Young elementary students black blazers, red pants and mini skirts were walking about in the hall, some chatting with their parents and others with their friends. They all had a yellow flower wrapped in a yellow bow tie attached in their left breast pockets.

A child, around twelve years of age with black hair and blue eyes walked around the hallway, glancing from left to right. His stomach churned as he looked around. “He’s not here…” he muttered impatiently.

“Who’re you looking for?”

Lazarus turned and looked behind. There, a young man stood with a wide grin, a scar on his face and spiky blue hair and purple eyes, wearing the same school uniform.

“Oh Smith… I was just looking for my dad.”

The blue haired boy’s eyes widened. “Again?”

Lazarus sighed. “Yeah…”

Hurried footsteps could be heard behind them, then it stopped.

“Hey! What’re you two doing? Everyone is already heading to the auditorium.”

The two looked to the white haired girl who just approached them, and seeing her furrowed brows with hands on her hips, the two sighed.

“H-hey! What’s with that reaction!”

“Ah, the first honor. Why have you graced us with your prese–Youch!!” Smith rubbed his shoulder that the white haired girl just pinched.

“If you have a problem with honor students, then why’re you fine with Lazarus! He is the second honor mind you!”

Smith looked at Lazarus, then snickered. “Well, he’s my best bud. And well, you’re a girl… so–”

“Smith, stop teasing Sena.” Lazarus walked between the two, making Sena huff in annoyance, mad that she couldn’t plant her fist in Smith’s smug snicker. Sena pursed her lips and looked away with a ‘Hmph!’ and Smith dismissively shook his head with a smile.

“All students please proceed to the auditorium. I repeat, all students please proceed to the Auditorium.” A voice sternly said from the speaker mounted on the wall.

“We have to go.” Said Sena. Lazarus sagged his shoulder but nodded. Seeing his dejected look, she gently placed a hand on his shoulder and said. “Don’t worry. Mister Rex will make it. I’m sure.”

“Hands-off MY best bud.” Smith said, swiping Sena’s hand off.

“Hey!”

“Stop it you two. Let’s just go. The graduation ceremony will start soon.”

______________________

Seated on the chairs facing the stage, Lazarus kept on looking around. He glanced back to Sena who was giving a speech on the stage saying ‘for this is our alma mater. We–’ Lazarus tore his gaze from the stage and looked to his left, then right… he continued to look around. Rex wasn’t anywhere to be found.

After Sena’s speech the students were supposed to go to the stage after their names were called. First up was the first honor, Sena. And next to that is…

Lazarus' stomach hurt. He desperately looked around, hoping that his father would be here already. Unfortunately, all he could see were the parents of every single student except himself.

“Lazarus Hargreave.” His name echoed from the speakers.

Lazarus’ stomach dropped to his knees. He stood-up, as slowly as he could. Then walked to the red carpet as if lead were stuck to his shoes. Looking around as he went. Still nothing, he could even see Sena looking around anxiously from her seat, Smith too.

Lazarus sighed and resigned himself, feeling a murky sensation in his chest. He ascended the stairs to the stage and walked to the center of the stage. The clicking and flashing of the cameras swallowed his vision and he could barely see people around. Then he lowered his head and gave a bow to everyone. He lifted his head-up and–

There, a man with unkempt black hair in a white lab coat stood by the entrance to the auditorium covered in sweat, panting. The murky sensation Lazarus felt was washed away, replaced by a warm pleasant relief. He let out a sigh and smiled.

The scientist smiled ruefully and mouthed ‘I’m sorry I’m late.’

Then the people clapped and Rex joined in on them and mouthed ‘You did it.’ which Lazarus just nodded to with a smile before he went to the principal and shook his hand before going down the stage and seating himself back to his seat.

After the ceremony, Lazarus stood from his seat and ran to the man in a lab coat who greeted him with a smile.

“Congratulations on your graduation.”

“Thanks Dad!”

“Oh, they’re here.” Rex said, looking past Lazarus who frowned and looked behind him. A boy with a scar on his face and a silver haired girl ran up to him. Confused, Lazarus raised a brow. Sena suddenly grabbed his left arm, making Lazarus freeze-up and Smith stood to his right.

“Smile!” A photographer knelt in-front of him and pressed the button on his DSLR.

—------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hmph…” A man around nineteen years of age snickered. His toned body could be seen from the fitting white shirt he wore. His black hair and blue eyes resembled the child frowning in the photo together with a silver haired girl, a blue haired boy with a scar on his cheek and behind all the young kids was the scientist in lab coat smiling.

“Can’t believe it’s been this long already…” Muttered the man as he touched the corners of the album and turned a page with a snicker.

