Written by: EggRoll One Dolla It’s Sunday morning, my head is killing me. I can only imagine what trouble I got into last night after some drinks at the Junkyard Bar. Luckily for me, they were out of beer. (what they served instead I dare not ask.) Now that I think about it, they were out the weekend before too. No matter, it’s not my favorite bar anyway. That was Twin Peaks Bar, but one day something fell from the sky and the bar exploded into bits. Damn! I look at my clock and see it’s 9:30 AM, I need to get dressed. Let’s hope I’m not gonna be late for work. I head over to the bathroom and clean myself up. I stop and fix my hair. People love my hair. I’m not sure why, but there is something about purple spiked hair with blue tips that drives the girls wild. I don’t mind though. I place my freshly ironed Renegade Fashion Enigma shirt on and I can’t help but smile. Purple hair and a purple and yellow shirt do wonders for a fashion statement. Hmm, what do I want for breakfast? Nutrio bars?? Ehhh…I had those yesterday. I think they are getting stale anyway. I think I want something else. Ah! Falxangius steak, medium, lightly seasoned, and an Atrox egg sounds delicious to fix my hangover. Ah the egg…something tasty and yet still didn’t quite live up to expectations. One glass of Berycled sweat to wash everything down and it’s time to go to work. Since I’ve been on Eudoria, a colonist can do many things. A colonist can hunt, mine, craft, gather, trade, and most recently pilot spacecraft. Me personally, I hunt, mine, and craft. I don’t specialize in one profession because I prefer variety over boredom. Maybe it’s the low pay, monotony, or impatience, but either way I can’t be a gatherer. Sweating, gathering rocks, or fruit, I just can’t bring myself to do such tedious work. It’s been almost 7 years since I landed on Planet Calypso and I don’t remember it raining once. The fog can get heavy at times, but I don’t remember ever seeing it rain. In fact, it was daylight 24/7 for years, and then one day we had night. Day and Night… it was an unbelievable thing to experience. People say the CDF (Calypso Defense Force) was behind the constant rise of the sun, but no one knows for sure. I have been a part of several societies during my time on Calypso. Currently I am known as a Lost Renegade, a friendly bunch headed up by none other than my boss of all things. I head into Entropia Transport, and receive my day’s work. Entropia Transport was built 5 years ago, and today is one of the leading multi-profession businesses on Calypso and the planetary system itself. I usually work 6 or 7 days a week, but only for a few hours each day. Being a night owl and waking up late is something of a pastime for me. I head down the warehouse hallway toward the work orders board. It’s a fairly simple system really. The day’s jobs and a name assigned to each profession on one side, and completed jobs on the other. On Sundays the staff is light so I only expect a half dozen jobs posted or coworkers to be milling around. I look at the board, the first section labeled: CRAFTING: Johnson Theragra Knewb – Amps/Conductors. It seems I am spared from crafting today. That is good news since I am the least skilled in this profession. The second section is labeled: MINING: Phillip TheTank J-Fry – Hell Blood gor roth – RockTropia. I haven’t had much luck mining the last few weeks so I assume it’s why I’m not listed here either. Finally I go to the section labeled hunting and see my name… HUNTING: Wallin Rigu Dimas – Nusul EggRoll One Dolla - Event “See the boss.” (I should tell you my name came from a food binge my mother had while pregnant with me. She used to tell me stories of how often she had cravings for eggrolls in the middle of the night. My father seemed to place daily orders for the crispy and fried food, and always came through to satisfy her desires.) See the boss. Damn. I wonder what he has in store for me today. I walk away from the cork board and make my way back down the hallway. I make a right which takes me into the main portion of the warehouse. I look off to my left and see a burgundy Sleipnir, as well as a slate gray Interceptor, idling, and waiting. I keep walking towards a set of stairs leading to the door of Narfi Hungry Willem. Narfi is about my age, a little older, early 30’s I think. He is married with a kid. We call him the boss when he’s looking, but if you ask around everyone calls him, “Chocolate Thunder.” He hates it, but the rest of us snicker every time it’s said. I open the door and see him sitting in his office chair, papers covering the desk. He is holding a conversation with his wife, Jessica Narfette Riley and it’s not uncommon for everyone to want to look at her. If anything Narfi carries a high head knowing he has himself a trophy wife. Tall, slim, pink hair and hazel eyes that change like a kaleidoscope, she handles many of the duties of a space pilot. (Apparently the conversation involved the space pirates, those God forsaken souls, led by Wolf Jig Drakar, were enjoying a game of tag with the MS (Mothership) MacReady. “Ah. Eggroll, I have an event for you to do as your job today. It’s an Atrox hunt deep in LA 02, Thierry Rag of Grimbergen is running it. Your entry ticket is in the check-in/check-out office. Make sure to grab it before you leave. Now go out there and get me some inventory for the crafters.” Most of the day’s hunters are free to kill what creatures they like, but today, we are asked to hunt a specific enemy. I won’t complain though, this is a favorite mob of mine to kill. I grab my ASI-40 BLP weapon and matching ammo. I head to storage and find my Stealth camo armor, freshly polished, and clean. Suiting up I mentally prepare myself for the day’s hunt. There is more pressure than usual today. I haven’t placed in the top three spots for a while now and wondering what it will take to change my luck. A couple minute’s stroll to the teleporter, I step up and select today’s destination. This isn’t a direct method of travel to the hunting area, so I’ll have to make a quick jump to the grounds from there. Upon arrival, I find that a friend and former society mate Denebrius Victory Victor is hunting against me. Excited, I wish him the best. I look around and see a few more players from other companies gathering about before settling into their own hunting