Trembling Heights and My Room
My Room and the intensely shivering, adorable Dorothy hugged me tightly. “Ti, Tiara…!”
“C-c-c-calm down!”
I was shaking just as badly, clutching Dorothy tight. Eyes squeezed shut, I gripped the railing at the tower's summit and took one shaky step after another. Dorothy held my hand firmly, patting the back of it.
“Don't shake so much! It's wobbling!”
“Tiara, you're the one shaking.”
Don't lie. Am I the only one with a fear of heights? You think this is just me?
“Tiara. Watch your step.”
“Ughhh…! Even that sounds scary.”
“Want me to carry you?”
Climb even higher from here? No way. I'm the opposite of that. I shook my head vigorously.
“Nuh-uh. Not here. Is there really a door leading inside? Open your eyes for three seconds, Tiara.”
Dorothy was scouting the tower top for the door to the internal core in my place. But it seemed harder to find than expected. No choice…
“Kyaaah…! T-too high…!”
“Heehee— Tiara being scared of heights is so cute.”
I clung to my fraying sanity and deployed the gauntlet's force field. It didn't block the view or the ground below at all, but my body remembered that with this up, even a fall would be safe. And surprisingly, once it was active, there was a bonus.
“Hoo… No wind, so it's a bit better.”
The high-altitude gale wasn't buffeting me anymore, easing my mind. Dorothy straightened my messed-up hair and asked,
“But earlier, when you saved me, didn't you fly over?”
“That's different from this.”
“Hehe, scaredy-cat Tiara.”
Dorothy beamed, cupping my cheeks. My face puffed up involuntarily. She kneaded it like dough and apologized. “Sorryyy… If you're okay now, let's head in quick. The wind's making it cold.”
Alright. Time to show some possessor dignity. I felt around the wall for the small door Theia must have found and entered in the original story. But no matter how much I groped, there wasn't a single seam. What? Should I scan with my senses… Ah, even the entrance has a cybercore attached. Different from the original game. I shook off thoughts of the game and quickly hacked the core to open the entrance.
“Found it.”
“Wooowaah… Netdivers are amazing.”
With Dorothy's mechanical praise and headpats, we entered to find a massive spherical machine.
“This is…? Doesn't seem like a normal core…”
Even by my senses, dozens of cores intertwined in a complex shape—it wasn't something I could freely manipulate like the gauntlet's core.
“This is one of the towers supporting the City's data network.”
“Data network? Outernet?”
I nodded. Not the internet, but the Outernet. In that vast ocean of information, humanity had long been driven out. More precisely, the City government blocked access to prevent 'serious' infections. So only cybercore users—like mercenaries, mechanics, hackers—skimmed the surface for info.
Of course, that wasn't my goal. Outernet was basically a PVP system disguised as a community. It wasn't even open at this point in the story, and without a core, logging in would just end badly. In the original game, the top priority for hacking towers was the 'save' function. Why? Because you respawn at checkpoints after death. Whether in the City or outskirts like this, hacking a massive tower let you save memories without a hippocampal implant.
That's why I gave Dorothy the Netdiver solvent. Once at a tower, it autosaves. Of course… I was immune to infection, my brain shredded to pulp already, so I didn't need saves.
But…
“I can at least use My Room…”
“My Room?”
“Oh, like… a personal server space.”
Thinking in game terms made the words slip out. My Room. The room-decorating content. I'd use that to boost my combat power.
Dorothy put her hands on her hips. “You're not planning to do it alone again, right? Tiara, you! You said you'd explain the plan after hitting the tower? If you lie this time too…”
Her blazing eyes pierced me. Her cheeks were caked with black residue. But I knew now: the black dye in her hair and the stains on her cheeks and clothes were barely holding her memories together.
Black Ops memory storage was simple. Designate bases at towers and landmarks, absorb the black solution they hold through the skin. I ruffled Dorothy's hair, which was slowly regaining its red tint. At this rate, her capacity wouldn't last till tomorrow.
I took the headbutt from her puffed-cheek puppy face and said, “I don't even know how strong I'll get from this… Hard to give a specific plan.”
“…Got it. Sorry for snapping, Tiara.”
I meant it too. I didn't want to push Dorothy too hard. She peeked at my expression, then deflated her cheeks with a pffffff. We shared an awkward friend-hug again. Her guilt was bigger than I thought. She'd endured the kids bullying her just to avoid fighting… And before that, she must've refused fights at the Black Ops training camp, getting sold to the lab.
I didn't want to force a kid like that to fight. Dorothy was already helping plenty: mental care, occasional rides, stress-relief punching-bag slime, puppy-scent diffuser… I could handle combat solo. But to do that, I needed to get stronger first.
