-Zai POV-
Two hours have passed, I was waiting in an office room, it was wide, with comfortable black sofas in it. A desk placed on the side. Windows surrounded the room. Once I looked outside of them, I could see the entire ruin that surrounds us.
It was one of those skyscrapers, that stayed standing after The Catastrophe, one that is owned by Secret Corp. The company that my father worked in. The company that owned Secret Online.
I was sitting there with eight other people who were the parents of the other 4 top players. One family seemed like an upper-lower class family, the man dressed neatly and cleanly, and their behavior was elegant, but the quality of the dress was common. While another looked extremely rich, the diamond on the wife's ring is probably worth more than I could pay for even if I worked for a lifetime.
Instead of wearing that ring, she could save lives. Thousands of people could be fed, but greed stopped in the way of that. The greed of those who are in power, of those who can save lives, is standing in the way of helping so many people. She could be ignorant about that which happens in the world. I have been in a similar situation, unaware of the way of the world. Only felt pity for others, and wondered why didn’t they get a job. Only if you through it, do you understand that there is a need for external help.
I then noticed one couple kept bickering and fighting with each other over the fact that their son was addicted to the game and they blamed each other for not stopping him.
They finally quieted down after one grumpy stepdad said
“For the love of God - Would you shut up already!” He pretended to care about his stepdaughter, but the moment his wife went to the bathroom, his behavior changed completely. As if all that was going around him, was simple annoyance that was of no concern to him.
Then the man wearing the ridiculous rainbow-colored robe, who had and a peacock styled hair to match it appeared and introduced himself as the owner of Secret Inc.
Anyone would be ashamed to show their face in public if they had such a terrible look, but this only comes to show how much the rich lived in their own bubble, how hard they tried to separate themselves from the rest of humanity.
The owner has stated, that in the last year, the five players, have been playing for at least 12 hours a day, every day, to the point of addiction. Due to their continuous dive, they are now somehow stuck in the game. As if their minds completely synced with the game, any attempts to forcibly bring them out could cause brain damage.
'Looked pathetic as he tried to pretend to be sad, I felt like I should give him pointers on his acting skills, once I fix the way his face looks with a punch.''
"I'm sorry for what happened to your sons and daughters…" and then he looked at me and said "and your sister." He then continued saying that it was not in his power to get my sister and the other players out from the game.
I was unaware that my sister has spent so much time playing every day. So I started to ask various questions.
"But why is she stuck there? how long will she stay there until it is in your power to save her?" I asked impatiently waiting for him to tell me who is responsible so I can break some heads.
However, a voice came out from the people standing near me
"And how much money will you pay us for the suffering you have inflicted upon us?" I was shocked by the question, but many of them agreed.
The president answered "A million dollar for each kid lost will be given to the family. So imagine your sons are daughters are working and you received the money for their work for the worth of a million dollars."
The families were shocked, the women from the lower class and upper-lower class family started to cry and hugging her husband while mumbling something.
The eyes of the rich family were doubting, the husband and wife kept looking at each other, but no word was said between them, their expression was emotionless.
Finally, the step dad could be heard laughing, unable to contain himself. While his wife was repulsed.
I was immersed in their reactions. I found it interesting. What use would laughing or crying do now? It won’t save anyone from anything. They should have cried when they heard their sons and daughter would probably be brain dead or stuck in a virtual reality game for the rest of their life.
It all felt unreal as if it wasn’t genuinely happening, But feelings and logic aren’t the same, I knew what I saw and what I heard with my eyes was not that of a nightmare.
Truthfully, the right thing to do now was to take the money and employ people to save my sister. Once she is saved, she will come back to her wealthy brother, who can truly protect her at that time.
One million dollar is a lot in these times when working a full day would get you pennies to be able that barely afford you dinner. A million dollar would get you a castle and servant for the rest of yours and your grandchildren's lives.
"But.." the president continued "you must never tell anyone about what happened to your children."
I was shocked to hear that. Not being able to tell anyone about it, means I can’t employ people to look into it further, means I can’t do anything to save Ell.
