《One Adventure》 Prologue :D This is my first take on writing fictions. I would like to apologize beforehand for some misspelled words and grammar mistakes that you might find in my story(for now and later) since English is not my first language. But I hope you enjoy it. :D ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "It" started as a proposal on an evening news. After that, "it" spread like wild fire. "It" easily found its way as a hot topic for debate not only on TV shows but also in classrooms. And soon "it" can be heard as a discussion matter at home. What am I talking about, you ask? I¡¯m talking about the VR bill. VR bill? VR bill stands for Virtual Reality bill. Don¡¯t worry it doesn¡¯t ban the use of VR system, instead it encourages the people especially the students to learn and use them. Why, you ask? It¡¯s year 2040, people. What do you expect? Of course, VR systems are widely and more frequently use in this era. Although 20 years ago it started as a form of entertainment, but as of today it can now be use in various fields like in medicine, education, and such. How did it happen? Well, people in various professions and fields saw something more on the concept of virtual reality and its system. And I tell you ¡°that something¡± is somewhat beneficial, financially beneficial. So, they tried to emulate *RR ¡®s VR system, of course with the help of some well-known programmers *coughs* hackers, and incorporate it with their line of work. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. And whose crazy enough to sign up for this idea, you say? Well, I¡¯m glad to tell you that Japan, South Korea, America, and India, which were considered the big four of the VR game industries, were first to sign such bill. Soon, other countries joined them as well. Well, why wouldn¡¯t they? There is an observable boost in the economy, rate of unemployment drops, and etc. Though there are still certain drawbacks as well, like being diagnose as a VR addict and such¡­ Well let¡¯s not talk about that, shall we? Now, where are we? Oh, yeah about signing and stuff. There are still few remaining countries that haven¡¯t signed the bill yet (by the way, North Korea is excluded on the list, because they¡¯re still going strong with the hermit kingdom thing). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now at this very moment, a man located in a certain small republic country, is suddenly facing the biggest dilemma of his life time, I mean presidency. His decision could probably alter the situation of his country for the good? or bad? Well, he¡¯ll never know until he decides¡­ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author''s Note: *RR- Royal Road,Unicorn Corp¡¯s hit VR game." This.is.IMAGINATION. Chapter 1: Gamble This is my first take on writing fictions. I would like to apologize beforehand for some spelling and grammar mistakes that you might find in my story (for now and later) since English is not my first language. But I hope you enjoy it. :D --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4:00 pm, inside the President¡¯s Office of the Republic of the Philippines ¡°I assure you, you won¡¯t regret this, Mr. President.¡±A chubby woman in her late 30¡¯s confidently stated. ¡°How can you be so sure about this?¡±A man in his late 40¡¯s shifted his sight from the piece of paper that is causing him distress to the guests inside his office. ¡°Mr. President, I know that you can understand better than any other people what we, parents, worry about. We want to make sure that our children survive in this dog-eat-dog world without our assistance. And in order to do that, we need the VR system. ¡°A woman in her early 30¡¯s stood up and walks in front of the president. The one whom they call the president was still sitting on his chair with his hand on his chin, brooding on his stall decision. Then after a few seconds, he finally spoke and said: ¡°What about the bad effects brought by this so-called VR system? And don¡¯t even try and think for a second to lie to me, because I know and you all know that there¡¯s bound to be problems arising from this later. Have you ever thought of any of that? Do you understand now? We are risking the children. We are risking our country¡¯s future. ¡± The president can''t help but express his fierce opposition to this idea and expressed it by standing against his guests. ¡°Of course we had thought about that a million of times, Mr. President. That¡¯s why we need to introduce the system earlier to them. So that the students will get used to it, and not wind up getting addicted over it.