Anton opened his eyes, looking up at the brown wooden ceiling. A bulb hung at the center of it, emitting light into the room. Birds chirped in the distance, the refreshing mountain air caressing his skin.

“You’re back. Been waiting for you,” Anton heard the soft voice of a girl, one he knew well. The voice of his companion.

“Kayla,” he muttered her name, prompting the girl to smile. She approached him and sat down on the bed right beside his legs. The girl retained the game’s generated features. Yellow hair tied in a ponytail and dark blue eyes. She wore dark red armor, one Anton chose for her.

“Yes, master,” the girl said with a gleeful voice.

“I told you to not call me that, remember?” Anton said while rubbing his eyes. He then used his right hand to push himself up. Kayla approached him and assisted in getting him seated upright.

“You also told me that despite being an AI companion, I don’t need to follow all your words,” Kayla said, her right hand on her chest.

“Well, there are some exceptions to that,” Anton said as he got off the bed.

The bed let out a faint squeak as his weight was relieved from it. He navigated toward the balcony, looking out at the tall trees that surrounded his virtual home. Several trees modeled after pine trees stretched beyond the land, covering the mountains. He rested his hands on the railings, leaning outward toward nature

“They haven’t changed one bit since you last logged in,” Kayla said, standing beside him.

“Yeah… I thought there are updates in this area?”

“Most of them are in the city. You want me to give you a quick tour?”

“Yes, please.”

“Follow me, then,” Kayla said as she turned around and headed back inside.

“Actually,” hearing Anton’s words, Kayla stopped in her tracks. She turned around, waiting for what he wanted to say. Anton opened up his virtual menu and selected his player profile. He took a screenshot of his screen and sent it to his computer.

“Wait a minute.”

“I’ll wait for you no matter how long it takes,” Kayla’s words made a smile appear on Anton’s face. Anton navigated the menu and logged out of the game.

After his return to the real world, he made his way to his computer. Using the program he installed, he added a large amount of money to his in-game bank account. Even without hacking, employees could add money to their accounts for testing purposes. Technically, this wasn’t illegal, at least it wasn’t the most illegal part of the entire thing. He made sure to use the access to delete the log file detailing his actions, and after going through some checks, he made his way back to his bed. He logged in once again, returning to P4ngea.

“That was quick,” Kayla said upon seeing him back in the game.

“I expected it would take at least a couple of days,” She joked.

“Who taught you to be sassy?” Anton asked sarcastically.

“You said I should do whatever I want, or rather, whatever my programming told me to do.”

“And I programmed you…”

“So it’s your fault.”

“Let’s just move on,” Anton went past Kayla and headed for the ground floor.

She quickly followed in his steps, skipping down along with him. Despite being a two-floor house, Anton didn’t fill it with much furniture. He did leave the interior design to Katla. She could only work with the items he bought, though. That reminded him of the added money and quickly checked the balance for his account.

It was all in his account. He decided he would leave that money alone for now, not wanting to raise suspicion and stick with smaller purchases. Kayla waited patiently behind him. Once ready, he opened the door and set his foot outside. The moment he left the house, he saw the appearance of a block of text above his vision. It had a wooden sign background and some leaves, with the village’s name, Alvandor, listed on it.

“That’s one of the new things,” Kayla said as she appeared from behind him.

The sign then disappeared. Noticing that, Anton turned around and headed back inside, much to Kayla’s visible confusion. He closed the door, leaving Kayla outside, only to reappear a few seconds later. The sign once again reappeared. Anton looked up at it. While it wasn’t a physical object in the game’s world, the sign remained in a single place, thus looking up at it didn’t move its position.

“Why?”

“... You’re asking me?” Kayla looked at him.

Anton noticed her blank stare, probably because her programming failed to bring up any responses. Anton let out a sigh and continued his way through the mountain village.

“You’re not going to explain that?” Kayla asked curiously.

Anton knew that the girl’s personality had been generated by random numbers, and he could change it if he wanted, but he found that side of her quite charming. Cute, in a way.

“That’s a highly unneeded update.”

“You think so?” Anton nodded to Kayla’s question.

