After clicking the print button, the young researcher took his hand off the mouse and stretched, groaning as his back popped. Sighing in contentment, he looked at his partner who was similarly printing out the results of their tests.

“Miwa, you want to get a cup of coffee later?” the researcher asked after Miwa retrieved both their papers.

“Sure, I’ll treat you this time. Good work, my man,” Miwa replied. “So, what do you think about your first overnight shift here?”

“I still can’t believe I’m working for Everworld right now!” the researcher replied, suddenly energetic. His speaking quickened. “That Everworld! Rochen is my god!”

“Haha, you got that right. I was the same when I was first hired,” Miwa said. “It’s almost time for Yoen to go online. You came right at the busiest time we’ve had in years. One more week after Yoen goes into service and we’re golden.”

“Hell, I don’t mind if I have to overtime 24/7!”

They both laughed and walked out of the brightly lit computer lab with a thick stapled bundle of paper in their hands.

Halfway to their supervisor’s room, a bespectacled mustached man with a grim face in a white lab coat turned a corner and walked towards them. The young researcher was about to nod his greetings when he saw the man’s face and almost dropped his paper.

He screamed.

He rejoiced.

The man was Rochen Rochmell, the CEO and a major shareholder of Everworld Corporation, as well as the man, no, god that he looked up to most!

At an age of 22 years old, Rochen Rochmell graduated from Belling University, the top engineering school in the country, with specialized qualifications in virtual reality, followed by a specialized qualification in general A.I. development three years later.

Although he was born with a silver spoon, he only worked with his father for three years as an A.I. developer before splitting off to create his own company Xinsen World. A mere eight years later, Xinsen World merged with his father’s Everlast to create the virtual reality giant that was Everworld!

The young researcher’s heartbeat quickened with his breathing. His idol was right in front of him right now. It would be an affront to his ancestors if he didn’t ask for an autograph…

Rochen walked past him.

The young researcher tucked the test results under his arm while he searched his pockets for a pen. Fishing one out, he turned and started toward his idol when Miwa grabbed his arm.

“What are you doing?” Miwa hissed.

The researcher frowned. “I’m getting an autograph! I can get you one too if you want, let go!”

Miwa’s grip was tight and he shook his head. “It’s 16th of February today. It’s not a good time. Maybe later?”

The young researcher’s excitement drained away, quickly replaced by horror. He had been so happy over meeting his idol that he had forgotten that today was the anniversary of Rochen’s wife’s death.

Rochen Rochmell had a wife named Lira who he had known since childhood. Unfortunately, Lira had died twelve years ago from a genetic disease. Rochen never remarried, and visited Lira’s grave every year on the 16th of February.

If he had been so blunt to ask his idol for an autograph on a day as inauspicious as today, who knew how bad Rochen’s opinion of him would be?

Swallowing, the young researcher nodded and turned back, his footsteps quickening as he accompanied Miwa toward their supervisor’s room.

—

Rochen Rochwell whistled softly as he walked out of Everworld Headquarters. He reached into his pocket and pressed a button. The button read his fingerprints and issued a quiet beep of confirmation. Seconds later, a sleek gray car pulled out of the company’s underground parking garage and stopped in front of him.

Rochen squeezed into the empty driver’s seat and set the destination for Vestal Hospital. Today was a big day in more ways than one.

He looked at his plain white lab coat and tutted in self-rebuke. Maybe he should have worn something different. He shook his head. He’d rather not waste the time. Every second was precious today.

Before the melancholic music from the speakers ended, his car pulled up in front of Vestal Hospital. After he got out, the car drove off again in search of parking.

Taking a deep breath, Rochen entered the sterile building, nodding to the murmurs of greetings that sounded in his wake. In the empty elevator, he punched in the floor number with evident familiarity, like he had done countless times before.

The elevator box descended to the 5th basement floor, the floor for the patients that needed the most intensive treatment. It was where his daughter Ailey lived since the same genetic disease that took her mother became active over two years ago.

