As I stepped into the portal, I heard a chilling voice, "Welcome to the Abyss."
The voice sent a chill down my spine. I had never heard anything like it before. It didn't sound human; it was more like a robot.
I looked around to see where the voice came from and realized that the portal I used for teleportation was gone!
Panicking, I desperately began to run back to where the portal had been. But all I could see was an eerie landscape with nothing but red clouds and withered trees.
Then I heard that voice again, and this time I was sure it wasn't human! "[Affirmative, you cannot escape without the permission of the Gardener.]"
"H-huh?! Wh-what Gardener? Where am I?" Alan questioned in a scared and angry tone.
"[Affirmative, you are in the Abyss, also known as the Abyssal Garden. You used the 7th gate of the Abyssal Garden, which is why you ended up here, human.]"
Alan didn't understand what was happening, but he knew he needed to calm down and think about his situation and what his next course of action should be.
After he calmed down, he deduced that whatever that voice was, it probably didn't mean any harm to him. If it wanted to, it could have killed him instantly!
Trying to act brave, Alan asked the unknown voice, "W-who are you, and what is this place? What do you want from me?"
"[Affirmative, I have already told you this is the Abyssal Garden. I am the Substitute Gardener or the manager of this place, CST-4. As for what I want, there is nothing I want from you, human. You just coincidentally stepped into our garden's 7th gate, which is why you are here.]"
Alan understood this was an A.I. managing this place. Manipulating an A.I. is a lot easier than talking to normal humans. For now, Alan's plan was to get as much information as possible from this A.I. and convince it to send him to Celestial Harmony.
If this garden could teleport him from that weird forest to this Abyssal Garden, it must have some sort of teleporter or rift, he deduced. If he was lucky, he might even get some useful items. He smiled and grinned in satisfaction. "It's a foolproof plan. Heh heh heh."
"Ahem, ahem, Mrs. A.I., I would like to ask some questions if you don't mind?"
"[Negative, I cannot answer any more questions for you, human. As a visitor of the garden, you can ask at most three questions. You have already used two of your questions. I advise you to think about your final question carefully.]"
"W-what?! What kind of bullshit rule is that? Why didn't you say that earlier? And who the hell made such a stupid rule anyway?"
"[Negative, are you sure you want to use that as your third question?]"
"Y-you...," Alan tried to calm down and started to think about what he could ask to get the most information out of this stupid machine.
He thought it was a dumb computer, but it was far from it. As Alan was deep in thought about what he should ask, he started to remember something the A.I. said to him. ("As a visitor of the garden.") He theorized that right now, he was like a guest of this garden. If he could become a resident, he could get more information and leave this place!
Though he did not want any association with this creepy place, what other choice did he have right now?
Putting on a brave act again, he asked his final question to the A.I., "Ahem, then Mrs. A.I., this is my final question to you. If I am a visitor to this garden, there must be a residence system to this place, right? And being a resident should have more perks than being a visitor. My question is, how may I become one?"
"[Affirmative, according to what you have said, you have asked three questions, not one, but I will ignore the useless ones and answer the important one for your benefit.]
The Abyssal Garden indeed had such a system called 'Users' in the past when people used to live here. But as of now, you can see it is nothing like that anymore. Since the Gardener (Master) has left this place, without his approval, I cannot add you to his residence list. I am sorry to inform you."
"WHAT?! What do you mean you cannot add me as a user or whatever? What am I going to do here, just rot and die? I've had enough of your crap! Send me back to where I came from, NOW!"
"[Negative, you have used up all your questions, and now I am not obliged to answer you anymore.]"
"Answer me, damn it!"
[.....]
Alan became frustrated and began yelling at the A.I., but it didn't respond. At one point, Alan just gave up and started to agonize in despair. "What have I done…? Maybe it's all my fault from the beginning… If I hadn't used that compass and left that mansion…"
As Alan was in despair, the A.I. finally replied.
"[Affirmative, it seems the visitor has lost all sense of reason and fallen into deep despair. In that case, this A.I. may assist you in something if the visitor is interested.]"
"H-huh?!" Alan rubbed his eyes, unable to comprehend what was happening. "You mean… you will let me go from this garden?"
"[Negative, I have never said that. However, I have a small little game for you, and if you win, you will be rewarded handsomely. It is more like a challenge than a game, to be fair.]"
"You mean…" Alan realized the A.I. was playing with him. He was angry that even a machine was using him, but what choice did he have but to accept the game the A.I. presented to him?
With a scared and angry tone, he replied, "I-I ACCEPT YOUR LITTLE GAME! SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!"
"[Affirmative, the visitor has accepted the game! Pause all protocols, repeat, pause all protocols.]"
("Huh? Why did the A.I. seem a little happy? Was it my imagination? Maybe machines don't have emotions anyway.")
"[Affirmative, all preparations have been made. Do you want to continue, visitor?]"
Gulp "Yes," Alan replied in a confident-looking tone, though he was really scared inside.
"[Affirmative, the visitor has given his final answer. Remain all protocols paused until the visitor has completed the game or has died.]"
"W-what?! Wait, what was the last par—"
"[Then let the game begin!]"
"[I wish you the best of luck]"