New York City – April 1st, the Year 2034

Music boomed in the background, vibrations traveling through every medium available: air, wind, water, and land.

The low hum of musical vibrations was transmitted directly into the brain of those who could afford CTSTs (Cognitive Technological Stem Transplants).

Techno-Humanists were usually disdained every other day except this one – a day when technology showed the fruits of its labor.

Sure, the robots took away more jobs every year.

Sure, the musicians lost their place in the world – music had become entirely science and no soul.

Sure, AIs were advanced enough to raise the next generation of humans.

But none of that mattered today of all days.

Besides, everyone was a type of Beta-Human these days.

It was a situation of the pot calling the kettle black in a blackhole where no light could be seen, so it didn’t really matter in the end.

Speaking about lights.

Projections of light flowed across the skies like an aurora, but this was no aurora, this was Smart-Light technology.

Invented in 2023, Smart-Light started as a programmable spark that could navigate in a three-dimensional environment, but a couple of years later, it had become a recognized particle of its own.

Able to bring illusionary, but vividly impeccable projections to life, the Spark Particle instantly ruled the advertising world ever since.

Officially, it was illegal for Smart-Light technology to cover more than 70% of the skies at any given instant, but today was an exception.

And there was only one exception to this rule – when a new Paradigm shift was afoot.

This would be the biggest paradigm shift of all.

“Today is the opening of the greatest tournament in Human History.” The Reporter was bubbling with excitement as she shouted the information to her millions of viewers. “Every country in the world is getting ready to send their topmost Gunners to the number one event of the century. In a couple of minutes, we will see the rise of a new era of Virtual Champions.”

The Reporter was not the only person bubbling with excitement.

The millions who made it to the launch of the tournament were also just as boisterous, shoving everyone nearby in hopes of getting just an inch closer to the projections above.

The Reporter snorted in frustration briefly, and adjusted her privacy settings to just below maximum, enough for her viewers to appreciate the crowd and splash of colors around but become too bothered by the noise.

“Two years ago,” The Reporter paused for suspense and then continued “… we were introduced to the Virtual World of Futuristic Guns Online. The Virtual World of Futuristic Guns Online – an A.V.A.R.A.Y particle distributary network using new synchronicity research to allow subconscious, dilated, communication amongst its userbase.”

DING! [Stacy455: What the heck is she saying?]

DING! [SugarSauce69: We don’t understand anything you’re saying!?!]

DING! [Smarty45: That’s why I love her, she always states the facts!]

DING! [ChameleonUpYourA**: Just skip the good part!]

………….

As the comments rolled in one after the next, The Reporter smiled.

This was her usual strategy – give everyone factual information to get them confused enough to hit up the comments section until she met her interaction quota for the day.

That’s how most viral reporters got paid today – by interacting with a certain number of people each day.

“Of course!” The Reporter twirled her finger in front of her cluster of Spark Particles, causing a rainbow to materialize like magic “As we know the AVARAY synchronicity research is now called VWFGO – the single greatest Cognitive Post – Reality Environment in existence. Or as most of you know it – a virtual environment indistinguishable from reality. This Research was the brainchild of notorious assassin Marco Pollo (we don’t know his real name) and the most elusive, genius Quantum Physicist Matthew Crawford.”

“Rumours say that the two men got the idea for the Virtual World from an out-of-body experience where they were able to glimpse the existence of other worlds. Since VWFGO went live two years ago, the creators have disappeared, leaving behind a legacy that now controls 70% of the world’s cryptocurrency.”

At this point, the Smart-Lights in the skies were dimming and everyone was becoming silent, allowing The Reporter to lower the restrictions on her privacy settings, and speak in whispers.

“They say that VWFGO was used to train soldiers before its release, but nobody knows for sure. The mystery surrounding AVARAY’s discovery is as classified as they come. Honestly, even today, we have yet to understand the full implications of AVARAY particles.”

“Since the introduction of VWFGO, the conflicts between countries have dropped significantly and disputes are often settled by professionals in the Virtual World. Today, we will see the top Gunners in the world compete for dominance and a share in the VWFGO legacy… this tournament is the first of its kind, so we aren’t sure what to expect other than carnage. However, some rumors are circling that this will be a deadly competition!”

۞۞

Click

The television was flicked off with a gentle wave of Zane’s hands.

With that same hand, Zane quickly brushed the strand of silver hair that had fallen over his left, dark brown eye.

Due to his mild annoyance at the television, Zane was a bit more rushed than he should have been, causing the knot that held his hair together to unravel.

