A Struggle for Aura

Nokia shook his head. “Someone I never met has a personal grudge and that's why we were attacked” Nokia remarked.

“I…I don’t know,” Dodo said sulking. “But right now... somehow I’ve got to figure out my own situation.”

“I have to make it up to her somehow,” Nokia thought. “I was minus one million—for only a few minutes—and I saw how horrible that was. And according to her that thing was after me...”

“If I don’t get my aura back soon,” Dodo added, “I won’t be able to take care of my sisters or my mother. They all live in my small one-bedroom above.”

“Your whole family is living together in this place?” Nokia said, looking around his apartment walls that were falling apart.

“It’s not a lot but it's all we’ve got” Dodo said plainly. “When I came down here it was because my mother asked me to… She has problems sleeping in this place already.”

Nokia’s stomach turned at the thought. “She seems so shy and reserved but she’s fighting to survive in this world.” 

“So what are you going to do?” Nokia asked solemnly.

Dodo stood up and activated her console, scrolling through her messages. “I have no choice but to do an instance,” she said.

“Instance?” Nokia echoed.

“There are many ways to gain aura,” Dodo explained. “You can get aura from followers—but I don’t think any of mine are awake. You can also find rare items or raw aura crystals that store aura and either trade them or harvest them.”

“How do you even find something like that?” Nokia asked.

“They’re not easy to find, and they carry great risk,” Dodo said. “Even if you tried, it would take time to stumble upon one…unless”

She hesitated pressing down on her lip. “Unless the area’s been scouted.”

“Scouted?”

“There are many places in this world that are scouted,” she said. "Influencers preselect area and look through them without taking what's inside."

“So people sometimes know what’s inside the caves?”

Dodo nodded. “That's right. Instead of putting themselves at risk. They host what’s called a live stream instance instead.”

“A live stream?” Like they way I am.

“No, no. Not what you’re doing now.” She shook her head. “This is different. This is a big stream event that is on a a virtual feed. It’s called an instance.”

“An instance?”

“Correct. When you go into an instance, there are other creators there—each one trying to get the rewards inside.”

Nokia leaned closer. “I see… so your going to go to this instance to try to find a reward and restore your aura.”

“Yes,” Dodo replied, scrolling through her feed. “I might have to be up all night but I don't have a choice.”

“Where are you scrolling through?” Nokia asked.

“Oh this is our feed. The company we are signed through Streamworks hosts alot of these on their platform...

She paused on a listing. “I’m looking for an instance with alot of people... This one here ten thousand viewers. Not bad.”

“Who’s hosting it?”

She squinted at the screen. “It’s by… uh… CQX.”

“CQX?”

“Yeah. He’s a retired stream raider, and the number one instance creator in all of Streamopolis. He’s almost as popular as Ado Ross.”

Nokia’s eyes widened. “What? And he’s going to be in this stream?”

Dodo shook her head. “No, he just hosted it. Meaning it’s part of his collaboration.”

“There’ll be someone there to lead me into the live event,” Dodo explained. “But it’s where I have to go.”

Nokia frowned. “What’s going to happen at this live event? What’s the purpose? What even is the instance? What kind of stuff goes on?”

“That’s the thing—you never know,” Dodo said. “The instance is never described ahead of time. You could sign up to fight a three-headed dragon with a party of five, or you might end up racing rapids through some underwater grotto. An instance is an instance. Until you’re inside, you have no idea what you’re facing.”

"And also.." Dodo trailed off dropping her head. Her voice whispered softly as she quietly shook.

"It’s not uncommon for influencers to die in an instance.”

Nokias eyes widened. Approaching Dodo, he looked at her with a skeptical glare.

“Die? You mean… just losing all your aura?”

“No,” Dodo said flatly. “I mean actually dying.”

“We streamers can die?” Nokia asked.

“Yeh... We creators aren’t invincible. Aura protects us from most damage, but if your body takes too much—no amount of aura will heal you. And there’s no coming back.”

“So thats how it is" Nokia responded. “And you’re just going to sign up for this huh?”

Dodo’s hands trembled. “I... have no choice. Aura is the source of everything. If I have no aura, I can’t pay my bills. If I can’t pay my bills, the people I care about won’t survive. They’re relying on me.”

"Im sorry about all of this Dodo" Nokia said solemely. Letting out a sigh he placed his hand on her shoulder.

Dodo forced a small, sad smile. “Thank you, Nokia. Oh wait, we shuoudn’t” She cut herself off. “I’m sorry. It’s time for me to leave.”

“Wait,” Nokia said catching her mid stride

"Take me with you"

She looked back it him with watery eyes in complete vulnerability.

“You want to come to this live stream?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” he said.

“But you could die,” she answered.

 “I have 6500 more aura than you.” Nokia’s voice went calm “I think my chances of surviving are higher,” 

“That doesn’t mean you have to take the risk,” Dodo warned. “There’ll be all sorts of creators there people with Auras in the six digits, level tens and twenties. We’ll be little peasants. We’ll get crushed.”

“And yet you’re going?” Nokia asked.

Dodo’s head fell. Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I don’t want to go,” she whispered. “It isn’t my first time. Last instance four people died. It was hell. But I got just enough aura to clear my debts and take care of my family. I have no choice but to do it again.”

Nokia rose and stood beside her

 “Hey Dodo I’m the aura farmer, right?”

“That’s right, I’ve seen it firsthand. I don’t know how you do it, but you have some kind of ability.”

Nokia’s voice went calm. “So tell mewhat kind of aura loss would let a friend die ameaningless death?”

"Nokia..." Dodo said as she lost her strength. For a moment she relented wanting to fall inti his arms.

“I don’t care if there’s a level-100 in there,I’ll farm my way out like I always do." Nokia said confidently

"Come on, let’s get some aura for both of us so we can live comfortably. Lets get out of this apartment, out of the sewage, and make a better life.”

Dodo’s throat tightened. “Thank you." She squeeked out

"Thank me after we’ve won.Now let’s be off,” Nokia said. “How do we get to this instance?”

“Instances are a summoning” Dodo answered, standing and tapping the console. “We just click a button and we’re there. Do you have everything you need?”

Nokia looked around the bare room an old mattress, a cracked lamp, the echo of a himeless man outside his doorstep.

“I’ve got nothing to lose, only my aura,” Nokia said, voice steady. “Let’s go.”

With a single click they were sucked into a portal that opened in the middle of the apartment. The air folded around them; their bodies atomized, twisting and compressing until they were forced through a narrow slit in reality, hurtling through darkness.

Far away, in a cavern so dark it swallowed light, a man spoke from beneath a hood. “It seems he’s defeated the Hate,” he reported.

A man with 10 rings on a throne raised its head. “That was expected,” the hooded man said.

“Why send him Hate, then, if we want him to join us?” the first asked.

“First we must make him understand Hate,” the throne-holder replied. “Only then will he join our Hate.”

“Shouldn’t we kill him before he farms any more—before he grows too powerful?” the man asked.

“No.” The throne-holder’s voice held a careful patience. “The stronger he becomes, the stronger we become. Let him farm. Let the Hate spread.”

The man knelt. “Master—one last question. Why him? Why force him into this, manipulate his life without his knowledge?”

The hooded figure scratched his chin and answered simply, almost fondly. “Because he embodies what I hate most: people who think they are born stars"

" But master He isn’t a star yet"

"True but one day he will be and when that day comes, his aura will belong to me.”