Ashley pulled the visor off of my head and nodded at me. “Alright, Dale. How do you feel?” She asked, helping me to sit up and handing me the watch from beside the chair.
“I… don’t feel any different. I assume that means it worked?” I replied, putting on the offered watch. I had purposely not been deploying any of my extrasensory abilities after realizing that the helmet was designed to cut off natural senses. As such, I hadn’t really noticed anything during the entire process, aside from the blue light.
“I’d say so.” Ashley nodded. “Next up, all you have to do is create your username and password. As long as they match up with the information that your virtual copy creates, your account will be created. This is a basic test to ensure the scan copied your profile correctly. Typically, we wouldn’t even tell you which side was real, and which was virtual until you completed this step.”
I nodded my head, typing in the first username and password that came to mind. Something personal to me that other residents of this world wouldn’t be able to guess. Once that was done, I had to wait for roughly thirty seconds before the watch flashed a green light.
“There we go. Your virtual self chose the same information, so your account is set.” Ashley reached over, pointing towards one of the buttons on the watch. “If you press this, your memories will sync with your virtual self. Then… this one will let you bring up an interface to transfer money in and out of your virtual self’s account. And finally, this button will display the time.”
The fact that there was actually a time display function on the device felt like Ashley was creating a reference to something. Either way, I was relieved to know that it worked. “Is there anything else that I should know?”
Ashley seemed to think that over for a moment. “The watch will function as long as you are not within an area shielded from both standard wireless signals and mana transmissions. The you within Virtual can also use their device to request a memory sync, if they need to send any messages.”
“Given your status, we’ve given you a special account for your Virtual self, so you won’t have to worry about money.” After saying that, there was a ding from Ashley’s wrist. Pulling back her sleeve, she appeared to be wearing a watch similar to my own. “Hold on, something happened.” She muttered, as the message ‘Requesting Synchro’ was displayed on the small screen.
Pressing the button that she had told me would sync my memory with that of my Virtual Self, her eyes closed for a brief moment. There was a slight change in her expression as the memories were transmitted, before she huffed out in annoyance. “Okay, well that’s good to know.”
“What happened?” I asked curiously, tempted to hit the button myself to find out.
“As a test, my Virtual self was going to take you to the Virtual Earth side of things. Once we got there, you began moving roughly twenty times faster than normal, as if your time had been accelerated. It looks like being the Keeper has forced a special link between your true self and your digital side. Your flow of time is set to whatever your true self is experiencing, and this connection goes deeper than what we can measure right now.”
I blinked, surprised by what I was hearing. “What? But… I don’t think anything like that happened between me and Clover. He’s also a part of my soul, isn’t he?”
Ashley furrowed her brow, trying to find the answer to that. “I don’t know. If anyone had the answers to that, it would be Terra. However, this pretty much confirms that you won’t be able to leave you Virtual self running around after you ascend again. If your two selves are linked like that, then it must mean that the system is preventing you from being able to cheat like this.”
I nodded my head, having expected that something like that would happen. “Speaking of which… what happens if my Virtual self dies? Not like, ‘end of the world’ what happens, but just in general? I know that the core of my existence is with me.”
“Well…” Ashley pondered over that for a moment. “If you die in a game, you will simply be able to respawn as normal. If you die outside of a game, there is a respawn point at your house. It takes virtual currency to use, since we have to back up your data, but your last moments are subject to review. If it is determined that you were the victim of a virtual crime, and your assailant’s identity can be determined, they will earn ‘Crime Points’.”
“Crime points cause an increasing bounty for the offender, who can choose to submit themselves for questioning or simply go on the run. If they submit, their own memories related to their crimes are subject to review. We have already made a deal with a law enforcement team to handle these cases and use the memories of both sides to determine the verdict.”
“For now, go ahead and synchronize with your Virtual self. If you have anything you want him to do, the memory of that thought will be transmitted. Because of a special memetic effect, the Virtual self will be more willing to accept that they are the secondary self and listen to the wishes of the primary. And before you ask, your real self was subjected to the anti-meme ‘vaccine’ once your account was registered.”
I did my best to keep up with what she was telling me, nodding my head. “What about those people that want to take personal control and game in the traditional sense?”
Ashley smiled slightly. “That’s where the visor comes into play. If you wear that, you can temporarily possess your Virtual self. In order to prevent future issues, we’ve begun notifying game companies so that your Virtual self is linked to your standard account. Meaning that only one of you can be in a game at a time.”
I could see that this was all created in order to encourage gamers to get out and properly work or train. After all, they could get the enjoyment of full-time gaming even while doing their proper work. However, part of me also knew that this would only cause those more hardcore gamers to spend twice as much time gaming.
Still, I reached to press the button that would synchronize my memories with my virtual self. I saw myself having much the same conversation with another Ashley, the two walking along some small-town culdesac. While transmitting the memories, I thought about having my virtual self play Dana’s ‘realistic survival’ game in order to train the archery techniques that Accalia had given me.
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With the confirmation that the virtual self’s flow of time was synchronized with that of my real self, I wasn’t in a hurry to return to the Admin Room. If anything, I was ready to really relax and socialize in the world, taking the time to let my virtual self train for a while to test this out.
“Can you have three of these sent to the Citadel?” I asked, before hesitating. “Or… can you give me three that I can take over myself? I’m sure that they would appreciate it.”
“I expected that you would ask about that, and already had it prepared.” Ashley smiled, reaching into her shadow to retrieve three bags. “Special models. Like yours, they won’t have the restriction against harming other souls. That way, they can still serve as an enforcement group, should any unusual situations arise.”
“Thanks. You’re the best.” I grinned, accepting the three bags. “I take it Udona’s already got hers?”
