wenbmete

What if one morning you woke up with no memories? 

What if all you had was a video message you left for yourself, warning you that you were in grave danger? 

What if the only way to survive was in discovering what you forgot? 

And what if your biggest enemy was yourself? 

**

"There is a bug. It allows unmitigated access to the users' consciousness. You're the only one who knows. You must stop the release. You must stop them." 

That was the primal directive. Min needed time to understand, to accept. But time was the one thing he didn't have. 

He woke up with no memories. He only had the one video message he left himself to work with. The video told him he was a beta tester of Gaia, and he had discovered a bug that could very well be intentional. 

What he was asking of himself was to be a hero. But was that what he wanted? Was that really him in the video? 

If it was him, why go through all that trouble? Why did he delete all of his memories himself? 

Who were the people helping him from the shadows? Were they friends? Or, were they something else entirely? 

Who were those that were after him? Were they all related to Gaia? Or were there other secrets too? 

School was the perfect refuge. Friendless and unremarkable, he couldn't be hidden better. But with less than three months to graduation, he was running out of time...

osmosis

 -: requesting permission to open port to access wide web


 He was confused. Wasn't the system already connected to the wide web? Or, was it that the Black Gate was separate from the partition of the memory dedicated to the Beta Tester logs? If so, it was surprising that the Black Gate wasn't already connected to the wide web. What was more intriguing was the why. Why would he have disconnected from the wide web? And now, what should his answer be? Did the old him intend for him to make the choice?


 While he waited, he opened the other files. From the name, the third too seemed to have something to do with the Beta Tester logs, and so he opened the last file first. 


 -: establishing connection with server


 Since it seemed to be another wait, he opened the third file. 


 While the document was readying, the connection with the server was established and a chat window popped up, occupying the bottom right corner of the screen. The very next moment, he received a message. 


 The answer was a reflexive response, for his attention was on the document which too had opened just then. The very first sentence had him frozen. 


 There was more, but he couldn't continue. 


 His eyes turned to the chat window, where a reply had arrived. 


 His eyes were alternating between the chat window and the first sentence on the document. 


 Was he psychic? Or maybe he could see the future? Was that it? Was that how everything was lining up with such frightening accuracy? 


 @Si: Min? Where are you? Are you okay? 


 So many questions. And all of them seemed to be expressing worry. Was she a friend? It was a she, wasn't it? 


 He decided to read the document to the end before anything. Which was why he was blind to what Sia said next. 


 At least, not yet. You're not ready. Which is the purpose of this document. 


 There is much you must know. Much more you need not. I wish it was as easy as reading a few sentences and understanding everything. It's not. 


 Foremost, don't lose sight of what's most important. Stopping Gaia comes before anything else. If you're already sidetracked, let this serve as a reminder. 


 Second, what you must know before you engage. They are friends. I guarantee you that. You can trust them. But, there's always a but. Put it off for as long as you can. I cannot tell you more now. It's not safe for you. 


 Third, I'm sure you have questions about the Black Gate. Let them go. They don't matter. The doubts aren't important. 


 The only thing that's important is stopping the release of Gaia. 


 The files in A aren't the logs. I'm sorry. As much faith as I have in myself, I'd rather be careful. The two documents, will certainly be of help to you. Only, be sure to not let them get into the hands of anyone else. 


 One last thing. Do not let anyone in through the Black Gate.


 He was startled. Because, just then, as he was reading the last sentence, a small window opened atop the chat window. It looked like another Black Gate. The first line on the smaller Black Gate was stating that the connection was established. 


 He couldn't deny the fear that was rapidly rising inside of him. But before he could get a grip, she wrote again. 


B-6