Out on the farm, Emily Morgan wiped a bead of sweat from her brow as she leaned against the old barn door. The air was thick with the scent of hay and the earthy smell of the fields after a fresh till. Life here was as constant and reliable as the changing seasons—nothing much ever changed, and that was just fine for their father and older brother, Isaac.
But for Emily, the world was different now. Ever since Alex had made that announcement—the one that had the entire gaming world buzzing—she couldn’t stop thinking about her brother and how far he had come. It was funny in a way. For years, Alex had been the prodigal son, the one who had left the farm and the family behind to chase his dreams of becoming the world’s leading AI researcher. And for years, the family had barely spoken to him.
The accident had changed all of that.
Emily brushed a strand of hair out of her face, tying it back into the messy bun she always wore when working. She glanced at her phone, where an article about Beyond Realms was still open. Everyone was talking about it—the game that would supposedly revolutionize the industry. And at the heart of it all was Alex’s creation, the EchoAgents.
A faint smile tugged at her lips. She could almost see him now, hunched over his computer, tinkering with algorithms and code, completely in his element. She remembered how he used to talk about his work, how he had always dreamed of building something that could think, something that could learn. And now, he had done it.
“I always knew he’d do something big,” she muttered to herself. “Just wish Dad and Ethan could see it.”
The sound of the tractor approaching brought her back to reality. Ethan was coming in from the fields, the familiar rumble of the engine echoing through the yard. He hopped out of the cab, wiping his hands on his jeans. He was a spitting image of their father, all broad shoulders and hard lines, with a face worn by years of manual labor.
“Still on about Alex and his game, huh?” Ethan called, noticing her phone. His voice was casual, indifferent, as always when it came to their younger brother.
“It’s not just a game,” Emily shot back, though her tone wasn’t confrontational. “It’s... bigger than that.”
Ethan shrugged. “Yeah, well, to me, it’s just some fancy tech stuff. Doesn’t mean much out here.” He gestured toward the open fields. “Life keeps going, Em. Crops need tending. Cows need feeding. Ain’t nothing changed for us.”
Emily sighed. This was always the problem. To Isaac and their father, Alex’s achievements didn’t hold weight because they didn’t fit into the world they knew. Technology, AI—these were things that didn’t matter when you were knee-deep in soil, relying on the land to make your living.
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But for Emily, it mattered. It mattered because Alex mattered.
“I think it’s amazing,” she said, her voice softer now. “What he’s doing... it’s going to change everything.”
Ethan grunted, noncommittal. “Maybe. But at the end of the day, it’s still just a game.”
Emily didn’t respond. She knew better than to try and argue with him. Instead, she glanced down at her phone again, looking at the article one more time. The words blurred slightly, and she wondered how Alex was feeling. She hadn’t spoken to him in weeks, though their relationship had improved significantly since the accident. It was slow, this mending of old wounds, but they were getting there. Step by step, day by day.
She couldn’t help but admire him, though. He had taken everything that had happened—the pain, the distance, the family’s indifference—and used it as fuel. He had poured himself into his work, creating something that no one else had even dared to imagine. And now, the world was watching.
She knew their father still didn’t understand. He was a man of few words, and when it came to Alex, those words were even fewer. “What’s the point?” he had said one night after dinner, when she had tried to explain what Alex was working on. “All this technology, all these games... they don’t put food on the table.”
Ethan had nodded in agreement, and that had been the end of it. The conversation had drifted back to crop rotations and weather forecasts. But for Emily, it hadn’t ended there. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Alex’s success was something worth celebrating, even if no one else in the family seemed to feel the same.
And maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Their father had watched the news about Beyond Realms, she was sure of it. He never said much, but she had caught him glancing at the TV a few times, his brow furrowed as if he were trying to make sense of it all.
Ethan, too, wasn’t completely immune. There had been a moment—a brief flicker of something—when he had seen the announcement, and for just a second, he had looked... proud. Not that he would ever admit it.
Emily’s phone buzzed in her hand, and she looked down to see a message from Alex. It was short, just a quick note saying he’d be free for a call later if she wanted to chat. But even that small gesture meant the world to her. For the first time in years, her brother was reaching out, and she wasn’t about to let that opportunity slip by.
She quickly typed out a reply, her fingers moving faster than they ever did when working on the farm. Yeah, let’s talk later. I’m proud of you, Alex. She hesitated for a moment before hitting send, wondering if it was too much, too soon. But then, with a deep breath, she tapped the screen.
The tractor’s engine roared to life again as Ethan headed back out to the fields, leaving Emily standing alone in the quiet of the farmyard. She looked out over the rolling hills, the same view she had seen every day for as long as she could remember. It was peaceful here, steady, unchanging.
But in her heart, she knew that somewhere out there, in the bustling world of technology and innovation, her brother was making waves. And even if no one else in the family cared, she did.