Aftermath

One week later.

Wesley slowly awakes, as his eyes begin to slowly blink open. 'Ahhh, what the-'. Frozen, looking around, 'Why is everything so much more detailed? What the hell?' Wesley finally coming to his senses. Looking down he sees his whole body drenched in sweat and his shirt stuck to his skin. Observing his body, Wesley realized that the system not only upgraded itself but his body? 'What the- evolution gave me abs'. Previously Wesley already had a decent physique since he went to the gym consistently in college; however, genetics are also a huge factor in this case. With the system evolution. This changed things. His body was akin to a superhero's, still on the lean side. Similar to spider-man or the flash. Wesley opening the system saw something different besides the shop.

[SYSTEM]

[USER: WESLEY BARNES]

HEIGHT: 6'4 | 1.94 Meters

Strength: 2.4

Constitution: 2

Intelligence: 10

Charisma: 2.3

Wisdom: 2

Dexterity: 2.3

Mana: 100/100

Wisps: [Wisp of Conversion]

[Shop]

Looking at the system, Wesley stared blankly shocked by the transformation before him. Now being able to see his stats. 

[Orion] "Hello sir, welcome back." 

"Thank you Orion. How long was I out?" Wesley asked.

[Orion] "You were in a deep REM sleep for 1 week, and 8 hours."

"SHIT! I need to be more careful in the future with the system..."

"Has anyone been trying to contact me? Update me on everything that has occurred over the past week."

[Orion] "Regarding your family and friends, they have been curious to where you have been and Kohen was going to come by the warehouse. However, I intervened, I simply stated that you would be going on a short vacation over the next 2 weeks and would possibly return sooner. I also let your family know of these developments as well, which soothed their worries. I also instructed Kohen to work from home for the time being." 

"Regarding the rest of the world and the Alastair family. There have been a few complications."

"Which are?" Wesley replied, slightly frustrated with the whole situation.

[Orion] "The Alastair's were going to make a move on the warehouse after realizing there was no new information they were gaining and were going to force you into submission through a variety of means. However, to combat them from even considering dealing with you, I escalated a lot of tensions world wide to distract their focus." 

"What do mean escalate tensions?" Wesley begins to get increasingly worried, for being so dumb.

[Orion] "Based on the Virtual world running, I was able to take some of the researchers' knowledge they have gained over the past week, and send the information to various governments anonymously. Then I played in the stock market to draw in massive amounts of funds for you. When doing this, I traced it to more Chinese corporations to increase tension between the Alastair's and the Chinese government. Thus with the new research given to a variety of different countries and releasing classified documents I found within Alastair's database, it has sparked the Chinese government to make moves on reclaiming Taiwan. Russia has sent more troops into Ukraine while calling for a Draft and further invasions in the future. America is now sending troops to Asia to deal with China. Overall it could lead to a potential World War in the coming weeks." 

"Jesus christ..." Wesley covers his face with his hands as he pulls his hair back looking at the screen in front of him, seeing all the new reports and various incidents happening world wide. 

"Haaaa, I know I said to protect me at all costs, but this is not what I had in mind." Wesley said.

[Orion] "Given your current situation sir, it was the most logical solution to pull all eyes away from you." 

"Yeah, Yeah..." Wesley replied.

"Try to stabilize the situation if you can with the market and other aspects. I think it's time I moved out of that apartment and somewhere more secure. And I need to get a security team."

[Orion] "Will do."

"Besides the fact of you almost starting fucking World War 3, how much money have you made from the market?"

[Orion] "1.3 Billion dollars" 

"Haaaaa. I am not even surprised. Well at least I do not need to worry about my funds." 

---------------------------

In a high rise penthouse, Boston Massachusetts. 

A woman at 5'7 with a slender hour-glass figure, wearing a black dress that accented her figure well. With a caramel colored overcoat. Her outfit radiates class and beauty at its finest. Her hair was black, with slight waves as it reached below her shoulders. Her eyes emerald green, displaying power and poise. As she begins to walk over to the window looking down at the city below.

"The current tensions are at an all time high for the family. While Aurora and mother are distracted, this is the time for us to gather power so I can take control." Sophia said.

*Buzzt Buzzt* 

'Who is messaging me?' Picking up her phone, she opens the message to see an anonymous message: 'I can help you take control.' Below the message were attachments regarding dealings of the board members where they were backstabbing the head of the family. 