“Typical dad. How the hell can you be late for your son’s graduation when you’re just working virtually?” Yeah, it might’ve only been an elementary graduation but still…”

Rex could have bypassed some things to be there, but when Lazarus asked this of Rex sometime later when he finally learned that Rex could bend the rules in this virtual reality, Rex only replied ‘Then it wouldn’t be realistic! So we have to stick to the rules.’

It did make sense, but bending the rules a little wasn’t so bad when done every now and then right? Plus, Rex was just a convenience store worker and had minimum wage.

The now young-adult Lazarus, flipped the pages on the picture book and kept on flipping, then stopped.

It was the picture of him standing in the center of a now young-adult Sena whose body had the natural curves of a woman and Smith who had become a bit muscular. Sena was forcing a smile and Lazarus himself was looking away with a sour expression in the picture and Smith was awkwardly smiling.

A dark sensation filled Lazarus' chest gazing at the picture. He sighed and turned the page.

“Wasn’t this taken when I found out that-...they’re just A.I’s too?” Lazarus muttered and closed his eyes.

A scenery on top of a school, with the sun gleaming a faint orange hue made a bitter smile appear on his face.

A girl with the natural curves of a growing woman stood there. She had silver white hair that flowed down to her wide hips and rose colored eyes. She wore a black blazer with the school emblem on her left chest area and a red mini-skirt, revealing long thighs with just the right amount of fat that would entice any man.

The woman, a young-adult Sena, had crystal clear liquid flowing down her cheeks from the corner of her eye but the expression she wore wasn’t that of sadness. Her fist was clenched tightly, her brows almost meeting with each other as she continued to yell at Lazarus whose eyes were hidden beneath his bangs as he looked to the ground, biting his lips.

The young-adult woman’s bowtie in her uniform was somewhat undone, her skirt flailing violently from side to side as she made a wide sweeping motion with her right arm, still continuing to yell at the young-adult Lazarus who had a shadow looming over his eyes.

Then she stomped forward, clenching both of her fists. Then she stopped, her expression turned to shock. The young man opened his mouth slightly, muttering a few inaudible words. But just from hearing these very few words, the girl’s eyes gleamed before more tears came trickling down her cheeks. She covered her mouth in an attempt to suppress the sobbing.

The young man finally looked into the eyes of the silver haired girl, gently shaking his head. Then he walked past the beautiful white haired girl, and at that moment, she fell to her knees, having lost all hope.

The young man bit his lip upon hearing the girl drop to her knees, yet he didn’t look back.

The scenery that was played almost like a silent movie, slowly faded into a pure cotton white.

Lazarus shook his head. It really didn’t really do him any good just remembering that.

“And they said high school was supposed to be fun.” Remarked Lazarus sarcastically gazing at the photo in the album.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Lazarus looked up, and a man with a lab coat with unkempt brown hair stood across him with a snicker. Lazarus smiled. “You’re always late dad. Still, I think this is the first time I didn’t see you sweating from running too much.” Lazarus' eyes narrowed accusingly. “Took your sweet time, didn’t you?”

“N-no.. I was actually preparing a lot of things!” Said Rex defensively, but after having a stare down with Lazarus he looked away, basically admitting that he probably forgot as usual. A wooden chair appeared out of thin air and Rex sat himself down with a wave of his hand. “Bah! Who cares, anyway…” he trailed off when he noticed the picture book.

Lazarus promptly closed it and said, “You said you had something important to tell me?”

Rex’ eyes widened, then he looked away prompting Lazarus to raise a brow. The scientist sighed and looked at Lazarus. “Say, how would you say your life has been?”

“What? Where did that come from?”

“I mean, how was it here, on earth…” Rex clarified. “I know it’s only through virtual reality but you’ve spent quite a long time in VR already. And, it’s already been 9 years in the real world.”

“Oh…” Muttered Lazarus upon realization. He smiled. “It was the best.”

“Even after finding out that everyone was an A.I except me?”

Lazarus nodded.

“Even after the experience you had in the military?”

Lazarus closed his eyes. The spit of the drill sergeant flying to his face was indeed a sight to remember. There he was taught hand-to-hand combat, using 20th century weapons, 30th century ones as well as 40th century weapons.

Without those skills then….

Lazarus snickered, still keeping his eyes closed. “Without that, I wouldn’t have been able to hunt down those moon wolves that turned me into lunch.”

He used to have nightmares because of them. He even shook when he first faced them.

Then one of the wolves lunged at him. Lazarus felt adrenaline shoot through his veins and– he frowned. The wolf was mid air, yet it was slow.It was as if time crawled to a slow.

