Virtual Reality: Dark Days

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Shamar had just exited the game when Tabitha was trying to reach him. Tabitha's caller identification appearing on his phone confused him. That confusion Shamar felt soon turned into fear as he remembered who he had set loose in the real world. Alex Huang was currently doing things that would cause someone like Tabitha to get involved. Shamar had only hoped that Alex wouldn't get caught so soon. His mind began racing to put things together before answering her call. He didn't always believe in coincidences, but this couldn't have been that. At the moment, Tabitha wasn't the person he was looking for. His main objective was to find Alex and hopefully save him from meeting with Tobias. With the history he had with the agent, Alex was in a lot of trouble without him. He cursed at himself for not taking Alex's number before departing, but he knew Tabitha could definitely help him find Alex.

"Hello?" Shamar answered the phone call.

"Lee." Tabitha said with a bit of straightforwardness in her voice. "We need to talk about your friend Huang."

"Yes," Shamar said, getting excited about the next steps in finding the kid. "We do."

"He murdered two people this morning." Tabitha broke the news. Shamar fell silent. For the moment, he felt relieved that Alex may have actually gotten to Callahan and killed him. But the second person, that was definitely something Alex should have avoided. But that's when Tabitha revealed that neither of the victims were Jason. It was Gregory and his boyfriend Oliver. He knew that Alex would kill Gregory but the death of a second person caught him off guard. There must've been a reason for this killing. He believed Alex wasn't a psychopath. "Now I know he's being hunted, but killing people isn't the part of revenge that we in law enforcement take lightly."

"Listen Tabby." Shamar tried speaking to her softly. "I know what the kid did is wrong but he's got a bigger problem on his hands."

"Bigger?" Tabitha asked. "Bigger than murder?"

"Yes!" Shamar shouted. "Tobias Dunn is after him."

"Dunn?" Tabitha asked with a slight feeling of fear piercing her stomach. "The guy you told me was your partner at one time?"

"Yes." Shamar was reminded of his past with Tobias. "Callahan has hired him to kill the kid. Look, he's f****d up badly. But if we don't get to him right away, Dunn is going to have his head. I can't let that happen."

"What do you want to do?" Tabitha asked. "If Callahan hires Dunn, then he's not going to stop until the mission is over."

"I know." Shamar realized. "That's why we can either convince Dunn to turn his back or we hide the kid until this blows over."

"Do you really think it'll blow over?" Tabitha asked, not feeling completely confident in Shamar's plan. "He's not exactly a guy that'll just give up."

"I know," Shamar admitted. "It's worth a shot. I just need to find the kid."

"You better hope we find him before Dunn does." Tabitha said coldly. "He's not smart enough to stay away from him for too long."

"Yeah," Shamar said with fear surrounding his heart. "That's what I'm worried about."

Alex had approached the apartment building of another Virtual Reality worker close to Jason. Cody was a software developer. He had told himself to make sure that if he did pull the trigger on him, that it was for protection. The murder of Oliver messed with his head. Alex didn't even know if he could trust himself anymore. But this guy, Cody, was remembered by Alex as something to Jason and the company. Jason would come over to his place often with his sights set on seeing where Cody was taking the software for the monthly updates being released for the game. It wasn't a requirement for Cody to show up to work, but if he did, it was mainly to help the other software developers. Cody was seen as the top manager of the field. He was the last person that Alex could think of when it came to getting close to Jason. All of Alex's other options wouldn't work. It scared him to know that if Cody died, his plan to kill Callahan would be busted.

Once inside the building, Alex found the floor Cody stood on and saw a young woman standing at the door visibly flirting with someone on the other side of the door. Cody wasn't exactly the relationship type. He enjoyed his time having fun with many different types of women. The woman currently at his door was that person for the time being. Alex revealed his gun and the moment he reached the young woman, he covered her mouth and pointed the gun at Cody. The two met eyes for the first time in a long time. It nearly shocked Alex to see him. Cody was less surprised or more afraid. He had heard from Jason what happened to Gregory and Oliver. The same fate was not something he wanted. Cody was an older man but definitely wasn't the type to play around with. His muscular build made him a threat to anyone trying to confront him for the wrong reasons. This is where Alex would struggle the most. He wasn't a physically strong person. Alex knew he had to get whatever he wanted from him and remain very distant. The moment Cody would even get the chance to touch him, the young gamer would be done for. There was no telling what could happen.

