A Fond Memory And Lives On A Board

Entry 31:

Linus Ozias POV:

Have you ever felt overdressed for a get-together or a reunion, and while you are wearing a decent suit, everyone else is business casual at best?

I am the former as I went over to the Herbert family's place in a decent suit and when I knocked on the door like Sheldon from Big Bang Theory just because I can.

After a couple of knocks on the door, Danny answers wearing some crocks and a t-shirt, with an apron that has a phrase on it that says " I Am The Steel Of My Frying Pan."

Danny greets me by saying, "Oz, welcome. It's nice that you made it. Taylor and her friend could barely keep themselves from calling you using Ann's phone."

I smile and walk inside, and while the house is not too large, it's a standard two-story, two-bedroom, a bathroom with a basement and a small kitchen.

As I head to the kitchen to greet Annette Taylor and her friend Emma Barnes, meet me in the living room as they are doing the Tiamat boss fight.

"Hey, Mr. Ozias, this is Emma, and Emma, this is Ozias or the creator of FGO."

Emma's eyes widen as she pulls Taylor into a huddle, and I can make out with my enhanced hearing, "Taylor, you told me he was a programmer, not the actual owner of Ozcorp Entertainment."

Taylor giggles as if amused by her friend's confusion. While Emma deadpans her friend and turns around to greet me.

"Hello, Mr. Ozias. My name, as Taylor has mentioned, is Emma Barnes. It's an honor to meet you."

I give her my best smile, which causes her to blush, but she is a middle schooler, so that's going nowhere because this is not a Japanese anime.

(For reference, Taylor and Emma are around 13/14, and our MC is in his late twenties.)

"Good evening, Ms. Barnes. My name is Linus Ozias, or just Oz or Linus. I have no preference for either/or. And I am happy that my game has made you so excited, and I hope that you keep playing."

A bit marketable, yes, but hey, it's what I want, as the more people that play, the more influence I have over them.

*Cue Evil Laughter*

But after making some conversation that relates to FGO, schoolwork, and embarrassing crushes, we head to the table.

Annette was able to procure some steak and macaroni salad, which was very good, and I mentioned it to Annette.

"This was amazing. Compliments to the chef and Danny, great work with the seasoning."

Danny nods his head at me before saying, "Thanks, Linus. In fact, we were quite nervous about this as well. You are one of the richest men on the planet."

I simply smile and pat the man on the back and say, "Danny, my friend, it's not about the money. It's about making a great meal. It's about the heart you give it while making it."

I paused as I reminisced about my previous life. While my Mom was not the best at cooking yet, every meal from her and my Dad was always the best.

I won't be able to have those meals now nor those emotional moments, but I can share them with others.

We talk and enjoy the meal as Danny has actually been making more money since I bought his Dockworkers Union, which now serves as my main force on the docks along with the people.

This was a part of the plan as it was poverty, in addition to Annette's death, that would cause Danny to shut down, leaving his daughter to face her demons alone.

So I have simultaneously saved her and her family and, by virtue, the world as without Taylor triggering, she never becomes Skitter and then Khepri and dies at the hands of Contessa.

I have my own plans now. Nothing will stop me now.

Because I need to protect this peace of mine at least until I uplift humanity Warhammer 40k style, hopefully without the Chaos Gods and Xenos, of course, but that is the future, and Taylor is trying to get my attention.

"Hey, Oz, is it true that you are releasing more games?"

I swear, even without her control network of bugs, she just knows.

"Yes, Taylor, but I can't tell you about them just yet. I can't have you ruining the surprise, as we both know how bad at lying you are."

"Hey, I am a great liar. In fact, I am lying right now."

I just lift my eyebrow at that and chuckle.

But then she and Emma give me puppy eyes, and I swear that they are literally shining right now, but I use all my willpower and say.

"Taylor, I can't tell you, and those eyes will change nothing."

They keep doing it, and I look to Annette and Danny for help, but they are both recording this, and Danny gives me a thumbs up.

