Defeat

***

It was Saturday, and I wasn’t obligated to wake up so early.

It was my choice.

Following a bit of Inertia’s day had become my main task during the week, and even on the weekend, my decision stayed the same: wake up at 4 a.m.

Even so, I missed out on a lot... the twelve-hour time difference between us was a significant obstacle.

A simple, seconds-long connection using Linkedia would solve our problem, I thought. But it was 2025… either I woke up early to follow everything, or Inertia would have to relive her days by recounting them to me.

The Live app call seemed to have stayed active overnight, and when I came back, Inertia appeared to have already gone out.

The phone screen was black when I reconnected. I couldn’t see anything; I could only hear a muffled conversation through the speaker, so I plugged in my earphones to listen more closely. The sound was still muffled, but somehow I could understand. I had the impression the phone was in her pocket.

I decided to stay silent and just listen, since I didn’t know who the people with her were or if they were even aware of my existence.

After a while, I realized everything was fine and even chatted with them for a bit, until I heard the screech of several cars braking at once, followed by the sound of coordinated footsteps. Then everything went silent… I couldn’t make sense of anything anymore. I didn’t dare ask; I just waited for someone else to speak.

Alba was the first:
“Inertia, stay behind him and don’t move. I’ve already contacted Chefe, but I haven’t received a response.”

What’s happening? Were they surrounded?

“Father?! How did he find out...?!” I heard Alba exclaim in shock.

“Alba, my daughter, how have you been?” said a deep male voice.

Her father is there?! This is bad… so they’ve found out about Inertia. If they discover me, it’ll be double trouble… how can I help?!

Again, I felt useless. There didn’t seem to be any point in being there, following everything from afar. Why had I even woken up early? In the end, was my role just to be Inertia’s psychological support?

I followed the conflict anxiously, and everything seemed to be leading toward the most predictable outcome: Inertia being captured.

“This matter is none of your business!” I heard Alba’s father shout furiously, followed by a loud bang and an explosion.

“Dom! Oh no… No!” Inertia screamed in despair.

Was Dom hit?! As I waited in anguish, staring at the black phone screen, the Live app call froze, tried to reconnect, and then dropped. Moments later, the phone restarted on its own. An error? Now, of all times?

I waited for the phone to reboot and quickly opened the Live app to start a new call, but how could she possibly answer in the middle of that chaos? I tried calling several times, but Inertia never picked up.

I closed the app and went back to the menu to try again, but this time something different appeared. Right below the Live app was a new one called Versus. Without thinking twice, I tapped it.

The new app opened with restrictions, requiring a key to activate before it could start.

What key?! I looked again and saw more than ten spaces to fill… what kind of key had that many fields? The pendant! I typed in the number I had memorized just in case, and access was immediately granted.

Inside the app, there were options like Equipment, Abilities, and Settings; it all looked very similar to a typical fighting game. The main button on the menu was to start a combat match.

All of this felt strange to me… why had this app appeared? Was it connected to what was happening over there? Linking the two situations together, I clicked “Start Combat” without hesitation.

The screen rotated to horizontal, a loading bar appeared, and the images finished loading. The phone’s interface now resembled a first-person shooter, with a translucent joystick-like button for movement on the left side, a bullet-shaped button at the top right for shooting, and a bazooka-shaped button at the bottom center of the screen.

The only thing that set this app apart from regular games was that… the characters were them!

Through my phone’s screen, I saw Dom lying on the ground with a hole in his chest, Alba kneeling and clutching what was left of her left arm, soldiers in front of her, and another further back, staring directly at me.

My perspective was in first person, and like in a shooting game, there was only one weapon in view. But this weapon looked incredibly powerful. I don’t know how to describe it exactly. It was as if two guns had been fused into one, making it large, each with its own ammo outlet

The lower weapon was black with vertical red stripes that shifted like fluid, as if scarlet liquid were flowing inside. The upper part resembled a small cannon, also black.

It didn’t look like any human-made weapon, so I assumed my character was one of the soldiers and didn’t hesitate to use it to our advantage.

However, since there was no crosshair, I tapped on the chest of one of the soldiers, and, as if starting a new game, a tutorial popped up explaining how to play.

Above the joystick on the left side of the screen appeared a message: “MOVE: Swipe to move around.” Above the weapon, another message appeared: “LOOK: Swipe to look around.”

I touched the screen with my right thumb and moved the weapon. A crosshair appeared at the center, and I aimed at the chest of one of the soldiers. Another message appeared: “SHOOT: Aim at enemies and press the bullet button to shoot.”

A highlighted bullet button appeared above, and I pressed it with my right index finger. Apparently, the game required three fingers to play. The weapon began firing, and the shots looked like red lasers.

I managed to take down one of the soldiers in front of me, and as soon as I did, the others aimed at me. But the blond soldier, different from the rest, shouted: “Don’t shoot!” Judging by the voice, I assumed he was Alba’s father.

The tutorial continued: “PRECISION AIM: Tap twice on the right side.”

I tapped twice with my right thumb, and the crosshair tightened for greater accuracy. The next soldier I targeted was standing beside Alba. He reflexively raised his weapon at me, but before he could shoot, I took him down. Everything felt easy; no one was fighting back, so I kept advancing and aimed at another soldier.

Another message appeared: “TAP ABILITY ICON: To use a special ability.” The bazooka-shaped button at the bottom center began flashing. I quickly pressed it, and the weapons swapped places. The cannon shifted to the bottom, while the upper weapon, the one with the flowing red stripes, appeared to charge the lower cannon until it glowed completely red.

I aimed at another soldier and dropped him with a single shot. The sound was deafening. He fell beside Dom, and I saw that both had the same hole in their chests.

“What is this?! Inertia, what happened to you?!” Alba exclaimed, looking at me.

“Inertia? What do you mean? Alba, what’s happening here?” I asked in my own voice.

“Re...”

Alba didn’t finish saying my name, but it was clear she understood I was there among them.

“Inertia, lower your weapon; we didn’t come to harm you. That’s not our intention!” Alba’s father said.

Inertia? But he said that while looking straight at me? In that instant, everyone’s eyes turned to me. My mind connected the dots, and I quickly realized my character wasn’t a soldier — it was Inertia. But what kind of technological weapon was this?

I looked at the other soldiers’ weapons; they were different from mine. But the weapon fused to Alba’s father’s arm was identical to the one in my view. How had Inertia acquired the same weapon?

“Incredible! How did you replicate my personal weapon?” Alba’s father exclaimed, thrilled. Just like him, I felt adrenaline coursing through my veins. For the first time, I felt like I had found a purpose in holding this phone.

“Alba, I don’t know how to explain this, but I think I can counterattack. Let me help y—”

Before I could finish, some kind of gravitational net struck me, immobilizing me and pinning me to the ground.

Lying there, I managed to see five armed soldiers surrounding Alba and restraining her.

“Alba, you’re coming with us too,” her father said.

My vision began to blur, and as if in a fighting game, the word “DEFEAT” flashed across the screen before the app closed on its own and returned to the phone’s main menu.

I tried restarting Versus and starting a new call, but nothing worked. 

It was the end for us.

End of Report 16