Chapter three

     Nicholas turned away from the mirror and was about to leave his apartment when another face appeared on the screen, this time it was the face of a middle aged man with nondescript features.

     The man looked so ordinary that it was actually extraordinary. He had normal brown eyes, normal black hair, features that weren't too handsome or ugly ,  basically you couldn't pick him out of a crowd in any part of India. 

     This ordinary looking man was anything but ordinary. He was the head of research and development at the Haven corporation and one of the geniuses who was behind the development of Bifrost. His name was Satvik.

     Satvik had a benevolent smile on his average looking face as he looked at Nicholas.

     "Good afternoon Nick. How are you doing?"

     Nicholas didn't look happy to see the man, in fact he looked like he had eaten something bitter, his face scrunched up in anger,

     "Cut the crap Satvik, you owe me an explanation. I have done everything you have asked me to do so far. I have never complained , even when you decreased my pain filters to only fifteen percent. I have kept my word and adhered to my end of our bargain. For three years you put me through unimaginable pain but I still stuck with you. All these years I haven't asked for anything but the one thing. One thing, Satvik! I asked you for one thing ! I asked you to keep the princess safe but you failed to do that one little thing and now she is dead."

     Satvik looked embarrassed as he spoke, "I'm sorry Nick, you know that the system is incredibly complex and fully autonomous. We protected the princess from external forces but failed to take into account that she would sacrifice herself for you."

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     "Well I don't give a fuck. I no longer want anything to do with you or your company. I am canceling my subscription to Bifrost and I'm deleting my account. Goodbye Satvik."

     "Wait a minute! The princess can be saved!"

     Nicholas was going to make the gesture to end the call but he froze in mid motion when he heard that.

     "What?"

     "The princess, she can be saved."

     "The princess is dead. You might fool other people but i know that the NPCs in Bifrost can't return once they die. I don't want some replica that just looks like her."

     "You are right and wrong. As you know, we use artificial brains to simulate human thought processes in our important non-standard NPCs and yes when they die , this process is suspended until the sentient thoughts fade away but what you don't know is that this process isn't instantaneous, it takes three weeks to complete."

     "You mean..." Nicholas was afraid to finish his sentence, afraid that he was wrong.

     "Yes. The core of the princess, her soul, can be retrieved."

     "Then what are you waiting for? Do it!"

     "I'm afraid I can't. The underworld protocol was programmed to scrub the cores so that they can be reused. I can't really stop it without crashing the whole system but I can tell you how you can save her from the inside."