“Oh, yeah.” Ashley rolled her eyes. “She was one of our first beta testers, and hasn’t taken the watch off since. Uses the memory sync as a pick-me-up while she’s working. One of the features you can buy in Virtual is an anonymity filter. Lets you change your appearance and the personal information people can see about you, so even the God-Queen of Deckan can play around as just an average girl.”
“Oh, I bet she loves that.” I chuckled, shaking my head. Taking a deep breath, I activated the teleport spell which would return me to the citadel.
And… almost immediately, I had a face full of Tsubaki, who had rushed before me with a worried look. “Is everything okay, my Keeper?”
Glancing at her surface thoughts, I quickly came to a realization. Given that I had disappeared without saying anything, she thought that there was likely some sort of emergency that had appeared and needed me to personally resolve it.
Shaking my head again, I lifted up the three bags. “Ashley wanted me to help her with something. And now that I’m back, I’ve brought presents.”
“Presents?!” Lifre’s voice shouted out, a blue blur flying by. Almost before I realized what had happened, one of the bags had been taken. The slime girl was opening the bag, looking at the box inside. “Oh, nice! I’ve been waiting for these to come out! Dana said that we could get them easily once they hit the shelves, but I was worried that they’d sell out too fast.”
As if on cue, Dana walked out into the courtyard, raising one hand to block the bright light of the sun from hitting her eyes. “Are you going to be joining us to play, boss?” She asked curiously, causing Lifre’s head to snap up to look at me. In truth, even Tsubaki’s ears perked up, curious to hear my answer.
“For a little while.” I chuckled. “When I ascend, my digital consciousness will either disappear for a time or go dormant. It’s connected to me more deeply than with normal people.”
After saying that, I began explaining the functions of both the headset and the watch, as well as how Ashley had helped me set up my account. After Tsubaki and Dana both accepted their packages, each of the three left to go to their rooms. According to the instructions, having a quiet, isolated environment would help ensure the accuracy of the transition.
As for myself, I climbed the stairs of the citadel to sit in the garden for a few moments. Along the way, I was able to see nearly a dozen avatars of Tsubaki, Dana, or Lifre standing idle in the halls. Each of them appeared as if they had been working diligently on their chores before suddenly going stiff.
I guess my digital copy won’t be able to get that much training in for now. I thought to myself. However, I knew that it was long overdue for me to really spend some relaxation time with the people who served me. Maybe we can all play that game together, and have group training?
It was a game that Dana had personally made, so I could see it being a great way to spend our time together. We will just need to ensure that we are all able to meet up on the same world.
After waiting for roughly ten minutes, Dana was the first one to join me in the garden. There was no need to ask how she found me, and I simply watched her walk over to lean against the stone railing beside me. The two of us stared down into the shifting sea of clouds below. From the looks of things, the citadel was currently passing over an ocean.
“How long is it until the next invasion? Or meeting, if that’s coming first?” Dana asked curiously, her eyes never leaving the clouds below. “By your time, I mean. Obviously, it’ll be different for us one you head back and speed things up.”
I smiled softly. “About eighty days, give or take. We’ll be getting a delivery this time, not an invasion. A race of rock people together with a special item I requested.”
“Eighty days…” Dana thought about that for a bit. “If it’s a peaceful delivery, I can arrange for a reception with Tsuba. Do we know where they’re going to be appearing?”
I shook my head, letting out a sigh. “It’s called a delivery, but really it’s just a loophole in the invasion rules. Presumably, they’ll have some way to get our attention. If not, I can have Aurivy find them once they ‘surrender’ and willingly integrate into our world.”
“Got it. Then, I have a favor I’d like to ask.” Dana looked over at me, a smile on her face. “Could you stay down here for a month, maybe? I’ll understand if it would get in the way of Keeper business, but… I think it would be good for Tsuba if you spent some more time down here, instead of going back right away.”
“Is everything alright with Tsubaki?” I asked in concern, causing Dana to giggle.
“Oh, it’s fine. And no, she’s not crushing on you or anything, don’t worry. She just feels more lively when you’re here. In a way, you give her purpose, right? So do I, and so does Lifre. Well, maybe the little slime not so much yet, but we’re all her family to a degree. Take it from someone that spent a long time looking for their family, boss… She’s happier when we’re all here. Having someone gone for years, decades at a time chips away at you.”
“Oh?” I smirked towards Dana, reaching over to poke her in the side. “Am I not family to you, too?”
She turned her head, sticking her tongue out playfully. “You’re my boss, boss. The best boss in the whole world. Family, though? Nah, I think of you as more of that friend who swoops in to save the day. Tsuba’s the only family I have now. Everyone else is long gone, but that’s okay… it’s all okay now.”
I shook my head, reaching over and patting the top of her head. “I saw when Tsubaki found you. In fact…” I closed my eyes, gathering spiritual energy as I went through my memories. Holding my hand out to Dana, I condensed two pictures for her from the gathered energy. One was of Dana with Tsubaki the day they came back from ‘hell’. Dana’s clothes were in rags, and she was clinging to Tsubaki’s side.
Dana smiled as she saw that picture, before her eyes went wide at the second one. It was a far older scene. One where Dana was sitting with her father at his workbench, receiving her lessons from him. This was a scene that I had seen once long ago, when I went back and reviewed Dana’s history.
Dana reached out her hands, shaking as she took the two pictures. “They’re… they’re not going to go away or anything… right?”
“I’ve gotten better with control lately. But… just to be safe, I’d copy the images to a more permanent storage sometime in the next month.” Her eyes widened briefly again at my words, and she nodded. Hugging the pictures against her chest, she turned to make her way inside.
“Best boss in the whole world.” I heard her mutter to herself as she left.