VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 24: Unexpected Encounter
A dignified, older gentlemen strolled into the secret control room that was monitoring the now finished Beta test of Dawn of Divinity. No one moved to stop him, in fact those who first noticed him shrunk away slightly at his presence, overwhelmed by the commanding aura he exuded.
The man in question was dressed in an extremely expensive, and extremely well tailored, suit. Classic black coat and trousers, with a crisp white shirt underneath. Over the top of that, he wore a designer wool coat, perfect for keeping the cold out and flaunting his wealth at the same time.
With each step, his perfectly polished designer shoes clacked against the floor in a sound many who knew him thought of as the sound of impending doom.
His pure white hair contrasted against his suit. His wiry beard was trimmed short and the top of his head was shining, as it was completely hairless. If Valerie were here now, she would most definitely recognise this gleaming head as the nameless Wizard that had assisted her.
"I do not like being interrupted while I am working. You were lucky I was able to delay your stupid decision by an hour. Remember who it was that gave you this opportunity boy."
The ’Wizard’ addressed the scientist in charge of the test. While the others in the room had spoken to the leader with respect and admiration, this elder spoke to him like he was nothing more than an ignorant child at best. His voice overflowed with disdain and disrespect.
The leader in question did not even glance at the ’Wizard’. He simply kept his eyes on the screens, watching the testers mingle as they left their chairs. He let out a deep, irritated sigh before speaking in a monotone, matter of fact voice.
"Yes Mister McLean. I am well aware who funded and helped create this project. I am reminded of that every day.
The girl seemed to be having an adverse reaction to the treatment. Considering she is a sub-par subject, I simply did what I thought was best at the time."
The ’Wizard’, also known as Klein McLean, scoffed at the leaders answer. He didn’t care that the man was putting absolutely no effort into sounding apologetic in the slightest. He scanned the various screens with uncaring eyes, not bothering to actually take in the information displayed on them.
"How many exceptionals in this batch?"
The leader held his hand to the side, taking the small hockey puck sized object he was handed by an eager assistant. His eyes glowed a gentle blue as he interfaced with the device, which flickered to life and projected the image of three faces.
"Three Exceptionals. One within standard parameters, One you advanced yourself and a third that showed surprisingly adaptability to the-"
"Ah, this one. Yes, tell me about this one. My personal project," Klein interrupted the leader’s explanation as he jabbed excitedly at one particular hologram. His finger slightly moved through and disturbed the projection of a young woman’s face.
"Did you make sure to confirm Polaris?"
The leader let out another heavy exasperated sigh, interfacing with the device again so that its display shifted to show the young woman exclusively. With the same monotone voice, he began his explanation of every detail about the young woman in question,
"Yes, we confirmed that Polaris is active, although currently it is very weak. The subject is likely unaware of its existence. You met her as Belladonna, but here she is known as..."
***
"Rolling Ray Gun, Is that you?"
Valerie screeched to a halt at the sound of a voice calling out, as did many others. A few turned to the sound of the voice, while others looked around in confusion, wondering who could possibly be answering to a name like that. It didn’t sound like any gamer-tag they knew of.
Spinning her chair around, Valerie came face to face with a handsome man a few years older than herself. He had well trimmed blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, along with a well chiselled jawline.
Such features could easily be bought nowadays, for the right amount of money. For the ultra wealthy, the word ageing was considered the highest of blasphemy. Compared to the awful practices of the past, now people really could look 30 right up into their 70s, for the right price.
But for this man, those features were all natural.
He was looking at her with a mischievous smile, that kind of reminded her of the little Brownie statue she had used before logging out. He was standing with his arms out, as if he was waiting for a hug.
She stifled a laugh as she mentally compared him to the little gremlin statue from the game, before shaking her head and putting on an exasperated tone.
"You know, just because you keep doing that doesn’t mean I am going to spring out of this chair and hug you. For one, I’d actually have to want to hug you for that to work."
He clamped his hand over his heart, feigning pain and over acting the entire time.
"Ouch.. God, you go right for my weakest point. The ray gun really is built for executing innocent men..." He said with an overly dramatic tone, pretending to wipe away a non-existent tear from his eye. The two locked eyes, one acting melodramatic while the other looked completely annoyed and hate filled, before they both broke into smiles and laughs.
The blonde man strolled over to her, leaning down and pulling her into a hug that she happily returned, all while they both chuckled to themselves at their stupid antics.
"What are you doing here? I was expecting to see Jason here. I made sure he got the invite, I can’t believe he missed out on such an amazing new experience. Really, it’s a shame he couldn’t be here to try it."
Valerie looked up at the man with a knowing smirk, her eyebrow raising slightly,
"Uh huh... Are you sure that it isn’t just because you wanted an in person chance to badger him to come back to you?"
He laughed softly before giving an innocent shrug, "Maybe a little, I’m definitely not above a little grovelling. If he wants to treat me like some kind of jilted ex-lover, then I’ll happily play the part. Except for maybe the loving part... he’s not my type. Too muscular."
Valerie couldn’t help but laugh at his unflinchingly honest attitude. Percival Theodora Monarch the Fourth, or Percy as he much preferred to be called, was an old friend of her brothers. The two of them were thick as thieves back in the day and were the founding members of the Golden Princes Guild and E-sports team. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
The two knew each other back when the famed ’Golden Princes’ were just a few dork idiots hanging around in an old game, grinding mobs together. Now they had turned into one of the most successful and well known guilds in the gaming sphere, but at their core they were still those same dorky idiots.
A few months ago, however, her brother Jason - otherwise known as Reaper of Stars - had quit the guild for some personal reasons. There was no bad blood between the two, and they still kept in regular contact.
Honestly, Valerie often thought that Percy missed the old days, back when it was just idiots goofing around with each other. But he was part of the ’Monarch’ family, and they had a reputation to uphold and shareholders to impress.
It was because of that reputation, both of his family and his own, that their fateful reunion was being watched by so many. Whispers were exchanged and a few pictures were taken, gossip swapped between the prying eyes as they all wondered who the girl in the chair was and how she knew the great Percy Monarch, the Prince of Stars.
Percy glanced around, growing visibly annoyed and uncomfortable with all of the eyes on him, swapping stories and exchanged whispers that pried into, or simply fabricated, very intimate and personal details of his life as if he wasn’t a real person. Just a character for them to dissect and enjoy.
Valerie leaned forwards, nudging his arm before starting to wheel herself away,
"Come on, I got some time to kill before my flight home. You can buy me a coffee and something to eat, think of it as Golden Princes treat for helping recruiting efforts." She said with a laugh, not bothering to stop as she continued to roll away.
Percy smiled softly, letting out a deep sigh of relief, before pulling up his hood to shield his face and hurrying after Valerie. As they walked out, he slowed himself down to her pace and happily strolled alongside her as they talked.
Many eyes followed them as they left, but only one pair was staring at them with suspicion, confusion and a hint of hostility born of fear. Strangely enough, that individual was not looking at Percy, but instead had their eyes locked onto Valerie from the moment Percy had approached her.
