EBO: Resume - Chapter 20

The VR Core began whirring. The option to log out finally returned to everyone. People across the virtual globe began cheering in excitement as their imprisonment finally came to an end. Some were nervous to log out, scared of the reality they had been barred from for nearly a year. On the metallic base of the VR Core lay two men. Satoshi Kuroto, AKA Genm, lay on the ground with a depleted HP gauge. Hunter Kasai, the legendary Crimson Specter, was passed out on the ground, with nothing but a pixel left in his HP gauge. He had done it. He had saved the prisoners of Entity Burst Online…

As players left, one by one, Haruko searched all across the void for her lover. She couldn’t determine the distance of anything, since there was essentially nothing left in this world. All she could see was the VR Core slowly logging people out as they left. Pillars of light similar to the one formed from Hunter’s final transformation lit up one by one as the players exited their digital prison. At long last, the people could finally go home and be free. Running through the infinite abyss, Haruko ran at top speed to the VR Core with no other idea as to where Hunter could be. The distance between her and the Core didn’t seem to shrink. It felt like the core was escaping her the more she ran towards it. Further and further away… Nothing but emptiness and bright beacons of freedom as people left. She had lost contact with Hideo and Kyoka when the world started breaking apart. As far as she knew, they were logging out as she sprinted. The abyss seemed to be shrinking, and she could finally see the base of the VR Core, albeit faintly. All she could make out was a single figure leaning against the Core’s base, dressed in red and silver. It was him, it had to be. That had to be Hunter leaning against the Core. Otherwise, she and everyone else in the game would be dead.

“Hunter!!” She screamed out to him, hoping her voice echoing across the void would reach him. No luck on that front. Finally, the fatigue of sprinting for so long caught up to her. Her pace slowed, reducing her to nothing more than a panting mess as she stopped and collapsed on an invisible floor. “No… I was so close…”

Laying there, she began thinking about what she could do to get closer to the Core. Perhaps a crawl? Running was out of the question, her entire body ached from the fatigue. Her eyes fluttered between consciousness and unconsciousness, tiredness setting in. At some point, the heaviness in her eyelids overtook her, and she fell asleep…

“Congratulations, Specter.” A pre-recorded video of Satoshi was playing in front of Hunter right now. He had collapsed on the ground, back against the VR Core’s cold metal with his knee bent and an arm resting on it. “Or rather… Hunter, was it? Haruto? One of the two. I’ve never bothered to remember your name. All that mattered was your title. It’s your claim to fame, the alias you chose to defy me with. I found it pointless to refer to you by multiple monikers. So, Specter… If you’re seeing this, then it means that the unlikely has occurred and I’ve been defeated. As promised, I’ve relinquished master control of the Nexus Core to you, and the log-out feature has been enabled once more. However… as one final, as you would say, ‘fuck you:’ I’ve kept your log-out disabled until everyone else is gone. You’ll be the last one to leave. That will be my final move, Specter.”

“Perhaps you’re wondering why I did it? Well, you were right. All I wanted was the satisfaction of killing without punishment. Though, I didn’t get to have all the fun I wanted slaughtering people, since you were intruding as much as possible with your so-called ‘friends.’ I’ve never understood this… fascination people have with other… people. They say humans are social creatures, but I’ve sufficed with interacting only with my brother. I suppose you’d like to know what’s going on in the reality you’ve been unable to return to for nearly a year now. The company supporting this game nearly went bankrupt thanks to my stunt, but it seems someone was foolish enough to invest a lot of money into them. As far as I’m concerned, Nexus Theory’s reputation has been tarnished, but they’ve gone on to produce yet another game. I don’t understand why, but it seems this major investor wants another product out of them to justify his investments. Their next game… all I know is its codename: Project Hazard.”

