Chapter 108 - The Exit
[JJJJIIIINNNNNN...KILL THEM! ALLLLLLLOOOOFFFTTTHHHHEEEMMMM! EVERY SINGLE ENTITY IN THIS WORLD!...] monstrous voices bellowed. Even on the lowest volume setting, it sounded as if they were talking loudly at them. The four flinched from the sudden barrage of disturbing voices and scenery.
[...] Jin voiced gritting his teeth. Breathing angrily, he was trying to navigate through a world of black, red, and white chaos. Seeing the view look up, there were thousands of mouths attached to a bleeding wall of flesh that encompassed the entire sky.
"...!?" the men reacted with shock.
"...what the hell..." Tiffany whispered in apprehension.
"..." Gene reacted with a combination of wonder and fear. It was like watching a horror game in first person view.
[...r...u...n...FiNdThEm...tttoooorrrrttttuuuurrrreeeetttthhhheeeemmm...show them suffering! SHOW THEM DEATH! SHOWER THEM WITH THEIR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD! fInD tHeIr EtErNaL sLuMbEr...jjjjjiiiiinnnnnn...wwweeeeesssseeeeeyyyyooouuuu...wwweeeeffeeeeellllyyyoooouuuuu...]
[...s...h...u...t...u...p...] the boy commented while continuing to run.
The visual gltiched quickly a couple of times. Each time the picture focused, Jin was further away from where he was last. The amount of ground he covered was large. As if responding to him, the sky of flesh and mouth started doing a hypnotic effect. It started to make the environment start to bend and turn a little.
[...wwweeeessssmmmeeeellllyyyooouuuu...WWWWEEEEEETTTTAAAASSSSTTTTTEEEEYYYYOOOOUUUU...WWWWWEEEEEAAAARRRREEEEYYYYYOOOOUUUU...WWWWWEEEEBBBBRRRREEEEAAATTTTHHHHEEEEEYYYOOOUUU...w...e...k...n...o...w...y...o...u...] all the mouths spoke a different times. It caused an echoing and delayed barrage of voices that overlap each other.
[...ggggrrrrrrrr...] Jin glitched and growled monstrously. Hearing a tidal wave of numerous laughter and mirth, the picture started to swirl faster and faster. Suddenly, the TV was turned off. Looking over at the doctor, he immediately went to the male teen's beside. Quickly pulling the cable jack out of the helmet, he looked less stressed.
"...well...that was...different," Dr. McCole mentioned only loud enough for them to hear. Turning to the others, only Derek seemed to be the one less affected from what they saw.
"...doctor...w-w-what...was that?" Alex asked feeling goosebumps on his arms.
"...if your son was not playing a VR game...I would say that looked like either a nightmare or madness."
"...but he's playing E.D.E." Gene stated still looking enthralled and frightened at the same time. "I remember reading on online forums that the game does not have large detail of a horror genre to it."
"...E.D.E...?" the medical person stated surprised. "You mean...he isn't playing another game?"
"All three were playing that game at roughly the same time doctor," Mr. Felmort informed and crossed his arms over his chest. It seemed to help him relax a little not feel tensed up.
"..." Dr. McCole spoke looking back at the teens. Having a contemplative look on his face, the nurse tapped his shoulder and whispered something. Nodding his head, he turned to the four.
"To make sure of something, may we see what is going on in their VR headsets?" he asked gesturing to the remaining two patients. Both Tiffany and Derek blinked then looked back at their own child.
"Do you want to go first?" he asked looking at the woman.
"...I...I guess so."
"Okay," the doc spoke. He and the nurse moved the mobile monitor to the next bed. Hooking everything up, Tiffany gripped Alex's sleeve harder. He glanced at her only then looked back at the monitor.
"Here is visual number two," Dr. McCole mentioned.
Turning on the TV, it was still on the lowest volume. After several seconds, the screen was still black. Increasing the volume slowly, they began to hear someone breathing shallowly. It sounded in slow motion and as if they were underwater. In the background, there was someone talking but it was muffled.
