Within the dark confines of his mind, Ace was dreaming about one particular day. The day when his eyes first opened within this world. And what he saw for the first time was a holographic screen hovering before his eyes.
[Initiating System Reboot]
[…]
[System Reboot complete.]
[Retrieving Backup Data from System Memory]
[…]
[Backup retrieval complete]
[Designation of Avatar: Ace as new subject initiated]
[…]
[Designation complete.]
[Character Synchronization of new subject with Backup Data Model: $#%&!@# initiated.]
[…]
The screens that appeared afterwards glitched before his eyes.
[Character Synchronization complete.]
[C%a!i#t$r^@t&i*n S_ch+i=n a-c~o`m^@]
[Initiating Main Scenario.]
[I%n!i#t$i^a@t&i*n(g) M_a+i=n S-c~e`n^@]
As the screens faded into nothingness, a portal opened up inside a giant building. A building that held collections of multitudes of books about different subjects which went from humanities and sciences to fine arts and languages.
It was a library. And from the depths of the portal, a figure came out of it. A young boy with messy jet-black hair wearing ragged clothes.
Once again, screen windows appeared out of thin air.
[Transmission into Main Scenario has been successful.]
[Activating System Standby until next scenario phase.]
'Standby? Where am I? What is this place? But more importantly... who am I?' he looked down at himself, clenching his fists repeatedly before unknown memories started flowing into his mind.
The memories that flooded him seemed oddly familiar to him, yet at the same time, they were completely alien when he tried to recall what they were about.
Memories of being hunted by monsters and attacking them to survive. Memories of feeling the despair of death and the hope of seeing another day. Memories of fearing what lurks beyond the darkness. Countless of those memories resonated in his mind more and more until only a single one echoed strongly than the others.
An alias, is that right?
Ace.
Ace walked towards a window, and seeing his reflection on a window, a young face stared back at him with inquisitive eyes.
"This... is... me?" he muttered, a realization coming to his mind like a bullet through the heart.
Memories of another entity. Someone unknown to him, whose existence seemed to blend together so seamlessly with his, yet the fact that there were no traces of them only strengthened the confusion about who he really was.
But amidst the confusion, one phrase repeated strongly in his mind
'Survive… Survive no matter what.'
As the dream faded, a voice echoed above him, cutting through the silence as his eyes then twitched and fluttered open.
"How did he collapse? Shouldn't all injuries and damages be healed after coming out of the dean's artificial space?"
'Who…?' his vision grew less blurry as his eyes finally opened.
"Hey, look! He's waking up!" another voice announced.
"Ace! Ace! Are you ok? Can you hear me?" Chris asked as Ace's vision finally became clear.
"What… happened?" Ace asked, his voice feeling numb.
"That's more our line kiddo," Deker spoke up, arms crossed with a mix of curiosity and surprise in his expression. "You had us worried there.
"We found you completely collapsed on the ground, with your nose bleeding and all," Deker added, the scene from him and Chris walking through the hallways and finding Ace on their way appearing in his mind.
'Aaah…' a scene replayed in Ace's mind. The one from before he collapsed. 'Now I remember.'
He rose up from his bed slowly, sitting up as he held his forehead, a buzzing sound that was only audible to him continuously seeming to play in his ears.
"You shouldn't push yourself," Chris' hand, trying to set itself on Ace's shoulder in a caring and comforting manner, was brushed off by the principal concerned himself.
Collective surprise followed Ace's action.
While Deker could feel the growing unease that started gripping the air, Chris clenched the brushed-off hand into a fist, mixed feelings now boiling down in his heart.
"I'm fine," Ace said with a low voice, looking at Chris with cold and distant eyes. Eyes that seemed to hold no light within them, and that also seemed to hide a heavy and tiresome burden.
Ace's body, out of bed and now standing on the firm ground, seemed on the verge of falling to the ground. But as Chris tried to give a helping hand, Ace simply slapped it away.
"I said I'm fine," Ace said with a low voice before going out of the room.
"Sheesh," Deker scratched his head, staring at Chris from the corner of his eyes. 'Guess that hit him harder than expected.'
'Still though…'
Ace's previous expression came to Deker's mind. A seemingly tired and empty expression that hid a hint of irritation and rage.
'I don't think it's safe to leave him alone like this.'
"Uuuh… Want to go out for a drink?" asked Deker with uncertainty in his voice. "The tab's on me."
Chris released a deep and long sigh, an exhausted and contemplating expression etched on his face. "Yeah, sure."
A few moments later as they walked slowly through the hallways, Deker led the conversation with Chris.
"It must not have been easy, huh?" Deker, hands in his pocket, glanced at Chris from the corner of his eye. "Knowing how to deal with him I mean."
Chris stopped momentarily, staring at the ceiling for an instant. "Definitely not."
As they continued to walk…
"Ever since that day, I've tried my best to understand him. To connect with him. But the more I try, the harder it seems. To think that even after 11 years of being a father, I still can't seem to know how to approach that kid," Chris stated, staring at the ground with a heavy heart.
"Yeah. I figured as much," Deker scratched the back of his neck. "Unlike Shaw, that kid isn't your biological son, and it's barely been four months since he appeared."
"You're right. Thinking back on it now, it really hasn't been that long since that day," Chris muttered, his mind going back to the past. The day when Ace first appeared before him.