"You have said before that Ashes of God was your pet project long before it was taken by Omega9, how is that?"

The interviewer stretched his hand for his guest to speak. A middle-aged man with a round frame that already lost half of his hair.

"Ashes of God was a project that I and some of my friends were working on since our university days. We’ve put in lots of effort, sleepless nights, missed classes… By the end of the four years, we had a functioning product. It’s just that it was nothing like we first envisioned. We had a dream, but we dreamt too big. Like Icarus flying to the sun, our wings were burnt and we were about to fall from the skies. That's when Omega9 approached us."

The barrage of juicy information was something that the interviewer didn’t expect, but it was a welcome surprise. A smile covered his face.

“You guys have put in such incredible effort and hard work. Four years of your life… That’s not cheap. Now the question I wanna ask is what exactly did Omega9 give you that you didn’t already have or could easily procure.”

The guest chuckled.

"Now that’s one loaded question. It’s easier for me to count the number of things they didn’t give us rather than the opposite. We were just a bunch of teens who had no idea about the scope of the beast they awakened. We needed artists, programmers, hardware guys, beta testers, and most importantly, money to put food on the table. O9 gave us all of that and more."

The guest’s statement picked the journalist’s curiosity.

“But there must have been something that distinguished your game from the thousand others. Something that made Omega think that you guys had it, that this game had potential.”

“Haha, I’m not sure. I guess it was our experimentalist approach that earned us their favor. Gosh, it’s been what? Ten, fifteen-year since then? By that time Deep Machine Learning and AI made all the news while MMOs were nowhere to be heard. I guess we were one of the few who decided to integrate them in such a way that has never been done before, and O9 saw potential in that.”

"Interesting. Now, let’s talk more about the game. I know that you can’t tell us much but what feature do you think would be the most interesting to the people? "

The interviewee felt hesitant. He pointed his eyes towards the roof then scratched his head while grunting.

"I would say… Time Dilation. It’s something that only existed until now in scientific papers. There are some minigames out there that do have it, but nothing to the scale, depth and breadth of Ashes of Gods. I think, if I had to choose, this would be the most “hype” feature as the kids call it."

The host’s mouth shaped a perfect “O”. His face was the perfect description of the word surprise.

"Woah, time dilation? I don’t know what that means but that sounds cool as all hell."

The guest chuckled at the interviewer’s reaction.

"Haha, right? Well, in simple terms, Time Dilation enables a player to get three to five times as much play time as normal. Sometimes this can go up to some crazy numbers, ten, twenty, a hundred! This is done through some hardware magic that makes the brain work faster. It's better than sudoku to train the brain too!"

The interviewee burst out laughing at his own joke. The interviewer tried to continue his questioning.

"That’s very interesting. But returning to your team and friends from college, are they still in the project?"

The guest stayed silent for a moment. His laughing face was no more. Only after a few seconds did he break the ice.

“Ah, my friends. Yes. Some of them stayed, some of them went on with their lives. Honestly, they were all great men and women, and all of them did well for themselves.”

The interview then continued on without much ruckus. Shesmu, who was watching it through his smart lenses exited the stream, frustrated.

He leaned back on his chair and sighed. He then took off the smart lenses and scratched his eyes. The little devices strained his pupils. He put them in their case before sitting up. He then walked up and down the room lost in his thoughts.

Okay, let’s recall. After I came back, what happened? Scenes from throughout the day in his head. The film then paused at the image of his daughter, amidst the desert, within that dream. Shesmu bit his lips.

 No, no, focus on what’s important, Mark!

He shook his head to get the scene away from his mind. He thought back to the mail he received, that piece of hope. Someone out there knew what happened to him. He didn’t know or care whether they were the one who initiated the incident or if they were also just a victim. The only thing that mattered was that he wasn’t alone.

After reading that mail, Shesmu tried to look for any indication of the sender. The mail used was a throwaway. The IP address it was sent from linked to one location: Turkey, Batman. Obviously, this was just the address of a proxy the sender used.

Digital forensics led to a dead-end, so Shesmu explored the only avenue left for him: Ashes of Gods. The mail did say that they would meet in Ashes of Gods. As such, Shesmu read every article, watched every piece of news, interview, or anything even remotely related to the game. Unfortunately, no dice.

Shesmu lowered his head and sighed. He spent all night looking for traces of this mysterious sender. He opened the curtain of his windows only to see the fifty shades of orange painting the sky. It was the dawn of a new day.

