Twisted Wonderland Book 6: The Watchman of the Underworld

Chapter 34: Data to Discern

Outside of the simulation, Leona, Jamil and Briar remain quiet

Back in the control room, Idia is surprised by the results, "Oof, that was quick. They figured out how the system worked immediately. Leona's probably the guy who always knows he's dreaming. Where's the fun in that? Jamil's stress levels barely moved too... How did these guys ever overblot? And Vil, for that matter?"

The second Technician says, "Lachesis System desynchronizing. Down to five percent... Four, three, two... Desync complete."

"Simulator cooldown complete," Ortho says, "Transferring subjects to the recovery room."

The first Technician says, "Testing sequence completed at 2245."

"GG. You can both go once the data's backed up," Idia says

"Roger," Both Technicians respond and leave the room.

Soon Ortho returns and says, "All subjects have been moved to the recovery room. They're fast asleep."

"Nice work, Ortho," Idia says.

"You too, Idia," Ortho replies happily.

He then asks, "What do the results look like for Leona Kingscholar, Jamil Viper, and Briar Hawthorne?"

"They just finished processing. I'll throw them up on the monitor," Idia says, and types on the computer for the data to appear on the monitor.

Ortho is surprised, "Wow, their numbers are exceptional!"

Spoiled or not, Leona's still royalty," Idia says, "Totally makes sense he'd have top-notch magic instruction as a kid. His casting speed's off the charts, and his magic pool is huge. He also knows how to be efficient - he tailors his defense spells to match the potency of enemy attacks. He hardly wastes any magic at all. Which means he barely accumulates excess blot."

"It's also worth noting that stress didn't have much effect on his accumulation levels," Ortho says.

Idia looks at the monitor and says, "Hmm... I dunno if I can draw anything conclusive from that, though. I already knew Leona was tough and could handle whatever danger comes at him... But it's hard to measure how resilient he is when experiencing inner turmoil."

"I see what you mean," Ortho replies, "Because he typically exhibits great mental fortitude... When he does experience intense emotions, it could cause a drastic spike in blot accumulation.

"Stat-wise, Leona would be a great tank, like Vil. But he isn't suited to a leadership role, personality-wise," Idia adds, "None of their personalities are a perfect fit for their ideal class, actually. Guess that's why they're in the SSR Epic Troublemakers, lawl."

Then Ortho asks, "What about Jamil? What class do you think he'd be?"

"Hmm... He could probably handle any job just fine, TBH," Idia answers, "But he tends to go for efficiency over speed, like Azul. Looking at his background... He had no magic tutoring before entering Night Raven College either. He's constantly assessing his remaining reserves. It's like he's worried about going OOM."

"Ah. So he's the "calm and efficient, or maybe just stalling and using people as shields" archetype as well," Ortho says.

"Thing is, he's really quick and precise with defensive magic. Maybe that's his specialty, since he guards Kalim?" Idia says

"Then it sounds like he'd be suited to a melee DPS role that supports the tank, or a healer class," Ortho says.

"Yeah. One of those classes you think is for beginners, but turns out to be really technical and requires a big-brain player to do it right," Idia says.

Ortho snickers, "Heh heh. This would be a fun game to level in, no matter who you played."

"Night Raven Quest, the RPG..." Idia says with a snicker, "Whee hee hee, that doesn't sound half bad."

Ortho becomes excited, "Ooh, I'd play that! You should totally make it, Idia! It could be open world, with seven countries to start..."

But Idia says, No way am I doing open world. The development costs would be ridiculous just for a joke game. Maybe if it's a 64KB ROM cart. Maybe."

"Aww. But you could whip it up in no time," Ortho says, disappointed

"Sure, but it'd be a pain, so not gonna happen," Idia says.

Then Ortho asks, "What about Briar... What are her results?"

"Hmm, her results are a bit particular, but it still appears that she's still a novice when it comes to learning magic, but she is a quick learner. But still... Her magic is similar to the magic of our world, despite hearing that she lived in another world as she believed she does," Idia says, and continues to read the data. "She tries to balance everything out with offense and defense, but her magic seems to have similarities to that of the Salubrious Fae."

"Do you really think Briar is one of them?" Ortho asks.

"I think it's highly possible. And also, if she really is who I think she is. Not only that she might be the last of the Salubrious Fae species, but is also the last of the Seerwood Royal Family," Idia says.

"You really think so?" Ortho asks.

"Sadly, there isn't a way for anyone to find proof. Even though we have a lot of advanced technology, it will be difficult to know if she's even part of the family, since her kind and family were wiped out. If she is a Salubrious Fae, a daughter of the Seerwood Royal, she would be around the youngest child's age, whose fate is unknown," India says.

"Poor girl, it will be heartbreaking for her when she finds out," Ortho says.

"Yes. It's going to be difficult to even tell her about it. I'm not even sure where to start," Idia says.

Just then, Ortho has an idea, "Say, Idia. What if you invited the Briar and the other housewardens to join you in that MMO you play with Muscle Red?"

Idia panics, "What?! No, that'd be nuts. Where'd you get that idea? None of those guys are interested in gaming," But soon calm himself down, "Besides, everyone who's had a run-in with Styx goes down the River Lethe. No exceptions. And as you know, that system can erase us from anyone's memory and from any data.

Ortho remains silent after hearing it.

There's no point even thinking about making friends with people on the outside. After all... Sooner or later, they wouldn't remember it happened," Idia says.