Displaced - Book One of the Alternate Reality Series

Epilogue

Eric walked down the street in 1950s Los Angeles, quite literally back to his old self. He was inside his original avatar, the spitting image of his real space self, and the character strolled along with a smile.

His cheer partly stemmed from when he used this avatar to hunt down Victor Vane, but with the mission over, he could smile about that. This was true despite the endeavor not turning out as planned.

The final effort was to expose Chad's murderous identity, but that didn't occur. Eric wasn't overly displeased, as in lieu of this, Chad was in the annals of the criminal justice system.

Chad, along with his mother, where incarcerated and facing murder charges. And while they would hire the best lawyers their mountains of money could buy, the case was solid. Not only did Ms. Vale admit to the murder on film, Eric pointed out her and Chad's forensic footprints to the officers investigating this. But while real space moved swiftly against its wrongdoers, net space was a different story.

Online killers were still on the loose. The Crypt Keepers were only down one member, and knowing them, they would probably step up their murderous efforts, just to show everyone the consequences of targeting one of their own. But on the bright side, 1950s Los Angeles was free of the wolf that stalked its streets. Furthermore, he only claimed one victim before his banishment. Still, this probably didn't console the person who suffered his wrath.

Eric often thought of Alice. He even considered reaching out to her. If she wanted, he would provide every story detail, but only if she wanted. She might not want to hear a single word, and if so, he would respect that. But more than anything, he wanted to apologize.

Eric grew weary of hearing it's not your fault whenever someone noticed his pain over Alice's murder. He knew what they meant. The killer was to blame, because he took Alice's virtual life. But Eric could've stopped it, and he didn't, and for this, he needed to ask forgiveness.

Unfortunately, he didn't have her contact information. And given what happened, she was likely off the grid. He would make an attempt nonetheless, just not now.

He first needed to meet a friend at The Clover, which was the real reason for his beaming disposition. It was only too bad he would never again see Arvin, because Arvin was dead.

When the story's dust settled, Arvin had his memories wiped clean. Eric tried to prevent this, arguing that Arvin never killed anyone, but his role in the story–spying on humans, conspiring to commit violence, inflicting physical harm–was unacceptable to those deciding his fate. Luckily, Kim saw this coming.

She contacted friends who saved bots before their executions, and they successfully copied Arvin's data, then reanimated him in net space.

Eric smirked. In a way, he was envious. He yearned to live out a virtual existence. He still planned to do as much, but would have to make frequent returns to real space, because by some miracle, Dr. Wright pulled him from the fire yet again, when UCLA wanted to terminate him yet again.

Mike, on the other hand, was free to roam net space as he pleased. And when he arrived for the start of his stay, he sent Eric a letter, inviting him to their favorite Irish pub.

Mike leaned back in his booth and smiled, glad that he didn't include much detail in his letter. He wanted to inform Eric of his plans in person, plans that included visiting various worlds for one reason–obtaining a deeper understanding of who he was, and where he came from.

Mike considered himself human in every sense, but this definition wasn't entirely clear. He desired additional clarification, and he knew where to look–his past.

With his existence stemming from humans, investigating their history meant investigating his history. And now, he had a boundless opportunity to do so.

He could now venture back in time and learn of his ancestors. He could venture back and live their existences, feel what they felt, see what they saw. He could now learn firsthand of the events that led to his creation.

Wholly unchained, Mike was completely free to learn the human story, completely free to learn his story.