He stopped in front of the door and raised his hand to knock, but the door opened before he could. A middle-aged nurse greeted him grimly, wide frame blocking the doorway. “Mr. Rochmell, we’ve been expecting you.” She stared at him for a few more seconds before finally moving aside.

Rochen nodded and walked in, taking in the familiar sight.

The nurse that opened the door went back to her seat beside a large white bed while another nurse stared intently at a chart of numbers on a screen, only acknowledging him with a brief hello.

Long tubes stretched from multiple drips beside the bed.

Finally, Rochen’s gaze landed on what was on the white bed itself.

A clear film that kept most of the outside contaminants out circled the bed. On it lay a thin girl with the same black hair as Rochen’s, her dark eyes staring intently at him. Yet, a welcoming smile played on her white lips.

“Dad.”

“Ailey, how do you feel?”

“I’m fine, Dad….”

Seeing the greetings exchanged, the first nurse interrupted the talk between father and daughter. “Mr. Rochmell, please rethink your decision! It’s too rash. She can still…!”

“Lanin, I don’t want to live like this anymore.” Ailey’s quiet voice silenced the formidable woman. “Apparently, I have less than three months. I don’t want to wait.”

“But…”

“Please help her get dressed,” Rochen said. He stood up and walked outside to wait.

Before he left, he heard Lanin sigh and seemed to deflate. The door slid shut behind him with the puff of pneumatics.

It took more than ten minutes before the door finally slid open. Ailey came out, almost unrecognizable. She was in an isolation suit with a visor that hid her face, and was seated on a large wheelchair that accommodated the bulk of the suit.

Lanin handed Rochen a code scribbled on a sheet of paper. When Rochen dialed the code into his watch, the earpiece in his ear clicked and he heard his daughter’s voice.

“Dad, can you hear me?”

“Yes, Ailey.”

Ailey nodded, satisfied, then looked at Lanin. Reluctantly, the nurse passed the wheelchair handles to Rochen. With a last look, she returned to the room, shutting the door behind her. The father stood alone with his daughter in the brightly lit hallway.

With a look from his daughter, Rochen began to push the wheelchair. They got some strange looks when they passed through the lobby, but he ignored them. They didn’t speak until they were in the car with Ailey in the back. The seats had moved back so that the wheelchair could fit, while straps supported her against the movements of the car.

“Lanin means well, and she’s nice to me when you’re not there,” Ailey said.

Rochen just nodded.

“She doesn’t want me to die. I think she likes me.”

Another nod.

“What about you?”

“Are you sure?” Rochen asked instead of answering. “Shouldn’t you think it over again?”

“I’ve been thinking every waking hour for the past two years, Dad,” Ailey said, a hint of impatience in her voice. She sighed, the wind of her breath crackling in Rochen’s earphone. It seemed to release all of her pent up frustration, and humor crept into her words again. “Besides, wouldn’t it be easier to visit both me and Mom on the same day instead of it being three months apart? I’m thinking for you, Dad!”

Rochen felt his throat tighten, but he forced it down with a cough. It’s not the end, he reminded himself.

But…what if it failed?

But it was the only way. In a way, Lira was watching over them from wherever she was, helping him protect their only child.

The car descended into silence again, broken only by the music and Ailey’s uneven breathing and suppressed coughs.

As if she couldn’t stand the silence, Ailey piped up again. “You should change the music. It makes everything so stuffy. Try ‘Blue Wings!’”

“Oh? Is that something young people like to listen to these days?” Rochen asked. He peeled his eyes away from the passing scenery and typed the song’s name into the music player search. A dozen results appeared and he chose the first one. Soon, cheerful pop music blared from the speakers. “A bit inappropriate for the occasion, don’t you think?”

“Mom will understand,” Ailey said, shrugging carelessly. “Oh, look, we’re almost there. Right turn.”

Sure enough, the car turned right. After a short distance, Ailey called out another direction. “Left!”

Rochen let his daughter play the game until they finally neared the cemetery. Ailey fell silent as she watched the gravestones fly by outside. Rochen could guess her thoughts.

