"Momiji...?" I asked aloud, shocked at what seemed to be my best friend.

I was quickly silenced by the woman shushing me with her index finger.

"You shouldn't use people's real names here, it's considered rude." she said, dropping her arm to her hip. "In here, my name is Kureha."

Kureha shoots a glance upward, presumably at something above my head.

She chuckles.

"I see you still use your real name here, don't you?" she says.

"What's the point of using a fake name?" I shrug. I run a hand through my hair. Also didn't decide to alter my appearance either. Again, what's the point of having a fake identity?

I clear my throat.

"So, what's the verdict? What's this tournament you want to enter?"

"I'll tell you on the way, come on!" she says, in a much cheerier tone than her usual self. In reality, Momiji, or Kureha, I guess, was always a shy girl. What prevented her from expressing herself more was her older sister, who had always been the center of her parents attention. More on that later.

Kureha leads me to an escalator, and we step on, and she starts explaining the tournament.

From what I caught in my half-awake daze, it was a duos tournament, and there was some supposed "treasure" hidden inside it, and Kureha wanted me to help her find it.

Once we reached the top of the escalator, she led me to another big building.

"And this is the governor's office!" she says, twirling around. It seemed like more than just an office. There were about fifty other people here. Most of them were male players.

As Kureha led me to some terminal, I heard a few whistles around me. Idiots.

"This is where we register." she says. "Names, Kureha and Isaac, squadrons, none. Difficulty, noob."

I shot her a glare at that last bit.

"Kidding. You're so sensitive. That last part isn't a part of it. Give me a moment."

While she was registering us, I took a bit of a walk around the circular room. There were big screens displaying some talk show above, as well as clips from the top players in the game. I started walking backwards, but ended up running into someone.

"Unh!" I exclaimed, taking a step forward. I turn around when I regain my balance. "Sorry about that."

When I look at who I bumped into, I realized I may have wandered a bit too far. The man I had bumped into was a good half a foot taller than me, and he wore a long white coat with black sleeves and blue and orange accents.

"Oh, apologies, friend. I wasn't looking where I was going." the man said, flashing me a smile. There was a sense of sarcasm behind his tone.

"Isaac?" I heard Kureha call out. I turn my head and see my pink haired friend run up to me, shoving some people out of the way. Once she reaches me, she grabs my left arm with both of her arms and tries to clear the situation.

"I'm so sorry, Itsuki! This is my childhood friend, Isaac. We were just getting ready to enter the tournament."

Itsuki? What kind of name was that? I must have joined the server Kureha normally links to.

"No problem here." Itsuki said, putting a hand on his side. "Say, you're Kureha, aren't you?"

"Oh, uh, y-yeah. Why?" she asks.

"I've seen you jump from squad to squad. I hear you're pretty good in a fight."

"Oh, thank you so much!" Kureha says, dropping her grip on my arm, taking a bow.

"And you..." he says, eyeing me. "Isaac, right? I like that, you don't hear a name like that around here too often. Tell you what. Kureha, would you ask your friend to open up a trade window?"

"Uh, sure." she says, a bit curious. She turns to me. "Isaac, take your middle and index fingers, and swipe them right to left."

I do as she says, and I end up opening a blue menu, with six hexagons making up another hexagon. She directs me to the trade window, and Itsuki and I initiate a window.

"Here, take this for good luck."

Suddenly, an item pops up in his offer bar: some blue gem looking objects.

Kureha gawks.

"Are you sure we can have that?!"

"Consider it a.... meeting present. Buy some better gear with it. I hope to see you two around. Click confirm for me, Isaac."

I do as he says and click the corresponding button, and now I have whatever that gem was.

"Isaac, Itsuki just gave you a Sapphire, that's worth two hundred and fifty thousand credits!" she says, grabbing me by the shoulders.

"Is that a lot?" I ask.

"Hell yes it is! Let's go get you some better gear with that!"

Kureha again leads me by the arm, dragging me to another terminal.

She tells me to buy some better gear for the tournament. I end up buying a blue combat jacket, some jet black boots, a few grenades, as well as firearms, obviously. My primary was an AK-47 looking gun called a Robust, and my second gun was an light ammo submachine gun, and it was officially called a Sirius. And ammo for said guns too, obviously.

When I was done, I walked back over to Kureha.

"Looking good! Now you're really decked out for a fight!"

Suddenly, a voice ran overhead.

