"Huh?
… Where the hell am I?"
Esmond wondered around a well cleaned and managed manor in parts of it, however other areas were covered with large cloths to protect the furniture from wear and tear.
He continued to wonder around the massive mansion until he heard some sound coming from the corner room on the second floor.
As he got closer to the room, the sound was quietening down, enough for Esmond to notice the pattern.
Small ticks that first sounded like deep scratching, were repeating every few seconds.
Esmond found it all weird and confusing, but he continued until he arrived before the door to the room.
Everything leading up till the room was covered and protected in large pieces of cloth which really surprised him, considering they were supposed to be in a Virtual World, or what he assumed was one.
But seeing Gramps shop and the underground market with the struggling and working-class people, Esmond began to think this was either a planet or sealed space, similar to his Spatial Ark Land.
Seeing dust and grime around the mansion, Esmond felt no Virtual World would add such a stupid feature unless they wanted to add realism but what would be the point…
Either way, he couldn't figure it out right now so opened the door and rushed through the door to find himself within someone's study.
Nothing was out of place, with books neatly shelved and packed, cleaned to perfection.
There wasn't an ounce of dust or filth within the room.
It was like someone focused on the main areas they would use, but this room got the most attention and detailed work.
Looking around, Esmond realised the seat behind the large wooden desk was the only thing out of place as the chair was neatly tucked in but hanging back and twisted to the side, enticing him to sit down.
Esmond didn't feel like anyone was going to rush out and stop him since he was the only person in the empty mansion.
Even looking out the ceiling to floor window in the study room, Esmond could see the back garden of the mansion was dilapidated and overgrown, spilling out all over the place.
As Esmond sat down on the soft red velvet chair that seemed to match the aesthetic of the room somehow, a holographic screen popup from the desk with a video of a man seated in the same red velvet chair.
His hair shined like platinum, with it falling past his shoulders, flowing freely in the air, his eyes shone similarly to his hair, though they looked as if grief stricken and heartbroken.
Esmond hadn't noticed yet, but his bracelet was glowing slightly as if it was resonating with the appearance of the message.
.
"If you're seeing this… then I'm dead…
I never thought I would be making my own recording *Cough*"
The fair skinned man went into a coughing fit, covering his mouth with his hand, before removing it to see his palms covered in blood.
"Well… you can see for yourself… hahaha…. *Sob*Cries*
I've lost it all…"
He cried for a while, coughing up some more blood here and there, until he composed himself, ready to speak again.
Esmond watched it all silently, not saying a word, but too in the reality and pain of the person in the video.
He was broken, tortured, and done with his life…
It was obvious to Esmond, who'd remembered all those lifetimes he was in a similar situation, going through the same heart break.
The worst was when Esmond became numb to it…
.
"Sorry about tha- …. No, I actually won't… I'm fucking dying...
Whoever sees this… well, first off, good luck…
Second, good luck…
I've lost everything to seek out control of the mainframe that runs whatever this space is…
The Retail Market isn't as simple as it seems… it took the people I loved…
It leaves only destruction if you fail it!
…
…" he cursed and laughed hysterically for a moment remembering those that were gone.
.
"I might as well tell you my name…
I'm Henry… fucking… Talbot…
A son of the gr- … Fallen Noble house of Talbot, part of the Onitor Galactic Empire…
A fucking pointless Galactic… Noble… Human… it all means jack shit….
… if I honestly could go back, I would fucking kill every noble bastard I saw in sight… fucking filth…
…" Henry voice was filled with venom and utter disgust for his empire.
Only for a second was their pride in his name and of his familys name but the mentioning of his empire filled him with vile hatred for them.
.
"You might be wondering why I am so furious, right?
… it started with my system… well whatever it is, I got access to the Retail Market…
That… that's when all this shit began…"
Henry stopped for a second to take a long sip of drink, swirling the ice within the exquisitely crafted transparent glass cup.
"I set up a stall and sold goods from my home world just so I had enough credits for my adventures through the various markets.
It wasn't bad… those days were peaceful and calm… but eventually it attracted more and more Users who wanted to buy the goods I was selling.
From that point on everything blew up in scale and soon I had legions of stores and people working under me…
To be honest, while it seemed enjoyable that I had all this power and could play with the lives of all these people… it didn't once faze me or interest me to do any harm to them…"
He continued his drinking, pouring himself another glass of what seemed like whisky or a similar type of alcohol, but Esmond wasn't too sure.