¡± The chubby woman is now standing beside the other guests. Then the third guest finally joins in the argument. ¡°Mr. President, over the years, we have received numerous reports from the *LEC that stated that the students aren¡¯t very participative as before. They also lack confidence with themselves because they lack communication skills and competencies to back them. These might be small factors that you might not consider for now, but it may pose a threat on the future of our children, the future of our country. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. But, the VR system will solve this all. Since, its goal is towards development and mastering of competencies and for players to get their quest, they have to interact with the NPCs. Also, we made sure that as much as possible every quests and event are interesting so that they¡¯ll surely focus on completing them.¡± ¡±And your point is?¡± The president said shifted his gaze to the man speaking. ¡°What I¡¯m trying to say, Mr. President is that enthusiasm, good communication skills and mastery of competencies are the things that our children lacks right now and they need it fast. The world is ever changing and technology is evolving fast. And where do they stand? Where does our country stand? We are at the very bottom of the pit. Now, if we really want to rise and compete with other nations at the global scale, we need to step up a notch. And we will start it with the children; the children will bring us the future we all desire. And it will never happen if we don¡¯t take a risk.¡± The man then walks towards where his two companions stands and positioned himself in between them. ¡°Your choice: our future.¡± The man offered his pen to the president. The president shifted his gaze from the pen, back to the guests in front of him. ¡°Thank you, but I have a pen.¡± The president took out his pen and finally signed the paper. ¡°You certainly made the right choice, Mr. President. We, at LANPANMEJ Corporation, will surely be with you, every step of the way.¡± The guests said in chorus. After that, they excuse themselves and finally left the president alone in his office. The president slowly sits back to his seat and muttered in the air. ¡°I sure hope that I did.¡± --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Later that evening¡­ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author¡¯s Note: *LEC- Learners Evaluation Committee (purely based on imagination) This.is.IMAGINATION. Chapter 2: A False Start This is my first take on writing a fiction. I would like to apologize beforehand for some spelling and grammar mistakes that you might find in my story (for now and later) since English is not my first language. But I hope you do enjoy it. :D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The news about the president signing the VR bill has become the hottest topic of the year. Not only did it conquer the social media, but it has also become the talk of every community throughout the whole country. And although the VR bill was signed that day, it still needed a 100 days to implement the law. Since it needs time to gather, install and program capsule pods with the VR system, to all public and private high schools, state colleges and universities in the whole Philippines. Also it was reported in the news that only grade 9 and above high school students are allowed to use the VR system for entertainment. Luckily, there has been no change of schedules of subjects in all public and private high schools, since the use of the VR system is scheduled for two hours every weekdays after the last period. Now for college and university students, the VR system that they¡¯ll be using is programmed to help them master skills and competencies in relation with the courses they¡¯re taking and the schedule of its use will depend on the their respective instructors and advisers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 100th day 3:48 pm (3-4 pm Algebra), inside a grade 9 classroom in a public high school ¡°Go to lanpanmej corporation website.¡± The boy whispered to the communicator in his wrist. ¡°Error establishing a database connection¡± A robotic female voice answered him. ¡°Refresh! Refresh! Refresh!¡± The boy couldn¡¯t help but increase the volume of his voice in irritation. ¡°Unable to connect to the *Stream¡± The robotic female voice replied. ¡°What the heck? Who turned on their *NJ? Guys, plea--¡± The boy suddenly stop at the middle of his sentence as he saw two murderous eyes staring at him from afar. ¡°ADAM NICANOR A. RUIZ¡± The teacher stood up from her seat and said his name loud enough for the whole class to hear. The teacher then started walking slowly towards the unruly student. ¡°Y-yes, miss?