Dungeon Core Online 59 Chapter 59

"How well do you know your parents James?" Xander's question made James pause. He had spent a lot of time with them when he was younger. He knew his father loved video games, while his mother enjoyed reading and writing. Both passed their passions on to James and spent a lot of time taking him around to experience a great deal of things when they could.

However, he also knew they were brilliant scientists, who spent countless hours working on projects at home. Before they had gotten their job with the government, an entire section of James's old house had been blocked off to him. All he knew of their work from that time, was it had something to do with robotics. Then, one day, he remembered two men in black suits appearing at his old house, apparently to offer his parents a job related to their study.

They had accepted, and suddenly James was moved to a new city, his current city, and his parents were rarely ever home. He didn't resent them for it though, because he knew they loved their work, and with immersion, he had plenty of time to enjoy life in his own way. James was pretty sure many of his peers would even be jealous about the amount of freedom he had. And, even without his fortune made from gaming, his parents had offered to provide him with the best of whatever he wanted. Really, wasn't that every teenagers dream?

"I know they wouldn't like to associate with a pompous ass like you." James mumbled under his breath. However, based on the snort from Rue, and Xander's narrowing eyes, his mumble had come out a little louder than expected.

"Out of my respect for their work, I'm going to act like I didn't hear that." Xander narrowed his eyes. "Just this once."

"Sorry." James wasn't sorry, but he knew adults liked it when people apologized to them.

"Now, both of your parents are brilliant inventors, specializing in advanced robotics." James already knew that.

"And?"

"And their work with robotics has the potential to give mankind immortal bodies. Bodies that will not need to eat or drink, bodies that will not age. Bodies that can easily be modified and adapted to handle any type of situation."

"What's that have to do with this? You were just talking about transferring our conscious into a game forever. What need then would there be for robotics?"

Xander waved a hand at James's question, dismissing it. "None of that is important to you right now. The information on DCO is all I plan to tell you, honestly. I am just doing a kindness at this point, to answer briefly your question about Rue and your parents. The other information regarding those two, well honestly, that's not my right to share."

"Go on then." James was really growing tired of speaking with Xander. In the back of his mind, he couldn't' help but chuckle. Steve was definitely going to be getting a toilet mimic, just to spite Xander.

"Right. Well first, Rue's father is a part of the team that is working with your parents. They are inventors, Rue's father, obviously, deals with programming and AI development." So, Rue was an advanced AI. James had to guess her father had to be the best in his field, given how lifelike Rue seemed. James had never seen an AI quite like her.

"Because our works and experiments are coinciding, and were both funded by the government, they were granted a small amount of say in the DCO experiment." Xander let out an irritated sigh. "Mainly, they demanded you be chosen to be a dungeon Core, and Rue be selected to be your AI companion."

So, his parents were the reason he was a core. James made a mental note to thank them the next time he saw them. While he was certain he could have had a lot of fun playing as an adventurer, being a core was offering him a unique experience he had never had before. His parents had always been keen to give him such experiences growing up. Adding in Rue as his companion, was just the icing on the cake, in James's mind.

"And, because of them, you cannot treat me like the rest of the cores?" The conversation had come full circle, and it was all making sense now. Why Xander acted so coldly to him, why Xander was so angry about the entire situation. James and Rue were already a singular part of Xander's experiment that he didn't have control over. Something someone like Xander would definitely hate. But now, by a turn of strange luck, James and Rue had just gotten Steve's parting gift. That meant now Steve, whom James was certain Xander hated, got to have a say in a small part of the experiment, because Xander couldn't erase James from the system.

"Exactly." Xander let out a small sigh. "Like I said, had it been anyone else, this would have been easy to fix."

"So, what are we going to do now?"

"Ideally, we come to a small agreement. I continue to simply monitor the experiment as I see fit, and you keep these secrets and knowledge to yourself." Xander smirked. "The whole reason I told you all of this, and had you sign the non-disclosure, was so that when you slip up, I have permission to remove you from my experiment, permanently." Xander let out a dark laugh, which sent a chill down James's spine. The developer had just given himself a level of control over James that he really didn't want.

"What type of agreement?" James really had no choice but to ask.

"First, obviously you cannot disclose any of what I have told you. Second, you must continue to wear your AR glasses full time, so I can personally monitor you and ensure you are following the first part of the agreement." Another chill rushed through James. That explained how Xander knew what James had said to Dwight and the others. Just how little privacy was there in the world? Was the government spying on everyone as in depth? Or was it just because Xander had taken an exception to James?

"Anything else?" The first part of the agreement was obvious, and the second, well James had no reason not to accept it. Augmented reality was part of what made reality bearable at times.

"You must build a monument to me, as the All-seeing God, Yarx, on your third floor." James blinked at Xander's third statement. He had read some of the games' lore, especially after Rue made a shrine to herself as the Goddess of Luck. Slowly, realization crossed his mind.

"Yarx, as in, X-Ray backwards?" Of course, Xander wrote himself in as the highest god in the game. Why wouldn't the conceited, self-centered developer do that. It was just the type of Easter Egg gamers would find amusing. Little did they know just how much power Xander currently had. He really did make it seem like he was all-seeing.

"Exactly. Rue has her own shrine, so I demand one of my own as well in your instance."

"Fine." James hated the fact that Xander was going to be profiting in some way from his dungeon. However, he was in no position to argue with the developer. Xander held all the cards, currently James held none.

"I'm glad you are sensible." The grin on Xander's face was the same one James knew countless gamers had seen when Xander defeated them. "With that all decided, how about we call it a day?"

The developer snapped his fingers, and a moment later, James was in his pod, awake.

Chapter end