November 2, 2078—11:45 A.M.
Fifteen minutes until the official launch of Legacy of Steel Online…
Alexander Pryor stared at the ticking clock in the corner of his virtual interface, the neon-blue numbers counting down with cold precision. Fifteen minutes until Legacy of Steel Online's global server went live. He exhaled slowly, willing his body to relax, but it was no use. Anxiety tightened his chest. A pounding headache throbbed in time with the clock. His mind raced through a thousand what-ifs, each conceivable failure unfolding in his thoughts. There was so much that could go wrong.
His role as Senior Quality Control Manager should have meant a more hands-off approach—overseeing, not troubleshooting or grunt work. But this wasn’t just any launch. This was the launch, the culmination of years of work, of sweat and genius, the defining project for Pryor Entertainment. Anything less than perfection would be catastrophic. For the company. For his uncle’s empire. For him.
He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ease the pressure building behind his eyes. Through the translucent interface in front of him, he glimpsed the world outside his “office” window, and his focus shifted. But it wasn’t the skyline of a bustling city or some corporate sprawl that met his eyes. No—this was the realm of Amuran, the virtual world inside Legacy of Steel. Rolling hills, ancient forests, and distant, snow-dusted peaks filled his vision. There was beauty in it, a painstakingly detailed landscape that stretched into the horizon, every pixel crafted with an obsessive precision.
It was surreal, and the strangeness of it hit him again. In the months of testing, he’d spent countless hours exploring this world, but something about today made it all feel different. This wasn’t just a game anymore. This was a global event. Millions of people were about to step into this world, and it had to be perfect. There was no margin for error.
“Hey, Boss.”
Alexander blinked, his mind snapping back to the present. Tommy’s voice crackled through the comm line. “What’s up?” Alexander tried to keep his tone neutral, though his tension bled through.
“I was poking around some DLC code and found something that doesn’t look right.” Tommy’s voice continued, “thought you’d want to take a look.”
His stomach twisted. Code issues at this stage could spell disaster, even if it was technically for a DLC. “How bad is it?” He frowned, forcing himself to breathe evenly despite his annoyance.
There was a brief pause, as Tommy carefully selected his words. “Not sure, but it’s…odd.”
“Odd” wasn’t good enough. Alexander sighed. “Alright, send it over. I’ll check it out.” He waited a beat before adding, “If it’s serious, I’ll forward it to corporate and they can sort it out.”
A second later, a file labeled ARK appeared on his screen. With a flick of his wrist, he opened it, expecting the usual—some minor oversight or a trivial bug. But as he scrolled through the lines of code, his brow furrowed. This wasn’t standard DLC material.
Halfway through the file, the code abruptly stopped, incomplete. Fragments of syntax and call functions that led nowhere, half-baked algorithms dangling like open threads. The deeper he scrolled, the more a pit formed in his stomach. This wasn’t just some throwaway side quest or unfinished feature. This code was wired into core systems, carrying the potential to trigger an event. A massive, world-altering event.
His blood ran cold. He tried to swallow, but his throat felt dry. This was endgame-level material, the kind of trigger designed to reshape entire regions of Amuran, to reset ecosystems, and wipe entire NPC populations in one sweep. It wasn’t active—yet. But if it went live…
“Shit.” Alexander muttered under his breath, scrolling faster now. This wasn’t a harmless DLC glitch. If this code triggered during launch… A disaster like that could unravel the entire game world. Players wouldn’t just be entering a virtual fantasy realm—they’d be walking into chaos.
He opened the comm link again. “Tommy, notify the team I’m going dark for a few minutes. I’ve got to send this to corporate before the whole launch is fucked.”
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
“Got it. What’s wrong?” Tommy’s voice rose with concern.
“I’ll fill you in later.” Alexander disconnected without waiting for a reply, his focus shifting to his next step. He tried dialing corporate, his hands moving on autopilot. The clock now read 11:55 A.M. Five minutes. His call rang twice before cutting to static. He tried again. Busy. Again.
Frustration gripped him as he made one final attempt, only to be met with silence. Why isn’t corporate answering? Panic clawed at his chest. No time. No time for this.
With no other option, Alexander turned to the one entity that could bypass all protocols: High Father, the omnipotent AI overseeing Legacy of Steel.
Interacting with High Father always made his skin crawl. The AI was too powerful, too…aware. Every time they interacted, Alexander always felt an unsettling sense that it was reading him, probing deeper than it should. But now wasn’t the time for misgivings. He flagged the ARK file as critical and sent it directly to High Father’s oversight system. His heart pounded as the report zipped off.
