Corrupted System

Ziro's house was the biggest and the tallest house in the city. Ziro opened the main gate of his house and walked to the front door as the CCTV camera followed his direction.

Ziro stood before the front door and pressed the switch mounted on the wall.

A screen appeared, and it started scanning Ziro's face and eyes.

[Welcome home, Ziro] The voice said as the door opened automatically.

Ziro entered the house and pressed the switch on the right wall.

He walked to the living room only to see his mother, Angelica coming out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe and wiping her face with the towel.

Her body looked wet; seemingly, she wore the bathrobe without wiping her skin.

"Ziro, you are coming now? It's late, you know?" Angelica stated.

"Yeah, I was with Alina. We talked about—"

"Wait," Angelica interrupted Ziro and glanced around, "I heard the sound of the garage door opening. If it wasn't you, then…"

Angelica gasped and tried to rush to her room, "Is Drake home?!"

"No," Ziro stopped her, saying, "It was my delivery."

"Oh," Angelica's face clearly showed dissatisfaction and sadness.

Ziro took a deep breath and opened his mouth to say, "Should I call dad?"

Angelica threw the towel on the Sofa and walked to the kitchen. "It's fine. He will make the same excuse again."

Angelica opened the refrigerator and took out three plates, "Go take a bath. I will heat the food. I just made it a while ago, but put it into the refrigerator because you weren't home."

Ziro went to his room and grabbed his clothes, then took a bath.

The food was heated up, and Angelica invited him to the table and served him the food.

Angelica sat in the opposite chair from Ziro and watched him eating.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Ziro asked.

"I am not hungry." Angelica deep down hoped that Drake would come home soon and she would eat with him.

"What did you order, by the way? You rarely order something. Is it clothes?" Angelica asked curiously.

"It's a V.R. headset, and the rest are kits."

Angelica's face turned pale as soon as she heard that, and sweat started pouring down from her forehead.

"Mom?"

"Why… did you buy a V.R. set? You have never been interested in games and stuff."

"Alina asked me too. She said there is that game… uhh… I forgot the name. She said it's a great game, and unlike other V.R. games, that game doesn't have a paywall on every small thing."

Angelica stared at Ziro with a worried look on her face, "Are you going to play it?"

Ziro took the last bite from his plate and nodded. "Yeah, I want to try it out since V.R. games are getting famous nowadays."

V.R. games have been in the market for over a hundred years, but the V.R. market went down drastically after the tragedy that ensued the world a V.R. game 30 years ago. But soon after, V.R. games started rolling out with keeping the security of the players as their first priority.

Many V.R. companies launched headsets and games— some were exclusive to the headset, while some were just money-grabber games. Both games and headset advanced as time passed, and now only a small device was needed to dive into any V.R. game.

Ziro noticed Angelica's strange reaction and spoke, "If you are worried about my grades, then you know it better than anyone— studying is my top priority… after Alina."

Angelica smiled wryly and stood up, "That's right. I don't need to worry about you."

Angelica picked up the plates and kissed Ziro on the cheek, "Go play that V.R. game of yours. I will wash the dishes and go to bed."

"What about eating? You should eat, mom."

Angelica stopped on her way and uttered, "I am not hungry, and I will eat it if I feel like it."

Ziro was well aware of what Angelica was trying to do, but he didn't want to trouble her, so he scratched his cheek with his finger and stood up, then walked to the garage.

There was a door in the living room that led to the garage, and the main entrance was locked from outside.

In the garage, there was a separate room where the delivery was delivered.

Ziro walked past dozens of cars— including Gypsys, S.U.V.s, sports, and supercars.

The lights turned on automatically as Ziro walked and then stopped in front of a motorbike.

He grabbed the cover lying on the table and covered the motorbike with a genuine smile on his face.

That motorbike was gifted to Ziro by his father, Drake, on his last birthday.

Ziro hurriedly walked to the separate room and saw piles of boxes lying on top of each other, then shook his head in disbelief.

All the boxes had the 'ZEK- V.R.' brand on it, and they were sealed packs.

Ziro opened one of the boxes and found some part of the accessories. He ignored it and glanced at all the boxes— as though he was looking for a specific package.

His gaze stopped on one box, and picked it up, then opened it.

"Found it," He took out a device from the box that looked like a helmet, but some chips and sci-fi look to it.

Ziro scrutinized it and nodded, "This is it."

The helmet was the main headset for playing any V.R. games. But the companies made other accessories for better synchronization.

There were three variants for the full kit. A chair, which has several chips inside it that connected to the helmet, and anyone could dive into the V.R. world from it. The second one was a bed. The bed worked the same as the chair. And the third was the capsule, which was least liked, but most sold.

The main purpose of the capsule was to let people play V.R. games for days without any need for nutrients.

There were many people who just wanted to forget everything of the real world they lived in and embrace the V.R. world. And Ziro bought the chair and the bed to try them out.