¡± The boy replied with a stutter, as his teacher stood in front of his seat. ¡°Adam, how many times has this happened before?¡± The teacher worriedly said. Adam¡¯s classmates stared at him and all Adam could do was lower his head in shame. Seeing her student like that, the teacher let out a sigh. Then, jokingly said: ¡°Isn¡¯t this the nth time already?¡± The whole class suddenly burst into laughter and even, Adam himself can¡¯t help but show a faint smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, miss. I ¡®m just too excited today.¡± The whole class was silent and then, nodded in agreement. The teacher sigh again and said: ¡°Yes, I know that all of you are excited. But since it has yet to start, then you must listen first to my discussion. Now, do you still remember the first rule that I¡¯ve established in this class?" ¡°That is respect, miss. And again, I¡¯m really sorry.¡± Adam said shyly while in his seat. ¡°That¡¯s right, Adam. For now I¡¯ll forgive you, but next time I¡¯ll confiscate your communicator and keep it for a whole week.¡± The teacher then smiled. Adam then smiled wryly in respond. KRING! KRING! KRING! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I opened my eyes, just in time for class dismissal in the last period. I let out a yawn, then stand and stretch both my arms. Who am I? To make things clear, I¡¯m not Adam and most certainly not the author. I know I¡¯m breaking the fourth wall here just talking to all of you, but who cares, its part of my inner monologue. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.Well to start, my name is Loue M. Asebal. And I¡¯m just your average grade 9 student. You know Adam from before, right? Adam and most of my classmates, make it ¡®all¡¯ of my classmates, are very excited with today¡¯s implementation of the VR law. To get ahead start from the group, Adam tried to access in the LANPANMEJ Corporation website in order to gather basic information about the game. But sadly, from first day up ¡®till today the site has yet to open. I know all of that because I have been listening *coughs* eavesdropping to Adam¡¯s rant. Anyway-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°Loue , what job and race will you get in the game?¡± A tall boy suddenly appeared behind Loue and said it while grabbing both of Loue¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Joe, can¡¯t you see that Loue is still inside his ¡®little¡¯ world.¡± Another tall boy then walks in front of Loue and wave his hands to him. ¡°Not anymore, thanks to the two of you.¡± Loue sarcastically said then smiled. ¡°Bro! Alas, you¡¯ve finally returned to Earth.¡± Jay and Joe said in chorus. The three of them laugh. They finally stop laughing when Loue said: ¡°Well Joe, to tell you honestly I¡¯m still not sure what race and job I¡¯ll get in this game because I don¡¯t have any idea about the game. But if it¡¯s like *RR then, I¡¯ll just pick the first race that appears before me and for thejob, I think I¡¯ll take the first job offered to me by some random NPC. Now, what about you and Jay?¡± ¡°Well for me if it¡¯s presumably just like RR, then I¡¯ll chose Ogre race then I¡¯ll get a warrior class because of the awesomeness of muscle power! Muscle power!!! ¡± Joe excitedly said it while facing Jay and Loue. ¡°Then mine would be a dark elf with a ¡®thief¡¯ class because thieves can make traps.¡° Jay excitedly said it facing Loue. Then, Jay look at Joe and muttered in the air. ¡°Just to trap muscle head warriors like you.¡± ¡°Did you say something? I think I heard you say something else?¡± Joe asked and suspiciously looked at Jay. Their conversation was put to an end when they suddenly heard a beep in their communicators. ¡°Speak.¡± They whispered each to their own communicators. A female robotic voice answered them back saying: ¡°CALLING ALL GRADE 9 AND ABOVE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO HEAD DOWN TO THE BASEMENT. I REPEAT, ALL GRADE 9 AND ABOVE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO HEAD DOWN TO THE BASEMENT. THIS IS YOUR PRINCIPAL SPEAKING. THANK YOU. ¡± The three of them agreed to head together down to the basement. They started walking out of the classroom. A few minutes later, they arrive and reached the top of the basement. There were so many students around them, now feeling nervous and excited, Jay strike up a conversation with the other two. ¡°The moment we¡¯ve been waiting for is finally here. You guys ready? ¡± Jay excitedly said and then look at Joe and Loue. ¡°Yep! You know, I¡¯m so hype right now that I feel like¡­ I-I¡¯m¡­ having¡­a- a¡­ p-panic¡­a-attack.