While I was still thinking of what to do, the lawyer, the woman in the suite that came to my house and brought me here, took out five contracts and then said
"If you agree to the sum, sign this contract which contains that you'll get your money in full while we will keep trying to help your children, but you need to keep the fact that they're stuck in the game a secret."
The stepdad was the first to stand in front of the contract and sign with a full smile on his face; he was no longer hiding his feeling toward his stepdaughter from the wife.
I tried analyzing the situation. In this day and age when money was the only thing, people would work for. These 1$ million would allow me to live comfortably. More importantly, assuming that Ell can be saved, once she is back, she could live in comfort. I couldn’t see any way I could save her. I neither knew anything about virtual reality games, nor anything about what my sister has been doing so far.
But, if I signed that contract, I won’t be able to investigate, I would have to trust the peacock man to help her, and he does not feel trustworthy to me.
I looked at the other families, hoping that their reactions would give me a tip. After the stepfather took his wife and left, I looked up to the wealthy couple to remind me of my faith in humanity, surely to them one million dollar is nothing, it doesn't affect them, they wouldn't even consider this let alone agree...
How? How could this happen? They are signing the contract; they don't even need the money to live or die. Are they giving up on their son that easily? I couldn't contain myself, I was looking up to them, thinking maybe they wouldn't fall for greed, they would do something to make sure the people in the game are saved, yet they are signing over the life of their son, to not speak about it, to not hire anyone to help.
Would they even fake their child's death in case someone asked? I held the arm of the woman as she was signing the contract, and I spoke with a louder voice than I expected
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY ARE YOU SIGNING THIS? WHY AREN'T YOU EMPLOYING PEOPLE TO SAVE YOUR SON INSTEAD? WHY.." before I could finish what I was saying, the husband kicked me with his leg, I could have easily dodged it, but I was shocked at hearing myself scream.
I have never screamed for the longest time I could remember. It was odd for a child, but I was always different from other people -’Special’ was fathers way of describing it... The Husbands kick felt soft, but I fell nonetheless "DON'T TOUCH MY WIFE YOU RAT."
Rat... they called me a rat. Ahh, we are in the same situation, yet they refuse to speak with me and only think of me like a rat. I guess I was wrong on my previous statement, the reason why the rich don't help the poor, is not because they are ignorant, nor because they are greedy though they are. But because they don't consider these people as human, this is also known as the process of demonization. The shape of humanity was sad.
I was still sitting on the floor when everyone else finished signing.
Money is what controls the world, the smartest thing to do is to take this million dollar and hire people to rescue my sister with it, but the terms of this contract, won't allow me to speak about this, I can't hire anyone without telling them what I am hiring them for.
There was no explanation done, the families simply picked their stuff and left, I was still thinking about what to do while sitting on the sofa in that office.
"I thought they were owners of a big company why would they need the money" I asked myself in a low voice but as if the president heard what I said, he answered
"He cared about his daughter, not the money. For example, he could’ve had threatened me, if anyone knew about the fact that extensive immersion in Secret Online would cause them to be stuck in it. Do you think people would still play the game?”
The peacock spoke as if to explain nthat the parents quietly signed the contract because they knew that he would be able to save their daughter.
I saw I had no choice and I was about to sign the contract when my tears ran down my face and fell on the paper, I have never cried in my entire life. Not when my father died nor in the harsh time that followed, but here I am crying unable to stop the tears. I was surprised with myself, as if my brain was telling me to sign the contract while my heart is fighting and telling me not to, I always thought I was heartless, a person who would only do what was logical, what was in the parameters of my mission. It was an ironic thing to discover at such a time.
I decided against rushing into anything and instead ran outside of the room. Once I reached the bottom floor and left the building, I screamed again! It was a relaxing feeling. My scream of agony, of pain, made me feel as if all of it would go away.
Suddenly as if to bring me back to reality I heard someone else screaming.