Cody glared at Alex with disgust. With what he'd heard from Jason, Cody could believe Alex would do something like that. Killing Oliver was wrong. Gregory had it coming to even getting involved with Alex's attempted murder, but Oliver. Cody felt no remorse for what he'd done to Alex. He recognized Alex and feared that today would be the day he'd get a visit from him. Somehow, he'd escaped a murder attempt with so many people placed in the game to kill him. With Alex's escape and revenge path, it made him into a dangerous person. No matter how strong Cody was, he feared what Alex would do to him. Alex pushed the young girl into the apartment and still held the gun at Cody. He kept himself distant but not too far for Cody to get away and disappear. Close enough to end him if he made the wrong move.

"You and I have a lot to talk about," Alex revealed to Cody. "You want her to live?"

Cody looked into the eyes of the girl he had just taken out on a date for the first time. Oliver's death made him worry about his own life. No one deserved to get caught in this crossfire. Multiple ways to get her out of this situation ran through his head. He didn't really like her, she was just someone he wanted to use for a later time. Still, that didn't mean Alex should kill her.

"Kill away." Cody said without hesitation. He wanted to test the length of Alex's insanity at the moment.

Alex couldn't believe how cold he thought Cody was. He wasn't going to kill her. Visions of what he'd done to Oliver ran through his head over and over again. But he believed he knew Cody wasn't lying. But he also couldn't tell if this was just a test to see if Alex would actually kill her. Instead of taking another innocent life, Alex simply hit her in the back of the head with the butt of the gun. This was good enough for him. She had no way of getting involved in the situation. It was only him and Cody. The young woman hit the floor unconscious. Alex now turned his attention back to Cody, who simply just smiled. It was a weird way to show a response to a situation like this, but both of them were just feeling each other out. Cody saw that Alex wasn't all evil. Alex believed that Cody was a cold hearted man that cared for no one.

"I'm all ears." Cody said as he walked toward Alex. Alex didn't want to shoot Cody yet, but Cody was also pushing the distance. Fear caused Alex to respond the way he did.

"Stop!" Alex yelled, fearful of having to pull the trigger. Cody wasn't a threat, but the closer he got, the closer Alex could feel Cody putting him in a headlock and snapping his neck.

"You won't shoot me, you need me alive." Cody admitted to Alex. "So get on with it before I break your f*****g skull!"

Alex began to shake. The aggression Cody displayed scared him. He knew Cody was right and that also meant Cody would try to make a move on him. There was no more time left. He had to get the information he needed from Cody and get out before Cody killed him.

"Where's Jason?" Alex asked. "I need to see him."

"Why?" Cody asked. "The only thing that will happen the moment you see him is death. Either he'll kill you or someone else will be waiting there to kill you. It'll never happen."

"Not unless you help me," Alex said. "You're connected to him. You can set up a meet-up."

"Like Greg?" Cody asked. "Like how you tried to get Greg to do the same thing? I saw the footage of the whole thing. You're pretty cold-blooded. But I wonder how much it's gotten to you?"

"That's enough." Alex said, starting to feel the guilt of pulling the trigger on Oliver.

"No." Cody said with a bit of deviousness in his voice. "You are starting to crack up. Did Greg's death really hurt you that badly?"

"It will hurt a lot less with you!" Alex said, now pressing the gun against Cody's chest.

"You don't remember a damn thing." Cody noticed the look in Alex's eyes as he looked at him. He wasn't the same young bright-eyed kid that smiled every time they met. It was different. It was scary. Not the type of scare to put fear into the person looking into his eyes. The type of scare that's noticeable in the eyes of the person using them. Alex slowly remembered Cody through the constant staring. Cody was a cool older brother to Alex. He teased Alex when the young gamer got nerdy. Cody advised Alex on how to do his job without getting fired. They would laugh with each other. But no longer. Cody was now just a guy who was getting in Alex's way. "What happened to you?"

