New Game+

It was ridiculous. How could a simple gamer ever create such ripple effects?

If gambles of that level were being made, did it mean, the opposing nations that gambled against Seeker and Pangea spent so much that it would affect their GDP? What crazy notion is that?

Jake\'s mind went reeling. How could such an information skirt pass by him?

"Of course, because no payouts were made, news of this battle has yet to surface." Grace reminded.

"So the WGP really went overboard and destroyed news of this?"

"Of course. The problem is that Seeker has too many fans! Even within those nations that are about to lose hundred-million credits, the fans in their country would still support Seeker. So the WGP had to make sure no news of this would reach mainstream media."

"They wanted to use that event as a way to distract the masses. Since it bit them back, they blocked all news about it. Of course, regardless, the result of the Nations of the World Summit that the WGP held was considered partial and biased and it made the WGP be seen as money-grubbing and corrupt. So they vented its anger on Seeker. When the WGP found out that we were foreigners and although the Pangean nation had claimed that we were its citizens to win favor for Seeker, they were still overruled and we got kicked out."

"Pangea did its best to keep us… but… they didn\'t have the power and our legal credentials in Pangea weren\'t that good either." Grace sighed.

"It\'s like that, Jake. Because of that event, we were forced to return to the Americas. And honestly, if we rely on Pangea alone, it would take decades before we could ever be with our boy. So that\'s when we struck a deal with the Force. We wanted our citizenships in the Americas to be fully revoked. But your superiors made a deal for me to complete several missions. They were leveraging our failure during the joint mission in China."

"What a bunch of losers the Force is. I\'m glad I resigned." Jonathan laughed on the side.

Jake gave an angry glare.

"What? They are blaming Chris and Grace for failure? It was a joint operation between the four nations! Yet these four failed because of the interference of an Organization that even the entire Americas didn\'t know of! Why are you glaring at me for my honest opinions?" Jonathan challenged.

Jake was silent. He had no way of rebutting these facts.

"Those missions were classified. Even my access can\'t allow me to see it. What exactly happened there?"

"Using your old enemy to reveal things you had no access to know of? How pitiful." Jonathan scoffed even more.

"I\'m asking Grace!" Jonathan defended.

Grace glared at Jake. A strange fearful sensation erupted.

"Honey," Chris called out immediately.

The sensation disappeared as Grace took a deep breath to relax.

"Jake, I honestly still consider you as a friend. But if you keep admitting that Chris is your enemy, I\'ll have to cut ties with you. I have a son with Chris now and I love him. So much more than I could ever do to you. I could tolerate it if you hate my husband. Countless agents at the force already hate him for stealing me and I\'m used to that treatment. But cross the line and treat my husband as an enemy spy, I become one as well." Grace warned.

"I… I\'m sorry." Jake hesitated.

Jonathan simply shivered.

Seeing as how Jake still remained in the palm of Grace\'s hand even when Grace was a turncoat made Jonathan recall Grace\'s other personality. Of course, he only knew about it when Chris finally married Grace and the three could talk about things in a more honest manner. It was there that Grace revealed how he could easily manipulate and take advantage of both enemies and friends through her charm. Grace had always taken joy in toying with men\'s hearts and even admitted in toying with Jonathan\'s heart. He had also been enthralled at the beauty that Grace carried and also tried to woo her. Luckily, his friendship with Chris was strong enough that he somehow got over the fact that Chris took his dream girl.

"Man oh, man… I\'m glad I didn\'t pursue Grace." Jonathan reminded himself.

Jake stood awkwardly.

"I am sorry. I was so worried when I heard you went off with Chris to China to steal the Dragon\'s tech I was worried. I wanted to know and even tried to steal information from my superiors but they were always a step ahead of me. They knew I would try to do that… so they already took the necessary precaution to keep me from getting the information." Jake lamented.

Grace\'s eyes softened.

Jonathan could see it, but he also noticed Chris sigh and shake his head.

"Is Chris sighing out of jealousy? Nah… He never got jealous… Then is Chris sighing out of pity for Jake?"

"Alright. In respect to our friendship, I\'ll tell you what happened."

Those simple words gave life to Jake as his expression turned soft and his eyes tearing up.

Jonathan, who have heard Grace admit how she enjoyed toying with Jake\'s heart and would become angry if Jonathan teased her of being friends with Jake, was disgusted by how Grace manipulated Jake. Still, he was surprised how Jake, an Agent of the Americas most mysterious and powerful secret service, would easily be manipulated openly by Grace.

Jonathan had no other reaction other than imitating Chris by sighing and shaking his head.

"Definitely pity. Chris is definitely pitying Jake!" Jonathan concluded.

"Thank you for trusting me with this information. It may not be much to you, but I\'m dying to know what happened. If there are enemies who harmed you there, I\'d kill them without question!"

"Thank you for your sentiments, Jake. But even we don\'t know where to point our guns to…" Grace shook her head.

