The Origin Seekers, despite their utopian vision for the people of Meesach, had fully displayed their hypocrisy. Using color-coded armbands that categorized their members as elite scientists, enforcers, and workers of varying valuations of productivity, the Origin Seekers measured the value of each individual in their ideal world. Not only was there a hierarchy of status, but the color coding identified the worldly comforts afforded the members of their community.

Wu Lan looked around her somewhat austere habitation space. While it was lacking the frivolous amenities of a lived-in home, resembling an unadorned dorm room, it was a far cry from the communal barracks the other castes were made to endure.

Every member of the cult was dehumanized to some degree, and forced into uniformity with their blue jumpsuits. And further coded with an armband that was little more than a barcode showing where they stood. Wu Lan with her white band experienced the luxuries afforded her scientist caste, though all she had done to earn it was possessing a high Mind stat due to her Mage class.

She thought of the Red Sect and its own cultish categorization of people, acolytes and red priests. She knew that the acolytes of the Red Sect had lived in dungeon cells and were little more than kidnapped citizens of the surrounding territories. Certainly not a positive experience for its members. But, the Origin Seekers seemed to merely dress up their hypocrisies better.

"Whatever," she muttered under her breath as she turned from the bedroom.

She walked out into the walled-off compound, a new day was upon them.

She'd spent the evening before asking the NPCs questions, seeking to learn more about the lifestyle of this science cult. And, the answers she'd gained were mixed.

The vast majority of the NPCs, wearing yellow, brown, red, and blue armbands were ignorant of the intentions of the group. They served as technicians, custodial workers, and laborers. These were the worker bees of the hive and weren't involved in the decision-making process.

The black banded enforcers were tight-lipped. They only wanted to keep the order of the compound.

Her fellow white-banded scientists were open and shared with her some of the scientific discoveries of the Seekers. Largely, the organization was seeking to "perfect" the Meesachian race.

Considering herself as being an Immortal Brave from an entirely different planet, it was odd to be included in the outfit's supremacist identity. Nonetheless, she was now a part of it.

"Scientist Wu Lan," a woman approached as the player was searching for something to do.

"Yes?"

The black-banded woman showed a serious expression. "Your work assignment has been determined. I am to escort you to the lab."

Wu Lan felt that this wasn't a request.

"I understand."

The enforcer led the player to a fenced-off section of the compound. A pair of guards watched as Wu Lan's escort provided authorization.

Passing through, Wu Lan found herself being ushered into a white building.

Inside, many NPCs were busy at their workstations. More enforcers were monitoring the scientists. It seemed that not even the highest caste was free here.

"You will be working with the gene sequencer."

Wu Lan felt a skeptical look come over her face. How was she supposed to learn gene editing just like that?

"I've never…." she began. But, as she was about to continue, the woman walked a distance away and turned back to observe her with a critical gaze.

Shrugging internally, Wu Lan approached the machine and began to interact with it. Suddenly, guiding lights on her heads-up display showed points of interest on the interface. The system began to run a tutorial on the gene sequencer device.

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It became a minigame where she matched gene types to stimulate amino acid production.

As the minutes spent playing the minigame passed, the completed chains of genetic code were submitted.

[+1 Reputation with Origin Seekers]

[+1 Reputation….]

[+1]

After the initial novelty of the minigame wore off, Wu Lan dedicated herself to the grind. At a certain point, a system announcement told her that her work quota had been reached.

The player rolled her shoulders as she got up from the machine and turned to the NPC who'd guided her to the lab, the slightest of smiles could be seen on her escort's face. Wu Lan returned it, satisfied that she'd gained some actual status with the in-game organization.

After the work was finished, she was guided outside and left to her own affairs.

Thoughts stirred in her mind as she pulled up the menu and sent a message to Dancing Dagger.

"Any news on your end? I've found a way to grind reputation."

There was a delay before she received his message.

"Yeah, lets meet up when my patrol ends. I'll meet you at the mess hall."

Taking her time, Wu Lan found her way to their meeting spot and waited.

Before too long, a blonde man approached with another black-banded man.

"Winter Storm?" Wu Lan wondered out loud. "You're following this quest chain too?"

The friendly young man smiled, "Yeah. I've been here for a few days now."

"Hmm," she hummed. "Anything we should know?"

The two men shared a look before Dancing Dagger spoke.

"Winter confirmed that the Origin Seekers are behind the Spikers."

The young woman shrugged, "Not surprising."

"And…." Dancing Dagger continued before Winter interrupted him.

"They've got a virus to deal with the Spikers."

Dancing Dagger looked at the man for a moment before saying, "Yeah. They planned to release it after the Spikers wipe out the population."

Surprise came over Wu Lan, "If that's the case, we need to get to it."

The men nodded.

"But," Dancing Dagger said. "Neither Winter Storm or myself can get anywhere close to the labs where the virus is contained."

The brown-haired young woman smiled, "I'm assuming this is where I come in."

The charismatic blonde man smiled.

Winter Storm looked around, other NPCs seemed to be taking note of the trio.

"You'll have to gain their trust. But, I'm sure you have quests you can perform. Maybe you'll unlock something."

Wu Lan thought for a moment, "It'll be a grind. But, I'll make it happen."

"Okay," Dancing Dagger also felt the attention of the NPCs. "If we need to talk, just use the system. We shouldn't draw attention to ourselves."

His companions nodded and Wu Lan parted with the two enforcers.

Looking around, she saw that the NPCs had lost interest when she parted with the two members of a different caste.

It felt somehow lonely to be the only one who had to play solo. But, it wasn't anything she wasn't used to.

The player moved off to search for a white-banded NPC to fish for quests.

"You're looking for more work you can do?" a middle-aged man with a white band on his blue jumpsuit asked. "That's great. I wish every recruit had your energy.

"Actually," he thought. "Could you oversee the cleaning of the beast pens?"

"Beast pens?"

The man nodded, "Yeah. The lab animals have a high turnover rate. It can get pretty messy. But, you'll just be telling the workers what to do."

Wu Lan had a complicated expression on her face.

"Of course, I'd love to do that."

The scientist smiled and gave her directions.

On arrival, Wu Lan was given a full hazmat suit to wear. She joined the workers who wore similar equipment. The pens themselves were messy places.

The NPCs did the hard work while Wu Lan merely gave token commands.

By the end of the quest, she received credits, XP, and reputation.

Wu Lan felt that the gaming experience was little more than real work. It was tedious, nauseating, and perpetual. But, she needed the reputation to unlock greater access to the compound. So, she pushed through and continued her questing.

By the end of the day, Wu Lan was just shy of friendly with the Origin Seekers.

Sighing from an exhausting day, she logged out and returned to the real world.

Renee Harris felt her consciousness flood back to her. The slight grogginess of waking up from the digital dream faded quickly and she took off the Full Dive headset.

Her bed was plush and wide, the bedding well presented. The room beyond was expansive and open, with alcoves designated for gaming devices, televisions, and comfortable spaces for entertaining. Her bedroom could fit a small house into its footprint.

Looking around, the young woman thought that if this were all that there was to the real world it might not be so bad. Getting up, Renee freshened up and exited her room.

The mansion had a full-time staff and as soon as she had revealed herself, a member of the house staff approached.

"Miss Harris, your father wanted you to know that he would be returning in three days. He said that he will be expecting an answer."

Renee looked at the impeccably dressed steward with a blank expression.

The man smiled awkwardly.

"That's all I have to share with you, Miss Harris."

The young woman watched him depart and looked around the elegant hallway.

She felt very much trapped in a gilded cage.