V1P3R - An ODSMMO Adventure

Chapter Won, but not Lost Part- 4

“I remember a very bright light then everything around me being loaded from code. I found an empty spot and watched everything come to life from there until the players started showing up then I went to greet them thinking that they were something new and fun but they started shooting at me. So I went back into hiding until I found another player but one after another I kept getting shot at so I decided to stay hidden,” she says admiring her appearance then she begins to touch me as well as everything else like a child, so I escort her out of the store laughing.

“So you were born the day they first turned the ODSMMO on? That is truly amazing,” I say while prying her away from the store and other players blaming her overly excited manner and tenacity on being a newcomer to VR games, “so what drove you to make contact with me?”

“I saw you when you first appeared, and I noticed how kind and compassionate you were to everyone, player and nonplayer alike. So I started following you watching everything you did until you left but I saw you had put a marker on the place I used as a hiding spot and I waited to see what you were going to do. It was scary at first but I had hope that you would be different based on how you treated everything else,” she explains as we get back to the place we met, then she removes the cloth covering her eyes, although it was merely cosmetic and didn’t hinder her vision.

“I can understand that,” I open my inventory and take the gunship out, then I toss it ahead of me. It enlarges building itself digitally growing to its original size, “would you like to join me as I travel to the new planet I designed? I didn’t know it was your hiding spot, but you’re more than welcome to stay there,” I say smiling while holding my hand out to her, “I need to log off soon so I can get a shower, but I will get back on afterwards so I can repair...”

“Repair Phazeon’s Normandy SR-2 frigate class ship?” She asks finishing my sentence for me smiling narcissistically then she takes my hand. I notice that she added eyeliner which accented the bright neon mint green color of her eyes, and I cannot seem to pull away from looking at them.

“Yeah, that,” I laugh realizing that I am staring at her, then I lead her over to the underside of the Gunship and pull her close to me, which causes her to blush, as we get pulled into the ship.

“Will you give this ship and your planet a name?” She asks with a childlike expression, as everything is a new experience for her. I give her question some thought knowing she had a point as we enter the airlock bay and the hatch slides shut under us. I do like to give nicknames to my personal items, especially the ones I love or hold very dear.

“I believe I will call this ship Kefka,” I say when the gravitational magnaray lets us go, then I open the door to the cockpit, sit down, and begin reading the flight manual.

“Kefka, the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VI, oh my,” she says sounding shocked.

“What?” I laugh knowing she had just learned how evil he was.

“Nothing, just an odd choice coming from someone who seems to be very good and not...evil,” she says with a gulp.

“I have my reasons for liking him. I have a special appreciation for characters who go above and beyond their personalities to prove a point,” I give her a sly smile showing off my teeth to give an evil like appearance, then I laugh while putting the manual away and turning to the controls.

“I will keep that in mind,” she retorts with a nervous tone, “what about your planet?” She asks looking around for a place to sit.

“I’m not sure yet,” I reply seeing her looking around in the reflection of the glass, “reach below the console behind you and lift the handle. A button should pop out of the console, push it and a seat will unfold from the floor,” I explain while I bring the main power on and start the engines. She activates the seat, sits down, then flinches in surprise when the automatic restraining belts swoop around her and tighten.

“I have seen almost every place in here and I have to admit that this place is the most beautiful by far,” she says as we start to lift off and the landing gear retracts.

“Well they say great thinks mind alike, thank you. I had given it a lot of thought beforehand hoping to make my own video game one day, but they gave me more than I could’ve hoped for,” I finally get the hang of the controls and take off into the space surrounding the area. I do a bit of joyriding slingshotting around the star, taking an orbit lap around the gas giant, and flying around the other moons before heading to my planet. As we close in on it, I start tearing up seeing how amazingly beautiful it is for myself. I take a slow lap around my world taking it all in, then I park the Kefka in the hangar on the twentieth floor of the main building I set up, “would you like to come with me as I take a tour around the place? We can both see everything for the first time, it could be fun,” I ask turning around as the restraints unbuckle and retract.