¡± Joe said while breathing heavily. Loue and Jay suddenly look at Joe¡¯s sweaty face. The only thought that crossed their minds were¡­ ¡®Seriously, does it have to be right now?¡¯ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Author¡¯s Note: *NJ- Network Jammer; a device that jams signal. *Stream- a futuristic name for the internet. *Communicator- It is a futuristic cell phone. Looks like a fashionable bracelet for girls and a wrist band for boys. Cheap ones activate through voice command while the expensive ones can directly read the owner''s brainwaves. Also walking is highly encourage inside all educational institution, so that students will maintain their fitness even if its year 2040. This.is.IMAGINATION. Chapter 3: Its Better to Have One than None This is my first take on writing FF. I would like to apologize beforehand for some spelling and grammar mistakes that you might find in my story (for now and later) since English is not my first language. But I hope you enjoy it. :D ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seeing Joe¡¯s sweaty face and hearing him breathe heavily, Loue and especially Jay couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°I¡¯m going to move Joe over there while you call the teachers. ¡° Jay calmly said and pointed an empty space at the end of the seemingly endless sea of students. ¡°Jay, can I move Joe instead?¡± Loue looked pleadingly at Jay. Loue is lazy and doesn¡¯t like to do tedious task but one thing he hates more than that, is actually talking to other people, which Jay knows of course. Jay couldn¡¯t help but let out a smile. ¡°You love torturing me, don¡¯t you?¡± Loue glared at Jay as menacingly as he could. ¡°You can glare at me all day, and I¡¯ll still give you the same task.¡± Jay replied. ¡°H-hey, g-guys? I-I ¡®m s-still h-here.¡± Joe said it while tagging the hem of Loue and Jay¡¯s uniform. Jay looked back at Joe, and then looked again at Loue. ¡°You call the teachers, and that¡¯s final.¡± Jay said it with a strong commanding tone on his voice. Loue finally give up and said: ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll call them. Just give me a few seconds.¡± Jay helped Joe move slowly towards the empty space he had pointed earlier. Loue on the other hand, stayed there to call for help. ¡°Help. Basement. ¡± Loue whispered these two words on his communicator. ¡°Words are too short and vague. Please make your message longer and clearer.¡± The female robotic voice replied. Loue was puzzled. But still, he attempted to pass the same message on his communicator. But every time he does that, the same female robotic voice can be heard saying the same thing. ¡°What the heck? How is this po---¡° Loue suddenly stop at the middle of his sentence. ============================================================================ ============================================================================ I can feel that something¡¯s not right here, and I¡¯m talking about my communicator. You see, my communicator is programmed to respond to ¡®my¡¯ every command. And these includes, sending even my short and vague messages. But right now, it¡¯s not sending it just like it used to. It¡¯s not a system malfunction; I attest that, because if that¡¯s the case then my communicator would automatically shut down, and it was programmed to do that by its creator. Now, here¡¯s my speculation. Just hear me out, okay? I suspect that someone or somebody tampered my communicator. Crazy but it¡¯s a plausible idea. Now the thing is, the only people who can alter the system settings in my communicator is my parents, who knows the password that was provided by *Rayaj. And maybe some tech whiz *cough* hackers can do that as well, and much better. But I don¡¯t have a friend like that nor a foe. Since, my social life is limited only to my friends and families. You should know that already since I introduced you(though not directly) to ''all'' of my friends back in chapter 2. Now for a foe, I think that I don¡¯t stand out that much in the crowd. And so let¡¯s discard that thought, shall we? Now the real question here is who is the person or persons(?) behind this? ============================================================================ ============================================================================ The answer to his question came sooner than he expected. His communicator suddenly beeped. ¡°A video file was sent. Scanning the file content¡­ File is safe¡­Opening the video¡­ Video now loading¡­¡± The female robotic voice said. From the system''s course of action, Loue confirmed that his communicator was tampered. Because normally the system would provide him options to choose: either open or ignore the received file. But in this case, the system didn¡¯t give him the normal options and instead, it proceeded in opening the file. Loue resigned to his fate and decided to see the content of the video. His face that was filled with worry and embarrassment awhile ago drastically change into anger. He was about to go and charge some heartless idiots, but before he could do that the lights suddenly went off. