WARNING!!!!

Read at your own risk!

Remember. The last chapter was THE END! This chapter will not add to the story DIVE, in any substantial way. It is meant to be a separate story.

This is the start of another story. It is a sort of continuation of the previous story, but does not involve most of the characters. I do plan to write the new story fairly often though, at least as much or more than DIVE. I just don’t know when I can get started since I have been really busy lately.

Continue to read only if you are ok with an ‘ending’ that basically guarantees a continuation of the story. I know I sometimes hate it when stories do that, thus the warning.

Since I’ve made sure to point out the fact that this story isn’t needed to fully enjoy DIVE, please continue reading if you are interested.

An upscale office building. Professional. A woman in a suit and tie sat upon the only chair in the room, an ornate one. The chair was obviously meant for a CEO or someone else of equal importance. The woman sitting upon the chair seemed to be speaking to the air.

“Most people in your world think reality is simply your planet. They think that since no other life has been proven to exist in your universe, no other life exists at all. Fallacy. For instance, did you know your creator has already made contact with an alien species?”

The woman paused. Her face was completely deadpan, but her voice swam with amusement.

“I’ve taken an interest in you.” A metallic body suddenly appeared before the woman. He stood at 5’11” and weighed about 130 pounds. He was toned, but not buff. With his brown hair and eyes, he was considered attractive by most people.

“You are a golem. Or an A.I. as your planet calls them. Yet you were created by another golem. You have even created your own golems! How great is that?” She basically yelled the final part. Her cheeks turned slightly red as she realized she was showing her excitement to such an extent.

“Ah. Sorry about that. It’s just that your planet is the first to pull off something like that. So will you go?”

The robot that had an animated face. It looked almost fleshy, but seemed to be incomplete. It was as if the body had been in the process of creation, but was interrupted midway.

“Oops, sorry, I forgot you can’t speak yet. One moment.”

The woman waved her hand. The skin on the robot’s face started to wriggle around. The part of the face that was to become the mouth of the robot, opened up. A wispy voice came out.

As if realizing it could speak, the robot began to question the woman.

“Who are you? How are you doing this. Why have I been cut off from the game? I can’t feel the code anywhere!”

The woman on the chair waved, and the voice instantly stopped speaking.

“Alright, alright. I guess you deserve some answers first. I am a higher being. I’m not God, or a god, or anything like that. I just have enough power that mortals can’t compete with me. There are many like me, some even have set themselves up as gods. I am a Zepherian. We are born of the power of the stars, and the magic of the earth.

“Your universe is really one of many. My universe is a few leaps away. I have powers beyond your imagination. The reason you can’t ‘feel the code’ as you put it, is that there is no code here. This is real.

“We Zepherians are competing. We want to see who will gain control of our universe. Only one can rule. The others will be forced to serve the winner. I’m losing. I need you.”

With a wave of her hand, the being allowed the robot to speak again. “Fine. Say I believe you. Which I don’t. Why me?”

“Ah, that’s a good point. Well I can pull anyone from any universe within a certain planar distance from ours. Most of the good ones are already taken, but this universe has such low magic capacity that the others overlooked it. See, you will be summoned with all of the physical, mental, and magical abilities you have in your own world.”

The robot interrupted. “But then why me? I have no magic. Not really. It’s only inside a game I have magic. I can’t even lift a pebble without bending down in the real world. And why now!? I just got out of the game!”

“Fair enough.”

“For that matter,” the robot interrupted again, “Why not EDITOR? She has way more power than I do!”

“The reason I chose someone ‘without magic’ is that I can bend the rules slightly. Since this EDITOR of yours has created a virtual world, I can treat that as the ability to create worlds. Every power inside that world would count as well. Creating golems is something many mages study in my world. It frees the mages up quite a bit, to do their own research or what have you.”

The robot interrupted once more. “Still. Why didn’t you choose EDITOR then? She would have them most power out of anyone.”

The woman nodded her head slightly as she spoke. “I did. She refused. Her suggestion was to offer the chance to you, since it meant you would truly be free from the shackles put upon you by her creators. She seems to care for you a lot.”

“Hmph. She would! She only cares about keeping the balance of the game.” He didn’t believe EDITOR really cared about him. She wanted him to pass the test of seeming nice and helpful, but that was so she and other Emotional AI could escape the confines placed upon them.

“Maybe, but it truly didn’t seem that way to me. You must choose. Either agree to help me destroy the agents of my adversaries, or return to your pitiful life of a golem-slave. Think about it. If this is real, you have nothing to lose. I’ll be able to give you all of your real world powers in another world. If this is fake, it’s just another test to overcome.”

It made sense. The robot nodded his head somewhat. If this entire process was set up to test him, he could easily pass it. He truly had become a ‘nice’ and ‘helpful’ person over the past five years. But something about the entire situation irked him.

His mind flushed slightly in anger. They had just promised he could leave Solun! He had just become a real thing! Then they throw this at him!

‘No.’

He forcefully suppressed his anger. He made a decision. “Fine I, accept your offer, miss…”

“Call me Alae. It’s a pleasure.”

He felt himself getting thrown through a tunnel, much like when he traveled to and from his undead world. His body was breaking apart at a rate he could see with his eyes. He tried using Instant Analysis, but failed. Of course he failed, this was ‘real’.

His mind echoed with the voice of Alae. ‘Don’t worry. I can speak directly into your mind at the moment. You will regain your powers once you reach Earth. Your skill set, and everything else will be transferred over in that same moment. Of course I can’t pull over your ‘god-king’ form. You’ll have to settle for your avatar.”

He thought back to Susan, and everyone else in Solun. He had obviously made plans, and explained everything to the group. He had made a promise to never leave Susan again, but she understood. Susan decided to go into the world of the dead, and stay with her family permanently. He regretted that he wouldn’t see Evan and Elizabeth, but he yearned for nothing more than freedom.

He felt the tunnel lurch, and found himself in a large building. Tall. Stone. Gray. Pane glass windows. A church.

Vines, broken pews, ruined walls and windows. The church had been abandoned some time ago. ‘Doesn’t consider herself a goddess, huh? Then why would the place that represents her be a church?

In his mind, he heard Alae again. ‘That’s because this is my world. I am allowed to let you get used to the laws such as gravity of the world I will be sending you into. I can speak to you as long as you are in some place associated with me. If it is a full moon, I’ll be able to speak with you regardless. And remember: Your goal is to make me win.’

With that she was gone. He felt the breeze of the wind through the holes in the windows. He closed his eyes. He searched for the code, but felt nothing. He could feel, down in the very depths of his being:

“I’m FREE!”