Chapter 205: MainFrame

"You know, this is kind of nice, how many games has it been since we met in the Hall of Wishes? Dansei asked as I sipped at my latte. 

"So you were the faceless god? Just how many people have you played?"

"I was forced to play a weird position, every one of us has had to lie, but this isn't the first time we have done this. Last time...things didn't go well, we told you earlier like the others, but…it wasn't good for anyone, and you lost everything."

"Woah, hold on! This isn't the first time, then what about all the souls? Was that a lie as well?"

Small holes were starting to poke through my calm, this is too much to take in all at once. I stood up, but...whoever this thing actually was, didn't try to stop me. I left the coffee shop and started to run, I had never looked, but this city was also the one that I...was told I lived in...was I actually there? But, If it was all made up, then who was Serina? Why was she a part of it?

'Serina is special to you somehow, but that is all I know, there is still so much that we don't know. Reborn keeps resetting, and then we are all forced to do this again without knowing what had happened. You are not alone in this fight, just behind the rest, but not by a lot.' -Tequila.

I ran, but decided to grab a cab, and gave the driver some cash and directions. The man took the money wordlessly as I got into the back. There had been cash in my pocket when I checked before getting into the cab, but I was hardly surprised by anything anymore.

'If I failed, shouldn't my brother, and the others be ahead of me by a lot?'

'The also failed and had to go through all twelve worlds alone, this will be the only advantage you will have going in. Your brother, Hyde, was the first to report back of the three, but the other two will be a while before we hear from them. They don't have the same zeal as Him.' -Tequila. 

'What is he like? My brother?'

'Hyde is always the strongest, and he is the only one of the five of you that didn't use the builder system. Fiercely loyal, and protective of his family, that's why he took MainFrame with him for you. I don't know why MainFrame is always so easily baited by you brother, but he will be surprised when he finds out what it's like in the Zodiac worlds.' -Tequila.

'Do you know why MainFrame is acting like this? Isn't it supposed to be the watcher over the games to make sure we have fun or something like that?'

'He is the only thing that we really know nothing about, the last game ended because he stopped us, but something changed this time. Hyde, Kiada, Bhan, and 69584 were all sent to Aihalla, the 13th Zodiac world, and they lost, but the biggest effect was them getting pushed back on their world lines, relative to your position.' - 

"Who? All those numbers, is that a person?'

'Yes, 69584 prefers to go by this name, but he doesn't work with others, and it is hard to call him a Harem leader with only three partners, but he is the only one that hasn't failed. 69584 as Already captured one of the game worlds. He is now pushing into the next with his trio, but each of you will have to finish your three before you can converge on the final world, Aihalla together.' -Tequila.

I had finally arrived at the address I had asked for, and once the cab stopped I got out of the car. My head needed a break from the info dump, I partially wished I could just have it downloaded in, but that might be worse. I shook my head and looked at my old house, a normal white and green bungalow with a nice yard.

I wasn't here to come to cry or to go visit my old home, I just needed confirmation, and now I had it. This was all more than just some game, or maybe that's exactly what it is, but why are we stuck in an endless loop? Not much of a game if you ask me, but complaining about it wasn't going to get me anywhere.

"Feel better now?"

I turned to find Dansei standing sitting in a lawn chair across the street, and he was patting the seat of one beside him. I sighed, and walked over to him and sat in the lawn chair. 

"Better, I needed to see it. I can't believe it was here the entire time, but there is one this bothering me about all of this. If we five are the Harem Leaders, What does that make these girls?"

Dansei looked away for a brief moment and then turned back to me with a tired expression.

"We don't know, but all of them refer to Tequila as their birth mother once they reach the Hall of Gods, but lately, they have been starting to become aware faster. They are part of the game worlds, but all are drawn to you all like sweets, so we don't know if they are like you or AI NPC."

"They don't seem like AI, the feelings I have shared with them are real. The pains and struggles have all been just as real for them as it has been for me. How could you consider them NPC?"

"Don't you think I have felt your pain? Do you think Tequila doesn't hurt when she is forced to lie to you? We are all AI Dave, of all the things we don't know, this is one thing that each of us knows, we are AI, you five are different. You five are the only ones compatible with the external systems, like the builder system and the Harem System."

"Okay, fine, I accept it all, what next?"

"Play the game, get to the Game World and defeat MainFrame. Nothing has changed in the plan, just the reason why you are doing it. We are still going to take the Founders' worlds, but they aren't Founders and there are only four of them, Talon, Gresh, Maddine, and Thalm. These are the four Game Masters and they each control three worlds, and you will have to take three of them," Dansei explained.

"Like the snake Greshaha?"

"No, he is with your brother now."

"Well, I guess that means I have some work to do. How many more women will I need to collect, or how does that work?" 

"You have been doing better than some of the others, and the fact that you already have the first sequence of the Builder System unlocked you should help you to be moving faster. There are only five girls left to find, and they are the last ones. Your brother was quite the collector, if that is the right word, and took a good chunk of the women with him."

"Wow, so I'm kind of like a chip off the old block, then right?" I asked hopefully.

"A chip off the block, yes, but I think we are using the term in different contexts."

"Ha ha, very funny, are we done here? I feel bad for acting as I did with the girls back there, so I wouldn't mind getting back to them."

"Maybe, you two aren't that different, but I have one more thing to talk to you about before you go back. Things with the girls are going to be a lot different going forward. First is their personalities, you figured out that something is affecting the girls and they tended to act erratically at times, right?" Dansei asked while sipping a drink with an umbrella in it.

"Yes, I realized that the Dere stats were a clear indication, but I thought that was you."

"No, everything is controlled by MainFrame but was in the game before you stopped Tyson. MainFrame was looking around the different games, and only using Tyson to harness while he was trying to find something. Then, when he didn't find whatever he was looking for, he started using Tyson, even to the point of having to go through that life. I'm sorry Dave, you have been through a lot, but I have some good news. The Harem System works normally now, meaning, no more Dere stat, and no more lewd quest unless they are written into the game."

"That is the best news I have heard in a long time, but do you know what Mainframe is looking for?"

"No, but I do know that the Game Masters were the ones sent to put him back into MainFrame. I don't know what that means since this, Reginold identity clearly doesn't like us, but the Game Masters don't like when he is free." Dansei mused.

"The real question is how he keeps getting out, what the point of putting him back in if he is just going to get out again?"

"I don't know, it might have something to do with the Zodiac worlds, but I'm not sure. I know some things, but MainFrame has always been a mystery. Whatever he is looking for, I don't think it will be good for either side, and it may very well be the reason why we are stuck in this loop."

We said goodbye, but Dansei told me he would be in touch whenever I needed him, just the same way Mom was. After he left, I relaxed as the world slowly pulled apart, hundreds of colored bits rising into the darkness. I closed my eyes and prepared myself for what I hoped to be an exciting new world with my girls, the real ones.