"All competitors, prepare for the start of the tournament. May the best team win."

All of us were engulfed in a blue light, and placed in random spots throughout the map.

Once Kureha and I recovered our bearings, we nodded to each other. She pulls out her submachine gun, dubbed the Draque L Shamal, and I take out my Robust. When it comes to shooters, no one can top me and my friend. Well, anything that's VR, I guess.

We advance a few rooms, cocking our guns for a fight. And just our luck, we end up running into another duo about three rooms from where we spawn. As they unload their weapons, we quickly assess the situation. We both take cover behind a few walls, and return fire.

And boy, I severely underestimated how loud these things are.

I take out the first one with a few headshots, and decide to get a bit personal with the other player.

"Cover me!" I yell to Kureha. She nods, and roll out of my hiding spot, and charge up to the player, using my gun as cover. I take out a knife and dig it into the players shoulder with a propelling jump, making them lose their balance and fall over, and finishing them off with a shot to the forehead.

"Wow, that was a clean kill. You're getting the hang of this quickly!"

"All those years playing Call of Duty and Halo must have paid off."

Kureha and I keep advancing, taking out two more duos, before coming to a strong-looking door. There was no mechanism to open it.

"What the hell is this supposed to be?" I ask aloud, laying my rifle down on the ground. I walk up to the door and try to shove it open, but to no avail.

"Well, let's head back and see if-."

"You can find another way?" a familiar voice asks. We both whip around to see Itsuki and another player, presumably his partner, behind us.

Shit, I left my gun on the ground. I turn to grab it, but I soon realize Itsuki has it.

"Interesting choice," he says. "Most people tend to start with submachine guns, but you surprise me, Isaac."

"Enough chatter, Itsuki." Kureha says, reloading her gun. "Isaac, get ready to run. You'll most likely die in one hit if they fire at us."

"Oh, worry not, Kureha." he says, throwing my gun back to me. "Truth is, in that room is a tough boss, and Taipan and I can't really be bothered to try and kill it. So, if you kill that boss for us, we'll leave you alone."

"We're not going to fall for that, you'll shoot us as soon as our backs are turned. I've met a lot of players like you over my years of gaming."

"Itsuki never breaks a promise, Isaac." his partner Taipan says.

I look at Kureha, and she shrugs. We turn around, and look back at the door, which has somehow opened. Inside, we see a quadruped sentry with a minigun mounted on its head.

As soon as it sees us, it opens fire. Kureha and I dash around opposite sides of the room.

"Keep it distracted, I have an idea!" she yells at me from across the room.

"Easier said than done!"

I switch to the Sirius, noticing it's a lot lighter than the Robust. NPC enemies are weak to light ammo, and players take more damage from live ammo. I unload the ammo pack on the things weak point in the middle of its head, but nothing I do staggers it. I'm forced to play defense and try to avoid getting hit, but at the last second, a blue rocket is fired at the robot, completely blowing it to smithereens.

I turn my head in the direction of the rocket, and I see Kureha holding what seems to be a rocket launcher.

"What is that thing?"

"This is a Deneb Kaitos, an optical rocket launcher. Perfect for blowing the wires out of things like that."

We look back to the entrance, and we see that Itsuki and Taipan are gone.

"Looks like he really did keep his promise."

We continue down the corridor and come up on a crossroads.

"Well? What'll it be? Left or right?" my partner asks me.

I take a look down both sides, and decide to go left.

On the way down, Kureha remarks about how good of a player Itsuki is, and how we should shy away from strong players like that. I was only half paying attention. Once we reach the next room, Kureha perks up. There was some circular structure in the center of the room, and a terminal behind it, up some stairs.

"Ah, here we go!" she says, running up to the terminal. "We should be able to find a way forward if we fiddle with this device."

I step onto the circular structure, confused at what it's supposed to be. Suddenly I hear a beep, and the structure lights up. Kureha turns around, baffled as to what she's done.

"Just stay calm! It's a teleport gate! I'll be right behind y-!"

Her voice cuts out, as I'm placed into another room, this time much bigger. I take out my Robust and position it under my arm. I walk up the staircase presented in front of me, and at the top of the platform is a large capsule.

"What the hell is this?" I ask aloud, placing a hand on the glass.

User identification verified. User ID, Isaac.

"What the hell?!" I exclaim, backing up as I hear the capsule say my name.

