"What was that about?" Drew asked out but her attention was more on the other thing. "If you were talking to the pizza person, then I really don't follow what you just did."

Of course, Alexander was somewhat lost in thought as he unwittingly re-weighed his phone.

Nothing substantially changed but it seemed heavy for some reason.

Anyone else would probably be in the same boat when phone intrusion controversies and the depth of organizational authorities are proven.

"Alex?"

Oh right. Given these girls' latent curiosity perhaps he should humor them a bit.

Hence, Alexander divulged. "If you must know, that was actually the SCP Foundation."

"And that just now was a call to recruit or potentially a call to lure."

At this point, he wasn't so sure as he could be a high-class personnel asset or an anomaly of his own. Containment procedures and all.

"Uhm?"

Yet again, the reference was lost to his audience as it only served to confuse their clueless mind.

Besides, it's not like he could divulge the true truth of the matter.

From what he could infer, where he's headed is all redacted and classified.

At the very least, he humored their curiosity, albeit a potshot attempt at it.

With a note to remember to plunder the neo-Lovecraftian SCP Foundation Tales on the side.

------

Sure enough.

As soon as Alexander got to some undisclosed facility in San Diego at around one of the O-Hundreds... humor was pretty non-existent amidst all the seriousness.

Here he met an eager scholarly man. He's somewhat aged yet welcoming and was really eager to discuss things with him. Whom he dubbed as Mr. Eager Scholar.

Then there's a man wearing all-black suit attire with dark shades. Either FBI or MIB for all he cares. Which was why Mr. FBMIB, Federal Bureau of Men In Black.

Another man was in another suit. Given his smiley demeanor and somewhat campaign-y face. A Mr. Politician perhaps.

Then two others seem to stick together for some reason. One seemed to be a spy whilst the other seemed more on countering and intelligence. Interchangeably, they are most likely Mr. CIA and Mr. NSA.

Last but not least is a more elderly man. Clad in military uniform, pinned with quite a lot of military distinction. His stance and aura were not any less than the others. One would think that he'd be a Mister General or Military but in a sense, he's actually Old Man Pierce.

Consequently, Alexander was somewhat stuck in the middle, or surrounded in this case, as he seemed to be the focal point of whatever this was about.

Which begs the question...

"What's this about again?"

He then reasoned. "From what I could observe, you people all seem to be in quite the high standing and while I do think that there's something notable from a somewhat special kid like me, this kind of treatment seemed overkill."

To that, he added. "Especially with the fact that my supposedly prodigious talents are mostly in the business of entertainment."

"Your accomplishments in that field are great but this is actually with regards to your Creed Chaos System, of course." Mr. Eager Scholar excitedly took the lead.

"Which I find to be quite brilliant, by the way. How it's set up and how it's able to achieve what it's currently able to do."

Without a doubt, this guy, or whatever department he's representing, must have studied the whole thing in some depth.

"I hope this doesn't offend you but your leaderboard mechanic just piqued our interest and we can't help ourselves but purchase a few." The man explained. "Of course, the offensive part is the fact that after we played around with your games, we peaked and poked around to understand what made it tick."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"As long as you guys paid for it, it's money for my company." That's just how it is and Alexander understood it. "Besides, it's obvious that you're not the only one's doing it. I could name some rivals at the top of my head that's doing the same as you."

The matter of Chaos units is a ticking bomb in itself and it would seem that he really had some explaining to do.

Inevitably, it would have always come to this point and he concluded that it was probably about time to do so.

Then again, did he really have to?

"Networking via transceivers and the principle of radio waves, am I right?" The scholarly man said for clarification.

"Well... you could say so." Alexander obliged. It would seem that the man is adamant about doing the job for him.

"What inspired you to think of such a solution, if I may ask?"

"Walkie-talkies, Motorola's DynaTAC, radio-based audio along with television broadcasts, and as you've surmised... computer networking." Alexander had an inkling that the third one is something that this scholar is specialized in.

"Very interesting! Radios and television are limited to receiving and you need your systems to transmit data hence the transceivers. Walkies and phone inspired, indeed." Mr. Eager Scholar nodded with enthusiasm. "The archaic circuitry aside, you've really not skimped on the part that makes your gaming console much more impressive!"