A beautiful silver cascade gently unraveled from atop his head, but Zane just as quickly re-tamed the beast with a couple efficient twists, and turns.

As for why Zane was annoyed at the news on the television…

Honestly, Zane was tired of hearing the same thing over and over again, especially since everyone in his family would be participating in the tournament as a unit.

Speaking about family, Zane finally remembered where he was.

The television had distracted him so much, that he failed to realize the uncomfortable twists and turns of the person wrapped in his arms – his wife, Nissa.

Very carefully, Zane removed his arms from around Nissa’s waist, maneuvering closer to the edge of the bed where his wheelchair awaited.

The wheelchair was already turning to accommodate its owner, and Zane was once again thankful that his mischievous daughters convinced him to give technology a chance.

Zane was a technology man, but only when it came to weapons.

All other forms of technology were rejected.

This rejection was not without its reasons, however.

After losing both legs in a Military accident involving an advanced mech-suit, Zane just felt like his life would be easier without technology.

He longed for the days before any man was capable of catching fishes with echo-static poles, and dogs were a man’s best friends instead of robots.

However, simmering beneath this revulsion for technology was a far more vivid feeling – inability.

Zane felt like a hindrance to his family, so his demon-like will to do everything on his own had only strengthened over the past couple of years since the accident.

Groan

Nissa groaned and rolled over, scouring her arms over the sheets for the familiar warmth of her husband.

She almost broke into a panic when she didn’t find the familiar warmth, but the moment she turned around, Nissa discovered the target of her affections.

Nissa patiently watched as her husband, Zane, using all the strength in his arms, slid into the wheelchair near the bed.

“I am here to help you but you always prefer to do it alone.” Nissa chided, half-proud, half-irritated.

Nissa knew Zane was a man with many battle scars, fully capable of doing everything on his own, with or without legs, but sometimes, she wished he would rely on her more.

Nissa and Zane had been childhood lovers… well, it was more accurate to say that Nissa had loved Zane since childhood, but he was too much of an idiot to notice it.

After all, they grew up in the same orphanage.

If Nissa was being totally honest, it was only since losing his legs had Zane started to reciprocate her feelings, even though they had beautiful children together a couple of years before that.

Now that Nissa had access to some of Zane’s classified medical files, she noticed that his inability to love her before now was not entirely his fault.

Logicia was a mental disorder that stop the production of specific hormones from the pituitary gland, disallowing intense bouts of feelings in the afflicted for the majority of their younger years.

It was a non-threatening mental disorder that Zane had already started to grow out of, but that also meant he would become emotionally charged in the latter half of his life.

‘Emotionally charged indeed.’ Nissa thought, already noticing the slight deviation in their nighttime escapades from beyond-pleasurable and methodical to the passion of a raging storm.

Still, even without his flaws, Nissa loved Zane just as much.

Growing up in an orphanage was rough but Zane’s presence alone kept the hunger away.

Zane was also the one who paid for Nissa’s education throughout high school and University.

That was the story for Nissa, but it was different for Zane.

Zane was just incredibly logical and had little use for money with everything provided in the military.

And as someone lacking an account, Zane simply noted the only person with an account he knew to be the beneficiary of his useless funding.

Still, this happy accident regarding financial trust was exactly the reason, Nissa always waited for Zane, dating in six-month intervals until Zane was back from tour.

In actuality, Nissa’s pregnancy was instigated by a large bottle of wine, twelve packets of aphrodisiac, and a promise to show Zane some new weapons back at her apartment.

Nissa giggled thinking about that night.

Seeing his mischievous wife laugh so beautifully, Zane thought he should have at least felt a smidge of something, but there were no emotions to speak of.

Yet, there was an emotion – the emotion of guilt for not being able to love Nissa as she deserved.

This made Zane feel like even more of a failure “I am half the man I used to be so I expect you to love me half as much. I don’t want to use up that love with something as simple as getting in my wheelchair.” he joked, gesturing to his two missing legs.

Nissa sighed but didn’t comment since she couldn’t exactly admit that their relationship had been the best thing in her life since Zane lost his legs.

Still, Nissa started to contemplate a gesture that would show her stubborn husband it was okay to open up some more.

Seeing Nissa’s contemplative face, Zane skimmed over his life until now, wondering if there was anything he could have done differently at the time.

-----------

First came the military. Zane recalled being recruited at the ripe age of sixteen and trained to become the most lethal soldier in United States History.

The next decade was a blur of one impossible mission after the next.