The capsule starts rising up, opening its glass case to reveal a... slender woman. She was dressed in a skintight white outfit with purple accents. And her hair... wait, no, it can't be.

Emma...? No, it can't be her, plus, this woman looks like she's in her late teens. My sister was only eleven when she passed away.

The woman rises up from the capsule, levitating in the air. I stood before her, astounded.

Suddenly, she drops from the air, plummeting to the ground.

"Shit!" I exclaim again, dropping my gun and catching the woman before she hits the ground.

As the impact almost makes me fall over, I end up in a kneeling position with the woman in my arms. I set her on the ground and give her a good shake.

"Hey, you alright?" I ask. No response.

I try a few more times before I hear the door behind me open. I see Kureha's head of pink hair run up the stairs.

"There you are!"

Kureha looks at the woman on the floor in front of me, and her expression changes.

"Who's that?" she asks.

"I don't know, she came out of that capsule!"

Kureha comes up to me and kneels down, observing the woman's sleeping face.

"Isaac, is it just me, or-."

"Does she look like Emma, yeah, I know. It looks like her as if she was in her teens."

The woman's eyes suddenly open, revealing two hot pink eyes. Kureha and I both jumped back in shock. The woman sits up, rubbing her head, and looks at us.

She then stands up, with us following suit.

"Uh, who are you?"

The woman smiles, and puts a hand on her collar, bowing.

"G-Greetings, I am the Arfa-System Type X A290-00... I think that was my designation..."

"A what?" Kureha and I ask in unison.

"Oh, my apologies, Master." she says, bowing her head. "It stands for Artificial Financial Adviser System, Series X. You may call me whatever you want, but please don't pick anything weird."

Kureha looks at me.

"I think she wants you to name her."

There were no names crossing my mind except for one.

"Uh, your name is... Emma."

"Emma. I like it. I'm glad you're more sensible than you look, Master."

Kureha elbows me, the look in her eyes saying "seriously?"

I shoot her a look back, but the woman talks again.

"Let me try again. My name is Emma to you, Isaac. You are my Master."

"Master?!" Kureha says, suddenly realizing the situation. "You registered yourself as its master?"

"Hey, I didn't do anything! All I did was touch the capsule."

"Master," Emma says again. I look her in the eyes. "is this woman your partner?"

"Uh, yeah, she is. This is Kureha." I say.

"A friend of my master is a friend of mine, Kureha. It's an honor to meet you." Emma says, flashing a shy smile.

"Nice to meet you too."

"So... Emma. Why were you inside that capsule?" I ask her. It feels weird saying my sisters name again...

"Oh, I was placed here as a trophy. It seems that you're the designated player who has managed to infiltrate this room."

"Well, that's convenient!" Kureha says, propping her hand on her hip. "We found the hidden treasure, and with minimal problems."

"Oh, Master," it says again. I turn my head and face her. "You have more friends?"

"Uh, what?"

"Down there!" she says, pointing down the stairs. "There's more of your friends!"

Except those weren't any friends. They were enemy players.

My instincts kick in as soon as I hear the first shot fired.

"Get down!" I yell, tackling the ArFa-Sys into cover. We duck behind the capsule, trying to avoid the bombardment.

"You okay?" I ask her.

"Y-Yes, Master, I'm fine. What about Kureha?"

Crud. I look back from the capsule, and see that Kureha's made it to one of the barriers for cover. She flashes me a thumbs up, signaling she was okay.

"Emma," I say, whipping back around. She looks at me with concerned eyes. "Stay. Here."

She nods in response.

I summon my AR and insert a new magazine into the gun, and open fire.

I pick off the first one, but the second one has a heavy-looking minigun, keeping me from getting anywhere else.

"Kureha!" I yell. I hear her yell back at me, but I can't make out what it was due to the shots being fired. I can see the player closing in, due to the reflection of some of the glass in the room, and I decide to make a risky play. I turn back to the ArFa-Sys.

"Emma, we-,"

She wasn't there. Shit. Where did she go?! I can hear the gunfire getting louder, but suddenly it stops. I look out from behind my cover, and see Emma wrestling the minigun from the player.

"Emma!"

The AI continues.

"No one hurts my master!"

"Let go, bitch!" the player yells, kicking her in the stomach.

Emma collapses backwards, holding her abdomen. The player aims the minigun right at her.

"Oh, no, you don't!" I scream. I come out from my cover and open fire on the player, my bullets staggering him.

