Data Cores

"Jacob, Alice!" Legolas ran upstairs, finally making his way into the room Pocchi told him about.

He burst through the door, slouching over in exhaustion as he caught his breath

"L-Legolas?" Jacob stood in the middle of the room, holding a basket of laundry.

He couldn't believe his eyes—he thought he was dreaming.

"Is that really you... Legolas?" He dropped his basket of clothes, rooted in place.

Jacob's heart skipped a beat—and his eyes only widened—baffled to see his friend before him.

"Jacob, we have to escape, right now!"

"I-I don't understand..." Jacob stood there, gazing at the ground in shock.

"You don't understand, what?" Legolas limped his way over, grabbing Jacob's wrist, "We can talk later, but right now we have to go!"

The elf started pulling Jacob from the room, but he tugged away, taking a step back.

"Huh, what are you doing? You can't stay here, Jacob! I found a way for us to escape. I summoned that Wraith you gave me and got us payback, so let's not waste any time."

"Alice... she—"

Legolas lifted his brows, taken in suspense by Jacob's hesitant speech.

"...She said you were dead."

"What do you mean?" Legolas looked down in thought and suddenly gasped. "Wait a second!" He immediately realized something, "That's right, Alice, she's not herself—!"

Before he could finish, the elf was kicked in the hip, hurtling across the room, "Gnngh!" Legolas clenched his teeth in pain, tumbling across the floor.

"Alice, what are you doing?" Jacob watched his beloved stand there, shallow in her eyes.

"Stay away from Jacob, you don't belong here." She lifted her hand, pointing a gun towards Legolas, "I'll kill you myself."

"What's gotten into you? Can't you see that it's Legolas you're pointing the gun at? Don't shoot him!!"

Jacob stood in front of Alice, extending his arms to halt her advancement.

"Jacob, move out of the way."

"No, I won't do that! He's our friend, and I won't let you kill him like some street punk. This isn't like you at all! You lied about his death, why? What's wrong with you, Alice?!"

Alice would stare Jacob in the eyes, putting her finger on the trigger.

"...He deserves to die."

"No, he doesn't!"

"Yes... he does..."

"No, he doesn't, listen to yourself!!"

"...."

Alice looked down with her emotionless eyes and lowered her weapon.

"Alright..."

"G-Good, now put the gun down."

"I'll just have to kill you to finish off Legolas."

"Wha—?"

A loud bang echoed across the Guild as Alice fired her pistol with no empathy.

Jacob couldn't react in enough time.

("No… am I really gonna die?")

Jacob stumbled back, losing his footing as he closed his eyes to accept his fate.

"Knock that off."

The bullet collided into someone's stomach, ricocheting into the air.

Another person intervened with their commotion, angry in her eyes.

Everyone looked at this new person in awe.

Their eyes were lit up in admiration, except for Alice.

"It's one of the Four Great Kings... Angelica?!" Exclaimed Jacob.

"How did you get past the barrier?" Asked Alice.

"You mean that weird glitched-barrier set up around the guild?" Questioned Angelica.

"Mm." She nodded, emotionless.

"Pretty simple, I just punched through it."

"That's impossible!"

"Let me guess—it was created using mods—wasn't it? Yeah, I figured as much. It's not every day you'll see some large glitched area in Isekai Online."

"Punching through a glitched barrier made out of mods is impossible; Lord Belial said so himself."

"Lord Belial?! Why are you calling him lord, Alice?!" Exclaimed Jacob.

"Hmmm..." Angelica approached the girl, lifting her hand into the air, "Authority, Unfold."

A magic circle appeared on Alice's body, bringing up her personal hub.

Naturally, Alice had her personal hub and name hidden via settings, but that didn't matter in front of a Great King.

With "Authority" they were able to have absolute domination over all mechanics in the game. In other words: she bypassed the systems set up in Isekai World Online; forcing Alice's personal hub into view with the usage of the Unfold and Authority spell.

"How did you... do that?" Muttered Alice.

"I see," Angelica closed the girl's personal hub, placing her hand against her hip, "Your 'Alice' is being controlled by a peculiar spell at the moment. It isn't a spell that we have in the game, but rather a spell created from a Mod that Belial placed on her."

"A spell... created from a mod? What mod is it?" Asked Jacob.

"I've seen this mod used plenty of times in the past—It's called 'The Abolisher of Worlds"." Said Angelica, sighing in disappointment. "I'm surprised the Admins didn't ban this mod from the game—so many players used it to cheat their way up the leaderboards."

"The Abolisher of worlds?" Asked Jacob.

"Mm." She nodded. "It allows players to bring new spells in the game—that not only interacts with our Game Avatars—but our Consciousness and Data Core."

