Chapter 75 - The Panic
"Here you go," Jin offered.
Placing the mug on the dining table, it was in front of Selbith. Sitting across from her with his beverage, he watched the rail thin teen grab it and take a sip. It seemed to satisfy her and make her look less tense. Taking a drink of his, he saw her looking at him. Thinking about what she said just happened, he decided to continue the conversation regarding it.
"When you talked about Surreality, you mentioned Armageddon. Are those two of the same thing?"
"In reference of hell and heaven battling in the mortal realm, yes," Ami stated holding the mug for warmth. "However, how both occur are not similar."
"How so?"
"Armageddon requires mortal kings to pledge servitude toward Satan. In exchange, the Lord of the Underworld grants demonic power to them to wage war with the divine beings in Heaven and God."
"...so basically, devil worshipers force God's hand to intervene to not have the world overtaken by the Underworld," he commented. "I'm assuming that is a very rough interpretation."
"The concept is fine. Surreality is not the same as it took 7 particular demons as keys. They are forced into submission to perform an ancient ritual to force open the passageways to realms," she stated.
"Do you think from you breaking out from the ritual, it weakened the ritual integrity?" Jin asked putting his elbows on the table.
"It is possible...but I do not think so," Selbith replied putting the mug down and looking at it. "Despite forcing myself out, my Grim Reaper self stayed. It kept the ritual going."
"But when the others broke free, they kept themselves intact."
"...appears so...I do not know how or why."
"Getting back to Surreality, it opened passageways to the realms. If people who created characters go venturing into those places and those gateways close, are they permanently stuck in there or can they get out?"
"So you are worried about them?"
"..." Jin replied with giving a sigh through his nose. Removing his arms on the table, he leaned back in the chair and waved his hand.
"Never mind then."
"..." Ami smirked looking at him. Taking a sip of her beverage, she felt like answering his question.
"I don't know if there is a possibility of getting out or not. Heaven sends those who are not holy out all the time. Purgatory will neither keep or push away souls that do not belong there. Most of the time, ghosts will haunt or possess them to gain some sense of holeness. Hell will devour any mortal soul as fresh meat."
"Hmm...well, demons were in the game world...and all of them had a hell amulet," he began then looked at her. "So there was a way for them to travel out of the Underworld. How else would they be able to be above the surface?"
"...true...other than opening rift portals or walking through travel gates, I wouldn't know any other way," the female teen agreed.
"Or just turn into a Grim Reaper and pass through Hell's ceiling of burning red bedrock," he added. It got her to give a small smirk before it faded. Seeing him reach in his pocket for something, he got his cell phone out.
"What are you doing?"
"Sending a message to Renee."
"Regarding what? What has happened?"
"Yeah," he said nodding his head. Hearing muttering, he chose to ignore the words used by Ami. Sending the message, he put his phone back in his pocket.
"Will she respond immediately?"
"Given what time it is, probably not. Still a bit early in the morning," the sophomore explained. Pushing his chair back quietly, he stood up and stretched. Letting his arms go back to his side, he looked at her.
"Since there is nothing to do until the rest of the family gets up, I'm going to go take a shower."
"...I see...I will join you," Selbith stated neutrally. Moving her chair back a little, she stood up. Looking back at him, he seemed to have frozen in place. The expression on his face was as if she said something taboo.
"...what...?"
"...Adam...what was that?" Rodger asked as both were staring at the monitor.
It still had the list of players that were still in the realms. Looking over at the lead programmer, he looked a little pale and agitated at the same time. About to ask him again, commotion was happening where the monitor techs were. Seeing him walk over there, he followed. Looking at the workers, all of them were stressed.
"Adam, none of the admin codes did anything. We tried highlighting all, doing individual, trying alternatives, and inputting emergency extraction codes. All were accepted but the players did not transfer," one stated frustrated and concerned.
"...h-hey! One of them on the list is trying to log out," another announced at his station.