Ziro put the helmet back in the box, then picked up the box and carried it to his room.

He placed the box on the table and took out the helmet, then put it aside to check the box.

"Nothing else? This is very… eco friendly."

Ziro began doing something on his laptop and connected the helmet with the laptop.

[Ding!]

"Yes, Lily."

[I checked the CCTV footage as you asked, but none of them got a clear look on that hooded person's face.]

"Did you check the other CCTVs of that area and find out where he goes after that?"

[A car stopped in front of him, and he got away in the car.]

"What was the car's number?"

Ziro attention was fixated on the laptop as he typed in an inhumane speed on the keyboard.

[The car didn't have any number, it was blocked.]

Ziro's fingers stopped typing as he placed his hand on his chin.

"So this was all planned." Ziro pondered for a while, then said, "Lily, keep an eye on Alina if she goes outside. You can hack into anything, but make sure you don't get caught."

[As you wish, master]

Ziro began typing again as he spoke, "Stop calling me master. I am not you master."

[But you created me, and gave me life]

"I am not a god, Lily. I found some commands and procedures in the school's library. And I tried it at home after making my own alterations."

Ziro slowed down his typing and wondered, "Maybe that's why you are indifferent than the rest of the A.I.s?"

[Do you not like me? Or did you want me to be like other A.I.s with no emotions?]

Ziro scoffed, "Why would I want that? You are best the way you are, and without you, I can't do half of the things."

"Hmm," Ziro squinted his eyes as he looked at his laptop screen, "No spyware or cheap tricks to invade privacy."

[May I ask what are you doing, master?]

"I was making sure this V.R. headset didn't have those software and chips planted to invade privacy... Wait…"

Ziro frowned his face, "How do you know what I am doing?" Ziro then gazed at the laptop's webcam and frowned his face even more.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to watch me?"

[But you said I could hack into anything.]

"Don't hack me," Ziro face palmed himself and muttered, "And here I was being careful of privacy."

Ziro grabbed the helmet and sat on the bed, "Lily, video call Alina…" Ziro opened his school bag, took out a small round object, threw it on the wall, and stuck to the wall. "Connect to that camera."

[Calling Alina.]

Alina picked up the call in one Ring. "Hey, what's up?"

Alina could see Ziro through the camera, but Ziro didn't have any screen to see Alina.

"Nothing. I just called you to let you know that I am all ready to play that game with you."

"Did you connect to the game server, though?"

"I am doing it now. What was the game name again?"

"First look at me."

Ziro looked at the camera on the wall, "Lookin."

"Not this! You can't see me. Open screen. I want you to see me."

Ziro sighed, took out two more small round objects from his bag, and threw them on the wall.

"Connect them too, Lily."

A big transparent screen appeared in front of Ziro as he raised his helmet.

"Good," Alina said with a smile on her face.

"Now tell me the game name," Ziro said impatiently.

Alina picked up her phone, which was lying beside her, and started doing something on it.

"Can you hear me? I said tell me the—"

Ring!

Ziro's phone rang.

"I sent you the link. Download the app."

Ziro picked up his phone from the table and looked at the screen. "Is it safe?"

Alina squinted her eyes and said, "Do it."

Ziro clicked on the link as he looked at Alina, "You owe me ten kisses for this."

A page opened, and there was a big 'Download' button in the middle. As soon as Ziro tapped on it, the app was downloaded.

"The game's name is 'L.N.A.', and this app is their official platform to keep track of your players' data."

"What's the full form of 'L.N.A.'?" Ziro asked curiously.

"There is no full form."

Ziro raised his eyebrows and spoke, "Lily, surf it up on the internet."

[There is no full form]

'Seriously?!' Ziro exclaimed in disbelief.

Ziro installed the app and opened it.

[Please create your account or sign in with an existing one] the voice said from the phone.

Ziro clicked on the 'Create new account' and started inserting his details.

"I already made your account," Alina stated.

Ziro's face twitched as he glared at Alina. "Well, thanks"

"I used your email, and guess the password," Alina said with a mischievous smile on her face.

Ziro inserted his email, then uttered, "Is the password, 'ZiroONTOPOFAlina69', or something?"

Alina smirked then grinned, "Close."

Ziro shook his head as he grinned and inserted, 'AlinaONTOPOFZiro69'. The screen loaded, and a pop-up of 'Create your character' appeared on the screen.

Ziro stared at the screen as his face frowned, then looked at Alina, "If you made the account, then you should have created a character too."

"You wanted me to? I thought you would get mad if I decided everything by myself."

"It doesn't matter. I don't care about how I look in the game anyway."

"I have a draft of a male character I made in my free time. Do you want it?"

"You suck at lying, as always. And sure, send it."

Alina sent the file and said, "Just open it using the app, and the character should load."

Ziro did as Alina said and a character customization menu opened with a character on it.