Lazarus casually stepped to the side. He even had enough time to contemplate what to do and when he saw how open the neck was as the wolf flew passed him, before it could land to the ground, a fire lit in Lazarus chest and he spun, grabbed it’s neck and slammed it to the ground.

The earth shook. The wolf whimpered but Lazarus immediately followed-up with an axe-kick once more to its neck. Lazarus felt the bones crackle beneath his military boots. The wolf twitched violently from having its neck broken and then it relaxed.

A mint-like sensation flowed to every corner of his body. He felt refreshed. The other wolves surrounded him slowly, and were giving him a growl. Yet, all Lazarus could do was grin from ear to ear as he looked at them and said,

“Who’s next?”

That sensation…

To have overcome his fears…

It was truly unlike anything he ever felt.

Lazarus opened his eyes and looked at Rex who gulped. “It might’ve been hard. I’ve thought of quitting multiple times but-..it was worth it. I settled the score with those bastards.”

Rex stared at Lazarus with widened eyes. “Really..?” he asked softly. Lazarus gave him a quick nod. Rex's shoulders relaxed and covered his eyes with his hands.

“Seriously…all this time I thought…”

“Hey, stop being so dramatic. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.” Lazarus rested his chin on the heel of his palm. He was starting to wonder why Rex was getting sentimental. “Besides, I’ve only been to Japan, US, and a few other countries fully. I still haven’t seen what Canada looked like in the 40th century.”

Rex quickly wiped the tear in his hand as if he never shed a tear and sighed. Ignoring Lazarus' question he said, “Don’t you wanna know why I made you learn all the martial arts of the world? Not only that, I even had you learn to wield many different weapons besides guns… Swords, axes, knives and other…Why do you think that is?”

“Coz you’re a nutjob?” Said Lazarus a matter of factly. Rex seized-up,

“H-hey! Calling your own father a nutjob is disrespectful! I never–”

“What about the time you found a credit card and used it to buy expensive watches?”

“It was their fault for not securing their card in the first place! You snooze, you lose!”

“Wasn’t that the reason you got jailed and I had to work part time so I could eat?”

“T-that was…”

“What about the time you tried peeking under a girl’s skirt on the escalator and whispered to me that-that place is the place every man belongs to?”

“H-her ass was so big and-..” Rex made a circular grabbing gesture as he continued. “Wait, even you thought so didn’t you!?” Rex angrily retorted.

“But I was only nine. And didn’t the woman notice because you literally ducked down and everyone could see what you were up to? Ah-..I just remembered getting interrogated by the police and CPS was called because they almost deemed you unfit to be a parent… Fun times.” Said Lazarus in a sarcastic tone making Rex sweat profusely.

“I’m sorry.”

“You should be.”

….

“Okay.. I admit, I am a little shot in the head but–”

“A little?” Lazarus interrupted. Narrowing his eyes at Rex who cowered.

“O-okay…Maybe just a middle…”

“The hell is a middle?”

“You know. Little, middle, biggle.”

“It’s small, medium and big! See!? This is exactly what’s wrong with you!”

Rex coughed a couple of times. “We’re getting off topic.”

“Because of you! And why’re you changing the subject!?”

“The truth is..”

“Hey!”

The two argued for a while but eventually calmed down after materializing a cup of tea.

Rex sighed. “This is exactly the problem with Virtual reality. I know you’ve already spent a full 100 years there learning, but physically you’re still a nineteen year old. You haven’t matured at all.”

”That’s not true.” Lazarus quickly denied it.

“Really?” Rex challenged, “Then why’re you sarcastic and cynical most of the time?”

Lazarus lips formed a thin line. He had tons of reasons. After finding out everyone was just an A.I and before that, didn’t he used to belong to a family here in Valeria? It was quite a long time ago so Lazarus wasn’t sure but it might’ve contributed to it.

“I turned out this way because of you.”

“Haa-.. It’s already been proven that people who live a long time in VR don’t really mature since their brains aren’t fully developed. But I think you’re more mature than most teens your age since experience does add some maturity to you…”

Lazarus sighed. “So you called me out here to lecture me?”

“No.” Said Rex with a shake of his head. Then he cleared his throat. “So-.. back to the topic. Know why I had you learn a lot of things?”

“To help me survive?”

“Exactly.” Said Rex after putting down the tea cup.

“Why though? It’s not like I plan on going anywhere outside of the forest.”

“You have to.”

Lazarus frowned, studying Rex’s expression. Yet the scientist’s look never changed.

The atmosphere in the room seemed to still. Lazarus’ heart started to beat faster and he could feel a pit in his stomach.