"Unh!" he exclaims. He looks at me and aims his gun again, but a rocket from Kureha's Deneb Kaitos blows him to bits, the red particles dispersing.

"Emma!" I yell. I throw down my AR and rush to her side, helping her up. "You okay?"

"I'm alright, Master."

"Hey, don't do something like that again, okay?" I tell her, smiling.

"Understood, Master." she says.

I help her stand up, and Kureha walks up behind us.

"Well, someone's popular." she says, her rocket launcher dematerializing.

"All players, lower your weapons." a masculine voice echoes across the room. "This tournament has been concluded. You will all be transported out immediately. Please stand by."

All three of us are engulfed in a mysterious light once more, and transported to the lobby.

Once we're placed back in the lobby, we wait for the team placements 

"Kureha and Isaac, you ranked seventh." a voice said, a leaderboard appearing on our menus.

"Well, I'll take that. Not too bad for your first time." Kureha says. "And we found the rare item!"

As she said that, I heard the voices from before, talking to another player.

"What do you mean, you failed to acquire the rare item?" a feminine voice said, in a stern tone.

"Commander, I don't know what happened! I had the rare item in my reach, next thing I know, I blow up!"

That voice belonged to the guy with the minigun. Who was he talking to?

I push through the crowd, enticed by the voices. I come up upon a peculiar scene. A group of about five people surrounding another player. The person in the center looked like their leader.

The figure in the center was a woman, with long black hair and a futuristic-looking headset on her ears. She wore a dark outfit with what looked like military symbols. She looked like she was either in her late teens or early twenties.

"There he is! The kid who stole it from us!" the man who had the minigun said.

The woman turned to meet my gaze. Her eyes were a piercing blue.

She walks over to me, hands behind her back, and stops a few feet in front of me.

"I'm led to believe you are the player who acquired the rare item?" she asks.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" I ask her. She was only a few inches shorter than me.

"I would like to know what the item is. Would you care to show me?"

"That would be m-me, Miss." Emma says, coming up beside me.

The woman looked at the AI, scoffing.

"This is the rare item? A crash test dummy?"

That invoked a response from me.

"Shut up."

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"I said be quiet."

"You best speak to her with a bit more respect, Isaac."

I turn my head left to see Itsuki. He comes up between us and puts out his hands.

"Allow me to settle this. Isaac, this is Noir, Commander Noir to her squadron. She's a well respected player in GGO."

"Yeah, so you say." I say, with a blunt tone.

"You better watch yourself out there, Isaac." Noir says, turning back around. "You never know who could take that AI off your hands."

"You'd do best to ignore her, but don't say anything out of place around her." Itsuki said. "Now, what's this rare item you seem to have got?"

"That would be me, Mr. Itsuki." Emma says, once again introducing herself.

Itsuki's eyes widened.

"Is this an ArFa-Sys?" he asks. I confirm his assumption, and he sighs. "Why, when I drop bread, does it land butter-down? Are you its master, Isaac?"

"Yeah, I am."

"I wish you good luck. Those things are popular nowadays. Keep it safe." he says, walking away.

"There you are!" I hear Kureha's voice.

We turn to see her closing in on us.

"Where the heck did you two go? I got so distracted with the rewards from the tournament that I didn't see you wander off."

"Sorry, I got a bit... lost." I say, trying to make hp an excuse.

"Isaac, I'm not worried about you, I'm just worried about Emma."

"Oh come on, you don't trust me?" I joke.

"M-Master, may we leave this place? I feel uncomfortable being watched."

"Yeah, sure thing."

Kureha leads us out of the lobby and back into the plaza. She stretches her arms and sighs.

"Nothing like a good workout." she remarks, turning to us. "Well, where to next?"

"If you would both follow me, I can lead you to your quarters."

"Quarters?" I ask, crossing my arms. "I don't remember buying a place to live."

"No worries, Master, every player is welcome to buy an apartment in the various complexes across the SBC Glocken." she says, beginning to walk ahead of us.

Emma leads us down the main escalators, and around a few more buildings, with every few players whistling.

At one point, when we turned a corner, we came across two arrogant looking players. They walked towards us with confidence.

"So, you must be the newbie who got the rare item." the first one says. He wore a green outfit consisting of a jacket and matching pants, as well as a lime beret and some sunglasses. The other person had a black combat suit. "And whoo, is that a rare find." he says, eyeing Emma.