The character had white hair and azure eyes. But there was no face as the character appearance and physique were based on how they looked in the real world.

"What about the weapon type? What should I choose?" Ziro questioned.

"Up to you. I am a sword user, and you can use magic once you reach level 5. So it can help you a lot if you know sword fighting."

"Well," Ziro pondered for a while, then said, "My late grandfather, the previous king trained Lier and me for martial arts and sword fighting. So I guess I will also go with the sword user."

Ziro selected the weapon type. 'It's not like I will be playing this game much anyway.'

"I designed the clothes; how are they?" Alina asked curiously.

Ziro zoomed the character and inspected the clothes. "Such details. How long have you been working on it?"

"I made them last night."

Ziro's eyes widened in surprise, and he commented, "How come you are good at useless things?

Alina puckered her lips as her face flushed, "It's my love for you."

The phone slipped from Ziro's hand, and he stared at nothingness for a while, then took a deep breath and looked at Alina.

Alina stared back at Ziro with a confused— yet calm look on her face, "Hmm?"

"Are your parents home yet?"

"Yeah, they came right after you left."

"I see," Ziro picked up the phone from the floor.

"Why did you ask?" Alina asked curiously.

Ziro furrowed his eyebrows and said with a serious look on his face, "If they weren't home, I would have come to your place and done some unspeakable things to you for all night."

Alina glanced back at the door of her room and brought her face closer to the screen, and whispered, "Who knows? I might have done some unimaginable things to you too."

"Are you horny?" Ziro asked with a straight face.

"Always for you."

RING!

Both Ziro and Alina's phones rang at the same time.

'The maintenance is over. The players can log in now.'

"Hmm?" Ziro looked at the screen and showed his phone to Alina, "Was there maintenance going on?"

"Yeah," Alina nodded, "Though it was an emergency maintenance break for no reason."

"Can we play now?" Ziro asked as he stood up and grabbed the helmet.

"Did you synchronize the app data?"

"Yeah."

"Then you should be able to play now. Wear the headset and lay down on the bed, then press the button near the earpiece."

Ziro wore the helmet and laid down on the bed. "What about you? You are not playing?"

"I am. Wait for me at the fountain. Bye!" Alina hung up the call.

Ziro stared at the ceiling and spoke, "Lily, you know what I am going to tell you, right?"

[To watch you intensely?]

"Keep an eye on everything," Ziro moved his hand towards the switch, then chuckled, "Only if there was a way to take you in the game with me."

Ziro closed his eyes and pressed the switch, and then he felt like his body was losing its sense— like he was going to slumber. He could no longer feel his body or the softness of the bed. He felt like he was floating or drowning in something he did not know about.

He opened his eyes to see nothing but darkness. He couldn't see his hands or move his body— as though he had lost control over his body.

'Is this how the first try works?' He tried to speak, but all he could do was move his lips and hear nothing.

He waited and waited for what felt like an eternity to him.

'How long will it take?' The thought of removing the helmet from his head passed his mind, only to realize that he didn't have any body.

'Did something go wrong?'

Suddenly, he felt a stabbing pain in his head. It was so painful that he wished to die rather than enduring this pain.

Soon, he could feel his body but couldn't move it or see anything.

He didn't even know if his eyes were open or close. and was it truly dark or he had just lost his ability to see.

[Piiii!] a high-pitched sound deafened his ears.

[Tiiiii!] another high pitch sound followed it.

Ziro couldn't do anything to stop that voice and endured it.

[Pi… Pi… Piiiii!]

[Connected.]

[An Outdated System Found.]

A voice rang in the space.

Ziro had become deaf by the high-pitched sound from earlier, and he couldn't hear all this.

[Applying Update.]

[System Updated.]

[Synchronizing System.]

[System Successfully Synchronized.]

[Host Compatibility - 100%.]

[Activating All Functions.]

[Relics- 0 out of 5.]

[Powers- Undefined.]

[Race- Undefined.]

[Rank- Mortal.]

[Bloodline- Mixed.]

[Lineage- Edens.]

[Physique- Enhanced.]

[Applying Data To Host.]

[Foreign Information Detected.]

[Initiating Body Check-Up.]

[Body Check Up Completed.]

[Encrypted Files Found.]

[Decrypting The First File.]

[3% Decrypted.]

[27% Decrypted.]

[69% Decrypted.]

[93% Decrypted.]

[Decryption Failed.]

[Turning ON Master Protocol.]

[No User Found.]

[Connection lost.]

[Connecting… Connecting… Con...nec...ting]

[Connected.]

[One Decrypted File Found.]

[Installing The File In The System.]

[Error.]

[Installation Failed.]

[Incorrect Host.]

[No Match Found.]

[Error.]

[Corrupted File.]

[Forcing System Protocols.]

[Reverting Back To Reset.]

[Reset— On Progress.]

[Error.]

[System Failed.]

[Rebooting System.]

[System Rebooted.]

[System Corrupted.]