A Revealing Session

“Well, I could always play by myself.” John decided it would be the best option for him to spend his time while he waited for Caile’s message; he still wasn’t in the right mind to study.

As he sat on his desk, he found the Abyss Auction discount voucher exactly where he had left it earlier. Oh, I had forgotten about you, he thought, also deciding to open a web browser as well as the game he’d later be playing with Caile.

As he once again looked at the site’s name printed on the voucher, it finally dawned on him what it could actually represent. With all he'd seen so far from the Abyss, a site that could be dedicated to selling various artifacts from it could really help him with getting his hands on something that would allow him to get stronger more quickly. Obviously, the discount was good too.

While switching between windows, he logged onto the game and left his character in a safe location to be on standby; he then returned to the browser to enter the site’s address that was printed on the back of the voucher.

The webpage that loaded was quite simple; a message told him to write down the promo code that was next to the site's address and below that message was the text box where he had to write on. All were displayed on a black background. After doing what was asked of him, another page loaded with a simple form for his personal details. So far, nothing really stands out, this is just a very basic account registration form, he thought, a bit disappointed as he filled in the form.

Once he clicked on save, a window popped up on the screen: “Complete registration?” John clicked on yes and got another message. “Please stand by to finalize the registration process. The next step should only take a moment to complete.”

While he waited, John picked up his phone and saw that he still had no response from Caile. So, he just sent her another message telling her that he was logged on the game and waiting for her. To be sure, he checked on the game and saw that she was offline; he then minimized the game window and saw that nothing had changed on the webpage.

A few seconds later, John heard a tapping sound coming from his bedroom window; when he opened its drapes, he saw a drone seemingly waiting for him to open the window. The drone pilot was probably impatient because he didn’t wait long enough for John to open the window and moved the drone to tap on it again.

Unsure about what was happening, John opened the window, and the drone entered and flew around his bedroom; as it found items that seemed to be of its interest, it scanned them with a red light beam. It paid a significant amount of attention to his grandfather’s chest, his phone and computer.

“The operating systems of your phone and computer are now updated to allow direct access to the Abyss Auction,” the drone spoke up after it finished scanning his room. This being the second time a drone had actually spoken to him in his life, the first time being just over 24 hours ago. “To have a more complete experience of everything Abyss, we recommend you to replace your current hardware with those provided by our most trusted sellers; you’ll not only have a higher speed connection but also have on-the-fly access to Abyssal news, maps, social network, and many more features.”

The drone then proceeded to scan him, taking a little bit more time scanning his mid-chest area. It made a series of beeping sounds as two of its three camera lenses rotated focussing on different parts of his body.

“To conclude registration you must accept the Abyss Auction’s terms of service,” the drone said after concluding the scan; John rolled his eyes as he heard the last words it said. “Since most users don’t actually read them,” it actually sighed before continuing, “I must play the term’s audio file; please pay close attention, lack of doing so requires me to start over.” It then played the three-minute-long audio file while John paid attention; when it ended, John accepted the terms.

“Welcome to the Abyss Auction, John Newman,” the drone announced. “Your account registration is now complete. May you find all that you need to purchase and have successful sales.”

The drone then left through the window, leaving a no longer disappointed but still confused John to his own thoughts about what just happened.

John saw his computer screen blink as it had finally begun to change to the auction site’s real front page. Realizing this, he quickly sat down to do some window-shopping; the discount being a one time use deal meant he had to choose his first purchase very carefully.

The site in itself had the same format as many others of its kind; still, it didn't mean that what he saw did not amaze him. Two days earlier, many of the items he found he would have never thought possible to actually exist let alone be for sale. But not every impression was positive; the prices of most of the items had brought him down to the harsh reality of the Abyss’ cost of living.

He added to his watch list some items that were on auction and cheap enough for him to be able to buy; he chose to decide which ones he'd purchase early next morning when most of their auctions would end.

While he was going through the details of each item, a message window appeared on the bottom right of the screen: “Caile Agùr is now online.”

Before he could even open the chat window, Caile started a voice call. “Hey, I am sorry I'm late,” she said after he answered.

“That’s fine,” John assured her. “Better late than never.”

“Aye. Unfortunately, you’re not the only one who had a rough day.” John heard his friend sigh.

“You want to talk about it?” he asked.

