Chapter 012 - That never happened

In another floor, a girl no taller than 1.5 meters was watching a screen with a cold gaze and with a frozen expression, Midas was coldly staring at the scene that was happening on Floor 5 of Alice was helping Cyan to take a sit inside the track field.

[Midas]: “Analysis Results: Player#105 is suffering from a traumatic event, even after a full recovery strong events could trigger a negative trait to flare up, making the Player#105 suffers from pain and loss control of motor functions, Conclusion: Player#105 will keep suffering the after-effects of the event until his mind gives up, Possible Actions: None”

“Mind gives up” meaning its mind breaks and his heart stops, and then Player dies. Midas kept watching the screen, there are no possible actions to take however she keeps running more analysis with her emotionless face while trying to gather more data, if they Analysis had failed then it was because of lack of data or the data [Midas] has stored is wrong.

[Midas]: “New Analysis Results: Player#105 negative trait could not have been develop by a simple training session, permanent damage has detected in the Player#105 mind, Conclusion: The data recorded by sensors is wrong, Possible Actions: Gather more data”

A mindless exercise could not be the cause of such traumatic lasting event, much less to the point that damages a Player mind to this point, which it could only mean the data is wrong and at some point, something else has interfered, and that was not recorded in the sensors which should be impossible. Midas gave out her command to run a new analysis.

[Midas]: “Command: remove all outside parameters and run a simulation taking account new hypothesis, Execute”

A string of text flashed in front of Midas silver eyes.

[Midas]: “Analysis in Progress: Parameters: new anomaly to Included: “something else is interfering with Player Mind as the cause”…running…, Analysis Result: Impossible to detect, Impossible to deduce, Impossible to compute, Conclusion: None: Actions: Gather more data”

Midas keep staring at the screen that was showing Cyan face and try to gather more data to run a new analysis on, that’s all she could do for now, however, with more data [Midas] analysis will eventually find the root of the problem, but for Midas herself to be standing here watching a screen, it was something that she couldn’t do.

However you didn’t have to, a 1 meter tall AR series 2 robot was also staring the screen beside her without saying anything, and he was also carrying out an analysis over the Player#105 current status, at the same time he was gathering more data for [Midas] to run her analysis on. Midas spoke to the robot.

[Midas]: “AR#105 keep gathering more data and run periodic analysis every hour on Player#105 status, inform me of any new abnormality you find: your mission stays the same help the Player#105”

AR#105 send a reply over the [Midas] network notifying he understood this command and will proceed to carry out his task after that Midas disappeared from the room leaving only Willy to keep watch over Cyan.

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[Alice]: “Are you sure you are ok? You look very pale”

[Cyan]: “I am fine, you should try to run over the track a little for your Quest I will wait for you here”

Cyan brushed out his status and due to Cyan insistence Alice could only grumpily go to the track and start doing some light stretches, then she would start to run a lap without trying to do 1km in 10 minutes for her Quest, she was only testing the track so there was no need to run that fast, after all the Quest would not be failed because of that, the Quest would be completed after she manages to run 1km in 10 minutes and not anything else.

On the other hand took after Alice went to test the track Cyan took a sit next it, and as he watched her run the pain he had been feeling all over his body started to fade away like it was never there, however, he didn’t notice because right now his mind was busy remembering the past when he would go to the track in the School grounds and see Alice run in school competitions or when she was training for inter-school competitions, of course, he would watch over her from afar giving her all the moral support he could muster, because for the inter-school competitions he wouldn’t dare to go on the bus with them.

Cyan could only let out a sigh that symbolized all of his frustration for not being able to keep Alice’s pace… he was a turtle when running and with a severe lack of stamina joining the track field club so he could train together with Alice would only make her go slower no faster, going to a track for him would be only to shame his name and everyone around him, not to mention that as someone that didn’t have any friends in the school that would help him except Alice he would receive the fierce glare of other males and females students alike just for running together with her in the same track, this had escalated into more severe things later on making him stop expending more time with her altogether because of the pain it would cause him, however he never stopped being her friend.

While Cyan was immersed into his mind and memories, his phone vibrated meaning he got a new message bringing him back to his senses, Cyan took out his phone and found that this message was actually from another person he knew, sort that, his future self has finally decided to write to him again after a week.

