It was past midnight in the city of El Qitar.
Rain trickled down from the skies, its pitter -patter a soothing, slow rhythm.
Unfortunately, this rhythm was merely background music to an already chaotic city.
Down below, songs of revelry and dancing could be heard.
The neon lights of the city's buildings shone bright, like stars in the night sky, illuminating the intoxicated mobs that lined the streets, clubs and bars.
The people screamed and yelled all sorts of mad things. It was something one would expect nonetheless from such a scene.
Even at such late hours, everyone partied and revelled like they were born to do it.
Nothing, not even the rain, could stop this city's nighttime routine.
As El-Qitar never really did sleep.
But so did its dark secrets.
Partying, of course, was not the only thing this crazed utopia was known for.
A sharp cry was barely heard over chaotic rain and music.
It came from the edge of the city, an alleyway where the lights and sounds of entertainment didn't quite reach.
This was where a man quietly stood over a young girl.
Her fresh blood was spilled against the rough tarmac, mixing and washing off with the oncoming raindrops.
The young girl clutched her torso. Her slender, frail body seemed to have taken a good beating. Her eyes were bloodshot and her electric blue hair was tinged with red streaks…
Red streaks of her blood.
"Where is it, Abigail? The techno-cube"
The mysterious man questioned.
"I've told you. I don't know!"
The frail girl yelled back. Her hair looked thin and her skin was cracked. She had lost a fight with this mysterious man earlier, and now she was tortured, beaten and broken for something she didn't know about. Something that she didn't even believe existed.
The man crouched down to her level, looking her in the face. He sported a cyber-mask that had a simple but strange expression: short strokes for the eyes, and a thin curve for the mouth.
It seemed like it was smiling, but that look was something more traumatic. Abigail had come to know him as the smiling monster.
"You came close to defeating me this time, but I guess I am always one step ahead." The mysterious man chided, his digital face still smiling, "I hoped you would have some information this time, at least, but it seems you're just useless to me, and to the entire faction."
Abigail's heartbeat fluttered. She knew what came next: her scheduled demise.
"I'm afraid that leaves me with no choice." The masked man said as his left hand morphed and extended into a glowing blade, sharp enough to cut through stone.
Abigail let out a deep breath. This was it. Another failed attempt. Another failed mission. If only her player was more capable…
The blade came swinging for her neck.
And then…lights out.
{MISSION FAILED!}
Those two words flashed across the screen in bold, mocking Michael for yet another failed attempt at passing the game's first but hardest mission.
"Bloody hell!" The young teenager cursed, almost throwing down his controller until he stopped himself, realising how expensive it was, especially in his economy.
"Fuck, I was so close!" He clutched his head and rubbed at his temples. "If I could just have one more go…"
"I think we're done here." A middle-aged man with a suit slammed his hand on Michael's desk, startling him.
"But Mr. Xavier I was so close…" Michael protested, seeing that he had lost yet another bet.
"You can't beat it, Michael!" Xavier cut him off, "you'll just cause us to lose more money, and yourself. You're already broke as it is. You've emptied your wallet, even your girlfriend's, and you still lose every time. Haven't you had enough?"
As if on cue, a blonde-haired girl stepped into the gamer room. She stopped and scanned the room for someone, and when her eyes finally landed on the person she was looking for—her dark-haired, chubby, good-for-nothing boyfriend—she was about to lose it.
Nevertheless, she kept her cool and slowly approached him.
Michael stood up to meet her.
"Veronica, I—"
THWACK!
A resounding slap could be heard throughout the room.
Michael was shocked. He clutched his left cheek, stinging red from the slap.
"You useless gamer-boy!" She kicked him in the balls, "you cleared my account for your stupid prize and you still lost?! I thought you were the best? But you can't win a stupid game! And now, you have us both bankrupt!"
She stomped him on the foot.
Michael, who was in so much pain, could only talk through his teeth.
"But we both agreed to clear our accounts, babe! I did try—"
"Shut up!" Veronica cut him off, "it was 100 million dollars on the line, Michael. One hundred million! Do you know how much that would have changed our lives? It's bad enough that you're sleazy and fat but you're also broke! Do you know what that money would have done for us? For you?!"
Michael felt something sink within him, like a ticking-time bomb set to explode. Veronica had never acted this way to him before. It was nothing short of heartbreaking.
"I even took out some loans so I could bet on you to beat the stupid level. At least I believed you were good for something besides being so useless! And you can't even beat a stupid video game when those are all you play back in our apartment!"
"Look," Michael got himself enough to mutter a few words, "this is a completely different game, and this particular level is pretty hard, okay? Let me just beg Mr Xavier for one more round."
Michael turned to the suited man who was already packing up the gaming hardware.
"Sir please…" Michael said, his voice shaking, "just one more go. I'll pay if I have to."
"No can do." Xavier replied sternly. "You see these other gamers?" He gestured to the other people who were now focused on them after Veronica's crash-out.
