Taking Over The World

Chapter 2 - The Cons and The Truth

"It's great to meet ya! It's amazing to see someone saw our flyer!" The one who had pulled the black haired male up was one to speak again.

"It is. I'm [Y/n].."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, (Y/n), if I'm being honest, none of us were ever going to expect someone to actually come." The guy in the grey sweater spoke up again.

"I didn't think I was actually gonna come. So, why did you guys come here if you didn't expect anyone to show?" I asked, quite confused by his logic.

"'Cause he's stupid. Ohm thinks people will chang-" The man with the pig hat was cut off by a backhand from the guy standing up behind him before that man continued for him. "Sorry about that! I'm Brock. It's nice to see you came, (Y/n)."

I nodded with a small, crooked smile. I looked over each of them, feeling like there was something in common with them, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. Maybe it was their behaviour, or the way they dressed. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

I stood still for a couple of minutes while they bickered between each other. That's when I noticed it.

The headsets.

No one wears headsets, why would we with the current technology we have?

We all have microchips for a reason.

Holy shit, these guys...

"Are cons..." I said the last part of my thought out loud.

Each of them immediately stopped once they heard that word. They shuffled uncomfortably and seemed shocked that they were found out. The man in the grey hoodie, who I can only assume is Ohm, cleared his throat and spoke up.

"Looks like you finally caught on.." He gave an airy laugh and rubbed the back of his neck in nervousness. "You're not gonna leave right? You're not going to try and.... Report us?"

Ohm looked like he was about to cry, the man with black hair finally stood up and seemed awake, the pig man seemed just as worried as brock and shifted around lots. I never thought I'd find myself in this predicament. My mind is telling me I need to do the right thing, what we were told to always do if we came across these dangerous people. On the other hand, my heart told me not to, there were rumours in school about what happened to Cons who were reported.

See, I'm what's called a VP, Virtual Processor, although most of us call ourselves Virtual Panders instead. We live almost our entire lives living in VR, we work, go to school, and spend time with family and friends. Cons are the people who defy that. They play games, video games, and even spend time in the real world outside of their houses. No one understands why, so we're still scared of them. Us VP's were taught from a very young age that if you disobeyed the rules, you were deleted, like, just randomly out of existence.

All video games were completely banned and can only be found on the Dark Web. The government said that video games were violent and were causing all the deaths in the world. They even tried to get rid of games like hopscotch or go fish and even tag, but those laws never passed since only school children played them and parents were outraged.

These guys are dangerous. This could've just been a giant ploy to kill me when I'm in my most vulnerable state. I should report them, I'd be praised by doing so, but at the same time that would mean that these poor men would be taken away and deleted. I don't know if I could have that on my conscience.

"Are you going to kill me...?" I asked, backing slightly away from the group.

"Why the fuck would we ever kill someone?! Plus, do we really look capable of doing that?" The pig man spoke up, angry at my question.

I know that both of those questions were rhetorical but, "You never know. You can't trust anyone in the real world."

"No, we weren't planning on killing or even harming anyone. We just hoped someone would come so we can finally show you people what we actually are. We aren't animals, we're exactly like you but the government drilled into your brain that we were different." Brock looked at me with soft eyes.

"Please, we just need someone to see and help us speak out! And people in VR will only listen to a VP... Please, can you help us?" Ohm stepped closer and gave me pleading eyes. They were glazed over and he looked on the verge of crying again.

I sighed and gave a stern look. "Why should I help any of you? You brought that name on yourself. If you used VR for what it's actually meant for-"

"Don't lie to yerself, VR was never meant for ye all to be trapped in a room and living a life in a fake world." The man with black hair finally spoke up, but he had an accent that I've never heard before.

I scoffed at his ridiculous statement. "Yeah, maybe ten years ago. That's just how technology is now, old man. It's not for your stupid games and entertainment. It's how I live and make money. Sorry, that you Cons are still stuck so far in the past. We're adults now, not school children. Plus, the video games were banned for a reason because you guys couldn't help but become violent once you played them!"

He shook his head. "Should've known that no VP," it felt like he spit acid on me when he said it like that, "Would ever let their views change because yer all the same. Ye are the reason fun is illegal."

"No, I just believe in protecting the children! And you obviously don't care!"

"Wrong. You're just ignorant. I mean, it's not really your fault completely, but I guess you have to have a free mind for it to be open." The pig man looked disappointed at my words.

"He's right... We're trying to spread the word of the truth, but I guess VPs never have and never will change. I just wish that you could see what it's actually like. It's not scary, it's not dangerous and it's certainly not violent." Ohm quietly gave his input.

"You're all just delusional of the harm it's caused. It's already rotten your brain, but you can save yourselves if you just become a VP like we were meant to be!" I smiled at them hopefully, these poor boys were obviously forced to live this lifestyle when they never had to.

"That's it. Take it out, boys." Brock said to the group as he gave me an emotionless expression, I couldn't read anything.

My heart suddenly started racing. Was he talking about me? Take what out? The three others started making their way towards me. My eyes grew wide as I slowly started walking away from them faster and faster. Once I was running, I zoned everything out besides the footsteps.

They're getting closer.

This is how I die.

I'm going to die.

While trapped in my thoughts, my breath was laboured and someone jumped on my back, shoving me to the ground.

"NO GOD PLEASE! LET ME LIVE!" I squirmed under him as tears poured out my eyes. I've never been this scared in my life.

They flipped me around. Ohm held down my legs, the black haired man held down my arms above my head. Pig man walked closer to me, excruciatingly slow, pulling out a switchblade from his back right pocket. He knelt down beside my head and grabbed my hair, turning my face harshly away from him. All I could see were the distant hills and buildings. There were butterflies and bees around all the dandelions on the ground. I was free. But now I'm going to die. And it's all because of my curiosity. What was that saying again..?

Curiosity killed the cat.

This was my fate. How could I have been so naïve? I felt the blade's edge press against my temple as blood already started to drip down my face. I cried out in pain, hoping someone could hear me, even though I already knew no one would save me. He dug deeper and deeper into my head and I only screamed more.

I heard a small 'pop' on the side of my head where he stabbed me.

"Got it."

Pig man let go of my head and I slowly looked over at him through my tear filled vision. I was terrified. But all of a sudden...

It all came rushing back.