"Don't play stupid!" Alex shouted. "I know you know how they hunted me."

"That I do know." Cody said. "But I mean, what happened to your mind? You remember where I live but you don't remember me?"

That was true. He didn't actually remember all of his history with Cody. Just his face, his job, his relationship with Alex, and his apartment location. While it seemed like a lot, Alex and Cody knew each other more than just through that. It confused Alex so badly that he forgot to pay attention to Cody for a split second. And within this split second, Cody made his move. Cody noticed how shaken up Alex was and grabbed the gun so he could slam Alex onto his table.

Alex was pinned down with no way of getting over the muscular man standing over him. He was afraid of this happening. He also feared that he'd have to put down his last chance of meeting with Jason.

"You don't remember us," Cody said in anger. "Which means you don't even know why you're being hunted."

"I know why," Alex said. "It's because Callahan was jealous of me."

"Jealous?" Cody laughed. "You think a man of his level would be jealous of a small fry like you?"

Alex was confused. Did Cody not know the real reason why Alex was being hunted by Jason? Or did Alex not have any idea of what he'd done to make Jason so mad? He didn't truly know why Jason wanted him dead so badly. But he figured it had to do with intelligence. Alex's position was what helped Jason grow so much. Yes, Jason had created the game. But the reason, Alex believed, it was still so relevant years after it was created was mostly because of Alex. That much, Alex believed. Hearing Cody say otherwise truly confused Alex. Was Jason after him for reasons beyond jealousy?

"Then..." Alex tried getting the words out to the question he wanted to ask. "What's the true purpose behind my wanted demise?"

"f**k you." Cody said, taking Alex's gun and pressing it against his head. "How about that?"

It was at that moment when Alex realized that the table he was pinned down on was on a hardwood floor. This meant that with enough momentum, the table could slide. Alex used the chance, before Cody could pull the trigger, to push the table with his legs on the floor, sending the two to the floor. The movement caused instability within the pinned position Cody had over Alex. Alex used that instability to push Cody off, but Cody wasn't going down alone. He pulled Alex to the floor but also let the gun go. The gun slid out of Cody's hand and it caused both himself and Alex to rush for the gun, but in the end, it was Alex who got it first. Alex grabbed the gun and Cody knew it would be the end of him if he didn't make a move. He leaped on top of Alex, in hopes of stopping Alex from killing him. Alex had no other choice but to shoot Cody in the stomach. It was something he wanted to avoid but Cody wasn't going to stop. If Alex hadn't done this, Cody likely would have turned him over to Jason for arrest or death.

Cody glared at him, dying a little. As much as he wanted to avoid death, it had happened. He fell beside Alex and tried to ignore the pain of the gunshot wound he had just received. Cody was upset. He believed he was ready for this. In the end, no one can truly prepare to die. Alex rose to his feet and looked down at the software developer. The memories that he could remember didn't make him feel bad about his death. They were just pictures in his head. Alex mostly feared getting to Jason at this point.

"You're going to have to remember why Jason is truly trying to kill you." Cody said in his last moments alive. "And when you do, I wish I could see your face."

"What is it?" Alex begged Cody before he could die. "What is the reason?"

"If you don't remember, he'll help you." Cody said. "Callahan will tell you right before a bullet is put in your head..."

Cody died after those last words and Alex had nothing else left to do but leave. He felt like he lost. There was a deeper meaning behind why Jason was trying to kill Alex. It wasn't there for him. He wanted to remember. He wanted to have the memory on the tip of his tongue. Alex had known the reason before he lost his memories. His past memories were triggered by certain events and people. That's how it worked for Cody. Maybe that would work if he went to his job, the Virtual Reality Headquarters. There was only one road left now. If going to this place could do that, he had to try it. He also knew that Jason would be in that same building. He didn't know anyone else that could take him there. All the people close to Jason were dead now. Where this road would leave him after meeting Jason was a mystery. He'd killed too many people. If he didn't kill Jason, he'd be arrested or taken out by someone working for Jason. None of this even crossed Alex's mind when heading off to find Jason. The aftermath worried him. But the truth worried him even more. Alex knew the path to the truth was about to end...