He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter Twenty Nine - A License to Wish

The view from the glass wall was of the flat rooftops of tall buildings stretching towards the sky, but failing to reach the heights of the one blessed with such a sight.  Interwoven about them was the monorail, the snakelike body of the main transport between skyscrapers including this one.  It was not that this monument of alloy and reinforced glass was the tallest building within this sector, just that those skyscraping monoliths were not blocking the view of the sky stained permanently in the colours of a Terran sunset. It was a view that could only be enjoyed by a select few; the wealthy, the elite and those at the heights of the most respected careers. Naturally, the System chose to be amongst these individuals. Unfortunately, it's lost puppet was not amongst them.

The System had suspected, in the world in which its soul connection to the sacrifice was severed, that there might be someone or something interfering with its plans.  It had become certain that this was true in the last world, after its semi-awakened puppet had failed to complete any of the tasks it had enticed him to complete.  And worse, now it could not sense the boy at all.  It knew the boy was in this world, it just could not pin point his location.  It would just make it more challenging to reshape this world into the desired epilogue.  It still had to recapture the boy, of course, its delicious soul and true body awaited it.  Even with that person's attempts to thwart it, that was the boy's fate.

Cursing beneath the breath of its host, it rolled the words over its tongue and cursed again for the sake of it, before a wide grin stretched across its hosts face.  So what if it that person?  It was far too late to stop it now.  It tore itself away from the mesmerising view provided by the glass wall and moved to plan the fate it wished for for this world.

***

Crawling out from beneath the narrow space that housed the H.C.D. (Holographic computing device), the boy stood and pressed the projector button to test it. Almost immediately, the holographic display appeared above it and the loading window it displayed swiftly altered to the log in screen. Before it, the light projection of a keyboard appeared, in case the user wished to manually manipulate the device. "All fixed," he muttered to himself, "please refrain from attempting to download improvised software in the future." There was no one around to hear him chastise, not even the user, who was unlikely to admit that he had done anything wrong.

After turning off the projector, he closed the unit securely and wiped down the desks surface until all traces of his presence had been removed. He then removed a small device from his back pocket. Holding the two black bracket shaped handles boarding the sides of the device, he pulled them gently apart to reveal a flexi-acrylic display. "I.T. Call Logs," he said to aloud as he walked out of the secretary's office. "Call 17.3.3716-12 complete. C.P.U. Replaced. No further signs of virus. End Log."

Xavier Ben Forest had been employed as an I.T. Technician for nearly nine months, thanks to graduating early and a viable connection within the company. He was just shy of his nineteenth birthday, of average height, but sadly lacking in anything that resembled muscle. Not that he was weak, just that his skinny frame refused to gain any shape. His unruly curls were fairly untameable resulting in a steady flow of 'bad-hair' days. He had tried cutting it close to his scalp, once, but the result was so catastrophic, he had never dared again.

Xavier sighed, then surreptitiously glanced around, before ducking into a dim corridor that was never used at this time of day. Most of the workers would be too busy attempting to catch a glimpse of one of the power couple who were supposedly filming today in the upper studios. The boy was not really interested in the staid, socially acceptable films and documentaries produced in First Entertainment's Studios, so he instead quietly went around completing calls that his department received while the users were absent. Users liked to be as difficult as possible, blaming the I.T. Department for all their technological woes, but not allowing them to fix them as that would cut into their work time and while it was perfectly acceptable for a technician to stay late (unpaid), they could not possibly do so! But they also wanted the problem fixed immediately! Such hypocrisy!

Making himself comfortable upon the floor, the boy whispered a few words to the handheld device, including a multi-layered password. A video of a female Vocaloid, a virtual pop star, appeared on the screen and all too soon, Xavier, was wrapped up in the catchy tune, humming along to his secret idol. He knew the girl, with her cute bunched hair, visor like sunshades and adorable rainbow outfits was just a bunch of pixels shaped into a female form, but he was still crushing. He was completely unaware that he was no longer alone in the corridor, until a hand fell upon his shoulder.

"What's this?" The device was snatched from his hands and the boy paled instantly. "Vocaloid? Now, now, Xavier. You of all people know that unlicensed entertainment is illegal."

Xavier grabbed his device back, switching off with a quick push, before pocketing it. "Vocaloids aren't strictly illegal," he muttered, trying to debate within this grey area.

"If it's A.I is too advanced or its an avatar of someone without an entertainment license, then it is," the other man said with a frown. "The fact that the video was uploaded on an underground social website speaks volumes, Xavier."

"North," Xavier stated the man's name in retort. The blond hair man was everything he had hoped to be before pubity hit and laughed at him. North Patterson was fairly tall, broad chested and boyishly handsome with a smile that charmed women with a glance. He also happened to be childhood friends with Xavier's elder brother Xander and Xavier's connection into the company.

The man sighed. "I'll allow that the song wasn't bad and the video fairly well produced. But you are still pushing the boundaries watching that thing."

"Wish," The boy said, suddenly.

"What?" North looked baffled.

"The vocaloid's name is Wish." He repeated, stubbornly.

"Great, it even has a name now," North muttered beneath his breath. "Look, no matter, I'll not mention anything, just be careful. Especially watching illegal entertainment in a company that makes its money through licensed entertainment. You are asking for a one way ticket to the ground floors."

"Okay, sorry," Xavier stared at his feet for a bit, more sorry that he'd been caught than he was for actually watching his idol's latest upload. North wrapped his arm about the skinny boy's shoulders.

"Come on," he said, dragging the boy to walk with him. "Rush should have almost finished his scenes and will be fawned all over by the director and side cast. Come help me deflate his ego a bit." The boy nodded an okay and followed the other man to the elevator.