Elysium

34. CR4ZY D3ATH

System Administrator:

Levi sits on the rooftop and watches the overcast sunset. His gaze is dark and focused.

"Levi, everyone is here," Hakim says, touching his shoulder.

Levi turns around. All members of the group are already assembled.

"We haven't met in reality for a long time," he smiles predatoryly, "Well, how do you assess our success in privatization?"

"Too many dissenters. When we last met, they literally hated us, the event was very big," says one of the guys.

"Are you talking about that religious event with fanatics? Not surprising. What they do there is beyond good and evil. Not only is it illegal in reality, but they created such a cult there... How many users were there?" Levi asked thoughtfully.

"Twenty people," Ada replies coldly, moving closer to Levi, "And they are all dead. For real."
Levi moves away from her to the edge of the roof.

"We won't take responsibility for the death of users. I still have too many questions. Why the hell do they cover the choker in such a way that when someone breaks into outside invaders, the owner of the choker dies?" Levi turns around again and looks at his associates.

"It shows a strange signal in the brain. It looks like an underdeveloped protection against hacking. Perhaps they didn't calculate what Emergence is at all, and therefore didn't study this effect to the end. When hacked, the signal is very strong, irradiating. A person dies instantly, on some occasion, so said on the news, but mostly from my study of the choker, I think they are not lying. That's the way it is," Hakim explains.

He was main Levi's assistant, because he was the most versed in the technique and how the metaverse works. They all needed Hakim. He owes the others to a hack without limiting the system, which is why the rest of their antics went unnoticed.

"But that doesn't change the fact that we're responsible for the deaths. Levi, we can't put all the responsibility on the developers, just because it's really our fault. Knowing about such consequences, having made more than one mistake, it is possible to find another, less cruel way of privatization. But we kill other users, thus doing a cleaning of the rooms," Ada continues.

Levi sighs in exasperation.

"I repeat once again, this is a jamb of developers. Users dying has nothing to do with what we do..."

"But you're fooling yourself!" one of the guys says loudly, he looks about eighteen years old, thin and short.

Levi looks at him with a look of rage.

"Did you think of interrupting me?" he takes a few steps towards him.

"But it's true!" the guy continues boldly, but before he can say anything else, Levi violently pushes him off the rooftop.

Everyone freezes in horror, not even daring to breathe.

"Fools like that should be kicked out of the server before they do anything else," Levi says innocently, as if nothing terrible has happened.

"Levi, we are in reality! You just killed him! What the hell is a server?" Ada screams.

For a moment, doubt appears in Levi's eyes, he looks around dazedly. Silently, he walks to the edge of the roof, and then looks back at the others.

He looks scared and lost.

"If anyone gets up here, we're all done for!" exclaims Hakim, not letting the pause drag on, "You have to run or else..."

"No one will understand," says the other guy, "He will automatically be considered a suicide, nothing new. But it's better to leave, Hakim is right. Just in case."

Everyone fussily moves towards the fire escape, and Levi, frozen in his tracks, continues to look down.

The others leave, Hakim calls to Ada, but she motions for him to go without her.

"You understand, don't you?" she asks softly as she approaches Levi.

"I played."

"Like all of us. Like most people in the world. We have formed neural connections that automatically carry out simulation commands. You pushed him, thinking we were in Elysium. You didn't mean to kill him. But what do you think about when you kill users with a choker?"

"I don't kill, it's all Elysium!" Levi snaps.

"No, Levi. You kill. And just because you don't see how the users turn off in reality doesn't mean that your murders don't count. What is here, what is through Elysium. This is a murder. And we didn't want that," Ada says calmly.

Levi is silent for a while, not daring to look her in the eye.

"What else is there to do? We don't play anymore. It's all for real. We are making history. We create a new world. I never treated this idea as some kind of prank or a joke. I lived for it. And you know that. And it's just impossible to do such things without victims anywhere. You need to accept it. And what better is this aimless existence? Better to let them die immediately than slowly become vegetables whose brains have been eaten away by pills. Such people have no place in the new world that we are creating."

"Levi. You are insane."

"Don't say that. You're just afraid. And I knew Ada! I knew that all this feigned courage and wisdom of yours is only for the time being. I felt that as soon as the matter took a serious turn, you would be scared, like everyone else. And what's more, you're not worried about the users. You're just afraid to be in their place. That's all. Don't play the role of the mother of humanism. It doesn't suit you, especially after you watched all the break-ins and didn't say a word to me," Levi smiles madly.

Ada moves away from him.

"Everyone sees it, Levi. It is clear to everyone that you are crazy with this idea of yours. Yes, we all went for it, but as an experiment, and not as a massive 'virtual terrorist attack', as they said in the news. We wanted to win over the users to our side, not destroy them, and even in such a terrible way. You're wrong," Ada snaps harshly.

"Do you want to leave me? Do you want to give up our goal?" Levi hisses viciously, no longer trying to hide his anger.

"Yes, Levi. I want to leave. I don't care about this goal. But I will only stay for you. Because you are dear to me. And I don't want to watch you slowly lose your mind, being all alone," Ada replies quietly and leaves him alone on the rooftop.