Last part, the perspective changed to the owner of Fixed Reality Casino, Domino Afolabi- who came back to his home late at night after multiple days of being away due to work. He was then greeted by the only member of the family who cared enough to stay awake so late for him- his five year old son Edison, who wanted to play games with Domino.

Domino Afolabi's P.O.V.

"He's playing it on his own now, huh?" I think to myself with a bit of pride, always been trying to get my kids into the old-school games I loved before VR took over- guess my badgering finally worked.

"Pleeeease- please play! I promise I won't tell Mama on you like last time!" Edison whispers and begs me which makes me chuckle a bit, right- the last time we snuck in a little bit of late night fun, Edison had the great idea to tell his mom all about how much fun he had the next morning. Little rat. But even then, I can't resist playing my favourite game here.

"Alright alright, but only if you quiet down. 3 rounds and that's it- and I'm not gonna go easy on you this time!" I say quietly which makes Edison smile ear to ear and run back to the living room couch- which he dives right onto then grabs the controller he was using before I came home.

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"Stop- ohhh you little- you know what they used to call people like you? Spammers!" I whisper with a frustrated smile as Edison just keeps on throwing his stupid bombs at me from across the flat volcanic 2D map were playing on. The kid figured out just how annoying of a character Bomb-a-boom can be over the past few days I've been gone it seems.

But meanwhile as I'm trying to counter him- Edison is just laughing his butt off as he's kicking my ass. "NO MERCY!!!" He screams out one of the character's famous voice lines in between his laughing tears- and I have to take one hand off of my controller to shush him again as I can't help but laugh a bit myself.

"Shh! Alright, enough playing around- you're going down mister!" I say in a whisper as I crack my neck, put both hands on my controller and start to really focus with my own speedy mushroom-human ninja hybrid character- Funshi.

With a few well timed rolls to perfectly dodge the bombs, I FINALLY close the gap between us and kick his Bomb-o-boom into the air and right next to a floating wall.

"Noooo- not the Bye-Bye combo!" Edison cries out with a laugh, GOOD- I give the kid a couple free wins every once in a while to boost his confidence but, no way am I raising a little spammer.

"Keeeeekehehehehe!" I do my classic TV laugh in an evil tone, then make Funshi jump into the air as Edison's character is still stunned and floating in the air. Next- I launch a charged-up punch right at Bomb-a-boom to send him flying into the curved floating wall- which finally bounces him way up into the air and out of bounds. Phew!

"NOOOO! I was so close too!" He complains as he drops his controller onto the floor and starts rolling around on the large leather couch we're sitting on

"That WAS a bit scary, yep. I can teach you how to use Bomb-o-boom properly sometime though, at this rate you might be able to beat me with him someday if ya practice enough and use him the right way." I say after turning my back and ruffling Edison's curly black hair, which makes him dig his face out from the couch and look at me with a smile- but then he frowns and looks scared right after he looks at something behind me.

"Uh-oh..." Edison says slowly, and I hear an "Ahem" a second later from behind me which makes me cringe since- yep that's definitely my wife's voice.

"See you tomorrow buddy, time for bed- for real this time." I say with a frown without even looking back at Dazzline yet.

"Mommy- I- I was the one who wanted to stay up, not Daddy! Don't get mad at him please!" Edison tries to defend me which almost makes me smile.

"Mhm, so go to bed then and I'll deal with your father. Now." She says in a clearly groggy tone, but still a scary one- which makes Edison run his little feet off of the couch and out of the living room.

I finally get the courage to turn around on the couch and look at Dazzline in her purple baggy pajamas.

"Look- I'm sorry for not telling you guys I'd be late alright, I can explain that though. And sorry if I woke you up-"

"Don't care about the second part. Domino, you've been away from home for days- and I've heard your assistant's voice almost every single damn time I've tried to call you since then. The kids have been fucking terrified without you here, you know that? Edison's had nightmares for days and has been wetting the bed ever since Ajal stupidly told him about that horrible Quilline woman- since he was watching the news with me when she interrupted the broadcast. And just about all of us are scared that you're still hosting the risky ticket to Dalkan event even after King Metallica's rampage, since the ticket to Dalkan could draw in those monsters or any other new criminals." She says with crossed arms as she glares down at me.

I groan and rub my face "I've said it a million times, security is going to be extremely tight so criminals won't be an issue... look, I'm sorry. Can we just do this tommorow? Today's been a horrible and long day babe, I can't rig-"

"Don't call me that. Not unless you're going to get your act together, and put your family before your stupid fucking business plans." She says which drives me mad and makes me spring up from the couch.

"Are you kidding me?! Without me focusing on my 'stupid business' you and the kids would have NOTHING. The people of the Hopian Continent- they need me, and I need money to save them! To save ALL of us-"

"Save us from what?! None of us here want our souls shoved into some fake online worlds. And I doubt many other informed citizens will either, it's not real life and never will be." Dazzline says with disgusted eyes, and so I get right in her face and say- no. I guarantee,

"I don't give a SHIT about what you want here- the kids at least are going into the Soul Savers, they have to now. Try and take me to court to fight that choice, I dare you- you know you'd lose that legal battle in a heartbeat." I finish with gritted teeth, with Dazzline now looking horrified- not scared but... just... horrified in me I think.