"Rena, schedule a meeting with a few of the board. We need to bring some people over to our side." Sophia announced.

------------------

At a coffee shop in Dallas.

"Have you noticed anything odd with Wes?" Kohen asked, observing Ashlin.

"Yes and no, I find the whole thing of him making all this money so quickly odd and very out of nowhere, but besides that he still seems the same." Ashlin said.

"I guess yeah, but compared to when we talked he had no ambition regarding making hundreds of millions or developing all this stuff. Sure he wanted to make money, but from all our conversations, I thought he wanted more of a quiet life." Kohen explained.

"I am just worried about the guy. And the unannounced vacation? Also a little odd. He didn't even take his family with him." Kohen added.

"Yeah that part is a little weird and definitely out of character for him for sure." Ashlin thought aloud.

"Let's just keep an eye on him and see if he needs anything." Ashlin said with a tinge of concern.

"Anyways, how is it as a CEO now?" Ashlin asked.

"Oh, surprisingly easy. Part of it is because of Wesley's new AI, it helps me with a lot of tasks regarding companies and other people wanting more information regarding our game and company but besides that I practically do not have to do anything. I have more free time now than I have ever had haha." Kohen replied.

"What are your thoughts on all that is happening in the world right now?" Kohen was curious to hear what Ashlin would say.

"Haaaa, it is sad to see honestly, one second things I thought were somewhat normal besides certain issues going on within the country; however, potential full blown war is sad to see." Ashlin giving her honest thoughts. 

"Agreed, I'd rather see a peaceful solution rather than a violent one." Kohen said.

-----------------

"This whole situation is beyond normal, do we have any insights to what is happening right now?" Madam Alastair asked with furrowed brows.

"Yes and no ma'am. We have received word that the Chinese government is behind the volatile stock market at the moment. It seems they hacked into the Defense network as well and got some information regarding US dealings in Taiwan, South Korea, and Vietnam to stagnate their progress. Thus it seems as the US has colluded against them, so they are escalating the situation in response to discovering the information."

"Do they plan on attacking one of our allies?"

"From what we have gathered, no. Most likely they are trying to stir trouble to get some power and benefit their economy but nothing more. The situation should settle down over the coming weeks." The secretary replied.

"Good good, have we continued to observe Mr. Barnes?" 

"Yes ma'am, after we left his warehouse, we discovered him entering the building, however after a week we have not seen him come or go. No one has delivered anything to the property either. However because of the ongoing crisis across the globe we decided to put any action on hold until other matters are resolved." 

"Hmmm. Alright. Go ahead and start moving on him now. I want him brought in alongside some of our other tech geniuses." Madam Alastair said.

"Yes Ma'am we will get right on it." The secretary moved quickly to begin their plans.

---------------------

The following day.

"Liam, how many of the other guards are onsite?" Wesley asked.

"We have around 40 men on site sir. We have a few outside covering all sides of the building and then the rest are inside here in the warehouse." Liam replied. 

"Good, good. Thank you Liam, you can leave now." Wesley said.

"Yes sir" Liam replied, as he walked to the door and closed it behind him leaving Wesley alone in the server room. 

"Orion, how is our game doing?" Wesley asked.

[Orion] "It is doing extremely well. Right now it is rated #1 on all charts and Ra Solutions has been awarded multiple awards for its ingenuity. We have now reached over 400 million downloads and it is climbing." 

"Wow, good work Orion." Wesley replied. 

"Let's go and take a look at the situation within the Virtual world."

[Orion] "Yes sir, also to update you, since your evolution, I have been able to increase the time dilation from 10:1 to 35:1. So we should see results much faster in the coming future."

"That big of a jump? How?" 

[Orion] "It seems that the evolution from your body not only upgraded your body's base stats, but is now connected to the blue energy waves in your brain. Your whole body now has the wave connected through your nervous system relaying the energy."

"What does that have to do with the time dilation?" Wesley asked, more confused now.

[Orion] "Instead of just putting all the load into your brain, the energy or wisps as you call it, is simply being distributed throughout your whole body. Which further amplified the amount your brain can handle. Thus we can increase the time dilation further without causing any damage. We could push it further, but since I do not know the origin of this power, I will always recommend we stay on the conservative side."

"Agreed. Let's go see what the researchers are up to." Wesley replied.