While those in Fighters Arena were busy getting their asses handed over to them, the atmosphere in the Mage Tower was different as a every players eye was trained on an individual sitting opposite to a Wizened old man engaged in discussion while sipping tea with smiles as if they're on picnic in their back garden, when they're actually in a Library, they really were out of place since every players were silently cursing at the individual.
"Bastard, I bet he came here to rub it off on us again , what a showoff" a player commented to his neighboring whispers
*Maybe he's even a cheat, how could your intelligence be so high at the start of the game, I don't even know how long it's going to take me to get that amount of Intelligence " the player replied.
Similar discussions were taking place amongst all the players with the individual as the topic except few pragmatic ones who were busy going through books in the library, so what's the cause of the players indignation?, let's backtrack a bit.
...
In a luxurious Lamborghini that was moving through a Highway in a speed that exceeded the traffic limit with the Saudi police trailing behind in pursuit, a youth of about 20 years old was looking through the window gazing at the scenery as they sped past him then he sighed as he looked beside him gazing at his driver who was his troublesome elder sister who was the cause of the chase, "would it kill you to drive slowly for once, you even had to drag me along, now I'm considering if truly there's a meeting to held it this is another one of your pranks" the boy gook his head.
"I'm being serious Yusuf, Dad told me to pick you up from that smelly Lab you locked yourself up in since 6 months ago after he requested for a leave for you, mom's being worried about you too going about how she misses you and all... , so here we are, you are going on a well deserved vacation whether you like it or not, you've done enough for the country you deserve to enjoy your youthful days , you are still 20years old for Gods sake" the lady driving grumbled.
"Sorry, i know I've been selfish, but I was hoping to have a breakthrough with that project, my calculations were wrong this time" Yusuf sighed dejectedly.
*Don't worry, I got you some gift that's gonna give you some new perspective and a freshen your mind" the lady spoke with a cunning smirk .
"Ohh what is it this time Ayesha?, a new doll or a Lego, perhaps a toy car huh?", he replied without surprise testament to already having enough of his elder sisters shenanigans.
"No no no no, it's different this time I tell you... Okay so there's this new company that just came out of nowhere and the world government was helping the company advertise their game, a game called 'Tower of Apotheosis ' without even going for a total takeover like they do with other companies, so I got curious like who wouldn't right, guess what I found?, Nothing!, as in nothing except the company's website, no headquarters, no known CEO, or board of directors or staff, the whole company was a Ghost, so I shifted my attention to the website, I was gonna teach them a lesson about transparency but..." She stopped.
"But what?", Yusuf was curious now, his sister might be a prankster most of the time but once she put her mind into something she always gets result so it's surprising to see her looking dejected, she was a legendary hacker ranked No.2 in the whole world world just below the unknown hacker naked Fixi.
She was known for being very vindictive on the Darkweb, anybody who crosses her always get burned one way or the other, she was also an external consultant for the Saudi Government on Cybersecurity, so is there anything that's that's big enough to make her feel dejected?, apparently, there is.
"I got hacked!!!, while I was trying to intrude into the website server I got found out and before I could terminate I lost control of my private virtual server in 10 seconds can you believe it, it took only 10 seconds to hack me, I feel like I've been living my life in vain", she said while looking depressed "Not even that Fixi could do that and guess the funniest part of it all, the hacker didn't even touch any of my property they did nothing except drop a copy of the Tower of Apotheosis game on my server, can you believe that it's like saying: ' Oh look at you, you don't have anything valuable so take this and don't be a poor snob' damnit" she hit the wheels of the car in frustration.
"Calm down and watch the road, this might be the aliens doing, but what's surprising is that the Government that's always happy to announce any fruitful partnership they have with the Aliens are keeping mum about this, maybe you should try checking the world government server for anything you might fine " Yusuf consoled her.
"Lil bro, you're a genius, why didn't I think of this... Haha, I'm going to have my revenge once I find out who it was... Hehe" Ayesha was giddy with excitement as he pressed on the accelerator.
"Woo... Slow down!!!" Yusuf yelled.
...
Finally, both Ayesha and Yusuf got home, with Ayesha receiving a round of familiar grilling from their parent for her reckless driving and the audacity to take Yusuf along and endangering him, thought this all Yusuf was just smiling since he knew his parents were overprotective of them both and will cover for any fault of theirs, it was a miracle his sister wasn't wayward unlike the spoilt kids of other families who have no skills but built castles with their egos.
"And you Yusuf" his moment faced him next with with a frown "look how skinny you've become are you sure you're woring in a Lab and not a coal mine, look at yourself!, from now on no more going to that stinking lab, you built your own Lab with equipments generations ahead of the one's the government are using but you left them behind for Ayesha to toy with, that's irresponsible of you, so from now you'll be using your own Lab for your work and that's it, Period!." His mom huffed not accepting any form of argument.
"Okay, I think that's it, let me show you the lab, I took the liberty to redecorate and partition it so we don't disturb each other, no need to thank me" Ayesha dragged Yusuf along heading toward the backdoor of the sitting room.
"But it's my lab, why, why am I sharing it with you", Yusuf had a thought but he knew there's no way he's winning
...
"And here we are, what do you think if the retouching I made, it was too monotone before I had the painter add some more colors and art to make it comfy" Ayesha introduced as they walked into a grand lab that took its own space separate from the other buildings in the mansion.
"This painting doesn't seem to be recently done, seems you've almost took it all for yourself, I guess I should be happy I'm still alive as you can't wait to inherit my property" Yusuf mused as he looked around at the lab that doesn't look like a lab anymore with the different neon lights hanging everywhere.
"Ohh I knew you no fun, always behaving like a Grandpa, I guess staying with those old men rubbed off on you, now I know why you don't have a girlfriend, you are the star of this generation!, You perfected the quantum mechanics equation and helped this planet achieve technological breakthrough, you should go out more and show yourself, maybe you'll get yourself a girl " Ayesha laughed.
"I don't have time, and you don't have a boyfriend either so speak for yourself, you're not young anymore, take me to my lab" Yusuf was getting impatient.
"I'm an independent woman!, I'll get myself a nice guy once I'm ready I tell yiu, but seriously now that you are here, do make some time to build me my own quantum server, since I won't be able to use yours anymore", Ayesha knew when to draw the line.
...
"So the gift you got for me is a Gaming chair?, I guesa I have another one to add to the list of useless gifts I received from my sis", Yusuf was not surprised at his sister's antics as he looked at around the black gaming chair sitting in the middle of the space that will be his lab for the foreseeable future, everything was the same except cramped with little space.
"Idiot!, look closer at it, it's not just a gaming chair, it can morph into a pod that supports immersive gaming experience, that company I told you about bought the whole company producing this gaming chairs and updated it to never before seen standard, even I can't make sense of most of the function of the gaming pod, that's one of the things I need you to help me make sense of since you're the authority when it comes to quantum physics and computing ", Ayesha expressed her frustration, it was a first for her to go for the wool and come back shorn, then her glimmered with realization " wait do you think Fixi is part of this mysterious company that produced the Game?, else why is it that even I can't win against them even when I use your personal Quantum computer to challenge them".
"Fixi is an AI" Yusuf replied as he pushed Ayesha out of the lab and locked the door from behind.
"WHAT!!!!!!"