Avoiding the void

Rowan was still floating and waiting for the loading to finish and cursing the servers for their low internet speed. He also cursed NovaTech for disabling the logout during loading or they should at least make a loading screen with a progress bar.

His mind was in denial and was still grasping for straws to make some sense of it all. People in dire situations they can't explain usually create some back story to give them hope and that is just what Rowan did.

"Come on you stupid piece of shit. Load already.", he yelled in his mind.

Meanwhile, his body was being transported onto an airplane to be flown to a better facility with the newest technology since they knew that the machines in the former one did not have a high enough resolution to paint an accurate picture of the damage the micron-sized needles did to his brain.

Maria knew this was the best she could do and it was his biggest hope to survive the ordeal so she made no objections and conformed to anything NovaTech's doctors and scientists recommended.

She went home to pack her and Luke's bags for the next flight she could catch from Chicago to Rochester, Minnesota.

Rickman was looking trough the preliminary results and worrying about Robert's remark about the kid having to pay for the damages he caused their company. He thought about his kids and the implications should he leave and expose NovaTech's plans to the media should something sinister happen.

"Hopefully he won't go too far and I will make sure to supervise what they are doing to him all the way. ", he thought.

"I wonder how the kid is doing? According to the EEG he is awake but without any stimuli, he might as well be floating in darkness this whole time.", he frowned as he thought about it.

He remembered reading about people doing sensory deprivation experiments and no test subjects could take it after a while without developing serious psychological issues. Fear of dark places or nyctophobia was just the tip of an iceberg of psychological issues for those test subjects.

He knew they need to resolve at least his psyche since physically he was doing well in spite of foreign objects penetrating his brain tissue in over one hundred different places.

"Maybe after diagnostics are done we can hook him up to the server again. At least he will have something to do and won't go insane until we find a way to resolve the brain damage.", he resolved to propose this idea to Robert.

When he did bring this matter up, Robert surprisingly agreed. He did insist though to not let anybody know about it.

As the images from the computed tomography which is actually a fancy name for multiple X-rays processed into one picture were processed and delivered they could finally appreciate the full extent of the damage. It was far worse than Rickman presumed. He imagined the needles slowly penetrated his skull but according to this the depth they penetrated was entirely dependent on the thickness of the skull they encountered on the way. Some didn't even manage to breach it while some penetrated over 10 centimeters (4 inches).

NovaTech made sure to use only their own employees and people who had signed NDAs for any interaction with Rowan. The story about this being the consequence of an epilepsy seizure was currently still holding water. They also recalled all of their helmets so the media was praising their fast reaction instead of condemning them.

Maria and Luke came to the hospital four hours after Rowan. He was back in a hospital bed. The helmet was still on his head but it was replaced with a different plastic cover. Robert explained to Maria they can not currently remove it without a high risk of worsening Rowans condition and she accepted it. They showed her an edited photo of the damages which looked a lot less severe.

There were only 16 needles on the photo that penetrated his skull and even those did not reach nearly as deep as the original. Robert said he didn't want to scare her and to keep her cooperation this white lie was the safest bet.

To Rickman, this was no white lie but a very dark grey one but there was nothing he could do if he did not want to risk losing everything. He long lost control of his company and if he endangered the stock price of NovaTech Robert didn't even need to act. There would be plenty of others who would jump at the chance to defend their interests.

In the evening they hooked Rowan back to a test server. It had no high-resolution graphics. Just a white room with a table a chair and some other objects inside.

"Finally!", Rowan thought when what seemed like forever in darkness turned into a white room with a chair.

He used his hand to feel the chair before he sat down. It felt like plastic. He tried touching the table and it felt the same. Hi hit the table with his fist and the dull sound of plastic was produced.

Everything felt real except he knew it was not.

Rickman wanted to communicate with Rowan and explain to him what happened but Robert's cronies stopped him before he could. Rickman saw his avatar in the white room moving and he was sure by what Rowan had done that he was fully conscious. The movements were surprisingly logical and without any panic in them for a 13-year-old kid in these circumstances. Rickman doubted many adults would have kept the same cool attitude as Rowan did.

They explained to Maria that Rowan was not yet responding to any stimulation and that she should be patient and see how it goes.

She wanted to stay at the hospital but seeing Luke she knew they had to go somewhere more comfortable to sleep. She was of no use here anyway. She made them promise to call her should there be any new development and she half carried Luke to a taxi.

Rowan was getting bored by the white room.

"Come on. Load the damn textures already!", he yelled.

Rickman who heard that on the speakers passed coffee trough his nose.

"The kid probably thinks our servers are crap. I wish that was your biggest problem kid.", he audibly told himself. The rest of the crew heard him and they looked worried. They liked Rickman but if they had to choose between what is morally right and their job most would find their moral compass escaped to avoid being in the way.