"Long story short… Harker wanted a way into Australia for his revenge. He reached out to us since he apparently knew of my real identity and wanted me to tell your superiors that they can have a slice of the cake for a joint attack against the Dragon and his Fangs." Chris mumbled as he placed another handful of chips in his mouth.

"Who participated?" Jake wondered.

"An interesting trip. We met the Ice Pair there. We thought they were terrorist but they were actually spies from the East Asian Alliance! Imagine that! They were actually in Pangea too! What a small world." Chris laughed.

 "WHAT?!" Jake and Jonathan chorused with stunned expressions.

"Yeah. But don\'t worry. They were retiring as well. You probably know of their daughter. Meryl Mikado." Chris added.

Jonathan choked from his own saliva and coughed.

"That beautiful girlfriend of Seeker?"

"Yeah. Oh. But she\'s not Seeker\'s girlfriend. They\'re quite close though. Damn. These kids are relentless! How many times do we have to kill them and not die until they think were cheating?!" Chris cursed.

"Honey. This is a cheat-free server. The options are these kids think we are e-sport pros using some random accounts after all. Let\'s move faster and try to make them assume we\'re cheating." Grace smiled.

Immediately the speed and deadly attacks of the avatars of Chris and Grace moved throughout the map.

"So it was a joint attack between Pangea, China, the Americas, and the East Asian Alliance?"

"Beautiful isn\'t it? The SPU also took part in it and sent the deadly Missionaries."

"The Missionaries are alive?!"

"Yeah! Quite a small world I\'ll tell you-" For some odd reason, Chris stopped talking and had an expression as if he was being lectured on.

"Anyway, despite that we still failed. Meng died and his entire base was in ruins. The Chinese army took the brunt of the damage from the attack of this mysterious organization."

The other players in the room started to log off one by one.

"He should be logging on anytime now." Grace smiled as the remaining players were leaving the room in anger. As Chris and Grace were in positions near the possible spawning points, many of the players couldn\'t even move and would just die endlessly making them curse in frustration and were reporting the two as cheaters.

"What about the mysterious organization? You two were there in China… Do you think those who attacked you were from the World Governing Powers?" Jake asked flatly.

"I don\'t know. It could be. It also could be something else. The emergence of this new power made your superiors a bit edgy and wanted me to find out about it. We gave them a counter-offer."

"A counter-offer?" Jake had a confused look.

"How can you afford that? Grace, I\'ll be frank. You two have no bargaining chips! Why would they give you a counter-offer?"

"Actually, it was more of a threat than a counter-offer. We injured every other agent in the building and smacked their faces down to the ground. After proving our strength to your superiors, we offered to train a team that could replace us." Grace summarized.

It was then, that the world around Jake made sense.

"The hospitalization of three Lights. And the reshuffling of agents…" The two events that shook the entire Force of America started to come to light.

"Wait that means…" Jake couldn\'t believe it.

"Yes. This is also why I\'m here, Jake." Jonathan laughed.

"Those fifty agents who were injured with over thirty who are now incapable of serving for the next month or two were all caused by Chris and Grace." Jonathan laughed.

Jake recalled the strange dread he felt before Chris. Was it really him?

"Of course, your superiors wouldn\'t let go of me when they realized how strong I was. But I could basically destroy the entire Force if I put my mind to it. Or at most, I can shake its foundations. So when I offered to train a team of men who could be half as good as me, it was really tempting for the force. I even promised, that if I can\'t satisfy their standards, then me and Grace will return to the agency. If we are able to do so, they\'ll help us get back to our son." Chris continued.

"But why did you go here to the Rotting Lands?" Jake asked.

PING!

A message appeared as a new player joined the room.

His game handle was one that had shocked the world.

Casual Carlean has entered the room.

"Hey, Mom! Dad!" Seeker\'s voice greeted.

"Zeek!" Chris and Grace greeted back.

Suddenly, the three avatars rushed at each other and converged at the center of the map and a battle was happening.

The three Piercing characters clashed with extreme speeds that shocked both Jake and Jonathan.

Even the other drug dealers in the room were stunned at the battle. They were already used to seeing Chris and Grace fight. But never had they witnessed the true extent of the power of the two.

The three continued to talk casually as Seeker started to tell him of his day.

The others in the room turned silent allowing the parents to have their rare talks with their son.

"How did you get to the Rotting Lands?"

"Well you know me and mom, we smashed our way in." Chris laughed.

"Haha! That\'s cool, Dad! I wish I could\'ve seen that. Why is it called the Rotting Lands anyway?"

"Oh right. Since you\'ve been born in Pangea, you wouldn\'t know the history of this place."

"I know that the Rotting Lands was formerly known as Central America."

"That\'s an older name. It became the center for the United Latin Countries group which was formed to battle the United States of America. When the Americas were unified, Central America continued to be the hub for revolts and terrors until such a time that the American President Prumd Toland got so angry at these countries that they stopped all forms of trades to go into these countries. It still technically part of the Americas but it\'s more of the trashcan for the Americas." Grace explained.

