"Adam!" A gentle looking pretty young woman called out as she sauntered along the main path through a jungle of a garden. She stopped at the edge of the regular smart wood mahogany walkway before the more worn and dirty cobble stone path she always hated, she hated to admit it but she was rather clumsy and had to compensate with her knowledge and people skills, it didn't help that the path was uneven, because of this the veteran tripper of a path had almost always gotten the better of her and she'd spent her first day crying after the brat she was in charge of recorded her fall and uploaded it to Boomtube. Normally it wouldn't have been too bad, but this was a rather popular and important brat. She had almost decided to quit before the boy had come back and apologized after his father saw her crying. this time the ground wouldn't claim her balance so easy, up her blue denim trousers so her classy sports shoes could move more freely on the path and green grass, and then she proceeded to roll up the sleeves on her ivory white puffy dress shirt, A rather plain and uncostly attire in the boy's eyes, but he didn't have time to ponder the pretty woman, the young boy's eyes bulged in anticipation before narrowing as he looked side to side analyzing the cobblestone paths and which to take to escape his pursuer.

He ran around a well-decorated courtyard using the plants and trees as cover, it was a square garden styled after a rainforest with colorful flowers sandwiched between two porcelain towers connected by a long golden bridge, Terra Corp, the company that started as a gaming company that somehow became the founder of the Metaverse, CpuMindBody Interface, CMB Link for short, and The Quantum Ai Assisted Computing as well as much more. He darted between the large, luscious weeping willow trees before resting, sitting down at the foot of one. "Pew pew!" Adam said as he adjusted his virtual cockpit to better take down two virtual fighter jets flying around the courtyard he sat in, he was using his dad's old ARV, Augmented Reality Visor, a device that would add virtual aspects to your vision, allowing you to both talk to your mom on face time while writing your essay, while jogging by a busy road completely hands free, though something like that would still take weeks or months of practice. His dad often talked about how in his day people would talk about how technology was ruining us because we were being hit with everything all the time at once, all the information in the world at our fingertips. Now all the information about the Solar colonies is always in view, no fingers needed. 

The young woman had had enough of the boy's antics, it was the 9th time in the last four days he hid from her, and she honestly was fed up and about to snap, she couldn't understand why no matter how many times she tried to get closer to him he pushed her away, "Adam, your dad wants you at the unveiling ceremony, it's starting soon. We have less than twenty-five minutes and your dad wants to see you now! he doesn't want you to get those clothes dirty" her shaky voice almost cried out in frustration.

He almost choked on the tangible worry; it was almost enough to make him frustrated. Why does she care so much? It may be her job to watch him but it wasn't like his father expected him to respect anyone other than him so he wouldn't dox her pay, she was essentially paid to just slack off and surf the metaverse. She bounded the corner of the tree on the opposite end running at him and tackling him to the grass next to the path. "What the heck are you doing, get off me."

"Listen here you little shit, I'm tired of you making my job harder for no reason, I want to spend as little time around your dad as I can, but he asked me to get you, it's why I'm here, I don't get why you'll listen to someone like him but not when it's someone else just passing on the message." She pinned him, her long platinum hair falling onto his face. She gazed into his sky-blue eyes searching for a sign of recognition, a sign of understanding. 

It may have seemed like some form of siblings bickering to the outside world, which it more or less was, there olive skin and curly hair making them appear related, and although he protested, he didn't really mind it and she could feel that. It reminded him of when he was really little, when his mother rough housed with him, she'd pin him and tickle him until he burst with laughter... he didn't really enjoy it, but it always made him feel warm, made him feel loved. "No, you're just here to replace my mom, I see the way he looks at you, it's the way he looked at her. If he wanted a babysitter, he would have got me the companion ai I wanted." He said in defiance as he glared at her dark brown eyes.

Her face froze with shock and confusion visibly evident in her expression. Her face went through a few phases like shock, confusion, anger, sadness, and finally pity. She looked away, "Well I didn't ask for that... and if he's going to treat me like he treated her then I want no part in that. Plus aren't those things typically employed in sexbots." she said under her breath with her pity changing to disgust.

Adam rolled his eyes; he wouldn't acknowledge her pity and he definitely wouldn't acknowledge her remark. He slipped out of her grip causing her to fall beside him allowing him to pick himself up, "Okay let's go. Best not to keep father waiting."

"You're the weirdest tween I've ever talked to." she huffed. 

