Part 2-Darkness
Remember when we met?
How could I forget?
You said that I would never amount to anything.
I wasn't that far off.
No. If things hadn't gone just right-
Right is a matter of opinion.
The Guide through Enlightenment
In the depths of the Dome, Gravity itself is suspended. While the ancients disagreed, those who live now realize that the Power is the answer to all technical problems faced in research. Take the Portal experiment, where a full sized circle was finally enough to seal a Portal Stone destination that had been infected by mutated channelers, or the Dominion of 8723[/]
The Game is the only way to get away from the modern world now. Chora trees prevent any aggressive behavior for 25 miles around any city, and cities were much closer to each other than 25 miles.
You couldn't even think about harming another human being.
Good thing the original game was based on fighting Dominion forces. Even Aes Sedai found nothing wrong with that. The bastards.
-How could anyone play like that-
My friends started laughing. It was a new feeling to have friends, let alone lickspittles, but that was the way it worked. Getting into the Dome based off of the Game was the hardest way in. Students rarely tried. So when someone not only maxed their required scores but also broke every previous record, the usual social leeches latched on.
My target turned around. Short kid, seemed belligerent, as if he had something to prove. Looking at his screen, where the Dominion had flanked his entire army, I figured he would have to start proving it soon.
"Who the #%$ are you to criticize my playing? That's an 87%, you dumb bastard." That was considered good before I started playing.
I looked calmly at his tabs. Biomedical. That was fairly unusual. Aes Sedai didn't like people messing around with the "sanctity" of genes.
-Ishmael-
And that was enough. His face twisted through the usual run of emotions. Surprise, doubt, anger, and just a little bit of fear. Then it settled on a grin. Maybe he wasn't a complete idiot after all.
"Huh. I thought you were eight feet tall and breathed fire wherever you walked."
-I doubt it. I haven't got pyro genes-
The Dome was still trying to figure out who had created those. 8 million credits was a lot of damage back then.
He grinned.
"Those were mine."
I looked carefully. Too many people sucking up create a very cynical mindset.
-What's your name-
"Well, if you're Ishmael, you can call me Aginor."
At least the bastard had a sense of humor. Ag-I-NO. The chemical compound that the Pyro genes turned into fire.
-What's the R for-
"Sounds cooler with it on the end. Why did you pick Ishmael for your GameID?"
-Sounds cooler than Mike-
"Mike?"
-Long story-