***Owens residence, Birmingham, England***
Winston was having his monthly examinations, bloodwork, vitals, spinal tap, and the whole proceeds. His doctor had with him two nurses and a few specialized machines to speed up the process.
Currently, the doctor was looking at his blood test results, a frown creasing on his forehead.
“Hmm.”
“Is there something wrong, doctor?” the boy asked.
“It’s nothing, young man. I’ll be right back. I need to talk to your parents.”
Winston began worrying. It was never a good sign when the doctor wanted to speak to his parents alone.
The last time it had happened, the doctor had announced to his parents that his condition was degrading. The time before that, Winston had caught a cold that almost killed him.
As the doctor left the room, one nurse sat next to him. She was the doctor’s assistant, and she had been with him every time since he started treating Winston.
“Don’t worry, Winston. I’m sure everything will be fine.”
“Thank you, Marry. But when has speaking in private to my parents ever been good news?” he sighed.
“I have a good feeling. You also seem to have a bit more colour to your skin. Who knows, maybe you are getting better.” she responded with a smile.
The other nurse kept working, her face stoic. She was silently shunning the woman for giving false hope to this slowly dying child.
Winston suddenly heard his mother sob from behind the closed door. His heart dropped.
The doctor came back inside the room, his parents tailing behind, both crying.
“How much time, doc?” Winston asked, trying to smile.
He would prefer his parents see him with a brave face on, as he accepted his death long ago.
“I will need to have you come by the hospital for a more thorough test, but for now—wait. How much time? Dear god, no. Winston, you aren’t dying.”
“Then why do I need to be tested? Did I catch a disease or something?”
His mother took three rapid steps, throwing herself at his feet. She was still crying, but Winston could glean a smile behind her tear-filled face.
“Winston, my sweet pearl. The doctor thinks you are getting better.”
“I can’t be sure just yet. But all the signs point to it. That is why I want to run better tests at the hospital. Winston, I think your body is finally fighting back the CEDS.”
Winston felt something rise in his chest, something he hadn’t felt in a great deal of time. Hope.
Tears started rolling down his cheeks. He tried brushing them away and holding them back, but it was a fruitless endeavour.
The nurse that was sitting next to him smiled wide, happy for the boy, while the other nurse was just standing in the back, her jaw slack.
CEDS had no known cure, even after many years of study. Since it was a genetic condition, it was not something that could easily be researched.
Doubled over that, that it was a rare condition, there was still much to be discovered about it. If this kid was suddenly healing from it, it was either a miracle or the next medical breakthrough happening right before their eyes.
“For now, keep being careful and stay in your sterile environment. But if my conclusions prove right, you might soon be able to start having a normal life again, young man.”
After scheduling an appointment at the hospital with his parents, Winston’s doctor smiled at him one last time before leaving with the nurses and equipment.
Winston and his parents rejoiced at the news. Even after many warnings from his father to not be too optimistic yet, even he couldn’t contain his hope.
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The family let themselves hope, for the first time in a long time.
***Somewhere in Japan, in a secluded village, inside the Kujaku residence***
Aoi Kujaku, known to others in New Eden as Blue Peacock, was currently training in a closed room. The form and style she was training here were practically the same as in the game, aside from some minor adjustments to the strength of the strikes.
Aoi was swinging around a small sickle, or Kama, as the Japanese called it, tied at the end of a chain. The arcs made by the weapon were dangerously close to her own body as she whizzed it around.
One could tell by her closed eyes she was more than experienced with these movements. In a sudden snap of her wrist, the weapon changed direction, heading for a wooden dummy.
Unbeknownst to herself, Aoi’s eyes shone slightly as she executed the attack. On impact, the Kama sliced cleanly through a part of the dummy, making the wooden piece fall to the ground with a dull thud.
The woman looked at the dummy, her weapon embedded in the ground under it, and the piece of wood on the floor, her eyes slightly wide. As she stood back up straight, her mind was already asking all kinds of questions.
Aoi walked to the dummy, inspecting the wood, to see if there were any defects in the grain that she might have accidentally hit, but she couldn’t find any.
The slice through the material was straight and clean, almost surgical. She knew that such a cut would require much more strength than she could exert.
Her face formed a frown. She went back to training, trying to emulate the phenomenon, but never managed to, even after hours of trying.
All around the world, many similar events were happening. People achieving feats that were not typically possible in normal circumstances, or suddenly getting better from diseases.
Many people brushed it off as spikes of adrenaline, or miracles. But one common denominator tied all these people together.
These people were all players of New Eden. More so, they were all players with access to gaming pods.
Inside EG’s headquarters, Constantine Levesque was currently meditating inside her penthouse in the building. She has done so every day since they released New Eden.
But something was different this time. She could feel her consciousness expand far outside her own body.
With her eyes closed, she could see places inside the building without being there. When she opened her eyes, she logged into the security network, verifying what she had seen through the cameras.
She smiled as everything was as she saw.
“So it begins.”