Few minutes later.
They entered a room with one of its chameleon glass walls adjusted transparent, revealing the view outside the building; while two of its opposite walls are adjusted milky white—opaque; and the last one, the one where the door they came in from is part of, also transparent, revealing the dimly lit wide corridor outside.
Yami with Skylar's left hand held under her arm, dragged him forward—going past a shrub tree with red glowing leaves, a white stool levitating close-contact on the chameleon glass floor that is displaying different colorful galaxies, and lastly the corner of a white canopy bed covered in white—and they stopped near a golden table with intricate patterns and a swivel chair in front of it.
"Sit here." After releasing Skylar's arm, Yami drew the swivel chair for him, patting it. "I will be back shortly, I want to get something."
She turned around, and as Skylar too turned around, trying to say something, he realized she is no longer there, surprising him only momentarily, before he clicked his tongue.
She is as dangerous as ever...
Setting his thought aside, Skylar leaned his back on the chair back rest, and turn his focus inward—into his mind—activating his player interface.
Let's see what have changed...
[SECOND UPGRADE: COMPLETED]
[>Notification Function Updated<]
[>Messaging Function Updated<]
[>Time Function Updated<]
[>Map Upgraded<]
[>Profile Page Updated<]
[>Tower Navigation System Installed<]
[THIRD UPGRADE: COMPLETED]
[>Notification Function Updated<]
[>Messaging Function Updated<]
[>Identification Tag Function Installed<]
[OLD NOTIFICATIONS]
Why two upgrade at the same time? I need to ask someone...
Skylar's eyes refocused and skimmed downwards.
Notification, messaging, time, map... all updated... Its just like she said, and Its just this two things that are new additions... ID Tag and Tower navigation system...
I am not interested in the tag one, so only the navigation system is the big change...
The rest?...
Skylar will-clicked on the last glowing menu.
[>You have 252045 Messages From Collaborator Helen<]
He clicked his tongue.
This many massage, don't she have work?
Also, on his face, a mild expression of displeasure and amusement appeared briefly. Then he proceeded, scrolling up with a thought.
[>Second And Third Update Completed<]
[>Contracted Pet License Granted<]
[>You Have Exceeded The Speed Limit X9; Fine Deducted: 12290 Gold<]
[>Your Pet Have Exceeded The Speed Limit X9; Fine Deducted: 12290 Gold<]
Yes... I need to tell Goldie about the speed limit... But I have to ask Yami about the sky layers first...
He took a mental note, then he scrolled upward with a thought, reading the rest of the notifications.
[>Daily Tax Deducted x3: 76451 Gold<]
[>You have been reported x101765]
[>To Fill In Your Identification Tag Details and activate it, Please Visit The Star Tower<]
Hmm... My daily tax is kind of ridiculous, what is this tax thing really about?...
Pausing his conscious thought and switching to his subconscious, Skylar leaned his back away from the chair backrest, and the player interface displayed in his mind like an hologram—in front of him and only visible to him—move along with him, positioning for him to see it well.
After a few seconds passed that he did not get anything from his subconscious, he leaned back and refocused on the floating player interface in front of him that moved along with him—positioning for him to see it well—as usual.
Who has been reporting me? And for What?
Skylar's eyes on one of the notification that mentioned report, narrowed after reading it. Meanwhile, Yami that appeared from nowhere, come from behind him, and placed on the table, a black glass box, and close to him on the table, a glyph tablet.
"Sky, I brought food for you. Hana said you didn't eat much in the morning?"
"Yes, that's true, I didn't have the appetite... I drank too much milk from her..."
Skylar replied Yami—who is now dressed in a flattering black thin-straps nightgown with lace trimmings in the neckline and hem, and that ends just below her thigh—watching her as she opened the box and starts unpacking it contents which are containers probably holding foods, and plates.
Looking away, he tapped the G tablet screen, and picking it up, he starts looking at the menu icons displayed on it.
"Yami, what's that lower sky thing? I want to tell Goldie about the speed limit at the lower sky level." Skylar glanced at Yami.
Responding to him, Yami paused what she is doing, which is serving him spicy meat chops and greens. Then she leaned closer to him and tapped on the glass tablet a few times—navigating it—making it display something new for him to see.
[*Sky layers*]
[Lower Sky: Ground level – 10 000 km]
[Upper Sky: 10 000 km – 1 000 000 km]
[Great Sky: 1 000 000 km – 100 000 000km]
[Forbidden Sky: 100 000 000 km – 10 000 000 000km]
She continued, "That's the first four and it should be everyone's limit for now... even the firmament of the safe zones barely reach the forbidden skies... You know the speed limit only applies to the safe zones, right?"
"Of course I know that..." Skylar glanced at her, then the plate of foods in front of him. "And haven't you guys been saying there are no laws imposed by the tower outside the safe zones?"
"Yes, Sky, about that too... The tower announced that In the wild—outside the safe zone—we will not meet beings that are beyond our comprehension, unless we enter their territory."
