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Chapter 021: That Long Ago?

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Rex was utterly confused but he still got the point of the surprise of the message. And that's what he didn't quite get.

"See me at the gathering?"

"Yeah."

"The Conclave, you mean?"

"Yep. The Conclave."

Rex was in a loss for words. Is this for real?

"They didn't say too much but it turns out that few of our members are actually 'achievers' as well. I myself was surprised to learn when we met earlier. They all each had to go out on the exact same day. So when we inquired further, we found that we were all invited."

"No way..." —is this just a coincidence?

Is it really a coincidence that the Asgardians are all achievers invited into the Conclave?

"Now, now... don't lift your guns yet. I'm not done speaking." Matt cleared his throat and he asked in a playful manner, "Take a guess who sent all those invitations to our members?"

"I'm too lazy to think (because I can't). Who?"

"Hehe. It's Tony." Matt chuckled, "It turns out, his dad was one of the organizers this year and so he took the chance to arrange an eyeball for all of the Asgardians to gather and finally meet each other."

Rex blinked in surprise then erupted in laughter.

"Heh. Why am I not too surprised?"

"Yeah, right? And do you know his reason why he used his own authority to make this exception?"

Rex was intrigued. Matt followed, "Tony said it was because he's so sick of political meetings that have no real sense of camaraderie at all so he wanted to meet the guys and hang out with them... truly."

Rex felt laughing. Thinking about the President of the UNICORN's son being their friend is really a large boon —and also a bane, because his identity is a very sensitive matter.

Thinking about this point, Rex realized something and stayed silent. He couldn't help thinking deeply of this point.

—how did he get their addresses?

There are so many possibilities to answer this very question and thinking about it imbalances his mind and the clearance allowed to pressure his neural faculties quickly closed at which Cortana had to do something to stop Rex from wasting too much of his mental resources.

[Boss, you need to relax your mind. You can't use too much mental energy to think too many things.]

—Have I?

Rex felt a pang of pain on his head and realized his mistake but at the next moment, Matt suddenly squealed and stared at him with wide eyes.

—no!

Matt wasn't looking at his face. He was looking at his forehead.

"What is it?" Rex touched his forehead but only felt skin to the touch, nothing more.

"What the fuck is that thing!?"

"That thing? What thing?"

"In your forehead, man! That's a fucking eye! It's a golden fucking eye dude!"

"...!!"

—damn! Could it be?

Rex jumped up and ran to the body mirror in the sala and true enough, on his forehead, there was indeed a golden eye tattoo shining brightly as if it was indeed an eye.

—shit. I made a blunder.

Because there wasn't a tattoo there earlier, the fact that it suddenly appeared on his skin as if it was in the skin underneath the surface was horrifying and curiously intriguing to any witness.

Good thing though, it was Matt who saw it and was not any other person. He trusted Matt dearly, but it wasn't his intention to tell them about how Cortana is connected to him. This was indeed a blunder.

—there's no sense brooding over spilled milk.

Actually, he could make a choice between a few excuses Cortana readied for this scenario before:

(1) It was a glow in the dark tattoo.

(2) It's no big deal, just skin allergy!

(3) Whoa! I got a tattoo on my forehead?!

(4) I am your father.

(5) *robotic voice* [Terminate Mission Witness]

(6) I heard the world's ending tomorrow...

(7) Everybody else got this tattoo. You still don't?

(8) I levelled up and this tattoo came with it...

(9) The world's ending tomorrow!! Get a tattoo!

He faced the man with a sigh —an expression that told Matt that Siva knew of the existence of that golden-f*cking-tattoo of an eye on his forehead.

"Explain. Now." he was actually worried.

Instead of answering, Rex only spoke, "Cortana."

At the next instant, lasers formed into an image of a beautiful woman wearing a pink dress with frills and ribbons. She was really pretty —as pretty and dainty as a flower blooming in spring, or just the impression of it.

