Two months later

Xua Yu slumped forward and sipped his martini through two straws he’d stitched together. This was the height of his creative streak nowadays. Connected straws. He sighed and gazed upward as the broadcast began. Twilight Zone was on again. Probably praising Sunlight or Glimmer, as it often did. He cringed a little at the thought of the changed name. Glimmering shield sounded old school and cool.

“Good morning, good afternoon and good evening to our audience around the world!

You’re watching the Twilight Zone!” The presenter turned to his partner. “And what a day it is. Am I right or am I right, Helen?”

“You’re absolutely right, Greg!” The woman flashed her white teeth to the camera. “Today, Glimmer finally surpassed the Oathbreakers to become the second largest guild in the hallowed side.”

“Wow! The experts had predicted it, but talk about a meteoric rise! Let’s not forget how hard it is to climb a single spot when you’re that high up in the rankings. What do you think is the secret behind this success?”

“It’s well known that guild master Shill has been hard at work ever since the previous guild leader’s emotional retirement! But you don’t have to hear it from me. Let’s watch the footage one more time as our special guest gets ready!” The broadcast shifted to a view of the battlefield, just as Vince pulled his sword from the neck of a fallen Darkblessed player. Or, well, a deepfake of Vince.

Most people couldn’t tell it was fake, but after Xua Yu suffered in the same way, he researched the technology and could usually tell them apart. He was even getting ready to make a public statement about it when Lana intervened and warned him not too. You should never mess with money, she'd said, and Xua had left behind a legacy worth billions.

“Ah, hello!” The Vince on screen wore a satisfied smile as he turned to the camera and wiped the blood from his brow. “My friends, my fans and my guildies, it has been a great run, but I’m afraid I must present you with some news.”

Xua Yu rolled his eyes and sipped from his drink heartily. Here it went, the supposed retirement speech for the millionth time.

“I’ve had some time to think following my recent drop in the rankings, and I used this opportunity to do some serious soul searching. Twilight has offered me a great deal, but the game is simply not for me any more.” ‘Vince’ wore a frown, which then quickly turned into a smile. “But worry not! The guild will shine through without me, at the capable hands of my best friend and vice guild leader, Shill!”

The broadcast swapped back to the expert panel and Xua breathed a sigh of relief. They’d cut early this time around, thank god.

“And they proved to be capable hands indeed!” The press woman spun in her chair and the camera zoomed out. “But you don’t have to hear it from me! Today, we have a special guest at the show. Please give Cecilia, the vice guild leader a warm welc–”

“The average anteater can swallow up to thirty five thousand ants each day. Truly magnificent creatures.”

“Hey!” Xua Yu snapped at the bartender. “I was watching that!”

The bearded man pointed at the tv with the remote. “Now you’re watching nature planet.”

“What sort of bar is this? I’m a paying customer!” He knew exactly what type of bar it was. One he hadn’t been to before. For some reason, he kept finding himself banned from bars, so he often had to look for new ones. “I demand a democratic voting process, at least.”

The man raised a brow. “Sure,” he said, raising a hand. “I vote for nature planet.”

Xua Yu looked around the empty bar, then checked his clock. Oh, it was ten in the morning. That would explain why he was the only one drinking a martini. He raised his hand regardless. “I ugh, vote for Twilight Zone.”

“No tiebreaks.” The bartender went back to cleaning the counter.

Xua Yu sighed and went back to sipping his drink. With how often he travelled to different parts of the world, it was easy to lose track of time. Usually he’d start drinking at 2am. Perhaps then he could have swayed some drunkards to vote. The bell let out a soft ring as the door opened, an answer to his prayers. “My angel…”

“Good god, you’re already drunk.” Lana sat beside him on the counter, crossing her arms over her chest. “You were the world’s leading A.I. scientist, and now you’re just a helpless alcoholic. It’s truly sad.”

“Hey!” Xua Yu protested. “I was always an alcoholic!”

Lana simply covered her face with a palm. “Please tell me you have good news.”

“Before that.” Xua Yu raised a hand again. “Twilight Zone, please and thank you.”

“Tsk, fine.” The bartender switched the channel back to the broadcast before retreating back to the kitchen. Footage from the Glimmer’s latest advance into the western frontier of fire started playing. God, even in game, there were so many logos and ads emblazoned on the guild’s gear. They’d stopped participating in PvP entirely to focus on farming and strengthening their players safely, closing several sponsorship deals in the process. What a sell out.

“So, news?” Lana demanded again. Despite wearing her civilian clothes, she was no less imposing.

“Right, right.” Xua Yu composed himself and tried to shake off the drunkenness. “All the assassins I could find refused. Alex simply said he needed to prepare and then vanished on me. I don’t have a way to reach him, but he hasn’t turned down the quest yet.”

