DDLC: Revelance

Chapter Twenty-six

I stood, mouth open and gaping in shock, as I breathed in a slow, undulating cycle. Sigmus's blue embodiment towered above me, as I laid my glossy, gauntleted hand on the transparent, flat interface. My breath went silent.

Strange, almost digital-like whipping and hissing sounds emanated from him as I held my hand on the pad. The sounds, as they appeared to chop themselves away, slowly began to reveal a voice.

"Do you see, Exonus?", Sigmus boomed. "Everything. All of existence?"

I pieced it all together. The virus. The voice in my head. How it was so easy for Thetyr to break in. Also, we didn't even know where the books came from. Maybe...

"None of this...", I realized. "Is even remotely real.."

"Indeed.", Sigmus agreed. "I created this fake reality, this bubble, for you, and only you, to solve. If you could decrypt the phrases in the books, you could create a key."

"A key for what? To get out of here?"

Sigmus throbbed an agreeing pulse. I sighed, turning back to see all of Orion Squad. They all looked at me, realizing what kind of situation this was. Only I could figure it out.

"Tell me.", I said. "Why are we here? In this.. reality?"

"To evade death."

"You mean something was out to kill us all. What was that?"

"And... are we truely real? Are we nothing but code? Algorithms? Just.. files?"

Sigmus didn't say. He didn't even show a sign, a symbol, or anything either. All he left us with were guesses.

"Alright.", I conceded. "How does this key work? How do I make it?"

"Use the Cores.", he simply boomed. "Introduce your comrades, your allies, to their energies. Teach them the intricacies."

I turned to them. With this in mind, I stuck my hand out as it resonated and pulsed with the essence of the Aether, and, as told by Sigmus, approached me. They placed their palm on the top of my hand, starting with Yuri and Sayori, and ending with Wix and Ordenate.

I closed my eyes, and let the Aether flow free. In my mind, I saw a single dot. A single object in an empty void. It duplicated itself, tearing the clone away from itself before the same thing happened again, and again. The dots would fill the universe. And those dots happened to be life. Life would enrich the universe.

My eyes popped out. I gasped for air, wrenching my hand away. What I managed to realize was that everyone did the same.

I turned my head down at the stony, obsidian-like ground. There was a single black cube just laying there within our circle. It made no noticeable movement, but I could hear a throbbing, almost pulsating beat within.

I picked it up, as my gloved hands barely managed to not slip off of it. At close grips, the cube was emitting a very faint, very unnoticeable azure glow. I turned around to Sigmus, looking for answers, cube in both hands.

"Is this it?", I asked him, completely lost.

"Yes. Approach, Monika."

Monika came forward, looking up at Sigmus directly, before turning to me.

"Remember what I told you back in the bubble?", she asked me.

"Yeah. I had to get everyone to remember... their pasts, right?"

"Mhm. Sigmus gave you that Reset screen because he knew you were close. Just before Thetyr took over me."

"And you said something about all of us being trapped. What'd you mean by that?"