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the midst of total darkness, loud chattering can be heard coming from the students. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you see? It¡¯s a brownout.¡± ¡°*laugh* Funny you mention that.¡± ¡°The heck! Can a brownout still occur at this age? Its already 2040!¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯re living in the Philippines. So, I gotta say that you have to expect the expected.¡± Their loud chattering came to an end when they suddenly hear a beep coming from their communicators. ¡°Speak.¡± They all said. ¡°Is this on already? *cough* EVERYONE, PLEASE BEHAVE. THE SHOW¡¯S ABOUT TO START. THIS IS YOUR PRINCIPAL SPEAKING. THANK YOU.¡± The usual female robotic voice said. A white light suddenly appeared from an unknown direction. This light formed into a white screen on the wall. ¡°Seriously, they still use this somewhat prehistoric technology?¡± ¡°You know that it¡¯s from 3 decades ago not millions of years, right?¡±¡± ¡°Are they low on budget or something?" "Is this how they implement the first day of the VR law?¡± ¡°Yeah, they should go out with a bang or at least use a hologram.¡± ¡°Shush! Be quiet, the show¡¯s about to start.¡± A video was then played after that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the video, they saw a man sitting in a chair. Suddenly, this man stood up and greeted them. ¡°Good afternoon to all students and teachers of Pridela National High School. I¡¯m Dahlrete Anton, one of the three co-founders of LAMPANMEJ Corporation and the one leading the design department of the game and also, the capsule pod you¡¯ll be using. First thing you must know about the capsule pod is that it is very durable. It can withstand a ton of outside force, perfect if you¡¯re unfortunately buried under the rubbles cause by an earthquake. *laugh* ¡°---¡° The second thing you must know about it, is that if a brownout occurs then you¡¯ll be given 10 minutes to log out in the game. ¡®What if you can¡¯t log out after that?¡¯ Though no one blurted out this question, the man seemed to have guess that and said: What if you can¡¯t log out after 10 minutes? Well, if you can¡¯t log out in that span of time then, YOU... ARE... DEAD MEAT!!! Just kidding! Don¡¯t worry you¡¯ll be forced to log out the game. "---" Now one more thing, even at this age, floods are still a common occurrence in our country especially in the rainy seasons and that¡¯s why we made our capsule pod waterproof. So that it¡¯ll not be damaged easily. Now for more information about the ¡®game¡¯, here with me is Belriam Cruz.¡± Moving near the man, in the video of course, is a woman presumably on her early 30¡¯s. Then she spoke and said: ¡°My name is Belriam Cruz. I¡¯m also one of the three co-founders of the LAMPANMEJ Corporation, and the leading programmer of the game that you¡¯ll be playing this afternoon. Now, I¡¯ll only tell you two things. First is that, one hour in real life is equivalent to five hours in the game. And second, is that when your character dies in the game you¡¯ll only be ban for 1 hour in real life. That¡¯s all. There¡¯s nothing more I can say regarding to the game, since it¡¯ll ruin the fun. I will not make you wait any longer because I know that you¡¯re very excited. So I hope that everybody learns from this game and have fun!!!¡± -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the video ended, the lights came back¡­ Then, the basement¡¯s door slowly opened. And with all that happening, the students joyously chattered their excitement with one another, except for Loue of course. Loue, on the other hand, was searching furiously to the person behind the tampering of his communicator. Suddenly, someone grabbed his shoulder. He looked back and saw the face of the accomplice (?) of the crime. Joe¡¯s ears were red and it seems that, Jay has punished him in his stead. Joe with his head down suddenly faced up Loue. And at that same time, Jay moved to Loue¡¯s side. Both of them folded their arms like some parents interrogating their kid who has broken a vase. "Confess everything.