After saying goodbye to mama Ilfur, I went to mayor Quinn's house with him. Right then, a message popped up in my hud and I had to hurriedly leave the game after stating a few things to Quinn.
The message of course, informed me that my wife returned home from work along with the two pesky critters.
Leaving my game pod immediately smashed my brain with a Different-Reality Syndrome which made my feet wobble a little as my brain tried to cope with the sudden change of reality. It was a normal thing with most VR games but with this game's near-perfect virtual reality, it messed up my head's balance.
As for the 90% reflection, it did have an effect on my body. My plump body which I so carefully groomed in these 9 years as househusband reeked of sweat, bodily filth and a black putrid substance which seemed like a mixture of fat, sweat and bodily salts. Grossss!!! I need to shower as soon as possible.
Rushing downstairs, I saw the two girls sitting in the dining room with Alia having a gloomy face while Anya had a gloating face. Even my wife, who normally has a strict expression on her face had an exceptionally tired expression on her face. The heck!
"Did something happen to you guys?" I said as I entered the room. The three of them turn towards me and was promptly surprised by my sweaty look.
"Are you exercising, dad? Don't you know that if you exercise at your age, your chance of death skyrockets?" says Anya but I roll my eyes at her.
"How cruel can you be?! Kids ask their parents to exercise to live a little longer but you guys simply want to kill me! Sigh… what an age to be living in…" I say disheartened.
"Don't listen to them, dear. You go take a shower; I will get the snacks." My beautiful wife says, taking my side for once but before going, I poke Alia's cheeks with my fingers and say, "I want to hear everything!"
"Gross! Ew! Go away, monster!!"
…
After taking a shower, I promptly change into my cooking attire and get down to cooking fried rice and omelets. By 2 pm, lunch was ready and served on the dining table and it didn't take long for Anya to spill the beans for Alia.
"Dad, you don't know what the heck happened at school today! Do you know Oberon, the kid whom sis was wooing for so long? Yes, that guy just left sis for her best friend. Can you believe that?! And the ensuing drama! It's a big oof from me if you say! Not only did sis break up with her best friend, but they also had a good fight and the principal had to come in. Talk about drama, LOL! Mom was even scolded by the principal, ya' know!" she said in a gloating tone.
Alia wanted to rebut her but she obviously couldn't. Her eyes became teary and her voice choked, "*Whimper* *Sob* H-how d-do you k-know so-so much a-about me! T-talk about your school for o-once…" she said and was about to break out in tears. Losing a friend for a guy… even though it seems pitiful to me since I'm a guy with zero romantic interests but even then, seeing my daughter sobbing like this, how can I stay angry at her?
I pat her head lightly and said in a caring tone, "Don't worry dear, if he left you then it's for the best." But on the inside, I was thinking something different. Should boiling his bone marrow in today's meat soup be enough or should I hang him upside down and whip him until his skin is separated from his bones… I guess making soup out of him would be good. After all, it's clean, nutritious and won't leave behind any evidence. Yup, yup, decided. Today's dinner will be Oberon's flavored meat-soup!
Anya clicked her tongue in annoyance and said, "Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! How can you say that, sis?! I'm your Lil' sis! I've got a birth-right to make fun of you until you commit suicide, you sluuueeettt!" she said, mockingly and I couldn't help but warn her.
"Language girl, or else you won't get tonight's Oberon Flavored meat soup!"
"Oberon-Flavored? Are you teasing sis too, dad?!"
"No! Don't lump me together with you. I'm only going to dice 'im into pieces and use his bone marrow to flavor the meat soup. It should be a just punishment!" I say righteously but Anya simply rolls her eyes.
"Yea, if your words are justice then all the guys who came in contact with sis would've already been in our stomachs! By the way, even though you say such cool things, all the guys who broke up with sis are roaming her school as if nothing happened?"
"I can't do anything if she hooks more guys before I can finish the previous batch!"
Oops!
"Wahhhh!!! Dad, you bully!!!" Alia cried as she broke down into tears and by now I couldn't hold my laughter in my stomach.
"Hahaha!!!"
"Hahahaha! Sis, you crybaby!"
We teased her to our heart's content. Even Indu had a smile on her face for once, a rare sight indeed.
"Anyway, leaving sis aside, what 'bout mom? Isn't she a little too tired today? What happened in the office? Did your boss molest you?" Anya says, teasing her mother but Indu isn't as easy as Alia. She shakes her head and does a Reverse-Uno on Anya.
"What about you, Anya? I heard from the principal that you're becoming quite a celebrity at school?"
"Celebrity! Her?!" Alia looks shocked at Anya, shaking her crying face at once. But Anya simply clicks her tongue and replies, "Tsk! Those perverted old men have nothing other than staring at me! I bet if I'm not cautious enough they will abduct me and sell me in the black market!" she spouts a blasphemous conspiracy theory.
