Isaac ended his tale, and looked around at his audience. Charles was scratching his head with a befuddled expression on his face, looking as if he had learned far more than he had bargained for. Next to him, Tenshi had dropped to a cross-legged sitting position and had been staring at Isaac unwaveringly for the duration of his story.
Isaac had discovered that she had the odd habit of darting her eyes up and down a person as they talked, not budging her head at all, as if taking in every action, every nervous twitch or gesture a person made. Needless to say, he found this increasingly uncomfortable, and was glad to have finished his narrative.
“So…in summary, you turned the entire virtual world into an RPG game because you were bored?” Charles questioned.
“Well, that’s more or less the gist of it.” Isaac smirked. “Trust me, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. Had I tested my program for mind-to-data information sharing, I probably would have put inhibiters in place, but…I didn’t, and this is the result.”
“Is that even possible? You’re pulling my leg, right?” Charles shook his head in disbelief.
“Well apparently it is, because I just did it.” Isaac laughed dryly. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me, that’s why I didn’t want to mention it.”
“I believe you,” Tenshi interjected softly.
“See, even Tenshi with her “95% chance of being the culprit” doesn’t think I could do it.” Isaac muttered.
“It was a 95% chance of being directly connected,” Tenshi corrected. “Further, you misheard. I said I did believe you.”
“You WHAT?” Isaac exclaimed incredulously, turning to face her. “What kind of lunatic would believe a story like that? Are you nuts? Is this a sit-com or something? Where's the camera?”
“Well, to be fair, I also believe you,” Charles grinned, slowly raising his hand.
“Et tu, Charles?”
“Well, I think if you were going to lie about it, you wouldn't've used something so… unbelievable and oddly specific," Charles reasoned.
“So because it’s unbelievable…you believe me?” Isaac asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Well as Mark Twain said, “why shouldn’t truth be stranger than fiction? Fiction, after all, has to make sense”,” Charles quoted.
“Shoot, I can’t argue with Mark Twain,” Isaac admitted.
“Not only that,” Tenshi continued, “Your story is simply the most likely answer, seeing as it fits perfectly into both the issue at hand and your suspicious behavior. I had, as mentioned earlier, already predicted you were directly connected to the issue. It only follows that you could as easily be the perpetrator.”
“I don’t believe it.” Isaac laughed, dropping to a sitting position. “If I had known you guys were this believing, I would have actually made something up instead.”
“So, on that topic…you’re saying we’re basically inside your mind?” Charles asked, scratching his head.
“Eh…loosely speaking I suppose that isn’t too far off,” Isaac answered offhandedly. Then he paused. “Wait a sec, if this is my mind, why can’t I control it? Also, it’s awfully…orderly.” He looked around nervously. “You guys aren’t gonna start witnessing my memories or something, are you?”
“Calm down,” Tenshi spoke up. “I would reason that because you were imagining your game as you fell asleep, your dreams that poured into BRYZ were all based on the game itself. In general, humans tend to dream about whatever is on their minds as they fell asleep. This is simply because their brain is subconsciously continuing their train of thought, trying to make sense of it.”
“Okay, I’m following you so far,” Isaac nodded.
“Piecing together what you have told us so far, this is simply a scan of your mind, not an active facsimile, and therefore it will not change from what it was originally created to be,” Tenshi continued. “As for why you are unable to control the attributes of the world currently, I would assume that is because you are not currently logged in under the account you used to hack into BRYZ.”
“Eh, I guess that makes sense, but it’s still disappointing,” Isaac lamented.
“Hey, the alternative would be worse, bro.” Charles clapped him on the shoulder. “Did you really want to make your mind visible to the whole internet? That’s, like, a thousand times worse than making your search history public.”
“Shoot, you’re right,” Isaac shuddered.
“Back on topic,” Tenshi cut in, “What is our plan going forward?”
There was a moment of silence as the three looked around at each other, waiting for one to speak up.
“I think that was directed at you, man.” Charles elbowed him.
“Well, honestly…” Isaac rubbed the back of his head. “It’s probably only a matter of time until BRYZ gets reverted to normal, a week or two at best. Really, I was just planning on living it up while it lasts.”
“C’mon, you gotta dream bigger than that!” Charles clapped him on the back. “Set a goal, dude. What’s something you really want to do before things go back to normal?”
Isaac thought about it for a moment. “You know what, I’d love to win a boss fight. I only made eight story-bosses, so those might be out of our reach, but beating one of the hidden overworld bosses would be sweet!”
“And there we go, that’s a JRPG quest if there ever was one!” Charles gave him a thumbs-up. “I haven’t seen any bosses being reported yet, so we already have an edge on the competition. Let’s go out there and kick some boss!”
Throughout the exchange, Tenshi had remained completely silent. Noticing this, Charles gave her a light punch in the shoulder and addressed her. “What about you, Tenshi? Anything you wanna do in BRYZ, or is this where we part ways?”
She was silent for a moment, her eyes still. Then, she spoke up, “I am deeply curious as to this new version of BRYZ. More than that however, I am curious about it’s creator.”
“Oh gosh, when you put it like that…” Isaac chuckled bashfully.
“As such,” Tenshi immediately cut him off, “I will continue in your company a while longer, assuming you have no objections.”
“None here.” Charles shrugged. “I mean, you already proved yourself in combat, and then some.”