[Hello, Matt... I'm the boss' adjutant. Cortana. Nice to meet you.]

She smiled also prettily and Matt had to swallow.

"Adjutant? What a word. You're a Battle-AI, right?"

They have actually heard of her before, back in the Grand Mansion, but Cortana had no way to show herself to them and so this is officially the first time anyone outside Lily and Gaia who had seen her.

[That is correct.]

"How were you... acquired?"

[A secret mission. He had to fight many Demons in order to rescue me.]

"Oh..." Matt looked at Rex. Unbeknownst to him, it was Rex who was providing the background story of how he got Cortana. "And when did you do... this mission?"

[A long time ago.] Cortana answered for him. [I was broken and had to fix my programming back then so it took me a lot of time before being of use to the boss... it was even before you went out for a mission to Hagonoy.]

Unbeknownst to Matt, a Battle-AI doesn't have any other capability to interfere in anything in the real world aside from the being smart-talking Managers and Organizers to their owners/masters.

But since Cortana was controlling her words, with the matter now not contain anything pertaining to the real capabilities of a Battle-AI that's supposedly useful "only" in the game... he didn't suspect one bit about anything at the moment.

"That long ago?"

[That long ago.]

Although it was spoken of as being 'long ago', it's just been a month ago for Rex and Matt. But it still felt like a really long time ago, considering that in just the past two weeks, there have been events in their lives that were too extreme and too sudden to be mentally processed and accepted in just a matter of hours or minutes.

In other terms, Matt had already been surprised in more often times than normal to be surprised more regarding this situation.

His reaction was only a light chuckle. It was easy to accept this fact than the shocking news that Rex is a [God] in the history of RPG: Terroa.

THAT is shocking news.

Matt looked at Rex, "Well, considering that you did take risks too high for any normal player to jump into for your goals... huge rewards like these are really just about right for a compensation."

All good [gamers], professional or not, understood a simple rule: higher risks, higher rewards!

RPG: Terroa was a "game" that rewards risk takers and Siva was a huge gambler who wins by brute force and stubborn but (very marginal) consistent calculated approaches. Winning a Battle-AI with a unique trait like Cortana should be normal.

Still, as a [gamer], it doesn't mean he's not envious.

But then again, there is that one huge question he didn't forget: ""

Rex was startled with Matt's "yell" and he scratched his nose, looking somewhere else.

"I was... modified." He spoke the two parts in two different intonations: the latter sounding like a big lying excuse from some sickly author's novel.

"Modified?" Matt narrowed his eyes at him.

Rex looked at him with a straight face, "Modified."

"How?"

"I'm not sure myself but I have a conjecture. It may have something to do with project Android."

"Project Android? Aren't you part of it, somehow, as you've contributed to building its mainframe?"

"Like I said, it's only my conjecture. They did it to me while I was online."

The last reply made Matt blink. "W-Wow. That's..."

—scary, I know.

To suddenly wake not knowing whether you're still human or not is kind of scary. Rex could feel what Matt was 'feeling' regarding this piece of news.

Matt sat down on the sofa and then stared at Rex's forehead, whistling in amazement, "Man... it's really shining gold right now. It looked like a millennium eye or something. Does it hurt?"

Rex, having gotten out of the hole, replied in the normal 'proud' manner a Battle-AI owner should have, "Not one bit."

"Dude! But it's glowing....!!"

"Seriously, it doesn't hurt one bit." Although Rex is able to tell him about how he was modified, he can only tell him, or anyone else, a few things but not the whole truth. He can't tell them that this was not just any ordinary 'modification' on the skin but was actually 'something else' that he received from his father who was trapped in the Genesis Chamber.

There are so many things that will entail and he had to explain if he stated such a fact so Rex could only go to the most basic explanation and reason.

"Matt, remember those guys who used to come in here and do things to me?"

Matt's face became serious. He nodded.

"Well, they did something to me." He said solemnly and inhaled, "And that something is the reason why I am special... the reason why my forehead is glowing right now... and also the reason why I had requested you to search for it."