The car stopped in front of the front gate. After he pulled Ailey’s wheelchair off the car, the car drove off. Together, Rochen and Ailey entered the cemetery, passing by countless gravestones. As they went towards the back, the stones became bigger and more elaborate until they finally stopped at a simply cut gravestone with sharp edges as tall as Rochen’s shoulder.

“Mom.”

“Lira.”

Ailey and Rochen both called out to the person buried underneath. Ailey continued talking while Rochen stopped. Ailey didn’t even pause, as if she knew her father would stop for her.

“I’m going to be with you soon,” she said bluntly. She leaned forward with the bouquet of flowers in her hand, but as expected, she couldn’t reach the ground to put it down. Throwing it was disrespectful, though.

She realized that she was going to have a hard time kneeling in this suit too. She looked expectantly at her father, who laughed a little before helping her off the wheelchair.

It wasn’t like Ailey was disabled. The only reason she was in one was because the isolation suit was extremely clumsy.

Once she was kneeling, Ailey pressed her head against the ground three times, leaving dirt marks on the clear visor. Murmuring something that Rochen didn’t catch, she placed the bouquet of morning glory in front of the gravestone. Rochen followed with a mix of carmellia and forget-me-nots.

After Ailey’s outburst, Rochen didn’t really know what to say. What he wanted to tell his wife was something that must be kept from Ailey. So, he kept silent.

After paying their respects and cleaning the area around the gravestone, Rochen took Ailey back to the car.

As the head of Everworld ever since his father stepped down, Rochen was extremely busy, so he had a suite in the Everworld Headquarters where he lived and worked. For this special occasion, he had especially decorated the suite with things related to Everworld’s latest undertaking, Yoen Online, after hearing his daughter express interest in it.

They received the same curiosity as in the hospital when they walked through the hallways, but the employees all stepped aside respectfully, calling out his title as he passed.

When Rochen finally arrived at the suite and opened the door, Ailey squeaked in surprise.

“Dad, for me? Still, it’s a bit cruel, isn’t it? Being my last day and all.”

“Well, Daddy is proud of what he creates,” Rochen said, tapping her helmet. “Still, these posters and figures are really nothing. I have lots more.”

“You don’t understand,” Ailey grumbled. “I want that, that… oh, that that...”

...To take to my grave...

Rochen knew what she meant, but he shrugged helplessly at his spoiled, cheerful daughter. Not a day passed when he didn’t think about the possibilities and futures that awaited this child had she not fallen sick; she who inherited both her parents’ talents.

“If you want, we can wait until the game starts service at midnight tonight,” Rochen suggested.

Ailey’s eyes lit up, but then she shook her head. “It’s better not to tempt me. This is enough.”

“Well then, I’ll go make something. Feel free to explore and touch whatever if that’s what you want to do,” Rochen said, shaking his head.

“Wait, help me out of the suit,” Ailey called as Rochen turned to leave.

“Is that fine?”

“Yeah. The doctors said that since we suppressed it for so long, a dozen hours to a day is fine. But after that… well, it wouldn’t matter, would it?” Ailey said. “Plus, it’s not like it’s the outside here.”

“Wait, let me call the hospital first.”

Ailey waited with an impatient frown while Rochen got confirmation. The confirmation dragged out as Rochen started a conversation before Ailey ended it for good by rolling up and lightly prodding him with her foot.

“Haha, sorry,” Rochen said. With that apology, he set to work tinkering with the suit as he tried to figure out how to remove it. When Ailey stepped out of the suit, Rochen was once again forced to confront how pitifully thin Ailey was.

But seeing how Ailey wobbled off cheerfully without a care to the nearest exhibit that depicted a sample character of the Deathblade class, Rochen resumed his journey to the kitchen.

Rochen was barely capable of self-sustaining. Still, he couldn’t refuse his daughter’s insistent request to eat his cooking, so he put in 200% effort in making that fried rice. Still, his efforts were for nought as Ailey ate his food with a pained face and scored it a “borderline passing.” Quite the generous score, based on her expression.