Both programmers went to him and looked. It showed the player attempting to log out from the game while in the Underworld. Though the command to exit was accepted, nothing happened. Attempting other methods, it ended in the same result. Text was written down from what the individual was saying. The person wasn't panicking yet though seemed puzzled and concerned.
"..." Adam commented frowning at the screen.
'...how...how is Lamasthu capable of corrupting code commands and administrative commands?' he thought crossing his arms over his chest. 'She is just a demon virus with fixed conditions. There was no aspect of her knowing how to or being programmed to be able to.'
'All seven do have an advance code program that simulates "learning"...but how can they learn beyond the gaming content and world for that matter?'
'This doesn't make any sense!' he stated frustrated in his mind.
"What are we going to do Adam?" Rodger asked nearby. Seeing the lead programmer turn toward him, a grim look was on his face.
"Find a way to get those players out of the realms at any means possible."
"You mean...they can't leave them?" one monitor stated looking alarmed.
"The realms have always existed in the game; however, there are only a couple of routes to get the passageways to open. Surreality was one way to get all three realms accessible at once. Getting Surreality was suppose to be near impossible to where no one had achieved it. The catch is, if something occurred that disrupted the foundation of keeping the gateways open, then the access to the realms will crumble and disappear."
"If access to those realms was closed, the areas that players roam will remain intact. The downside, we can not pull them out nor can they exit via menu selection."
"...so...that means all the ones on the list are basically stuck there?" Rodger asked and got a nod. "What about the other players that are not roaming in those realms? Are they affected the same way?"
"...no...players outside the realms should be able to leave or escape as they see fit," Adam stated then addressed everyone. "Go ahead and send a generic message across all players comms. State that a bug has been found and we are working quickly to fix it."
"That doesn't buy us a lot of time," the other programmer mentioned.
"...no...but it does give something for the gamers that something has happened and a solution is being made."
'...just hope it can be an easy fix...' he thought feeling a cold shiver down his spine.
Sleeping still in her room, Renee was having a relatively calm dream. It dictated what seemed like a normal day though she was in someone's house. Not recognizing anything, she explored it without feeling anything threatening from the environment. After what felt like ten minutes of exploring, nothing of interest came about. Everything looked ordinary.
Turning into one room that seemed to be an office, there was a computer on the desk. Next to it was a phone with a blinking red light. Getting halfway inside, the sound of a door closed behind her. Stopping and turning around, the room's door closed by itself. Pressing her lips together, she backed up and started scanning the room.
Not finding anything to be anxious about, she slowly went around the desk. Finding nothing underneath it, she looked at the phone. The red light was still blinking on it. Getting in front of it, she saw the button that was aligned to the blinking light. Slowly pressing it, a message began with static and a vague voice.
[#$T%#H#$#I$#$E%#$F$^%]
[#%&W#%*H#$%&E#$%#R#$#E$]
[$%^I#$S#$^T*&^(*H#$#$E%]
'...that sounds awfully like...' Renee thought feeling her skin flare with goosebumps. '...Lamia...'
[WHERE#$IS##$GUNSLINGER!?]
"...!?" the junior reacted waking up.
Taking a deep breath in and out, she tried to relax. About to take another one that was slower, she stopped from hearing something. Listening, there was a mild voice speaking with white noise interfering. Sitting up, the noise sounded like it was coming from behind to her right. Slowly turning her head to glance over her right shoulder, an object with lights was on.
'...why is my helmet on?' she wondered.
Getting out of bed slowly, she walked quietly toward it. Stopping in front of it, she saw that her head gear was on with a dull glow inside. Not sure how or why, she slowly reached toward the power button. The voice and white noise were louder, but not more than normal talking volume. Pressing the switch and holding it, the lights turned off after a few seconds.
'...I don't remember pressing the power button...maybe I pressed it by accident when I moved it to my dresser?'
Finding that to be an acceptable possibility, Renee walked back to her bed. Passing by her nightstand, she noticed a blinking light on her phone. Climbing on the bed to get to the other side, she grasped her phone. Opening it up, the notification on it surprised her. She readily accessed her messages.
