Money

''... You should wear that ring'' Saying those words the woman vanishes as suddenly from my life as she appeared in it, her words echoing in my mind.

-Wear the ring?- I ask myself, knowing for the first time, that in all my years of me counting it to my worldly possessions, I never wore the ring once on my fingers.

-Why the hell not?- I ask myself playing with the ring in my right hand.

-Wear that ring.- I can hear Sarah's voice in my head, creating an unresistable impulse inside of me. Like being suddenly hypnotized I shove the cold metal onto my right hand's middle finger. The moment the metal slides on I am released from this sudden impulse. Thinking about how alien the ring feels, I try to slide the metal back off, but to no avail. The ring is stuck on my right hand's middle finger.

Getting mildly annoyed by the whole situation, I rub my eyes, trying to relax only to end up with a blurry eyesight.

It only takes the time I need to empty the rest of my lemonade in one gulp for my eyes to refocus. For the next moment, I am shocked to find fine lines of text running across the top of my field of vision.

< using namespace std; int main()...

Starting Gyges-System...

Changing the environment...

Goal set...

Initializing changes...>

The next thing I know I am suddenly blinded before I regain my sight only to read some text now centered in the middle of my view.

mental]>

Feeling a sudden change in my mental state, I can feel the interface has changed from visible to mental communication.

-Ok. I give up, you win. Show me my stats.

-How the hell do I have more than a million dollars? What is WP?- I ask myself nearly expecting the system to answer my question. I am a bit disappointed by the system because it doesn't even react to me asking.

-So be it. Hit me. Show me my first Quest.- I think wanting a reaction from the system to my thought.

-Ok. I can get Raven, but Sarah from a view minutes ago? I don't even have her number...- I think when suddenly my own handy goes off, alerting me of a call.

Accepting the call, I half expect it to be the woman that just vanished in a flash.

''Ah, there you are. I just read about your plane having already arrived. Where are you, big brother?'' Asks me my pretty annoying little sister Betsy, who is supposed to pick me up from the airport.

''I just eat something at a duty-free restaurant...'' I tell her signaling the bartender that I want to pay. Seeing the woman node happy, I continue talking to my sister: ''... I just met a pretty nice woman, but for my sister, I am naturally coming out.''

''A potential sister-in-law, great! Let me meet her.'' I hear Bets a bit to happily demand.

Paying the bill, I am moving along the nearby store to by a little present for Betsy and my father, good old stubborn Edgar King.

Talking to my sister I select two bottles of liquor, a champaign from France for Bets and a rice vine for dad.

-Funny, that dad still drinks rice vine despite still hating the taste of it.- I think happy to have gifts for both of them.

From afar I can already hear my sister's happy squirrels not only over the phone but live and unplugged, because Bets is running through the hall like the flash, only to meet me in the middle of the hall.

Jumping into my arms, she shouts, nearly turning me deaf: ''Welcome home! I have missed you, brother!''

Hugging her back I instantly shift my attention out a disturbance close by. -Got damm learned instincts! I am not in a war zone!- I curse my trained behavior.