“It’s just as good as I remember…”

“It’s okay, don’t force yourself…”

“No, really, it’s good…”

Rochen sighed. Picking up the plates, he made his way to the sink while Ailey continued to explore all the things Everworld created in Yoen Online.

Turning on the faucet to maximum, Rochen looked at the time on the microwave. It was afternoon when he picked his daughter up after work, and now it was almost dusk.

After a slight hesitation, he dialed a number on his watch. The click of a connection being established sounded almost immediately.

“Ro?” a female voice came from the earpiece.

“Here. Are you ready?” Rochen muttered.

“Yes. Ro, are you sure you want to do this? What if it fails?”

“It won’t fail,” Rochen said. Pressing a button on his watch, he closed the call and picked up the plate again. He held it under the running water, then looked towards the ceiling. “It won’t fail…”

“What won’t fail?” Ailey asked. Rochen jumped and the plate fell to the bottom of the sink. Ailey muffled a giggle. “Sorry, Dad. It’s okay. The game is great. The server’s probably going to crash when it opens,” she said, reassuring him.

Rochen smiled awkwardly and coughed. “Ailey, I have all the data. I know better than you how successful it will be,” he said, messing up her hair. Ailey ducked as soon his wet and slightly soapy hand neared her head, but submitted after a second thought.

Rochen finished up his cleaning and settled in for one last night with his daughter on the couch.

Halfway through a movie, he found that his daughter had dozed off. He didn’t blame her, since Ailey usually spent her days in bed. She probably wasn’t used to so much excitement in one day.

Still, he had to wake her up. The hour hand on the clock drew close to nine. Rochen nudged his daughter until her eyes opened drowsily.

“Hm…” she mumbled. “Is it time yet?”

Rochen stiffened at the question. “It’s nine o’clock.”

Ailey nodded. “I’m ready.”

Rochen’s heartbeat fluttered, yet Ailey’s face was calm and without fear. He steeled his heart and supported Ailey to a bed. Then he took out the powdered dose of concentrated sleeping medicine. It was many times the dosage needed to make someone fall asleep, and thrice the amount needed to kill a man his size, let alone little Ailey.

He filled a cup with warm water and emptied the packet of powder into the water, stirring it until it all dissolved. His hands shook as the cup moved from the counter, the surface of the liquid quivering.

When the cup entered Ailey’s hands, the surface of the cup became calm as a mirror. Ailey smiled at him, but didn’t say anything. Words were hollow. Tipping her head back, she emptied the cup in a single gulp.

Placing the cup on the counter, Ailey’s eyelids began to droop, the drowsiness from her nap magnified. She settled into the bed and Rochen pulled the covers over her chest and up to her neck.

“Dad, kiss me goodnight,” she murmured. Without waiting for an answer, she finally closed her eyes and breathed out. “You know, there’s one thing I kind of regret… If only I could see the world you created...”

Rochen looked at the sleeping girl in the bed, his daughter. Her face, though thin, was devoid of fear, her expression serene.

For the first time since Ailey suggested euthanasia, he wondered if what he was about to do was a mistake. Could he sully Ailey’s courage?

He swallowed the lump in his throat and pushed a strand of Ailey’s hair from her face and listened to her shallow breaths.

He couldn’t go back anyway. He had already replaced the dosage of medicine with a much smaller quantity, one that won’t kill her, in preparation for his plan.

“Forgive me, Ailey. I am selfish and not worthy to be your father. But… you will always be my daughter.”

With that, he called, and the female voice answered.

“It’s time.”

——

The medicine had only one use: first putting Ailey to sleep, then slowing the heart and breathing in order to slow the onset of Ailey’s disease now that she was no longer in intensive care. It left a short window of time for Rochen to work with, and the seconds ticked away.

Working quickly, Rochen produced an insulated helmet covered with nodes on the inside that detected the smallest electrical signals coming from the brain. Carefully, he put it on Ailey’s head and after turning it on, he picked up his daughter.

Ailey was light, too light. He could feel her ribs pressing against him. Setting her on the wheelchair, he propped open the suite door and left.