"...what is happening?" Tiffany whispered tense from listening.
"Is she blindfolded?" Gene asked thinking out loud.
"That is possible...or that she fell asleep...or was knocked out," the medical staffer added. The last one did not sit well with the three parents.
"A little unnerving," Mr. Ainsley commented quietly.
"I had enough," she announced quietly and pressed her lips together. "I am going to say she is just sleeping."
"..." everyone else spoke and just nodded their heads. Watching the doctor, he turned off the TV and began unplugging the cable from Renee's helmet.
"May I check your daughter's visual Mr. Felmort?"
"...go ahead..." he answered with a small head nod. Seeing things transferring to Ami's bed side, the cable was hooked in.
"Alright...visual number three," the doctor mentioned. Seeing the TV get turned on, the volume got put back on the lowest setting. As seconds passed, Derek tensed up wondering what state his daughter would be in.
'She never played video games at the house...she was never really interested in them...unless she secretly hid that from me,' he thought with a small frown. A visual came up in first person. It showed an environment of a large high ceiling room. Increasing the volume, they heard a person talking. All three adults and Gene recognized the voice.
[Can you even believe what he has become?] Ami stated sounding enamored. She was looking out of a huge blast hole through the room's wall. It showed to the outside but there was no one there.
[The power...the fear...the control...I can imagine you felt every inch of it. Didn't you thief?] she added. The picture changed and showed a female teenage on the ground. Though she looked unharmed, she appeared to be knocked out from seeing her breathing.
"That's...Renee's character!" Tiffany stated feeling a small sense of relief. At the same time, she was worried on why she was out cold.
[You should have seen Eve's face when Jin was ripping her body to pieces...limb from limb...torturing her until her limbs were bloody stumps...and then] Selbith explained then pulled out a large pistol. Without warning, she pulled the trigger. The loudness of the gunfire made nearby family members jump in the room from the sudden sound.
[He obliterated her with no mercy!] she stated enthused. [A rightful end to that she-devil wench...it was so satisfying, you have no idea how many millennia I wanted to kill her]
"...?" Alex, Derek, and Tiffany blinked in mild confusion.
"Wow...she is really into her character," Gene mentioned with a small smile.
"...is your daughter into acting Derek?" she asked looking at him. He shook his head.
"If she had that interest, I never knew about it," he answered looking annoyed and confused.
"What crawled up his butt?" Tiffany whispered into Mr. Ainsley's left ear. Despite wanting to enjoy is mildly bashful reaction, she kept a tense face.
"Probably due from not knowing all about Ami...and not having control."
"...hmph...still the same," she said quietly and moved away from him a little.
"I've seen enough," Derek stated and saw the doctor turn off the TV. While watching him unplug the cable and cords to the TV, he spoke.
"So doctor...from what you have seen...what is your opinion of the situation?"
"Well...this game they are playing," he stated after putting things back on the mobile cart. "I think I heard that the game company stated that it was infected with computer viruses or something. Right?"
"Yes. The news gave an announcement of what the game company released in a statement," Alex stated with a nod.
"Hmm," Dr. McCole responded and looked at the children. "I have no idea what a computer virus would do to a person's subconscious."
"But if I were to say anything," he continued then looked back at them. "The quicker they can get out, then the more likely they will be stable. My most concern out of all the victims here...is your son Mr. Ainsley."
"..." the father reacted with pressing his lips together.
"...w-why do you say that doctor?" Gene asked a little scared.
"For whatever happened to him...putting this in pathology terms...he seems to be the most infected of what is happening in that virtual reality."
"5 minutes remaining till testing the code manipulation," John stated out loud to the others.
"You would think that with the amount of decent computer technology and dual to quad processors, this would go faster," Bill muttered for only the coder and lead programmer to hear.
"It is worth the wait if it gives us what we were trying to create," Rodger mentioned then turned to the group. "If this works, I want to do a small batch of players at a time. We'll start in Stratnum then work our way to the other stages, towns, and metropolises. Sending the message to all players will only cause a mad panic and might cause the virus to notice."