¡± They both strongly said. Joe wouldn''t budge at first. He didn''t mind being glared by Loue. Because no matter how menacingly Loue does it, it just come out cute compared to Jay''s glare. Yes, being glared to death by the dev- I mean Jay, made Joe confess. ¡°Well, your parents ask me to do this. They said they want you to socialize with other people, besides us of course. Your parents told me that they had come up with a plan. And that plan, was to tamper your communicator and change its systems settings. So that you¡¯ll have to speak and interact with other people.¡± Joe softly said. ¡®I thought so, Joe could never think of such an elaborate plan like this.¡¯ Loue thought. ¡°Please punch me, if that¡¯ll make you feel better.¡± Joe said it. Then, he readied himself; closing his eyes and clenching his teeth. ¡°Joe, that¡¯s pretty much a barbaric way of settling things.¡±Loue frankly said. ¡°B-but in the shounen manga that I¡¯ve read before, this is the right way to settle problems with friends. And I assure you, that the characters after the fight became good friends again.¡± Joe dreamily said. Loue and Jay looked at Joe with disbelief. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me. You agreed to this, because you want to experience shounen-like events in your life. Am I right or am I right? ¡± Jay sarcastically said and glared at Joe. Joe didn¡¯t answer Jay¡¯s question, but it was evident that he did agree with that kind of reasoning. ¡®I should¡¯ve known better.¡¯ Loue thought. ¡°But you know, I was really surprised on how well you fake your panic attack.¡±Loue said it while looking at Joe. ¡°Oh! You thought it was an act?¡± Joe honestly asked. ¡®Wait! It wasn¡¯t?¡¯ Jay and Loue thought as they looked at Joe. Joe was about to say something to them but suddenly, a group of student appeared and move in between them. The three of them eventually got separated, as more and more students hurriedly walked their way to the basement. And that¡¯s because the door is now completely open. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When they arrive inside, the basement was dark and cold. As they looked closer in the darkness, they saw some familiar silhouettes moving towards them. Suddenly, a loud voice could be heard saying: ¡°Everyone, prepare to be amazed!¡± Then, everyone heard a clap and suddenly the whole place was filled with light. =========================================================================== =========================================================================== Seeing the content inside the basement, the students couldn¡¯t help but be dumbfounded. They saw four lines of large, white, egg-shaped capsule pods inside. There was like a hundred and more of them in every line. The students were still in daze. And they would have remained in that state for a few minutes, if not for the principal. The principal, using his *VB, said this following sentence: Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°ALL STUDENTS, PLEASE FALL IN LINE ACCORDING TO YOUR YEAR, SECTION AND SURNAME.¡± And just from that, the students woke up from daze. Soon after that, everyone rush towards the line they belong. Most athlete-built and tall students push their way through the crowd, while students with petite and scrawny figures tried to crawl away. There are also others who were too lazy to bother to move around like Loue, who found convenience in the situation by drifting like plankton amidst the chaotic crowd. Witnessing this scene, some teachers couldn¡¯t help but facepalm themselves. Others let out a deep sigh. The principal, on the other hand, was calmly standing there. Then, he faced the teachers behind him and said: ¡°Well, it¡¯s to be expected from them. They¡¯re still kids after all¡­¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ~A Really Short flashback~ Yesterday the principal and all the teachers agreed to let the students create the lines for themselves, with prior instruction of course. They want to observe the students¡¯ *attitudes and behaviors as they work on this simple task. And the implementation day of the VR law was the perfect opportunity for that. ~End of the really short flashback~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°But if we leave them just like that, they¡¯ll grow up rowdy and disrespectful. Now as good educators, it¡¯s our job to reinforce in their young minds the moral values and *GMRC they were taught earlier at home.¡± After the principal said that, the teachers looked back at the growing chaos and then looked again at the principal. ¡°This is what you sign up for, right?¡± The principal asked them. All the teachers standing around the principal then nod in agreement. After that, one by one the teachers move from their positions and took over the situation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After few minutes finally, all the students were in line. ¡°Follow me.