Chapter X: Girlfriend. Set
It took me two lives times to lose my virginity, so I wasn't complaining, but I was confused. She jumped me behind a bush, where I could hear people talk as they walked by.
"I guess you were pretty pissed that he slept with your friend if you're willing to sleep me with," I said. I wasn't going to complain, but it wasn't the smartest decision.
Looking at Bianca naked was very nice. She reminded me of the popular girls at my old high school. The girls never gave me a second look and now I was laying naked next to one of them. If I looked like Calixte Lescheres in my first life, I wondered if I wouldn't have been a virgin loser.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked, taking out a cigarette. If she was going for the mean girl stereotype of smoking after sex, she pulled it off.
"Nothing's wrong with me."
Bianca nodded. "Damn right. You're hot enough."
Well, stroke my ego. "I am, aren't I?" I was glad someone else said it. Might sound conceded coming from me.
"Are you sure it's what you want?"
Bianca looked at me. "What do you mean?"
"Well... Shouldn't you take time to process everything? Think it through..."
"You're hot. We've known each other for a long time. Why not? Would you prefer that I slept with a stranger?"
"Well... No."
"Did you enjoy it?"
Hell yeah. "You might kill me if I said no."
Bianca smirked. "Then I don't see the problem. You want to be my boyfriend?"
Huh? "What?"
"I did give you my virginity."
"You know I live across the Atlantic Ocean, right?"
"So?"
"Don't long distance relationships have a habit of not working out?"
"It's not like I'm going to date any of the guys at my school," she said, puffing out a billow of smoke. "It's the digital age. It's not like we have to stay in contact with letters. I can face time you or get on a Zoom call."
I took out my Aqua III. "Give me your WhatsApp information."
She looked at me blankly. "WhatsApp?"
That's right. Americans didn't use it. iMessage was still the king here. "It's the best messaging app in the world. Download it. I'll be your first contact."
She downloaded it and we exchanged information.
"If you don't want to date me, I won't push it," she said as I slid my phone back into my pocket.
I never had a girlfriend. My dad died during my first year of college and I dropped out. In High School, I didn't want to disappoint my father, I put so much time and effort into studying so I could get into a good university.
After my dad died, I shut myself off from the world. I threw myself into my favorite hobby and it became my life. Looking back on it, trapped in that tiny, dirty apartment, I didn't live. I was like a zombie, going through the motions. Sure, video games brought me pleasure and I was good at them, but I couldn't call that living.
Athena gave me a fresh start. It came with a cost and I couldn't escape video games even if I wanted to, but this was my second chance. I wanted to live. I wanted to experience everything I didn't get to do the last time around and dating was something I wasn't going to miss out on.
"If you don't want to, maybe I'll date a girl."
"Are you a lesbian?"
"Bisexual. There are just no girls that I want to date at my school. My bastard of a boyfriend was the only guy..."
"Well, if you want to date a girl while we're dating, just tell me. I'm fine with it."
"Wouldn't that be cheating on you?"
"Not if it's with another girl. Or two."
Bianca laughed and slapped my arm. "This isn't porn."
"I know. I'm just giving you permission."
"I'll give you permission to date a guy. As long as he isn't a girl."
"You don't need to worry about that. I don't swing that way."
Bianca laid back against the tree. "I heard you got a Neural Sphere."
"Yeah."
"Are you going to play that game? What was it called?... Primal Vale? It's supposed to be huge. It's coming out next month, isn't it?"
The official version was coming out on September 3rd. The day before my first day of school. Though like the beta, the European servers wouldn't open until 9 pm.
"It is. I've already played it."
"How?"
"I got lucky and was chosen to be a beta tester."
"Do you like it?"
"It's the funniest game I've ever played."
"There's a VR cafe close to where I live. I could buy a copy and we could play."
Internet Cafes were a thing of the past in the west, though they still lived on in Asia. I had seen enough of them when I toured with my mom. Since the Neural Sphere was so expensive, not too many people could afford them, so internet cafes had a comeback as VR cafes. Stardust Studios had funded a number of its own VR cafes, but I've heard that investors have started to see how much of a profit VR cafes can bring in and more were starting to pop up.
The Neural Sphere was also becoming less expensive, so know knew how long it would be before they were like the Xbox and PlayStation, accessible to everyone?
Euphie, Kanade, and Amos wanted to play Primal Vale when it came out, but none of them owned a Neural Sphere. According to Amos, a VR cafe opened in their neighborhood.
"We wouldn't be able to play together."
"Why not?"
"Primal Vale is region locked. Each continent will have its own server and there isn't international play."
According to Stardust Studios, each region would have its own unique characteristics. The European server would have lore and monsters based on European legends and folklore. The same was true for Asia, Africa, and so on.
"Oh. I guess I won't play-"
"You should."
"Why?"