“So, to sum it up… We’re shit out of luck,” Lana said. “Do you understand the repercussions of this? If they manage to reverse engineer it…”

“I distinctly remember someone saying ‘Encrypt and secure everything. Make Kosmos impenetrable. Leave only one backdoor.” Xua tried to imitate her voice. “You said all three of those things! If not for you I could have fixed this by now.”

“I didn’t expect you to be fired from your own company and lose access to it!” Lana snapped back, then lowered her voice. “How about Vin? Have you shared what we discussed?”

“Uhm…” Xua Yu racked his brain. “Vin? As in, the previous leader of Glimmer? What exactly did we discuss?”

Lana’s jaw simply lowered slightly. She struggled for words. “Xua… Why are we here?”

Xua Yu furrowed his brows and thought hard. In last night’s tired drunkenness, he’d gotten a call from Lana. He remembered that much. What the call was about though… He hadn’t the faintest clue. Ah, perhaps a few more sips of his martini would help him remember. His lips reached for the straw as the bartender came back out and handed Lana a cold glass. Xua Yu stared at him intently. The man seemed oddly familiar, save for the beard. They held each other’s stare for a little while.

“You’re Vince!” Xua Yu screamed.

The man flinched away, blinking in confusion. “Yes? I told you my name not ten minutes ago.”

“Oh my god.” Xua Yu turned to Lana, face white as ash. “I remember now.”

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“Sir, could you please humour us for a moment and take a seat?” Lana tried to salvage the situation.

“I’m working,” Vince said, then glanced around the empty bar. “What’s this about?”

“We have a business proposition for you.” Xua Yu motioned to the barstool next to him. “Quite a lucrative one.”

Vince leaned against the back of the bar instead. “I’m not interested in pyramid schemes. Plus, I already have a job.”

“It doesn’t earn you enough to continue Sophia’s new treatment for long though,” Lana said. “Experimental IPs cells huh? State of the art. Problem is, we’ve taken a peek at your bank account and things do not look good. You can keep spending from your savings for another two months. Perhaps three, if you push it. ”

Vince straightened his back and stared at her in shock. “Who are you people?”

“Friends.” Lana reached into her coat and flashed him her badge. “Please, come sit.”

Vince pondered for a moment, then nodded, rounding the bar to come sit beside Xua Yu.

“Just so you know,” Xua continued, “I’m your biggest fan. Think I could get an autograph?”

Vince looked at him with a mix of cringe and disgust. “Just tell me what business you have with me. Do you want me to go undercover as a lookalike or something?”

“You’re not far off,” Lana replied, “but no. What we’re looking for is an expert, close quarter combatant. One who knows the mechanics of Twilight’s PvP like the back of his hand.”

“No.” Vince shook his head. “Absolutely no way. I am out of that world. I want nothing to do with it.”

“You haven’t even heard our offer yet. Seven million dollars if you can produce results.” Lana stared right at him and let the number sink in. “The NCSS will take on the full costs of Sophia’s treatment until then if you cooperate, no matter the outcome.” She leaned back and crossed her arms. “So, what will you choose? Your pride, or your friend?”

Gosh, Lana was cruel when she wanted to be. Even Xua Yu felt bad after that, and his brain cells were barely functioning.

Vince seemed lost in thought, wearing an ugly expression all the while. “What’s the mission?”

“We can’t say until you agree to it and sign an NDA,” Xua Yu said. “But at this point, you’re our only hope.”

“Me?” Vince chuckled softly. “I haven’t played the game in months. When I logged in, I didn’t even have a character anymore. What exactly can I do?”

“Look,” Xua Yu placed his hands on the table. “Your circumstances are unique. For this, we will need someone skilled in combat, who will also be able to start from scratch with a new character. You were ranked third in the world. In the world, Vince. We will never find a candidate better than you.”

Vince turned his head away and frowned. “Will I have to see those bastards from Glimmer again? Can you at least tell me that?”

“You won’t have to,” Lana said. “I promise.”

“Good.” Vince nodded. “Tell me what it’s about.”

Lana smiled and took out the form, sliding it in his direction.

“Came prepared, huh?” Vince took the pen out of her hand and gave the form a once over before signing.

“Always.” Lana folded it neatly and placed it back in her purse. “Now, Xua, please explain what the mission entails.”

“Of course.” Xua cleared his throat and organised his thoughts for a change. “Firstly, after returning to the world of Twilight you have to make sure there is nothing connecting you to your previous character. Or your real self, for that matter.”

“That’s how we were able to find you in the first place,” Lana added. “You were stupid enough to only make slight modifications to your base form when creating your avatar, instead of making a new one outright.”

“I get it.” Vince rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll do it properly this time. No traces. I’m assuming that means I can’t contact any of my old allies either? Despite the media's efforts to bury me with allegations, I still have a few people I can trust.”