“Do you know what time it is? It's 1:30 you mourn" it was already so late in the night, and I hadn't noticed it even though it was so dark and then I shouted back to the man
"If you know what the time is, why did you ask" and then I started laughing like I haven’t done in a while maybe it was a nervous thing, but then I collected myself, and went back to my usual self.
When I turned back wanting to go the office that I stormed out of, I saw two guards who came to get me, but it seemed they saw me stopping, screaming and laughing. They were at loss of words and action, so they just stood there and waited.
When I went back inside the building they followed, we all were soaking wet in water, as it was raining, I thought that I had brought this upon myself but, serve these two guards right for trying to catch me.
When I went back to the room only my contract was placed on the table with a pen right near it. I could see the eyes of both Peacock and the lawyer, as they were waiting for my signature impatiently.
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I picked up the pen, to see their reactions, and put my hand on the piece of paper as if to sign it. I stared at the contract a little, and then back to the peacock. I dropped the pen from my hand, and instead jumped in front of the president and grabbed him by his collar I planned to throw him from the window. However, reason came to me, so instead, I just threw him on the table. He was shocked by my actions, but I needed him to know how dangerous I was.
"Isn't the money enough for you?" he asked in a serious tone
"You think you could buy my sister's life, with this much money?" The Peacock misunderstood me and instead offered again.
"Then how much money do you want? you find one million not satisfactory?"
"I don't want your money, no money in the world is enough."
"Then what do you want" he shrieked. I thought about it, and I didn't know, really what do I wanted?
I do want the money but not when it feels as if the money is for my sister's life - it just feels wrong, I want to sign the papers and return to my house rich, but no matter how much I thought about that, I couldn't say it, as if my own will is not my own. Then I figured out what I wanted to do, I will do what I have to do, to make sure my sister stays safe.
I sat down and showed my best 'knowing-smile' as if I had a secret smart scheme I was about to share.
"You speak your hollow words about wanting to save my sister, but how do you plan that?"
He looked at me as if I asked the most stupid question ever. "We plan to hire other top players or strong individuals until they can level up to high enough levels to fight back and free your sister.”
I was shocked; it seemed the peacock has slipped. I asked, “fight who exactly?“
He looked at the lawyer, who shrugged and then said: “Sign the contract promising you will keep everything a secret and I will explain everything to you, I would even give you a way to try and save your sister yourself.”
That plan didn’t sound terrible to me, and I ended up signing the contract.
He took me to a moderation room, filled with monitors and technicians. He pointed at a monitor that had only the picture of a letter and in the letter was written
[You can not stop what has begun. The most powerful is now mine - no pitiful attempts of yours would be able to stop me - But I will look forward to more!]
I looked at the owner, waiting for some explanation. When he didn’t explain by himself, I started asking
"the most powerful are now mine? who is he and what does he mean?"
"The players that are stuck in the game happened to be the top 5 players"
he answered and the continued
“We also received a picture of the 5 top players, surrounded with a black field around them. We were unable to find where exactly they are in the system and forced ejection would only cause them to be brain damaged.”
I didn’t understand exactly what he meant, and then the lawyer said: "basically a hacker made a new room inside the game and put your sister in it and now we can’t find her in the game, and we can’t help he exit it.”
"Well not exactly but that would simplify it," said one of the technicians that were in the room.
"Then how can I help my sister with this?"
"Some are trying to search for who is this hacker while others are searching where this backroom is, but the thing is we received more letters from this hacker which calls himself The Conductor."
I focused well on what the president was going to say, but he suddenly fell silent
"And…" Zai asked rather impatiently.
"He said that if a ‘hero’ comes along and challenge his avatar in the game and wins, his prisoners would be released."
"And are you sending a Hero? Who exactly is that?" I asked.
"We did, and he is going to fight him soon, so if you want to see it you can wait in front of this monitor until a player called Ace arrives at this spot."
The owner was pointing to one of the monitors that showed a wasteland, empty with nothing in it.
"So you are saying that my sister will be saved today." I said, relieved that I would see her soon.
