He awoke on the malleable seat in his room. Aside from his two computer monitors little light penetrated the deep dark he was surrounded by. Under his feet as he stood up were the cables connecting his tower to his Full Stream headset, which he gently placed into the indented beanbag.
The room he stood in connected to a personal bathroom. He entered without closing the door. After washing his face with water, and staring at his reflection for a fair bit, he decided to brush his teeth and take a quick shower.
Exiting the bathroom after he dried off, he went through his drawer to grab a specific blue and white striped tracksuit.
His closet, made up nearly of the exact same article of clothing, in different shades of colours, was fairly empty for its size. Though the amount he had, outside of its relativity to the closet was little to scoff at.
The elevated floor was covered in pairs of shoes, any being interchangeable with another as they were lackluster in personality.
He laced up a pair of black sneakers, grabbed his keys, then left the house. He closed the door behind him, seemingly forgetting to lock it, yet began into a mild sprint.
The sky was dark, as the Sun could no longer be seen past the high rising apartment buildings, and the wind held a cool feeling as it brushed past. Lamp posts provided a bit of ambient light to give view to the pavement below.
His running form was that of a casual, relaxed movements that weren't unnecessary but not restrictive.
On his run, Hakeem navigated the winding roads. Many stores were closed until till the next day of business. Regardless of this there was one, a gas station resembling corner store, that still allowed approach of any stragglers through s night.
Coming down to a brisk walking pace, then to a normal one, he entered the establishment.
Wasting little time Hakeem quickly navigated the many identical aisles, cutting through them to reach his destination, the drink section.
A wall of refrigerated drinks, too many to list individually, lined up in unison. He grabbed a select few, four in total. Stacking three into his right arm, and the last in the other. He went directly to the self-checkout and bought the items; using only a complex number he put into the machine that fed on his consumerism.
Exiting this store Hakeem returned to a jog once more, in the direction he came from initially, with the four drinks in tow. Despite the many chances he had to place his items into a bag he refused all of them, going about holding two in each arm this time.
As he gained ground the lamppost above him would give an occasional spotlight. The flickering, which even grew roots that cracked the concrete pavement, were trying to light his way home.
He arrived, entered the home, and his room, to then sit in front of his right monitor. Placing three of the drinks into a mini-fridge that resided underneath his computer desk.
Knowing of the time he had to burn Hakeem spent his next couple hours alternating between message boards, video-games, videos, and other mind numbing tasks.
Entranced by his new routine Hakeem took frantically to the notification reminding him of the game he was waiting for so patiently. He shook the spook off before preparing to head back into the digital game-scape.
Hakeem wrapped up his tasks. Closing any tab he had opened, turning the monitor off, and putting it into sleep mode. He turned off a desk lamp that give the only bit of direct light into the room.
Getting up up from the seat he went to the alluring beanbag he had awaiting him. His Full Stream headset residing within an indent created by his weight. Moving it out from his way Hakeem took its place, sitting on the beanbag.
-Hakeem: He shifted in place, the squishy seat conforming to this, making a more comfortable experience. "Well, Gray's finna be on tomorrow." The headset went over his head, covering his eyes.
Once again he took a shallow breathe, followed by a deep one. Relaxing his body, to be taken away by the game. He fell.
""
His eyes opened to a deeply downtrodden atmosphere. The rooms pressure sat on his chest, sucking the feeling of rejuvenation from his body.
The cracked walls helped little to change this feeling. Only after sitting up to take a proper breath was Leek reminded of his reality.
The struggling existence within this prison was a simple misunderstanding.
Leek: "Jeezus, this place has too much detail to be this throwaway in design." Spending few more moments in the room Leek stood up and took his leave, exclaiming "That place better be open by now!"
Exiting the Inn like establishment, and retracing his steps from the night before, Leek hurriedly made his way through the rough part of the city.
The subtle gradient, shifting from developed to a ghetto enclave the town had was more prevalent when taking note.
After due time Leek managed to find himself before the twin set of doors, indicating the entrance to the Hall.
Standing in wait were around twenty-six people, each with deep depressions under their eye. Few words were spoken amongst any of the grouped individuals.
As Leek attempted to remain courteous, silently passing the time by twiddling his thumbs. Quickly he lost interest as the many before him became the few.
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People rapidly cycled into, and out of the building, doing so in groupings of two or more. A couple of minutes slipped past him as he was now the next in line to enter.
A pair of men exited through the doors, giving reason for Leek and one other patron to take their place in occupancy.
-Leek: "This place looked so much smaller from outside?" The wide eyed Leek continued to question as his feet stepped into the Hall, "Just how could this town afford to build this place, or even keep it running?"
The interiors walls were lined with luminous statues, and pillars. Towering well above anyone they gave a more sense of natural lighting.
The floor was spotless enough that you could incorrectly perceive your face looking back at you. The marble material yet making up of it had shown no signs of wear.
Taken as a tourist of sorts Leek was guided to five separate lines, only three of which being used actively, where he could be aided in his many queries.
Each of them were equitable in length, as one person finished their business, and exited, another would swiftly take a spot at the back.
Some time passed to which Leek advanced in line, patiently waiting as he wondered in place.
-Leek: "Do I ask for a quest or something?" He looked around, scratching his head. And through the sets of unfamiliar faces one stood in contrast, giving a grounded sense to the environment. "Oh, it's Elle... pretty sure she doesn't like me much."
Disregarding the statement he qucikly placed himself at the back of her line. Losing his place as he now needed to wait all over again.