Hearing an overall confirm with many head nods, the crew continued to work. As the time got closer and closer to zero, the anticipation kept increasing for everyone. With a minute left till the code manipulator program was completed, there were two individuals that walked into the open space. Everyone turned to them and saw who they were. Stopping near Rodger, one of the security guards addressed him.
"Are you Rodger Clemith?"
"Yes. What can I do for you?" he replied with turning to the security personnel.
"We received a complaint from Mr. Adam that you threatened him verbally and physically. Is that true?"
"..." the lead programmer answered with crossing his arms over his chest. "...yes...it is true."
"He also stated that you assaulted him. Is that true?"
"I pushed him to the floor and that was about it."
"Can you tell me the reason why you did this?"
"...guess you could say it was a conflict of interest of what we are doing now...how it should be ran...and what is the end goal."
"That is a bit vague, but I get the gist of it," the guard stated. "No offense, but what argument would two people have over a video game that would cause them to threaten each other? I mean, I assume you are all adults here."
"It might sound funny from that perspective, but not in the aspect of children and adults lives at stake. Adam stated he wanted to save his game creation more than saving the gamers that are trapped in that game."
"...all of you are trying to fix the people that can't remove their VR helmets?" he asked. The entire room of employees nodded. The other guard leaned to the right and whispered in his co-workers ear. Seeing him nod, he moved back to standing straight.
"Alright Mr. Clemith," the first security person said putting his hands on his hips. "Show me what have you done so far."
"Sure," Rodger stated then gestured to a wide screen TV. It showed a basement with a black warp gate in a wall. The timer on it reached zero.
"Code manipulator completed," John stated and looked at everyone. Seeing anticipating faces and body language, he gave a nod.
"Inputting code change...now," he continued and hit enter. Seeing the code on his screen change, something happened on the wide screen. The black warp gate slowly changed color to off white. Keeping the same shape, another coder spoke giving a status of the change.
"Warp gate is stable...it has the administration code of a complete log out and bypasses the menu screen," he stated. Though people wanted to feel relieved, it still had to be proven.
"We would just need a...test sample to see if it really works," the coder added. Hearing murmurs but no volunteers, none of them wanted to risk being trapped. Hearing someone step forward, it was the second security guard.
"I...have a cousin that is trapped in that game on the east coast...if that would suffice," he claimed. Rodger turned to him and put his arms to his side.
"Though we got the code and programed it to basically be an exit out of E.D.E. and the menu settings of the helmet...I can't guarantee that this will work," the lead programmer remarked as neutrally as possible.
"I am willing to take that chance," the guard responded with firmness. Taking out his phone, he speed dialed a number. Putting it to his ear, he communicated with someone.
"Hi auntie...how are you?...I'm okay...how is Jason doing?...still the same?...nah, just wanted to check in. Hey auntie...I know I have asked before, but let me know if anything changes with him...cool. Thanks auntie. Talk to you soon...bye."
"His avatar name is Skywalker104," he informed putting his cell away.
"Give me a second or two," Bill commented.
Typing on his computer, the pop up window showed a large list of Skywalker named characters. Reaching the 104th one and selecting it, it showed a swordsman. He currently was in Hubtron. Bringing up a message board, he sent the player a message. After a few seconds passed by, the gamer replied back with relief and emojis.
"He is heading to Stratnum now...looks like he used the portal jump," Bill commented. "At least that speeds things up."
Bringing up a live feed, it showed the entrance of Stratnum. Seeing a blue light appear and flash, a swordsman appeared. Instructing the player to go to the house, the monitor tech indicated that the guard will not stop him. Watching the character run to the high class side of the city, he entered the house. Closing the door and stepping forward, he turned his head to the left. Spotting the the open door to the basement along the backwall on the floor, he went down there.
[...whoa...what is that?] Skywalker104 messaged. He descended the steps slowly spotting the white warp portal.
