about it," Maggie responded, dragging out the all a bit. "I am not one bit happy with that uncle of his. But, you see, I'm not homosexual, I'm quite straight. I'm also a member or the guide service, and will be making sure he gets home safe, and sound, and reporting this incident for further consideration."

"Can I talk to Greile?"

"Sure," Maggie responded in a chipper tone, then turned to Greile, and said, "Go ahead sweetie."

"H-hi Brad," Greile responded.

Brad let out a sigh, and said, "You're not supposed to use our proper names Greile. Wait, you didn't give him your proper name, did you?"

"No Dear, he didn't," Magnhilde responded for him. "He gave me your Aliases just like I asked," Maggie responded.

"You're not in danger, are you?"

"N-no," Greile responded, "Maggie's telling the truth. He's just very effeminate, but a guy who doesn't pretend to be anything else."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah," Greile responded.

"If you say so," Brad responded. "You've always been a better judge than me. So, what happened. I sent you in the right direction, and there shouldn't have been any dangers that way, aside from random mobs that are easy enough to avoid."

"He wandered into a PvP zone in the middle of a level fifteen area, with nearly non-existent piloting skills, and an unbound unique gravoid," Magnhilde told him. "Thankfully, our groups were the ones fighting there, and stopped the fighting once we noticed someone unrelated to our battle wandered into the zone, although he nearly got blindsided by a high density particle cannon before that."

"What high level zone did you wander into," Adriim exclaimed.

"Just your little old level fifteen zone that is highly unused, and was perfect for a friendly match between clans," Maggie responded.

"H-he got involved in a match between clans?!"

"A friendly match between allied clans, but one none-the-less," Magnhilde corrected. "I saved him, and we stopped the match. I am now escorting him to safety."

"Thanks for that," Adriim responded in a wry tone.

"So, what was so important that you risked your friend's ability to continue playing, Sweety," Maggie asked, as if it was natural, and he wasn't at all bothered by what Adriim had done.

"Well, I had a quest, and I thought I could help him while also helping myself. Sorry, Greile. It wasn't supposed to be possible for you to come to harm. You see, I came across a unique gravoid as a reward for a quest, and trying to activate it to pilot it home prompted a quest, I had to trade the unit to an ally or friend for a newbie unit, and then I could customize said unit into a unique unit, and directly activate and bind it to me. Greile's my best bud, and he happens to have chosen my favorite starter unit, so I asked him to bring it out, and activated the quest on him. According to the quest information, it was supposed to protect him on the way here, and back to home base, but we all know how well that worked out. Anyway, if I didn't accept the quest, I wouldn't have gotten either unit, so I didn't have much choice."

"Hmmm, did you see any information on Greile's unit before you traded it to him?"

"No, but it did say it was a unique unit, so I figured it would be good for Greile."

"I have a sneaking suspicion about the nature of this unit, but I'd need to do a search to see if I'm anywhere near accurate. Anyway, try to be more careful next time, Sweetheart."

"Yeah, got it, sorry again, Greile," Brad responded.

"It's no problem, Br... Adriim," Sam responded, barely catching, and correcting himself to use Brad's Alias. He couldn't find it in him to be mad at Brad for thinking about him, and the danger hadn't come from the environment in the end.

"I see, so the danger was incidental," Maggie added in his effeminate speech. "It still doesn't excuse your lack of foresight, if he had run into a pirate, he might have lost the unit, it clearly indicates that it is an unbound, unique unit after all."

"... I shouldn't have sent him back on his own," Adriim responded, his tone fully acknowledging that he had screwed up.

"No, you shouldn't have, but don't worry, he's in good hands," Maggie responded.

"Won't you have trouble getting him back?"

"Don't worry about that, we'll have some friends meeting us as we near the base, they'll help ensure his safety," Magnhilde responded.

"Friends," Adriim asked, his tone of voice displaying his curiosity, and some slight worry.

"Members of my clan's alliance," Maggie responded, "We're all dedicated to helping newbies, even at our own expense, so you can trust that he'll make it back safely. We've had similar situations before, although not to this degree. We'll make sure he gets home safely."

"Thanks, and sorry about my misunderstanding earlier," Brad responded.

