A man leaned against a windowpane and looked out to the vast forest. He had long black hair, and blue eyes, and was covered in tattoos.
The sound of a door creaking open echoed.
The dark-haired man looked up.
A man in a buttoned-up shirt came towards him with a gentle smile, his brown hair neatly combed and orderly, and his green eyes held a sense of purpose.
"You must be Victor Gracian!" the brown-haired man said.
Victor nodded. "Mr Mead."
The man laughed. "Please, call me Joseph. So, Victor, how about we get down to the real deal?"
Victor nodded. "Yes. Of course."
Joseph smiled. "Now, tell me, Mr Gracian...what were the symptoms that you went through before you fully awakened?"
Victor sighed. "You see...ever since I started to play TOW-"
"TOW?"
"That's what we call The Other World."
"I'm sorry for interrupting you. Please continue..."
"I felt the difference between TOW and other VR games almost immediately."
"How so?"
"For one thing...I could actually use Qi in the game."
Green eyes glinted. "Oh?"
Victor nodded. "I had never used Qi before in my life but in TOW...the Qi I used seemed real...it felt...I felt...fulfilled."
"Fulfilled?...interesting."
Victor blinked. "Isn't that you feel?"
Joseph shook his head. "Since my Awakening was natural I never felt unfulfilled."
Victor tensed. Those wordings...
Joseph laughed. "Sorry! That came out wrong. I meant I never experienced a Qi less life so I never knew any differently."
Victor smiled. "so that's it. I have to admit...I was a bit hesitant to meet you, Mr Mead."
"Call me Joseph," the green-eyed man said. "So you started to notice the difference from year one?"
Victor nodded. "There were many who participated in the Beta tests who said that TOW felt different but I never knew the difference..so..."
Joseph leaned in, curious. "Beta tested? There were Beta tests?"
Victor nodded. "Three Beta tests actually."
Joseph leaned back, and frowned. "But I researched The Other World's history and have found that there were no Betas..."
Victor smiled. "It had a different name back then."
"Oh?"
"It was called Primordials or something."
Joseph's eyes shook. "Primordials?"
"That is right," Victor said. "We created a community for those who were showing signs of awakening their Qi and discussed it. We had a few seniors who said that TOW was the official version of Primordials."
Joseph hummed. "This...Primordials...it was the game that shut down three years back, correct?"
Victor took a sip of his wine. "I think so...have you heard of it?"
Joseph smiled. "I knew someone hell-bent on creating something that would allow those without Qi to gain it. It was the dream of his mentor or something...he created...well...I always thought that Primordials was his...to find out that even The Other World is Teacher Qin's is..."
Victor frowned. Though his words were sad, he couldn't help feel there was an undertone of hatred in it.
Victor was newly awakened but he knew to trust his instincts.
"I heard that Mr Mead was working with Scientist Fennings. Where is she?"
Joseph smirked. "She was occupied with something."
Victor finally realised that this might be a trap of some sort.
Joseph observed his expressions and sighed. "I had wanted to know more about your experience but oh well!"
Victor stood up and ducked away from the bullet to his head.
The chair fell and the table was overturned.
Two men appeared from thin air.
Before Victor could react a gun was pointed at his face and the men disappeared with him.
The room glitched and everything was back to normal.
Joseph sighed. He took out his Fold and called a number.
"What is it?"
"The Other World is the renamed Primordials."
"What!"
The sound of something breaking was heard over the phone.
Joseph looked up at the ceiling. "It would seem that the bloody AI evolved more than we had thought. To actually function to such a high accuracy even when there is no longer anyone to command it..."
"We always knew Qin was smart, Joseph. Our priority now is to track down all the awakened or awakening Qiless and terminate this disease. We will deal with Maya once we locate it. As smart as that AI is, there is still the fact that it must need a base of some sort."
Joseph nodded. "According to that Abomination Gracian, there is Forum or something for the Awakening Qiless."
"Find it, and infiltrate it."
"Yes, sir."
Joseph put his Fold back down and looked out the window. He wondered in which parts of the universe these Abominations were hidden.