[It is the exit portal we found and programmed. In simple terms, you go through it and will wake up...at least we hope so.]
[...okay...here goes nothing] he messaged getting in front of it.
Getting into a stance like some superhero character, he rushed into it. Going through, the portal barely glitched or broke its form. Waiting in silence, suspension was filling the air. Employees stared at the security guard when 30 seconds passed and nothing occurring. Despite the computer indicating that the player logged out and was marked, nothing else gave validation of it working. After a minute, a mobile started ringing.
"..." the guard responded getting his phone out. Staring at it hard, he saw the other security person nod his head. Opening the cell, he placed it to his ear.
"Hello?...hi auntie...what? really?" he spoke with a smile. "That's great. Glad to hear he finally woke up."
"Jesus yes," one of the workers stated out loud in relief. A couple of others gave hard high fives.
"Make sure you tell him that his superhero exit was lame. Alright, got to go back to work. Thanks for letting me know. Bye," the guard parted and ended the call. Putting his mobile away again, he stuck out his hand to Rodger.
"Thank you."
"Thank you. Everyone here made this happen," the lead programmer spoke and shook his hand.
"So," the other guard began looking less stern as before. "What do you guys and gals need to keep this operation going?"
In one of the domains of the Underworld, Lamashtu was busy observing what was going around in E.D.E. Feeling a faint void aura that was far away on the mortal realm, she turned to it. Narrowing her eyes, she was distracted by something that caught her eye. Looking at the vision and smiling at it, the demon goddess disregarded the faint aura. Watching the individual rushing through the imagery he was having, she closed her eyes.
'I know you can persevere...prove to me that you are above the other Blighters that had fallen prey to their gift,' she thought. Moving her hands into a stance, it appeared she was doing a prayer of some kind. After a few seconds, a black glow emitted from her. Giving an small cruel smile, she looked back at the running individual.
'You have already begun my quest...I'll be watching Jin.'
"...mmmm..." Rogue groaned and moved a little. Feeling like she went through a car accident, her entire body felt sore. Rolling over to be on her hands and knees, she shook her head slowly.
"About time you stirred up thief."
"..." she responded with a small grunt and frown. "...where am I...?"
"Still in the cloning room," Selbith stated and walked a little away. "Do you remember what happened?"
"...regarding...?" Renee asked getting up one knee. Feeling a headache, she put a hand on her forehead and grimaced a little.
"Before, during, and after Jin was killing Eve?"
"...he...killed her?" the thief asked looking up. Still looking in agony, a surprised expression was on her face.
"...you did not see what he was doing?"
"...no..." she replied shaking her head a little. "I saw...how he was...killing her...but after trying to get him to stop...everything altered."
"..." Ami spoke and looked at her.
More intrigued than doing her usual bantering at the female teen, she went to her side. Getting out the remaining healing potions she had in her inventory, she opened the two and poured them on her. After seeing the green glow come and go, Rogue looked less weathered. Watching the thief slowly stand on her own, the cringe she had reduced. Able to lift her head up and look at one another, the gunslinger continued.
"Tell me what you saw."
"...?" Renee responded with a questionable blink. "...why...?"
"The first time we touched Jin when he turned into a Blighter, the only thing that I felt was discomfort. In which you looked the same."
"...yeah...I remember."
"When you dashed to him to stop him," Selbith began then narrowed her eyes at her. "Which I do not know why you wanted to stop him from killing that wretched worm of a demon. But, that is besides the point."
"...!" the thief veered back a little when Ami pointed an accuser finger at her.
"You were petrified with fear...which any mere mortal would be getting in touch with a Blighter of that magnitude. So spill it. What did you see? What was altered? Why did you call out to him to save you?"
"S-Shut up!" Renee reacted sharply with fear in her voice. Walking out of the room she was thrown into, she went through the hole in the wall to be in the dysfunctional clone room. She abruptly stopped seeing the gunslinger materialize in front of her.
"Tell me."
