#4 An explanation

Daniel stood in a wide field of plants he had never seen before. The field was surrounded by giant trees enveloped in fog, so dense he couldn't observe anything beyond two metres into it. He looked into the sky. Had he fallen down from up there and just couldn't remember it? What had just happened?

In search of the platform he had just stood on, he turned around, but he couldn't identify any object in the sky. However, the weather was the same as it had been up there. The sun was shining only covered by a few white clouds. So it hadn't been his imagination? He blinked into the sun, shortly after covering his eyes.

When he opened them again, he noticed a person approaching him through the field. It was his father!

"Dad! Oh my God, Dad! You are here!" Daniel shouted as he stormed his way through the field towards his father. James was waiting for him with open arms, ready to catch him.

The moment Daniel arrived at his father's side, he jumped into his arms, releasing tears of relief.

"Oh my god… Dad… I was so scared. What is going on here? Why am I here and not in my room?" Daniel cried out, whimpering in his father's arms.

"I am sorry I had to scare you my son, but I saw no other choice to save you" his father answered in a calm tone.

Daniel looked up, tears still in his eyes. Now he was profoundly puzzled. With a frown, he asked, "What do you mean you had no choice? Dad, what is going on here?".

"As you surely know already, this is Elisa'a. You must have met its creator, Elisa, already. I am sorry that I couldn't be the first to greet you, but I had to make sure that the upload was progressing smoothly before I could join the game myself."

"The game?" Daniel asked, looking his father straight into his eyes.

"Yes, Daniel, the game. You surely must've been wondering what I had been doing all these years, while you were out, using your time to the fullest. I always told you, the day would come, that I showed you" his father answered. His eyes got wet. "And here we are" he started his elaboration on what had happened these past ten years.

"When I heard you had MS, I was out of it. I just couldn't bear the thought that I would lose you, my only son!". He caught a short breath and continued: "As soon as we got home, I started my research. How could I save you or at least prolong your life, so that you would be able to experience everything the world has to give". His father sighed.

The tears that had gathered started to roll down his cheeks. He looked away for a short moment, wiping them away and sniffing his nose. All the pressure that had built up in the past years, the thoughts that had plagued him every single day… Would he be able to make it? What if his idea wasn't good enough?

He could now let them go! He did it! He really did it!

After a short moment, James continued. "I then found a study that was conducted. The objective was to transfer a human mind into a data structure to preserve it. I researched a bit and talked to the scientists that had led the experiment and we discussed my idea of transferring your mind into a virtual world the moment your body was giving out. We all agreed that it could work." James looked into the blue sky remembering the countless hours he had filed on his plan. He looked back at Daniel.

"Of course, we had to test the theory first! And for that, I built Elisa, modelled after your mother. Elisa was copied from an older version of a program I had built in one of my projects. She is a highly advanced AI that, after my instructions, built this world in barely a year. That was 2 years ago". James accelerated his explanation as he began diving deeper and deeper into the topic.

"Then, for the last two years, I worked together with the scientists from the study! We tested the transfer of single subjects into Elisa'a. All of them were in a similar situation to you. They were on their death's door and Elisa'a gave them hope. Unfortunately, we had some issues along the way and not all of them made it. But the more we learned, the more people we were able to integrate into Elisa'a. For most of the participants we had to erase their old memories of our world, so their minds could adjust to the new environment.

Overall, about 40 subjects, so-called 'players', currently remain in Elisa'a, transferred to the digital realm". He caught his breath.

With proudly shining eyes he returned to the subject. "Finally, your turn came. And it was a full success! I just linked the last parts of your migrated self with the world you will be living in from now on!".

After he got no reaction from Daniel he carried on: "I'm sorry that I didn't involve you beforehand… I just didn't have the time and - ". James faltered. "I also just didn't know if you'd agree". A serious look marked James' face as he spoke the last words.

Silence.

Daniel felt paralyzed. Too much information had been hammered into his brain.

Daniel recapped. He was in a game world and his mind had been transferred from his body. He was basically living in a virtual reality game right now. And his father had been spending the past ten years on this project, which he didn't tell him about and Daniel also hadn't agreed to.

He looked away and pointed his view at the ground. It was littered with a plant that looked like a fern. Staring at it he asked, "And what now? Will I ever be able to return? What about… what about my friends? They must be worried sick about where I am. And what will happen to my body?". Turning his head over the shoulder, Daniel awaited an answer.

James looked at him in silence, charity flickering in his eyes, giving him all the answers he needed.

He wouldn't be able to return. At least not in his body. It would probably rot away very soon, now that there was no brain action anymore that could control his bodily functions.

And his friends?

Daniel knew the answer himself. He had turned them away, when he had been in depression, locked up in his room, only waiting for his dying breath. Of course, they wouldn't worry about him anymore.

"Alright…". Daniel wanted to cry. He thought he had accepted his end in the other world and made peace with it, but now that the end was here, it hurt. He turned around to his father and embraced him for a long time. "At least I still have you…". He let go of his father and looked him in the eyes. "So what are we going to do? It's just you and me, hm? Just like in the old times! What do you want to do first? Explore? Test out our limits and go hunt immediately?". Daniel forced himself to smile.

His son grinning into his face, James teared up again. At first, only a little, but then he started to cry.

Daniel was unsure what to make of his reaction. "Hey, Dad! It's all alright! We're going to be fine! We're together now, right? Right?". His smile faded again and turned into worry.

His father shook his head. But not in agreement.