I step in front of her.

"Move." I say.

"Say, I'll make you an offer. That's a Type-X ArFa-Sys, isn't it?" the man in the beret said. "I'll give you thirty million credits... for the ArFa-Sys."

"What?!" Kureha roared. "That's outrageous!"

"M-My Master would never sell me!" Emma agreed with her.

"You're it's master, kid. What'll it be?"

"My answer is no. Screw off. No amount of credits could get me to sell her."

The two people walk off, their spirit crushed.

"Isaac," Kureha says, coming between us. "You need to watch your back. Never, ever, even think about selling it." she says, forcing the tip of her finger onto my torso.

"You don't have to worry, Kureha. I'll keep her in my sight at all times."

We reclaim our bearings and resume our walk. Emma eventually leads us to a big building in the middle of the pathway.

"Follow me, Master, Kureha."

Emma leads us inside, and up a set of stairs, onto the third floor. She opens a door, leading to a spacious room. It had a bed in the corner, a few terminals to the left, a table and four chairs.

"Wow, I've never seen a space like this in GGO!" Kureha says, looking around.

"I am able to nullify the payment requirements for this apartment for a single month, Master," Emma says, turning around. "Until then, you can rest easy, but come thirty days later, you'll have to pay for it."

"Okay, thanks, Emma."

I go over and sit down in one of the chairs, and put my hands over my face.

What was happening? Some AI in this game has my sister's face, and even acts like her. It's too much to take in all at once.

"Kureha," I say, standing up. My pink haired friend turns to me, averting her gaze from the window looking down on the city below. "I'm gonna take a walk, can you watch over her?" I ask.

She reflects my sorrowful gaze, and nods.

"Yeah, sure. Take as long as you need."

I say thanks to her, and once the AI was done looking, I exited the apartment complex, walking back down the pathway. I sat down on a nearby bench, and put my elbows on my knees, supporting my head.

It's too much...

I sat there for a good two minutes, contemplating what I should do next. I decided to head back to the room, because I was starting to think they were getting worried.

I walk back down the pathway, but something catches my attention. A blue glow was coming from inside one of the shops on my left. I take a detour, intrigued. I walk into the shop, looking at the various guns on display. Everything from the lightest of pistols to the heaviest of sniper rifles. I follow the blue hue, and eventually come up on another display, although it wasn't a gun. It was a full suit of futuristic armor, complete with an additional gas mask and helmet.

The source of that blue hue was a sigh flashing SALE on it. I looked at the price of the suit. 100k, originally 500k.

"Huh, what a discount." I say.

I take my hand out of my pocket and open my menu. The sapphire I got from Itsuki was worth 250k, I used about half of it to buy all my gear, and Kureha and I got about another 50k from the tournament.

"Eh, why not." I say.

I close my menu and place my hand on the pad, purchasing the armor.

Purchase complete. Bionic Exosuit and Helmet

I see the armor and deal fade, as they load into my inventory.

I go into one of the dressing rooms, and equip the armor first.

As a blue glow appeared around me, it changed my outfit from my combat jacket into the armor. The arms and legs were a midnight black with some dark blue accents. The torso was white with a black armor bracing, and it was complete with a full belt for gadgets.

I open my menu once more. I tap the helmet on my inventory, and it appears in my hand. I turn it around and look into the single reticle that's in the middle.

"How the hell am I supposed to see in this?" I ask aloud. I shrug, turn the helmet back around, and put it on.

I open my eyes, and I see about seven different displays for the functions of the helmet. And, apparently I have as much field of view as I did without the helmet on.

I learned that through the dial on the side of my visor, I have different optic modes. One for normal, one for thermal, one for zoom, and the last one for night vision. It also had a voice modulator, but I'll worry about that later. After playing around for a bit, I change back into my normal gear and step outside the shop.

I walk back to my apartment, climbing the stairs, and enter the room.

"I'm back." I say, rubbing my nape.

"Master?" Emma said, coming up beside me. "Did you purchase something?"

Hold on, how did she know?

"Uh, yeah. How do you know?"

"As your ArFa-Sys, I have the ability to overlook your player balance, and I see you purchased some sort of exosuit. Might I see it?"

"Uh, sure." I say.

God, this is going to be a nightmare.

I equip the suit once more, helmet as well, and Emma's jaw drops.

"Master, how were you able to afford this? These types of exosuits cost hundreds of thousands of credits, and judging by what Kureha said, you just started the game."