“They won’t be able to help you either way,” Xua Yu said. “Starting now, you’ll be fighting for the other side.”

Vince raised his head and looked at him, eyes slightly wide. “I’ll be Darkblessed? How? I thought it was impossible to change factions.”

“It is, normally.” Lana gave him half a smile. “But as Xua said, your circumstances are unique. It will make sense when you try to create a new character.”

“Then, you can focus on the main task at hand,” Xua Yu continued. “Killing Asire.”

There was a short lull in the conversation. Vince smiled and his gaze alternated between the two of them. When they didn’t respond, it slowly faded. “Is this some kind of scam?”

“It’s no scam,” Lana replied. “And if you doubt my credentials, I could call up HQ and put my director on the phone.”

“Ah, so you’re just crazy,” Vince settled. “Look. You probably don’t know how MMOs work. I couldn’t defeat Asire back when I was in my prime. Now you want me to catch up to years of progress and overcome a level difference in the hundreds?”

Lana giggled, and Xua Yu felt her cold palm on his shoulder. “Do you know who this is?”

Vince leaned onto the bar to get a better look at the two of them. “I don’t know. Your boyfriend?”

Xua Yu nearly choked on his drink. He felt Lana’s grip tighten dangerously on his shoulder. “This is Kosmos’ creator, as impossible as that may sound.”

Vince leaned back and stared into nothing for a few moments. Probably looking up the name Xua Yu on gooble with his implants. Judging by his raised eyebrows, the search yielded results. Just not in the way Xua expected. “You didn’t show up to your own nobel prize ceremony?”

“Look, that’s not the point.” Xua Yu felt flushed. People had warned him that meeting your idols could turn sour, but he never expected it to be this bad. “As you probably know, Kosmos is a black box. Player input goes in, results come out. To ensure the safety and fairness of the game– No, of the world of Twilight, Kosmos’ decisions, plans and creations remain secret. The A.I. has been working independently and with a self correcting function since its creation.”

“I’m aware,” Vince replied. “But how is that supposed to help me? Doesn’t that mean you can’t access it either?”

“Indeed.” Xua puffed out his chest a little. “But don’t forget that I was head of the administrative team for years. And I logged everything. Every player complaint, every article, unexpected NPC behaviour and supposed bug report. Any footage ever broadcasted since the game’s inception. Can you imagine the sheer scale of the data I’ve collected?”

“And the SRIA made sure every piece of that information would be properly stored and organised,” Lana added. “We might not be able to affect Kosmos’ judgement directly, but we have an abundance of information you have never worked with before.”

Vince bit his lip and frowned. Xua Yu could only guess what doubts circled in his head. In truth, Lana had been right. They truly were shit outta luck. Even with all those resources, the chances Vince could pull this off were next to zero. Yet those were the best odds they’d had in months. Some part of him still hid an almost childlike belief in Vince, despite all that had happened.

“Why me?” Vince finally asked. “I’m sure there’s plenty of other Darkblessed you could contact. And why is the government after Asire?”

“Because most of the information we offer can only be utilised by new characters,” Lana parroted what Xua Yu had told her before. “Many people, including you, made certain choices during progression that proved… Suboptimal. Also, let’s not lie to ourselves. You’re desperate. You won’t do anything stupid with your friend’s health on the line.” That last part, she added in herself. “As for Asire… He made a deal with Novteco.”

“Excuse me if I’m not following the latest Twilight news,” Vince scoffed. “I had my friend’s health to worry about.”

“Novteco is the company that owns Twilight now. That booted Xua Yu out.”

Xua Yu clenched his fists. Even after two months, it stung, but he’d find his way back in one way or another.

“The real value of the game lies in the data.” Lana crossed her arms. “User information, biometrics, habits, wants, conversations. Hell, even brain scans have become a regular with Gateway’s new implants. It’s no longer simply dangerous. To have a handful of companies with so much information on the public… It’s criminal.” She glanced to the side and paused for a few moments. “Asire and by extension his guild have joined hands with them. They have a huge sway over public opinion and millions of fans, always first in line to push dangerous agendas without even realising it. You saw the first of it, back when they tried to privatise the combat footage. We have the power to fight against it here, but we also need our own people in Twilight. If you can kill Asire and damage his picture, it would severely weaken them.”

Vince leaned onto his hand, deep in thought. Xua Yu looked away. It wasn’t the entire truth, but it was all they were allowed to say. Still, he hoped Vince would accept. And that he’d never find out.

“It’s time you gave us an answer.” Lana took a metal case out of her purse and opened it carefully. The marble-like implant shone like a blue gem on the soft red pillow inside. “Military grade. Are you ready to try it out?”

Vince smiled, then took off his apron. “I guess it’s worth a shot.”