"Rrrrriiiinnngggg!!!"
"Pens down! Any delay and your paper won't be accepted! "
Chairs scraped, papers shuffled, and a few desperate students scratched furiously, trying to force a final sentence into existence before surrender.
Elias Kessler opened his eyes, calm and a little detached, having finished twenty minutes ago, more relieved than triumphant.
He stretched lazily, content with his performance, before handing his paper to the invigilator, who paused and frowned.
"Enjoy your nap?"
Elias glanced at the desk. "Would've, if it were softer."
The invigilator snorted and moved on. Elias didn't bother correcting him; explaining he'd finished early would only invite suspicion or, worse, conversation.
Outside, a roar erupted, raw and triumphant, marking the dramatic end of their final school examination. The mood shifted rapidly as students spilt from the building, eager to mark the day and embrace their newfound freedom.
About an hour later, and after the buzz of post-exam festivities had faded, Elias found himself leaving the crowd behind. Still sporting his shirt covered with classmate signatures, he settled into a quieter scene: a restaurant with a few friends, where the raucous celebration had already shifted into the comfortable hum of lunchtime conversation.
As Elias bit into a fried chicken leg, he winced.
'Aunt Muriel would have a fit if she knew I ate this, too oily, below her standards.'
Outwardly, he smiled and chatted.
His phone rang. All eyes went to Elias.
Seeing the caller's name, Elias's face lit up."Hello, Grandma, when did you arrive?"
"Uh-huh"
"I am eating lunch with my friends at the 'Southfield mall'."
"Yes, the new one, near the plaza."
"After lunch, I'm going home. The others are seeing a movie."
"Hmm, nah, I would rather take the metro, it will be faster and less hassle."
"What!? You will be coming to pick me up, when?"
"Ok then, love you too and see you soon, bye."
A friend pointed. "How could you? We were brothers! Movie's awesome!"
Elias rolled his eyes. "Aren, don't overdo it. Theatres are too loud for me."
Aren nudged him. "Dude, that phone, I have never seen that model or company before."
Samantha sniffed, "Some cheap, trashy Chinese mobile. How can you stand it?"
"Works fine. Most phones are Chinese anyway, cheaper, too."
Elias smiled as Samantha turned away.
A couple of months ago, Samantha, the most popular girl in his year, had proposed to him, and he rejected her. Since then, her bruised ego had made her bitter.
Elias reflected, 'I've been proposed to by many female students, but none of them spread the news like Samantha. She proposed in such a crowded public place, but did she really expect me to accept? I hardly know her, barely spoke with her, and my family would never accept it; I'm not as free as they are.'
"Hey, how many of you are playing Rusted Ichor?"
Elias perked up. "Of course. Orbis link's revolutionary."
"Can we drop it? I hate that game," Gunar grumbled.
"Why? Is there anything wrong?" Aren looked ready for gossip. "What happened?"
Gunar grumblingly spoke, "Did you see their long waiting list?"
"I have to wait for another week, and the game is releasing tomorrow."
Gunar was not the only one who was dejected; the technology created by a new startup, Orbis Arc, flipped the world upside down, but with its long waiting list, it was a bit difficult to get their products.
"You're not alone, but your wait's only a week."
The person who spoke was another of Elias's classmates, Yasmeen.
"Mine is about two weeks."
Aren sighed. "Awesome if we played together, but this'll be tough."
Elias clapped. "Enough downers, today is a major milestone. Celebrate!"
Elias's words shifted the mood to joy as the party began anew.
After their celebratory lunch drew to a close, a new mood set in as the group recognised it was time for goodbyes. Moving from the lively dining area toward the mall's entrance, the transition from shared celebration to bittersweet parting became clear, each friend gradually peeling away toward their own destinations.
Aren lingered at the railing overlooking the drop-off lane.
Below, traffic slowed as a long black Bentley rolled in smoothly, quiet as a shadow, and behind it, two more vehicles followed, understated but coordinated.
A man in a tailored dark suit stepped out before the car fully stopped, and as Elias descended the steps at an easy pace, the suited man took his bag without a word and opened the rear door.
Elias slipped inside, and the car moved off without spectacle.
Aren blinked as he spoke in disbelief, "Did Elias climb into that super expensive car? I thought his grandmother was going to pick him up"
Olivia Kessler, a stern and regal-looking woman who could make even the toughest of men shiver with a look, smiled affectionately at her only grandchild.
The moment Elias took his seat, the stern and stoic look melted into a warmer smile as she hugged her grandson."My grandson finished his school life, it is such a great day."
Elias blushed as Olivia chirped happily, "Today we are going to celebrate it, the end of your exam and the end of your school life."
"Also, on another note, I was just informed that they finished installing the Orbis link device. You can try it out soon. Are you going to play with your friends?"
"It will be difficult; they are still stuck on the waiting list."
Olivia frowned as she spoke, "I see, I will try to get them prioritised, but I do not believe it will be before tomorrow's launch."
"Thanks, Grandma, and as for tomorrow, I will start playing with Veronika."
"Veronika?"
"Veronika Veyr."
"Oh, I remember, a lovely girl, how is she doing?"
"Last time I spoke with her, she was stressed out from college workload, and was hoping to destress by playing the game, and asked me to accompany her."
"Hmm, college can be stressful, but what about her friends? Won't they play with her?"
"I asked her the same thing, and she was grumbling about fairweather leeches and wanted some alone time away from them."
"Poor girl, now you see why we told you to act as if you were from a humbler origin."
Elias nodded as he spoke, a smile on his face. "I understand that, but not all people care about status."
"True enough, child, but getting someone like that is like winning a lottery."Olivia's gaze turned distant as she spoke somberly, "You would be surprised when you learn how people, whom you thought were your truest friend, someone like your family, would stab you in the back easily."
Elias frowned upon seeing the look on his grandmother's face. He hesitated briefly before trying to question her, but before he could, Olivia changed the topic of their conversation.
"Enough of that, I forgot to ask the most important thing, how was your exam?"
Later that day, after leaving his friends, Elias came to inspect his newest gaming device, the Orbis Link. Unlike most players, his was not only a premium version, but also a customised one.
The premium Orbis Link device, known as the Orbis Link Apex pod, rested on a slightly raised platform of dark stone. Nearly two and a half meters in length, the chamber tapered subtly toward the foot, its silhouette closer to a ceremonial sarcophagus than a gaming device. The exterior was finished in matte obsidian, so dark it swallowed the ambient light, broken only by thin veins of brushed titanium tracing along its contours like restrained lightning.
Although there were no visible seams, hinges, or any unnecessary ornamentation, near the base, engraved rather than printed, were the words:
Apex-S // Unit 07
Below that, smaller still, the Kassler crest had been etched into the metal, carved with quiet precision.
When the lid responded to his presence and lifted soundlessly, the interior revealed a charcoal memory cradle contoured exactly to his measurements, threaded with faint silver filaments that shimmered only if the light struck them just right. The air inside was cool and faintly sterile, like a private medical suite rather than a bedroom appliance. Integrated along the interior frame were discreet neural nodes and muscle-response bands, designed to stimulate circulation and prevent fatigue during prolonged sessions.
'Although the game launches tomorrow, I can already finish the character creation today and add Viktoria to my friend list so that we can spawn in together.'