SNAPCRAFT | Epilogue

Axl opened his eyes and appeared in the white room again.

“How?” he mumbled. He thought he had lost the last round.

He reviewed the events that had led him to be kicked out of the exams. He had been ahead throughout the whole round. He had started this round with 542 points and had ended it with over 1000. His opponent also had the [Scoreboard] upgrade, springing his trap.

False Scoreboard (Scoreboard Upgrade)

Requirements: [Scoreboard]; [Deception]

Effects: You can alter the score your opponent sees.

He had purchased this upgrade as soon as his eyes landed on it. Axl kept his opponent thinking they were ahead, only to reveal they had lost miserably. However, to his surprise, his opponent’s victory points skyrocketed at the end, and they ended the round with 8000 points! Just how had they been able to do that?

To his shame, he was kicked out of the exams. He wanted to win the exams to guarantee the General wouldn’t rob him of the opportunity to consume allcure. Just as he thought he would appear back in his pod, ready to be met with the general’s punishment for not coming in the top 4, he reappeared in the white room.

Your previous opponent has forfeited the exams. You qualify for the next round.

“Why would someone forfeit the exams?” he asked, bewildered. He stayed speechless, wondering what could lead someone to pursue anything less than victory, especially someone so capable. He eventually gave up. He just couldn’t wrap his head around it.

He then lay down and pulled up his sleeve, studying the faces he had once tattooed on his arm. He had been given a second chance. He would remember who these people were and why he had loved them enough to ink them on his skin but not enough to stay. He would finally get the answers he had spent his life looking for.

After staring at his arm for a while, he sat up. He still had many hours to kill and started goofing around with his hands, making shadow puppets. Doing this had always soothed him for some reason.

*

Kai squinted as the elevator doors opened, revealing the capital's square. He passed his hand through his face again and felt the spiky stubble, confirming he really was out of Daisy’s realm and back in the real world.

"My world," he mumbled. The virtual world of the exams belonged to Daisy, but this world wasn't hers. It was his. Why had he never thought of it that way? After a few moments of reflection soaking in the sunlight, he understood the reason for the shift in his heart.

He had always assumed Daisy was infallible, but after outsmarting her and finding a blindspot in her programming, Kai wondered: What other blindspots were there? Where else had she made mistakes? What else had she missed?

He tried to move out of the elevator but couldn't. This was the threshold between Daisy's world and his. Before taking this step, he had to find what he believed. What would he teach his children? What would he teach the hundred exiles he could bring into the sector?  Would he give it his all the next time he was called to the exams? Or would he boycott them as Seth did?

Neil believed the key to the exams was the human drive for survival. Alfred claimed the key lay in history.  Sunny taught him that he should study machines, and Clara that he should study biology. He had grown up learning that Daisy was a deity-like existence, but Seth had always preached she was the enemy. Would he be for Daisy or against her? What would he tell the next generation the exams were about?

"Why did I win?" he asked himself aloud, trying to get his thoughts in order. "I won because I wanted to save Ariel. I won because of what my friends taught me." As the thoughts came together, they transformed into a resolution, a belief: "I won because I didn't make the Daisy Exams about Daisy. I won because I focused on people. If we focus on Daisy, we lose. If we focus on others, we win," he said.

The words came a little awkwardly out of him, but it was the beginning of something. He wasn't against Daisy or for Daisy. He took a step out of the elevator. He was for humanity.

Kai dragged himself through the square and toward the nearest distribution center. To be for humanity, one had to be alive. Healthy, too, if possible.

Cough! Cough!

Even though he had had several days of rest inside the capsule, he felt exhausted. His young body was fighting a losing battle against the blight, and he had little time left. At the sight of the familiar building, set up at the corner of what used to be a busy street at some point in history, he approached it, and the double doors opened automatically.

He walked toward the nearest console, positioned close to the entrance, and scanned his palm on the screen.

Identity confirmed.

Kai Barrington

ID: 61563281

After so many rounds of the exam, it was weird to operate the console and not find any upgrades available. Instead, he found the option he desperately needed.

Are you sure you want [Allcure]? [Y/N]

Kai confirmed it, and a little port opened, showing the medicine. Kai clenched his teeth at the recollection of Seth’s accusations. If making allcure was expensive or difficult, how could Daisy have some available already at this distribution center? There was probably enough stock of it to keep some in every distribution center on the planet, but she still chose to keep it as a trophy for the exam winners.

Too tired to feel angry, opening the tube, Kai grabbed the syringe that came out and injected the drug into his neck. The painful sting was followed by a cooling sensation which spread through to the rest of his body. He had never seen anyone use this drug and didn’t know how long it would take to heal him. Trudy was the only one who had used it he knew personally. It had allowed her to live an incredibly long life, and now Kai and Ariel would have that same privilege.

Cough!

Maybe it was just his subconscious, but he felt his coughing wasn’t as hard as a few minutes earlier. He opened his console again.

Would you like to access Ariel Barrington’s account?

Permission granted.

Ariel Barrington

ID: 61563212

Are you sure you want [Allcure]? [Y/N]

Kai grabbed the new tube and left the distribution center. They had agreed they would meet in the museum once it was all done. Kai walked as quickly as his fragile health allowed him, ignoring Daisy’s slaves who worked to keep the city clean, even though no one was left to appreciate it. Perhaps that would change soon.

The door to the museum was open, and Kai just followed the sound of a wheezy, strong cough. As he walked through the doorway, his eyes landed on Ariel. She was a little more debilitated, her eyes a little darker, and her veins a little bluer, but she had never seemed so beautiful to Kai.

“Honey,” he managed in a weak voice. Ariel turned to him, surprised. She first smiled, but seeing the tube that Kai held in his hand, she covered her mouth as tears began flowing from her moist, yellowed eyes. Kai lifted his hand, holding the medicine as a trophy. “We’ve made it, honey. We’re going to be OK.”

THE END

*

Thank you for reading Snap Craft!

If you haven't yet, you can check out my other stories. I'm starting a new litRPG novel soon, Hidden Class: Handyman.

In the meantime you can check two of my finished novels here, or get started with HC:Pacifist.