CHAPTER 52: MEMORY FRAGMENTS

Location: Arcadia Headquarters

In a closed white room, more than 20 people were seated around a big round white table. At the center of the table, a 3D hologram video, about 60 seconds long, was being repeated over and over.

These were the same 60 seconds that Ezekiel had used to do the prayers using the [Ancient Language].

The video played once, twice, thrice, half a dozen times, while everyone in the room, including some administrators, some developers, and a few who were both, observed it. Analyzed it to the best of their ability.

It was only 20 minutes later when one admin asked,

"Who was in charge of this language?"

"I was," another answered.

"Mind explaining what’s going on here?" The first admin raised another question.

"He is using the [Ancient Language], a key language that triggers admin commands and an equal penalty." He explained.

"And... how does he know it?" The first one asked again.

"That... I don’t know," the response came in a weak voice.

"You got 10 seconds to explain before I lose my temper," the first one spoke again, in a very calm manner, waiting for the other to reply.

"I really don’t know. This Language was an automated system consisting of all the languages spoken in real life. The AI computed the entire language on the day of the launch, so this language did not even exist 24 hours ago! I really have no idea how the fuck he knows something that even I don’t."

Once again, everyone turned silent. Looking at the boy praying in that language.

"Did he cheat?" Another questioned

"Doubt it. The Andromeda AI does not permit cheating. You should all know the reason behind it better than anyone."

Another wave of silence.

"Is he really a user?" One asked, wondering if it was an NPC or some sort of program running as a player.

"Yeah, I have confirmed it myself. I don’t know who he is or where he is from, but his vitals were showing that he was as alive as a human could be," the head admin, who was quiet up until now, finally spoke. A sigh escaped his mouth as even he could not believe what he was seeing right now.

"What should we do now?" Another query was raised.

"Ask him directly? We can’t do anything to the game since it’s self-driven now." Another suggested, but no answer came.

Another silence.

It was an absurd situation.

The more they raised the question, the more they failed to understand the situation. The more they tried, the harder it became to figure out the solution. They tried their best until they couldn’t, and then they finally gave up and began looking at it from another perspective.

"Perhaps he is a genius?" One asked.

"He is surely skilled." Another spoke.

"Monster." The rest mumbled.

From another perspective, it wasn’t impossible to figure out the language as long as one followed logic, but to do it in a single day? That was the hardest part to digest. It meant that he cracked the language, memorised it and understood its application within 3 days in the game.

It was inhumane to do so.

And in the end...

"Let him be." The head admin spoke as he looked at Ezekiel’s face.

"He single handedly increased 30% engagement of the users, and in these 20 minutes, we have sold 7% of the total headsets compared to what he sold in the last 24 hours. It’s only going to increase from this point onwards, too."

An undeniable fact.

Despite all the absurdities, the situation was favourable to them. The game was still functioning, there was no hint of any cheating, and everyone was still enjoying it. Because there is a heavy penalty for using that language, even though voices will be raised, they will also be shut down fast.

The other nodded at the head’s words.

"We will keep watch on him and see how it goes. If he does indeed cheat, we will ban him. If he doesn’t, and does everything within the game’s logic, we will promote him in our upcoming trailers, even pay him perhaps. As for how he learnt that language... let’s just say that he has a team that decoded the language in the last 24 hours for him. Let’s pretend that the team was capable enough to decode and analyse the language that fast."

"But that’s..."

"If you have a better idea, please feel free to share it."

And the room turned silent once again.

...

Location: Mikael’s home

"How is the game, Mikael? You were really having fun in it," Mom asked me as she looked at me with a slight smile. But I wasn’t going to be fooled by it. The fact that she had called me by my full name rather than ’Son’ or ’Mike’ means she is still a bit angry about me almost missing dinner.

"It was fun," I first answered, showing slight interest.

But then...

A memory triggered.

I recalled something buried deep in my mind, something that I didn’t ever want to look back on.

"It was fantastic!"

I recalled the days when I had always wanted to share my gaming experience with mom.

"I made 3 friends! We went on a quest to hunt a witch and save the village!"

If Mom were here, I would have shown her all my trophies. All my achievements.

"And you know, Mom, that girl was a klutz. She didn’t know much about the game at all. But as soon as she held the weapons, she became a totally amazing person."

If Mom were here, I would have told her how my day went. I would have cried about my problems. I would have laughed at my life events.

"And that guy with orange hair. He was extremely charming. I think he was doing that streaming thing, he could be a professional too, you know? Hehe! Your son could become famous, Mom!"

If Mom were here, I would have taken her to so many places, bought her the most expensive things. Made sure she would always smile. I would have even introduced Aurora to her. I would have...

"That priest guy was ready to heal us even against the demon. He was there, protecting the witch along with me. Mom! He was so cool!!"

If Mom were here... I would have given the World to her!!

Tears began escaping my eyes as I explained things to her. Even though she was just there, I recalled her dead body. The last moments as I had buried her with my own hands.

She first looked at me with a slight smile, but then noticed the tears.

"Huh? Son! Why are you crying?!!" Worried, she called out as she moved closer and began wiping my tears.

"Mom. And I enjoyed the game, and I was using the swords, and I was..." my voice slowly broke as I recalled all the memories, flooding my mind as I once again began feeling the despair that I once closed in my heart.

How I held her dead body in my arms, how I couldn’t believe she was gone, how I had lost everything back then. Her smiles, her hopes, her words... how they echoed in my mind for days, weeks and months. How I dreamt of her everyday, had nightmares of her getting killed over and over again...

How I held my tears back then. How I didn’t cry back then even once. Being the man I was supposed to be... even though it was already too late.

If Mom was here...

"Son, tell me what happened?! Is everything all right? Nobody caused trouble for you, right? Mom will protect you, just tell me what happened..." She kept comforting me. Mom kept comforting me.

"Mom... one day... I will give the entire world to you... so please... don’t leave me," I spoke with a weak voice as I calmed down.

I should control my emotions better.

"I won’t. Okay. You can let it all out in front of Mom. Okay?" And she spoke as she hugged me tightly. I stayed there for a few moments as I took deep breaths, calming my emotions, wiping my tears.

"I am sorry, Mom... It’s just... I recalled that dream. It was very... scary. I lost everything, Mom... Even so, I believe in myself. I often get scared of losing everything..." I spoke my heart out, calming myself a bit more than before.

"It’s all right. It’s just a dream, son. Mom will never leave you. Don’t worry, son. We will always be together, always happy," she said, comforting me, as I nodded before calming myself completely.

Yes mom. We will be happy. I will make sure that it happens. No matter what it takes. I will make sure that we will always be happy. I vowed in my heart, once again.

I will make all those sons of bitches pay more than 100 times over. And I vowed as I recalled the ones who made Mom’s life difficult.