“I’ve also heard that there’s an Augmented Reality device becoming especially prevalent outside. I supposed Nexus wants to compete with that with their new Project. I don’t know. My mind’s been set to purge the moment I’m defeated, so I’m effectively deceased by the time you see this recording. However, I would like to warn you… My brother will not tolerate this. Know that he will be looking for you, and he will be out for blood. He’s colder, he’s smarter, he’s stronger. He helped me mastermind this scheme, and he will get revenge. He won’t murder you, but he will torture you. You will suffer by his hand, I can guarantee that. Do I have any regrets? Not very many. The first being my inability to succeed against you. I’ve only done so temporarily, but never for long. Why is that? How is that possible? What is this “power in bonds” that supports you?”

“You do not need multiple deep relationships to prosper. My brother, father, his father before him… All of them. They’ve never had any truly deep relationships. Hell, my brother was born after my father had an affair with some woman he never truly loved. He only married her after my brother was born, just to avoid the child support payments. He did it to maintain his profits, to further his own greed. They had me two years later, raising me with ‘love’ and ‘respect.’ But my brother… he saw through their lies. He knew that it was all a facade, and he told me that I was an accident, just like he was. They lied through their teeth in an attempt to keep us happy, but my brother knew better, and opened my eyes to the truth. How can love and peace be the source of anyone’s strength when it’s all just an illusion? I’ve spent a lot of time mulling over this thought after the incident that first intertwined our fates. I could never find a logical reason. So how is it that these useless lies can give anyone so much power?”

“These questions are, of course, rhetorical. I’ll be dead by the time you see this, so I will never know these answers. Perhaps… you can tell my brother your answers to my questions. He always understood better than me. I could never hope to be as influential as him… That’s why I chose to take over this game. With this incident, however long it lasted, I’ll have my name immortalized in history. It may be very brief, the blink of an eye compared to the centuries of time that this world, this universe, has existed. But… it satiated my ego. Yes, call me an egotistical brat if you’d like, it won’t matter. My name will be recognized. To hell with my father’s company. To hell with good will and love. Nothing matters in the grand scheme of things. I’m sure you’ve realized that, Specter. You’ve chosen a different path than I have in light of this revelation. You’ve chosen to erase that existential dread by distracting yourself with relationships. I chose to rid myself of that dread by carving my name, in blood, in the annals of history. This final duel… I look forward to it. I’m intrigued by what you could possibly do to oppose me this one last time. Good bye, Specter. I’ll see you on the battlefield.”

“He even took the time to explain the reasons behind his master plan.” Hunter dryly chuckled as his head rested against the VR Core. “God, that was a pain in the ass… And now I have to deal with his evil big brother, fantastic.”

Grabbing the VR Core’s panel, Hunter forced himself upwards, fighting through his sore muscles as he stood up and began looking around. He found a terminal linked to the Core after a little wandering, accessing it with his User ID. The Core had released 82% of all the players trapped. Among the remaining players were… several players he didn’t know. Hundreds of players that he didn’t know, Esoterror the huntress from a while back… Haruko was still in-game? He tried to look for her player coordinates, only to find that field filled with Errors.

“Right… we fucked the game up so hard, this is all that’s really left…” Hunter brought up his menu, entering the settings tab. As the video stated, the log off button was still missing from his menu. “Tch… Asshole. But… I need to find Haruko.”

He turned to face the infinite void that remained of Entity Burst Online. Finding Haruko would be like searching through the entirety of the universe to find an exact replica of Earth. This was going to be a near-impossible task, but he had to do it. As soon as he took a step away from the terminal, Hunter collapsed to his knees, the soreness overwhelming his body.

“Dammit…” He forced himself to move, but found himself collapsing face-first into the ground. “No… I need to find her… I have to…”

When Haruko awoke, she saw her system menu already open, with the log-out button ready for her. Still, she was alone. The void and the Core are all that was left. The beacons of light had disappeared. Seems everyone had logged out besides her. Maybe Hunter had left too? Or maybe he was still here… She struggled to stand up, her muscles still somewhat fatigued from the running. “I need a trip to the hot springs when I get out of here…”

On her feet, Haruko began walking towards the core. Somehow, the distance between her and the Core had seemingly decreased. She was just a few meters from the Core’s base, or so she assumed. Trudging onward, Haruko swiped away the system menu, not ready to leave until she could confirm Hunter’s status. When she reached the base, she found Hunter collapsed on the ground, face to metal. She rushed to his side as fast as her tired body could move, kneeling beside him and flipping him over. “Hunter…? Hunter? Hunter?!”

