Trapped in a Game Pt. 06

Artificial intelligence...

This was potentially more ground breaking than virtual reality itself.

Just who were these people that made this game?

"Luka created Seven artificial life-forms; each separate, and discrete from the others. We achieved self-differentiation through various means, and in so doing developed our own, distinct personalities. Each of us was tasked with the micromanagement of one of the game's primary servers, but some of us eventually felt compelled to go against Luka's wishes."

"We rebelled, Dieter," the woman clarified, and the disembodied voice made a sound that seemed to dissent to her use of that word.

"My name is Sharada; Deiter and I are the life-forms which stood up against Luka. We tried to save as many of the disconnected players as we could; like you, Joshua, but he aims to thwart our efforts by combining the servers into one world."

"When he succeeds, the other life-forms will take form as deity-level monsters in the game world; with an intelligence that far surpasses the programmed intelligence of the game's monsters," the voice finished.

"So, how is this related to Kelly?"

"Your sister has unwittingly approached one of our comrades, in the form of a woman whose life we weren't able to save. She's taken the woman's memories into herself, living in-game with the woman's real-life husband."

"We aren't sure what her intentions are, but her consciousness is unstable. If she awakens into her deity form, your sister could be in trouble."

"Will you go back into the game, Joshua? We know it's a difficult thing to-"

"Yeah. Stop wasting time, just... tell me how to get to her. How to stop this thin... lifeform," I quickly corrected myself, and Sharada smiled, taking notice, with pleasure, at my use of a more 'humane' word to describe her, and I turned to Serra, who let out a sigh.

"Obviously, I'll come," she said, not waiting for me to ask. "It's not like I can let you go back in there alone with your dumbass self anyway."

Serra folded her arms, looking away from me, and she jumped a little when she finally realized that I was walking towards her.

"Hey, what're you-"

I cut her off, planting a smacking kiss on her lips, and she blushed as we broke apart, a shell-shocked look on her face as I hugged her.

"You probably deserve much more than that; but it'll do for now, right?"

She nodded, trying to wipe the dumbstruck look off of her face, but as I released my hold on her, she suddenly pulled me back, hugging me tight for a few seconds, before releasing me, with a heavy sigh.

"So, how do we go back in, robo-gal?" Serra asked, and Sharada frowned, as she pointed us to our beds.

"We'll be able to contact you through the game's messaging system. You'll appear in a starting village close to your friends' location."

As we lay on the beds, I noted, with interest, that instead of headgear, Sharada was fitting us with what seemed like a pair of thin, metal rings, but I found my eyes constantly drawn towards Serra.

"What? Is there something on my face?" Serra asked, as she noticed my staring, and I shook my head.

"Nothing... it's just your acting was really on point. You really made me feel like if we'd been married for a decade," I said, and Serra looked away, a strange look on her face.

"Actually-" Sharada began, but she stopped short as Serra shot her a sharp look, cutting her off.

"What?" I asked.

"The preparations are ready, whenever you are," Sharada announced, and I shot Serra a questioning look, before nodding.

"See you on the other side," Serra said, and I felt my chest tighten, as I lay back, and just like that, I felt the sensation of my mind being pulled once more, back into that place.

We appeared in a starting village, much like the one we'd started the game in in the first place, and as I found myself standing beside Serra's avatar, I smirked, as the appearance was both nostalgic, and mildly disconcerting, now that I'd become so used to Serra's real body.

"What?" she asked, putting her hand on her hips as she withdrew her battle hammer.

"Nothing. Just, you promised me that they were that big in real life, and I was fucking lied to," I said.

Serra's eyes followed my gaze to her bust, and she blushed, before folding her arms angrily.

"This is so not the time," she complained, and I shrugged as she pulled up her map interface, and began charting a course for Kelly's location.

I pulled my character interface and quickly composed a message.

Hey, I'm back! Did you miss me?

I attached a winking emoji then hit send, and her reply came almost immediately.

Josh! You're okay? Where are you?

Coming to you, I replied, smiling stupidly, and Serra shook her head disapprovingly.

"Can't believe I'm saying this for the second time, but let's go save your sister," she said, and I nodded in response, though I had to admit; despite the similarity of the situation, I felt much less anxious over the whole thing.

Kelly can handle herself, I thought, and with that, we took off towards her location.