"Oh Honey, that isn't anything new," Maggie exclaimed, "You'd be surprised how many try to push me as some kind of poster girl for the homosexual cause. I don't even agree with them, but they try to make me their symbol. It's enough to drive a guy insane. I wouldn't be surprised if they contact me about yesterday's incident, and try to milk it for their cause. Hmmm, I think I'll agree to appear, but only if it's live."

"Ugh," Sam could do nothing but let out a groan about that, yesterday was not his most glorious moment.

"Don't get me wrong, Sweetie," Maggie told hima, "I'm not doing it to harm you, I'm doing this for myself, and to protect you. I also want to let others know they have a choice aside from accepting society's expectations. They keep parroting that line about gender being a societal construct, but too many don't realize that they are using society to force a specific expectation onto those who exhibit certain behaviors. They're bullying people into declaring themselves homosexual, or bisexual, or any other number of different things. They're also bullying people into agreeing with their demands regardless of their actual feelings, and I don't like it. Anyway, Adriim boy, we'll be going now, we have to get someone back to safety. Bye, bye."

"Goodbye, and thanks for watching out for my bro," Adriim responded.

"Sure! Let's get going, Sweetheart," Magnhilde told him after releasing the chat.

"O-okay," Greile responded.

The two soon mounted their gravoids, and headed off toward the home base. The trip was uneventful, thankfully, and the two arrived near Greile's starter base four hours later, where they were met by a gathering of other gravoids.

"This the kid, Maggie," someone asked across the channel their gravoids were sharing as a massive number of names scrolled across Greile's screen.

"Yes," Magnhilde responded, "be nice, there are circumstances behind why he reacted that way, like I told you."

"Yes, I know," the voice responded. "Sorry about what happened to ya, kid. I hope you're good with Mags now, he's a good sort."

"I-I am," Greile responded, a bit nervously.

"He apologized and everything~," Maggie responded in a singsong voice.

"That's good to hear. So we're all ready? Let's get you back to base, and secure that unit for you," one of them responded.

"Yeah," the group acknowledged the words with a number of responses, but that was by far the most numinous one.

-----

Home Base 210 was extremely quiet. If one were to have brought one, a pin drop could have been heard within the normally loud facilities. This was because an event unlike any seen before could be seen occurring in front of their eyes, and no one dared make a sound.

A total of over 400 well-known, and high leveled players were escorting an unknown level 1 newb toward the base. The scene was so shocking that no one dared to even make a sound in front of the powerhouse group, in fear that they would bring their wrath down upon them. Even the usually boisterous pirates, who would normally be salivating over the unbound unique unit the newb was piloting didn't dare make a move to acquire it out of fear. They simply stood to the side as the solemn procession made their way into the safety of the base's hanger bay. The sight was so unusual it was soon taken interest in by the major news companies, who sent their people to investigate the strange occurrence.

-----

That night, Sam sat on the couch in front of a vid-screen, waiting on a specific station for whatever Maggie wanted him to watch. He had exchanged numbers with the man, and received a surprise in the form of Magnus, as the man was known in real life telling him to turn on a certain channel. He didn't know what was going on, but did as Magnus told him. And so, he was waiting when The Show came online. The Show was a talk show that talked about all kinds of entertainment related news, and had recently made a foray into societal issues, but Sam didn't really like the show, as it was boring to him, and pushed things he just couldn't get behind due to his trauma.

"Hello to all those watching this broadcast, we have a special treat for you tonight. Welcome to The Show, my name is Trabia Dorches, and I will be your host. As some of you may have noticed, there's a special icon at the bottom right of your screen, this means that we are live tonight, and what a show we have for you. Today we have one of the most talked about gravoid players, Magnhilde, or Maggie, as she is affectionately called by all those who know her," the male host narrated as he began the show, "We have put a number of things on hold so that we can get to the bottom of an event that occurred recently involving the well-known Gravoid star. So without further ado, here she is, Magnhilde."

Magnus walked out onto the stage, dressed in male clothes, and made his way to the chair near the host, waving at the cheering audience as he did so. His mannerisms were quite feminine, but his dress was quite masculine, unlike in Gravoid, and it gave a contrasting, and somewhat confusing feeling.