He shrugged as he started towards one of the outdoor elevators, "I'll try to take that as a compliment. It means I'm more interesting than the typical prodigal son, I'm the son of the best looking, smartest, richest man alive. We do games, space travel, energy, and the framework for most software that is used on the metaverse which we also created." he monologued with his chest puffed out as he stepped in. 

She hurried in after him dusting herself off, "Not we Adam, you didn't do any of that and you aren't CEO yet." the door closed.

"Miss Harkins, Master Wilson, recognized, destination required." 

Adam stayed quiet forcing her to answer, "Top floor."

Almost a minute into the ride he turned to her, "Do you always have to try and shut me down?" he asked, sounding like he had actually been hurt. 

"Okay... maybe a bit uncalled for, you're a rich brat sometimes but you're a good kid... but do you always have to fight me?" she crossed her arms as she turned to face him.

She stared him down, but her face softened from stern to more apologetic, she was quite literally the bigger person by over a foot. Adam didn't respond and didn't look away, but his stern defiant face withered and scrunched up into a dejected look. The doors opened and revealed a grey room that had both stairs and a ramp that swirled around his dad's latest invention, a server and new form of immersive reality tech, the Quantum Dream Walker. Adam wasn't really sure how it worked but his father often explained it as the gateway to other realities. Floating within it was the handsome and half-naked figure of his father. "Dad?" Adam's father was a tall, Carmel skinned, lean muscular man whose body was built from hours of welding and construction done on engineering projects before he became the tycoon he is today. 

His father's eyes shot open, and he fell through the transparent crystalline structure to the floor below looking up the stairs at Adam and his babysitter, "Adam? Samantha?" he smirked as his gaze lingered over her causing her cheeks to become rosy but knowing her better than his father, he could read it as uncomfortably rather than any form of attraction or dreamy gaze. He couldn't understand why though, his dad wasn't being weird, was he? His father was a powerful and good-looking man, he always seemed to attract men and women with his natural charm, why was she different... why was his mom different? "Give me a moment to get dressed, you can never do too many tests... I just can't wait for this... and everything must be perfect!" he shouted, attempting to restrain his excitement spilling over anyway. "To think, I built the brain-based Four-dimensional virtual communication system and now a theoretically limitless multidimensional communication system. I really am awesome, right Samantha?"

She rolled her eyes, "Of course sir." she said in the static monotone of o0ne of the earlier 

He chuckled, "Call me Wallace Samantha, and come on that sounded so lackluster, you're missing energy behind that right Adam?"

Adam chuckled, "Yeah, awesome, but while you're inventing the internet 4.0 or 5.0 did you have any time to look at the Fantasy game, I made using the Quantum Dream Walker Ai Systems assistant?" 

His dad smirked, "I hope you'll be pleased to know I've incorporated the heads-up display from your game in the base software and I plan to use your game in the presentation to show what this baby can do." Adam jumped down, slowly falling through the crystalline structure landing in his father's arms. He hugged his father tight, and his father hugged him back before rubbing the back of his head, "Don't worry kiddo, you're a genius just like your papa, it's in your blood, no way I wouldn't show that off... but uhm, let me get dressed." he put him down and turned up to the nanny, "Samantha, take him to the showroom. He'll introduce you to the executives there, they love Adam... and Adam if you see your aunt... just play nice." His grin seemed to harden as if strained, they collectively took that to mean get out of there and make a good impression on the executives. They hurried up the steps, Samantha paused at the top waiting for Adam to catch up, throwing one last glance at the CEO tycoon who winked at her sending shivers of cringe and disgust through her spine. Adam let out a tired sigh when seeing her expression.

Just before entering the Showroom, Adam could hear the usual slander from his dad's rivals and associates, but this time he had heard something that sounded... suspect to put blatantly. "This new invention, if it actually does what he claims... he will be privatizing dimensional communication and interdimensional information, do you know how ludicrous that sounds? It's why I've paid off a few of his employees as a surprise. It pays to be a genius, but you can't be both a genius with his ambition and a good boss, he needs to treat-" 

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Adam entered, "Again with the Privatization slander, everyone always suspects him of such, how many times does he have to prove himself, you know the man my dad is, if he wanted to privatize things you all would be out of a job, he's let the metaverse stay open, he structured it so it could never be closed off. Maybe your fear is why you're here and not the one about to transverse the multiverse, Norton." General Edward Norton, an old burly well-dressed eggshell white skinned man, was a founder of the now 60-year-old UN Space Force, originally a civilian militia given space authority, being the first to utilize the metaverse to their advantage they became the dominant interplanetary transportation and defense receiving legitimacy and government funding.  