“Con… tinue…” He smirked before opening his eyes slowly, though they would only open halfway from the extreme amount of tiredness he felt. “Hey, Haru-chan.”

“Oh, thank god…” She rested her head on his chest, holding back tears. “I was so worried about you.”

“Me too…” His arm ached as he pat her head gently, softly stroking her dark brown hair. “It’s all over now… We can go back home, in reality.”

“Why haven’t you logged out yet…?” She adjusted her head to look up at him, tear droplets gently running down her cheeks as she shifted her body to lie down beside him.

“Fucker put one last ‘fuck you’ in the system. His words, not mine. Can’t leave ‘til everyone else is logged out. Assuming everyone else is out, you’re all that’s left. Don’t know how long that nap was, but I hope to God everyone else is gone.”

“I see…” Nuzzling her head against his chest, Haruko sighed and looked down. “What do you want to do when we’re out?”

“Go out on an actual date with you. I’ll take you to this really great curry place by my house. After that… maybe start a cafe. I’ve always wanted to own a quaint little coffee bar, with my own regulars and everything. It’ll probably be hell to get it to work, but I’m sure we’ll manage.” Hunter continued to gently stroke her luscious hair, though his gloves prevented him from feeling the silkiness. “And a trip to the hot springs. Dear god, I need hot water to quench this aching…”

“Right?” She chuckled, closing her eyes and enjoying the moment. “Well… when we’re done with our rehab and physical therapy… I’ll be glad to have some curry with you.”

“Hey, how do you feel about pets?”

“Huh? Uh… I’ve never really thought about them… I’d like a dog or a cat, maybe…”

“Let’s adopt a cat at some point. Maybe a rabbit too… Yeah… A Holland Lop! Have you seen a Holland Lop before? They’re absolutely adorable! I’ll show you a video once we’re out.” Haruko couldn’t help but laugh at his comments before forcing herself to stand up in virtual reality for, hopefully, the last time.

“Yeah… Sure thing. I’ll log off now.” She brought up her system menu, finger hovering over the log off button. With a wink, she tapped the button, creating a beacon of light around her. “See you on the other side, hero.”

And that was the last Hunter saw of Haruko in virtual reality. Bringing up his own system menu, he saw two messages in his inbox. One was from the Nexus Theory team, the other from an unknown sender. Tapping the latter brought up a cryptic message, at least for those who don’t watch Tokusatsu.

'''You may have beaten Evolt. But now it’s time to face Killbus.'''

“Oh, fuck me…” He sighed before deleting that message and opening the one from Nexus. In it, he found a ZIP folder labeled “Project_Hazard_0.959α” and a message about a Tester Opportunity for their newest game… “Huh… alright. I’ll have to take a look at this later…”

He downloaded the folder directly to his Nexus-Gear headset to copy to his computer later before looking for the log-out button. Sure enough, the button was now available to him once more. “No more waiting, let’s get the hell out of this game. Arrivederci!”

September 9th, 2027

Just over one month has passed since the player-prisoners of Entity Burst Online were freed from their digital jail. The Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Telecommunications Bureau had collected a comprehensive report of the EBO Incident’s one-year tenure from all of the remaining players. Fortunately, the large majority of the players survived. Most players reported a total of 10 deaths, some reported 15. The worst-case scenario was assumed until the Bureau had gone to check all the hospitals that had EBO players admitted there for long-term care. The true fatality count of the incident was 13, and the Bureau published that as the official number of fatalities. All the survivors underwent acute psychiatric evaluation to test for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or any other mental health issues, and were assigned the proper treatments for any issues. Most had some minor PTSD, which led to the establishment of an EBO Therapy Group where survivors would meet weekly to discuss any minor issues in a closed, private group of individuals. Any players still in the educational system were transferred to the SAO Survivor School to receive the education they missed in their year of imprisonment.