"I'm hoping Ace can win…”
“Hoping? Why are you not certain? I asked
“Ace’s level has exceeded 250, but your sister level was higher, and she supposedly lost to him, but we can't wait until Ace becomes a higher level since we know nothing about the Conductor, we will have to take a chance and hope he at least get 1 hit, if he were able to touch him at least once, we would be able to track the IP address and then we can find him in the real world."
I relaxed believing that my sister will be up and about sometime soon, there were many monitors, but everyone was looking at Ace who was preparing for battle. He gave an ok sign to specifically nowhere, it appeared on the screen, and I believe it was indented to the programmers who immediately clicked a few buttons and made him disappear.
Ace then reappear in the wasteland where I was told the battle with The Conductor was going to be held.
When Ace arrived at the scene, he was seen to take out a sword and attack immediately. The camera wouldn't aim at whom he was attacking as if the Conductor did it in a way that the camera couldn't see him.
It was a short battle, in mere minutes, Ace’s life points have already dropped to 3%, and the Conductor was yet untouched.
Then, Suddenly, a stone hit Ace’s face, his life points dropped to 0, and he died. It all happened in a way as if the Conductor was toying with him.
“After a player is killed in the game he gets banned for an hour. After that, he can return to the game, but he might lose the stuff that was on him when he died,” answered one of the developers.
The man died, his death, his expressions, his pain. Felt so real, I was no longer sure if this was indeed a game.
Then, as if to prove my suspicions right, the President received a phone call, and so did one of the technicians. The look of horror on their faces made me confused.
The phone was slammed down and the developer said “Sir. Ace is dead”
I could no longer focus on what was happening around me, I could only think about my sister, about her fate, about what was going to happen to her.
I shivered at the thought, what if this is what is going to happen to my sister, what if she died in real life as well. I must find a way to save her, not mourn her.
I looked at the president whose face was as pale as a ghost. Anger welled up in me, and I wanted to shout out at the president and tell him it's not the time to panic, instead it should be the time where you come up with an alternative action to solve this situation.
But, before I could say anything, words on the screen started blinking.
[
No one is allowed to cheat!
Yet you helped him!
With this, both of you are punished!
-The Conductor
]
Everyone looked in a shock, "What, what! What, Does he mean?"
One of the developers gulped and said "I think The Conductor considered our actions of providing Ace with special items and transporting him from one place to the other as cheating"
I started to wonder if what the peacock said was all a lie. How could a hacker do such a thing? How would any human being be capable of it? And even if he was. Why is a hacker calling other peoples cheaters? Does that make sense to anyone? The reaction from the developer, was as if considering Ace a cheater was a completely normal thing. Something was suspicious and I acted on my instinct.
I held the President from his collar. I have already forgotten what his name was, I didn’t really care, I only knew he was the owner of Secret Inc. and that he was dressed like an idiot.
“Listen here you bloody Peacock- you better tell me the truth now and if I find out you are lying to me, you will discover what desperate people who have nothing to lose can do.”
I wasn’t desperate as I said, but I was never really good at giving warnings. I only knew how to act on them.
The owner looked to the side as if to tell the guards that have already swarmed the place in mere seconds to back of.
“Okay, calm down. I will explain everything- you have already signed the contract, just remember you can’t tell anyone.“ My hands were still holding his collar, but he behaved as if he was waiting for me to let him go.
“You better not be lying this time,”
“The Conductor is actually an A.I that does everything in the game, he controls the flow of events and he makes sure no one cheat and if anyone does, he or she is banned for life. But since the company helped Ace and made sure the conductor doesn't see he was cheating, he was caught and punished much more severely than usual”
I interrupted him “so, usually, when someone cheats, they won’t be able to play the game again. Then are you saying that what happened with Ace today, was the first time such a thing has happened? why my sister of all people? What did she do?"
“Yes, what happened with Ace today was unfortunate, as well as a first. As for your sister, we don’t know exactly what the conductor plans, he has gone berserk.”
"So what happened with The Conductor, why did he suddenly go berserk?"
"We. don't. know. But, the thing is, even though he has complete control over the game, he still keeps it going the same way it always did. We just don't understand it" said one of the moderators.
