Sophia retracted a few stapes from James. "What are you doing here? I don't want to talk to you, wasn't that clear enough?" Sophia asked incredulously. Just then, another boom was heard, and fragments of shards were strewn everywhere.
"What was that?" Sophia asked alarmed. "James, what the hell is happening?" She pointed at a deep crater in her front yard which was spreading quickly. Many people were running up and down, and some fell on the hole to their death. A flat plank fell on a man that was running, cleaving him in half. There were screamings everywhere. "It's an apocalypse Sophia," James said solemnly.
"Look Sophia, I don't have much time. All the answers are in this ring. Please wear it on!" James said hastily looking at the crater that was still spreading. He knew this world was doomed, but he couldn't do anything about it.
Thanks to Sophia being trusting, she took the ring still looking at James questionably. "What use would it be if I wear the ring, are you going to propose to me right now?" Sophia asked as she examined the ring.
"You will know the moment you wear it. Please, put it on" James pleaded. "Alright" Sophia sighed and wore it on. But nothing happened.
"Wait, that's not right." James was stunned. He specifically programmed the ring to activate and upload all of Sophia's original memories to Sophia's character as soon as it was worn by her, but it didn't react. James approached her and fiddled with the ring countless times.
Sophia sighed and looked at James with sadness.
Then Sophia's wall cracked open and fell, shaking the house foundation violently. James and Sophia almost fell to the floor. "James, we have to leave here right now!"
James knew that it was pointless running. The computer simulating their world is collapsing, so unless he left the world, it doesn't make any difference running or standing.
"Look, James, the reason I wanted us to be just friends was to hang out with you without any problems. Please can we just be that?" James knew that fiddling with the ring would not work, and he knew he was at the end of his rope.
To be honest, James was very scared. He has been attacked all his life, and he had always escaped death. However, he never in his wildest thought knew that he was going to end up this way, dying inside of his own invention.
[James, I guess this is the end. The mainboard has crashed. It is impossible to boot out of Parallel City. It's over.]
Since James knew he was never coming out, he decided to spend the end of his life with the only person that mattered to him. With tears in his eyes, he looked at Sophia with a mixed expression.
"I'm sorry for this, for all of this. I was too desperate to fill the void, without realizing I was chipping away my identity little by little. Ever since I left the school we went to, I never forgot about you. You were the only person that taught me how to live my life, and I was forever grateful."
Sophia's became emotional, and tears formed in her eyes. "James, what are you talking about? We've only known each other for like a year or so. Are you alright James..." Sophia was still talking when James suddenly hugged her.
"I'm sorry I waited that long. I promise if we met again, I would properly love you with the entirety of my heart." James said amidst sobs. There was another explosion, and this time, nothing exploded. The environment began to glitch around him.
James took out his phone and connected it to his backup mainframe and typed in a coordinate, before sending a series of messages. He planned to send the message to a time around thirty-six years ago. After pressing send, he threw away his smartphone and hugged Sophia tightly, until the house continuously quaked till it became bunches of ones and zeros floating around him.
"I love you Sophia" was his last words before everything went dark.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
In the current year of 2024, James was in his room fiddling with the radio he took out from his bag. When he opened the radio, he realized it had no battery, which surprised him greatly. "How did this thing even able to produce that sound?"
This was a weird phenomenon. If this strange radio object was intentionally brought to this house, then the person behind it didn't do it with good intentions. James kept it inside a secluded place in his wardrobe, planning to crack the problem later.
"James" his name voiced downstairs. "Yes mom, I'm coming!" James said and quickly wore his uniform, before heading downstairs. "James, you missed breakfast. What were you doing up there? Don't worry, I packed it up so you'll eat it when you arrive at school. There's no more time." Maribel said hurriedly as she fiddled with her keys and her purse.
"Thanks, mom, I'm ready." James was about to take his school bag and leave when Josh called him. "Hey James, I heard you played a game with Andy at the midnight, is that true?" Josh said loudly with an intention that Maribel would hear.
Maribel turned around and look at Josh. "What are you talking about Josh? Come to the car quickly!" She said and locked the door and turned on the alarm system.
When they all entered, Josh intentionally repeated the questions, purposefully reminding Maribel. "James, I thought we agreed on no playing games in the night. You might not know it, but it's going to affect you negatively in the future. Just because you are immune to sleep doesn't cause you to deprive your body of needed rest.
James apologized to Maribel, explaining why he played a game in the night. Although James had done worse, he still respectfully promised Maribel he would not do it again.
"Wait, James can not sleep. Is it a disease? Should I stay away from him?" Josh asked looking at his mom. Maribel sighed as she put the gear to drive and drove to the road.
"No Josh, it's not contagious. James just temporarily have a rare case of Anaemia, so he cannot sleep properly, but that does not mean you should stay away from him okay?" Maribel said while focused on the road.
"I think I should stick to staying away from him. You don't know, his case might not be as simple as it is." James said, eyeing James and adjusting the seat further away from the back seat.
James could not care any less. He ignored Josh and stared intently at his screen. He was still researching the fundamentals of building a storage device. The more he studied, the more he gained. With his current knowledge, he can even build the circuit board that controls the storage gates.
When Josh saw that James was ignoring him, he became disappointed. He wanted to destroy James with all he had, but it didn't work.