012.2 | Discrepancy
1379 Words
Leon was roused by the sound of the door closing. He dazedly stared at the person entering for a while until the haze in his eyes is gone. Shin did not notice the slight movement of the person lying on his bed as he proceeded towards his desk.
His terminal and computer were both open, showing video calls of different people. He recognized the twins that seem to be chatting with people on the other line. They are doing an online conference.
He stood up from the bed. Shin heard the movement of the fabric and turned around. He carried the bottle of water he prepared earlier and handed them to Leon. Shin observed his rosy complexion more to see if there is something wrong. Leon looked the same as usual — healthy and rosy — that made him relieved. He promptly handed a few tablets of chewable to reassure him that he's all right.
"What happened to you? I found you unconscious beside my bed," Shin inquired.
"I'm the one that should be asking you," Leon's voice sounded hoarse. He drank more water to relieve the scratchy feeling in his throat. "What happened to you?"
"Well..." Shin gently scratched his cheeks. "I woke up recalling nothing, right? So, after you had introduced the twins, memories of them started flooding out. It seems that it inadvertently triggered my memory lane."
He took the reusable water bottle from Leon and placed it to the table. Shin contained a few tablets from the little cooler beside his desk and delivered it to Leon. These are chewable meant to support people recover from dizziness.
"I merely felt like my head is about to explode from all the information and passed out."I merely felt like my head is about to explode from all the information and passed out. The next thing I know is that I woke up with my memories intact and you unconscious beside my bed."
"Don't you think you need to go to the hospital to check your brain?" Leon suggested.
"Nah, I am fine. I recovered my memories anyways, and my terminals gave me safe numbers," Shin sat on his swivel chair and turn it around to face Leon. "How about you? Why are you also unconscious?"
Leon did not instantly answer. He focused his eyes to Shin then shifted it to the numbers that are running routinely. There are no fluctuations, which means that everything is running the way it should be. His ability is working extremely well as if it didn't disappear earlier.
"I lost my numbers," Leon said directly.
"Your numbers?" Shin frowned.
Shin could not comprehend how the numbers Leon has works but surely it is as vital as his memories.
"How about now?"
Leon shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "They are good as new."
It must be some coincidence. Though, Leon did not want to believe on it. He and Leon both have mental-based abilities. It is unusual for these abilities to malfunction without anyone purposely prying their head. He considered some suspicions.
"Are the twins in there?" Leon stood up and walked towards the desk.
He frequently comes playing in Shin's house, so he already has the same swivel chair reserved. He scanned the holograms of screen floating in the conference and discovered familiar faces. However, these faces were void of any game effects completely exposing their real-life images.
"What is this conference all about?" Leon waved his hand lightly to showcase his presence.
The topic suddenly shifted their attention to the new arrival. Some people nodded in response while the others stuck their faces to the screen as if it will help them see Leon better. The people with a closer relationship with Leon verbally greeted. The one holding the conference is the humanoid guild leader, Allen; Real name: Alexander Murphy.
The virtual conference is set in a grand circular theater with stone stairs as chairs. Holographic images will appear in this virtual set-up that will foster the sense of actually sitting in a theater. The seats are pre-arranged with one person per certain size of the chair. As of now, Leon is barely squeezing to Shin's chair.
"No, don't do that. Expand your terminal and enter the room. It's very unsightly to look at," Alexander casually commented.
"What is unsightly to look at?" Shin grumbled.
Leon is easy to talk with, so he swiftly expanded his terminal and enter the room. His position is just beside Shin's so there is no change of scenery.
"So, what is this all about?" Leon asked.
"We are just confirming people and to see if they are alright," Allen answered. He took out a checklist from somewhere and scribbled something on it. "I am the one assigned to secure the attendance of people of such event will happen."
"Just doing some SOP," Melon, real name: Damian Forbes, added.
"After the check, you can do whatever you want. We are just looking who isn't here," Alexander said. Another player entered the theater, so he went over to check them.
Leon did not disturb them and just called the Cassaianne Guild. As of now, they merely have the twins, Shin, Jase, Lexa, and him. Xavier seems to have arrived earlier to secure the attendance and left due to some personal reasons. Frass had not come yet, but he is apparently trying entering while people are still contacting Aries.
Leon hauled them in a private chat. He first inspected the state of the twins. Marlene is musically inclined while Marcus is into archery. Their positions as a druid and marksman, respectively, truly reflected their real life skills. Leon asked if they perceived something wrong with their mobility.
The twins know something must be up for Leon to ask these questions. Marlene played out a music piece that she often use for warm up. She didn't seem to feel anything wrong. Marcus also did a stunt. Opening a known challenging game of sharpshooting, the silent boy performed his usual godly rating.
"Nothing is wrong with him either," Marlene applauded. "He is in shape as usual."
"I see..." Leon nodded. He looked at Lexa. "How about yours?"
Lexa, real name: Alexandria Johanson, has the same mental ability like them. However, Lexa has more focus in solving puzzles and memory games.
Leon wondered if it would be obvious for Lexa since her ability wasn't really as pronounced as them. At the least, she wouldn't use it in normal situations. Still, Lexa demonstrated her usual quick thinking ability.
There is nothing wrong with them. None of them experienced the same dizzy spell. Shin and Leon decided to consult Clover about it before telling it to everyone. They weren't sure if it has an effect on their health but they do know the cause of such condition.
They were forced evicted from the game.
Leon is still calculating some probabilities when he heard a notification ring. Allen received another request to enter the room. Leon looked up and found Aries' profile appearing. The two people chatted for a while before Aries went over to their position.
"How are you?" Aries asked. His eyes directly pointed to Leon and Shin's seats. "You guys, how about we talk in that corner?"
They don't know why they have to talk privately and just followed Aries to create a private room. People could still see them talking, but nobody would be able to hear their conversation. Making sure everything is alright, Aries instantly went to business mode.
"You guys correctly are mental ability users. Did you experience any problem upon waking up?" He directly asked.
Shin ostensibly gave Aries a surprised look while Leon lightly nodded. He remembered Aries also had the same mental ability that is very necessary for daily activities - the skill of speech. They know he is very well versed in many languages and often would chat without players in foreign words.
Leon wondered what Aries felt when he woke up and could not utter any words to speak.
The two explained their predicament in detail. Aries carefully listened to Leon's straightforward narration while asking questions in between. He also has the same experience where he wasn't able to properly understand everything him. It was a horrible experience that it almost made him insane.
- Writer