I simply sigh and return fire with my own shounen anime protagonist's closed-eye smile that trips them up, and I swear they had a nosebleed, but I am probably just imagining things.

Well, now what to do? Both she and Emma are just muttering to themselves about pretty boys and the unfairness of pointy ears and long white hair.

I am just built differently. Gotta love that Essence of the Generic Isekai Protagonist.

The two then give up, luckily, as I was about to crack and return to discussing their servant builds for the Babylonian Arc in FGO.

I continue to converse with Danny and Annette as she still wants to write my autobiography, and I do agree to have her write it, just not now.

Eventually, the time gets late, the sun retreats in the sky, and I bid goodbye to the Herbert family, and Emma returns home with her mother.

We agreed to do this more often, and now that I have set up my business and my tech has advanced far enough, I feel less nervous about dealing with Zion and the other end-bringers.

The effects I have had on this world are already starting to show themselves as crime has decreased due to the arming of the PRT and the police with better tech.

To be honest, I wish I could have seen the look on the faces of men like Coil and Kaiser as they realized my weapons were worthless in their hands.

Soon enough, the bad apples will be taken off the and will not be left to rot but shall disappear completely.

I've actually had my finger on Coil's brain bomb for the past couple of days, debating on whether or not I should keep him alive.

He is rather worthless now, and he's just another piece on the board, and while he believes himself a big fish in a small pond, it's, in fact, the opposite.

In most cases, I would just do to him what I did to the members of Cauldron and just separate his personality and create my own but his crimes are too numerous, at least his future ones.

As I hold up the detonator, I turn the key. Bye-bye, Coil, you will not be missed.

Coil POV:

I am a very calm person. I dealt with the aftermath of Elisburg and that Monster Nilibog. I was there when I had to abandon my teammates other than Emily to survive.

Years of planning went down the drain because of one stupid conglomerate that somehow just came out of nowhere.

Every time I try to split the timelines, it does nothing, and none of my choices actually do anything. (Due to the nature of our main character's precognition protection, his ability to split timelines is useless.)

I already know where he lives, that stupid Linus Ozias, coming in and helping the world, but I see through him.

I see how he truly is a monster, just like me, but unlike him, I'm willing to make the necessary steps to wait and watch.

I have my men ready to assault his house and kill him, and if they are caught, each one of them will die if they flip on me.

Even if they do, they don't even know my real name and face, so it will just be their end.

But as I'm about to tell the leader of my men to assault Ozias's house, I begin to hear popping sounds from outside my door, and as I open it to look into the hallway, I immediately shut my door at the site.

Each of their heads had exploded, and all that was left was their headless forms in the hallway, before I could use my ability to split the timeline to see why this happened. I saw black and wondered where everything went wrong.

Linus Ozias POV:

I watched from the window of my home as Marcus and Connor tore through Coil's men while on the monitor beside me, I saw my view of Coil's base as each one of his men's heads just popped.

And to be honest, due to the fact that Thomas Calvert was only a consultant, no one will miss him as he had no friends or family, and by the time they put up a missing person, no one will care other than maybe Emily as they were teammates.

In the event that they do find his base, I've already placed evidence of his various crimes in his office.

So the man who wanted to be king of the bay dies with no one to mourn him or care for his passing.

It's kind of funny how Coil wanted to be the eminence in the shadow of Brockton Bay yet failed so utterly. He must not have been chunni enough.

All of the bodies are disposed of and disintegrated, but their weapons are kept as, hey, you can never have enough guns.

Chloe calls me on the phone to ask if I'm fine, to which I promptly respond that I am alright, which is kind of redundant because she can basically see me at all time.

Kara had already prepared a late-night snack by the time Connor and Marcus had finished with the men outside, even though I found it a bit creepy that she was smiling while she knew this was going on.

But with Coil's death, another piece is off the board, one step closer to a brighter tomorrow.