"Then all that needs to be done is to get someone strong? to not help him in pursuit of fighting the conductor?"
"We are hoping, but either way, Ace just died and The Conductor is holding five players as hostages for an unknown reason. We can't sacrifice more lives"
"I'll do it, I'll make an avatar and save my sister," I said with total confidence.
"You don’t have an avatar yet and you want to go fight The Conductor? currently, at this moment you're level is 0. While The Conductor has easily defeated players that were more than level 300 - which part of this won't get you killed?" said the lawyer, partly with concern, and partly with disdain.
"While the developers try to think of a way to get this problem fixed, I'll try to fix it my own way, I will go in the game and try to level up as hard as I can, I'm highly motivated.” I gave a gentle smile saying I'll be okay to nobody that cares. But then the woman in the suite declared something surprising "I'll go too, and we could form a party and level up easier this was."
"Why would you want to come with me, I don't need your help old lady"
"What old lady?!! I'm here pouring my soul out, offering to help and you dare insult me, I'm the same age you are" she said
"Same age as I am, wow I heard girls lie about their age, but you’re a bad liar, and with lying as your profession - seriously how could a bad liar such as yourself be a lawyer for such a big company," I said rather convinced.
"Well first, I finished high school quite early, and went to college which I finished early as well and yesterday I was accepted as a lawyer here even though I don't have experience and was due to the fact that I am the Owner’s daughter." She said that with her nose up in the sky and then she continued and said
"The only reason you thought I was lying was that I didn't lie, you see I am so good at lying that only when I say the truth you might not believe me." She said rather proudly.
Does she not know that she insulted herself more than once in one little sentence?
"No offense intended, but I think you just offended yourself," I said with a big smirk that I was bad at hiding, but maybe I just didn't want to hide it.
I was irritated and deeply concerned, but this small banter has helped me relax slightly. I didn't wait for a reply, I simply turned my eyes from the suite and looked at who appears to be her father, the peacock. But before I could say anything, he said.
"Your sister became one of the top players. When Secret Online was released, she has been spending far more time than anyone else could afford to spend. Yet how do you plan to level up fast enough to save her?”
“Well, we could allow him to enter the pod. That way he could play 24/7 without his physical body being harmed.”
“What is that?” I asked.
“The pod could make sure that you receive all the nutrition that you need in order to stay alive. It was previously made to keep coma patient in it. It is also what we attached your sister to right now.”
“That! I want to do that!” I have said so eagerly.
***
The Owner appeared reluctant to agree to Zai's idea. But, he made a few phone calls to get a room ready for Zai so he could start leveling up and getting ready to beat The Conductor and by so saving his sister.
He didn't actually think that Zai would be able to do it, but as long as he keeps quiet about this, he didn't particularly care. In fact, letting him immerse himself in the game, was a problem fixing itself. He had no intention of helping anyone and he would've found other ways to cover up the issue if it didn't fall into his daughter's laps first.
After waiting for the preparations to be ready, he finally entered the pod. Once he was sleeping in the pod comfortably, the headset switched on and suddenly, he was transferred from the world he was in, to Secret Online.
***
Everything was dark, he couldn’t see anything but he hear.
“I was waiting for you, she said you will be coming. “
“who are you?” he asked
“You currently know me as The Conductor. I look forward to talking with you more ZAI”
Suddenly the ground started to shake, and the room lit up. In front of him was an NPC that greeted him.
"Welcome, before making your avatar, do you agree to the rules and terms.."
before the NPC could continue he has already answered
"I do"
“Ahh yes, most adventurers say that, but you need to hear me till I finish.”
“I waiver my right to hear it! Now move on.”
"Your avatar's name?"
"Zai" Zai had decided that he is going to save and protect his sister so he must be Zai.
"Which race is …"
"Human."
"From where would you like to start," immediately a map appeared before him.
He looked at the map, the majority of it was dark. This meant that it was mostly unexplored. In the middle, he saw the name "central continent". what better place to start than straight in the middle, and investigate where to go afterward?