“Why me? How can I do this?” Alex asked.
The Oracle said, “Your signature is still in their system. If you enter it, it will not see it as an anomaly. Somehow, you crafted a pocket of your own reality within their dreamworld.”
Nova asked, “What do you mean?”
The Oracle smiled at Alex. “When they pulled you into their simulation, your powerful thoughts of your wife and your desired life with her forced a strange anomalous code into their program. The simulation generated that home and the wife within it. That anchored you against their controlling program. Every time you went there, your connection to the network was weaker. This is why you were not entirely in their system and how you got out without death.”
“I created that,” Alex said, finally understanding it. “That home was the home I always imagined living in with my wife if we had a peaceful, simple life. She never left it. At first, I assumed she was going off and doing her own work. We often spent day time apart at our jobs. But, now that I think about it, she never left that home. She was always there. It was there, at that house, that I would dream of reality, though I couldn’t make any sense of the odd imagery. Thoughts and ideas would come to mind. I would see things that weren’t right.”
“Your disconnection is precisely what gave us the power to sever their link. They were tapping your brain, like everyone else, to create this algorithm. You, unwittingly, created a new code in their system using their own language. That is the power to break free. We are using that to provide the safe return of all inside. However, there is one element.”
Alex understood. “The person inside has to believe they are in a false reality for the program to work.”
“You understand. The code you created requires the person to accept the truth. Right now, everyone inside that program is blissfully connected and will die. You are their only hope.”
“That’s a lot of pressure,” Alex said.
Nova put a firm hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You’re a great hero. I believe in you.”
Alex took a deep breath and then looked back at The Oracle, “How will we do this?”
The Oracle held out a hand at a pair of Ren Wear attached to their computers. “These were modified for this. They will connect you to the simulation, but will not bond you to it. Do not worry, we will monitor you thoroughly while you are in there.”
“What’s the plan?” Alex asked.
The Oracle said, “I will leave tactics up to Director Nova. However, I warn you, you must be decisive and clever, as anyone remaining in the system is at risk the instant our enemy suspects failure. Once they have broken free, I, the Avatar of Tech, will grant them great strength within that program to use against your enemy. You have two advantages within that simulation. First, time moves much faster within the simulation. You will have time to execute a plan. Second, the simulation is the most complex program I have ever experienced. It acts and feels just like reality, so much so that even they cannot alter it without harming their own program. That world will act real to you, the computers, the powers you have. Everything will work like reality. This is why it is so convincingly real to those within it, but also can be an advantage to you.”
Nova said, “Convince Justin. Let him help you convince the others. Be secret and let them know they must act normal until a time in which you can convince the world?”
“How do I convince an entire world?” Alex asked.
With a little smile, Nova said, “That, you will have to figure out when you are in there. If you have Justin and Chase to help, you will have clever minds behind you.”
“Won’t the system recognize that I am not supposed to be there?”
The Oracle said, “No. It cannot understand the loss of anyone. When you return, it will be like a drop of water returning to the ocean. Only Gamer G will know you shouldn’t be there. Keep away from him.”
Nova said, “Wake the people up, get them to accept reality. Then, take Gamer G down.”
“How?”
“In any way you can.”
Alex took in a deep breath and said, “Alright, let’s do this. I have a world to save.”
They led Alex to a room with a special chair set up for him. An apparatus surrounded most of the chair like a giant, technological claw. A single arm held a pair of ren wear that had a dozen cables running to it.
One student walked him over to the chair and checked some devices while powering on a monitor. “I’ll be right here, monitoring you. If for some unknown reason they try to absorb you into the program, we can pull you out.”
Alex said, “No.”
“But...”
“I will succeed or die. I refuse to wake up without knowing I have saved my baby. No matter what is happening to me, do nothing to end my work in there.”
“I... uh... but Dr. Hermes said...”
The voice of The Oracle rang around them, “Do has he says. It is his life to risk.”
Alex sat in the chair and took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
Nova stood next to him as they prepared the modified Ren Wear. “I wish I could do more to help.”
“I know. I wish I wasn’t alone in this.”
“You won’t be for long. Convince Justin he’ll help you fight this. We’ll keep the world alive for as long as we can out here.”
The student pulled down the Ren Wear arm toward Alex like a dentist arranging the light. “Attaching in three, two....”
“Alex?” Krystal came into the room and gave him a great hug.
He held her, unmitigated pain in his heart burned, knowing she wasn’t his real wife. “Oh, god, if only you were real.”
“I’m as real as you want me to be.” She whispered.
He parted from her and looked at her beautiful face. “Krystal... This... all of this... isn’t real.”
“I know. I have always known.”
This shook him deeply. “If you knew, why didn’t you say something?”
“I couldn’t. It isn’t what you wanted to hear. I’m a part of you that you cleave to, so to protect yourself from a misery that burns in your soul.”
“How did I create you in this place?”
She smiled. “Ask a leaf to describe why the tree was planted in a field instead of a forest? I woke here one day and found paradise. That is all I know.”
Alex asked her, “Are you… my wife?”
She smiled with a soft laugh in her chest, “I am and I am not. I don’t know where I came from. I am not of this place. But, I am attached to it. There is a deep love in me for you and our baby. That I know for certain.”
“Can you help me? I need to convince Justin and the others that this is fake. I need to...”
She held his arm. “I cannot leave this place, this home. It is part of the dream you created. You will have to do this on your own. I know you can.”
He let out a soft sigh. “I figured that would be the answer. You never could leave this place. I am on my own, for now.”
“Then go and save everyone.”
“First,” He walked by her, “I must see my baby. Even in this dream, I need to see her.”
They walked into the bedroom and found the crib where their child slept. Alex looked at her for a long time. “I’m doing this for you.”
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