"Leave those old coots to themselves! Tell me about your friends. You know, boys of your age. I'm sure you have quite a fan-base in your school considering how intelligent you are." Asked Indu to which she replies in a haughty tone, "Psst! Boys my age. They are too mainstream! I'm aiming for those handsome science teachers! If I can bag one of them, I will be the talk of the town." She says as she waves a tuft of her hair like an actual celebrity.
Come to think of it,
"Hey Anya, how do you to ward off perverted old men?" I ask her in all seriousness. My question instantly boggles the girls and they look at me with wide-eyes.
"Dad, what're you after…" Anya says as she distances herself from me but I reject her notion immediately, "Stop thinking something useless! It's just my luck that I came across one in the game. I need to get away or else I might murder an NPC." I say honestly because the chance of me killing the old dragon is way higher than I imagined.
"Show us your character in the new game!" says Alia excitedly, "Some of my friends play New World so I might be able to recommend you to them."
"No need for that!" I reject it immediately. I already have enough headaches in the game, I don't want to add more in. Especially teenagers!
"Just show us your character," she insists.
"Fine," I reply as I take out my smartphone and show them an enlarged projection of my character. And looking at it, they all have different opinions.
"Oh my…" Indu cried as she covered her mouth while both Alia and Anya gawked at the picture for a long time.
"Gigolo…" Alia says while Anya weirdly looks at me and says, "Wow dad… I didn't know you were into this…. To be honest, a loli would've been understandable but a shota… dad you're growing some weird fetishes…" but she was quickly refuted by Indu.
"I'm pretty sure that's what your dad looked like when he was small. I saw his childhood picture when I first went to his parent's home after our marriage and its nearly identical to that of him. Isn't he cute?!" she says and for once I feel bashful. Though Alia and Anya completely reject that notion.
"No way, this monster of laziness whom I call dad can't be THAT beautiful and cute. I refuse to believe that!" Alia says with a tone of finality and Anya's remarks weren't far off.
"Hmm…I think mom mistook dad for uncle Anik. It's an honest mistake, I get it mom." She outright refused reality but my wife was pretty solid on my side in this matter.
She shook her head and replied, "I'm not wrong. Uncle Anik was more of a fatty when he was young. In fact, if what I heard was correct then, your dad even attended military schooling for a few years. Fortunately, he dropped out or else you guys might not have been even born." She said but the girls, like the spawns of the devil they were, refused to believe anything. They simply rolled their eyes and thought that mom was simply growing my already destroyed image in front of the girls.
…
After finishing the meal, I took the plates and started washing them when my wife came over and stood near me. She looked at me with a loving gaze and it kinda unnerved me a little. This isn't how she behaves normally!
"Is the game as great as they say?" she asked with a smiling face.
I frown a little and answer, "Sigh… it's a little too great. The virtual reality is mind-boggling to say the least. Are you planning to play too?" I ask to which she simply shrugs her shoulder.
"I don't know… the office is pretty boring and most of the work is done by bots. We only sit and chat most of the time. The boss is even telling us to leave early for several weeks."
"It won't affect your paycheck, would it?" I ask a little concerned but she quickly denied it.
"It's a government job. Even if they decide to reduce my paycheck they can't do it without exposing the club-like office setting. And its like basic in every tax-department now."
"No wonder, tax evasion has spiked in the coming days. Sigh…"
"But leaving the game aside," I say as I place the dishes down and turn towards her, "Why don't you tell me what's exactly the matter in office?" I ask in all seriousness and even though I'm way shorter than she is, she can't wave away my piercing looks.
"I-its… the vice-president's son…"
"The vice-president's son?"
"You see… I have a history with him…. He's … one of my old classmates from high school. He was one of my many pursuers and now that I work under him and his sister, he's taking all the chances he can get. But it's still alright! I can talk to his sister, who is also my boss and do something about it peacefully so you don't need to do anything rash." She says in a stern tone that I couldn't help but shrug.
"Hey, what can I do with my big tummy?! It's not like I can be all gung-ho and storm the tax department office!" I say teasing her a little but her expression was resolute.
"Fine!" I roll my eyes and assure her, "I won't do anything rash. For now. But if he does anything, anything at all, I will simply call gramps and have him deal with the vice-president. I swear I won't get involved." I promised her but she still wasn't convinced. Instead, she clutched my arm and said in a desperate tone, "There's no need to call your grandfather on it… sigh… can't you see, the girls are still growing up and soon they will turn 18. This is the most crucial time for them and we need to support them so that they get into the colleges they want. So please, don't call your grandfather. The last thing that I want is for you to leave for a military tour for ten years or so. I don't care whether you become a mech technician or a military engineer in the safest space fleets. The only place where I want you to be is beside me. Here. Can you promise me that?"
Her words opened up my old wounds and I couldn't help but sigh tiredly. I turn away from her and thought deeply for a whole minute before replying, "I promise you...that I will be by your side and the girls until they mature enough to handle themselves."
