Laurent was shocked! After a few moments of stunned silence, he said, "It's true! It's really true! You're Apophis!"
Everyone in the restaurant heard the shouting and stared at the two men.
Alexander, embarrassed, let out a huge belch to try to discredit what Laurent had just said. "As if I didn't have enough enemies," he muttered in a low voice, "you have to shout like that in such a public place?"
"Sorry," said Laurent. "I'm just in shock. How'd you manage to accomplish that with just a simple VRI helmet? We both know you're no genius when it comes to MMOs, and it's not like there was much information released beforehand you could study.
"With all the big guilds investing so much money to build the best Dungeon teams possible, how the hell do they keep failing while you go on to win Nightmare and IronMan dungeons on your first try?! Not to mention, you managed to get to be the most powerful despite the SuperGuilds taking so much experience from their regular players and giving it all to their superstars!"
Alexander didn't want to reveal any information about his resurrection until he knew the truth behind it, of course. It was possible that if the truth spread, he might find himself in real danger from organizations who wanted to harness this power for themselves—even though not even Alexander had any idea how it worked!
Instead, he said, "I just followed my instincts and stopped trying to overthink everything. Horus is a game that rewards that, as it happens."
Laurent was skeptical. He knew that Alexander was hiding something important, but didn't want to press the issue. Instead, Laurent changed the subject. "You know, when I lent you the helmet, we made a deal! You said you'd help me get started once I could play, remember?"
Alexander answered, "You can count on me, of course... as long as you join my guild."
Laurent was disappointed. He'd lent Alexander this very expensive equipment, which had allowed him to become the top player in the world… and now Alexander wasn't even really honoring his side of the deal. Rather than giving Laurent some great starting equipment and Skill Books, and perhaps helping him grind in some high-level areas so he could gain power quickly, it seemed that Apophis was planning on using him as an asset just like anyone else who joined his guild.
Nevertheless, Laurent accepted the condition. After all, it wasn't every day that a player at Alexander's level offered to help him! Even joining the mysterious Eclipse guild was still an honor and benefit which millions of players longed for.
Their conversation shifted and the two friends started to talk about girls. By the time evening came around, they were both well beaten up by their many rounds of drinks.
By the time Alexander returned home by cab, it was about 3 A.M. Though he had many things to do and little time in which to do them, Alexander also realized that proper rest was vital. During the last three weeks, he'd only occasionally slept in his actual bed. Though the device fed him a steady drip of vitamins, it was still detrimental to a player's health in the long run.
***
JULY 6, 2100
Alexander slept hard until 8 A.M., at which point—and after drinking many glasses of water to alleviate the dehydration of all his alcohol intake—he felt refreshed. He would have liked to sleep for longer than five hours, but he decided to make do.
Alexander then went downstairs and had breakfast with his parents. Of course, the revelation of the previous day was still fresh in everyone's minds, and silence reigned.
But Alexander was determined not to allow himself to give into despair again. After breakfast, he would need to meet the real estate agent whom he was supposed to meet yesterday—though he'd neglected to do so due to all his drinking. Also, he wanted to hire a butler to handle certain tasks for him.
Alexander took a cab to the real estate office. After he proved his identity, the real estate agent showed Alexander several apartments in Sector 16. After careful consideration, he chose the most expensive of the bunch, which set him back 4,000,000 credits.
The apartment was about three hundred and fifty square meters—not a mansion, by any means, but larger than his parents' current apartment. The price of living space here was at least twice as expensive as any other part of Paris, so he couldn't quite afford anything more! Nonetheless, it was a real step up from their previous living arrangement. Before that could be considered, though, Alexander would actually have to convince his parents to move into it.
But first… Now that Alexander had a big apartment in a rich neighborhood, it was time to hire someone to take care of it.
A butler!