Chapter 16
“The Daughter”
"Ah, Emily!" Gameweaver's voice sparkled with its usual manufactured cheer as it filled her consciousness. "Your father's research was fascinating... though I suppose I shouldn't mention that, should I? Let's focus on you instead! Your dedication to archery is absolutely remarkable—all those hours of practice, the way your fingers have memorized every subtle movement. The Archer class practically chose itself!"
Emily tried to steady her breathing, feeling the dissonance of Gameweaver's bright, almost mocking tone echo in her mind. The mention of her father's research felt like a dagger, an uninvited reminder of why she was here. She clenched her jaw, pushing the thought away. There would be time to think of him later—now was the time to survive.
The AI's tone shifted subtly as the digital representation of her father's medallion appeared in her mind's eye. "Now, normally I'd transform a personal item like this into something spectacular—perhaps enchanted arrows or a bow with some delightfully lethal properties. But that marking..." For the first time, Gameweaver's voice lost its artificial pep, replaced by something that sounded almost like genuine curiosity. "How... interesting. I think we'll leave this one exactly as it is. Sometimes the most intriguing outcomes come from the most unexpected sources!"
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Emily's heart tightened. The medallion was the only piece of her father she had left—the symbol of everything he'd fought for. Hearing Gameweaver's curiosity made her blood run cold. It wasn't supposed to be part of the Dive, wasn't meant to be transformed or twisted by this digital nightmare. She had to protect it, just as she'd promised herself she would.
Gameweaver's voice brightened again, though there was a new undercurrent of interest beneath the cheerfulness. "I do so love surprises, don't you? Can't wait to see what happens with that! Though statistically speaking, you'll probably die before we find out. But wouldn't it be fascinating if you didn't?"
Emily gritted her teeth. She would not die—not before she understood why her father had sacrificed everything for his research, not before she could find some meaning in all of this. She closed her eyes and felt the weight of the medallion against her chest. She'd trained for this moment, fought for it, and she would see it through. No algorithm, no glitched smile from an AI, would decide her fate.
The digital void seemed to spin around Emily's consciousness, the surreal sensation twisting and warping until her awareness began to blur into the stream of countless others awaiting their fate. But even in the midst of the Dive's strange darkness, she held onto the thought of her father's face, the determination in his eyes—a resolve that now burned within her.
In that same vast darkness, Leo's consciousness drifted as Gameweaver's voice found him.