Falling for them (love and deepspace X OC )

The match

With Mephisto as my escort, I arrive at the familiar base without a hitch.

"Caw!"

"Thanks."As soon as I enter the building, I hear a violent explosion from one of the rooms.Is Onychinus's base also involved with the Zoion Hunt?The room is dark. Mindful of Sylus's sensitive eyes, I turn on a floor lamp at its lowest setting.In the center of the room stand four egg-shaped gaming pods. Three of them are rocking back and forth. Their surfaces, covered in LED lights, pulsate in tandem with the explosion sound effects. I walk up to Sylus's gaming pod and knock on it several times. "Ahem, Sylus!Mephisto's been caught! The base is surrounded. They're after you!"Absorbed in his virtual world, Sylus doesn't respond. Oh, come on!I walk away and settle into the fourth gaming pod, the only one that's empty.Inside, the surrounding screens transform into an endless expanse of stars. Realistic sound effects immediately fill my ears.I fire up my spaceship and set off to pursue Sylus's fleet. I lock onto the engines of the first ship I see, grip the controls, and open fire. Pressing home my advantage, I target the next ship. It's immediately destroyed. And just like that, only one ship remains in the game aside from mine. It must be Sylus's. "Activate the Ship Al and lock onto Ship
Q313." I order.

"Target spotted. Would you like to initiate tracking?" The ai said.

"Divert all power to the engines! Don't let him escape!"

My ship's engines burst with brilliant blue light as I surge toward Sylus's vessel.Ship Q313 remains unfazed. It gracefully spins away from my attacks as I close in.However, the elegant move proves to be costly.The ship's tail grazes a meteor, which triggers red warning lights in Sylus's cockpit. The simulation ends with the blaring alarms still echoing as the gaming pod slowly opens.

Sylus emerges and removes his hologram helmet. "Why were you so riled up? You blew up half the battlefield, too. Are you satisfied now?"

"I'm short on time. After I ask my question, I'll go."I expected him to make excuses about losing the game. Instead, he furrows his brow while he stares at me. "What?"

"You had something nice to eat."

"No, I was just at Elysium. The owner and I caught up."

"Playing dumb isn't very nice, kitten."As he speaks, he moves closer to me as if sensing something. "A special Protocore... Is it an Aether Core?""

Sylus's accurate assessment catches me off guard. While trying to keep the energy within me stable, I turn to look at him and respond with an inquisitive smile.

"What's wrong? Weren't you always hoping I'd get stronger?"

"Who gave it to you?"

"It's related to an incident."

"A few days ago, the Hunters Association's Protocore transport vehicle was attacked.I was on it."

"I heard. The Association getting humiliated is an excellent source of entertainment for the N109 Zone."

"A strange person infiltrated the group of attackers. She found me and started talking about these bizarre things."

That stuff is still uncertain, so I decided to tell Sylus only the simplest parts.

"Just as I was on the verge of losing consciousness, my body instinctively absorbed the Spatium Core."

His Adam's apple bobs once, and I catch a glimpse of the Protocore in his eye emitting a dizzying red glow.Before I can get a better look, he walks to the minibar. He downs a glass of liquor in one go.
The turbulent energy within me finally settles down, and I realize Sylus is locked in an intense battle against his desire for Protocores.

"Setting aside the possibility that you're here to show off your shiny new Protocore, what brings you to the N109
Zone?"

I walk toward him and bring up a holographic map on my watch's interface. "This map was created during Linkon City's final field survey before the Chronorift Catastrophe."

"And...?"

As I continue to zoom in on the display, the words
"Gaia Research Center" appear on the map.

"The person who almost killed me said I first appeared here...During one of the Unicorn Research Team's experiments."

Sylus glances at it before turning his attention to the chessboard on the table. "And you actually believe that nonsense."

"I need to go there and find answers. Then I'll know if she's lying or not."Our last game ended in a draw. So, I quietly join the chess match as Sylus remains quiet.After surveying the chessboard, I move up my rook from the back rank. "When I was younger, I had doubts about my past. Later I figured that so long as I was healthy and safe, none of it really mattered.But a human heart shouldn't contain a Protocore. I need to find out who I really am instead of waiting for mysterious people to find me."

As soon as I reach for another piece, Sylus immediately captures one of my pawns. "And then what? Do you actually believe that learning about your past will make things better?"

"When I see people-whether close or distant-suddenly racing toward a destination."Refusing to accept the unfavorable position, I look at the chessboard again. I take my knight, my only chance for a breakthrough."The one who seems to stay still may be left at a disadvantage forever."

"That's just what it looks like on the surface, kitten.As soon as you make your move, you give your opponents an opening.Sometimes, the best move is not to make one at all." As he speaks, he taps my king. It's safe for now, but it's trapped in the setup for a pincer attack.There's little hope of escape.

"What about you?"Before he can pull back his hand, I quickly grab my queen and point it at Sylus's eye. "Your fusion with a Protocore couldn't have been a coincidence either.Is that a friendly piece of advice or a warning?"

In our brief standoff, he finally shows his first smile of the day. "My situation holds no value as a reference point. Those words were nothing but a distraction so I could win the game."Sylus grabs the chess piece from my hand. Taking my wrist, he guides me to the floor-to-ceiling window.As the curtains slowly part, they reveal the night sky. Below us is the N109 Zone in its entirety. "Since 2034, the N109 Zone has undergone multiple rounds of reconstruction. Look at the outside world. Can you match any of these roads to that old map of yours?" The once-straight streets become a maze. Nearly all the landmarks have vanished.

"Surely the people who used to live here-"

"They left."

"EVER's agent handlers for gathering intel?"

"Dead."

"What about the Odd Workshop's owner? Surely he's..."

"Unfortunately for you, he just left town yesterday. He won't be back until next month at the earliest."I frown as my leads get cut off before me. "Do you really want to know?"

"Even if I didn't, people keep forcing me to find out."

He pushes me closer to the window. Then, I realize it. The only person who knows the truth has been right here all along.

"There. Underground."Following Sylus's gesture, I see it. The massive holographic screen in the sky... It's the heart of the Zoion Hunt I experienced today, a paradise of bloodshed and revelry: the Charon Arena.