Days passed , and the journalists were back on Earth while John arrived at the colony .

The moment John arrived , he sent a message to Alex , saying he would see him at their usual spot after visiting his family .

Alex replied that he would come over as soon as he received a message that John was on his way .

They didn’t have this conversation in the Nexus because Alex wanted to tell him in person , and they agreed to do it at the bar to keep it casual .

If there were to many people , they could still decide to move the conversation elsewhere .

The waiters would only hear snippets of the conversation at best , and Alex just needed to be a little more careful than last time , even if he had fun while telling John .

After a few hours , John finally sent a message , and Alex went to the bar .

The bar was almost empty and they moved to a spot where they could talk freely after getting their drinks .

“Well , tell me , what do you want to explain to me?” asked John .

“Just to clarify , I want you to keep everything what I’m about to tell you a secret” said Alex .

After this , there would be no more significant secrets between us .

Don’t betray my trust , John !

Alex then started telling him everything : how is parents had sent a package before their death and the discovery of Da’grass and his capabilities .

Alex even told him everything he did in the Nexus and why he made some decisions that shaped the current situation of humanity and the Nexus .

John didn’t interrupt him to ask questions and just said after Alex was done telling the story , “That’s quite the story . thank you for what you have done and I’m sorry for your loss” .

“So you want to shift the attention and , in the meantime , provide benefits for humanity” confirmed John .

“Long story short , yes!” replied Alex .

“Very well” told John .

I would have helped you anyway , but now that I know your reasons , I’ll do anything in my power to make it happen .

You are right to keep Da’grass a secret , or at least his origin and capabilities .

I’m grateful you found Da’grass and made use of its capabilities the way you did.

I’ll summon the rest of the government the moment I get home .

Don’t worry , I’ll make it happen .

El’Anor has got the list , right ?

“The list has been sent .

There are several dozen species on it which your people shouldn’t have too many problems with” answered Da’grass .

“Nice to finally meet you , Da’grass” said John .

“Likewise , John .

I’m looking forward to interacting with you” replied Da’grass .

“Alex , supplies have been loaded .

Sam and Cynthia , plus a few others who wanted to come along , are ready to depart” said Da’grass .

“They are already departing ?” asked John .

“They have to visit a little more than 170 locations according to your scientific database” answered Da’grass .

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They are primarily moons , and not every planet can be landed on .

“Well , I’ll be going then .

A lot of people to convince” said John .

“John , thank you , and thank you for the new capital city in the Nexus .

It’s beautiful” said Alex .

“Well , you paid half of it” laughed John as he departed .

Again , days passed , and different locations became available in the Nexus .

John sent a message that he had convinced the rest of the government and that they were waiting until enough locations had become available .

They wouldn’t be waiting until Sam returned to the Colony since public opinion had shifted towards the accessibility of the colony .

Some governments on Earth were instigating the people so that control of the colony would be handed over to them .

For them , it was a fight for control , but times were changing , and the Nexus was the root of change .

It wasn’t that there were no problems in the Nexus but they were easier to control , and no physical harm was possible .

Built in security systems ensured safety while providing an abundance of liberty.

A couple more days passed , and Helena and Alex visited all the places that were already available .

Unfortunately , they weren’t the only ones who thought of visiting them .

Everywhere they went , a mass of people obstructed the view ; the only thing they had a clear view of was the skyline .

Things would calm down eventually , and Alex and Helena decided to visit again once it did .

John had given a statement that they were to partially open Earth’s Nexus to the universe and that people were advised to act friendly to the aliens when they visited .

This caused a ripple throughout Earth , and governments claimed that they needed to establish diplomatic relations themselves , not a rag tag group of individuals who weren’t even appointed through proper elections .

Alex felt a pang of guilt by this , but Da’grass assured him that most species would only deal with the established government in the Nexus and companies certified by them .

These species had been doing business like this for a long time and had encountered similar situations during their life in the Nexus.

Their species even went though the same process at one time , so they had at least history as an example .

Da’grass also told Alex that with partially opening Earth in the Nexus would completely open shared games with the rest of the universe .

This meant that if they played similar games they would meet even more species .

They could still choose an Earth only server , so to speak , but gamers who went for the credits mostly chose the harsher competition for the trade opportunities in credits in those games .

Since they were only just opening to the universe , all the gamers would get a one-time chance to transfer their account to the universe server when logging in .

If they didn’t , they would have to start over again from scratch if they wanted to switch later .

Sadly , things like houses or shops in the game couldn’t be taken with them but fair compensation was provided .

While Da’grass was explaining this to Alex , Helena’s eyes twinkled , and she told Alex that she would be in game until John opened up Earth’s Nexus .

Not knowing what she was up to , Alex let it slide .

A few days passed , and while visiting Helena , Alex noticed that she had spent a considerably sum to buy as much property in the game as possible in the name of their guild , and that they were officially nobles in game .

“No sane person would spent so much credits for a title in game” thought Alex .

He gave her a kiss before logging out .

The next day , John opened up Earth , and Helena prompted Alex to log in and change “servers”.

When he did , their nobles title were kept , and a huge sum of credits was in their guild coffers .

“The property value changes on supply and demand” explained Helena .

“I figured there would be more demand than supply on the universe server , affecting the invested credits” she smiled .

“The noble titles are limited in quantity too” and she gave Alex a quick hug .

While they were watching all the different species in game , Alex said to her , “you do know we don’t need the credits , right ?”

I’m not denying them to anyone or stealing .

I just wanted to have a little fun , Marquess Timmermans .

Alex sighed , “Did you tell Sam at least?”

“To log in the universe server ? Yes , I did” said Helena , smiling .

Now shoo , let me build our Empire !

“It’s just a game , Helena .

Don’t overdo it and don’t spend to much credits on it” said Alex as he logged out .

Entering the Nexus , Alex didn’t notice anything different ; no other species were visiting yet .

Da’grass told him that news probably hadn’t spread yet .

The other species’ governments would receive the news first , and the option to travel to earth would become available at their gates .

Once their governments processed the news , they would open up their side , and travel between each other territories would become available .

Just when he was about to log out , he noticed a dwarf like person exiting a gate , wearing formal clothes and heading to the Capital building .

“Well , now we’ve got everything” murmured Alex .

Elves , Beastkin , and dwarves .

Is there anything I should know , Da’grass ?

“I picked species that your race would be most favorable to , and the universe is vast with all kinds of possible lifeforms” answered Da’grass .

Some even look alike with minimal differences , but I have to inform you that no such thing as magic exists .

The Ethereans never came across it .

“Won’t some of our games be insulting to them?” asked Alex , worried .

“Most species build up a tolerance to it .

It happens more often than you think” replied Da’grass .

You’ll come across a game with humans as villains or monsters sooner or later .

“Great … now we have to hope that humans don’t take offense” answered Alex , feeling defeated , and logged out .