“Agreed.” Isaac nodded. “Honestly, I’m glad you’re joining us, I can’t imagine being stuck with just Charles all summer.”
“Ouch, dude.” Charles laughed. "But that's ditto for me."
“With that settled, what is our goal for the interim?” Tenshi queried, looking to Isaac.
“I would assume that’d be finding the nearest town,” Charles answered for him. “Actually, that’s where I was headed anyways. That always comes first in an RPG, after all.”
“No objections here,” Isaac affirmed, hoisting his backpack up onto his shoulders. “You know, this really is looking more and more like an RPG. If I’m the protagonist, Tenshi would be the heroine that accompanies me, and you’re the experienced deuteragonist that joins our party right off the bat. Who’s next? The Cleric?”
“Putting aside you being the protagonist,” Charles called over his shoulder, already walking towards the nearby forest. “Speaking in terms of flow, shouldn’t a Barbarian or a Sage come next to fill out the ol’ five-man band?”
“Between Tenshi’s analytical mind and my knowledge of this world, we don’t even need a Sage,” Isaac countered. “However, since we’re heading towards a town, we might meet a Rogue or Buccaneer to add some daring-do to our little group.”
As the two walked ahead, still arguing with each other, Tenshi followed them at her own pace, slowly reaching out her hand to let a bird rest on her fingers. Her silent red eyes seemed to take in everything at once as she admired the calm scenery of the forest, flicking from one sight to the other then back again. For a moment, she stopped and looked back over her shoulder as if uncertain whether or not to continue. Then, with a flick of her hair, she ran to join the others up ahead, not looking back.
*******
A half-hour later found the party still walking, trekking through one forested patch after another towards the town.
Looking around him, Isaac exhaled a deep sigh. The overhanging trees provided a degree of shade for the weary adventurers, but it only made the patches of sun feel that much hotter.
“Funny, in movies and games, characters travel by foot constantly, but you only ever see the interesting moments,” Isaac thought out loud as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. “I wonder just how much of their adventure they spend like this, endlessly focusing on just putting one foot in front of the other?”
“This would be the part of the show where they cut to some nice shots of New Zealand,” Charles quipped, fanning his neck with his shirt collar.
Isaac noted that Charles had unequipped his armour and was now just wearing a simple pair of jeans and a white collared shirt, unbuttoned over his coloured tee. He seemed to have no shortage of stamina, chopping any underbrush in front of them with his sword while setting the party’s pace. Behind them, Tenshi was strolling leisurely along, having no backpack or equipment in sight. Every now and then she would appear to notice something of interest and pause to observe it, catching up with the party a minute or two later.
Facing forward again, Isaac once more focused on moving his feet, reminding himself to someday ask Tenshi how she stored her equipment without a pack.
*******
After another half-hour of trekking, Charles signaled the group to take a short break.
“I don’t need to tell you this, but despite being the virtual world, we tire just as easily here as we would in the real one. We shouldn’t push ourselves too hard right off the bat, in case we encounter another group of baddies,” he cautioned the two, throwing his pack on the ground and lying against the base of a tree. “Besides, I figure we must be near the edge of this forest by now, and the nearest town is only a little beyond that.”
“I recall you saying something similar after the last forest we passed through,” Tenshi asserted, leaning against a tree.
“One forest looks the same as another.” Charles shrugged. “This plain’s covered with small copses like this, I’m not exactly on a first-name basis with all of them.”
“Well, as long as we’re taking a break,” Isaac broke in, lowering himself to the ground. “I do have a question for you guys. Didn’t you accept my story awfully quick? Wouldn’t the average person be more skeptical about such a claim?”
“Well, I can’t speak for most people,” Charles responded, “But I tend to believe the simplest explanation first. At the very least, I can’t see accepting your story being detrimental to me any. We’re going on the adventure of a lifetime, aren’t we?”
“I guess that checks out,” Isaac smirked. “What about you, Tenshi?”
Tenshi was curled up in a corner, with her head on her knees and her eyes closed. Despite being addressed, she showed no signs of hearing. Then, after a pause, she spoke.
“Your story was simple the most logical explanation,” she replied. “However, I do have a question for you in return: Why? What did you gain by hacking into BRYZ?”
“I thought anybody would be able to understand it.” Isaac shrugged. “It’s the same reason people just eat up stories in every medium, be it comics, novels, shows, or games. Deep down, everyone feels this life they live isn’t enough, that there’s something out there they’re missing, a void that can only be filled with fantastic, made-up tales. I just wanted to take the leading role in one of those stories.”
“Yeah, that hits home,” Charles agreed, throwing his hands behind his head. “There’s a reason why about 70% of the populace are gamers; one life just ‘aint enough, man. Why be a service-industry wage slave when you can be a fantasy hero?” He grinned and punched Isaac in the ribs. “Of course, I’m gonna be the one nabbing the leading role in this adventure, not you. Sorry bro.”
“Yeah, dream on,” Isaac laughed. “You want to be the protagonist? Hack your own virtual reality.”
As the two bantered on, Tenshi merely observed them in silence, categorizing them and their actions, storing them away for reference under her crimson gaze. She had expected her question to be evaded, or if answered honestly, with some magnificent grand scheme, but this…was it possible for something so earthshaking to be done for so insignificant a reason?
This would require further observation.
That’s why when the two finally got to their feet and gestured for her to follow them, she joined without any hesitation. She still had questions, and they still hadn’t given her all the answers.
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