"Wise words, wish I was so wise when I was your age, maybe I'd have invented the metaverse as we know it. You know how the invention works; I heard you had a hand in the show today?"

Adam smirked in pride before shrugging, "I know how a lot of the software works, quantum AI-assisted computing has often been very fascinating to me but the brain-computer interface he's using, and the overall hardware are alien to me."

One of the other men in the room looked shocked, Adam recognized the man as the tech tycoon Mas Jarvis, owner of nearly 100 well-developed billion-dollar tech companies. "You're telling me you haven't cracked the code on this one? Your father has you beat."

Samantha placed a placating hand on Adam's shoulder, but her support felt like giving into weakness, he could handle himself even with the adults, "Actually he's just never allowed me to take a look inside the actual computer that makes his system possible."

Norton scoffed, "You don't have access." The conversation was now drawing the attention of other CEOs and officials in the room bringing all eyes to Adam. Although a mostly silent room, its quietness became deafening. 

A familiar feminine voice cut through the almost tangible tension like a heated knife through butter, "Oh please general, don't hound the boy he's only a pre-teen, genius or not there is no reasonable way he'd be given access to such high-level stuff." It was the voice of his aunt, the woman that ripped his mother away from his father before she died. 

Samantha knelt beside him and turned to look at him which drew snickers, "You don't have to answer them." but he did.

Norton tossed his glossy black locks back as he chuckled, "Reminds me of when I needed a babysitter to keep me in check and speak for me."

Maybe it was the taunts from his father's business partners who Adam had been conditioned to look down on... maybe it was the way Samantha kept budding in... maybe it was that wording... from her of all people, is what broke him, it wasn't just stuff, it was restricted information on how everything in the foreseeable future would be based, he was 12 and he could see that "No there are just measures in place so that uneducated eyes don't try to make a mess comprehending what they are seeing, fortunately, I've hacked the building's security to allow me access to all parts of the building... I just haven't peaked out of respect."

Mas Jarvis, a burly aged fellow seemed to grow a few decades younger as his childlike curiosity seemed to get the better of him, "Do you plan to take a look now before the unveiling?" Norton leaned forward, seemingly more engaged than ever before.

Adam grinned, "I plan to take a look right now." he shrugged as he walked past them to the elevator. Taking it to the floor just below, the computer room. The floor of the computer room only showed the actual computers but behind nearly indestructible glass to block anyone from entry, if you actually wanted entry, you'd need to head down to the floor below where you'd reach a corridor that took you to a locked staircase. You needed a keycard, but the room was strangely open and unguarded. As he entered, he was greeted by a transparent, baby blue, maternal and womanly figure with short hair in business casual attire, the new Dream walker Ai System. "Hello Master Wilson. What is your purpose, come to check up on the senior technician?"

The Ai was already linked to his CMB Link, so it appeared to him in his mind rather than a solid light holographic projection, this meant even closing his eyes and ears wouldn't save him from its visage unless he turned off his link. "Hello DW." he then took in what she said, "Someone was here?"

The ai smiled, "Yes sir, but they have not begun working." Adam sighed but in truth this just gave him the ability to prove himself, there may have been no officials around but he never lied to his dad and his dad always believed in him so if he came back and said he fixed 2 billion dollars' worth of tech, his father would commend him without hesitation, "I'll show those pricks." he walked over to the station that was being worked on, looks like one of the quantum computers were down but they had the tool kit there to fix it. Adam made his way up to the computer and began opening it up so he could better see the issue. It took him 15 minutes to decipher that someone had removed the cooling chambers and messed with the particle teleportation system used to lessen the programing strain on the hard drive, in other words, someone broke the most fragile parts of the machine hoping for it to overheat and possibly explode and catch fire. Corporate sabotage, Adam got to work fixing the issue and even tweaking it so he could open up the source code on his watch. he used this to try and understand the complex systems his father was working with, "Wait..." upon further inspection he noticed that the system uses strange vibrations to link to other worlds, but this only allows you to take over a similar mind in that world not project yourself there, something that should've been fairly obvious, had this gone wrong it wouldn't just stop the transfer but the minds its transferring, it'd cause the quantum fractals to become unaligned, no longer protecting its user from the harsh energies either. Adam heard the event starting and rushed to clean up. He returned to the main hall to watch his father, but he saw general Norton Leave the moment he entered. His father now dressed stood on the platform cradled by the spiral staircase. He was now wearing a dark blue suit with light pink under tones, his hair was slick back and his charming beatific smile lit up the room causing everyone now here to murmur in a cacophony of praise and jealousy, Wallace ate it all up, "Everyone please settle down. Ladies and Gentlemen, what I have for you here is the next step in technology, everyone is looking to expand beyond the solar system or live inside of a video game. Well, what if I told you, it was easier to get resources, information, and abilities from worlds like you've never seen. The next stage in energy and communication is here, the dream walker will allow you to commune and travel to other dimensions. you see several decades ago I dreamed of a world where everyone could do almost anything and now, we're on that precipice, I two once was one looking for life in a new planet, in a new time, in a new system, but a progressive must always look at the bigger picture, must look forward, what I see are infinite worlds to study and interact with without ever leaving the system so when we do, we'll be prepared for anything." the crown was transfixed on him and the crystalline fractal shape above him. Adam called up the dream walker's virtal ai, "DW, patch me into dad." he thought openly so the system could easily pick them up.