"The North American server is based on the wild west. Sure, it'll have influence from the native culture, American, Mexican, and Canadian culture but it's going to be unique in the fact that it's more advance than any of the others." Nowhere else was going to have firearms or trains.
It sounded cool. I was kind of jealous. I liked the fantasy trope of medieval Europe, but a weird west game sounded pretty fun too. If the servers weren't region-locked, I would have made a second account and become a cowboy.
"Maybe. I'm not big into video games, but at least I have a new boyfriend. Joshua can rot in hell."
"Who's Joshua?" a voice asked from behind us.
When I turned around, a man that could only be described as a Gym Bro was standing right behind us. I hadn't even heard his footsteps. It was like he just appeared.
Bianca gave him the evil eye. "Who the hell are you? In case you didn't realize, this is private."
We were both naked and he was staring. Yeah, this was awkward.
The Gym Bro snorted. "I'm sorry, but I need to have a word with your boy toy."
Now she looked downright pissed. "Did you just hear me? This is private. Get lost, creep."
"Creep? That's not a nice thing to say." The Gym Bro snapped his fingers and a gust of warm wind hit Bianca. I was thinking that was a strange coincidence when she stood up.
"Bianca?"
"Go wait in your car. I won't kill your boy toy for long."
She stood up, slid her clothes back on, and walked away.
"... Bianca? Where are you going?"
"She can't hear you. I wouldn't waste my breath."
"What did you do to her?"
"I placed her under my power. Relax, my agreement with Athena prevents me from taking any direct action on her champion and those he associates with."
Athena? "You... Are you Set?"
The Gym Bro smirked. He was a black guy, but for a second his skin erupted and became an angry red color. His eyes burst into fire and a red light flickered around him. "You humans have called me Set, so I will allow you to use that name."
"What's your real name?"
"You couldn't pronounce it. If I told you, it would drive you mad, mortal." In the blink of an eye, the red light vanished. His eyes and skin were normal. He looked like a human again.
"What do you want? Are you here to threaten me?"
I stood up, but I didn't know if running would do me any good. After what he just showed me he could do, I doubt I could get away from him.
"Relax, boy. I'm not here to threaten you. I told you, my agreement with Athena binds me so completely that I couldn't harm a single hair on your head. I cannot even wild my powers here."
"You just did."
He waved it away. "I demonstrated nothing more than a parlor trick. I needed you to believe I was who I said I was. The only powers I have are to take this mortal form... And I can compel those uninvolved to leave us in peace. Though my compulsion here is limited."
I wasn't going to let my guard down, but it was nice to know that there was something keeping him from killing me. "What do you want?"
"I want you to reconsider working for Athena. I'm sure she has told lies about me. How I am the embodiment of chaos. How I will bring untold destruction and ruin to everything you know. The truth is I am progress. Advancement. Change. Athena is stagnation.
"Each of us is allowed only one champion, and I have selected mine very carefully, so I have no need of your services, but I can offer you a future."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"If you revoke your contact with Athena, I will assure you a life of luxury. I can make sure you live a life of privilege. You will want for nothing, What has Athena done for you, really?"
"She gave me a second life," I said right away. If it wasn't for Athena, I'd be dead. On the other side, whatever was over that way.
Set frowned. "She gave you this life for her own benefit."
"And you're not? Aren't you here because you think getting me to break my contract would benefit you?"
Was Athena better than Set? The truth was, I didn't know. He claimed to be change. Athena said he was chaos. I didn't know who to believe, and frankly, I doubt I ever would. Both Set and Athena claimed a mortal couldn't comprehend them, so if that was true, then what hope did I have to figure out who was the liar?
Not a chance in hell. I couldn't trust one of them more than the other, but when it came down to it, Athena had saved me. She summoned my soul, gave me the second chance at life that I wanted so desperately,
Set didn't do anything for me. If I had nothing else to go on, I would have to side with the person... Err, Goddess who had given me something people rarely experience.
Set opened his mouth, but a rumble of thunder echoed above the city. The sky was cloudless and full of sun, so the bombing thunder was out of place.
Set looked up at the sky and sneered. "It seems our conversation has come to an end."
"Are you scared of a little thunder?"
Set snorted and glared at me. "I am older than time itself boy. I was old when your universe exploded into existence. The atmosphere of this backwater little planet does not scare me.
"That thunder you heard was the voice of Athena. Her true voice. Your mortal mind couldn't comprehend it, so it replaced it with something you were familiar with. Though I'm sure you will eventually come to understand it."
"How? You just said my mortal mind couldn't."
"You are a mortal, but you are a mortal that has a contract with a goddess. Since you accepted that contract, her power is constantly sowing itself through your body. There will come a point where you will have to adapt. Your abilities to adapt is a credit to your species.
"Before you go, I'm going to leave you with a present."
Set snapped his fingers. In a flash of light, the god vanished.
***
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