“Why do I have to..?” Lazarus asked slowly.

“I need you to build a tower. A comms tower to be specific.”

“Why..?”

“So I can get to Valeria.”

Lazarus’ felt a surge of excitement in his body.. “Are you coming to pick me up..?” he asked in disbelief. Was it finally time?

“I am. So I want you to learn about your world, explore and then build the comms tower after you get all the materials that you need.”

“Alright!” Lazarus said with a clench of his fist and looked at Rex with resolve.

“And also…” Rex seemed to hesitate, making Lazarus furrow his brows. He knew Rex long enough to know that whenever he did this–

“Dad. Is there something you’re not telling me..?”

“I’ve downloaded FS into your neural chip across these years and by the way. Because of the heavy modification of the nanites in your body, your DNA is not exactly the same as it was before so…”

“Why’re you saying this in a hurry? That doesn’t exactly answer my question…”

Rex didn’t answer and continued his rapid talk. “Y-you also need to know that the nanites modified your DNA to remove the harmful and disease carrying sequences so uhhmm-..”

“Dad, slow down… I already know we can’t die of old age.” At this point Lazarus was getting worried.

“There’s also a super massive black hole that will completely cut the quantum entanglement.”

Lazarus went numb. He just stared at Rex and noticed his father’s hands were shaking.

Was this a joke?

If it was, it wasn’t funny.

But he never saw his father act this way which made it seem so real.

Rex looked down. “I’m sorry… but FS will be helping you with everything you need and even right now he is installing some software I think you might need. And also, I’ll be using all the fixer bots I’ve repaired slowly throughout the years to repair the enterprise battle cruiser so I’ll probably take 3-5 years. By then, I need the comms tower ready and–”

“Are you serious..?” Lazarus asked softly, clenched his fist beneath the table.

“I-..I’m sorry…”

“Why now..? Why didn’t you tell me sooner..?”

Rex could only lower his head.

It frustrated Lazarus, but he needed to know–

“How long till the black hole cuts the communication?”

“In 10 seconds.”

Lazarus felt adrenaline shoot through his veins as he abruptly stood up, making the chair fall hard as he shouted, “What!?”

Rex's chest went up and down rapidly. Tears formed in the corner of his eyes as he hurriedly said, “I-I was never good with goodbyes and-..and saying goodbye to my only son i-is kinda hard…I’m s-sorry I waited till the last moments but I-..” Rex shook his head and finally met the desperate Lazarus gaze. “Goodbye so–”

“No!! Dad!” Lazarus tried to reach for him but Rex vanished as if the channels in the T.V were switched. It was abrupt and nothing like the movies where people slowly died and could still say their last words. His only family just… disappeared.

Lazarus’ outstretched hands could only grasp at the empty air. He looked at his hands. Then to the empty chair across him.

“T-this isn’t funny…Hey, if this is a prank, stop it!” Lazarus said loudly, but his voice merely echoed in the white room. He quickly swiped down with his hand and a small screen with the title [Players] showed, and there only one player could be seen with a green dot, and it was his name ‘Lazarus Hargreave’. Beneath his name was ‘Rex Hargeave’ and it had a gray dot beside it.

Lazarus plopped down in the chair. His entire body felt numb. Slowly, he reached for the picture book and turned the binder cover. There, a picture of a small child with black hair and blue eyes was being carried by a man in a lab coat. In the background was a ferris wheel.

Wasn’t this the time he first went to an amusement park?

“H-huh..?” Lazarus noticed water dripping on the picture. Good thing it was behind a plastic so it didn’t get wet. He wiped it, but more came trickling down. Was the roof leaking? Lazarus angrily looked-up only to see a white wall.

He touched his face. It was wet.

“Raaarrrgghh!” Lazarus screamed, raising both of his hands and bashing them down to the table. He felt his bones ripple, and yet he kept on raising both of his hands and bashing down repeatedly.

It hurt..

It hurt a lot…

But not as much as the pain in his chest.

It felt like a part of him was forcefully torn out… as if his heart was ripped into pieces.

For a good while, the young-adult turned into a sobbing little child, angrily punching whatever he could, sometimes curling to a ball and letting his tears flow down.

“Y-you damn idiot of a father!! Why the hell didn’t you tell me sooner!? Gaarrgghh!” Lazarus raised his bruised fist again and slammed down at the table.

*Bam*-*Bam*-*Bam*-*Bam*

“Huff-...huff-...Hic*” Lazarus clenched his teeth. His arms felt numb yet the sensation was calming to a degree. At the very least, he couldn’t focus too much on the pain in his chest. Still–

It was unfair.

The only man who accepted him was gone now.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------