It —the request/mission Matt was given.

He didn't know what it was but he knew that a man named AG has it and that it was something that will endanger Rex greatly... and it was something that he needed to save someone named Samantha as well... or everything else would fall into ruins.

"I really haven't processed that though. What have they done to you... exactly?"

"NanoMechs."

"NanoMechs?!" Matt's eyes went wide. This was a term that only those connected to the Inner Core of the UNICORN are aware of. It was one of the many [secret projects] that UNICORN is making.

As the son of a mother who works in the admin of the UNICORN branch here in Fil-Country, there're bound to be times where his curiosity got a grip on him that he'd sneak a peek at what his mother do to support their family.

At that time, he became aware of this "technology" and it scared him silly because there was a [secret] stamp on it in red capital letters.

"You mean to say, they injected NanoMechs into your body?"

"—and into my brain." To shorten the story, Rex had to lie about it to make the sight of this golden eye on his forehead coincide with an absurd story.

—that worked, as seen on Matt's dazed reaction.

"Holy shit. HOOOOOLY SHIT IN A PANCAKE."

"I'm a Terminator." Rex said jokingly, narrowing his eyes at Matt and using a monotonic robot voice.

Matt paused then burst out laughing. Rex followed with a hearty laugh. Although he was faking it and was still nervous, seeing his friend laugh made him feel relieved that he made him accept it.

The seriousness of the matter was dismissed just like that. Since they've already been aware that the friend they have named Rex, that had an alter ego in the hottest VR-MMORPG in the planet that was a [God] in its historical setting, had already shown them one great and mind-boggling surprises after another, being NOT surprised in anything going on to him should be the normal scene between them.

After the episode of hearty laughters, they relaxed and Matt chuckled, "My man, you are full of weird things. First, you have a weird family circumstance; then you are a hostage of some mafia; then you're that strong; then you got Cortana; and then you're [Siva]... man, one huge revelation after another? In just one lifetime, you've been in a hell of a life and back, and is still changing... I can't help but think that you'd suddenly evolve one day into something that we can only look up to."

Rex was caught off guard by these words. And yet he also felt that there was some substance to it he found hard to ignore.

—in the future...

Just thinking about it makes the glowing tattoo on his forehead shine brightly, giving Siva a slight jolt of pain which brings him back to his normal state.

If it was a normal person, Rex's situation would've made Matt go into a fit of undisguised "holy shit" expression over and over —even deciding to call a few police or media to report an Android in their neighborhood both as a joke and a serious idea.

But he didn't.

Matt had been exposed to Rex's weirdness from the very first day and they've all seen those black men and have seen his condition, knew his family's circumstances, and knew his predicament... Rex's life is full of twist and turns that being surprised at the development should be an everyday incidence.

There was no use and no need to be surprised if something unexpected happen to Rex.

What they should be doing is to not pity him but to watch from the sidelines and see how it goes until it ended. If they can help, they will. If not, they will have to witness everything so that in the future, if Rex fails, they can chronicle his struggle and keep a record of his legacy.

As his friends and his companions, it was their job and mission to be the recorder of "history" so that "his story" will never be forgotten in some hidden pages of some hidden book of history.

—or at least, Matt realized this only now.

Rex's life was something written in a novel. It was full of twists and turns, something full of struggle and challenges, bitterness, strife, battles against a horde of unsurmountable and uncountable foes, and a life of pain and suffering... of a few moments he can smile and laugh like earlier.

Matt engraved this mission in his heart. He wasn't too surprised now. He'd gotten used to it quickly.

"Well, that's just about it. My purpose for the visit is complete. Oh, yeah, tomorrow, we're planning to go together so you should prepare yourself... oh, and yeah, Coralline said that she'll personally make you suffer. Did you do something to her?"

Rex had an awkward face. "Nothing too big. It was actually her fault but she's just blaming me since I was the one who were there when it happened."

