The Epilogue

Fifty miles distant, in a dimly lit office where the only illumination came from the cool glow of several monitors, Valery remained still in her chair. For the past twenty minutes, she had been gazing at the same screen, watching lines of code scroll by without really registering them.

The signal from her mother had ceased.

Her mother - Aeriys, also known as Vanessa, the woman who programmed Re:Admin, the figure that had ambitious plans to change everything - had simply stopped communicating. The digital presence that had once connected them, her mother's constant involvement within the network, had faded away.

Valery's hands trembled as she positioned them over her keyboard. She understood what that silence meant, even as she tried to dismiss it with any logical explanation she could come up with. A fault in the network? Some kind of interference? A planned move on her mother's part? Her mother was all-powerful. Death was something that would only happen to ordinary human beings.

Yet, deep down, she knew.

A message popped up on her main monitor, triggered by certain conditions. Valery gasped and opened it, her face lit up by the suddenly bright screen.

It was a video, recorded just before the contact was lost. Her mother's last words.

With a shaky hand, Valery clicked play.

Aeriys appeared on screen, but changed somehow. Her usual confidence had disappeared, replaced by an expression of distress. Her golden hair was messy, her white robes discolored, and her eyes - her all-knowing eyes - held something Valery had never witnessed before: fear.

Valery, my daughter, Aeriys started, her voice distorted by static. If you're watching this, it means I have been defeated. Admin proved to be more resourceful than I realized, and RCX...RCX has gone against everything we worked towards.

The image flickered, as corrupted data caused Aeriys's figure to distort. The creation of ARX was cut short. She wasn't fully formed, making her easy to influence. I imagine they have her by now, a child who hasn't any understanding of the grand design I created for Re:Admin.

Aeriys then leaned closer to the recording device, her expression intense. But you, Valery, you are the key The plan I devised for Re:Admin always made sense to you, not just a game. It was to be something different. A place where minds could overcome human limitations, where the most talented could become something greater.

Aeriys's figure began to flicker more violently. The recording was clearly being made right before battle. I am giving you everything: my research, my programs, the designs for Re:Admin. Find the hidden server - its whereabouts can be found encrypted within this message. It contains the legacy protocol, the means to continue my work.

Aeriys's voice softened into something more human. I know I wasn't the mother you deserved. I was fixed on my vision, consumed by my work. But, you need to understand that everything I did, I did it believing that it would create a better future. A world free from the limitations of the human body, where the digital combined with the physical, where humanity could overcome its limits.

The picture was so corrupted now that Aeriys's image was breaking apart. Don't let Admin win, Valery. Don't let him turn Re:Admin back into just a game, a distraction. A place for people with talent to waste their potential. You have all you need: knowledge, skill, and now, my legacy.

The screen went white for a moment, then Aeriys reappeared one last time, her image almost completely gone. Rebuild it. Improve it. Do better than I could. Be a little smarter than I was. Admin thinks he's won. Let him believe that. Then show him what Re:Admin can truly become.

The recording ended with a burst of static, leaving Valery staring at her own expression on the dark screen.

For a few moments, she didn't move. Her mother was gone, and she had left her with a challenge. It felt like the dream of her mother was physically weighing her down.

Slowly, Valery's fingers began to move across the keyboard. She accessed the encrypted information embedded in the message, moving swiftly through the security that would stop anyone else. The hidden server had been found, and it contained terabytes of data, years of research, the entire blue print of Aeriys's project for Re:Admin.

Everything was there.

Valery opened another window, this one displaying news and social media. The world was slowly finding about what happened. Reports of incidents at an abandoned industrial park. Strange energy readings. Stories of battles and reality itself bending. Some were simply dismissing is as hallucination. A few, however, were paying attention.

She opened another screen, this one displaying Re:Admin current form. The game was still up and running, but changed. Her mother's influence was gone, and it became just a game, nothing more. What potential she had wasted.

Valery's jaw tightened. Her mother was right about a lot of things. Re:Admin could be more. A gateway between dimensions, a new type of existence, a means for the mind to break the physical form.

However, her mother was also wrong about essential things: methods, manipulation, the attempted merge of one reality with another without a thought for what would happen next. Aeriys was brilliant, but blind to consideration.

Valery was going to do better.

She then began to transfer files, saving her mother's research on a safe drive, securing the information. This continued for hours, the sun rising as the data was moved from the hidden servers to her.

As the sun rose, Valery opened one final file - an analysis of Admin. Her mother had spent some time on this, recording what she could find on the man who became her enemy. His strengths, his weaknesses, relationships, mentality.

She looked at his profile. Admin was a clever man, a master of Admin's systems despite his lack of training. He had people loyal to him. He had the support of RCX, who freed him. Aeriys could make people obey, but could never inspire devotion.

Trying to strike him on the front foot would be madness. Not yet. Not while he had companions ready to fight, or while RCX had his back.

Valery was her mother's daughter, however. She understood long play.

She opened a new document and began to type.

RESURRECTION OF RE:ADMIN: PHASE ONE

Revision to Re:Admin legacy protocol

Objective: Improve Re:Admin and improve upon the errors made by my mother.

Objective: Recruit ARX and show her how to understand what her purpose is.

Objective: Demonstrate to Admin that Re:Admin has potential beyond his imagination.

In six months, Phase Two will commence. Admin thinks he has won. I suggest he enjoys this for a while. Let him become complacent.

This isn't revenge. This is about getting the job done. My mother understood the destination, but not how to get there. I will respect the dream, but learn to do better.

Valery paused. Was she really going to step into her mother's shoes, despite her end? Persue a plan that backfired?

She thought of her mother - Vanessa, a brilliant woman whose only ambition was to construct something, putting everything into Re:Admin. Dying in the belief she was building a better world, even if it wasn't to be.

Valery had loved her mother, despite her flaws. Perhaps this wasn't about completing what she had started, but respecting her memories. Proving that it could work if planned correctly and without arrogance, that it could suceed.

she added one more line to her document:

Personal note: I'm not her. When Re:Admin awakens, it will be worthy of her dreams, but built on freedom, not control.

Valery saved the document, encrypting it to the point where it would take years to break. She then stood and walked to the window.

The city stretched before her. Admin was celebrating and believed the war was over. ARX was experiencing the world for the first time.

Let them.

Valery would bide her time.

She placed her hand on the glass, the reflection in her eyes.

Enjoy this while it lasts, Admin, She whispered to the city. Every game will have it's sequel.

She turned back and began.

The daughter will finish what the goddess commenced.

First, let the victor claim what he has won.