'It's rare for him to even message me...especially so early in the morning,' the female teen thought. Opening up his strain of messages, the new ones seemed serious.
[Morning. Do not put on your VR helmet. Surreality became deactivated. The other demons broke free] Jin's message read.
"...?" Renee reacted with a flinch. Hearing something, it was behind her. Feeling it was from the same direction as last time, she listened. The same voice and white noise was being produced. Blinking in mild apprehension, she read the rest of his message.
[They are infiltrating the helmets. Unplug and let battery power drain to turn it off]
"...what the-!?" she began to speak then bit her tongue to stop.
[%$%)(^&$#!]
The chopped up voice and static sounded a little louder when she spoke. Apprehension gripped her knowing that what she was dreaming. It was being influenced by the figure speaking inside the helmet. Looking back at the message, she turned around. Turning on her night stand light, she checked to see if the head gear was plugged in to be charged. Seeing that it wasn't, she had to hide it.
'I can probably bury it under blankets in my closet until the batteries run out,' Reene thought.
Getting off the bed and putting her phone on it, she grabbed the helmet. Ignoring the voice responding to being picked up, she quickly headed toward her closet. Opening it up and placing it on the floor inside, she grabbed blankets on a shelf. Putting them all around and over the head gear, the noises from it dampened instantly. Closing the closet, she could barely hear the yelling and static.
'I wonder why Lamia sounded so angry...especially asking for where Jin was,' the junior thought. Turning around and going to where her phone was, she picked up.
'If they can't find him, then that must mean his character and account were deleted,' she concluded. Waking up the cell, she messaged back.
"Are your ears going bad Jin?" Selbith asked walking around the dining table.
"No they aren't," he answered walking around the dining table. He kept his distance and made sure that the table was between them.
"I responded more reactionary than not hearing you."
"Then why did you respond like that?"
"Why do you wish to shower with me?"
"..." Ami replied narrowing her eyes. "Are you asking to purposely annoy me?"
"No."
"The answer remains the same from the previous times you have asked why I am joining you."
"..." he responded with frowning. Both continued to circle around the table staying across from each other.
"I keep forgetting you don't have a concept of respecting privacy...mine specifically."
"As I keep telling you Jin...as long as you are within reach, I don't care what you do."
"You made me aware of that on several occasions."
"Then why are you resistive to something so privative?"
"Privative!?" he responded with a surprised hushed voice. About to open his mouth and verbally correct her, he stopped. Taking a deep breath in and out, he spoke while continuing to keep the table between them.
"...call it...nurture conditioning on what is deemed socially acceptable. Even people in E.D.E. realm have that concept."
"Do I have to remind you that Hell has no concept of that?" she stated irritated.
"N-No...it is just...?" the sophomore began. Hearing his phone indicate a message, he stopped moving. Pulling out his phone, it gave the name of who sent it. Looking back up, he steeled himself. Selbith was in front of him with a small frown on her face.
"Is it from the thief?"
"...yeah...?" he replied taking a small step back.
"What does she want?" she demanded taking a small step forward.
"..." Jin answered with a sigh. Opening his phone up, Ami got next to him to be shoulder to shoulder. Ignoring it, he went to the messages.
[Morning. Thanks for the heads up. My helmet was on when I woke up and...sounds like Lamia is angry...what the heck is going on?]
"Lamia?" he repeated then looked at Ami. She looked a little intrigued.
"Do the others have the same ability as you and Eve?"
"Are you referring to invading that ambient icon space?"
"Yes."
"If we were developed by the creators in similar fashion, then they should be able to," she mentioned. Despite blinking at her with mild astonishment, she didn't share the same reaction. Shaking his head, he turned back to the phone.
[I'm not really sure. Selbith created a character in the game. Shortly afterwards, she said that Surreality was disabling itself. When she exited, Eve almost got her when she was in the ambient menu setting]
[...(0_0!)...whoa-whoa-whoa...they can leave the game!?]
