Chapter 20:

Epilogue

A Reverie for Another Eternity


"There is no savior, there is no set reality. The best of which is the one you choose."

- Michiru


Suddenly the slab opened up, an old woman walking out.

“Yep, it’s over. Let us know how the ratings go. Wipe everything while you’re at it.”

She sighed, glancing down at the sheet of ice underneath.

Auburn hair with split ends, an unwashed face; it was a face of a woman who had gone through many ordeals, many years, at the service of watching and logging individuals.

And finally, finally her service was no longer required. It was over. She can finally be terminated.

An unintentional chuckle escaped her lips. It was good to finally be outside for the first time in what seemed to be multiple millennials. She stretched her back and arms, all of which were severely sore.

Miyori quietly peeked from the corner, unsure of what was happening. But, she was soon spotted by an unknown woman. Not like it mattered anyway.

She briskly walked towards Miyori, looking down at her from above.

It had been years since she had seen her young self, despite it being an older rendition.

“Hey you.” She pointed at Miyori, who looked back with caution. “How are you liking this world so far?”

“What do you mean?”

The lady took tobacco from her moldy pack and decided to just throw it all away. She tossed it behind her without a care.

“It means: how are you enjoying your stay here so far?”

“It’s whatever. Why?”

She breathes out a plume of condensed air, pretending to smoke. “Because, in a few short moments, all of it is going to disappear.”

“Wha-”

A blinding flash of white disrupted her senses. Actually, she couldn’t feel anything; not the tips of her toes or the coldness of the air. She simply felt… Nothing.

There was nothing to sense, nothing to be. She became nothing. From nothingness, she whence came and to nothingness, she returns.

But by then, the girl was gone, her thoughts too. In a blink of an eye, she had disappeared along with the many inhabitants of this transient, superficial universe.

All of which remained as a testament to their existence was a compressed folder containing their character models and memories. Somewhere deep within the cities in the clouds, the wires which linked its developers to the game, the docker container had shut down for good in the place of a newer, much cleaner, slate of affairs.

Their universe was stashed away in the farthest reaches of cyberspace. It became a relic in stasis, a shortened reverie sealed away for another eternity to come.