“Guess I won’t have any sleep today.” Shesmu yawned. “Seth, prep me coffee.”

“Understood, Mark.” 

The old man's voice of Seth somehow made Shesmu feel a sense of reassurance. These past few days took their toll on Shesmu’s mental state. Things outside of his control kept interfering with him and he got no say in anything. However, this couldn’t keep going. He needed to control his own life.

“Mark, your coffee is ready. Do you want it at your desk?”

Shesmu hummed in response. A squared portion of the desk caved in. A cup full of hot coffee then popped up from the hole as if it was an elevator. 

Other than the cup, the desk didn’t have anything on it. Shesmu sat down on his chair before hovering his hand over the table. A black and green holographic keyboard appeared on top of it. At the same time, a massive holographic screen popped into existence in front of Shesmu.

Shesmu opened the official site of Ashes of Gods as he sipped on his coffee. In bold, golden, stylized letters, it displayed the opening date of the beta: July 1st, 2041 00.00 E.S.T.

“Four days left…” Shesmu’s mind wandered. With all the events that happened and the emotional rollercoaster, he didn’t get the chance to truly appreciate the craziness of what happened to him. Fans spent thousands of hours before trying to compare him with legendary players of the past. Now, he could face them for real. However, before even thinking about that, Shesmu had to settle some scores first.

“Dawn..” His fist clenched and his eyebrows furrowed. “If I were to work under you again this time, then I am truly a dog that deserves the stick.”

Remembering Dawn’s Resonance and how easily they got rid of Allan from the team, Shesmu was infuriated. He closed the Ashes of Gods’ website and opened his messaging app. At the top of his contacts was Allan Rivera. He clicked on it and sent him a message. He asked to meet him at eight in the park.

The clock showed at half-past five. There was still quite a bit of time until the meeting. As such, Shesmu decided to go for a morning jog. 

He took off his pajamas and put on a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, sports socks, and a pair of sneakers. He went down the stairs and exited the house.

On his morning jog, Shesmu made sure to take notice of the changing scenery. The old buildings, the alleyways that were since closed, the fast-food he would always go to after school. Shesmu felt alien. Looking at these past memories coming back to life, he felt like a ghost looking back at the past. 

In those early hours of the day, there was barely anyone on the streets. Only a few joggers and the robots cleaning the streets. Shesmu took a few detours around the residential areas. 

Even though the city was full of towering apartments and skyscrapers, joggers could still enjoy the beauty of the sun, and the freshness of grass thanks to smart building. This was one of the many gifts of the AI boom.

Shesmu came back to his house soaked in sweat. After an hour of running, he was almost out of breath.

“Dammit…” He huffed and puffed. “Forgot that my body used to be this weak.”

“Welcome back, Mark.” A robot holding a set of clean clothes welcomed Shesmu.

Shesmu jumped on the sofa, dead tired from jogging. He caught his breath before responding, “Thanks Seth… Please prepare me a bath, I’m sweating bullets.”

“Understood, Mark. For breakfast, what do you want?”

“Ehh, toast, sausages and some apple juice, please.”

“Right away then.”

The robot made its way towards the bathroom, while Shesmu was still recovering. He took a few more deep breaths before jumping back to his feet. Shesmu followed after the robot and climbed up the stairs. He opened the door to the bathroom only to find steam covering the air. Shesmu then took off his clothes and jumped straight into the bathtub.

“Ah, nothing beats a nice warm bath!”

Stretching his feet all the way to the edge of the tub, Shesmu felt relaxed. His aching back and thigh muscles were no longer in pain. Relieved from the tension, Shesmu sunk into his thoughts. Now that he went back into the past, there were a few things that he needed to check off his bucket list. And first on that list was taking care of his business with Dawn’s Resonance.

“Mark, your breakfast is ready.”

Seth’s voice awoke Shesmu from his stupor. He went out of the bathtub and dried himself with the prepared towels Seth left him. He put on his clothes and went back to his bedroom. 

His breakfast was ready on top of his desk. With a flick of his finger, Shesmu booted up his holographic computer while nibbling on his grilled toasts. He then opened his mail and searched for Dawn’s Resonance. He looked at all mails containing the tag one by one, until he found the one he was looking for. Contract Renegotiation Before Free Agency. 

Shesmu clicked on the mail and read all of it slowly, making sure that he doesn’t miss a single word. After reading it twice, Shesmu smiled. His contract with Dawn will be void in two days. A meeting was scheduled today at night to renegotiate the terms. However, while the executives over at Dawn may be coming to the meeting willing to negotiate a good deal, Shesmu was not. He was already exasperated by their antics and way of doing business in his past life, he wasn’t going to repeat that same mistake.