"They are waiting for their turn on other games. The company is calling me back to base as well. I only agreed to come down here to this dirt pile of an arcade because I thought we had a winner on our hands." Xavier continued, his lips curling into a cold, calculating smirk, "but it seems Project Vegas, as a standalone game, will remain unbeatable for the forseeable future. A future that doesn't include you becoming a centi-millionaire overnight, unfortunately."
At this point, Xavier was already done packing. He lifted the game console in his right arm, a futuristic piece of hardware the world had come to know as Omega-5.
"A shame that you had to lose everything to prove to us that our game is practically unbeatable just like we claimed. I hope to never see you again, Michael."
Xavier walked out of the game room.
And so did Michael's chance.
His chance to become the richest gamer of his time. His chance to leave stark poverty and buy a resort on a distant island for himself and Veronica. His chance to finally matter.
It was all gone.
Veronica tapped her foot impatiently on the ground. She groaned, clutching her head, like she was finding it difficult to say something.
"Okay, how do I tell you this?" She said to Michael, her foot still tapping.
"You don't have to tell him anything, baby." A fit-looking handsome guy walked through the door to where the two stood, wrapping his muscled arm around Veronica's waist.
Michael frowned.
"Veronica, who is this?" He questioned.
"Her new boyfriend. The name's Trevor." The handsome guy responded, speaking on Veronica's behalf.
Michael stared straight at Veronica with tears welling up in his eyes. She avoided his gaze.
"You would do this to me?" He asked.
"Of course I would!" Veronica snapped, and something seemed to shatter within Michael. That ticking-time bomb finally went off.
"Alright, go then." He said to her coldly. Veronica's eyes fluttered, like she couldn't believe he would let go of her so easily. Her eyes suddenly became a little softer. She clutched Michael's hands.
"Look, I'm sorry for that. But you were breaking down, a ticking time bomb. You had no money, no name, just nothing. I had to put up with you for so long. And when you lost all our money I couldn't just…" She let out a frustrated sigh.
"Look, it's over now. At least this way, you wouldn't have to think of me anymore because I'm already taken." She continued. Trevor's grip tightened around her waist.
A moment of silence stretched in between the trio as Veronica waited for a response from Michael, a response that never came.
"Goodbye, Michael." She finally said. "Let's go, Trevor."
Michael watched with tears stinging at his eyes as another guy whisked Veronica away, someone he had once cherished with all his life.
How did it come to this?
He thought to himself as he reluctantly took a seat at where he was initially gaming, before everything happened.
Whispers erupted all around him. Phone cameras flashed and Michael could hear some snickers and laughter.
They were mocking him.
He stared straight at the now blank screen of the arcade computer. Everything had been plugged out and turned off, but just moments ago, that empty screen was bursting to life with vivid colours of the world of El Qitar.
Michael sighed. He would've done anything to go back. To somehow set things right and beat that stupid game.
The arcade computer's screen lit up.
A single logo appeared in place of Michael's blurry reflection on the screen.
It was an omega symbol, the logo of Omega Corp, which was the company that designed Omega-5 console and all its games.
But what was that doing here? And how was the arcade computer even turned on when it was already plugged out?
The screen suddenly flashed again, changing to something that made Michael's eyes go wide.
{Would you like to try out Omega-5's VR experience in the game of "Project Vegas"?}
{Yes}
{No}
"VR? As in Virtual Reality?" Michael thought. He had no idea that Project Vegas had a VR mode.
And there was no hardware, or anything in sight that could be linked to a VR game. How would he even interact with the options given to him on screen?
At this point, nothing seemed to make sense.
The universe was probably trying to mock him. Nevertheless, Michael decided to indulge.
He tapped the {Yes} option.
It would've been a different kind of crazy if somehow, an arcade computer screen could respond to touch input.
Ironically, that was what happened.
{Good choice! Your VR experience will begin in 3…2…1…}
Michael was about to go to the washroom and pour some water on his face, but he didn't get the time.
Suddenly, a blinding blue light enveloped him.
The young gamer was gone in a flash.
MEANWHILE…
A pristine SUV sped down a lonely highway. A suited man sat at the steering wheel. His expression was stoic and grim, like a mask that hid so many secrets.
He pressed a phone to his ear. A deep monotone voice boomed from the other end.
"Have you sent our guest on his way?"
The voice asked.
"Yes sir. The Omega Protocol has been initiated." Xavier coldly replied. "He is well on his way into the game world as we speak."
"Good. I hope he is a capable candidate?" The voice asked.
Xavier paused for a few seconds, his eyes roaming to a distant corner. He remembered the determination he had witnessed from Michael, the betrayal and pain that the young man had experienced right after failing.
In just a few moments, Michael's whole world had shattered. His dreams and hopes, destroyed.
Xavier smiled.
"I've never been more sure of a candidate in my whole life, sir." He responded. "This one's special."
The SUV drove on in silence.