The game had countless issues, and not having a large sign wasn’t one of them. It was a weird addition, one that made the game less immersive. Anton stopped above the cobblestone road that linked one house to the other. Several wooden houses formed the little mountain village. The smallest ones had two floors with three bedrooms. Their size and price varied, with the most expensive ones being called a manor thanks to their size. A getaway for the wealthy, in a way. Calm winds blew through the skies, their realistic sensation engulfing Anton’s virtual skin.

Anton opened his in-game menu. He navigated the settings, looking for the button.

“You know how to turn that off?” he asked. Kayla looked confused and then pointed upward.

“The wind?”

“No, the signs.”

“Oh, go to settings, display, then landmark markers. You can choose your preferred style there, or you can turn it off.”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Anton browsed through the many options the game offered him. His hand glided over the virtual screen, pressing virtual buttons. Eventually, he arrived at the settings Kayla mentioned. He looked through the several styles the game offered, trying to remember when the game added them. Despite being a developer himself, he didn’t remember most of the changes applied to the game.

He did know about the ones related to AI and the player base. The game’s community had been rather vocal about some recent changes, which unfortunately fell on deaf ears.

He chose to turn off the markers, opting for the markers on his map instead, and closed the screen. He looked around the village, looking a bit emptier when compared to the time he last played. It hadn’t been that long, he thought.

I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise.

He continued walking, making his way toward a large building in the distance. The village offered nature-based living, thus all the pine trees and grass that surrounded each individual house. Some players had clearly paid more attention than others. While most of the houses looked relatively bland from the outside, featuring just a few decorations on their front yards, others had an entire forest somehow fitted there.

A cat sat near the road, licking its paws when it saw Anton. It approached him while meowing.

“Here kitty kitty,” Kayla said as she kneeled and started patting its head. The cat let out a tiny purr as it enjoyed the sensation of Kayla’s hand running through its fur.

“Meooow…”

“Cute, isn’t it?” Anton said as she watched Kayla play with the cat.

“Very. Can we keep it?”

“For the thousandth time, no.”

“Well, I’ll keep asking for another thousand, then.”

“Besides, it had an owner. Look at its collar.”

“That’s unfortunate,” eventually, the cat walked away.

Kayla waved her hand toward it before continuing on her walk, walking beside Anton. They approached a white concrete building, shaped like a box. Two rectangles with the letter H on them occupied its roof. They entered the building and headed for the receptionist on the first floor.

“How about Oakport?” Anton considered Kayla’s suggestion for a moment. Kayla noticed the uncertainty on Anton’s face and continued.

“It has been updated recently.”

“Oh, alright then.”

“Fly or drive?”

“Drive.”

“Okay,” Kayla continued the car booking process with the receptionist.

Players could have their own vehicles and store them in selected places around the map. Normally, homes, depending on size, had their own garages, some large enough to house an entire airport. Of course, those ones were expensive and would take either years of grinding or real-world money to obtain. Alvandor’s had a close-to-nature kind of vibe. Sounds and noises like engines and heavy machinery were seen as disturbing, their operation banned within the region. Players couldn’t keep their vehicles in their houses, and could only store them in a garage that could be accessed through this building.

“Which one?” Kayla asked. Anton approached her, looking at the screen that showed various different types of vehicles with different prices. He didn’t have much money before this, so he didn’t have a car, with most of his money going into upgrading his weapons and equipment.

“Would thirty minutes be enough?” he asked, his hand hovering on top of the sedan that he selected.

“To Oakport? Sure, but we’re not returning after that?” Returning to Alvandor wasted time, something that he didn’t have much of. He could feel the clock ticking, each second in this world counts. He shook his head and selected the cheapest option.

“Thank you for your purchase. Your car will be ready shortly.”

The receptionist played a predetermined voice line. Unlike Kayla, who had advanced AI, NPCs like her had limited AI capabilities. Kayla thanked the receptionist before guiding Anton toward the southern side of the wide concrete building, toward the main lobby. There, a red sedan was parked, ready to be driven. The two entered the car. Kayla pulled her seatbelts. Anton, meanwhile, rested his back on the car’s seats. It was a normal sedan, old by real-world standards.

He did choose the cheapest option, after all.

“Seatbelts?” Kayla pointed toward the buckle.

“It’s not like I can die, though.”

“But you went out of your way to choose the cheapest option. I assume you wouldn’t want to spend unnecessary hospital bills.”