"It was on sale." I told her. I noticed my voice has a bit of a distortion behind it.

"Well, in any case," she says, stepping forward. "that suit should prove to be very resistant to many types of bullets. Be sure to handle it with care."

"Okay, I will. Thanks. Hey, did Kureha log out?"

"Yes, she logged out of GGO a few minutes ago, she said she had some shopping to go to with her older sister."

I check the time, and realize it's a bit past three. I had been on since twelve.

"I should log out too, Emma. Can you handle yourself?" I say, taking off my helmet.

"Oh, most definitely, Master. I shall stay within your quarters and figure out my systems. Please, take care of yourself." she said, putting her hands together and bowing.

I open my menu and click log out, as I'm disengaged from the system.

I lift my right hand, and remove the AmuSphere from my head. I place it on my nightstand, and sit up. My hair obscured my vision, as I was looking down.

The ArFa-Sys looked exactly like Emma, I still can't get over that. I stand up, grab my phone, and head downstairs. I wanted to go visit her.

I trudge down the stairs, my hands in my pockets.

"Mom? Dad?" I ask aloud, once I reach the den.

"Oh, you're finally awake, son." my father says, standing up from his chair. "Enjoy your nap?"

I nod, my face still emotionless.

"Honey, you okay?" my mother asks, standing up. She places her hands on my shoulders, and brushes my hair out of my eyes. "Oh my god, you look like you've seen a ghost."

I chuckle.

"Yeah, something like that."

"Why don't you go get some fresh air, kiddo." my father said, coming up behind my mother.

I nod in agreement, and say one last thing.

"I'm going to go visit Emma." I say. I turn away from my parents, and walk towards the front door.

I slip on my shoes, and step outside. It's a nice day. Perfect for a walk.

I take the path to the churchyard where we buried my sister. Such a damn dirty death she had...

I shake my head out of the clouds, and enter the graveyard. My sister' funeral was held here, and it was so hard not to cry during the service.

I walk past several rows of headstones, and come up on Emma's.

Emma Walker. Beloved daughter and sister. 2014-2025.

"Hey, kid." I say. "It's been... really lonely without you. Mom and Dad are barely keeping it together, even though they try to hide it."

I feel a single tear stream down my face.

"Every time I pass by your old room, the emptiness inside me grows. Why, why did the world have to take you away from us...?"

I take out my phone, and open up my photos. The last video I took with Emma was when she was healthy, about a year and a half ago. We had taken a picture and video, after the two of us sang one of our favorite songs in front of the church crowd. After that, it was just pictures of her in the hospital.

I watch the video, and it starts with the massive applause we got. People gave us a standing ovation. I took a bow, and Emma took a courtesy. We had both looked so happy.

I stick my phone back in my pocket. I walk back to the gate, and close it behind me.

"Rest well, kid." I say, not turning back.

I take the path back to my house, walking a bit slower than usual.

Once I get back to my house, I open the door to the den, and walk up to my room, not saying a word. I close the door behind me, and lay down on my bed.

I put my arm over my eyes, trying to hide my tears.

I shouldn't cry, but I can't help it. I had met my sister's older doppelgänger, after I lost her. What does this all mean...?

"Isaac?" I hear a knock at my door. It was my mother. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure." I say, my voice breaking.

I hear the door open, and I feel my bed bounce as my mother sits down at the end of it.

"How was she?"

"She's good." I say, with no emotion.

"Hey, honey, look at me, please." she says.

I move my arm from my eyes, the tears starting to get impossible to hold back.

"I wanted to give you this." she said, taking out a card looking object.

She slips it onto my hand, and I sit up to turn on my lamp.

This was a keycard to my mothers lab, just down a few streets.

"Mom, why are you giving me this?"

"I know how much you love technology, kiddo, so I thought I could give you a tour of the lab tomorrow, if you're feeling up to it."

"Yeah, sure. What time are we going?"

"Around my normal time for work. You'll love it."

My mother gets up, and walks to the door. She stops, turning back to look at me.

"Get some rest, Isaac. She'll always be with you."

I nod again. She closes the door, and her receding footsteps grow quieter.

My mother was the CEO of a tech laboratory, and she and her team have made a lot of advancements. I had always wanted to visit her lab, and now I finally get to see it.

I put the keycard on my nightstand, and lie back down.

I have a lot to think about....