Despite the negative press surrounding them, Nexus Theory continued with the development of their new game and platform. A competitor to the currently-popular Augma, their new Nexus-Drive device was designed specifically with gaming in mind, marketed with fully-supported, portable FullDive technology instead of the Augma’s FullDive tech being a hidden feature. Compatible with the Augma’s Ordinal Scale, the Nexus-Drive was also the platform for Nexus Theory’s brand new game: Hazard ReBurst. A unique hybrid of Virtual and Augmented Reality, combined with a Science-Fantasy story, Hazard ReBurst was marketed as a sequel to EBO. While the game is currently in its beta testing stage, it is set to release by the end of 2027 at the latest. Alpha and Beta Testers alike claim the game is bound to be an amazing follow-up to its VR prequel. A few game journalists were invited to a private testing event where they were allowed to play a brief demo of Hazard ReBurst. While they did praise the game’s well-thought out mechanics and interesting story, they were understandably nervous about playing the game due to the EBO Incident. Rest assured, data was taken from EBO and used to create an all-new security system. Of course, none of this could’ve been done without the help of a prodigy programmer simply codenamed “H” by the developer. People all over the internet were posting their theories on every popular internet forum.

“Who is the mysterious ‘H’ working with Nexus Theory?” was all across the internet. People believed it to be the hacker who had started the EBO Incident using their talents to make up for their crimes. Some thought it was just a brand new employee who had spent an extensive amount of time with EBO. Others believed it was an EBO Survivor who wanted to ensure that something like that never happened again, and learned to program as a means to that end. Perhaps it’s one of the higher-ups in Nexus Theory being extra careful about security measures after the incident. Some claimed it was Kirito working under a new pseudonym to help out.

Of course, Hunter Kasai found all of these theories amusing to no end as he sat in Nexus Theory’s offices. In the month following his heroics, he had chosen to remain anonymous in the official Incident Report. Instead of directly mentioning his real or display name, he was simply referred to as “Asset H,” which Nexus Theory proceeded to use as part of their marketing for Hazard ReBurst. Being an SAO Survivor, Hunter knew all the ups and downs of exiting a year-long tenure in a Virtual Reality prison, and knew everything he needed to make a speedy recovery. He had also met the company’s new major shareholder, Hokuto Kageyama. Hokuto was barely a year older than Hunter, but he was the one who had invested in Nexus Theory to produce Hazard ReBurst and its corresponding equipment. The developer had promoted Hunter to Senior Systems Administrator, and gave him major oversight concerning game security. He was being paid quite well for his work, and he had put some funds aside to start that cafe he wanted. As Hunter returned to his apartment, he found Haruko lying on the couch, still in her pajamas and watching some anime.

“Back home.” He removed his shoes in the doorway, sliding them aside as he put on his slippers and entered.

“Welcome back!” Haruko replied, grabbing her cane as she left the couch to greet her boyfriend. “How’s work?”

“The 2chan forums are hilarious to read. NT’s using me as part of some weird guerilla marketing thing, and people are theorizing who this mysterious ‘H’ is.” He pecked her lips before setting down his backpack. “How are you feeling?”

“Slowly getting my muscles back. I did a light workout earlier today, as recommended by the hospital. Was planning on going for a walk when you got home.” She hugged him tight, resting the cane against a nearby wall to use him as support. “I’m amazed you recovered so quickly.”

“Well, this isn’t my first rodeo.” He hugged back, kissing her forehead.

“We’ve barely known each other for a year, but I couldn’t be happier to be with you…”

“Love you too. You know, we could visit Hideo and Kyoka later. If you’re feeling up to it, of course.”

“Hm… I could use a little more exercise. And we should probably check to make sure they haven’t beat each other to death with their canes.” She left his embrace, returning to her cane for support as she shuffled to the bedroom to change.

“Yeah… Hey, remember that coffee shop I wanted to open?” Hunter followed her to the bedroom to change into a fresh set of clothes.

“Mhm. What about it?” She set aside her cane, lying down on the bed and carefully changing out of her pajamas into a pair of jeans and a white blouse with pale silver moon designs.

