Explanations

I stare dumbfoundedly at the woman I know as Naomi, standing next to Alex. The same woman that ruined mine and Yuki's life.

"What the hell are you doing here!" I scream out.

Naomi flinches at my outburst, almost like she is about to cry. Before I can say anything further, I am interrupted by Yuki.

"Mom, please calm down. I can explain everything to you. Why don't we go to the living room, and I will get some tea started."

I look toward Alex trying to figure out just what is going on. Alex just nods my way and moves out from the doorway, giving me room to leave the bathroom before speaking.

"Sarah, just listen to Yuki. Everything will make sense." Alex calmly spoke.

I gave a big sigh and decided to listen to everyone. I shambled into the living room with everyone else in tow and plopped down on the couch that could barely hold three people. Yuki got a chair from the dining room for Naomi to sit on and then went back to start the tea. After several minutes of awkward waiting, Yuki returned with the tea and sat beside me.

"Ok, mom, I will tell you what happened while you were in the game," Yuki said while placing her tea on the coffee table.

====

Lenora had respawned back in town to find only Emiko had respawned too. She quickly looked around the surrounding area to see if she could spot her mom. Failing that, she walked over to Emiko, sitting on the edge of a fountain.

"You think my mom is still fighting that horde of goblins by herself?" said Lenora as she sat next to Emiko.

"If she is, she has just become a bona fide badass. Tanking a group like that solo would not be easy for anyone this early in the game."

Lenora and Emiko waited a bit longer, looking at everyone who passed by in hopes it was Gwyn, before realizing she was not showing up. Lenora started to get nervous and was pacing back and forth.

"She should have been back by now unless she actually defeated them and is making her way back to town," Lenora said as she nervously chewed her lip.

Emiko stood up, taking one look around before turning towards Lenora.

"Why don't you log out and wait for her at home, and I'll stay here a bit longer, and if I run into her, I'll tell her you logged out."

"Yeah, that sounds good. I'll do that."

With that, Yuki logged out and found herself waking up in her pod. She climbed out, threw on some pajamas, and walked into her mom's room. Yuki could see her mom was still asleep in her pod. Confirming she was still in the game, Yuki decided to occupy herself while waiting for her mom.

Several hours had passed by, and it was starting to get dark getting dark outside. Anxiety filled Yuki's mind as she walked back into her mom's room only to find her still in the pod. Worried, she decided to call her aunt as she didn't know what else to do.

"Hey, sweetie. What's with the late-night call?"

Yuki then explained everything to Alex, from how they were attacked and died all the way up to when she logged out to wait for her mom.

"That's why I called you. I am getting worried about mom. She would have logged out by now."

"I'm sure she has her reasons for not logging out yet. The pod can be used for extended periods, but I will be over soon."

Around forty minutes later, Alex arrived with a small bag slung over one shoulder. It was apparent that this was an overnight bag.

"Sorry took longer than I wanted. I didn't know where I put this bag at. As your mom logged out yet?"

"No, she is still in the game."

After some time, it was apparent that Sarah was not logging out of the game. Yuki decided to go to bed with Alex, sleeping in her mom's room so she could look after her pod for any changes.

The following day nothing had changed. Sarah was still in the game and had not logged out. By this time, both Yuki and Alex were getting worried about Sarah. They were in the living room discussing what they should do when a loud, muffled, agonizing scream came from Sarah's bedroom.

"Mom!" Screamed Yuki as she ran into her mother's room and stood over her pod. The scream was short and quick, but her mother's face was contorted in pain. Alex had followed closely behind and had the same look of concern as Yuki did.

"That's it. I am calling a doctor. Yuki, contact Exodus Technologies support.

Yuki quickly found their support number and called. However, the wait time was agonizing for a large corporation. Alex did not have such an issue. Due to the unique situation, a doctor would come to the house along with the paramedics.

Yuki had finally got ahold of someone by the time medical personnel had arrived. With the doctor's help, Exodus Technologies finally sent an agent out to investigate. The doctor had done her examinations and would return once the agent arrived later that day. Exhausted and scared, Yuki sat on the couch next to Alex.

"I don't know what to do. I am at my wit's end. I wonder if Emiko has seen mom yet. I want to log in and ask her, but now I am afraid I might get stuck in the game too."

"Yuki, all we can do is try to be positive. I think Sarah's case is an isolated incident. I've been looking online to see if anyone has been saying anything about getting trapped online. Still, the only results I get are some online novels about such topics. If you don't feel comfortable going into the game, you don't have to."

"I will take that risk. I need to find out if Emiko has seen her."

Yuki got up and went into her room. She stood by her pod as she slowly collected herself. Yuki undressed and crawled inside her pod, logging into the game. She sent Emiko a message inside the game and met up with her by the same fountain.

"You seen my mom around yet?" Lenora questioned, taking a seat on the fountain again.

"No, I haven't seen her, and messages don't get through either."

"We called a doctor and Exodus Technologies support. An agent will be at our house later today to check the pod and whatever else."

