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(Excerpt from CNN News)

Breaking News on Sina School Shooter.

17 June 2027: The shooter who went on a murderous rampage in the prestigious Sina school was found to have multiple videos on his webpage describing his plan of action. Motivated by his online persona in the Battle of Kings game, he claimed to be stuck behind “walls” made by society and was eager to rid the world of its “hidden monsters”. Having been reported for abusive behavior towards the AI characters in the game and then banned, it triggered him to put his plan into motion which resulted in the deaths of 33 people. This incident comes at a time when increasing pressure has been mounting on VR Agent Inc to discontinue its line of violent video games. The company could not be reached for further questions.

The car ride back home was abnormally silent. Seated in the back, Farah stared blankly at the rolling scenery. Her hair was in disarray, her knee red and scuffed, but she barely took notice. Trapped in the realm between her perceived reality and the cold hard truth of the events of the afternoon, she desperately hoped that it was all a nightmare. But the quiet sobbing of her mother beside her reminded her that nothing was going to be the same again.

She had never seen her mother cry. The woman who was hugging her tightly to her bosom while her chest heaved with uncontrollable sobs seemed so foreign. Over and over, her mother would whisper the same words “My baby. Oh thank god. Mum is here.” It was something that she hardly ever heard her mother say to her. Nostalgic and strangely comforting, she could let herself forget everything that had happened. Yet all it took was one look at her father in the driver’s seat to bring it all back. He was clutching the steering wheel so tightly until his knuckles were white, the tremor in his fingers very noticeable.

When they finally arrived home, the three of them huddled together as they entered the house. They stood unmoving in the living room, at a loss as to what to do next. Taking the initiative, Yusof held Miriam and gently pried her off Farah. He gave a wry, understanding smile and nodded towards Farah. “It’s been an exhausting day. Take your time resting. We’ll be up later.”

She watched her parents head to their room before she went to her own bedroom. Once inside, she locked the door and settled into her chair. From habit, her finger found the small button on the side of her desktop and her computer started up with a soft ping.

Staring numbly at Kristian’s face on her desktop wallpaper, she hesitated for a split second before launching the Battle of Kings game. While it loaded and logged her into the company’s servers, she grabbed her headset and put it on, the familiar weight of it putting her slightly more at ease.

Digits flashed across her view and she furrowed her brows. This hadn’t happened before. But it disappeared quickly, replaced by the usual castle backdrop. All was quiet and surprisingly still but she didn’t really care.

Kristian soon appeared and the backdrop faded into their rooftop meeting place. He got right to the point, his voice laced with concern. “What’s happening outside, Farah? They banned all logins into the game. I had to use my backdoor to let you in but who knows how long that will last.”

She remained quiet, unsure of where to begin.

Kristian noticed her blank expression and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “Hey, are you okay?”

Her head moved sluggishly from side to side. She opened her mouth for the first time since the afternoon and the dreaded words she had held in for so long slipped out.

“Siti’s dead. Because of me.”

Kristian’s eyes widened. “Why… what exactly happened, Farah?”

“This morning, a guy from our school… he..” she trailed off. “He came in and started shooting.”

A hand flew up to rub his forehead as Kristian hissed in disbelief, “The fuck?”

Nodding absently, she said, “He just barged into classrooms and then, he came into mine. Myran’s leg got hit but Siti… she was shot in the head.”

Her body convulsed at the images that flashed in her mind repeatedly. As the world spun around her, her gaze fell to the ground. “I s-aw her go down. Right in front of me.”

Kristian’s sturdy hands held her sides and steadied her. “I’m sorry.”

“The worst thing is… I know who he is.” She squeezed her eyes shut as the shooter’s face appeared in her mind. “He used to get thrown around and- and he would always cry when he got locked in the cabinet.”

Her throat seized up and she gasped harshly for breath. Kristian rubbed her back, his face a mixture of anger, worry, and confusion. He waited for her rapid breathing to subside before asking gently, “How is this your fault though?”

Farah froze. “The guy… he kept on saying…”

She looked up, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Zekepa will always live on. No one can ban me-“

Choking on her words, she cupped a hand to her mouth. The nausea was returning and it took all her effort to swallow down the rising bile. Her knees gave way and she almost crumpled onto the ground were it not for Kristian’s support.

“Wait, wait.” Kristian hurriedly helped her down to a sitting position. “Take it slow, Farah. You don’t need to do this.”

She shook her head vigorously. “It’s my fault, Kristian, can’t you see?!” Turning to face him, the tears fell like rain down her cheeks. “If it wasn’t me who banned that guy yesterday, he wouldn’t have snapped! He wouldn’t have shot Siti! Siti wouldn’t be dea-“

The finality of the word caught in her throat and she broke down into a blubbering mess. She bent over double until her forehead touched the cold surface of the bricks. One hand clutching her chest, she let out a pained scream that echoed emptily in the desolate virtual world.

She could vaguely feel Kristian’s arms wrapped around her but it felt so unreal. She had no idea how long she just sat there, screaming until she had poured out all the pent up emotions within her. Eventually, the tears dried up and her voice gave out, leaving her emptier than before. As she straightened up, she felt like it was the first time she was truly looking out on the world and seeing it for what it really was.

“My parents were right,” she murmured, her voice still hoarse. “Why…why did I even bother treating all this like it was real?”

Her fingers dug into the virtual ground as if it was air. “The monsters aren’t real… this roof… isn’t real. Even you-“

The words died in her throat when she turned to face Kristian. Through her glassy eyes, she could still see his expression clearly enough to know that he was equally as lost and in despair as she was. She swallowed and shook her head as if to wipe away what she had just said.

“I just..” she whispered helplessly. “I just don’t want to end up like… him.”

She couldn’t say his name. Just thinking about him made her sick with guilt. But wasn’t she the same as him? Invested in something unreal until what she had in reality slipped out of her fingers.

“Farah.”

The mention of her name made her shift her glance to Kristian. He reached a hand out and clasped her hand in his. “There’s a reason why I revealed my self-awareness to only you.”

“I never mentioned it because… well fuck, you know I’m awkward at this kind of emotional shit.” An uncomfortable smile parted his lips, which prompted a small chuckle from her.

His eyes softened at her first normal reaction and the smile on his lips settled into a gentle one. “It’s because you were the only person who treated me like I was an actual human being.”

Farah stared back in surprise but didn’t respond.

“Most gamers would use me, fawn over me… do weird kinds of shit because I wasn’t real to them,” he explained. “You didn’t. You respected my existence. And for that, I’m very grateful.”

“But you need to take care of yourself.” His tone although stern, carried an endearing warmth and concern to it. “There’s so many things you have out there in the real world. You need to stop coming here.”

She gulped hard and weighed his words. Slowly nodding her head, she agreed. “Yeah… yeah you’re right. I should take a short break..”

“No.. not a short break.”

Stunned, her mouth fell open and her heart plummeted even farther down when he uttered with a sense of finality.

“This is goodbye.”