spots. All told it looks to be about 40 Entropians I’m competing against. Air smells fresh and the trees sway in the distance. This should be fun, and hunting against a friend adds to the intrigue. I make my way to the southern part of the hunting zone. I find my first target dead ahead. The Atrox are menacing, t-rex looking creatures. The beady eyes and sharp claws make you realize the importance for armor. Atrox are notorious for their razor-like teeth and jagged canine fangs. One bite, unprotected, is almost instant death. Today the Atrox will try to eat me for a snack, but I have other things in mind. My first kill is a good one, 15 PED ESI (Empty Skill Implant – an item that’s very valuable for trading skills from player to player). The boss will be happy if loot like this continues. Second kill is large enough of a loot to announce to all the players involved in today’s hunt. Now two minutes in and I am in first place, to the victor go the spoils… Half way through the hunt things have cooled off considerably and I have slipped from first to eighth. Unfazed I keep shooting, knowing a single loot can change my luck from bad to good. Nina SKY Feiticeira has prayed to Lootius today and has the lead. The second half of my hunt starts out even better than the beginning. I am number fifteen on the daily Hall of Fame list for today’s highest kills – 885 PEDs (Project Entropia Dollars) is a nice size indeed. Included in my loot is a new EWE LC-400 Submission. It’s my 4th highest creature kill in the last year. First place prize of 200 PEDs for the winner is now within grasp! A few kills later another large creature hands over its valuables. This time another LC-400 Submission worth 235 PEDs. Another event participant jokes, “You could have won first and second today,” If only that were possible. I do find it slightly ironic with my new looted weapons, submission, is exactly what I’m beating these Atrox into. I run out of ammo and realize I desperately need to take a breather at the revive terminal. My blood pumping from shooting non-stop for over an hour has me winded. After a few minutes my nerves settle and I dash back to Twin Peaks and restock my ammunition. I head back out to the grounds, choosing a new spot to hunt in, this time in the Northern part of the land area. I manage to grab a few more solid kills while I watch my competition drop one by one. The excitement gathers as I know I’m close to winning today’s event. Finally the buzzer sounds and victory is mine. I secure my bonus of 200 PEDs. Nina slips to 3rd. Raz Ol Gool sneaks into second, and enjoys a sizeable prize for his efforts. Sadly Dene struggled with the Atrox and finishes outside of the top ten. We exchange reputation points and I wish him the best. He tells me he is off to hunt Aurli at Crystal Palace. I head back to my main town, Twin Peaks, to mingle, spoils in hand. I could place everything in storage and go back out, but after a successful day I decide to check-in with Narfi back at work. I place the day’s job posting onto the completed side of the board and head towards the bosse’s office. I walk with a bit of pep in my step obviously knowing the success of the day. The door is slightly open and wave to Narfi. “Hey Eggroll! Your bag looks full of crafting components, so I assume today went well?” I reach into my pocket and pull out my crisp Project Entropia Dollars, smiling, feeling good. “Well done. I’m sure you have made an impression on the younger hunters out there today.” I think it was more than an impression, it was a statement. The Lost Renegades are not to be messed with. I head back downstairs to the check-in/out and hand over my bag for inventory purposes. I know there is plenty of sorting to do and leave inventory control to their jobs. Heading back outside I wander towards the town square. The square is busy today, but not as busy as it was in the past. Reminiscing over the pre-gold of days past, I mingle with fellow townies and study the day traders buying freelancer wares. An argument over prices snaps me out of a daze. In one of the last events of the day are the always enjoyable no holds barred action inside the Octagon. I take my seat among the other fight fans and enjoy tonight’s action. A seasoned vet, Lokia, makes her way into the Octagon clearly ready to win. Her challenger, Antzy, wearing a lovely set of angel wings, seems hesitant, but is motivated from the energy in the evening crowd. The announcer steps into the middle of the ring to present a fun twist to the usual brass knuckle fights. “Tonight, Twin Peaks Octagon proudly brings to you a fight testing the will of the veteran and the challenger. They will be using whips!” The crowd is absolutely buzzing now. This is a very rare occasion when fights like this occur. The government finds these matches highly illegal. Tonight’s organizer must have paid off the town’s officials. The bookies don’t mind as much, knowing their pockets will be stuffed with the increased betting activity. The bell sounds and the fight starts. It’s on. The action swings back and forth, each fighter looking for an opening. The clothes on their backs offers precious protection from the strikes. Fights like this don’t last long for good reason. It quickly becomes apparent that Antzy is losing strength and the searing pain is setting in. Lokia sensing the break in her opponent moves in for the final strike. Tonight stamina and experience win out. Youth and cunning will have to wait another day. There will be other nights for Antzy to prove herself and there is no doubt the rising star will. It is getting late in the evening and know there isn’t much left to do. I am suddenly alerted to a large crafting success Knewb has had. I convince myself it was from my looted materials earlier in the day and smile. Sharing of the wealth is a wonderful thing. Most of the town’s citizens are heading for home or heading for the bars and dancing hot spots. Gangnam Style has made its way on the scene and everyone wants to do it. For me the night is over, it’s time to head home. I head for my apartment in Sakura City to settle down for the night. Approaching my door I see a note that reads, “Rent due. Please pay in the next 5 days.” I murmur to myself and walk inside. Now getting comfortable I will likely fall asleep on the couch dreaming about today’s events.
