The VR System I

Leo awoke to the unexpected sensation of hands gently kneading his knees. He blinked open his eyes, disoriented at first, only to find those familiar faces hovering above him. The very men who had previously tried to restrain him when he was raging, were now focused on helping him. Their expressions were a mixture of concern and determination, and he could feel the warmth of their hands working to ease the tension from his legs. 

But Leo was far more focused on the curiosity welling within him. With a swift yank, he pulled their hands away and leapt out of bed, the soft sheets falling away. Loca had promised to reveal everything—the truth behind his coma, the destruction of Earth, and the mysterious emergence of quirks among humanity.

As he stood, he observed the surroundings for their first time. He had dozed off in Loca's DMX on their way back from the academy, so he didn't know when he was brought here last night.

The lab around him filled with wondrous distractions. High-tech screens illuminated the room, showing streams of data and holographic images that danced in the air, but his eyes were locked on a more pressing matter: understanding the chaos that had unfolded during his absence. The walls were a sleek, metallic gray, pulsing, forming ever changing intricate designs and making the atmosphere come alive. It was amazing and disturbing at the same time.

Yet, despite the stunning array of high-tech wonders, his mind was drawn back to Loca; the urgency of their conversation overshadowed the marvels surrounding him. He couldn't let this fascination hold him back.

The answers he craved were just within reach, and he had to know what had transpired during his time in a world that felt like the distant past.

He turned back to the men who hadn't spoken once since he woke from coma. "Thank you for the massage," he managed to say. He could feel his legs becoming more steady than it was yesterday.

"We're only following Captain Loca's orders. Have a nice day," one of the men who was older said.

"And do you know where Mr Loca is? I need to see him."

"You will see him, but first you have to feed on something."

Oh, right. He had totally forgotten about food. The men prepared a table and served him a completely strange but sumptuous meal. Leo couldn't even point out which particular food he ate. It was a good one anyway, and he couldn't care less.

Where is Loca?

With Loca already registered in his head for mind communication, he reached out to him only to discover that Loca was still sleeping. His snores filled Leo's head.

What??

There was nothing he could do in the lab, except play a certain war game with the three men. It was a self moving, hi-tech war board game. Each man raises his battalion and tries to win with the use of space ships and weapons and tactics. It was boring to Leo at first, but later got interesting when he sent one of the men's space ship crashing. He didn't even know how he did it. The two other men applauded him, saying he'll one day be earth's saviour. That was said playfully of course.

Out of nowhere, Leo asked. "What is your quirk?"

The man's face suddenly grew bitter and so was the other's. "We have no quirks, that's why we are chosen as lab assistants."

Leo, sensing how down the atmosphere has become said, "that's a cool job, though. You get to run experiments for the military and for the planet. Don't feel down, you're just as important as the front men in battle."

The men laughed weakly at the childish praise and once again, the mood in the lab was alive.

It was then Loca entered the lab. He looked very handsome in his metal gears, washed and neatly trimmed hair. Leo ran forward at once, pestering Loca's mind as he moved. "I know, I know," Loca said. "Follow me."

They stepped out of the lab, going through corridors upon corridors. This section of the bunker was the lab section. Leo was shocked to find that there were more than four labs here. What exactly are researching that much?

They took another turn by the left. Loca stopped by a blue-green door that has some sort of crackling energy emanating from it. He dipped his hand into a port at the centre, a soft whirring sound went on for 5 seconds followed by a click. The thick door opened without being pushed. "Come in."

Inside was a gaming centre. That was the closest interpretation that came to Leo's mind. He has visited the arcade once when the orphanage took the boys out for an excursion, and this was just how the arcade room looked like, except for the advanced technology that graced this room.

The whole length of the room was lined with gaming booths from wall to wall. In total, there were about 100 gaming booths, and each one has an orb-like shape with round blue light glowing round it, that all combined to give the room it's characteristic blue shade.

Leo instantly forgot what he was pestering Loca for. He wants to be seated in one of those booths and play his day away on games. Loca tapped him on his shoulder and motioned him to follow. They walked among rows of gaming booths, each one thrumming and pulsing, until they got to the end of the room. They stopped at a particular booth that looked different from from the rest.

It has a red orb instead of the other's blue. It's thrumming and pulsing was louder and more visible. It altogether, gave an eerie feeling. "Yes, it's this one," Loca thought to himself.

He bent down by the machine to check some things. A keyboard opened up on the surface and he was tryping wildly even though the screen was not open to see what he was typing. He pressed one final key of the board loudly, before the keyboard moved back into its case. Then the screen turned on.

[WELCOME TO THE VIRTUAL REALITY SYSTEM]

[WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHECK?]

[SELECT THE OPTIONS FROM THE DASHBOARD...]

The screen changed to reveal a page with different options in different sections.

[LUXUS' FIRST INTERGALACTIC WIN| THE MAKING OF THE FIRST PORTAL ON LUXUS| LUXUS' VICTORY ON EARTH AGAINST THE XOLLANTE| ADVANCEMENT OF THE LUXUS FIRST AI TECHNOLOGY| OTHERS... SPECIFY]

Loca pushed the space that indicated "OTHERS" and started typing... EARTH'S WAR AGAINST THE XOLLANTE.

[TOP SECRET FILE ABOUT TO BE ASSESSED. MILITARY SECURITY CODE IS REQUIRED]

Even after requesting a security code, the VR system didn't show any space to input the code.

[EMERGENCY ALARM WILL GO OFF IF SECURITY CODE IS NOT ENTERED IN 1 MINUTE]

Loca grabbed the keyboard from its case and started typing wildly again. The words on the keyboard has changed to numbers only. After continuously typing for more than 40 seconds, Loca pressed the "Enter" key and pushed the keyboard back into its case. He had typed a total of 200 numbers in less than a minute and all from his head. Leo was amazed at how demanding this VR system can be. 200 numbers as SC?

[SECURITY CODE INCORRECT]

Loca laughed, Leo was confused.

[SECURITY CODE IN... CORRECT]

"That was a final attempt to wave off theft. If an outsider got the code right but panicked after the first notification showed that it was incorrect, the alarm will go off, you have to wait for it to change to 'security code in, correct'" Loca explained.

"Amazing. You're amazing," Leo said.

"Sit down, boy. And place your hand over the red orb."

Leo did as he was told. Loca stepped back away from him. "I hope you can deal with it. Good luck."

Suddenly, a metal ring clasped Leo's wrist down against the orb. He tried to free it but it won't budge. His other hand too which was at the seat's arm was clasped as well. With no restriction now coming from Leo, a compartment opened up in the booth, and a device was seen sliding out of it, straight at Leo's head.

"Don't move your head," Loca warned.

The device has a luminous red glow, a mini screen that pointed right at Leo's eyes and a back red case covering it on the outside. This was the VR system. As soon as the mini screen got close to Leo's eyes, four straps flew out of the sides and went round his little head, clamping the VR device safe against his face.

The world around him was now somewhere else entirely. A screen popped up.

[VIRTUAL REALITY DEVICE SAFELY SET]

[ENJOY THIS NEW WORLD. SEE THE PAST LIKE YOU WERE THERE]

[EARTH'S WAR AGAINST THE XOLLANTE LOADING...]

[BEGIN]

Leo's head bobbed with excitement.