Message [You]: “Hello kid how are you doing in your second week? Did you max out your stats already? Haha mile_face:”

Cyan read through the message with a bitter expression, after all, in the first of his arrival to the Tower he was put in suspension for 1 week, more than maxing out his stats he was lucky he managed to end one Quest at least.

Reply: “Where had you being, I had tried to texting you several times but I got no answer”

Message [You]: “Calm down kid, I had been seriously busy you know, the future is not an easy place to live in, it is not like I can stay put in the same place for too long and getting a signal for my [phone] is a pain, anyway being found out by … would make matters complicated, so I can’t respond every time you write”

Cyan felt he was pushing his frustration into himself, and now he realized that the person on the other side has its own problems to deal with.

Reply: “Are you perhaps being chased?”

Message [You]: “Let’s not talk about that kid, tell how your training is going? Did you increase your STA? I remember that all my stats were pitiful low at the beginning”

Cyan could only reply honestly

Reply: “about that……. This is what happened…”

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Reply: “When I wake up it was Monday, Willy was gone”

Message [You]: “So it is was like that… even when we tried to change it, sigh, we still couldn’t go beyond a gen 3 start…”

Cyan felt shocked.

Reply: “Wait…You knew that would happen?”

Message [You]: “Don’t mal interpret Kid, I never entered the [Training Tower] on the second week, but the third… so I never got a personal robot assigned or got any of its hidden features found… the good news is that even though you only get to start your training now, you now possess a better starting point than all of us, aren’t you happy that you listened to me?”

Reply: “So it was like that…, then what about all the others?”

Message [You]: “The others us you mean? The one before me, gen 2 Cyan entered the Tower by the four weeks and gen 1 Cyan… he never entered the [Training Tower] at all, so you are still doing better than all of us, not to mention that I heard that those little bots that lasted for a week were a great help for gen 2 Players that got them, I was super jealous of those Players at that time, but now you got one even if it was for a day”

Reply: “Actually Willy he… all AR series 2 robots were taken away and recycle by [Midas] on the first day, and then in exchange [Midas] gave me 100.000 Credits for it”

Cyan skipped the fact that the one that probably gave him the Credits was Willy and not [Midas].

Message [You]: “…Cyan that… that never happened, in my past, the AR series 2 lasted for a week before they were taken away when the gen 3 Players started arriving because the protocol time has ended… something must have changed it… and I am afraid that the only variable it is you”

Reply: “Actually, for some reason I have this feeling that Willy has saved my life somehow after fainting, when I wake up I was inside a Suspended Chamber before being transported away to my room, right, I forgot to ask do you know what that chamber is for? And why I have been feeling so much pain around my body?”

Message [You]: “… I didn’t expect it to occur so fast … Cyan changing the past comes with a price, every time I intervene in the past consequences are to be had to the both us and not just me, but we are already at our last rope right now, I will have to accelerate my plans it is the only thing I can do, for now I will not intervene until next week, I can’t also give you any information or recommendations for the week or you could die by the end of the week, I hope you can understand”

Cyan hands tremble as he read through the message, like Alice, Cyan have learned that all information has its price to pay, and information of the future price is something that not everyone could easily afford.

Reply: “…I understand”

Message [You]: “One last thing, did you found Alice?”

Reply: “Yes, I am her tutor”

Message [You]: “Good”.

The next part was left unsaid, but what his future self was trying to say was “Stick to her and you will learn a thing or two” however he could not share more information than what he already had.

Message [You]: “Good luck kid, I am rooting for you”

After that no more new messages were exchanged, Cyan put down his phone and started to look to Alice running on the track once again. He could feel the urged to start running on the track right now, but his body was feeling all cramped up right now. He could confirm that there was a definite relation between talking to his future self and the feeling of having a great amount of pain passing throughout his body, probably the first time they spoke they made great changes to the future and that it almost killed him on the spot of the Floor 4, maybe entering Floor 4 that could heal a person from the brink of death save him from dying.

Cyan could only brush off from his mind the thought of dying and looked into the future, this time the pain was not that bad that he would faint for a week, only because his future self actually didn’t have told him almost anything about the future, but he still left a painful clue that was also a change to the past, Alice, and Cyan next step.

Seeing the running Alice on the track once again, Cyan stoop up from his seat and started walking into the track, it was time for him to start running.