“... Fine…” reluctantly, Anton pulled the belt and pushed it into the buckle. It let out a soft click as it rested into place. Seeing Anton’s reluctance, Kayla let out a sly smile.

“You told me to not follow all your words.”

“You sure learn fast.”

“I’m a computer program, after all.”

“And I programmed you…”

“Correct,” unable to find a way to retort, Anton looked away. Kayla giggled as she started driving.

The car left the lobby, making its way down the mountainous road, heading toward the city below. Far in the distance, a large city extended toward the horizon. Tall buildings towered into the sky while a massive port beyond them was filled with various cargo ships anchored around it.

Kayla hit a speed of eighty kilometers an hour, cruising down the empty road. A notification popped up on Ethan’s screen, telling him that they had left the peace zone, meaning that they were now prone to being attacked. Ethan swiped the notification away. Kayla, meanwhile, slowed down as she approached some curves, trees starting to cover the right side of their car. P4ngea followed a right-hand drive system, a bit uncommon when compared to Earth. A warning suddenly appeared in Anton’s vision.

“Bandits…” Anton muttered. He opened his settings menu, navigating the settings as fast as possible.

“Kayla… where’s the pacifist option?” Anton scanned the screen again, but he couldn’t find the option.

“It was-” Anton felt a harsh shake on the car, throwing him around.

“See, seatbelt saves money!”

“Kayla, this is not the time! Where’s the pacifist option!?” Anton asked in a panic.

“It’s removed!” The world felt like it momentarily stopped, at least that's how it feels for Anton. A second explosion brought him back to reality.

“Shit!” Anton cursed. He closed the settings and swapped the screen to his inventory. He pulled out his trusted weapon, a dark blue magic staff with a black prism on top. He held it in his hands, his eyes searching for where their attacker came from.

“Watch out!” Anton yelled, looking at an explosion on the side. The explosion hit two pine trees, which collapsed onto the road. They blocked the right portion of the road, a sharp turn right after that section, and from behind that turn, appeared their attackers. An attack helicopter appeared from behind the trees on the right, flying not far above the treetops. Its guns whirred. Kayla saw it and reached for the handbrake. Using her right hand, she slammed the steering wheel left, causing the car to violently go left. She pulled the handbrake before pushing it and making a violent turn to the right, following the outer perimeter of the turn.

Anton felt his body being thrown around in the car. He held tight to the seatbelt, his right hand holding on to his staff. Once the car straightened, he quickly lowered his windows. The helicopter opened fire, sending bullets down the road. The shots sent a plethora of debris onto the side of the car, some jumping inside. Kayla drifted at the next left turn, trying to keep her path as erratic as possible. At the entry, she kept the car close to the turn’s inner perimeter. The helicopter turned, aiming its gun at the speeding sedan.

Anton let go of the seatbelt and crawled onto the window sill. He aimed his right hand at the helicopter, his left holding down the roof rack that kept him in place. The bullets got closer to them, but they soon stopped, right before a U-turn. Kayla grabbed the handbrake and made a sharp drift around the turn, disappearing behind a thick layer of forest as they continued their descent toward the city. Kayla planted her foot on the gas, the engine roaring as it was pushed to its limit.

Anton held on, looking at the helicopter that flew behind the shadows of the trees. Kayla followed the straight road down. The helicopter then flew right above them, crossing the road and going to the other side. It turned its nose, aiming once again at Anton's car.

"Wind Breath!” the black prism at the end lit up. A gulf of wind flew from the wand, pushing from behind Anton, heading for the helicopter. It pushed the helicopter slightly, but not enough to get it off course. Anton racked his brain, trying to search for the correct spell that would put it down. The helicopter's machine gun whirred again. He turned his head forward, noticing a tunnel quickly approaching them. It gave him an idea.

“Wind Pull!” He yelled. He pulled the helicopter, still adjusting its course from the previous attack, toward him. Kayla continued pushing the car, pushing it past one hundred twenty kilometers per hour. The sudden pull left the pilots little time to react. The helicopter broke off from the spell’s effects, but it was too late. Unable to change course in time, the helicopter slammed into the top side of the tunnel. Its tail broke off from the body and flew into the empty tunnel. The fiery tail traveled several hundred meters before coming to a stop. With a breath of relief, Anton pulled himself back inside the car.