As for the supposed nightmare, he was quite oblivious... to Mr. Counterboy's thoughts and the aspirations of the cousin.

As covered, he wasn't omniscient, and in no way was he going to know what was happening someplace else.

With him not being present, unless gossiply recounted or necessarily reported, Alexander would at most remain clueless.

However, had he been there, he would not have been able to stop himself from muttering...

It's a small world.

Unexpectedly meeting someone one knows in an unusual place or just finding out a connection when there's supposed to be no trace of association. That's something, isn't it?

The Earth might be relatively big but in some context, it's also not.

Just like how the song sang at that Disneyland attraction... it's a small world after all in 'It's a Small World'.

Seriously though... Eugene Hackman.

A pesky man from another time. Actually relating to that area of Creed once again.

Other than profits, it's always another wonder what got the man fixated on a largely forgotten and overlooked alley of stores.

As it turns out, he's actually related to a notable Creed employee that worked there.

Fatty Hackman was not just a rib out of Gene Hackman the Lex Luthor-playing actor... or a wrong portmanteau of Hugh Jackman... he's actually a cousin to somebody.

If only a certain someone paid attention to that somebody in the past and didn't just relegate the man to a throwaway designation at this new juncture, then some dots may have been connected.

Too bad... since it sort of is an interesting discovery.

---------

Still, as far as Alexander's concerned, he's got other concerns.

Concerning about their recent influx to the arcades is actually just a part of it.

The build-up to that goes as far back as the arcade samples of Comic-Con 1986 anyways.

Aside from those, Alexander has got a more pressing entity to attend to.

After all, after all that coin-operated hubbub... the 30th of January eventually came around.

Aside from it being somewhat of a special day for him... there's always a peculiar something around this time of year.

Vestiges of it have been appearing from time to time now.

For some while... Alexander pretty much dreaded those.

When they're that inexplicable and random, how could he not?

When the one behind these happenings is the most probable cause for his death, who could blame him?

There was no denying that it really had all the farfetched motive, means, and opportunity to end his life...

Then again, there was also no denying that it also presented new motives, better means, and great opportunities for his re-life.

It may have taken some while... but Alexander eventually came to terms with it.

Even going as far as utilization to the fullest and at almost every turn.

Take last year for example.

In an inspired state, he even racked up quite the visionary writings and they all happen to be quite ambitious...

Old Sullivan had that to say after picking them up... scattered sporadically across his room...

Like his progression on E-Sports. The gradual competitive development of video games.

Clearly, Alexander didn't just aspire for bringing back the glory before '83... he was actually already aiming way beyond that.

So way beyond... and all he's done is just the start.

Supplementing that... there's 32-bit and 64-bit. The shift to 3D gaming and graphics.

Even as of current, he was still playing around an advanced 16-bit era... which didn't seem enough as his outlook was far more advanced than that.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Something along the lines of "ChaosWall: Better than Firewalls" just gave him that much assurance.

He wasn't bragging and just going by the facts when he wrote that statement.

Just as how he detailed Chaos. Rendering costly render farms obsolete.

And indeed, it did.

RenderLess would be an exemplary example of that. Even the pioneering Pixar can attest to the credibility of it.

And if Pixar's not enough... there's still Creed Pictures plus Creed Costumes that are all integral to the entry to visual effects.

As Creed Graphics and as detailed in the paper that Old Sullivan highly perused.

Tagline... VFX. Creed Graphics/Pixar plus Creed Pictures plus Creed Costumes.

And if that's really not enough... there's the theoretical Creed Chaos Cloud. Theoretically Infinite?

Which might as well not be a theory anymore, given the sneaky but working existence of the Creed Chaos Network. Or the ChaosNet.

Hive-like? Bluetooth? Internet?

Alexander asked those questions to himself and even though he had no concrete answer... did it really matter?

He even scribbled along the concept of a Creed Account. Achievements, Badges, Experience, and Loyalty. E-mail?

An adapted concept as it became a Creed Gamer Account that gamers came to familiarize themselves with.

It was to the extent that many treat it akin to how most treat their banking and ATM codes. With loyalty... and the habit of trying to never forget it.

And if Achievements, Badges, Experiences, and even messaging like E-mail were to be adapted... then there's a likely chance that that loyalty will become even stronger.

