STORY BY LADYXGILEX

Darlo woke up with a very disgusted grunt, his eyes were tightly shut and he even tried to turn around on his relatively comfortable bed, yet his nose kept twitching over and over, making impossible to fell asleep again in the short term.

It took Darlo a total of 15 minutes to finally give up on his noble endeavor of trying to fall asleep and finally seat up on his bed, the horrendously stinky smell that had wake Darlo up had not dismissed, instead it had intensified.

Darlo took a deep breath of the smell, just to cough loudly afterwards, a weird smile managed to make it is way on his face, born out of both almost innate disgust and satisfaction at a job well done.

-Hey King, you up yet?-

Darlo eyes darted towards the small, round device that looked more like an oversized coin rather than a multi-functional phone, his hand reached for it and took it between his fingers before pressing one of the small buttons.

An screen made of light materialized above the device.

The face male that did not seemed to be over his 20s was in the screen, his eyes were small and deep while his nose was bigger than average. The image was in black and white.

-Do not call me that OGrill- Darlo spoke with a tired voice, not even bothering to stand up from his bed.

-For the last time, call me Prince, King-

Half of Darlo brain was still asleep and he could already notice OGrill mocking tone. That was an ill omen.

-Why are you calling so early?- Darlo decided to ignore the last comment, instead he placed the communication device on the back of his hand.

-cannot i call one of my best friends in the Community just to check how you are?- OGrill, or Prince, spoke with a humorous tone, and Darlo could already guess which face he was making even without looking at him.

- how bad?- Darlo finally asked, scratching his beard and unfortunately finding some hairs already growing again.

Darlo could have swore that he had shaved not more than 2 days ago.

- Oh it is horrible, we need you here- Prince tone changed from one of humor to one of utter helplessness.

Darlo gave a long, already tired sigh.

-...I am on my way...-

-Thanks! i own you this one!-

-You own me like, 20...-

Darlo words were cute as the screen shut off.

Once alone, Darlo carefully contemplated fall backwards and leave any other person deal with whatever mess the people of the Community had done now, nevertheless, his desire to ensure his own survival instead of handing his chances to any other person on the community won over him.

Trust on other humans beings to keep him alive? he could name half a dozen people that would be glad to throw him on a volcano just for the fun of it, and he had not drink his coffee yet.

It took Darlo another 5 minutes before taking the choice of standing up from his bed, as he did that, he left out a burp that was closely followed by a yawn. His eyes looked down.

Darlo noticed that he could already see half of his feet already, that meant he had loose weight again, which was bad for the business.

-I will need to increase my food-load again...- Darlo said to himself while walking to his bathroom, stumbling across a few broken pizza boxes and some others of "junk food".

Once Darlo was clean, he searched between his clothes for the dirtiest shirt he could find and the more used shorts he had, and only then did he exit his 3 rooms big living quarters.

Darlo looked outside.

The grass was purple, the ground had a weird, glowing greenish tone, there were 3 suns high up which colors melded together, making impossible to distinguish them, the sky was of a light brownish color and the clouds seemed to have some sort of texture that Darlo could not figure out even if his live depended on it.

"Yeap, seems like a normal day to me" Darlo thought to himself, closing the door of his living quarters, locking them, and turning around towards the center of the Tardina-1.

- Hey King!-

-What is up King?-

-Hey King! finally waking up uh?-

-Your majesty, the King, have finally bless us with...-

-Shut it Mitch!-

Darlo let a soft chuckle escape from between his lips as people greeted him and he greet them back with a waving hand.

It was good to being recognized, even if it was for such an stupid nickname.

Darlo was not the brightest human on the planet, he was smart enough to know he was not smart enough, if there was a ranking, he may end on the higher numbers between the bottom, but he had other abilities.

Like the ability to figure out just enough of the current position in which Tardina-1 was placed at. Being outside of the Human Government sphere of influence allowed Darlo to realize some small details.

For example, Galactic Politics.

Darlo already had a hard time trying to understand Human Politics, so he knew his brain was gonna exploit if he tried harder than that, still, that did not stopped him to compare the Galaxy with a School.

There were Students of higher grades, that were everyone seniors and controlled a lot of good stuffs, but were too far on their asses to actually care what everyone else made and only made something when it involved them. (The most advanced Civilisations). Then there were the students with relatively close grades that formed groups between themselves and took different courses based on their abilities (Which were basically 90% of the Galactic Community). After them there were the transferred students that just started their first day on school and were still finding their place and group of friend (Which were civilizations similar to the Humans).

And then there was the Smelly Kid of the school, which was the Human Civilization. Darlo knew a lot about this, he have had a glandular problem when he was younger and was forever labelled as the Smelly Kid.

Darlo was honestly not interested on the entire line of events that had take place for the Human Civilization to take the place of the Smelly Kid on the Galactic Picture, but he was not gonna start to complaint at this moment in time.

Darlo reached the center of Tardina-1 quicker than he would have liked, the road was taking shape, the living quarters were expanding and more people was making themselves busy.

