During the last sixty seconds of the game, I grabbed Riel and looked for the sixth player in the group. The actions taken by the other members were identical. I solicited Elle's aid in caring after Dayen. As soon as everything was in its proper place, I saw a lady seated in the middle of a black cement, if I am not mistaken, with one leg crossed over the other. She seemed indifferent, not afraid, not puzzled, and not joyful either; I was at a loss to determine what was going through her head because of the way she was behaving.
She adorned her neck with a number of elaborate necklaces and other pieces of jewelry. Eye color that isn't as brilliant as average, skin tone that isn't as white or black as most people would expect, and so on.
"Excuse me, miss, can you join our group?" I questioned her in a hurry, without asking whether she already had a group or not yet. Such considerations cannot be made at this point in time.
She looked at me with a little smirk and raised her head slightly. She gave the impression of someone who was completely unconcerned with the time. "I can hardly move at this point, I waited for someone to come out to me. My stomach is hurting on the side."
After listening to her words, I found myself having to blink my eyes many times. After looking down at her, I saw that a large fabric was tied over her tummy. There is most likely an injury or anything else behind it.
She came over to join us without further ado. Riel and I assisted her in standing up in place, and we were prepared to guide her towards our team when she claimed that she could manage walking it all on her own.
"What are your names, both of you?" she asked while we were on our way to the other members of the group. Her tone of speaking was full of excitement.
Riel and I exchanged glances, and I have a feeling that our reactions to what we saw are quite similar. Before I answered the woman's question, I gave her a quick shake of the head.
"I am Andrew…"
"R-Riel…"
"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Rona—"
"Times up!" The PA continued to talk back and forth. The lights flickered several times, creating the appearance that they were prepared to make it tough for us to see. Rona maintained her composure and glanced around while Riel let out an audible gasp and shielded his eyes, but Rona was unaffected by the sightings and continued looking at these lights.
The instant that we arrived at our squad, an electronic gate in the shape of a massive volt opened up in front of us. Then, eight distinct circles materialized one after the other accompanied by a mechanical sound, which left us perplexed.
"Why did you choose someone who is injured? We are doomed to failure!" Behind my back, Daniel Robar suddenly leaned forward and whispered into my ear. I can just feel his irritation coursing through my veins.
Should I reason out that there's no time? I just gave him a shrug of my shoulders, and he let out an audible gasp.
"The game contains eight teams out of fifty members. That means, those who left with no group would be eliminated."
When we turned to look around, we saw two elderly folks standing behind us. It turned out that they were the only people who were alone after everyone else had their teams. Both of the elderly people held hands, with the older guy holding a white cane in his other hand and wearing a black shade. The elderly lady stared at us and made some hand motions, which we could not understand.
"She's deaf," Elle uttered. "While the old man is blind," she added.
"They both have rings on their fingertips. They are probably husband and wife," Rona inserted. As someone who had a lot of jewelry with her, surely, she can easily spot this item from this distance.
The elderly woman's motions got more rapid, and when she stopped all of a sudden, that's when I knew that she was trying to convey something to us but eventually gave up because of our confused expression, trying to understand her. Her wrinkly face was fixed in a painful smile as she gently stroked her husband's cheeks and kissed them.
Daniel stepped at my side and speculated, "Since only the two of them left, that means, they are out of the game, right?"
I nodded, "I guess so…"
"What will happen to them?"
Well, that… I have no idea… We have no idea.
As we all turned our attention to the pair cuddling, there was a brief pause in the conversation. After then, the two of them vanished into thin air in a matter of seconds, seeming to have been affected by some kind of technical error. It seemed to us as if a holographic doorway had opened up before our own eyes.
All of us gasped in surprise in confusion.
"W-What's the meaning of that?" Daniel questioned in a slight fright. Me, personally, had also felt the same sensation.
What happened to those two elderly folks is a reflection on what would also happen to us if we become eliminated. I wondered whether they were able to wake up back to their physical selves.
Players' faces stunned, countless of them had their mouths hung slightly open. This atypical feeling of uncertainty had occupied the entire section, leaving us contemplating our decisions.
"Players, you need to decide on a circle for your group then stand inside it. This will act as your entry point into the realm of Last Byte on-game."
Our focus was brought back to the primary reason for undertaking this quest in the first place. As soon as we passed through the gate to select our circle, the area was immediately overwhelmed with noise once again. The circles were surrounded by red LED outlines, but the space inside them was still filled by the dark tones of the surroundings.
The environment suddenly became pitch dark after all of the teams had selected their circles with uncertainty going through the backs of our brains. We laid on the ground, unconscious of what happened.
Third Person
"Well give the relatives the option if we have to cremate them or not," Doctor Chantal spoke to Doctor Fenix after he contemplated on the idea of cremating the eliminated bytes from the game.
From the somewhat raised area of the hallway, Doctor Fenix observed as the corpses of the elderly man and lady were dragged from one section of the white bed towards the other by those nurses. He couldn't grasp the sense of a squeeze in his heart as he witnessed this.
"Have their family members already arrived?" Doctor Fenix queried as he continued to stare at the patients who were unconscious, peacefully looking.
Doctor Chantal choked and glanced at her brother. They exchanged communication through their sight. "W-Well… It turns out that they had been separated from their relatives, even children, for almost twenty-five years already. So," the doctor cleared her throat in silence for a moment before continuing, "it turns out that this couple had been living alone for a long time. Their children have their own families…"
"I see," Doctor Fenix uttered in whispers that only he could hear clearly.
The female head doctor averted her gaze and took several slow, deep breaths. She is aware of the fact that this particular agreement between Last Byte is not something that will be simple for them to deal with on an emotional level. But what are their other potential courses of action? The exponential growth in the number of health-related cases has been going strong for years.
A white cloth was placed over the couple's faces after the nurses removed all of the wires and syringes. They carried them out of the hall and then continued with the procedure of cremating the bodies. They are at a loss for what to do next since none of their family can be reached. After their coffins were lowered into the blaze, it started to burn up. After scattering the ashes over the pot, they laid it down on an extended table that was draped in a fabric that was white on one side and crimson on the other.
They labeled their names on it like a table tag.
Dr. Fenix descended the staircase leading to the cremation living room, and Dr. Chantal followed close after. His brow furrowed in surprise when he unexpectedly got a text message from the Last Byte secretary requesting him to attend the meeting their company is going to have this evening.
Why would they go to the inconvenience of inviting him when he must be paying attention to the patients all the time?
"What's wrong, doctor?" Dr. Chantal asked.
"Last Byte company wants me to attend their corporal meeting this evening," Dr. Fenix replied quickly as he proceeded walking back.
Dr. Chantal shared his confusion, as seen by her response. "W-What? Why? They know you are busy right now."
The doctor shrugged his shoulders and clenched his teeth in frustration. "To be quite honest, I have no idea what their intentions are. However, I do not have an option but to be there," he quickly responded under pressure.
As soon as they arrived at the primary reception area of the cremation office, he immediately stopped walking and turned to face Dr. Chantal, stating, "You take my position when I am not around."
"But—"
"I trust you. You can do this."
Dr. Chantal made eye contact with him. When she looked away, she nodded.
"Fine."