“I think we’ll be able to afford moving out of this apartment and into the shop I want by the end of the year. With the money NT’s paying me, plus some of the revenue from their new game, we should be able to move by… hopefully November.” He tossed his t-shirt into the dirty laundry basket, putting on a fresh red shirt before grabbing a black and red jacket from the closet.

“Really?” Haruko looked to him in surprise as she buttoned her blouse up. “You’d better check the leasing on that shop. I hope no one’s already claimed it.”

“Yeah… better make sure before the Kuroto Corporation steals it from me.” Hunter quickly brought out his phone to check the lease on his desired location. A homey little cafe area in Shibuya, though it is in a back-alley shopping area. “Perfect, the lease is still up for negotiation.”

“Good! Now then, H…” Haruko stood up, grabbing a black zip hoodie and her cane. “Shall we pay a visit to H and K?”

“Pfft. Honestly, those two do more damage to each other than an actual H&K weapon.” Hunter offered his arm to Haruko, who proceeded to lock elbows with him as they made their way to Hideo’s apartment.

Since Hunter’s only mode of transport was his motorcycle, Haruko had to sit behind him, holding him tight with her cane compacted and stored in his backpack as the engine of his Honda CBR1000RR roared through the streets of Tokyo. It wasn’t a very far ride, only 14 minutes within the speed limits. They did stop by a convenience store to buy some food, snacks, and drinks for the other couple before taking the elevator up to Hideo’s floor. Just as Hunter was about to knock, he heard something bang against the door from the inside. Taken aback, Hunter glanced to Haruko. She simply shrugged and knocked on the door anyway.

“One moment!” Hideo’s voice rang from right behind the door. They both heard some fumbling before the door unlocked, revealing Hideo in a pair of shorts and a white t-shirt. “Hey, you two! What’s up?”

“Just wanted to stop by for a little catching up. You alright there?” Hunter looked at him, noticing his hair was pretty ruffled.

“Y-yeah, yeah. I’m chillin’. C’mon in, Kyoka’s around here somewhere.” Hideo ushered the two in, offering some spare slippers for them as he used his own cane to move around.

“How’re you two recovering?” Hunter asked as he swapped his sneakers for the slippers, lending Haruko his arm as she switched from her street slippers to the home ones.

“Quite nicely, actually!” Hideo’s voice came from the kitchen as he grabbed a pitcher of tea from the fridge. “Tea, you two?”

“We brought some drinks and snacks with us. Figured you two would be hungry considering how late it is.” Haruko reached into Hunter’s backpack to grab her cane, extending it to her preferred length before stepping forward.

“Oh, sweet! Kyoka’s been in bed all day, so we haven’t really eaten. Thanks, you two! How’re you holding up, Haruko?” Hideo shuffled over to the two after returning the tea to the fridge.

“Doing fine. I’m scheduled for a check-up tomorrow. They’re gonna run a few tests to see how much longer I’ll need to recover. Last check-up, they said it’d be about another two or three weeks until I’m back to normal. You?” She grabbed the bento boxes from the bag, shuffling to the kitchen to heat them up in the microwave as Hunter helped her over, grabbing cups from the cupboard for the assortment of teas and soda he had brought.

“Well, I think I’ll need another month to fully recover. My legs cramp up every now and then, so I end up falling to the ground in pain, waiting for the cramp to end. Then I have to drag myself into the bathroom for a hot bath, but Kyoka’s already in there, so she’s splashing me with water.” Hideo sat down on the couch, massaging his calves with a sigh. “I might need one of those medicated patches to help out. Other than that, I’m fine actually. Kyoka’s a real sleeping beauty. Spends half the day in bed, about an hour or two in the bath, then the rest of the day watching TV and eating snacks.”

“So that thump earlier was just you cramping up?” Hunter brought the heated bentos over to the coffee table, setting one down on a placemat in front of Hideo with a cup.

“Yeah… It totally wasn’t me and Kyoka getting frisky. No, no… Nah…” He laughed nervously as he glanced to the side, checking the bathroom. “Yeah, she’s probably enjoying a hot bath right now.”