[...(-_-)...yeah]
[...so that is how Selbith always stalked you everywhere...talk about one hella creepy bitch]
"Give me that," Ami stated reaching out and grabbing the phone. She began to message back.
[Maybe Jin shouldn't have saved you and left you to your own demise and suffering you worm]
[...oh great...the stalker queen herself. Did I not insult you enough?]
[It will take more than meek pitiful words to get me to kill you...mortal]
[Really? I think I know how to piss you off]
"No. Not now," Jin stated putting a hand over the phone. Selbith blinked then let go of it.
[...(-_-ii)...okay, let's not go there right now. Anyways, what was Lamia saying?]
[...(o_-)...this Jin speaking?]
[It is]
[...well...she was looking for you and asked me where you were. I never responded]
[Based on what Selbith recalled, Eve wanted to know the same thing...saying she was enraged would be an understatement]
[Given her being a loose cannon...I can believe that...so if Surreality is down, that means those passageways to the other realms have been closed?]
[Yeah. If there were anyone in them when the gateways collapsed, they will be stuck there]
[...(0.0!?)...wait a minute...what do you mean stuck there?]
[...Selbith stated that there other than Surreality, Armageddon, or maybe another condition, there is no direct way of travel to and from those realms]
[...that makes sense...but players can still log out, right? Their character will just be stuck in either Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory]
[...hmm...I really don't know. Would that be on the forum boards?]
[Possibly. I can check to see if something was posted on there]
[Okay. I'll see if I can find something on my end]
[Alright. Talk to you in a minute] Renee messaged. About to reply back, something crossed his mind.
"...I just remembered something," Jin spoke blinking and staring at his phone. Looking at Ami, she blinked and looked at him.
"What?"
"When you resided in me...how were you able to disable the log out button in the menu icon space?"
"Disable it? It was simple. I just grabbed it and shadowed it."
"...uh...how do you do that exactly?"
"..." Ami answered looking down in deep thought. After several seconds of thinking, there was no look of finding an answer.
"...I'm not really sure...when I wanted to prevent you from leaving, I just thought of it and it happened."
"...do you have to be present and holding onto to the icon for it to be disabled?" he asked looking tense at her.
"...no...I do not."
"..." Jin reacted by blinking. Moving one hand to his face, he covered his mouth a little. The sophomore became rigid.
"...Eve...Lamia...Haurette...Hantu-Kopek...Empusa...Lamashtu..." he mentioned in a quieter voice. It made Ami feel tense seeing how reactive he was becoming. Slowly looking at her, there was a look of concern on his face.
"All of them...can disable the log out buttons...right?"
"...yes..." she answered blinking and watching him.
"Can they do mass dismantling?"
"...I think Eve, Hantu-Kopek, and Lamashtu can...more so Lamashtu given her nature, power, and capabilities," Selbith stated then realized something. It dawned on her to what he was alluding to.
"By hell's domain..." she muttered and looked surprised.
"Is it possible for them to do that to all players?" he asked with apprehension growing on his face.
"...yes...I have no doubt that they can do that...it is within their powers to prevent someone from leaving."
"...well this is turning into a big can of sh...no..." Jin began to say when he suddenly panicked. Without saying anything else, he hurried out of the kitchen.
"...!?" Selbith reacted with surprise. Following him quickly, she exited the kitchen. Seeing movement to her left, he was going up the stairs.
'...it is well within their means to hold his sibling captive too...' she thought. 'If anything...that would be the perfect lure to make him go back.'
Despite knowing that she made numerous threats toward Jin about invading his brother's head gear, something in her had changed. Over time as she ventured with him in E.D.E., she grew less serious about doing so. Oddly, she found herself changing. Her initial enjoyment of causing and seeing his torment started to wane. As time went on, her thirst to give hell became tamed and more human.
Now, seeing the level of fear in his face did not make her smile. Instead, it made her feel her insides squeeze and everything tense. Oddly, it made her want to make sure that his sibling was safe. Shaking her head, she reached the second floor. Seeing him ahead of her, she walked quickly and quietly to him.