Skylar paused at Yami's statement; he narrowed his eyes briefly and look at her.
"You are talking about divine beings right? You know I have an idea of what they are?"
"Yes, I know." Yami smiled at him. "I am just letting you know what the tower informed us. So be extra careful when you are outside."
Well, I get it... There is no mortal that can outrun a divine being ever, not to talk of surviving their presence...
Skylar stared straight into Yami's eyes, oblivious of the playful smile on her face.
I bet, she is more dangerous than a divine being... Why will they even be telling us this and why is she telling me this personally... Mmm... Maybe its about those territories where they are... They might be trying to tell us to know where to go and not to go in the wild, maybe there is a setting like... if we are killed by a divine being, the death is permanent... they might even be capable of trapping someone for a really long time—there spiritual intensity should be capable of binding our spirits with a thought—
"An average of 500 people get trapped everyday..." Yami interrupted his thoughts, attracting his stunned attention. "In the real world, when the sim-pod light turns red or black in few cases, it means the person inside is trapped and won't be coming out or going back online till they are freed..."
Though Skylar remained stunned and confused by her statement, Yami turned from him. She picked a juice bottle, open it, and starts pouring its content inside a glass cup placed right in front of him.
Setting his thought aside, Skylar picked the half-filled glass cup, downed it, returned it to the table, and leaned back on the chair plushy backrest, returning his gaze back to Yami who is now sitting on the edge of the table, close to him.
He resumed, "You said trapped? You mean trap like they go missing in the simulation and can't log out in the real world?"
"Yes..." Yami shifted closer and picked the tablet. "When the green light that appears on a sim-pod when its active, turned black or red... it means the person inside won't be able to log out. But the red light unlike the black light, does not necessarily mean trapped; it only means trapped when the person inside it is also missing in the simulation..."
Looking away briefly, Skylar chuckled mirthlessly and returned his focus to Yami who has been busy with the G tablet.
"What are the governments doing about it in the real world? What's the situation like?"
Raising her head from the G tablet, Yami glanced at Skylar briefly, and then she returned her attention back to the tablet, clicking it.
"Well, at first people panicked..." She replied. "You know we are now in the the tenth month of the simulation—real-world time; everyone has already gotten used to it. And its not like some of those trapped people don't return; very few, like one out of hundred return monthly."
"So what's on people mind now is they think its how the simulation was designed, the trapping its all part of the package and for anyone trapped, all they need to do is to be brave and find a way out... People are no longer thinking getting trapped is dangerous like during the first month—the early era."
"But, when people started noticing it at first... some states used it as pretext to try and regulate the activities of their citizens in the simulation... some even totally banned the use of the sim-pod in their sphere, you know rape and torture was much prevalent back then... so by claiming the simulation is dangerous and unproductive, they started seizing thier citizen's sim-pods..."
"And for the more lenient ones that find some kind of value in the simulation, what they did is they created a policy that they will only allow people to use it as long as they registered with their headquarters in the simulation, something like bravers should report their activities and personal progress to them. They were trying to monitor and control their citizen activities online like the government alliance were planning to do recently..."
"Are they still doing it?" Skylar interjected, and after that, he tore into a meat chop in his hand.
"No, those things no longer work, they didn't even help in the first place." Yami replied and starts dangling her bare feet "People became creative with avoiding scrutiny; some in harsher countries will just move to countries that does not impose any law on bravers, some even went to deserted places and secret hideouts."
"But for the most part... most people just stopped logging off totally, and even if they do or starfall, they will just remain inside their sim-pod and wait till the cool time ends..."
She paused, dropping the G tablet beside her, and she looked at Skylar, "You know there is a sleep function in the sim-pod right? And you don't need to eat inside it—it has a support system that can keep you alive for years?"
"Yes, I kind of know that one." Skylar replied as he return a glass of juice he just drank from to the table. "What's the sleep function stuff?"
"Its just. You give a command to the sim-pod, set a time limit, and you will immediately fall into deep sleep for the duration of time you set." Yami as she has stood up when she starts replying, neared Skylar and sat on his laps comfortably, facing the space to his right.
"Have you not tried it before?" She moved her face closer to Skylar's, sounding like she purred, and then licked off a oil stain on the edge of his lips.
"Nah, I have only logged out once, and I prefer my bed. I don't even like cramped spaces... I might have claustrophobia..." Skylar wrinkled his nose.
"Hee-hee-hee..." Whilst staring attentively at his green eyes squarely, Yami giggled. "Maybe its because of you they enforce that ridiculous floor to ceiling height code?"
"Maybe?" Skylar scoffed. "You think those people care about people's phobia?"
"Hee-hee... You are right. Maybe."
Yami paused and a rare expressionless look appeared on her face as she starts looking at the panoramic view beyond the chameleon glass wall adjusted transparent—a view beyond the territory wooden fence, and of the exotic super-tall trees and buildings with structural frames trained with colorful flower vines, quite far away—as big as their own and are equally majestic and grand.