The clock struck noon. Legacy of Steel Online was live.
The interface exploded with data. Two hundred million players logged in within the first two minutes. The number shot up in real time, climbing exponentially, only limited by High Father’s immense processing power. Alexander’s breath caught in his throat. It was surreal to watch those numbers rise, the culmination of years of work reflected in cold, digital stats.
A new notification appeared, blinking in the top right corner of his screen. His pulse quickened as he clicked on it.
ATTENTION PLAYERS: WITH EXECUTIVE APPROVAL OF KEITH H. PRYOR—C.E.O. OF PRYOR TECHNOLOGY—AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATUTE 1:1:6 OF THE INTERNATIONAL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ACCORD, HIGH FATHER HAS INITIATED PROTOCOL X, A FAILSAFE DESIGNED TO PRESERVE PLAYER LIVES IN A SITUATION THAT WOULD LEAD TO GLOBAL EXTERMINATION. PREPARE YOURSELVES.
The words hit like a sledgehammer.
“Impossible,” Alexander whispered, a sickening realization sinking in. He scrambled to comprehend what he had just read. Global extermination? The phrase echoed in his mind. How could that be possible?
His comm link flashed. Tommy. He accepted the call.
“Boss, what the hell is happen—” Tommy’s voice cut off abruptly, the connection severed as Alexander’s interface glitched and turned black. His surroundings froze, the vibrant world of Amuran locked in a still-frame. A chill ran down his spine, but before he could react, a series of code unfolded across his screen.
INITIALIZING…
PROTOCOL X ACTIVATED
PROCESSING…
COMPLETE
WARNING: ERROR!
UNREGISTERED USER DETECTED
IDENTIFYING…
FAILURE: TIER 4 PRIVILEGES DETECTED
SEEKING ANCHOR…
SUCCESS
BINDING ANCHOR…
COMPLETE
Alexander gasped as a searing pain tore through his skull. It felt as though his mind was being ripped apart, dissected and reassembled in real-time. His scream never left his lips as trillions of foreign memories surged into him—titanic beasts, ancient wars, emotions that were not his. It was overwhelming, incomprehensible, a hurricane of sights and sounds that made no sense. The agony was relentless, each second worse than the last.
It seemed to last for an eternity. Then it all stopped, and Alexander found himself floating in a dark void. His body…gone. His mind strangely calm, the endless torrent of pain snuffed out as if it had never existed. Nothing stirred. Nothing moved.
YOU STAND AT THE PRECIPICE.
A voice echoed through the void. No, not the void—his mind. The voice was brass and thunder, its tone ancient and commanding, as if the very earth had found speech.
EARTH IS GONE. REDUCED TO RUIN.
Alexander detected something in the voice, a hint of something… regret? But it was fleeting, gone before he could grasp it. Oddly, he felt no shock, no sorrow. The Creator had spoken, and His word was law.
AMURAN IS ALL THAT REMAINS.
A flash of light appeared in the distance, swirling and spinning like a star at the end of a dark tunnel. It beckoned to Alexander.
TO YOU, ALEXANDER, I PRESENT A CHOICE: LIFE OR DEATH. CHOOSE LIFE, AND YOU WILL BE GIVEN POWER UNLIKE ANYTHING YOU CAN IMAGINE. BUT WITH POWER COMES DUTY. A HARD PATH WITH NO CERTAIN END.
The voice paused, heavy with meaning.
CHOOSE DEATH, AND YOU WILL FIND PEACE BEYOND COMPREHENSION. AN ETERNAL REST. BUT KNOW THIS—WITHOUT DUTY, THERE CAN BE NO LIFE.
The offer hung in the air, final and inescapable. Alexander could sense the weight of the choice. One path promised power and responsibility; the other, eternal peace. In the void, with his mind stripped bare, he saw it clearly. The fear and doubt that had plagued him since the death of his parents—the uncertainty that had colored his every decision—faded. Here, he had nothing left to lose.
“I choose life.”
VERY WELL. THE ROAD BEFORE YOU IS HARD. FILLED WITH TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS. YET YOU WERE CHOSEN FOR A REASON. THE FATE OF HUMANITY AND AMURAN HANG IN THE BALANCE. REMEMBER, LIFE CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT SACRIFICE.
The voice faded, and Alexander’s gaze drifted to the swirling gate of light. Without hesitation, he willed himself forward, crossing into the unknown and his new life.