Headsets For Fear

VILLAIN 01: ANDREW

Twenty years before

The horror only struck Andrew when he saw their dead bodies being taken out of the car. Mark and Samara. Only twenty four hours ago, he had had dinner with them. They were lovely hosts, meticulous and friendly. And now, they were nothing but rotting pieces of meat that would turn to bone over the years.

And he would have to bear the guilt for all that happened.

He had hoped that she would let their son survive, at least. But she didn't. That woman didn't even have the semblance of compassion or mercy in her heart.

Andrew tore away his eyes from the screen and looked at Thomas. They were in Amara's newly created office. Constructions weren't complete, but it was enough to get the job started. The first thing on the checklist, the death of Mark, had been done.

"When are they coming?" He asked his new friend.

Thomas didn't reply. He was busy staring at the elaborate code pasted on a board. Andrew had seen him looking away sometimes, marvelling at the infrastructure in their room. It was just like the highly advanced quarters you saw in movies.

"When. are. they. coming?" He demanded again. He could feel heat scorching his forehead. If Thomas didn't reply this time, he would have at least a few broken bones by the next second.

Thomas seemed to have detected the dangerous edge in Andrew's voice. "I don't know," he replied. "They said it would take some time. To sort through all the papers."

Andrew nodded. He started pacing around the room, guilt and anger forming invisible clots around his head.

Why had he agreed to all this? Had Amara's words been so strong, that he decided to take part in the conspiracy of murdering his best friend so easily? Or was it his lust for power which had blinded him?

He found himself lost in the threads of the past very soon.

He and Mark had been leading their lives, minding their own business, until Amaranthine Abery came along. She was a freshman when the both of them were seniors. It had taken less than two months for them to form an unbreakable bond - bound by their inexplicable and endless love for coding and the human mind. All of them were studying computer science in one of the most reputed college in the States.

Amara had plans of creating the game since a very long time. Andrew agreed with them, deciding to follow Amara - who was a very good manipulator, as he now realised. Mark didn't like her idea. It was too cruel, in his opinion. He wanted to use everything he knew about brain hacking and augmented reality to create a better world for humans. He had several ideas of how his inventions would be used. In therapy. In police interrogations. In schools.

However, Amara thought Mark's ideas would never work. She wanted Mark to follow her path, and he wouldn't agree. His belief in what was good was too strong to be broken. Unlike Andrew's who sold himself to Amara too easily.

But how could he have restrained himself? Amara's offer was too convincing. We can change the world, she had said. We can create a world of our own, where there won't be crime, where people will never shy away from their dreams because of self doubt, where people will never be afraid of standing up for themselves and for others.

That seemed much bigger than what Mark had planned to do. He was swept away in the ambition of doing something great, and in his thirst for power.

Brisk footsteps on the outside of the room announced the arrival of Amara and Leah.

Andrew looked at the both of them questioningly.

Amara nodded. "It's done. They've been declared as dead, all three of them. I managed to steal the papers from their house. I don't think anyone saw us. If anyone did, we'll just have to do away with them as well."