After finishing his breakfast, Shesmu looked at the clock. It was seven past quarters. Normally, Shesmu would wait out the remainder of the time—maybe go watch streams, play Ashes of Gods or something. However, today was anything but normal. There wasn’t anything he wished for more than to meet and talk with Allan—one of his only friends in this timeline.

As such, he opened his messaging app. Allan’s confirmation was at the top.

“Hey, Allan, changes of plans. Can you come to the park, like right now?”

“Sure, kinda weird, but… Just let me finish my breakfast and I’ll be with you.”

“Thanks man, I’ll be waiting for you.”

Shesmu turned off the laptop, wore his Revs, and exited the house making his way towards the park. While it is possible for him to meet Allan digitally through VR, today was a special one. He needed to meet him face to face.

After a fifteen-minute jog, Shesmu reached the park. At the entrance, he found a young man around his age standing in front of an eye scanner. The gates opened with a click.

“Hey, Mike.”

Shesmu’s call made the young boy turn around. A much younger, skinnier version of the Mike he was used to, stood in front of Shesmu. His hair was still full and glossy, a far cry from his older self.

“Oh, hey Mark. G’Morning, you’re early today.”

“Ah, just felt like coming here to breathe some good air,” Shesmu said while stretching his hand for a handshake. “Nothing beats being one with nature after a good morning jog.”

Mike accepted the handshake while replying, “True that. Sometimes, you just gotta relax and be one with nature. You know, without bots and cameras and bullcrap everywhere trying to know what is the chemical composition of the crap you shat last night.”

Mike’s unexpected rant made Shesmu laugh hysterically, “Haha, couldn’t agree more dude. Sometimes, you just wanna be alone in this world.”

The two laughed for a bit before Mike nodded at his cabin and asked, “Want me to bring you something? At the usual spot?”

“Nah, no need. I’m full.”

“Okay then,” responded Mike while making his way to his little office. “Just tell me over Rev if you change your mind. My lemon grape cocktail juice is a killer!” He then winked at Shesmu before shutting the door.

Shesmu shook his head at Mike’s usual antics. Even as he grew older, his sense of humor never changed. The only thing that did was his forehead. He lost the genetic lottery and started losing his beautiful orange hair early. Not that it bothered the dude as he just accepted it for what it is and went full bald.

Shesmu then made his way to the usual spot. It was right next to the Pennantia Baylisiana, the rarest tree in the world. Looking at it, Shesmu smiled. Some things just never change. Even ten years into the future, this tree was still there breathing. Maybe in this new, yet familiar world, it was the one thing that didn’t change.

A notification awoke Shesmu from his stupor. Allan sent him a message saying that he arrived. Few seconds later, a man with a tall frame walked towards Shesmu from the direction of the entrance. Brown hair, blue eyes and a small beard. He was wearing a blue t-shirt with a white dragon inscribed in the middle of it, and some black pants.

“Yo,” he called.

“Hey, Allan.” Looking at him, Shesmu suddenly felt a torrent of emotions well up his chest. All of the events that happened the past few days flashed in his mind like a film. It was hard not to show it.

Allan sat down next to Shesmu and stayed silent for a few seconds.

“So, what’s happening? Whenever you make that face something is bound to have gone wrong.”

Shesmu looked at Allan in the eyes before letting out a chuckle

“Was it that obvious?”

Allan slapped Shesmu on the back and laughed, “Dude! Do you think I just met you yesterday? I’ve known you since you were sucking on your mom’s titties, you can’t fool me.”

Shesmu just smiled and stayed silent in response. After a few moments, Allan got tired of the awkward silence.

“Hey, dude. If you’re not going to talk I’m just gonna go back to sleep.” He then sat up, took a few steps before Shesmu talked.

“Allan… Do you trust me?”

He looked back and asked, “Huh? Where did that come from? Of course, I trust you.”

Shesmu then looked at Allan straight in the eyes. His eyes were full of myriad emotions. Hope, sadness, reluctance, fear, but most importantly, confidence.

“What I’m going to say might sound like the rambling of an insane man. Something that is just impossible to believe. But it’s true, all of it.” Shesmu took off his Revs, his earpieces, and every electronic device present in his body. He then gestured for Allan to come closer. After he did, Shesmu leaned into his ears and whispered.

“I… I came back from the future.”