“No, let’s just play. We’ll talk later,” she answered. “Where do you want to go?”

Unlike their previous sessions, Caile seemed to not have her head in the game and her ever-increasing impatience was quite obvious to John. She yelled out in frustration as her character died for the fifth time in just four hours of playing.

Wanting to know what was bothering her, John asked, “What’s wrong, Caile? You’re not your usual self.”

“I guess you're right, we better talk now,” she said and then sighed once more. “This is as good a time as any. I’ll just go right to the point ok?”

“Eh, sure,” John answered.

“Is playing games all we’ll ever do together?”

“What do you mean?” was all John could say to answer her unexpected question.

“Don’t get me wrong,” she quickly tried to reassure him. “I do enjoy playing with you and our talks are enjoyable too, obviously. But now, it seems it’s just not enough.”

“What else would you like us to do, Caile?”

“Och, come on, John! I am tired of us only being together in these fantasy worlds,” she answered a bit annoyed. “Why not just leave these games for a while and join me in the real life for once?”

“Real life?” John stuttered. “Doing what exactly?”

“I am sure you can think of something,” she said and then breathed out, readying herself for what she had to say next. “Look, I know you have powers now, it's time for you to put them to good use!”

“Wait. What makes you think that I have some kind of power?” he preferred to ask her than to either deny or confirm her allegation.

“Because I have them too!” she told him and then chuckled as if she was relieved for finally saying this to him. “Ok, ok, I guess I am being a bit mean. I am also partially to blame in this. Just give me a few minutes and I’ll show you.”

“Caile, you’re not making much sense,” he said. “What blame are you talking about?” he asked but never got the answer; she seemed to have already left her computer. Since she asked, he waited for her return.

“Ok, John,” she said moments later. “I know it’s been a rough day for you, but I need you to do something for me, please.”

“Sure, what is it?” John asked hoping for some explanation from her after he did what she asked.

“I need you to open the front door for me, it’s time for the lies to end,” Caile told him.

“Come again? I seem to have misunderstood what you just said.”

“Come here and open your front door,” she told him again. “You don't want to keep a girl waiting, do you?”

“You are here? How did you know where I live? Better still, how are you able to talk to me through here and be at my front door at the same time?”

“You'll see...” she said. “Now, hurry up and open the door, I am cold and naked! I don't want your neighbors to see me like this.”

“You're naked?” he asked still not leaving his bedroom to greet her at the door.

“And cold. Boy, you really are slow today,” Caile chuckled. “I thought that trick would have made you run for the front door by now. Come on, are you really going to make me wait out here much longer?"

A nervous John finally decided to go to the front door, not knowing what to expect; this could even be one of her pranks on him. Meeting Caile was something he had wanted to do for a really long time, yet her current behavior seemed a bit off.

He was relieved when he noticed the closed door to his mother's bedroom and a dim light peering from under it; he knew this meant she was watching TV while lying on her bed, which also meant she wasn't likely to leave her room until the morning. As he reached the front door, he summoned up his courage and opened it.

“Surprise!” exclaimed the girl John would have least expected to see at the front of his house, at least not for a while, his plans were only in their initial stage.

“Amelia?” John asked too surprised to actually think of something else say. He had thought about this moment for years, even rehearsed what to say to her; there she finally was in front of him and nothing else came out of his mouth. As he looked at her, he noticed she was dressed in her school uniform which reminded him of his last dream. He looked around, not sure what to expect; as far as he knew, Caile could have been hiding somewhere.

“Are you expecting someone else, John?” his long-time friend asked him and then smiled as if reading his thoughts.

“Ah, sorry,” he said, and then everything she said to him earlier was starting to make sense; she had been Caile all along. “All this time it was you?”

“Aye,” she smiled nervously, showing a bit uncertainty to her plans for this revelation. “What do you think?”

“I really don’t know what to say,” he answered as everything that had happened for the last six years between him and Caile passed through his mind; it stopped when he came to a realization to a significant bit of information she had given him just minutes ago. “Wait, you have powers too?”

“About that, we really do need to talk,” she said with a serious look and then her demeanor suddenly changed as she smiled. “But first, I want to know something.”

“Sure, what is it?” he asked wondering what else she wanted to know.

“Mimi gets two hours of pats per week as your penance for scaring her. What will I get?”