Revenant

PATH OF THE IMMORTAL—2062

If he could have, Ignatius simply would have left the story mission at the moment this dark-cloaked figure revealed that he knew the truth of Ignatius's identity as someone who had died but was still alive.

Unfortunately, this mysterious person had also disabled all of Ignatius's menu options, as well as freezing time within the mission.

Since he no longer had a body and couldn't access the emergency stop function of his old body's NeuroVR helmet, Ignatius was completely at the mercy of this figure… a person who had just told Ignatius that he should come along and meet other people like him.

What was the best response to all of this? Was there any point in denying the truth any further?

Ignatius swiftly searched his brain for memories that might be relevant to this situation.

Fact: The Chinese scientist whom Ignatius had been working with for the last year—whose name Ignatius couldn't remember—had known how to allow Ignatius to kill his body but to continue living in Path of the Immortal's code.

Fact: Scientists almost always based their theories off the research of people who came before them.

Fact: Ignatius had no memories of other people who supposedly also lived within the game's code.

Fact: Ignatius had some memories 'missing' that he was supposed to have.

Therefore, it was entirely possible that the Chinese scientist had known about this dark-cloaked person's organization, and had intended Ignatius to meet up with them once he killed his body. Perhaps Ignatius had known about this himself, but had then forgotten, along with the other missing memories.

However… It was very unlikely that this particular meeting had been planned in advance. After all, Ignatius's original plan to gain power in the early game had involved skipping Story Mode for a while and going right into a dungeon. It had only been due to the random chance of getting Crystal Coins from that Necromancer named Daemon that he'd gone in this direction instead.

Therefore… This particular meeting was due to random chance. If Ignatius was supposed to meet anyone from this stranger's organization of dead-but-living players, it probably wasn't supposed to happen at this time and place.

'If only I could "remember!"' Ignatius thought bitterly to himself. He clenched his fists in frustration, straining his mind as though he could somehow squeeze the hiding or missing memories out like water from a sponge. Then he took a deep breath and decided to take a cautious strategy.

"You called me Ignatius," he said at last. "That's what you can keep calling me, because my old identity is… gone. I know that there's no going back. Before I say anything else, tell me what to call you."

The figure's name was hidden, which was possible for any player to do in their menu settings, but the stranger gave a thin smile at this. "I see you have the proper mindset already. But you speak like someone still coming to terms with your new reality.

"Yes, I'll tell you my name… but be careful with it. Don't be going around and asking people if they know me. In this brave new world, the AI might as well be God in heaven, watching down on us all and looking for ways to punish us. The world has ears, so speak the names of your fellow Revenants with care. Yet… you can call me Ozyrus."

This, of course, drew Ignatius's attention at once. He replayed the words in his mind several times, pondering their implications.

'…the AI might as well be God in heaven…'

In this timeline, it was still many years before the unknown player reached Floor 100 of the Eternal Tower and, through some mysterious event, merged with the game's AI to form the entity which would call itself God.

Therefore, it seemed like a bizarre coincidence that this Ozyrus person would make such a casual comparison.

Could it be that Ozyrus was the player who would one day merge with the AI?

Ignatius realized that, even if this was truly a simple coincidence, it was a possibility that he needed to investigate. So, even though he knew it was foolish to allow himself to be drawn into contact with a bizarre organization which he knew nothing about, Ignatius gave a slow nod to Ozyrus.

"All right," he said. "I'll be careful with your name. Let me make this clear right now: I have pretty much no idea what's going on, except for the fact that I can't log out. I knew a Chinese scientist who used to pay me to help him with experiments. The most recent experiment seems to have locked me into the game."

This was enough of a mix of truth and lies that it would hopefully seem plausible to Ozyrus and anyone else who might hear the story. Ignatius could remember meeting that scientist…

Actually, he couldn't quite remember the details. But he knew that this whole "saving the world" thing had come after they'd known each other for at least a few years, after Ignatius had served as the subject of some more ordinary experiments, such as ones involving the application of electrical currents in the brain to induce specific hallucinations.

The work had paid well, and the two had almost become friends. Probably. Was that all true, or had Ignatius's brain pulled it together from nothingness?

In any event, Ozyrus nodded thoughtfully at Ignatius's words. "Well… I'm sorry that you had to find out this way, but you are most certainly dead. There's a certain data byte attached to your character's identity which is normally unused, except for certain debugging purposes. In fact, once you meet the others, we'll change that byte, so that the AI can't see that there's anything at all wrong with you."

Ignatius tilted his head. "But it… tells you that I'm dead?"

"Yes," said Ozyrus, his voice cautious once more. "It indicates there was a catastrophic disconnect between your brain and the server, and so you're a…" his voice trailed off. "You don't seem very distraught about learning that you're dead."

This would be a pretty tricky interaction. Ignatius shrugged, making his gesture look as lazy as possible. "I don't think I believe you. That sounds pretty far-fetched. I think I'm actually still in a laboratory chair, perfectly safe, even if I can't log out right now."

Ozyrus's lip curled up in a smirk. "Ah, I see. Denial. Well… I'm afraid it would be stupid to reveal anything further until you've accepted the reality of your situation. There's a certain level of… desperation… that is necessary before the true path to enlightenment can be pursued. I'll check on you in three days. Perhaps by then you'll realize that your scientist failed you, that a much better life awaits you now, and that only 'we' can show you that life."

Anger rose in Ignatius's chest and he opened his mouth to snarl that he was ready to meet the others now, but Ozyrus had already vanished.

And, at the same moment, the rest of the world around Ignatius returned to its normal state of existence. Water flowed once more, birds continued soaring through the sky, and Siegmund continued talking about something unimportant.

And Ignatius simply stared at the place where Ozyrus had been standing. 'Alright,' he thought to himself. 'Three days. I can get plenty done in that time… including faking the sort of desperation you're looking for. If the secret to God and the Anomalies lies within your organization, Ozyrus, then I'm going to get to the bottom of it.'

Without another word, Ignatius raised his hand to the button that would let him leave the story mission.

This time, it worked.