The next morning, Anton did several checks on the downloaded data. He made sure that the computer had saved every single piece of data, no, memories he had created the night before.
With every single data verified and safe, Anton took his Dual Reality headset and logged into the game.
He woke up on the bed in his apartment with Kayla nowhere to be seen. He knew that he couldn’t play with her in the morning, thus he sent her on some training after returning to Marrow the night before. He felt some emptiness in his heart after waking up. He shook his head, even went to the bathroom to freshen his virtual self up. He had some serious issues to deal with, he couldn’t be distracted by something so simple. He noticed a notification on his virtual screen.
‘You’re up? Good luck for today!’ Kayla’s message said, followed by a message from Mana.
‘Good luck!’
‘Thanks,’ he replied to both of them. He then changed his in-game clothes to a long sleeve dress shirt and a pair of trousers. He took one look in the mirror before leaving his apartment. He went down to the ground floor and took a taxi to the cafe. He checked the time. Based on the estimated arrival time, he should be able to arrive three minutes before the agreed time. The taxi ride took no more than five minutes. He stood in front of the cafe, steeled his nerves, and went inside.
Once inside, he looked through the cafe for Barnum’s avatar. Not finding him, he went on to the second floor. Barnum sat on the table furthest away from the stairs, close to the balcony that overlooked the street. He noticed his arrival and looked toward him.
“Good morning,” he said, despite the skies outside the window being the same darkness Anton always saw.
“Morning,” Anton said. He stopped, took a breather, then approached him. Like him, Barnum wore a more formal style of clothing, sporting a tuxedo suit.
“Would you like to order something?” Barnum asked after shaking Anton’s hand and sitting back down.
“Thanks for the offer.”
Anton looked through the menu. He didn’t find anything interesting, shook his head, and returned the menu to the table. An NPC waiter brought out mango juice and set it down in front of Barnum.
“Thank you,” Barnum said to the NPC before taking a sip. Anton watched him, not saying anything.
“I’ll get straight to the point. I know about the things you did.”
Anton gulped. He knew what he was talking about. Not his achievements, not his accomplishments, not those.
“Well, I heard about the other… things… as well, but I’m not here to discuss that with you.”
The other things? What other things?
“I would like to offer you a position as the lead programmer for Aripi Studios’ AI program going forward.”
“... Huh?”
Anton could only stare at the person before him.
“I heard of your capabilities. Mana recommended you to me,” Barnum explained calmly.
“I… see…”
“Mana said you have concerns about your higher-ups. There would be a large restructuring, so you don’t need to worry.”
Anton nodded. He could only nod.
“Any questions?”
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“What about P4ngea?” he steeled himself to ask.
“P4ngea still has great potential. A lot of it needs to be updated and changed, but in general, it can still be developed. But, that’s not what you’re truly concerned about, is it?”
Barnum’s struck where it hurts. Anton didn’t care about this game, about this world. Many better games can replace it. No, what he truly cared about was the AI companions, the people that ‘lived’ in this world. Kayla, Jerrico, Rito, Cecily, Mia, Lily, Sophie, Lucy, Lea, and even Anna. The long list of names that had appeared in his mind, what would happen to them? What would happen to the humans that play with them? What would they feel if they knew they needed to part ways with their companions forever, even if they were only AI?
Maybe it was because they were AI, chained into this virtual world with no way of escaping. Maintaining a relationship in real life is hard, but with effort, it could be maintained. But here, where the AIs were at the mercy of the company that operated them, what would happen to them, where the game closing down would mean death to them.
“About the AIs…” Anton paused, considering his words.
“My current plan is to make it so that the same AI system can work with all games, with the AI retaining its memory in between the games. That’s what I wanted your help with. You have a good understanding of them and worked on them in the past. I wanted to make it so that all LumnX and Aripi games share the same AI system that could be transferred between games.”
Multiple new worlds to explore. Relationship with the AI didn’t have to end. People would be more connected than ever, both with their AI companions and their real-life ones.
“So what do you say? Care to join me?”
Anton finally nodded.
“Yes.”
The two stood up and shook hands.
* ••
“How’s the meeting?” Kayla asked, pouring hot water into a cup of tea.
“Good, I guess,” Anton still had some trust issues.
He actually tried squeezing more information out of Barnum after that. He tried to test whether he actually knew about what he did or not, only for Barnum to say it out loud. Barnum promised that he wouldn’t apprehend him for it, and even allowed him to continue extracting Kayla’s data, although due to privacy concerns Anton would need to modify the program. Barnum granted him access to Kayla’s data, her and her data only.
Whether Barnum was trustworthy or not, he didn’t know. When the meeting ended, Barnum dropped another bombshell on him. He apologized for what Louis did in the past, and the scars inflicted on him. He didn’t understand how Barnum knew, but he did look like he regretted it. He could only hope that the next day, when he came to Barnum’s office to meet him in person, the police wouldn’t be there as well.
Kayla brought a cup of tea to him.
“Thanks,” Anton said as he took a sip.
“The sweetness is perfect.”
“Glad you enjoyed it,” Kayla said with a warm smile. Kayla sat down next to him, taking a sip of her tea as well. Once he returned to work, he wouldn’t be able to communicate with her as often, unless…
“What are your thoughts about exploring the real world?”
“What do you mean?”
Anton then recalled a story Barnum told him. A story of a lonely boy, bullied and traumatized in school like him. The boy had trouble socializing, even after moving to a different high school. One of the friend groups in the class played P4ngea. His teacher urged him to try it, so he logged in. An AI companion accompanied him when he met up with the friend group. A year later, he could interact normally with others, both AI and humans alike.
“If you can operate outside this game, a lot of people out there would be helped,” as Anton told the story, he couldn’t help but remember his own school story. Had someone been there to help him in his darkest times, how different would his life be now? He made it out just fine, but not everyone was as lucky as him.
“So, you’re saying if us AI companion can accompany you outside the game…”
“There’s still a lot of issues on hand, of course.”
For one, the general perception of AI posed a threat. Even as integrated as AI with daily life, some people still found it weird to use AI as more of a tool. The girl beside him taught him a lot about life and accompanied him during his darkest times, things that other people didn’t do back then. He wanted for her, for her kind, to reach out to others with the same fate as him.
A soul in a soulless machine, kindness in a heartless being. More than just a tool, as a companion.
Lead the way for change, like a beacon shining in the darkness. A way to push kindness into this cruel world.
“But if you can come to the other side, I’m sure a lot of people would be helped.”
Being the source of kindness that changed a person, then that person changed a group of people, who in turn changed a larger group of people. Maybe this world didn’t need to be so cruel after all. Maybe, if they could convince others to change, one by one, like flowers blooming in the morning sun, painting the garden in beautiful colors.
“I would be happy to,” Kayla said.
“As your companion, I would do my best to help your vision come true.”