¡± said the teachers on the line of students they are facilitating. The lines of Grade 9 students were first to move. Following them, were lines of Grade 10 students, Grade 11 and Grade 12. After that, each student walk towards the capsule pods they¡¯ll be using. They stayed there, and were told to wait until they received further instructions from their principal. Their principal, using his *VB again, announced to them that the instructions on operating the capsule pods will be relayed through their communicators. Beeping sounds could be heard all over the place after the principal¡¯s announcement. Most of the students, except for someone, eagerly received their most awaited instruction. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°An audio file was sent. Scanning the file content¡­ File is safe¡­Opening the file¡­¡± The female robotic voice said. ¡°To open the *Balot pod, just place your communicator in front of the scanner- which is located at the middle of the pod. Once the pod opens, go inside. Shown on the right wall is a timer, set 2 hours and 3 minutes. The set time was based off on Article III of the VR law. It was stated there, that Grade 9 students and so on will be given 2 hours to play in-game. Additional 3 minutes are then given for them to log out the game. The timer will only start, once you''re inside the game. Now, at the middle of the pod is a large comfy bed with a cushy pillow. Lie down on that bed and stay still while the system conduct a scan on your body. These scan will automatically register you as a new user. After that, you can start creating your character. You must take note, that once you made a character you can¡¯t trade it or make a new one. So, choose very carefully. Are the instructions clear?¡± The female robotic voice said. ¡°Yes.¡± said Loue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°*sigh* Look at them go.¡± said the principal as the students, one by one enters their assigned Balot pod. After a few minutes, he muttered in the air: ¡°I guess it¡¯s time for me to leave.¡± The principal then walked slowly towards the exit. While on his way, he saw that almost all of the students were inside their assigned pods. Others were already lying down comfortably in the bed. So it came to him as a surprise, when he saw a student still standing outside his assigned Balot pod. He then approached this student. ¡°Hello there!¡± The principal said. The student looked back. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡®Ack! What¡¯s he doing here?¡¯ Loue thought. "..." Remembering that he was called earlier, Loue answered him back. ¡°H-hi¡­M-mr. Peloni¡± ¡°Mr. Asebal, why are you still here?¡± asked Mr. Peloni. ¡°C-communicator. S-settings change. Can¡¯t open.¡± Loue said those words while pointing his communicator and then, the scanner of the Balot pod. Mr.Peloni look confused at first. But then he changed, now he looked serious and was deep in thought on what Loues'' word meant. ''I think he''s telling me something'' Mr. Peloni thought. Then he suddenly blurted out: ¡°Aha!¡± ¡®Did he understand what those words mean? Well, I hope he does though. I hate explaining, more so talking to other people.¡® Loue thought. After that, Mr. Peloni said: ¡°I see. You were saying that, your communicator¡¯s setting was changed. And because of that the Balot pod¡¯s scanner can¡¯t recognize it, and therefore won¡¯t open.¡± Lou nod furiously as a response. Though Loue look the same outside after hearing that, deep inside he was smiling and was very impressed with Mr. Peloni. ¡°Okay, just stay here. I¡¯ll just call somebody from the center to fix your communicator.¡± said Mr.Peloni. Loue nod again and then looked at Mr. Peloni who¡¯s walking away to call for help. ¡®He understood my words, he didn¡¯t ask me to move around *coughs* not yet, and lastly, he said he''ll get my communicator fix for FREE!!! Mr. Peloni, do you want me to talk to you in a complete sentence, because this is how you make me talk in a complete sentence.¡¯ Loue thought. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mr. Peloni walked a few meters away from Loue. After that, he made a call to *Rayaj Center and seek someone to fix Loue¡¯s communicator. ¡°We are sorry to inform you, Sir. There is no *Comfix available right at this moment. Please try again tomorrow.¡± The female robotic voice said. ¡°Okay, I understand.¡± said Mr. Peloni. While on his way back to Loue, Mr. Peloni¡¯s communicator suddenly beeped. ¡°Speak.¡± He said. ¡°An audio file was sent. Scanning the file content¡­ File is safe¡­Open the File?