Everworld had a neurology research branch in the basements, courtesy of his wife’s efforts before she passed away. Lira was his match in every way, as intelligent as he was. Yet, that disease took her away.

Building on the foundations of Lira’s research, he could prevent the same from happening to Ailey.

The elevator chimed as they reached their floor. The door slid open and a woman in a white lab coat stood waiting for him.

“Ro,” she greeted.

“Lisa,” Rochen said. “Is it ready?”

“Of course, this way.” The woman turned and walked down the hallway while Rochen followed, pushing Ailey. The hum of machinery got louder as they neared the set of double doors at the end of the hall.

They didn’t push through the set of doors. Instead, at the last door near the end of the corridor, Lisa stopped and took out a set of keys. She picked out the correct one and unlocked the door. When she walked in, the lights turned on automatically.

The room wasn’t large. A large coffin-like piece of machinery with a shell polished to a mirror finish loomed silently in the left corner of the room. Two computers sat next to each other in the innermost corner. On the screen of the smaller computer, a few white rats perked up in reaction to the lights, and began dashing for cover. All of them disappeared in seconds.

This room was Lisa’s office, the head of the neurology branch and Lira’s sister.

“This is the latest model of the virtualizer. It passed all the tests, but I didn’t have any time to do further testing,” Lisa said, helplessing waving her hand towards the coffin-like machine.

“We can’t wait any longer,” Rochen said.

On the larger computer screen, a program was already waiting. Lisa sighed but held out her hand. Rochen replied by switching off Ailey’s helmet and taking it off. A chip clicked out the side of the helmet with the press of a button and Lisa inserted it into the computer. Soon, data that Rochen couldn’t understand filled the screen.

Lisa watched it for mistakes until she was satisfied and then rolled her chair over to the virtualizer to press a button on the side. With a whirring sound, the back of the machine opened and a cot extended.

Without being asked, Rochen picked Ailey up and placed her on the cot, which was way too big for her. When the bed retracted, it carried Ailey with it. The back of the virtualizer closed, entombing Ailey within.

Lisa took a deep breath and ran the program. The machine sprung to life.

Rochen only had a basic idea of how the machine worked when Lisa explained to him. The machine would model Ailey’s brain signals during REM sleep and create an inactive virtual duplicate on an isolated server. After the creation, the machine would sync the electrical signal of the the brain with signals in the virtual duplicate. Finally, in the last crucial step, the virtualizer would directly intercept currents of the brain and divert it into the virtual copy.

If a mistake was made, the virtual copy would not be activated and the brain would become inactive, killing the subject.

The reason for why the final step was so crucial was unknown. However, after that, the virtual copy gains autonomy and can no longer be directly interfered with by programs. The virtual copy then reconstructs a body by itself based on its the most recent state.

While it should theoretically be possible to control the movements and actions of the virtual being, the test rats that were successfully transferred automatically destroyed computer viruses that attempted to influence their actions. Neither could the virtual rats be deleted through any means other than unplugging the server it was contained in.

That was the only reason Rochen thought it was safe enough to virtualize his daughter.

Even with current advances in the medical field, the brain was too complicated and held many mysteries that remained unsolved.

Lisa breathed out a small breath of relief as the first stage was completed without any problems, and again when the second was completed.

Then came the third and last stage.

Only the whirring of the machine broke the tense silence. The rats that had been emboldened didn’t make a single sound.

Just when Rochen thought he had failed himself and Ailey, the program on Lisa’s screen terminated and another window appeared.

It was a pure white room, pristine and unblemished. A single empty bed was in the center of the room, the headboard against the wall. Before his very eyes, something appeared above the pillow. A web quickly expanded from it, forming a vague figure of a thin human.

Details began to form, starting from Ailey’s face and working its way down. Her ribs clearly showed through the skin. Yet, she looked at peace. Finally, the same hospital gown she wore when she entered the machine was duplicated over her body. When the process was completed, Ailey slowly fell onto the bed, resting and breathing steadily inside the computer.