“Oooh, we should go to a hot springs, the four of us!” Haruko brought the remaining bentos over, sitting down on the couch beside Hideo. “I’ve been dying to go to a hot spring ever since I left the game.”

“Oh, totally! Bro, a trip to the hot springs sounds sooooooooo flippin’ good right now.” Hideo melted into the couch at the thought of it, sighing in relief as if he were in one at this moment. “Man… We really should plan a trip.”

“A trip to where?” Kyoka emerged from the bathroom, hair still damp from the bath. She was wearing a fairly large cyan t-shirt, though its border hid whether or not she was wearing any undergarments.

“The hot springs.” Haruko replied as she pat the spot between her and Hideo. “C’mon, let’s talk.”

“Thanks for the food!” Hideo broke the chopstick pair apart and dug into his bento, savoring the teriyaki chicken and rice as Hunter poured him a glass of barley tea.

“I would’ve worn something a little more appropriate if I’d know you two were coming over.” Kyoka tied her hair up in a ponytail before slipping in between Haruko and Hideo, splitting her chopsticks before digging in as well.

“Sorry for coming on such short notice.” Hunter knelt on the other side of the table, pouring both girls a glass of green tea before pouring himself a glass of cola. “How’re you doing, Kyoka?”

“I’ve been doing the stretches they told me to do. I’m looking into some gymnastics training for something to do, maybe recover faster. I think I have a check-up with the doctors tomorrow.” She followed her bite of rice and beef with a sip of tea.

“Oh, me too! What time?” Haruko sipped her tea.

“Around noon-ish. 12:30 probably.”

“Ah. Mine’s around 10:30.”

“So, Hunter… you messed around with Haruko in bed at all?” Hideo shot his friend a mischievous smirk, only for Kyoka to pull his cheek. “Ow ow ow…!”

“Bad boy.” She chastised him as if he were her pet dog. “Down.”

“Sorry…” Hideo rubbed his cheek after she let it go.

“I can neither confirm nor deny the allegations presented by my opponent.” Hunter spoke after swallowing a bite of Yakisoba. “All I can say is that the ‘mysterious H’ of Nexus Theory is trending on 2chan and 4chan, and their theories are hilarious to read. Someone said that the devs had made a hyper-advanced AI out of the EBO Incident, and that was what H was. Some funky stuff, man.”

“Pfft. An AI? What, was the EBO thing just a simulation to raise an AI advanced enough to protect the internet?” Hideo chuckled at the thought, waving his hand dismissively. “Please. That’s way too crazy, even with today’s tech.”

“You never know.” Haruko sipped the broth of her instant ramen. “For all we know, something that crazy could be in a testing stage right now. I wouldn’t hand-wave it just yet, Hideo.”

“C’mon now. An AI raised for security purposes? Really? What’s next, an AI meant for fighting wars in the place of a true soldier?” Hideo raised his eyebrows in belief before the realization struck him. “Actually, come to think of it… If we could develop that, we wouldn’t have to risk lives fighting wars… That’d be amazing, actually…”

“See? Not so crazy after all, huh?” Haruko took a bite of her ramen, being careful not to burn her tongue.

“It’s definite plausible. I just don’t know how’d you go about developing such an AI. A simulated reality might be the best bet, but the sheer amount of variables you have to control is… way too risky.” Hunter’s eyebrows narrowed as he continued to eat his yakisoba. “In any case, Hazard ReBurst is coming along nicely. I think you guys might like it. We’ve got mechs this time around!”

“Mechs? That certainly interesting…” Kyoka nodded in approval as she ate her beef bowl. “You think you can port our EBO data into the new game?”

“Oh, that’ll be a piece of cake. I designed and included an Avatar Conversion algorithm. It takes Avatar data from any game you want it to. ALO, GGO. Hell, maybe even SAO data if you can salvage it. There’s tons of little details I’ve hidden in the game for that little extra touch of goodness.” Hunter sipped his soda, a content smile on his face. “Beta testing this stuff was so much fun. God, I can’t wait ‘til this game goes public…”

“And you’re sure it can’t be hacked this time?” Hideo asked after a sip of tea.