Zane had three tours under his belt along with almost 200 confirmed kills by the time he was twenty years old.

There were awards given, positions granted, and favors asked, but Zane never felt the need to climb higher since he was more than happy with fieldwork.

After a decade of fieldwork, at the age of twenty-six, Zane was recruited for his most important job yet – Project Executor.

Project Executor was a unique project where the top soldiers would get to choose their targets of elimination based on their own moral codes.

During this time, Zane was transferred between The Navy Seals, The National Guard, The Special Naval Warfare Force, and The US Delta Force.

For the next four years, Zane was tasked with the elimination of high-risk targets both within his own government and outside.

Of course, it was ultimately up to Zane to decide if the target was worth eliminating.

Finally, at the age of thirty, Zane grew tired of the constant action and decided to settle down.

He became a trainer for recruits and often worked with the CIA, NATO, The UN, and other military organizations.

Just as Zane applied for the next tour, wanting to wet his blade once more, Nissa informed him that she was pregnant.

It was the first time in Zane’s life that he felt a connection with someone else and he chased that connection with everything he had.

Zane’s life then consisted of Family and Military Missions for the next sixteen years, until one mission went horribly wrong and it cost Zane his legs.

At the time, he was halfway into retirement, so it didn’t take a genius to discover what happened to him was no accident.

Still, it was a price Zane was willing to pay for peace.

After all, retirement usually meant death.

----------------

Zane recovered his bearings and dismissed the thoughts from his mind; instead, wanting to focus on the future with his family, and overcome his mental disorder.

Zane rolled his wheelchair out of the room and towards the bathroom.

The wheelchair could ultimately move on its own, but Zane preferred to always be the one in control as long as he was in it.

Zane’s mind swam with random ideas as he thought about his life and how fulfilling it had been.

Not a lot of men in the world could claim to kill five people with the same bullet.

Well, kill four and blind the fifth who later died of complications, so it still counts!

Nissa sighed as she rose from the sheets. Highlighting her shapely figure as she walked silently behind her husband’s chair.

She could feel a bit of cheerfulness radiating out of Zane, but she wasn’t sure about the cause.

Nissa was forty-nine and Zane was fifty this year, but they still felt as if they were in the prime of their youth.

And Zane was thankful deep inside.

He has a loving wife, who he is now learning to love back.

He has two cute teenage daughters, Emily and Nasa, and his youngest teenage son, Jimmy who is a spitting image of himself minus the psychopathy.

Amid Zane’s contended thoughts, he felt his momentum the increase in momentum of his wheelchair as Emily, his oldest child, pushed him from behind, making B-line for the bathroom.

Of course, Emily was careful not to hit one of the many scattered obstacles strategically placed on the ground by Nasa.

Zane sighed a bit in frustration but was still grateful for the love and care of his eldest daughter.

Emily had always been a child with heightened emotional responses, and this was complemented by the unique gift to discern others’ emotions as well.

Even Zane was not exempt.

Honestly, Zane was just relieved Emily could not tell what someone was thinking as well as she could tell their emotional states.

Though, the line between the two was incredibly thin.

“I know you get mad when I do this but you sacrificed so much for this family and mother. We should love you just as much.” Emily explained with no small amount of passion in her tone.

Emily zoomed Zane into the bathroom, locked the wheelchair in place, and easily snatched Zane from the wheelchair and placed him on a stool in the brightly tiled shower.

Zane was only thankful that Emily hadn’t tried to undress him as well.

With her duty completed, Emily spun around and was about to leave so her father could undress and take a bath but she heard a silent whisper that made her beam.

Thank you, daughter!” Zane choked out uncomfortably, thankfulness not something he could feel too well.

Emily spun around, gave a restrained nod, and exited the bathroom, shutting the door behind herself.

----------------

Emily exited the bathroom with a chipper attitude as she sang in a beautiful voice that annoyed everyone who had gathered in the kitchen.

Emily’s emotions were heightened, so happy for her was what everyone else identified as something beyond smugness.

The moment Emily stepped foot into the kitchen, a loud screech was followed by an attack with the intent to maim.

“How dare you suck up to my father you wench?” Nasa, the youngest daughter, simmered with unquantifiable rage, snatching a knife from the table and striking to pierce Emily’s neck.

Bang

Mere inches away from Emily’s smug face, Nissa, who was now properly dressed and cooking, grabbed the blade of the knife and chided “You’re such a fathercon Nasa. If you want to hear nice things from your father, you should be proactive like Emily.”