His whole attention was on Henry, who continued to explain his past.
.
"Turns out, people will come and seek out trouble, especially if it means their greed is fulfilled…
Certain groups came and 'helped' me expand my business, though what I didn't know was their ulterior motive.
I've dealt with people like them all my life… even though the extent of our cooperation never extends beyond business… however, these bastards took things too far…"
Esmond was positive Henry would have thrown his glass at the wall if not for the delicate books that were clearly important pieces.
"*Sigh* My business grew to a point that it was beginning to get out of hand… at the point I thought it might be salvageable, but my misfortune came across information I shouldn't have heard…
From that point on… everything went to ruin…" Henry paused for a moment, as if the memories and decisions of his past were flashing before his eyes…
.
"My world… a place far away and much different to the Retail Market was targeted by my so-called business partners…
It wasn't the old world that was under the control and protection of the Talbot family…
…
Those bastards worked with my fucking cowardly empire to seize all the planets in our control…
Everything…
Even the main planet in our control, our home planet… was taken, with its people…
They just fucking cut free the house with my family from the planet and through it out into space, leaving them behind to die…"
Henry wasn't crying or upset like earlier, rather he wanted to make sure whoever was watching his video understood the power and strength they held.
It wasn't a simple thing to move planets, especially those filled with citizens and cities that had lives of their own, all swept up in the muddy waters of power.
.
"All I have left to my name… my fucking pitiful name… is one planet… Gebrion, a world I'd bought for my dear wife as a present…
Because of a rule in place by the Retail Market protected certain products sold for a particular amount of time to save User having their items stolen…
Unfortunately… those bastards found a way around that too…
Without know it, they had purchased rights with the remaining assets of my business to the waste collection and planet wide landfills, choosing Gebrion as the destination…
A beautiful world, filled with exotic plants and landscapes perfect enough to take your breath away… all ruined by the sound of those damn portal appearing the sky, spitting out mounds of waste onto the planet…
Destroying it all within minutes… leaving nothing behind but a wasteland that encompassed the planet…
That is all I can leave you… and this dilapidated mansion…"
Henry up until now as recounting the story of his past, though it sounded more like a conversation than a message left behind after death.
.
"You might be wondering where this mansion is… it's one of my last safe havens…
You haven't left the Retail Market, instead, you are currently within a separate space… something I bought from the market…
While I don't know when you might come to see this video… I hope any answers you may have, are answered by the homes manager…
…
All I can say at this point is… good luck… and I hope you never have a fate similar to my own…"
With that said, Henry ended the video, weirdly staring directly at Esmonds eyes like he knew how tall the person would be that might see the video.
However, Esmond wasn't concerned for long as the screen changed and soon a program was beginning to start up without Esmond having to do anything.
.
….>Booting<….
….>Done<….
{Thank you for updating the Manager System of the Home Spatial Pocket!}
{User, swipe across the screen with your bracelet for the System to receive your information}
Esmond did what was asked of him on the screen while also getting in touch with Carter at the same time since he had some plans and questions, he wanted answers to…
'Carter, have you been following everything so far?'
'Yep, dippitty do, plus Echos also watching. Apparently, it, sorry I mean, He…, has been connected to Esmond live tv since the upgrade he went through…'
Carter was cheerful as hell because he finally wasn't wondering around the space in his body alone.
Like himself, Echo went through an upgrade and received a body within the space.
It let him gain a gender of his choice and also build his body as he pleased.
Echos upgrade also meant the workload on Carters back lessened, allowing him to focus on improving his abilities on the side like Eddie, Kane, and Echo in the A.I World.
Being able to see Esmonds activities finally grew from a task that he was always stuck with to something he could enjoy with another…
.
'Hello Master!'
Echo shouted with a little joy and cheerfulness in his voice since he'd been learning expressions and human behaviour within the A.I World to help himself develop a unique personality of his own.
'Hey Echo.
Um, if I open a gate can you two send some drones in? I want someone to contain with the mainframe to the Manager System.
If need be, we can take it back to the space and return it later.'
They agreed and didn't wait long as a gate opened for them to send through a swarm of drones.
Some were merged together to create humanoid drones while some where fine and flying through the air.
Areas of the house were being cleaned and then stored within the humanoid drones.
The whole point was to bring the mansion down to its basic before they could work on upgrading the home or do anything renovations within the Home Spatial Pocket, but first and foremost, Esmond needed information.