"Thank you so much! Muaahhh!" she kissed me tightly on the cheek before leaving the kitchen but I wasn't pleased. After she left, I constantly mulled over what I just said to her and whether I could keep it.
…
So, here's the ugly truth. Even though I said I'm normal in every way possible before, in reality, I'm not that normal. Heck, I'm special and so is my wife, Indu.
I was born in the military family of the Chowdhurys in the nearby districts of Imperial Calcutta in the Bengal Sector not more than 50kms away from Fortune City, where I'm now.
The family was created by my great-grandfather, who is currently 120 years old (Yea, age-extending medicines have come a long way and can extend one's lifespan way beyond common sense. The exact number is still unknown though and is a closely guarded secret of all the superpowers).
He served by the side of one of the infamous 'Princes' in the 3rd World War and was awarded the Primus Gallantry Award and the title of 'Golden Hero' for his service in the war and the making of the Southern Federation, which also goes by the name of South-Asian Federation or SAF or South Federation or simply Federation from the former territories of India. The Prince he served was nicknamed 'War Prince', one of the Four Princes of Southern Federation and the most powerful man in the whole of Southern Federation just third to the CDS and the President. And my great-grandfather served directly under him.
One of his two sons, Sir Ayer Chowdhury, who is also my grandfather, also served in the military starting from just being my great-grandfather's driver to a technician aboard the first space fleet of the Southern Federation, Sovereign Armada before becoming the captain of the 'War Prince's' flagship fleet, Jupiter. He served for 50 years in the military before dying in combat. But most importantly, he had 6 Whole Kids!
And the youngest of them was my father, who is currently serving as the Lieutenant General of Space Marine Cadet Corps while the eldest, Uncle John as everyone calls him worked in the intelligence department of the military.
Other than that, I had nearly two dozen cousin brothers and sisters, half of whom died in military services while a quarter retired due to injury. Leaving two of my cousins who had birth defects, the only one actively serving the army right now is my twin brother, Anik who retired from active military duty as a mech-pilot at the age of 32 with 10 years of service and with an additional hip injury, he became the military advisor of the Motherland Garrison Division here on earth and my twin third elder cousin sister, codenamed 'Anne' and 'Mary' where the former is currently working in a secret mission under Uncle John in the Intelligence while the former is the mech captain of the Nightingale Swordmaidens.
So, if you read everything, you should know that I and my family are nowhere near the term 'normal'. Heck! I'm even more special because unlike all my cousin siblings, I didn't serve the military at all! No, wait! I did serve in…
Anyway, just like me, my wife Indu was from a military family but her family wasn't as high as mine was. And to top it off, her family was part of the pacifist faction. Don't know what it is? Well, let me explain.
If you remember correctly, I said there were four Princes in the Federation and one of them is the War Prince. He is also the most powerful and important one, fact, but other than him, there are three other Princes and they are, 'The Regent', 'The Economist' and 'The Mob.'
The Regent serves as the assistant of the Prime Minister and an advocate of pacifism, making them a direct enemy of the more extremist War Faction of the War Prince.
The Economist is the head of the Reserve Bank of South Federation and the assistant of the Finance Minister while the The Mob is the underworld boss of the Federation. He works for the government and the military for intelligence gathering.
My wife, Indu, is from one of the branch families of the immensely powerful Roy Family which controls the Self-Defense Force or SDF, directly under the Regent.
Therefore, anyone can see that our marriage was like that of Romeo and Juliet, just with one little difference. I made her pregnant before marrying and had a shotgun wedding, something which the conservative democratic parties look down upon. This has led to her being expelled from her family. She lost her privileged status and became one of the 'lower-rung' commoners.
I wasn't too far-off since I too left my family and set up a nuclear family in the Imperial Capital. Of course, my family was a lot more flexible and my 'leaving' was more of an 'I don't wanna attend those shitty marriage ceremonies' kind of thing while she was completely isolated from her family.
As such, from the beginning of our marriage life, we had a tough time making ends meet. With both of us doing overtime always, we even had to leave our newborn daughter, Alia in the hands of the neighborhood grannies. It was a tough time and when Indu had a panic attack, I just said 'fuck it' to that life and left the capital for good and came over here, in Fortune City which was closer to my hometown.
My hidden agenda, which was not so hidden, was to get help from my family whenever there was a political situation or so. Of course, my wife didn't like to get help from family and it's not because of some in-laws problem. No, it's because she knows how military families work and given the track record of my family, she was pretty sure that if I ask for too much help, they would send me on a military commission somewhere to do something which only a 'Chowdhury' can do. And I can't argue with that fact.
But there's something I've never told her. I have already done a military tour and was rejected by the Army. And the one who rejected me was none other than my father himself. So, even though there is no chance that they will reverse that decision, my father is one of the most stubborn of his siblings, I still can't bring myself up to tell that to her without opening old wounds.
After all, there was a time when even I was ambitious and wanted to make a military career out for myself.
…
To be continued in the next chapter.