Emiko looked down at the ground in concern and contemplation before speaking. "Give me your address. I have some pull within the company, just a little, but it should be enough. I normally wouldn't meet people IRL from games, but this sounds serious."

Lenora had some hesitation but quickly discarded it. If Emiko can increase the odds of helping her mom, she will take it. She promptly gave out her information to Emiko.

"You live out over there, huh? I will probably be there sometime tomorrow.

Yuki then logged out and told Alex what was going on. Of course, Alex was interested to know who could have such pull with a large corporation but seeing their situation, she didn't question it any further. The agent later showed up, and the doctor as well once she was free.

"I ran some diagnostics on the pod and checked all events with her game character. There is nothing wrong with the machine, but the weirdest part is she is not even logged into the game. Around the same time frame, you died in-game; she just logged out. The logs show it was some force log out, but I am clueless now. I need to take this to higher so we can see what happened."

Sensing Yuki's concern, the doctor spoke up. "I will have a nurse come here daily to run some of the built-in life support functions this pod has. You are lucky to have the Elite version. If you have any concerns or questions, please call me."

Once they had left, Yuki lay down on her mom's bed with Alex and cried herself to sleep.

The next day just before noon, Yuki received a message from Emiko that she would be at the house in a few minutes. She quickly got dressed just in time to hear a doorbell. She and Alex promptly made their way to the door and answered it.

The door opened for Emiko, and she saw the two women standing by the door. Her eyes glanced over them but stopped once they landed on Alex. Her eyes widened in recognition and fear as she blurted something out.

"Sarah!?"

Confusion took hold of both girls upon hearing Sarah's name. Alex quickly composed herself before starting her interrogation.

"How do you know my sister?"

"Ah, that's. Well…" Emiko had started to stutter. She never thought she would encounter that woman again or anyone who knew her.

"There are only a handful of people that knew my sister from that company, and judging by your connection to them and the fact that you know her, I can guess who you are. Isn't that right, Naomi Reyes? Current fiancé to Kaito, Yuki's Ex-Father."

With Alex's revelation, Yuki's eyes go wide and then fill with hatred as she realizes this is the woman.

"You're the bitch who ruined me and my mom's life! I thought we were friends, but you were just a liar! We don't need you here; we can figure this out ourselves."

Yuki started to close the door before Naomi stopped her.

"Please wait! I can explain!"

"EXPLAIN! Explain what? How you stole my father? How you caused my mom's severe depression? How you forced me to abandon my friends and move to a different school? I don't need any explanation from you." Yuki spouted in a rage.

"I didn't want to marry him!"

Yuki and Alex looked at Naomi in confusion yet retained their stern glare. "So, you just wanted to break us apart for fun then? This was just some game, and afterward, you would leave?"

"No! I was forced by my family to be engaged. Kaito and his family had me under the pretense he was already divorced."

"Really? Your family forced you? Couldn't come up with a more believable excuse."

"It's true! The public doesn't know my family like I do. They see their children as political tools. Kaito's mother and my father made a deal to marry me off into their family. They only care about family legacy, so I had no choice unless I wanted to be disinherited and kicked out."

"So, you just chose for me to be disinherited instead!"

"Yuki! I know you are angry, I mean, hell, I am angry too, but it looks like there is more to this situation than we knew about. Let's listen to her story before we jump to decisions. Let's not forget that your mom, my sister, is still in trouble, and if she can help, we should let her."

After hearing her aunt's words, Yuki calms herself. "Fine. But just know I still reserve the right to kick you out."

The trio makes their way into the living room, where an intense stare-down happens.

"Explain. In more detail." Yuki said with a cold voice.

"I'll have to start a little ways back. My family is old-fashioned. Growing up, I wanted to do my own thing and make a name for myself. I was the third child born; all my siblings are sisters. Shortly after I was born, my father got testicular cancer and had to get them removed. Despite our advanced technology, cancer is still a problem. My father saw this as a huge blow to his legacy because he lost his chance to have a male heir."

"My father started to marry off my sisters to the children of other powerful corporations in hopes of continuing his family legacy. He made a deal with the current head of Exodus Technologies, Kaito's mother. She had considered me to be proper wife material for him."

"I was then told I would marry Kaito since he was recently divorced. I didn't want to marry into wealth or power. I wanted to do something for myself. When I brought this up to my father, he threatened to kick me out of the family. I'd lose my inheritance, and he would make it hard for me to live because I disgraced him."

"On the day I was forced to meet with Kaito, I knew this was a person I dint want to be with. he was rude and arrogant and was also placing his hands all over me. That was also the day I met Sarah. Since then, I have done whatever I could to postpone the wedding, but my father is getting impatient, and I will soon have to marry."

Naomi then starts to sob uncontrollably. "I'm so sorry. I never wanted to ruin anybody's life. This all happened because I am weak and scared."

Yuki's expression softened slightly, but how could she still trust just like that? Either way, she will still require her help.