Nothing bad all things considered.

-Hey! OGrill! I am here, what you wanted me to do?- Darlo spoke loudly, approaching the brown skin man that was checking a notebook alongside a few others.

- Uh, you took 20 minutes less than last time, did you had a good sleep?- OGrill avoided Darlo question, doing one on his own, a tinge of humor was mixed in it.

-Yes i was, thank you for asking- Darlo answered, taking place in front of OGrill- and i would still being sleeping if not for that new factory that was installed, seriously OGrill it had to be set just around my living quarters?-

OGrill did not answered, instead he started to whispers some words and pointing at his notebook alongside the other people at his side, seemingly forgetting the existence of Darlo.

Darlo made a long sigh of defeat.

-Did the new factory had to be placed just around the corner of my living quarters, Prince?- Darlo asked once more.

-Of course it had to- OGrill answered with a prideful, yet easy-going tone- It needed the extra protection, and who else better than you?... That aside, you got a new batch of recruits.

After uttering those words, OGrill pointed sideways...

Towards a group of young adults that seemed more ready to navigate the Ultra-Net than to start any training.

- AND! Before you start cursing and saying stuffs at me, know that this was not my idea, it was Counsellor idea- OGrill spoke before Darlo had any chance of reject the offer- She also said that she is gonna increase your pay another 10% this month if you did a good job-

-OK, LISTEN UP YOU LITTLE IDIOTS! YOU BETTER LISTEN UP BECAUSE WHAT I AM ABOUT TO SAY IT IS WHAT IS GONNA KEEP YOU ALIVE FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS!-

OGrill rolled his eyes while a smile formed on his face, the 180 change in Darlo disposition towards the job handed to him was always amusing to see, maybe that was why the Counsellor keep making that.

The less busy members of the Community turned to see the small spectacle, and some even started to live stream it in the case any member of the Community was too lazy to sneak their heads out of their living quarters.

- My name it is Darlo Avellana, 32 years old, you can call me "King" and for the next few 15 minutes i am gonna be the voice of reason on this place, any questions?- Darlo used his most powerful voice to speak, he was neither a trainer not a preacher, but for the sake of winning more money he would not mind become a chef if somebody asked.

The group of young adults organized themselves, there was a total of 15 people, 10 of them looked like females while other 3 looked like males, the other 2 did not looked like neither and Darlo did not cared enough to ask, always it was human enough and did not tried to kill him more than twice a month, Darlo would consider it a friend.

-Yeah! why should we call you "King"?-

Darlo moved his eyes to see the person that had asked, and unsurprisingly, it was one of the males.

"Typical..." Darlo thought to himself.

-That will self-explain in about 14 minutes if i am not wrong- Darlo "answered" before turning his eyes onward once more, not looking at anyone in specific - Now! Someone tells me how do Humans get a New Colony on this cramped Galaxy, and how is this Community labeled!.

-uh... We establish relationships with the different alien civilizations and once they know about out problems at finding suitable worlds, they hand some to us, and Tardina-1 it is labelled as a Friendly Contact Community, which regularly makes contact with Aliens... right?- One of the taller females answered with a bit of hesitation.

-Ok, and who here believes anything of that pile of farts?- Darlo asked once more, playing with the coin-shaped device on the back of his hand.

Darlo had the urge to laugh loudly at the answer of the female, but he was polite enough to let them live on their ignorance for a little while longer.

This time, nobody answered as they looked at each other with confusion clear on their faces.

Well, it was to be expected, after all the Human Government cared a lot about the "looks" that Humans had on their home-world and colonies.

It was gonna be a huge disaster once big scale communications was established and everyone learned the truth.

But again, that was far from being Darlo problem.

- HA! yeah no... look, there is no easy way to explain this to you, so i will gives you an example- Darlo took a deep breath, walking on the front of the group of young adults as a teacher about to teach some sort of life-long advice- Does anyone here remember how in school you learned about the Black Plague and how everyone tried to avoid it at all cost?-

The group nodded unsure of their own answer of what it had to be with anything.

-Good... Because Humans are the Plague, but at Galactic scale- Darlo said with a carefree tone, just as if he was talking about the weather or some unimportant event of his everyday life.

-... what?- Finally, it was another of the female ones that asked after a few moments of silence, looking straight at Darlo like he had just grow another head.

-Yeah, Humans are the perfect equivalent to Space Pigeons who would have thought right?- Darlo answered with a very carefree tone, walking towards the closest mini-store and buying some candies to himself- So rejoice! You are part of Humankind, the first "Plague Especies" ever on this galaxy!-

Darlo started to eat his candies while looking at the faces of the group slowly changing from shock, to confusion, to utter disbelief and some other variations.

Darlo even had time to wonder why was he in charge of telling this to the new members of the Community, but he guessed that i was because of the whole place, he was the only one that could maintain an straight face and a calm tone as he delivered mind shaking news without pause.

-but...- one of the people that did not looked like a female nor male tried to speak, hesitation clear on his voice.

