Chapter 427

After spending time with Alex and Fel, artfully dodging the topic of playing DCO together, James took his leave and left the hospital. Fel stuck around to spend more time with her boyfriend, but did send James a message, saying if something came up that he needed any advice on, he could contact her. Obviously, with Dagger at his side, there wasn’t much worry about him being in danger. But Fel had her experiences and training, meaning she could still advise him on situations, if he was uncertain. Granted, she had, more than subtly added in the fact that he’d had a track record of not listening to her advice, which had continually caused more problems. James figured she was still salty about the Hades situation. Sure, he’d fled her apartment to give her a fighting chance, but still, she wasn’t happy he’d done so without even consulting her.

All that aside, James had sent her a thanks, and a promise he would reach out to her if he had any questions. As James rode the train back towards his home, he couldn’t help but smile as he played through those encounters. Initially, when he started playing DCO, the NDA had felt so, restrictive. Now though, he was slowly building a group around him with whom he could discuss his fate, his concerns, and his existence inside of DCO. Something, he realized, that was extremely important. Secrets only felt isolating, it would seem, if you didn’t have others to share the secrets with.

Once he got to his stop near his home, James and Dagger took their time walking back to his house. The weather was nice, a crisp breeze in the air, likely courtesy of the massive mountain range to the west of his city. While the world had experienced a massive heatwave during the 2020s and 2030s, efforts had been put in place to aid in cooling the world. By 2040, temperatures had begun to stabilize, and now, in the 2050s, it was almost always pleasant to be outside. Once, out of curiosity, he’d tried a simulator that was supposed to recreate what it felt like to live in the 2020s. Once, was all he needed, to have a large amount of sympathy for his parents, and all those who struggled through those times.

James pushed the memories of excessive temperatures from his mind as he stepped inside his home. His heart rate increased, for just a moment, as he looked around, quickly scanning for intruders. Even with Dagger at his side, the traumatic events of the past few days still lingered, and he couldn’t help but feel the paranoia of worrying about abductors, would remain with him for a long while. There was also, at the back of his mind, still the concern regarding the mysterious mass in his head. That latter bit, hopefully, he would have additional answers on soon. Till then, there wasn’t much else to do, except for enjoying his day off.

James plopped himself onto the couch, chasing memories of R and the beaten, would-be abductor, from his mind as he grabbed the book Z had leant him. He flipped to his bookmarked page, and began reading, losing himself to the story within moments, letting his mind drift to the fanciful, magical world Feist was creating for him. As great as immersion was, James couldn’t help but feel, reading a good book, was just as, if not more, therapeutic.

As he sat and read, Dagger took up a spot on the couch beside him, and rested his head, very dog like, on James’s lap. It felt so natural, that James actually began absentmindedly scratching Dagger’s furry ears as he read, losing himself to the simple, stress free moment in time. Honestly, to him, this was nearly a perfect way to spend his day. The only thing missing, truly, was a companion. Even in such a peaceful moment, James wished for Rue to be there. Sure, reading was a bit of a solo event, but just knowing she was present with him, even if she were reading her own book, or playing a game, would have been nice. These times, outside of immersion, made it feel like they were worlds apart, and he hated it. He also hated, even more, that to her, it was a much longer time away, than it was for him. If his 15 hours awake felt like a lifetime, he could only imagine how the 15 days felt to her.

James sighed and flipped the page, continuing to read and trying to push his mind back to the story. At least for Rue, she could force sleep if she wanted to, to make time pass quicker. James could try to take a nap, sure, but it wasn’t instant, and it wasn’t nearly as efficient as force sleep in immersion. Furthermore, he had a reason for staying up. There were things he had to do, in the real world, before his next immersion. The most important bit coming later this afternoon. It would be, in theory, the first of his ideas put into motion, to try and discern what was in his head. Hopefully, this was also the last idea he’d have to rely on, because plan two, seemed like a much, much more terrible plan than the first one. Especially considering how he felt about the mysterious entity known only as Hades to him. If he could avoid dealing with that individual, he would.

He paused as a thought drifted through his mind, regarding Hades. The hacker had made him drink a strange concoction prior to his abduction, and assured him what was contained within, would be undetectable by Cyb3Ru5. Considering James had been placed in a medical pod and scanned by the hackers, he could only wonder if it were Hades technology, or the remnants of it, lingering in the back of his mind, masking their presence by appearing simply as a vacant spot. That thought, definitely, was a viable one, though as much as Hades disturbed James, he didn’t seem the type to straight up lie. Hades had given James his word that the nanites would be flushed form his body within 24 hours of the event. Meaning, in theory, they should be practically gone from his system now, and not balled up in the back of his mind.

It was still a chance though, and that’s why he was waiting for school to get out. Waiting, for Zach to finish up his daily tasks, and pay James a visit. The kindhearted school nurse had already offered to swing by, and James had gladly accepted. He was nearing the end of the book Z had left him, anyways, and was hoping to grab the next one from the man. Additionally, considering what the doctor had said about Z, James figured it was possible the man might have an idea of what was going on. So, James had asked the doctor to forward Z a copy of the data, on behalf of James. Normally, that was probably not something the doctor would so willingly do. However, because of Z’s status as a medical individual, even if it was a school nurse, and his past status as a medical pioneer, the doctor had agreed.

James had sent Z a message, telling him roughly what was going on, and asking him to look over scans, to see if he could discern what was in James’s mind, and if James should be worried. Above all else, he wasn’t so much looking to know exactly what it was, but just confirm, without a doubt, it wasn’t something to be worried about. Hopefully, the charismatic leader of The Knight’s Who Go Ni, who always seemed able to handle situations with a smile and reassure those around him, could work his magic, once more, and help James out. If not, there was at least, a silver lining. Z was going to bring him more Ice Cream.