"Sounds illegal."

"Not really. They own Central America and can choose to do fit of these lands. Even the WGP couldn\'t do anything about it. So no government authority or agency from the Americas exists in the countries here in the Rotting Lands. It has its own government but they are largely left behind from the world and do not have the luxury that most of the world has. Even tasty hamburgers." Chris sighed.

"Is that why that place has illegal servers that can still connect to Pangea?" Seeker asked.

"Yeah. So this place isn\'t all that bad. At least we can talk."

"Yeah."

"So, how does it feel knowing your old man\'s a spy. Are you depressed with all this \'my Dad\'s not the man I thought he was?" Chris laughed knowing what the answer to this question was.

"Are you kidding me? That\'s kick-ass! No wonder I\'m awesome!" Seeker laughed.

The talk continued. Personal matters soon came up which made many of the drug lords excused themselves knowing the level of privacy needed.

"I miss you, son." Chris sighed.

"I miss you too, Dad. I miss you, Mom. I\'m sorry for what I\'ve done."

"Don\'t be. That was awesome. Although it\'s been months since we\'ve talked, I\'m glad you got our message." Chris smiled.

"Thank Uncle Harker for us." Grace laughed.

"I can\'t believe you\'re calling him that…" Chris shook his head in disbelief.

"I will. We\'re still looking for ways to get those gamble bets. We already have some plans in mind. We are to challenge another country on a one-on-one battle."

"You\'re planning to tease team Canada again?" Chris laughed.

"Yeah. I\'ll show those bozos. The problem is, they don\'t want it to be public and we want it to be public."

"Why public?"

"Simple. If I beat them as I did during that time, and we would be using Canada\'s server\'s then most of the world will have no excuse for not paying. The Gambling Den may release most of the pending bets if we beat Canada." Seeker smiled.

"Reckless as always." Grace laughed.

"Well don\'t worry about us. We have our ways of getting back to you. Go crazy." Chris smiled.

"I will. Love you, Dad, Mom. I got to go. The stream should be starting soon. You guys should try streaming too. You\'ve got the skills after all."

"No way. We don\'t have your same charismatic charm. And I think the world gets enough Carlean screen time from you alone."

Seeker was silent on the other end.

"Are they… listening now?" Seeker hesitated.

"Yes. It\'s best we don\'t talk about them… we don\'t know who our other visitors are…" Chris sighed.

Seeker continued to play silently for a while until he eventually managed to hit and connect with a combo killing Chris\'s avatar and then proceeded to attack the avatar being controlled by Grace.

The three sat silently as the respawn happened.

"See you soon, honey." Grace\'s eyes went moist as she bid her farewell.

"Don\'t worry, Son. This will be over soon." Chris comforted.

"I just want my family back." Seeker\'s voice was cracking up and it was apparent that he was on the verge of tears.

"Bye." Seeker bid farewell and immediately disconnected.

The two parents sat on their seats silently and couldn\'t help but wallow in their depression at the distasteful end of their call.

The two disconnected from the room and shut off the computer.

Jake stood quietly and sighed.

Chris immediately turned to Jake.

"Jake, the real reason I allowed you to get in here is to prove to your supervisors that this is all there is to it. Happy now? Make sure to report it accurately. No weird messages, no hidden or false codes. We have no equipment on our end that would encrypt or decrypt stuff. As you can see, a plain computer linked to an illegal server connected directly to Pangea. That was just a plain ordinary phone call to our kid. Illegal as it is, this was all there is to it." Chris remarked angrily. It was the first time he was visibly angry at Jake.

Jonathan\'s expression changed.

"He was sent here… to…" Jonathan stood up angrily.

"No! I can explain! Grace!" Jake tried to defend.

"Don\'t worry, Jake. We knew this would be the case. If your superiors still think we are Pangean double agents, then we understand. Just do your job. I\'m glad they sent you. It makes it easier for us to talk calmly. We\'ll tell you when the next call will be." Grace forced a smiled as she immediately left the room. Chris followed.

Jonathan turned back before leaving and gave Jake a look of contempt.

"This is why Grace chose Chris. You would never choose her over a mission." Jonathan then left.

Jake stood awkwardly in the room. His sour expression didn\'t leave his face. No one was left in the room as all of them had already left. Jake slowly left the building and went out the way he came. The guards no longer threatened or talk to him but had a look of disdain.

"Boss of our boss… yeah right." The little man who Jake pinned down earlier remarked loudly.

Jake walked out containing his anger. He quickly took out a comm device and dialed.

"I managed to come in before the call happened. There was nothing weird about the call. They had no devices used for encryption and decryption. This means the audio you heard on that room was clear. They were… genuine in what they were doing.." Jake reported and immediately closed the comm device.