I take a few deep breaths and... ok... maybe I went a bit overboard... yikes...

"What the hell is wrong with you? Can't you see what your work is doing to you, Domino?" Dazzline says as she stands exactly where she is, but I fall down the couch and stare down at the floor in shame.

"Look, bab- I mean Dazzline... I'm sorry. Ah damn. That was really harsh, I do care what you think, but-"

"No, answer me. Can't you see what the responsibility is- no let's be real here, what the power is doing to your head? Give me an answer or I swear, I will start bringing you divorce papers tomorrow morning." Dazzline says, and I hold back from yelling at her again this time since I kinda deserved it... least she isn't scared of me since she's threatening me, that's good.

I wipe some sweat off of my face and take deep breaths, "This ain't about the power or reputation, never really was but it especially isn't now. I had a meeting with the Hopian Army today and... I can't say much since it's extremely classified info but... but..." I try and say, but I get interrupted by my body gasping for air as I start to tear up- ah jeez...

"But what? What was it about?" Dazzline says in a surprisingly gentle tone, considering she just said she might divorce me now...

"Something bad is coming to this continent in the future. Real bad, way worse than that King Metallica and Quilline combined. And I, I don't even think Prósopsi is confident that he'll be able to protect us from it based on how the briefing. Especially since he said the main reason he and the government wanted to fund my soul savers, is because they're so scared of what's to- to come!" I just barely manage to say before I burst into tears and bury my face into my hands.

"I can't even pray anymore for comfort, damn it- damn this all!" I think to myself which just makes me even sadder, I used to always pray to the Kings when I was really stressed or scared.

"...If these aren't just crocodile tears, then I want a confirmation about this in writing from the Hopian Army, more specifically from Prósopsi himself. Otherwise, you could just be lying here to try and trick us into using those Soul Saver machines." Dazzline says without even trying to comfort me or anything... but I guess her response could have been worse.

"O-ok. I'll try." Is all I say to her in defeat through my snifflin'... can only hope Prósopsi will be nice enough to give write out some super vague confirmation to save my marriage here.

"It hurts that I can't fully trust you enough to want to comfort you here, Domino. It really does. But with the way you've been acting lately, sneaking around and telling the kids lies about the Soul Savers- and then lying to ME about it? Plus because of all the other "white lies" you've made about your work over the past couple of years? I can't take crazy claims like this from you at face value." She says which breaks my heart just a bit more.

"...OK. And- and by the way, was gonna tell you all tommorow but... may as well now. I figured you and the kids might be spooked about the Ticket to Dalkan stuff after Metallica's rampage- so I've already got a highly secured, luxury apartment, set up for you guys to use that's far away from here. You know, during the couple days the events will take place. See? I-I do care about ya'll." I say, which Dazzline doesn't even react to as I glance up at her through my tear filled eyes.

"Would say thank you but, I already took care of that since you wouldn't pick up your phone for the past few days... just- get a good rest Domino. We've got a lot to talk about tomorrow." She says after only putting a hand on my shoulder, no goodnight kiss or hug or- anything...

"You're not even gonna ask about why I was so damn busy in the first place?" I force myself to ask.

"Doesn't matter, no human works 24 hours a day. You know you could have called us at some points, or even just left voicemails replying to my own voicemails that I sent to you when you had the time. You just didn't care enough to prioritize it. Not even to the voicemail about my grandmother who you owe everything to being on her deathbed." Dazzline replies coldly which stings, then fully walks out of the living room and into the hallway that leads back to her bedroom...

"Welp, no way am I sleeping in bed with her tonight." I think to myself with a guilty heart and a sigh as I adjust myself so that I'm lying along the couch with my head lying on the armrest. Need a blanket... nah, doesn't matter... haaaah.

...

"...Are you and Mom gonna break up, Dad?" I hear Ajal's voice from behind me just as my crying starts to stop- how long was he even listening for? Ugh, don't have it in me to scold the kid for sneaking around right now though... so I just reply,

"Dazzline's not a fan of my white lies so... I'll be honest and say that, I hope not but I really don't know. I'm going to try my best to make this work out, though. Either way, I promise, you and Edison are gonna be just fine- me and your mother will always love and take care of you both. Even if me and her are ever apart." I say the traditional response that I hoped I'd never need to say, while staring up at the white popcorn ceiling above me.

"O-ok, I guess... but um... were you lying about that army with Prósopsi part? You were, right Dad?" Ajal hesitantly asks me which makes me squint my eyes shut and want to disappear from- well everything.

"Go to bed and don't worry about it, Ajal. We'll talk about this later." Is all I have in me to say in a stern tone- and thankfully, for once the kid listens to me the first time around and just walks away.

"How am I ever gonna tell 'em the truth? Even aside from it technically being against the law to do that..." I think to myself with a pit in my stomach as I close my eyes to finally rest.