Join the new world

Thank you guys for the great response to Volume 1 of the Story! Here's Volume 2. This might be a trilogy, I'm still trying to figure out where the plot should go. You guys are awesome for your feedback and all your encouragement.

This is Volume 2 of my story for the story writing competition. Please see www.erepublik.com/en/article/-momc-story-writing-competition-1949328/1/20 for Volume 1.

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After my sudden (and entirely uncharacteristic) hunch about my early morning cheese dispatch, I quickly rushed to the dustbin to remove the packaging for the tin, and to figure out where it had come from. There was a small orange rectangle with a silhouette of a bell on it, with a small red bubble with the number '1' inside it in white. I was sure I'd seen it before, but I couldn't remember for the life of me where this could be. In the meantime, I took note of the small letters next to it -

"You have received a shipment of 200 food from troj4n20."

Could it be? troj4n20, one the most respected people in the land? Would he? Could be? Upon reflection, a thought struck me - was not this food being provided to n00bs? Was it not doing good? It could thus very well BE troj4n20. This was right up his alley.

I realised that the way through to the end of this entire mystery was the usual, direct approach. I had to go and confront troj4n20. But first things first - I must eat the evidence.

There's just a whole different flavour,
To stolen and perfect Cheddar.
And I looked upon the egg in pan and I said - it was good.

And it was so.

Post my succulent meal, I proceeded towards troj4n20's home. His home was a small cottage - elegant and functional, with the only real decoration being a board that said something in Telugu about eating crops. I wondered, as I always do, whether he would be the right person to ask about Telugu movies. Especially Chiranjeevi ones.

Caught up in these ruminations, I approached the door without really being all that alert. But about a step near the door, alarm bells started going off in my head. For one, the house was completely silent. troj4n20's house was known to be an epicenter for n00b meetings and troj4n20 mentoring them all - it seemed impossible that it could be quite this silent in the middle of the day. As I slowed my tread and came to a halt in front of the door, I couldn't help but notice that the door had been forced open. I silently cursed myself for having made no attempt to quieten my tread - if there was anyone inside, they'd heard me come and were ready for me. I pulled out the bazooka I had just assembled in my last mission, with the sad thought in my head - troj4n20 had asked me to save it for something important. I pushed the door open quickly and jumped in, my bazooka held ready.

And then I gaped, fell to my knees, stood up again, put the bazooka away ... and did something which in my awe could best be descriped as a sloppy salute, tending towards a wave, as my knees knocked together. I came face to face with 10 Secret Service Agents, and standing amongst them - Exibot, our President.

"No need to salute, you ... what's your name? You're the enthusiastic new kid, right?"
"Yessir. I mean - yes, sir. That would be me. ArawnLives, sir."
"ArawnLives, is it? Ironic. If you'd come in here 20 minutes go, you've have been ArawnDead."
While saying this, he spread his right arm in a gesture that highlighted the state of the home - it had clearly been the centre of some gigantic struggle of some sort. The furniture was pell-mell, with scorch marks showing where stray ammunition had gone off the mark - or perhaps hit the spot. It was a terrifying display, and I couldn't help but wonder if troj4n20 was still alive.

It seemed that I must have a very expressive face, because Exibot said - "Don't worry, no one died here. No sign of anyone's blood, no trace of anyone even getting hurt. As far as we know, he left here alive. And scant minutes ago. But before you go running off to try and locate him - I know what job you've been put on. We found these documents lying around, and we think they might help. If in the course of finding troj4n20, you figure out where the cheese lies - would it be that bad?"

I took a slow step forward, and took the papers from his hand. He nodded at me gravely, put an arm on my shoulder, and handed me a package, and slowly left, surrounded by his escorts.

As he left the building, I opened the package to find a bazooka, an energy bar, and a note on cream-white paper with an impressive letterhead. The note read -

"I want to thank you again for joining our community.

We have important battles coming so the government decided to help you with some supplies.

Best regards,

Exibot - of eIndia"

I looked at the papers in my hand and the package on the other hand - and I wondered ...

"How did he know I was going to be here?"

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Volume 3 out tomorrow! 😃 Thank you for reading.