Kyle opened his eyes.
At first, he felt nothing. No pain, no weight, no sense of the real world. Only light—soft, warm, and familiar.
He blinked and sat up, or at least, his consciousness did. Around him stretched rolling hills, a dense forest in the distance, and the sun hanging low in the sky. Birds chirped. Rivers glistened in the morning light. He was… somewhere else. Somewhere alive.
Back in the real world, Kyle's body lay in a hospital bed, hooked up to machines, pale, solid, cold under sterile sheets. Tubes ran from his arms, and sensors pressed against his head. His pulse was steady, but every doctor in the room knew he was fragile.
The technicians monitoring the VR system breathed quietly.
"Fluctlight stable," one whispered, eyes wide at the readouts. "He recovered remarkably fast, despite the drug. The coma… didn't damage him permanently."
"Excellent," Dr. Leonard Vale said calmly, as always. But behind his calm, there was calculation. "Keep him monitored. He will dive again soon. His stability is essential."
Inside the AI world, Kyle stood on a grassy hill. The wind blew through his hair, carrying the scent of wildflowers and distant forests. He looked around. Nothing seemed unusual, yet… it all felt new.
He did not remember the accident. He did not remember the hospital. He did not remember being in the real world for weeks. In this place, he was… him. A gamer. A volunteer. A traveler exploring a vast and beautiful world.
"Where am I?" he muttered softly. The sound of his own voice startled him for a moment. No one replied. Only the soft rustle of leaves.
Kyle wandered through a nearby village, taking in the sights. Children ran across cobblestone streets, merchants shouted their wares, and smoke curled from small chimneys. Everything seemed medieval, yet subtle signs hinted at something different.
A boy across the square raised his hands and whispered, "system command: fireball."
A small sphere of flame erupted from his palms, arcing gracefully before extinguishing harmlessly in the dirt. Kyle blinked, startled. Magic existed here—but it wasn't like stories or games he had played. It was… mechanical, controlled, precise. A system.
"Interesting," he muttered under his breath, stepping carefully along the streets. His boots clicked against stone. The hum of life continued, oblivious to the world beyond—the machines, the labs, and the human world watching from afar.
The AI world had continued to grow while he was unconscious. Cities had expanded, villages had shifted, rivers carved new paths. People moved as they always had—lives went on, oblivious to the unseen observer from the real world.
Kyle took a deep breath. The sun on his face felt real. The ground beneath his feet was solid. And in his chest, the pulse of his Fluctlight hummed calmly. Strong. Stable. Alive.
Far away, in the real world, tension was building.
The United States had formed a team of specialists—assassins, hackers, soldiers, and tacticians—tasked with infiltrating the AI world project. Their target: the headquarters where the Fluctlight system was maintained, the lab where Kyle volunteered, and the servers where centuries of artificial civilization existed.
"Everything is ready," one operative said, voice tight with anticipation. "We move tonight. Full assault. No mistakes."
The team spread out across maps and satellite feeds. Their goal was clear: breach the project, seize control, and—if necessary—eliminate any obstacles.
They did not know Kyle was inside the system now. They did not know he was stable. They did not know his Fluctlight would fight to protect the AI world in ways they could never predict.
Kyle wandered further, watching villagers perform their daily routines. Some practiced with the system-based magic—requesting sparks of fire, light, or small barriers—but always in careful moderation. He felt a thrill, curiosity stirring in him.
The world seemed peaceful. And yet, there was an undercurrent. Something subtle. A feeling he couldn't place.
The AI world had its own rhythm. It was alive. It sensed disturbances, flickers in its order. A stabilizer had returned. And somewhere, unseen, shadows from the real world were preparing to strike.
Kyle took his first step deeper into this world again, completely unaware of what was coming.