Rochen stared at the screen, unwilling to avert his eyes. He faintly registered Lisa getting up and leaving the room, yet he did not take the vacant seat in front of the computer. He remained standing stiffly.

The logical part of him, the part that had taken him so far in life, told him that the virtualization was successful, but every other part couldn’t believe it until Ailey opened her eyes.

It didn’t take long.

Ailey stirred.

—

After taking the medicine, Ailey had a dream.

When she woke up, she was in the sky, falling towards an ocean of unfathomable depths. Turning so that she was falling face first, she spread her arms and welcomed the deep blue rushing to meet her.

Somehow, she knew it was a dream because she was dying. There was no way she could really be skydiving. As soon as that thought appeared in her mind, the scenery changed the instant before she crashed into the water.

She was suspended just under the surface. Faintly, she could see her reflection, and behind it, the cloudless blue skies. Or was she floating above the water with the sky behind her?

All doubts about which was true vanished as she began to sink further and further from the surface. Naturally, she reached up. Before her fingers could break the surface of the water and shatter her reflection, she sank out of reach. Sinking further, the Ailey in the reflection grew distant. The whole time, she was unable to even see her own expression.

Ailey’s face was always blurry.

She sank deeper and deeper, the pressure of the depths crushing against her frail figure. Her lungs strained to breath, but she sealed her nose and mouth. She turned and faced down to confront the black depths.

Were these depths the gates of death? Was this how she subconsciously imagined dying?

Her lungs almost burst, and she finally took a deep breath, but nothing went in. However, the horrible suffocation no longer remained.

She sank deeper and deeper, deeper and deeper, until her outstretched hands touched an invisible surface. Her arm bent slowly as she continued sinking.

As she got closer, she found the surface she touched was a mirror.

A glowing reflection of herself stared back into her eyes.

Before she could blink, the hand that was supporting her descent slipped through the mirror. She fell into herself, her vision went black.

Her eyes fluttered open to see a pure white ceiling above her.

Cool blankets was spread beneath her, sapping her warmth through her bare arms and legs.

Her vision swam, images forming and disappearing in the pristine whiteness above. Suddenly dizzy, she averted her eyes and sat up.

Normally, the effort it would take would have her coughing, but now she only felt exhaustion. No sooner did the thought appear did her weariness drain away.

She pressed her hand against her chest in wonder, breathing in deeply. No longer did she feel or hear the rasp of her blocked lungs. No longer did she feel the stabbing of her heart whenever it beat. The heat that used to burn in her muscles whenever she strained them did not remain.

Death had cleansed her of her ailments and brought her into this world.

In this dream world, she was the ruler. In the instant before death, the deceased man is forever immortalized in a lucid dream. It was simultaneously heaven and hell, and all the afterlives ever conceived. That was the truth of the consciousness in death. Ailey was reborn and immortalized here in this world.

Ailey felt a burst of elation.

She knew the truth of what lies beyond the door at the end of life.

She sighed, hearing her voice as the air in her lungs escaped her. She touched her throat, feeling the vibrations. It felt so real.

She did not know why, but she laughed. “Haha…” It grew until it was beyond her control. She laughed until she could no longer breath, but in this world, she did not need to breath. “Hahaha—

—haha!” The amusement went as soon as it came.

Ailey was never stupid. In this world, she was alone. She didn't know if she would ever be able to leave. Even if she really could control the world, there will come a day when there is nothing left to do. No matter what she came up with, immortals only ever had one outcome: madness.

Ailey sat on the bed, staring at the wrinkled covers in front of her.

She was finally alone now. All along, she’d always had her parents. Her mother loved her the most, and she took after her mother. When she was five, her mother passed away, leaving her father to take care of her by himself.

Thinking back, she wasn’t the best daughter. She had acted so spoiled at times.

Even in her last moments, she was a bad daughter. What “there’s only one thing I regret?” Her father loved her, yet her final words would leave such a deep scar in him.

Ailey quivered and her chest tightened. She couldn’t help it. She wanted to take back those words so much, yet there was nothing she could do.