“Well… For the most part, yes. I analyzed how Satoshi slipped into EBO and seized control of the VR Core, and I’ve programmed as many possible safeguards as I could think of to make sure that doesn’t happen. It’s been a bit of a pain to set up, since the servers are spread nation-wide. I’m gonna have to make a few trips around the entirety of Japan starting next week, so you’re all gonna have to make do without me. I’ll be gone for at least two months. If everything goes super smoothly, I should be back by the end of November. Expect me to be back sometime in the middle of December, realistically.”

“Business trips all across the country, huh? Look at you, mister fancy-pants.” Hideo chuckled softly as he ate. “Keep in touch with us, alright?”

“You’ve got my contact info. Shoot me a Line or two if you need it. Worst-case, I’ll try and video chat with you.” He smiled as he set his chopsticks down, yakisoba all gone.

“Don’t go cheating on Haruko now, Hunter~ If you do…” Kyoka put her chopsticks to her neck, dragging them horizontally as if cutting his head off. “I’ll find out…”

“Not a snowball’s chance in hell of that happening, trust me. I’m not as famous as Kirito. There’s a lot of reasons for my request to remain anonymous, and one of them is to not be recognized by the entirety of the world. Besides…” Hunter took another sip of soda. “I don’t think any girl out there can stand up to Haru-chan here.”

“J-jeez…” Haruko looked to the side, trying to hide the faint red dusting her cheeks. “I-I’ll be sure to message you a lot then!”

“And I’ll do my best to respond as soon as possible.” He smiled at her. A warm, loving smile. It only strengthened the blush burning across her face.

The four of them then spent the rest of the day hanging out. They talked, joked, discussed their plans for the hot springs, asked about Nexus Theory’s new game. It was just like their usual dinner inside of EBO. This time… they had their real bodies. They had real food. Real drinks. Real furniture. No more digital boundaries holding them prisoner. Just the sweet freedom of flesh and blood resting against the polished wood floor, or the soft, inviting couch cushions. The beauty of real food with real flavor, not some digitally-simulated foodstuff imitation. The crisp, refreshing bite of a real, carbonated soda instead of simulated bubbling liquid. The smooth, subtle bitterness of real tea in lieu of a digitized replacement. Breathing in real, fresh air. Enjoying the scent of the food in front of them. Virtual Reality has its own breath-taking aspects. It could mimic almost everything the real world could offer, given the right amount of data and programming. But it could never fully copy reality. The logical, unfeeling streams of code could mimic a warm meal with friends, but it could never copy the dinner-side conversations of the people present, the slow cooling of the food as they discuss the latest trends on social media, or the latest episode of a show everyone watches.

As the sun set and the moon rose, Hunter and Haruko prepared to head home. The quartet hugged each other, wished one another a speedy recovery, and then split off into two pairs. Hideo and Kyoka remained, both of them curled up together on the couch watching the news, embracing each other’s warmth. Haruko and Hunter left, speeding through the streets of Tokyo with the cool night wind rushing past their helmeted faces. In three days, Hunter would depart on a nation-wide business trip, touring Japan as he continued the development of Hazard ReBurst. Servers were to be installed in all major cities, and they all had to work fluidly no matter the range. Calibrating, testing, and programming was to be done, and Hunter would be heading all of this. Haruko, Hideo, and Kyoka would be back to full health soon, so long as they maintained their physical therapy. But right now… Hunter and Haruko would return home to sleep, cuddled together. For the first time in a long time, Hunter was able to get a good night’s rest, with the warmth of someone else’s love to comfort him. Hideo and Kyoka would eventually return to the bedroom to sleep on their bed, a brief argument bringing them closer together as they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

For now, they could rest peacefully. For now, no major threat loomed over them. No self-proclaimed god to haunt their every waking moment. No sniper to threaten their lives. No thief to steal the treasures they’ve finally found. Just… love and peace.

The End… For Now