“I would love to. I enjoy seeing and experiencing new things,” she says smiling at me. I stand up holding my hand out to her and she takes it, then I gently pull assisting as she stands up awkwardly.

“I see you haven’t found your sea legs yet,” I joke with her laughing then I help her over to the airlock bay and pull her close to me causing her to blush again. I cannot help but to smile seeing her reactions then I tap the exit button. The lift door opens and we are lowered down gently.

I release my grip on her but she hangs onto me for a little while longer, looking at different parts of the hangar. She realizes she is still holding me and releases her grip immediately causing her to lose her balance. She starts to fall backwards towards the open part of the railing, which would be a nineteen story fall to certain death, and she has the most fearful and terrified expression on her face with tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Her left foot is still firmly planted against my feet and her left hand just barely misses my right arm, but I calmly reach out with my left hand and run my fingers down her arm as she continues to fall until I grab her by the wrist. I allow her to dangle for a second then I pull her up swiftly catching her with both arms with her back facing me. I can feel her heartbeat and heavy breathing as she clings to my arms wrapped around her body, then it hits me, heartbeat, breathing, the fear of pain and dying, and her eyes producing tears. She is truly alive, a real, living, sentient being. As Jeff Bridges put it, “Bio-Digital Jazz, man!” In Tron: Legacy playing his character Kevin Flynn. I look around and see the camera ball is still recording and let out a sigh of relief.

“I was scared you were going to let me fall!” She says still clinging to my arms shaking.

“I thought you could fly, or does your ability to float around disappear when you take on a new permanent form?” I ask noticing her calming down and her grip slowly releasing.

“I tried to, but I just kept falling. I thought I was about to die, thank you for not letting me fall,” she says turning around then she hugs me, which causes me to habitually smile and hug her back.

“If I had known you lost the ability to fly, I would have risked my life to save yours...had it been a worse situation,” I say with a laugh then I help her over to the stairs, “well we should get going, it’s getting late and I still have other things I want to do,” I start down the stairs but stop when I don’t hear her footsteps. I look back and see she is still scared, so I offer her my hand feeling that it is going to start being my signature move. Her face lights up as she happily takes my hand and we tour through the twenty story hangar tower, the workshop, the project rails on the other side of the workshop, the garage, and lounge area which includes living quarters, arcade/game room, music roomecording studio, observatory, and trophy room. The whole time I am answering her questions about the real world, being human, and my life. When we get back to the workshop I take the multitool and repair Phazeon’s Normandy SR-2 making some minor improvements and send her a message giving her the coordinates where she can pick it up. I also repair the X-wing, name it Starwalker, give it a custom black white and blue body color with blue lights and change the blaster shots to violet. I take them both to the hangar putting Phazeon’s Normandy SR-2 on the second floor bay and the Starwalker on the nineteenth. I take the R2-V6 astromech droid out and set it out into the workshop, “I think I’m going to call you Arty, is that okay with you?” I ask with fatigue setting in, and it agrees and thanks me, “I’m trusting you, to take care of the workshop and Vada!” I say patting it on the head. He makes a snarky comment then salutes me. After explaining my condition and the need for sleep to Vada, I can see that she is confused, but also sad as if she only understands the dying part.

“Why can’t you just stay here with me? You don’t look sick here,” she asks innocently.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, I promise. Then I will explain everything to the extent of my ability to help you understand,” I say trying to keep the mood from falling. I pull my inventory up and grab the camera ball putting it in, then I swipe the screen away to see her running over to me. She jumps and tackles me with a hug one final time as I notice her tears making my shirt wet. I hug her back and log off. I pry myself away from the rig and get a shower, then do my bedtime ritual and take the last of my medicine. I go through my backpack to make sure nothing was forgotten and I notice my phone had messages and calls from several people all asking about the ODSMMO. I knew I would not have to answer them all but there are a few I know for certain I want to check, and the one I wish I had seen earlier had only one word. Y3LL1CA...