"Hello Sweeties, my name's Magnus, and I'm pleased to meet you, how are all of you," Magnus called out to the crowd, who cheered all the louder at his address, as he sat down. It seemed they were oblivious to the name he had used, or so Sam observed.

"So, our producers heard that you had a bit of a scuffle with a player the other day, and we invited you on the show for this special live broadcast. Can we get the scoop on what happened?"

"I did, I did, but I wouldn't call it a scuffle, it was more of a misunderstanding, Deary," Magnus responded in his usual feminine tone. "In fact, I found Greile quite delightful once I got to know him."

"Eh? Excuse me, what?"

"Ah, you hadn't heard? It's been on all the news channels, Honey, I thought you'd already have the scoop on it," Magnus responded. "I met Greile once more later on, and just this afternoon my clan and our allied clans escorted him into camp."

"Wait, that was you?"

"Of course, who else can call together so many to escort a complete newbie in to base?"

"Really," the host asked, interest obvious on his face, and in his tone, "what happened? And I can't help but personally wonder why you would befriend such a homophobe?"

Magnus looked very displeased with the man's words for a moment, but brushed it aside, and said, "because he isn't a homophobe, you see, he has a very valid fear of homosexuals. I hope Greile won't mind me telling his story, but I think it's important to the understanding of what happened earlier that day. Greile has an uncle who is homosexual, and that man abused him horribly when he was younger," Magnus said, shivering as he remembered the description of the events that had occurred which lead to Greile's fear. It was far from irrational, and anyone could see that from the look Magnus displayed in that moment. Well, that is, anyone except The Show's host.

"Wait, he does, is his uncle well-known?"

"Why would I care about whether his uncle is well-known," Magnus responded, "Did you not hear me? He was abused by his homosexual uncle and not just simple abuse, but things I can't even begin to share with you for fear that it will traumatize young viewers," Magnus responded, defeating the man's attempts to distract from Magnus's claims. "Greile was traumatized by these events, and this lead to the situation the other day. You see, Greile misunderstood, and thought I was homosexual myself, or any other number of adjectives that describe people of such persuasions, and as a result lashed out in fear. Greile's a real sweet boy, so he didn't attack me, but I will admit his words hurt a bit. It also hurt a bit knowing he misunderstood me for being homosexual, but I'm quite used to that."

"I-I'm sorry..." The host looked like his brain had been fried as he sat there trying to understand what Magnus had just said, and Magnus decided to capitalize on this.

"In the first place, Deary, I am not now, nor have I ever been homosexual."

"But, what about your attire in Gravoid?"

"That was something my cousin did on her own, you see, she decided to push her thoughts on me, and people have misunderstood me since. I love the girl, but I can't agree with the idea that I have to be gay if I act a certain way. I despise this idea that just because a man or woman acts in a way that is traditionally associated with the other sex that they have to be part of a specific group. I adore women, and I am not into men, nor will I ever be. So many of our people think of gender as something societally enforced, but in reality, I see much more evidence of societal enforcement of rogue sexuality. It's not right, and I'm here to say so."

The host sat there stock still, his jaws flapping for a bit before the broadcast went over to a commercial break. The show came back after a while, and the host began to conduct the interview in a much more professional manner as Sam watched on. The audience was quiet, pensive even, and as the situation unfolded before the world, Sam was struck with the thought that he was blessed to have made such a friend who would take on the world, and accept the hatred he would potentially have been the target of. Little did he know how wrong his thoughts would turn out to be, not about Magnus's character, but about how a certain portion of the world would react to his friend's stand.

-----

Meanwhile, in the rest of the world, many were struck by the words of the star known as Maggie. Many found themselves angry upon hearing his first words, but upon hearing his subsequent words began to consider what he had said. As the interview progressed it became more and more evident that Magnus was something many of them had ceased to be in the face of societal pressure, free. He was free to be himself, and act as he would without having to conform to the image society had of what a man who acted so feminine was, and it was surprisingly refreshing. Many began to find themselves agreeing with him, and it began a slow change, one that would affect a change on a societal scale.

As for Sam, he was completely unaware of this shift, or the fruits it would bear in due time, and the part he would play in the maturation of those fruits.