Then there's... All-round Emulation. PC, Home Console, and Handheld Parity.

Which doesn't necessarily revolve around accounts but GameKeys in of itself.

As of now, all of these are scribbles and articulations were piled up in his room by the corner.

All are part of Alexander's plans, and through those plans... he has confidence that he's getting there.

In any case, enough of the inner ramblings because as mentioned... there was a pressing entity to attend to.

For it truly was pressing as he pressed some keys in the keyboard... and there it was...

An entity that he really needs attending to.

Chaotic old Chaos.

With all the most random characters, randomly dancing and flickering red or green all around.

Of course, something about it was significantly different than before.

Significantly different because right before Alexander's own eyes... and with blatant obviousness... it disregarded the confines of the screen!

Oh, how anyone else would've hoped for this development to just be a hyper-visualized figment of his Mind Mansion.

Unfortunately... it's as real as can be...

--------

Like a miasmic and misty monster, it projected itself unimpeded by the confines of the monitor...

Bringing back memories of when he first came across it.

What an experience that was.

Perhaps the only thing missing was for the thing to latch unto him and erase him from utter existence.

Alexander wasn't so alarmed this time around though.

This was the ghost that haunts, as the girls surmised. Acting up, even when unplugged.

If it was able to do that... then it was no surprise that it was presently able to do this projective stuff.

Regardless, at this point, Alexander was just curious.

Then again, he kind of figured that with all those mentally aforementioned utilization...

From the game engine... to RenderLess... to CAPS...

To the undisputed fact that Chaos unit sales are racking up to crossing over the 2-and-a-half million mark...

And partly from the recent arcade units with segments of the Chaos program in them as well...

It really just made sense why this transcendental program got more expressive of its existence.

Specifically at this juncture... radiating away from his dad's computer...

Given the proximity that it had with him and the girls... yeah... some stuff started to make sense.

Then, it really makes one wonder what else it could do.

And going by instinct, Alexander typed away as he remember another writing of his.

It said Creed Map: 3D Map of the World.

Sure enough, after a few commands were made... the program followed suit...

He even saw to it that he got out of the way of what's happening next.

-------

-------

-------

Methodically projecting itself away from the computer some more... Chaos' chaotic form eventually morphed into a foggy, dark sphere...

Quite the achievement but that's not all.

As littered across the surface of it were blinking and changing red and green.

Yet it's not so random as it looked... with just trickles of reds and many, many greens...

It's not some 3D Map but it sure is something else.

For if Alexander's hunch was correct, he was actually looking at the global positioning of every Chaos-infused hardware in the world!

The random green characters were those that are probably operational.

If they moved around in a huddle, they're probably the exports. Even if they didn't move, they're probably in some retail storehouse, waiting to be sold.

If they're new greens that popped up, then they're most likely the factories producing GameKeys and Chaos units and arcade machines all the same...

Then, by that logic, the reds are painfully obvious... as faulty hardwares but dormant software.

Something that's understandable as some people just aren't that good when it came to handling nifty stuff with care.

And looking at the big pile of red by a spot in this sphere which he assumed was Japan... someone from there wasn't too happy.

Going by that deduction, he pinpointed the Asian regions with some of his gaming products actually present.

Then he saw what might as well be Europe and the sporadic display was really indicative of the Creed operations there...

He even found little dots in what might as well be the Soviet Union. Hopefully among those reds, that one green dot is potentially of Pajitnov's.

Well... moving on... with its own glorious spot in this makeshift globe, of course, there was the USA... with the most rowdy reds and greens as can be.

And when he squinted enough at the right spot amongst this Christma light-y display... he surmised where the main program was... and the positioning of this suburban house...

Close to it was what else... other than CREED HQ itself.

In any case... this was all mindblowing stuff!

And that's saying something given that he was mostly speechless all throughout.

As he looked at this oblate spheroidal projection... Alexander found that he may have just stumbled upon a broader outlook into everything!

Which is quite enlightening, even bordering on a sense of omniscience that he lacked, as previously covered.

Perhaps... with Chaos in his arsenal... he could do so much more. Much, much more.

And as he looked again into this prototype of the supposedly daunting Earth, Alexander really can't help but mutter.

"It sure is a small world, isn't it?"