"Leave me alone," she stated and turned right. Hearing a gun being pulled out, she stopped. Turning around with a frown on her face, Selbith was pointing her large handgun at the floor. Seeing her look neutral at her, Renee clenched her teeth.
"I'll ask you again mortal...what did you see?"
"I don't want to talk about so lay off of it," Rogue countered with irritation. Seeing the gun being lifted, she got her hand on the holy knife. However, the range weapon pointed to something left and a bit behind the gunner.
"Look at Eve," Selbith spoke in an even tone and not taking her eyes off of her.
"..." the female teen responded with only blinking.
"LOOK AT HER RENEE!" Ami shouted with agitation. Seeing the thief blink again, her eyes slowly moved to the where she was pointing. Seeing only bits and pieces of gore, Renee looked back.
"...I...don't see her..."
"That is because Jin made her explode from the inside out," Selbith indicated with small amounts of satisfaction. Moving her free arm in front of her, she made her hand take a clawing position.
"With only doing...this," she continued and closed her hand into a fist.
"..." Rogue commented with just staring and looking a bit unsettled. "Why do you care about what I saw?"
"Do you even know how many Blighters there are in this world or even in the realms?"
"...from what you have stated...and how only you, Han-Ko, and Lamashtu know...I guessing there is a few."
"..." Selbith reacted with a mocking smirk. Putting her gun away, she turned toward the big blast hole in the wall.
"When I saw my first one, I was captivated. The aspect that something gave me terror like a mortal would from seeing a monster...was never heard of. How could a Grim Reaper...who is the image of death and taker of lives...fear someone that is neither demon or angel?"
"So you got a reality slap in your face...how fitting for you," Rogue remarked and saw Ami sneer at her.
"Hmph. I guess trying to have a conversation with you is pointless like the rest of you mortals," she stated. Turning to face her, she pointed at her again.
"I want to know what is it that made the Blighters cease living."
"...?" Renee reacted with blinking a couple of times. "What do you mean by that?"
"From the time I saw my first one, the research I gathered with only scraps of information, and the cryptic messages that Han-Ko and Lamashtu provided...all of them are dead."
"...did...God or Satan kill them?" the thief asked feeling nervous.
"...no...the deity above the clouds would never hunt anyone to kill off a being...and the Hell King...is more interested in turning his nemesis's children against him."
"...so...did the female demons kill them?"
"...you are getting so cold thief..." Ami mentioned with a cruel smile. "I'll give you one more guess so humor me."
"Did the human warriors defeat them with some ancient magic?" Renee stated not really caring.
"You imbecile!" the gunslinger shouted with annoyance. "Are you braincells that scrambled from being blasted into a wall?"
"Shut up bonehead! I don't know!" the thief yelled back with anger. "You know what. I don't want to know or know what you think. I am going to go find Jin regardless of what he has become."
"..." Ami responded watching the thief walking away. Narrowing her eyes again, she enabled "Fast Reactions" again. Appearing in front of Rogue, the female teen stopped and looked at her sternly.
"I am not answering you so leave me alone."
"Let me be clear about two things before you go off on your...rescue mission," Selbith began. "One, Jin has become an entity that is as powerful as a demi-god. And one that strikes fear and horror from just its presence. If you assume he is just like he was before his turning...you will perish like a fool."
"And two," she continued and lowered her head a little to give a glare. "I am not separating from Jin once I find him...he is mine."
"..." Rogue reacted with glaring back at her.
"If you got something to say before parting thief, then speak or save your breath. You'll need every one of them if you want to survive."
"You are not worth spit to talk to."
Seeing the thief enable her "Fast Reactions", Ami saw the "Stalker" pop up window indicate which way she left. Turning her head toward the massive hole in the wall, the glare on her face remained. Blinking and feeling mildly agitated from her statement, she turned toward the door entrance of the clone facility. Walking out of the room, she pulled out the large handgun. Walking through the hallways, she tried to find the front entrance while trying to find things to relieve feeling angry.