Scars

Roland was tracing a scar near his left eyebrow. He was looking at a rugged twenty-five something youth staring at him in the mirror. The scar, he remembered, was from when he was Captain of the RAF squadron, stationed in Vietnam.

He had gotten it when his squad was ambushed by the 'Church' sponsored rebels. The war between the two blocks had been going on for years already, before 'Einstein took over.

He reviewed the memories of this Roland. He had to go through this once before. Now it seemed to him like a piece of cake.

It seemed that there were only few major countries that were leading each block. China, India and Russia in the Eastern Block. America and European Federation in the Western Block.

They were directly ruled by the 'Church', which seemed to be similar to the one against which he was fighting in the Kingdom of Graycastle.

Although he could recognize the names of few cities, events of importance, most of it was different from the World that he knew from back then. Heck, it was not even similar to the one from the timeline of the previous Prince Roland.

Years of war, famine and diseases had ravaged most of the countries. Now only the bigger countries remained. The global population had fallen to 2 billion in 2070.

Most of the population now lived in shacks and trailers and in camps. ' Einstein' took care of the farming through humongous bots and supplied the yearly quota to the two blocks.

Most of the population became unemployed as a result. Their only refuge became 'Elysium' where they could spend their days while waiting for the world order to be restored.

The only viable employment was to enlist as a soldier or any other employment such as merchant or blacksmith etc. in 'Elysium'. Etherium earned in Elysium could be used in the real world to buy clothes and stuff.

The science and technology in this era had progressed by leaps and bounds. There were hovering trains and robot cops. There were even tubes through which people could travel short distances. They were called 'Hyperloop'. The cars, which only the army or uber rich had were self-driving.

The big Western corporations had been agglomerated under the 'Church'. The last major independent behemoths in Eastern Block had united under the banner of 'Great Eastern Consortium'.

They were responsible for providing technological support for the 'Witches team' and other Eastern Block teams.

'Einstein' had literally taken over most of the data centers above and under the seas. Mankind was kind enough to setup self sustaining underwater data centers for it to operate unhindered. Roland could only reflect on their stupidity when he recollected this memory.

His father had been a decorated war hero and he had followed in his footsteps. He remembered that he had been appointed to the lead the 'Witches team'.

This team was in charge of handling the 'Border Town' territory of East continent in Elysium. He was an elite in the RAF and this had been one of the reasons why he had been chosen. The other major factor was that he had been a member of the squadron which used 'Elysium' for virtual training during its early days of development.

Roland sighed when he recollected that he was the only male in the 'Witches Team'. The witches, as they were shortly called were a group of hackers that the Eastern Block used when they were fighting the initial stages of the war.

Some of the members were also part of the Chinese and Indian e-sports teams before 'Einstein' took over. There were 10 witches now looking after 'Border Town'. They were Nightingale, Anna, Lightning, Wendy, Nana, Leaf, Scroll, Echo, Maggie and Candle. Roland was their Prince, the in-game title for the commander of a territory.

He also had a lot of supporting characters but the witches were the ones who were on the front lines. They had one goal, to win the Elysium wars, thoroughly routing the Western continent forces and win Einstein's key.

....

Nightingale had left a cup at his bedside table and was looking out the French window at the end opposite to the bed. Faint gold light was coming in streaks; dawn was breaking. She looked like a fairy from some long forgotten era.

"It looks magical" Nightingale smiled and took a sip.

Roland couldn't help but gawk at her "stunning.... yes... magical". Now, there would be magic only inside Elysium. He had hooked up with Nightingale in this rebirth. He remembered Anna from his previous life. It looked like a distant memory.

The Anna in this life was his good friend. He had been together with Nightingale since the early days of the 'Witches Team'. They had felt a spark the first time they had met and had been together since then.

Right, the message from Anna... She had asked them to login to Elysium soon. She had something she needed to show them.

"We need to login now" Roland told Nightingale as he walked up to her. The sun had risen. The soldiers guarding the place were moving about. Roland was staying in a colonial mansion which was owned by his family for decades. He looked further and could some tents and then trees till his eyes could see.

"Are we logging in or not?"

Nightingale came up to him, stood on tip toes and gave him a peck on his lips. He could smell the fragrance of the flowers from all his lives that instant. This life was worth it. He had to guide the witches in a different era. But he was content that they were together. They walked up to the PC terminal holding hands.

The helmet like things were called 'Links'. They were wireless and used that PC terminal to connect to Elysium. The Links could monitor their brain signals and make their avatar function inside Elysium. Roland and Nightingale picked up the Links and went to the bed. Lying down, they said

'Link Start'.