The smug smile on Emily’s face grew even wider, twisting into something beautifully unnatural.

Nasa and Nissa weren’t sure whether to be awed or terrified.

Still, Emily couldn’t stop herself from smiling so unnaturally when she thought about the fact that Zane had thanked her.

One had to note that Zane thanked no one for anything.

Honestly, Emily didn’t even care about the knife that was grabbed mere inches from her throat.

If anything, she was prepared to die right at this moment.

“I can’t mother.” Nasa tearfully admitted, garnering sympathy from Emily and Nissa, but what she did next caused them to flinch away in mock disgust.

Suddenly, Nasa started to take shallow, rapid breaths complimented by erotic moaning and slow, sensual caresses to certain areas on her body “Yesterday father walked by me and I opened the door for him. Then, he grunted to acknowledge my presence and I orgasmed in my little girl panties.”

Nissa, who had previously backed away in disgust, now nodded understandingly, seemingly sympathizing once more with Nasa’s plight. “Your father’s grunts are orgasmic after all. You should see how he grunts when I take his di-”

“Okay, that’s enough from you anti-righteous people from the depths of the netherworld!” Jimmy, the youngest and only son, abruptly rose from his seat and proclaimed with his arms akimbo. “You’re all overly obsessed with father and he dislikes that. Nasa, you can’t even talk to your father righteously without thinking about pervy incest sex.”

Jimmy then turned his attention to Emily and looked at her in disdain.

He would have also shown disdain for Nasa, but the small, weird, girl would have probably liked that.

“Emily, you try to hide it but everyone knows you shout father’s name loudly when masturbating almost every night! The righteous always hear your proclamation of fatherly domination through these thin walls.”

Emily blushed in embarrassment, reminding herself to turn on the dampeners next time.

“And mother you are an unrighteous heathen!” Jimmy added, not even the least bit hesitant that he was talking to his mother in such a tone.

“What have I ever done?” Nissa complained, already tired of her children’s teenage rebellion phase.

“Mother, you are the worse because you passed this unrighteous genetic defect of fathercon-ness to your daughters and…” Jimmy swung his head and pointed to a locked room on the left. “All the proof I need of your unrighteous crimes are right there!”

“My picture room for your father?” Nissa asked confusedly, scratching her head. “There is nothing suspicious about that room.”

Jimmy puckered his butt cheeks and puffed his chest out to look even more righteous, but those actions only made him look increasingly more constipated.

“It is called a Shrine mother, not a picture room. It is an area of worship for father. Everything wrong with this family is unrighteous because of you! When you told us about our conception, you even said the aphrodisiac you used fell from the skies while you were praying in that very same room.” Jimmy proclaimed.

“You’re one to talk!” Emily retorted, angry for having her dirty laundry aired in the open. “Father suffers from Logicia and we are fathercons. Mom worships father as a deity so when you were born, father tried his hardest to make you normal. Maybe he tried too hard because he raised you to be a righteous and loving person. Everything you say and does has to be ‘righteous’.”

Nasa and Nissa nodded in agreement.

Emily’s statement was so true that it may as well have been a mathematical theorem with no exceptions.

“Name one occasion where I was unrighteous?” Jimmy barked challengingly, eyes narrowing dangerously.

“Well.” Nasa hummed, index finger on her chin “There was that one time…”

Flashback -----------

Zane and Jimmy were in a store purchasing the groceries for Family Night.

Zane came to a stop in front of a particularly high shelf and was unable to reach the cans at the top.

Without feet, he couldn’t stand, so of course, Zane trusted his son to get the item for him.

“Can you get that for me son?” Zane requested and Jimmy jumped at the opportunity to impress his father.

Bang

Jimmy kicked the entire shelf over and grabbed the can of beans as it was falling off the shelf, then he presented the item to his father “I have righteously retrieved the can of beans you requested father!”

Zane frowned at Jimmy’s inefficient display.

“You shouldn’t have kicked the shelf down… you just needed to tilt it until all the beans fell off.”

“Please punish this unrighteous son!” Jimmy shouted, kneeling in front of Zane as the astonished crowd watched the weird display of Familial Affection.

Flashback End ----------

“Now that I think about it.” Nissa mused as if she was enlightened “You’re all very weird children. And that means your father will never truly love you kids, so I can keep that love for myself.”

Jimmy, Nasa, and Emily looked at the hundreds of keys wrapped around Nissa’s neck.

One key for each lock she placed on the ‘Picture Room’ door.

“You’re one to talk!” The children shouted in unison.