"At first glance, it's nothing but an adage for more competitive gaming that you kids are into. It's a shame that kids and probably most adults just let the advanced technicalities fly past their uncomprehending minds."

That's a bit harsh but what else can Alexander expect from a scholarly man?

"Radio, huh?" The man reminisced. "I'll have you know that at some point, we considered taking that road as well."

"Unfortunately, the prospects and worry of nuclear disruption made the higher-ups scrap the idea in favor of telephone lines."

"It's pre-existent, already encompassing and wide-reaching... and is considered much more stable and secure with data transfer than radio-based transmittance. Physical lines aren't as jumpy and interruptable as AM/FM frequencies, you see."

Well, from what he knew of the history of the inter-networking, this nuclear-scare decision was something that Alexander found ludicrous actually.

Whether it be radio waves or telephone lines, it's more less disrupted to nothingness when nuclear explosions are involved.

Still, stability and the advantage of telephone networking are key. Yet the progression of dial-up is horrendous.

Then broadband became an option yet it all led back to radio-esque transference again with prepaid cell services and wireless fidelity.

All in all, Alexander wasn't just depending on Chaos, he had a working theory to back it up.

He may have dismissed the information superhighway but he was no stupid idiot.

Of course, Mr. Eager Scholar here knew nothing about Chaos' role in the whole thing and just grasping on somewhat sound theorems.

Solid theorems that are actually just helping his cause.

"It may not be a match to what we're honing and developing but it's actually good enough given the vision you've set for yourself." The eager scholar was really nodding back and forth with appreciation.

"Instead of transferring packets of data, essays, and publications... you've only set yourself to compile inputted scores and tabulate them. How the gamer accounts play their game and their independent progress are just essential baggage to you."

"All of that lowers processing, transfer, and storage needs, all the while proving that our discarded approach is feasible and viable."

"Of course, there's still the matter of how exactly you've set up a frequency that allots you free-range capabilities that even reach Japan and parts of Europe from what I hear."

Yet there are still plot holes like this.

"Do tell. How has your Creed Chaos System done that? And yes, with all that data that's being processed at every second of the day, you don't seem to have a working data center?"

Ah yes. Just when this scholar was a good guy, he just had to have critical inquiries like this.

Fortunately, Alexander had his justifications for it. "Well..."

"Of course, of course." Yet again, the eager scholar struck himself, with explanations of his own. "From the intelligence gathered on your company, you've been troubled with getting a television network to broadcast your animated shows, so you took it upon yourselves to scout broadcast stations and had established something of your own."

"Using those frequencies, you must have improved your range and modality. Television broadcasts aside, radio stations must work as well since most of your deals points to that."

"As for a data center, you don't need a specialized one as it's noted that you purchased the Graphics Group, hovering around a certain goal when you've asked them to build the hardware. The solution for your data center is their prototype render farm, is it not? You've kitted it out, right?"

Though there are gaps and misunderstood parts, Alexander was just somewhat speechless at this point. "If this is an inquisition about the Creed Chaos System, then why do you need to have me? This mister here seems sufficient enough."

Eager as always, the man eagerly clarified. "Of course, you're also here because I want to ask about how you're able to update every system's interface, every time a new game is available. You know, tips on such versatile programming and molding it into..."

"Alright, that's enough of you!" Old Man Pierce could only say.

"Oh!"

The others in the room were stuck speechless as well since this one fellow really derailed and pretty much dominated the whole thing.

"While I do find some relevance for the DARPA Initiative to be present on this..." Mr. NSA could only plead in annoyance. "...please do refrain yourself from too much jargoning and geekiness. And for heaven's sake, let the kid speak!"

"Hoho! I got a bit carried away." Mr. Eager Scholar was only sheepish at that.

"Kuhum..." Mr. CIA could only cough to continue on. "Our intention for calling you up here is not about you're alternative computer networking..."

"It's about this." As he said so... a plugged computer was rolled into the room.

The computer was not that notable. The thing to look for was actually the display on the monitor.

The dark-screened monitor with red-green characters dancing around. It was chaotic as chaos itself.

At this point, it's probably a sight that every sneaky Creed console snooper is disgusted with or frightened by, or both.

"Little boy, this is what most of these folks actually want to get to the bottom of." Mr. Politician smiled and smiled like the politician he is. "It's a mystery that has been going on for long enough."

"If you don't mind, do enlighten us."