Akhier

Heyo, new month! Don't forget to check out my Patreon where you can read two chapters ahead for free. Anyway, I'm going to be spending a bunch of money on my car. Literally in about ~8 hours from when the chapter goes live I get a sensor replaced. There is actually a bit of a funny story. I went in on Monday to get it checked because the ABS light came on. Annoying because it was one of those things where the light doesn't come back on after you turn the car on again and so the techs device wasn't able to get all the information it needed. Eh, it happens and they thought they might have done enough just by clearing things, though if it came back on within 30 days they would recheck it for free. Fair enough, so I drive off and literally at the next stop light I notice the lights are back on. So of course I turn around and go back right away. Except it isn't straightforward to do so because the mechanic is located on a road with a center big so you can't easily turn around. Basically had to go about an equal distance to what I just went in the opposite direction to turn around again before I got there. Once in the parking lot I got out the receipt for the work done and took a picture of the lights being on with the receipt (this is important! By doing so I have very clear proof without going into stuff like the time the photo was taken that the lights came back on after I got the work done.). Real easy, right? I just go in and tell them it happened again. Except I space cadeted the fact that turning off the car makes the lights go off. Embarassing. Anyway, I tell the person at the desk that I'll try driving around real quick and be back either way. Do the same little oval and the lights do not come back on. I go in and tell them that and that I was doing something else in town so if it comes on I'll be back. Then I leave and literally as soon as I have left the parking lot enough that I can't just back up, the lights turn on. This required me to do another loop like I'm doing laps on a race course. At that point I thankfully remembered to leave the car on and the mechanic was able to get live data from the errors. From that they are mostly certain it is the one sensor in the back and not an actual problem with the ABS because the sensor reported 0 instead of intermitted data or some such that might mean a chipped gear or some such. So now today I go in and get the sensor replaced. I really wish I didn't need a car, but that's just how the US is currently set up. Anyway, I figure I'll at least be able to tell that story more than a few times in the coming months.

While Jason is playing with the houseplant, things are rapidly happening outside of the game. His mother is once again brought into the mess as the event did originate from where her apartment is. Though even with how quickly they add her in, the massive gathering of experts has already been going on for hours using a special emergency VR room where they crank up the time ratio to just below what everyone can manage safely. There are even a few of the less important people who get kicked out because they can’t handle as much.

One corner of the meeting hall has a gaggle of scientists. An arcology already has an unbelievable amount of sensors and since the event that number has tripled. With the current time ratio, it allows these eager knowledge seekers to go over every bit of data that is coming in with a fine-toothed comb. Displays float freely in the area and with each new selection of sensors that comes online another one comes into existence, soon to be grabbed by someone to fit into the chaotic order they have settled on.

Around a large table that is projecting a real time display of the arcology, stands a mix of people. From whatever scientist they can pry away from the data stream, to military personnel, company representatives, and of course a few politicians. And of course the question that is on all their minds, what happened? Jason’s mom stands to the side, observing this whole mess and shaking her head.

Still, she can’t stay aloof from it too long before one of the more senior members from her company turns to her, “So, Jenny, do you have any insight into why this is happening around your house?”

She scoffs, “How am I supposed to know? It isn’t like I’m one of those researchers. Yes, something did happen recently that caused the problematic energies to avoid an area centered on my house. And yes, that small area has not somehow become large enough to cover the entire arcology. But with what we deal with, if I had some answer I would have shared it already. Hell, with a method capable of doing this it wouldn’t be out of the question to have been promoted so far up we would be equals.”

The senior executive sighs, “Jenny, you and I both know you wouldn’t have accepted that. You like playing around at your current level too much to allow yourself a promotion. Besides, the only person who was in your house for the original event was your son. If it was something to do with him you’d deny it till the day you died until he talked about it himself.”

Jenny shrugs, “What can I say, mother bear instincts or what have you. Anyway, there is no proof he is the source of this disruption.”

One of the scientists who got pulled away laughs, “And you expect us to believe that? Sure, with the original event, he wasn’t the only one in the area. Since then, though, we’ve cleared out all the nearby apartments. Your son is literally the only person who was within the area. This isn’t rocket science. I should know, that is my field after all.”

Jenny laughs, “So you’re saying someone who just became an adult can solve a problem that has been plaguing us since before NeoRealm during the time span he sets aside while he is logged out? You’ve seen the numbers despite my protests for his privacy. Sure, he has been out a bit more over the last few NR days but that is because he’s in a city at the moment. In fact, have you asked the System if it has any clues?”

One of the military personal sighs, “If only it was that simple. You and I both know that if we could collect data from NeoRealm, there would be a lot more real world nonsense. All we know is he has improved his real body some. My job would be so much easier if I could just query the damn System to find out who among the citizens in my sector has the best real world abilities. Ever since they stopped letting us recruit within the schools, it has gotten so much harder.”

Jenny’s superior rolls his eyes, “Yeah, amazing how when you aren’t allowed to manipulate the impressionable minds of children it takes more effort to recruit.”

The military personnel holds up both hands, “Hey now, I don’t disagree. The fact that it wasn’t even a thousand years ago that schools were such a cesspool of insidious influences disgusts me as well. I don’t miss the days when you could set up shop in the school for recruitment itself. Rather, I miss how much information was gathered from that. While a lot of conflicts happen in VR now, it is still important to have physically fit people in case something goes down irl.”

Everyone else rolls their eyes while Jenny sighs, “That is exactly part of the problem. Now I will admit it wasn’t just the military, especially at the end there. Everyone was in the school trying to poach talent before they could really find out what they wanted to do with their lives. But when you aren’t paying teachers enough to care about what others are misinforming kids about things can really snowball. If it wasn’t for how tragic the situation was, I would almost thank that stupid cult for bringing the problem into harsh relief so people would finally do something about it. The fact it took tens of thousands of young adults being brainwashed and causing a worldwide incident is a black mark for our race. It took an incident like that to finally get some real worldwide protections for children and their mental health is crazy.”

One of the oldest men at the table shakes his head, “It only looks so cut and dry now but you have to remember. At this point that event is closer to the foundation of our country than we are to it. My great grandfather talked to me about it a bit when I was really young and let me tell you, things were seen much differently back then. Everything was all or nothing. If a situation had two main sides, then politics wouldn’t allow you to be in the middle. You were either one or the other. To kick recruiters out of school was to be against your country, full stop. A really strange time in our history. We still aren’t perfect but at least we have depolarized many of the issues now.”

Akhier

Thank you for reading! Next two chapters are free on my Patreon ( https://www.patreon.com/dragonheartednovels ), five chapters beyond that for only a dollar, and many more for five dollars (two chapters release a week at this tier).