The time passed slowly enough, he spent his time twiddling his thumbs, and unconsciously counting the amount of paces needed to walk even inch of the buildings ground floor.
The many people blocking his sight, frequently occupying spaces to then vacate them, irritated Leek to the point of scratching his own leg. Picking at it as though he were a newborn discovering adhesive.
-Elle: "CAN YOU PLEASE STEP FORWARD!" Her words drawing the attention of everyone in the vicinity. "I have many more people waiting, can you PLEASE not waste anymore time!" Elle's patience ran thin.
Leek: "Oh." He hurriedly moved to the first in line, coming to face with Elle. "My bad, I kinda dozed off..." He recoiled slightly, anticipating a mount of verbal assault.
-Elle: "I didn't mean to be abrasive. I had called for you twice before." She took her hands to her pantsuit, gliding them down arms length, straightening what could be seen from across the desk. "Now, what may be my service to you?" Her face lost the majority of its personability, as she regarded the man before her as nothing more than another patron in passing.
-Leek: "Well. I was looking for a quest, and i believe you said this'd be the place to get one." He rested his hands on the reception desk, relaxing a bit as he did so. Before her head darted downward to aid in his request an eyebrow raised to his words, indicating a reaction of dumbfoundedness rather than dislike.
-Elle: "Can you provide your Guild issued ID, or the name you have been registered under? From there I can view your entire personal file, including any licenses, permits, and charters you have been issued; expired or current."
To the knowledge of the apparent identification he should have in his possession Leek searched his person. Patting himself down thoroughly, enough to guarantee he did not properly place this item. He gave her his name instead; "Leek."
-Elle: She took note of the name he gave, searching for it in 'the system.' "Yes, I have found your profi... uhm, are you sure this is you?" Her face changed promptly into that of one stricken with skepticism.
-Leek: "Ye... Yes. I don't have a reason to think its not!" He took a mental step back at the thought of him providing the incorrect name, his hands removing themselves from the desk. "Is something wrong with that one?"
Yet to give any reason for concern to him, Elle, pulled aside a passing co-worker to bounce her seeming worry off upon.
Grabbing the lady's left arm sleeve she tugged slightly, getting the coworker to come to a stop.
-Elle: "Nyette, take a look at this for me." She said in a slight whisper, attempting, naught, to raise unease. "I'm sure there was no error with the system itself, but if so how exactly would I explain this?"
-Nyette: "If it pulls from the system, then the only thing you can do is just finish his request." The eyes of Nyette, ones of a sunken blue, gazed at Leek for nothing more than a moment. "Though, a situation like this could raise a 2-06."
-Elle: "Yes, that I know. Its just the workload im unde-" Her words were cut off.
-Nyette: Taking charge of the conversation stated, "I don't have the time to do it for you. So if you want the burden go ahead, otherwise don't bring it up again." The interaction came to an end, no longer did she wait for Elle to refute.
Frustrated at the situation Elle decided to continue with her usual protocol. Selecting to ignore the issue she had found.
-Elle: "Sorry for the wait, I had to confer some information with a colleague of mine." She thought for a second before speaking again, her pride being set to the side just before asking, "Are you really from before the Second World Power? I don't mean to be unprofessional, I swear!"
A great deal of excitement, at least with comparison, sputtered from her previously curated mouth. A muted glint shown in her eyes, stripping back the blunt nature of her words, revealing a youthful suspense.
-Leek: Reluctantly he responded, "I don't get what you mean." The question posed to him was not clear, as he had no context to what she spoke of.
To these words she resumed her sense of professionalism, faintly clingy to her want for answer.
-Elle: "Anyways!" She straightened her clothing once more. "You came in search for questing, but going by your file it appears you lack an updated license; of any kind. You do have affiliation with the pre-subsidization Hunter's League, so you won't need any new paperwork..." Her hand caressed her face as she thought.
Taking a perspective step back, the many noises that were in the background came down to light whispers. Unbeknownst to Leek many of the originators of these mumbles had their hidden glances set to him. The fuel to this speculation being his affiliations.
Leek himself, oblivious to his newfound grandeur, took to his mind; standing with little motion, blankly staring in wait for Elle to proceed.
-Elle: "You will not be capable of accepting any Guild Association published quests, specialized or not. This issue is because of a new, relative to your membership, amendment to policy that requires a renewal for independent licenses." With the knowledge that this news would warrant more questions she added, "I will give you a reference card. You can take this to the Guild Capital, Faerilm and they will walk you through any processes needed to recertify you."
Elle reached over the desk to hand Leek the card she spoke of, her right arm extended to do so. The card had little presence as its dark hue of blue reflected only trivial amounts of light.
A set of words were transcribed on the frontside, the language was foreign enough to resemble runes.
Leek thanked her for her patience in handling him, taking the card she offered. They concluded their business on a simple clarification on how to go about heading to Faerilm, and expectations on doing so.
-Elle: "If you have no affairs to settle in our quaint village I would recommend heading out within the hour. You would make it to the Capital early enough to settle into a hostel, and sort the majority of your Guilding issue." To this she gave a faint smile, her eyes at a mild squint.
Taking her words into account Leek left the building. Failing naught to say his goodbyes to Elle, and even doing so too Nyette in passing.
As head left through the doors of the building Leek decided on taking a stroll, taking his time to consume the particular view this village provided him.
Knowledgable of the idea that this was a game he was playing he still urged to soak in the environment around him. The feeling serene, as the quiet it had would be stripped away with his department, and relocation to a bustling city.