"A Data core?" Legolas managed to stand to his feet, stumbling forward from his exhaustion.

"Ah, right, not many players have heard of the term 'data core', mostly because it's hidden knowledge," Angelica turned to face both Legolas and Jacob, "The Data Core is known as our Storage files; it makes up who we are. Mods are able to interact with Data cores, mainly because the game wasn't designed to withstand them. If one's Data core were to perish by a Mod, then the player will have their Game Avatar destroyed." Angelica crossed her arms in thought. "But who knows what'll happen now? Maybe our Soul and Consciousness will perish alongside our Data cores from the recent update that trapped us here."

"So let me get this straight. Does this mean the Mod that is affecting Alice's Data core is unable to be destroyed unless we find another Modder?" Asked Jacob.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying," Angelica responded, quite disappointed to bring them the horrible news.

"Oh... I see." Jacob closed his eyes, balling his fists in frustration. "Tell me more about this Data core, there has to be a way to save her!"

Angelica pitied them both as she nodded her head.

"Very well." She lifted her hand, casting a hologram in front of her. "This is the Data core. They're bundles of information that take the form of an orb that is contained within all life forms, including players, mobs, and NPCS. It holds our Game avatar's memories, life, and story, defining who we are as a whole." Angelica turned to face the baffled Alice, "Data cores are also known to contain our saved files; so if it's destroyed, then so would our history be, across the game."

"Wait a minute, Data cores contain our saved files? Does that mean we can somehow alter her previous files and save her?" Asked Legolas.

"Yes, I can get rid of this curse that way."

"Then why haven't you done it yet?" Shouted Jacob.

"Well..." Angelica looked to the side, rubbing the back of her head, "Emperor told me to wait before I try anything."

"Emperor? Do you mean The Ruler and Leader of the Humanoids? That Emperor?"

"Yup!" She grinned. "I know that I'm one of the Four Great Kings and all, but I'm still part of Phantom Mutiny, and he's our Guild Leader; so it's only respectable if I follow orders for now."

"Can we see him?" Asked Jacob.

"Eh?"

"I want to meet Emperor, immediately, for Alice's sake!!"

WHACK!

"Ow!" Jacob yelled in pain, falling to his knees, "Why did you whack my head? What did I do?"

"You know—I may not look like it—but I'm still fairly strong myself."

"So, are you saying..."

"Yeah." Angelica nodded with a smile. "I'll break the curse that's infecting her Data Core, so don't worry so much, alright?" Angelica gave a thumbs up. "I'll just apologize to Emperor later."

"Thank you... Lady Angelica." Jacob bowed his head, and lifted his hands in prayer, "I never knew she was cursed," tears started streaming down his face, falling to the ground, "But with your help—you managed to find the solution. Now we can be together again, as a party!" Jacob slumped forward, bowing at her feet.

He was crying tears of joy, bringing a smile to Legolas' face.

"Mmm," Angelica nodded before kneeling to his level, lifting his head with her soft palms, "I'm glad that I can help all three of you. It's important to keep your friends, and never let them go." Angelica closed her eyes, remembering her party with Lucifer, Emperor, and Lilith, "Trust me—I know how you feel—if I ever had the chance to bring back my old party, then I would risk everything just to spend time together, as friends again."

"Lady Angelica—you have my eternal gratitude." Legolas kneeled his head, showing his respect.

"It's no problem, really." Angelica would let go of Jacob, standing back to her feet.

"There's one question I have to ask, however."

Angelica looked at Legolas with a curious gaze, "Hm? What is it?"

"Alice—why isn't she moving?"

"Oh, right! I forgot I stopped her in time so she wouldn't attack anyone!"

"...Huh?"

Legolas couldn't believe what he was hearing. He thought stopping time was impossible, but time and time again, the Great Kings proved their superiority.

"No need to worry, she'll be fine." Angelica glanced at Alice and fisted her palm. "Now then, let's get rid of this corrupt file of hers!" Lifting her hand, she cast a magic circle. "Stored Files, Open!"

Upon command, a collection of Alice's Saved Files would manifest before their very eyes; showing at least hundreds of them.

"Hmm."

Angelica looked back in time through the files, scanning Alice's history until she found what she was looking for.

"There it is."

Lifting her fist, she punched through one of the Saved Files—shattering it completely—and exterminating its data.

Angelica destroyed causality, making the cause of Alice's curse vanish; as if it had never happened to begin with. Belial's curse was lifted.

"You did that with just one punch!??" Exclaimed Jacob.

"That should do it." Angelica dusted off her hands, leaving their problems solved. "I may have altered history a bit by destroying one of her saved files, but it's all good. Your Alice is now free."