Simular Beings

Braided In Bribery

It wasn't Beady.

Val knew that, but she couldn't help it. If Beady were still alive, he'd be just about this boy's height. She was sure of it. This time, she'd protect him with her life. She'd save him, never let him out of her sight—

But the boy, with tears falling from his eyes, took a few steps back. His hands were still a bloody mess.

"Hey, wait." Val crouched down. She made her best attempt at a smile; her voice instinctively pitched higher. "It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you."

He froze in place. Even his tears seemed to have stopped halfway down his cheeks. His clothes were tattered at the ends. And the room... It was so dirty. Bits of debris and junk were scattered around him, and a table was overturned like some tornado had run through the place. This was no place to keep a kid.

But then he gasped.

"Valkyrie..."

"You know me?" That wasn't the response she'd expected. "Yeah, uh... yeah! That's me." She gestured for him to come a little closer. Those wounds. Were they as bad as they looked?

The boy inched forward just a bit more.

"I'll get you out of here." She took a glance at his hands. They didn't seem to be too bad. I mean, this isn't even the real world. Does it really matter? Well, the pain was real. Muted, but still enough to feel. But what even was this place? What were they doing kidnapping kids like this? It didn't sit right with her one bit.

She'd get him out of here. For sure. It was just that she still didn't know of a way out. Should she try teleporting? But she was pretty sure it wouldn't work. And adding another passenger didn't seem plausible considering that Coach hadn't been able to teleport her with him. But then what? Options, options, options. Her thoughts were in utter shambles...

"Aha!" The window! She could see the city almost a mile below. For a split second, she considered the consequences of jumping out from this height. It was a simulation, but still, would she feel the pain? Would she survive? Would the boy survive? How would respawning work? Wouldn't it be faster to somehow end her life? No, that'd be too gruesome for the boy. She instead looked across the room at a chair...

She grabbed it.

"Stand back," she called out to the boy. He moved behind her, and swiftly, she pulled the chair back and smashed. The window reverberated but didn't crack. She tried again. The chair splintered at the joints. She grabbed a hold of one of the larger pieces and smashed it into the window again. And again, and again—

"I wouldn't suggest that."

A familiar voice.

"It's programmed to be impenetrable. It'll also sound off an alarm, and I really don't like turning off that alarm."

Shit. It was that man, Azan. She readied the broken chair piece in her hands and got into her stance. She'd fight her way out if she had to. He wouldn't win against a trained boxer, could he? Please be weak. Please don't be a pain in the ass. Please, please, please...

Azan ignored her, and instead, knelt down before the boy. "Well, aren't you lucky? You found yourself the perfect hero."

She pulled the boy back. "What are you doing to him?"

"Me?" Azan got back up on his feet. "Nothing." He pulled out a golden coin and flung it over.

She snatched it from the air and had a quick glance. It looked familiar.

"A million simuls. And..." He pulled out a glowing orb, small enough to fit in his palms. There were symbols—in reds and blues—revolving around it, constantly changing with every second. "A findolancer." He tossed the object over as well.