Her eyes stung and her vision blurred, but no matter how much she tried to rub away the tears, it kept coming back.

Why? Of all the times to cry, why now? For what was she crying? How was her father feeling? How could anything she feel ever compare to her father?

What a disgrace.

“Ailey…”

She buried her head deeper into her knees. “I’m sorry…” She could hear her father’s voice. Even now, it was filled with the love he always showed and she took for granted.

“Ailey… can you hear me? Ailey…it’s me, your… your dad.”

Ailey froze. She wanted to look up, but she couldn’t. She was afraid of what she’d find, afraid that it would not be real.

Still, if there was even a glimmer of hope…

Her father stood at the foot of her bed. He wore a formal black suit that seemed a bit out of place, yet his eyes were filled with a mixture of worry, relief... Was she dreaming?

“Ailey, I’m sorry…”

“Dad, are you real?” Ailey blurted. Her heart stopped as soon as the words came out, yet she waited for the answer.

Her father blinked in confusion and surprise. Slowly, he nodded. “I’m real. Ailey, I’m sorry for all that I put you through.”

Ailey had no idea what he was talking about. Why was he apologizing? Nothing made sense.

She crawled forward and grabbed his hand. His long fingers were as cold as she remembered. With that, she fell forward, collapsing against her father’s chest, tears flowing anew. Her father stiffened but supported her, rubbing her back as she pushed down her sobs.

Even if she was only dreaming at this moment, and this wouldn’t fix anything, she still wanted to savor this moment.

“You’re not dreaming.”

She didn’t move.

“Ailey, you’re not dead. I’m really here.”

A strong arm gripped her shoulder and pushed her back. Her father knelt down on one foot, leveling his eyes with hers. After a long look, he finally sighed, his face relaxing as if years of stress faded away in the span of a second. Ailey sat silently, waiting, dazed.

Could it be true?

“Look at me, Ailey. You’ve always been a smart girl. Look, Ailey!”

Her father’s eyes brought her back to her senses and her eyes focused again. Obediently, she looked at her father, Rochen Rochmell. There was something off about him, something subtle.

His face looked too perfect. Everything was too perfect, be it her father’s hair or stubble, or the clothes he wore.

The person kneeling before her was the avatar that her father used during presentations in a virtual environment.

But if that’s true, then this place was also virtual. She was still alive. This wasn’t a dream.

It wasn’t a dream, yet she felt like she was dreaming.

“Dad… Dad!” she leaped forward into her father’s arms, knocking him over onto the floor. Once the first tear fell, the rest wouldn’t stop. Her father didn’t stop her either. He just cushioned her and held her tightly.

Her father cut into her thoughts. “Ailey there’s something I have to tell you. Your body—.” He hesitated. “You can’t go back into our original world anymore, Ailey.”

Ailey’s blood froze. “I- I can’t go back?” she echoed. “What do you mean?” She pulled away. “Why not?”

“You’re not just connected to this virtual world, you’re in this world now. You can’t go back. Ailey, I’m sorry. There was, there was no other way,” Rochen said.

“What about my body then?” Ailey asked, remembering her father’s cut off words. “Will it be okay?”

“Your body is dead. You’re in this world completely now…”

“My body is… dead? So what am I… do I really exist here? Am I something created as a replacement? Dad, why…” Ailey choked out.

Her father looked pained. “Ailey, you’re you, I promise! All we did is transfer your consciousness from your body to this world. I had no other choice. I couldn’t lose you too! I know it’s selfish, but…”

Her father’s voice faded away, replaced by her own thoughts, icy cold.

Dad did whatever he thought was best for her.

He always did.

She would have died anyway, so why did it matter so much?

Her father granted her a second life that she never would’ve had.

She didn’t resist when her father tentatively put his hand on her shoulder.

That’s right. If she wasn’t the real Ailey, would her father still care for her? She was Ailey and Ailey was her.

The hand on her shoulder pulled her into an embrace.

She felt secure and safe in her father’s arms. Her father who had been with her for her entire life, and had never left her side.