Reaching Gene's door, he opened it relatively quiet with haste. Upon entering, there were no blinking lights or sounds of whirling small fans. The night light in the corner of the room was on and gave a warm haze inside the room. Walking toward the bed, he stood and looked down. Getting next to him, she heard Jin sigh heavily with relief.
"...holy shit that scared me..." the sophomore whispered and rubbed the back of his neck.
"..." Selbith commented looking at the smaller sibling.
The boy was resting soundly in his bed. Seeing that made her feel more at ease. About to comment, Jin got to the floor and reached under the bed. Patting around and tapping something that was large and hollow, he quietly pulled it out. Colored more gray, it was a VR helmet similar to hers. There were no lights on or glow from inside.
"What will you do with it?" she asked seeing him go to the closet.
Opening the sliding door quietly, he pulled out a relatively light blanket. Wrapping it around the helmet, he reached for the high shelf inside. Placing it on there, he stepped back a little. Seeing where it was, Gene would need a step stool to reach it. Satisfied, he slid the door closed.
Without saying anything, he turned around to face her. Grabbing her hand, he walked toward the room's door. Following without question, both exited his brother's chamber. Being the last person out, she closed the door quietly behind her. Looking back at him, he glanced at her then looked toward another door.
Continuing to pull her in tow, he went straight to the restroom. Opening the door and entering, he let go of her hand. Going inside and turning around, he waited. After Ami walked in, he closed the door. Watching him put his head on the doorframe, he began to mildly headbutt it.
After the fifth one, he stopped from hearing a notification sound on his phone. Lifting his head up and turning around, he reached into his pocket. Pulling it out and opening it, he accessed his messages. Ami walked to him and stood beside him. He move the cell over so it was between them.
[I did a rough search and found only a few posts. But a majority of them were regarding about quests and treasures in each realm. None of them were about being stuck or not able to leave those areas] Renee messaged.
[Got it...we...got a real problem now] he replied and sighed through his nose.
[What do you mean?]
[I remembered that Selbith would sometimes disable my log out button to prevent me from leaving]
[...(0.0)...(-.-)...(0.0)...whoa-whoa-whoa...she can do that?]
[...yes...all of the seven demons can]
[...(0_0)...no...]
[...Eve...Hantu-Kopek...Lamashtu...can do disabling of it on a massive scale]
[...(0n0)...you're joking...please tell me that this is just a sick joke]
[...(-_-)...]
"...!?" both Jin and Ami flinched from the cell phone ringing. Quickly hitting the answering button, he put it to his ear. He didn't flinch from Ami grabbing his hand. Placing her head next to his, she turned the mobile so that it was between their ears.
"...hello?"
[Y-You have to be joking...there is no freaking way that is possible] Renee stated on the other line. She sounded frightened.
"...I really wish I was...I can't prove it...but I seriously believe it," he stated in a defeated tone.
[...oh my god...] the junior whispered in fear. [...that means...all those players are...]
"...imprisoned within their own creation..." Selbith added.
[W-What do we do? How do we get them out of there?]
"...I really don't know..." Jin answered with a cringe. He was hiding an option that he did not want to say.
[Could we just remove the helmet and get them out that way?]
"...that would be dangerous..." he continued. "If the player's mind is subconsciously in that game world and it gets jacked out, that would be equivalent of doing that to a computer while its running."
[...you mean...their brain will crash!?] she asked alarmed.
"Yeah...more likely than not, it will force someone into a comatose state. Unlike a computer that has a reboot program to reset itself, we aren't machines and aren't programmed that way."
[T-Then...w-what do we do?]
"...you know Jin...you could-" Selbith began.
"...hell...no...I'm not going back in there," he retorted speaking through his teeth.
[From what is going on now, I'm not going back in there either. Forget it] the junior agreed firmly.
"If that is your decision, then you two should not feel obligated to help them. It is their fate to become trapped and shackled from the foolishness of the creators."
"..."/[...] both Jin and Renee replied with silence.