-Yeah, something about we being some sort of dangerous, walking bio-hazard bombs, or something along those lines- Darlo kept chewing on his candies, giving a small amount of time for the group to assimilate those news- Apparently they have been bombarding us with world-ending viruses, bacteria and disease since the... ugh i dunno, before the high medieval age? how or why are we still alive? no idea, but the Galaxy it is reaping what it planted millennia ago with you guys-

Darlo raised the back of his hand against the bio-screen of the store, paying for the candies and getting a soda on the process that he started to drink as soon as he got it.

-Wa... wait... but this is not...-

-Let me guess, this is not what the Government dude told you, did you?- Darlo did not even bothered to look at who spoke this time, he had done this dozens of times already

-More or... less?-

- look, boys, girls, or whatever you are i do not really care, i am gonna give you a free advice - Darlo took a long drink of his cola, letting a satisfied sigh as the coldness spread across his throat- IF a politician, and i mean any class of politician, not only the humans ones since politicians are a especies on their own, tells you that something "might" be "slightly challenging" or that "it may be outside of your comfort zone", run, run as fast as you can... on that same note, whenever they say "small side notes" make sure of clean your ears and make sure to take some good notes, because that it is what is gonna keep you alive from now on-

- Wait! - one of the males of the group screaming, gaining his companions attention, but merely winning a sideways glare from Darlo- why are we even listening to you?! for all we knew you could be lying to us!-

This time, Darlo did not even tried to force himself as he started to laugh loudly, his laugh was not alone thought, more and more people started to laugh as well.

The male that had screamed looked around in complete confusion, anger slowly building on him as he realized that people were laughing at him, like he had asked some sort of supremely stupid question.

- HAHA! wow, i needed that, also i need another cola- Darlo shook his head after laughing so much, paying for another cola of the store- Look kid, i am not even gonna bother to try and change your mind, after all, some people are simply too stupid to live, you can either listen to everything i say and then decide if it is true or not, or you can walk away right now and try to make something on your own, your choice-

The male that had screamed seemed to be ready to keep shouting, however, one of the other males, probably a friend or someone with a better head stopped him, allowing Darlo to end his second soda in peace.

- good, now that we can continue, we are all part of a Plague Especies, which bring us good things and... half bad ones - Darlo spoke slowly on this point, gaining some snickers from the more experienced members of the community and the utter worry of the newer ones.

-... which are...?-

- Well, first of all, instead of a "friendly community" we are officially labelled as a "Plague Community", which it is a lot more cool if you ask me- Darlo declared, turning to look at the store in search of his next snack.

- ... i am gonna bite, why it is better?- one of the male dudes asked, if Darlo thought that it was the smart one, but he was not sure.

- Good that you asked! - Darlo exclaimed with a slightly excited voice, not because he really wanted to hear the question, but because he had grabbed the last of his favorite snacks- The Human Government pays for all of our expenses, but does not involve in any of our administrative choices, and we are way, way high on their list of expenses, which means we can literally use trillions of credits to order food, my advice? buy as much food as you can, if you ask for stuffs like phones or other high-end stuffs, they are just gonna send some cheap version of it-

-what?! now you are just freaking lying to us, why would the Human Government put us so high on their list of priorities?!- the male that had screamed before did it again.

- Because, my friend, Aliens hate each other and we are the smelly kid of the school- Darlo answered without delay, opening his snacks and starting to eat them.

Darlo obviously noticed some of the new ones looking at him with confusion, probably not understanding why he was so calm about the whole situation that he could even eat snacks.

If only they knew that it was part of his job...

-Mind to elaborate?- One of the females that had kept quiet until now spoke up.

Darlo rolled his eyes, not even attempting to hide it as he realized that he would have to explain Galactic Politics.

- fine, but only this once and only because i am on a good mood, so you better listen well- Darlo said, finishing his snacks and burping. He stood up from his seat and walked to the front of the group again- Aliens hate each other, when Alien A and Alien B find a planet, they fight for it like any sensible being would do. Alien A win over Alien B, and Alien B it is now very angry-

-That it is when we are added to this mess - OGrill added suddenly before stepping sideways once more.

-Alien B contact us, the Smelly Kid, to do the dirty job, quite literally - Darlo kept speaking, acting as if he had not heard OGrill- They pay to our Government to establish a Plague Community on the planet that Alien A got, "contaminate it" and then hand it over-

-It is not that morally bad?- another of the females spoke up.

-Well yeah, of course it is!- Darlo admitted right away- however that bring us to the next point which is...-

Just before Darlo could keep speaking, a thunderous alarm sounded across the whole Community, making every human within it stop their current task and run towards the nearer wall/ground/store.

-Uh, weird, it earlier than usual - Darlo said, more to himself than to anyone else as he looked upon the coin-shaped device on the back of his hand, noticing that there were at least 5 minutes left to the timer he had set- well if they are so eager, i guess there is no helping it-

-WHAT IS HAPPENING?!-

(TO BE CONTINUED)