Having fully confirmed that the state prosecutor was going to be in charge of the case, the Silvanas and Dave left the police station and were currently on their way home in the limo Dante and Zoe had arrived in.


    Josh had admitted to all the charges which should lead to at least a reduced sentence. Fortunately for Dave, with Samuel Silvana assisting the state prosecutor, he would at most have to make an appearance in a hearingter down the line. Nevertheless, it was not eptable for yers to turn their in-game frustration into real-life threats and the media was going wild about this high profile offence. Even Conquest hade up with a small update to the user agreement that every yer had to read and agree to if they wanted to continue ying.


    Dave was surprised at how fast Conquest was able to act. It has only been a couple of hours since the assault on Dave’s home and a bit less than that before it became public, nevertheless, they had moved to contain the situation as much as possible.


    ***


    Conquest Game Announcement.


    First of all, we are very sorry to hear that one of our yers was attacked in the sanctity of their home by another yer due to differences in-game.


    Thankfully, yer Death Stroke has managed to get through the ordeal unharmed and the assaulting party was caught. The offending party’s ount is irrevocably deleted and he is banned for life from ying. Yet this doesn’t mean that we are contend stopping there, since another simr act of evil might not end the same way for the victim.


    Due to the real-life threat the yer Death Stroke, otherwise known as Undead Kis’Shtiengbrah or Mr. Skeletal, was subjected to, thepany of Conquest is hereby adding amendments to our Terms and Conditions.


    Any yer that wishes to exact vengeance, retaliation or any other harmful actions toward another yer outside the game will simrly have their ount permanently banned, with no hope of ever recovering it. To make sure this is respected, The AI Albert will be scanning the brainwaves of all yers before entry and exit of the game. This will allow Albert to have ess to the yer’s memories. As we have disclosed in the past, only the AI Albert will be privy to the personal information of the yers and is code-bound to not reveal them. He will be inspecting the yers for any vile attempts on another’s well being and punish them instantly by banning them from the game.


    Best Regards.


    Emile Kada


    ***


    "Isn’t this too much?" Dave scratched his head unsure whether to be happy or not about being used as a reason for stricter controls in what should have just been a videogame.


    "What do you mean?" Samuel asked after having received the same announcement, just like any yer did.


    "I mean, it should be a clear breach of freedom, for anyone to have their memories scanned! I mean things like personal privacy could be avable to Albert and perhaps the staff supervising him. People are bound to get angry," Dave argued, surprisingly thewyer took it in so casually.


    "Not really. Think about it, Albert is an AI, so he doesn’t care about what we deem private. Thepany of Conquest has openly disclosed the matter to the public thereby lessening any protests about them secretly spying on us. Not to mention the fact that all of this is meant for our own protection and the protection of the other yers. The people behind the game do not wish for an ident to happen, or to be responsible for someone dying over it. Your case gave them the perfect excuse to implement this system. Judging by how fast their response was, it must have already been prepared to be used in the not so distant future, anyway." Samuel exined.


    "I still think it’s too much," Dave defended his point meekly.


    "Yes, but this is how the world works. Thepany would rather ban yers than have peopleing after them with ims such as ’Your game killed my son’, or ’sent my son to prison’. As I see it, they do technically give you an option. You will either have to ept the terms of the new agreement or you could just easily not log in anymore. Admittedly, it is forcing their hand, but this will still give thepany all the legal weight they need against anyone who wants to go against them in a court ofw."


    "What if someone doesn’t want to y with Albert brain scanning us every time we log in or out? I mean, how would they get their items back?" Zoe asked.


    "Whatever is in the yer’s ount is theirs as long as the yer is logged into their ount. That is one of the primary terms of agreement of the game. But as long as the people are not logged in, nothing belongs to them. Yet to log in, they have to agree to the terms. No matter what they do Conquest wins anyway." Samuel shrugged while replying.


    "That’s pure evil!"


    "Nothing of the sort, sweety, this is basicpanyws. They were written in there to protect apany’s interest in the first ce, even though they are rarely actually used. Sure, some yers willin, but most will not care about an AI checking up their brain waves. Others will argue that as long as you don’t have anything to hide, you shouldn’t care either way and I would bet that the vast majority won’t be bothered as they are more interested in the game. And once that majority goes back like nothing is wrong, those whoined first can either continue to abstain from the game or resume ying it. Thepany always wins as long as they have a product everyone wants."


    "Thanks for the marketing andw lesson, brother, but I’m really more interested in unveiling the biggest mystery of the night," Dante looked straight at Dave’s face.


    Dave tilted his head, "Which would be?"


    "How did you pull it off? Thanks to the meeting with Tivo and d, I didn’t get to hear the police statement. So how did you do it? I mean I’ve watched your adventures, but this isn’t a video game. The man had a gun, yet you came out unscathed."


    "Do you really wanna know?" Dave asked with a grin on his face. He looked like a storyteller who was about to get to the juiciest part of their story and Dante just nodded.


    "Well, let’s just say a certain lighter came in handy. I should really send some gifts to whoever designed that thing."


    Dante burst out intoughter, recalling their first meeting with Dave, when the young fellow his daughter had brought home had been on the receiving end of one of them, "I knew it was a great gift isn’t it! HA!"


    Dave shook his head, "Yeah, but it only served to calm him down, after I managed to incapacitate him with what was lying around the house. That thing wouldn’t have done anything on its own even if it was the real deal when he first got into the house. Man, thinking back about it today was really hectic."


    "Dad, no need to remind Dave, he should be tired by now. It’s nearly midnight. Josei, how much longer till we get home?" Zoe asked the limo driver.


    "Fifteen minutes, give or take, youngdy," answered the driver.


    "Ugh, you drive slower than an olddy, you should give me the wheel," she demanded.


    "No, youngdy, I swore to myself never to repeat that mistake ever again," Josei replied as calmly as possible.


    "I guess you showed him your driving skills, huh," Dave teased.


    "Well, it was my first time driving a limo, the size of the car can throw you off, you know" Zoe fiddled with her hair as she defended herself.


    "You tried to drift with a limo, youngdy... Trying to drift with a limo..." Josei mumbled from upfront. Dave could have sworn that the limo’s speed decreased even further. Apparently, Josei had not recovered from Zoe’s driving style.


    Dante keptughing and said, "You’ll be spending the night at our home, Dave. I already sent Nici and James to your ce. They’ll look after it and repair the door. You’ll have dinner with us. Looking at the time it’s more of a midnight snack."


    "You really don’t have to, I mean I can go to a hotel..."