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(Excerpt from CNN News)

10 Years On: Lessons Learnt.

17 June 2037: On the anniversary of the Sina school shooting that changed the landscape of video gaming and gun possession, President Kira delivered an emotional speech regarding how far legislation has advanced to prevent such a tragedy from occurring. Over the past ten years, there has been a drop in such violent crimes and a significant decrease in the number of people with a gaming addiction… While companies like VR Agent Inc who founded the Battle of Kings game have since moved on to developing games that instill moral values, there are still many unfortunate victims of similar crimes that continue to suffer.

“No goodbye kiss for me, Farah?” the dusty blonde man teased.

Scoffing, Farah turned and walked down the few steps before pecking her boyfriend, Ian, on his forehead. She then flicked him on the same spot and laughed. “I’ll see you tomorrow. You’re bringing Isabel as well for our class reunion right? I haven’t seen her in a while.”

He pouted. “You’re sneaky, girl. And yes, I am bringing that loud-mouthed redhead even though I don’t really want to.”

Chuckling, she gave a small wave of her hand. “Alright, sounds great. Bye now.”

As she turned and headed back up to her new apartment, she giggled at the sound of Ian grumbling as he left. She was looking forward to their varsity soccer team reunion dinner tomorrow but more importantly, she had something of even greater importance to do at home.

Once she had locked her front door, she didn’t bother to wash up per her normal routine but went straight to her office space. An array of screens decorated one part of the wall with dozens of wires trailing on the floor that led to a collection of expensive servers.

One hand tore off her jacket while the other started up the computer system. She plunked into the leather swivel chair and while the screens flickered to life, she placed her palm flat on the top drawer nestled underneath the table. A whirring sound emanated from the smart drawer indicating that her biometric data was being verified and soon enough, it was followed by a click.

Now unlocked, she pulled it open to reveal a cluttered mess of papers and drives. It didn’t faze her as she easily fished out a small thumbdrive – a relic from ten years ago. Using an elbow to close the drawer, she gazed wistfully at the red letters scribbled across the label that spelled out a name – his name.

“This has all my data and programs. Keep it,” he had said.

Thinking about how he had planned this all out from the beginning, it made her admire him even more. Apparently he had been snooping around company data for some time and by chance, had stumbled upon information that suggested VR Agent Inc might be discontinuing the Battle of Kings game in the near future. Worried about his future, he had started making backup copies of his own memory and programming.

But those copies meant nothing without the proper compiler and controller. It had took her ten years to get where she was now – a computer science graduate with intimate knowledge of artificial intelligence and coincidentally, with a job at a gaming company. And now, after more than a year of working at decoding and interpreting the data in the thumbdrive, she finally had her own mini version of the code used by VR Agent Inc, although less scalable or portable.

It was time now to test it out for real. She thumbed the little device and with a little huff, braved herself to insert it into the main server machine underneath her desk. While her code processed the data, she drummed her fingers on the table top.

“I want to see you move on… have a real life.”

A smile grew on her face as she examined herself in the reflection of the screen. See me now? I did it, she addressed her mental image of him. She had a group of tight-knit friends who shared her interests, a boyfriend who loved her for who she was, a cool job… and she still played soccer.

Remember that, Kristian? Soccer?

The loading circle flashed on her screen. It was almost done at 95%. She bit her lips, a mixture of nervousness, anxiety, and excitement coursing through her veins.

“Farah, I want you to remember. You’re the best thing that happened to me in this world.”

Until today, she could still recall how it felt enveloped in his arms as he said the sweetest thing she had ever heard anyone say to her before. Her cheeks flushed at the memory and she clutched her chest, feeling her heart rate increase.

A soft ping jerked her out of her reverie. She glanced at the message box that popped up on the screen.

                                                     > Load or Quit?

She took a deep breath and gulped. This was it, she smiled.

Time to meet an old friend.

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