Matt made a 'why was she crying and seething in fury if it's nothing big?' kind of face.

Looking at the house, Matt chuckled again, "Don't leave your house looking like this before we leave to Sweetzerland. We're going tomorrow so at least clean the house today."

"I was just about to." Rex said and smiled at Matt.

There was a short —very short— pause.

"Oh, I forgot, I was actually preparing my luggage so I'll be seeing you tomorrow. Later then."

Matt hurriedly turned around as he realized what Rex's beaming smile meant. But it was too late.

A hand had already caught his right shoulder from behind. Like a gentleman, Matt turned his head to the side and said, "Sometimes, friends have to say farewell so they can miss each other."

Out of nowhere, a of an afternoon setting in an autumn road materialized around the two.

The orange of the sky gave a more 'kind' of feeling to the two of them.

Rex 'understood' the mood and spoke seriously as well, "But it was only sometimes. This time is not one of those times."

Something blocked Matt's throat but he still forced a bromantic line, like a gentleman, "My wife is still in the house, waiting for me to give her a bath."

"But I thought I heard someone whistling a song a few minutes earlier as he caressed something with bubbly sponge and said it was done with bath."

"I thought you were sleeping?"

"That was earlier. Didn't you see my bath towel?"

"I thought you said you were just in the bed?"

"That was before I took a quick shower."

"My mom's calling me."

"It's 9 o'clock in the morning."

"I need to do my assignments."

"You told me it's your semestral break."

"I have to cook."

"You can't cook. Why else would your younger sis cook meals for you?"

Matt was sweating. He can't get give an excuse.

Then, out of desperation, he sighed and looked at Cortana's 'image' then said, "You're so pretty. Can you change into other outfits?"

Rex slightly loosened his grip and took a look at the girl —when Matt used that chance to scram.

———only to fail.

Rex had only loosened his grip but didn't let go of him. He understood Matthew very clearly. Then, out of nowhere, autumn leaves began to fall again.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"Why? Didn't you come here to help me?"

"On a different matter, yes..."

"If you help me, I will help you court Rio."

"I wasn't even planning it."

"But you were thinking over it."

"..."

"I will also let you come hunt Dragons with me."

"WHAT!!? Dragons?!! Where are you right now?"

The scene changed into a battlefield and Rex gave an eye to Cortana's image. The scenery vanished.

Rex beamed widely, "Didn't I tell you earlier that I'm in a secret realm right now? I'm in the realm with a lot of Dragons in it."

Matt's eyes widened and he gulped down, "Where exactly are you right now?"

"Deep below Terroa... but with your speed, that's around six days of travel, minimum. The heavier you are, the faster you can go. But don't worry, I can do something to shorten that gap. And also... I have discovered a place where we can set our own Asgard as a country!"

Matt swallowed again.

Asgard as a country?

It was an ambitious dream —a big one, in fact. It is huge, in all honesty, and Siva's plans reflected the size of things he wanted to achieve.

They've talked about this before.

One of the most exciting things to do in Terroa is to actually establishing a territory. Almost all large organizations have large territories of their own. It was developed into a mini-city where the real-world establishments enter the game-world of Terroa for a lot of their features and recreational offers.

If not for this reason above, why else would these large organizations be lairy in toiling for a right to a territory within those thirteen cities of The North?

Wars even erupted for the sake of control over it.

If not for the lure of establishing a full territory to call "their own", why else would the organizations of the real world hire adventurers to discover lands and unknown places to develop as a resort or even a personal territory?

Business... money...

Livelihood...!!

Fame!

Glory!!

Terroa is a land of freedom and adventure; where one can do basically anything they want —it is most especially true if own your own territory... for you can become the king of your own land!

A glimpse of the future of Terroa foretells this one basic fact and with it comes the struggle as well.

So the earlier you establish your kingdom is all the better, for the older the rule over a territory is the better and more powerful its foundations become.