Strictly speaking, combat was all cybercores… and how powerfully you wielded them depended on your personal processing power. So, expanding My Room meant getting stronger! Plus…!
“I'll invite you later, Dorothy.”
“Reeally?”
I still couldn't get over how Dorothy loved my half-assed TRPG sessions. My Room, Outernet—virtual reality. I could make games there…! My Room… My Game… My User…
“Tiara… Your eyes are getting weird…”
I removed the gauntlet cybercore and handed it to her. “Ugh… You sure I can take it?”
“Yeah. Won't take long.”
The gauntlet core I'd wrecked wasn't for delicate Netdivers anymore. I loved our Dorothy, but hearing she was a Black Ops trainee explained a lot of my secret doubts. A massive star-like core fit Black Ops brutes perfectly—she'd take to it great. Whew, Dorothy, you'd be toast without me. But she still eyed me suspiciously, squinting. First impressions die hard. I sighed, laid my head on her lap, and closed my eyes. Only then did she go “H-hot! Eep!” and settle down. Skinship wins when you're clueless.
“Hurry back, Tiara?”
Yeah, Dorothy. I heightened my senses, feeling the massive constellation below writhe. How to do this? First… touch it? As I prodded one star…
[Outernet access is prohibited.]
[Further connection attempts may result in penalties from the City government.]
Familiar message. The one you get trying Outernet before pushing the story. What now… If it logs access, the government flags me, complicating City ops. But without boosting processing power via My Room, Dorothy and her memories get riskier. No brainer. Hack it. That's the hacker life. Ignoring the City warnings, I poked the tower core. My life trajectory flipped ages ago. My Room, PVP Outernet—use 'em all if needed.
-Ngh, urk…!
Touching it zapped me. My brainpower wasn't enough for full hack. Headache, hairs standing on end. Felt like something heavy jammed in my skull. Still, I rummaged for the firewall.
-This… all…!
The thread that flashed with each warning. Focusing on it revealed a big starlight. Deactivate…! I blew on it like a candle…
Shwooooosh…!
A massive wave crashed over me. I opened my eyes to a familiar ceiling.
“Here…?”
I'd woken in a ~2-pyeong studio. “My place?”
The last nest on Earth, where I'd crashed commuting to Pangyo. I groped my belly quick. Any stab scars? Was it all a dream, back from the brink?
“Ah…”
But it was soft, womanly—no flab. Stumbling to the bathroom, I faced the mirror.
“Ha…”
The stained mirror showed a navy-blue bob, sharp dark eyes. Those gunmetal irises brimmed with disgust I'd never imagined in a lifetime.
Fucking eyes.
“So this is my My Room, huh?”
Outside the window: blank white light, no view. Lights and power on, but fridge and cabinets empty. Like half-unpacked… Just bedding and clothes. Barren days, giving everything to a girlfriend…
…Enough. No time for nostalgia. Dorothy's waiting outside. Check processing power boost from My Room and bail.
Oh yeah, time dilation? Game settings weren't matching reality anymore—needed to verify. And most important:
“How do I leave?”
First, the front door handle.
> [This Netdiver is prohibited from entering the Outernet community.]
Oh… shit. This was the Outernet gateway. Good thing the message popped and the handle didn't turn.
“Log out.”
….
“Exit!”
….
“Status window!”
….
What the hell? How do I get out…?
No. Gotta go now. A soft kid like Dorothy can't fight…!
#DAY 13
“Tiara… Late againnn…”
Dorothy, aging into a grandma at this rate, tidied the snoring Tiara's hair with wheezy breaths. A full day passed without her waking. Tiara was a liar after all. Top of her most-hated list: liars. Top of her favorites: Tiara. Her best friend… was liar Tiara.
“How am I supposed to know if you'd like this or hate it.”
But her blazing eyes, stroking Tiara's hair tenderly, held only one emotion.
Then it hit—faint motor hum in ears honed near Black Ops thresholds.
“…Coming.”
Drones…? A brazen cybercore undreamt in the City's depths, chasing her and Tiara. Dorothy's eyes blazed fiercer. Donning Tiara's gifted gauntlets, she deep-breathed.
Heart like still water. No qi in this world—just a breathing trick. But her body, forged through childhood drugs and torture-training, responded.
Shhh… Haa.
Black-dyed hair reddened from the tips. Black solution on skin faded. Like absorbing the lab vending machine's black fluid into her pores.
“This time, I'll protect you.”
Clutching the gauntlet's lingering warmth, Dorothy declared softly.