¡± The female robotic voice asked. ¡°Open.¡± said Mr. Pelino. ¡°Opening the file¡­¡± The female robotic voice said. ¡°Kukuku! Use it now.¡± The female robotic voice said. And just from this message, Mr. Peloni understood what the sender meant. ¡°The pod! ¡± Mr. Peloni exclaimed. Mr. Peloni quickly went back to Loue. ¡°Follow me.¡± said Mr. Peloni. ¡°Y-yes, sir.¡± replied Loue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mr. Peloni and Loue started walking together towards the exit. When they finally arrived outside, Mr. Peloni looked at Loue and said: ¡°Mr. Asebal, I¡¯m sorry to inform you that your communicator could not be fix today. It seems that no one is available at this moment to fix it.¡± *sigh*¡®I finally thought that I could have it fix for FREE.¡¯ Loue sadly thought and lowered his head down. ¡°But the good news is we still have one more pod left. Although it¡¯s a bit different from the high-tech Balot pod that you¡¯re supposed to use, but a pod is a pod, right?¡± Mr. Peloni enthusiastically said. ''I don''t like the way you speak about it. I can tell that it is really way below the standard of Balot pod. *sigh* Oh well, it¡¯s better to have one than none, right?'' Then, Loue nod. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Both of them walked again for few minutes and then finally reached an old storage room. Inside, Loue saw a large, white, bamboo-shaped pod placed horizontally on the floor. He went near the pod and look at it. ¡®It looks weird *sigh* as if I have any choice.¡¯ Loue thought ¡°H-how do I turn on and open this thing?¡± Loue asked. Mr. Peloni was stunned for a moment when he heard Loue asked a question in a complete sentence. But he immediately regained his composure and answered him back. ¡°This thing will automatically turn on as well, if you open the cover.¡± said Mr. Peloni. ¡°Open, as in open just like the doors 2 decades ago?¡± Loue honestly asked. ¡°Yes, just like the old doors back then. Now, pull the cover, enter, lie down and then close again the cover.¡± said Mr. Peloni. Loue did as what Mr. Peloni has instructed him, but before he fully closed the cover he asked Mr. Peloni these following questions first: ¡°Does this pod possess the same properties like the Balot pod? Also about the system, is it the same as what the others use? Now, what about the 2 hour 3 minute set time?¡± ¡°Well, just like the Balot pod the *K pod is durable, waterproof, and have 10 minute allowance if a brownout occurs. The system used is the same as others. The only difference is that you¡¯ll be automatically log out of the game if the timer reaches 2. And once you leave, the pod will close and slowly turn itself off.¡± said Mr. Peloni. ¡°Also one last thing, close your eyes after you have your full body scan. Now off you go. ¡±added Mr. Peloni Before, Loue closed the cover he softly spoke his thanks to Mr. Peloni. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Loue expected to feel hot inside the pod, instead it was cool and refreshing. And what he initially thought as a hard cushion on his back, was soft. Although *K pod is not as big compared to Balot pod, Loue felt very comfortable inside it. His mind was suddenly pulled back when a bright,red light appeared on his feet. It passed through his toes, his body and then went over to his head. ¡®That must be the ''full body scan thing'' Mr. Peloni was talking earlier. So now, all I have to do is close my eyes.¡¯ Loue thought. Loue closed his eyes... And then he opened it back slowly and see... =========================================================================== =========================================================================== Author¡¯s Note: *Rayaj ¨C It is an AI that creates passwords. It was named after its creator Rayaj M. Gidan, the inventor of the first communicator. *GMRC = Good manners and right conduct Starting from year 2028, teaching moral values and GMRC are encourage in every Filipino homes. *Balot pod = LAMPANMEJ corporation''s capsule pod. The design of the pod is based off on balot (boiled egg of developing duck embryo), and is also named after that. *K/ Kawayan pod = a capsule of unknown origin(as of now). The design of the pod is based off on kawayan(bamboo), and is also named after that. *VB= Volume Booster, a device the boost the loudness of a person¡¯s voice. It looks like a choker for girls and necklace for boys.It directly reads the owners brainwaves so that volume can be adjusted easily. Note: VB are expensive, but the principal, Mr. Peloni, can afford to buy one. :D *Rayaj Center = A communicator''s service center and a shop as well. *Comfix = (Communicator fixer) Communicator technician.