Opposite to each other in midair, the angelic boy and the pegasus glared at each other. Abound, ablaze, and falling debris danced around them with the strong winds, but the winged horse did not take the opportunity to attack whenever Iker's view was obstructed.

  "Where's Monica? If you tell me... I'll let you get back to your body," Pegasus said.

  What are you talking about? Iker thought.

  Kars thinks that you know that you know about your current state, Uzi replied on the mindlink ve established. Iker glanced heavenward while startled.

  ... uhm... who's this? Iker asked.

  RESETS: 4

  There was not yet a place or a time as Iker's consciousness for, in this tangential state, he spawned before any words shaped the reality around him. There was only exposition and ethereal neuroembryology.

  An infinite checkerboard spawned, however that said little about the place and time. Was it for a chess simulation? The lobby of a building? A masonic temple? A metaphor for the game of life?

  Either way, dimensions were now defined, thus making the floor a finite space. Ah, this was a building. Upon regaining the ability to gaze in different directions, Iker was compelled to first discover the body he spawned in.

  He was now twenty-four years old again, and the assets among him were to still to be determined. Translucent and transient assets were changing, changing some more, and still incessantly changing back and forth. It became quite clear he was inside the imagination of a human writer playing house with him. Appearing and disappearing hands and eyes danced around the scene, faint sounds of a twenty-first century keyboard echoing throughout the defined floor and vacua horizon. It was all so fast, yet Iker was able to decipher certain scenes in this everchanging environment.

  A shrine to Moloch, a ballroom dance, and above a brief beige pattern Iker spotted a black boy paired with someone in red.

  Now the imagination Iker existed in became more composed. A beige carpet covered the floor while business casual attire spawned over Iker, and he was seated by forces beyond understanding. It became apparent that this scene was a Memoryfeed networking event as hundreds of stable assets spawned at once like a virtual game.

  However, the version of Iker that witnessed hypostasis had no control over what was happening, including the very body he spawned in. All he could do was...

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  "Hey, your name is Iker right?"

  The majority of what spawned in this now determined dining hall was moving people. The Latino boy, or rather the man, that asked him about Iker's mortal identity could not be any older than eighteen.

  "I know all about you," he whispered, the glare on his glasses growing more intense as he leaned towards Iker.

  The Iker aware of the greater forces at play was horrified at the question, however he was not in control.

  "What? About me climbing up quickly in the company?" Iker asked rhetorically.

  "Yea, exactly."

  "What's your name?"

  "Bastian. Nice to finally meet you Mr. Felix."

  "Show me your resume," Iker requested with an upnod.

  Wait... in this timeline were not the same age? And Bastian needs glasses?

  The observing Iker made the assumption that this would be somewhere around 2080 until Bastian pulled out a more archaic smartphone. This was a time when manufacturers were making the screen as big as possible while still being able to fit into most pockets. It would display a resume well, but not as well as a hologram. Bastian seated himself right beside Iker while passing his phone to him.

  "Change your last name on it. Use your middle name or something."

  Bastian frowned. "Why?"

  Iker glared back at Bastian and gave him his phone back. "Go apply somewhere else."

  "Wait. I came here specifically to meet you," Bastian pleaded, his frown ceasing immediately.

  Iker smirked. "Why the hell would you do that?"

  "Dude, you're the only young guy they hired," Bastian answered. "You brought down the median age of the company if you don't consider frontfacing employees. You actually made the number change... I don't even wanna talk about how old the current CEO is. Gives me nightmares thinking that a rich man can live that long."

  Wait I have so many questions.

  And you're only going to have more, Yggdrasilland said on the mindlink.

  "... so you want to beat my record?" Iker asked Bastian with a smile.

  "... yea," Bastian replied, faintly smiling back.

  Iker no longer made eye contact with Bastian, he was now looking around the moving crowds surrounding them. "Don't bother."

  Indeed, Iker was motioning for new people to network with him, but no one showed interest.

  "What? Do you already see me as competition?"

  "No. I am doing what's best for you."

  "Okay I know why you told me to change my last name on it. I know about the nature of the company."

  That got Iker to stop his search altogether. Even the observing Iker could feel the tension as the head turned ever so slowly to meet back with Bastian's eyes.

  "And you still wanna work for us?" Iker asked.

  "Yea. Even though the ones at the top are... you know... this is the only AI company that isn't full of shit."

  "You do know our future projects have very little to do with AI. It's a secret what were working on, but—"

  "Read the rest of my resume," Bastian interrupted, passing back his phone to Iker.

  And so he did.

  "You're studying neurobiology?"

  "And computer science," Bastian added.

  While Iker finished reading the resume, the observing Iker spotted a woman in a floral dress and an undead centaur in the shadows of a pillar.