"Sending Request... request pending..." her voice and figure changed to fit his father's, "Adam? I'm a little busy as you can see."

"Thought you might want to know somebody sabotaged the Dream Walker." his father's face fell dejected causing the crowd to look confused and worried, Adam quickly rectified his mistake, "I should have started by saying I fixed it." his dad broke into laughter.

it was a little surreal for Adam but in truth his father had suspected this and had set up the ai to memorize and save the encounters it has in a drive not connected to the main computer room earlier that day, he didn't want any alarms or alerts to ruin his day and his son had almost ruined that, but he went above and beyond and stopped the bastard's plans. His father returned to the show with more fervor, "Sorry for the pause in this tech expo I just got word that there was an attempt on my machine and my life, someone wanted to stop the fun but jokes on those sore losers, they were outsmarted by a 12 year old... look I understand the fear, you think you'll become irrelevant if you don't partner with me... and you might be right, but I'm not doing it for you, I'm barely doing it for me, I'm doing it for progress. This same child that beat you invented the system I'm using today, with a preset coordinate in time and space... I can send my mind to a world you will be able to view between the towers. Here there is a particle the beta testers were able to harness making waves in this world as heroes, the moral implications are still under review but now this is a world with real magic, this is just a taste of its potential." his father began to float up to Adam's level on the staircase and into the crystal. outside they could see a strange mix of a Georgian Victorian era with strange tools that strange things in the city. In this world passed by A luxurious patch of grass is accompanied by similar hedges. A handful of thick trees stands in the front, their trunk and crown offer home and shelter to an array of creatures. The flower beds are forming a miniature world of their own, full of mysteries and wonder; they're attention grabbing. The hedges reach one and a half meters high but will continue to grow until either stopped or collapsed by their own weight. Various stones hint at paths around the garden, guiding visitors around the garden, and showing them all it has to offer. Grass and roots are seemingly content with their positions in the garden, none trying to reach beyond, at least not yet.

The trees, birches, have stood there for a few years, and demand all attention, but in doing so also draw the attention to all the life forms living on them. The creatures seemed familiar but alien, like a cat with a snake as a tail and a fleshy scorpion just to name a few. As the beautiful floating display was going on Adam looked over to his father and saw the fractals were unaligned and rapidly deteriorating. 

"System update!" he shouted aloud but the dream walker responded, "73% RESSONACE!" It hasn't fully connected; I still have time.  "System Shut down!"

"Game initialization in progress system shut down request denied." 

Damn it! Adam made another desperate move, "System can you pause game?"

"Only the primary player can."

"Switch primary player." he was rushing the words out, but the system still understood as his thoughts were blasting all the same. 

"Primary Player must be the player within the crystalline matrix-" before it could finish, he glanced at the progress bar nearing 99%, he jumped pushing his father out of the structure as it took hold of him and transferred the progress over to him, "Pause G-" and like that Adam was no more. The cherished son, the prodigal genius, the bratty trust fund kid was gone forever. And after forever ended he woke up to a body that felt different with memories that weren't his like waking up from a bad dream you couldn't tell from reality. The bed he was on and room he was in was foreign yet familiar. He wept and wept, he had failed to stop it, but his dad was okay at least, "Am I dead?"