Beams of searing light flashed across the landscape, leaving white-hot 
scars on the mountainside. The Specter stood undeterred. A mind-bending 
torrent of unlight roared forth from its outstretched hands, while several 
cyber-knights frantically evaded the attack. Alex felt his legs scream in 
protest as he leapt to another vantage point. They needed the appropriate 
banishing key sequence to actually send this monster packing, which was 
Support's job. whoever that was right now. RJ slid in behind him, dropping 
a temporary barrier to give them a breather. Their allies were bailing 
out, or falling victim to the Specter's attacks. It was down to two of 
them.

RJ looked at him, and they both nodded. He sprung one way, while RJ went 
the other, weaving through cover. With the kind of firepower involved 
here, cover was a bit of an overstatement . hills were turning into clouds 
of dirt behind him. He stopped short, and flipped backward as a blast 
cleared out the area ahead of him. This was going nowhere fast, but at 
least RJ was still with him. 

That was when the Banishing Key sequence flashed on his HUD. A wicked grin 
spread across his face as he activated the sequence, his weapons glowing 
with a iridescent sheen. As he shouldered and fired his arc projector at 
the Specter, chains with the same gleam began to surround the monster. RJ 
hurled a glowing lance at the thing's face, but the Specter blocked it 
with its hand. However, the lance into a spiderweb of chains over the 
monster's face and arm. Alex followed up with a overcharged blast that 
sent a thick chain clear through the monster, then closed to strike with 
his longsword. Chains blossomed over the Specter, dragging it into the 
ground. As it vanished into a shimmering portal, the two cyber-knights 
staggered over to each other and exchanged a weary fist bump.

In between breathes, Alex gulped down ice-cold water like the nectar of 
the gods inside his VR rig. Who would have thought video games would this 
exhausting? He could hear RJ breathing hard as well. The rig took his 
normal human movements and made them superhuman, but dodging fire from a 
Level S++ Ahriman Specter was a workout. "Alex, man." RJ spoke in between 
harsh breathing. "We got the first kill on the server."

That they had. Weeks of practice had led to this point, and they had just 
made server history . especially since the Old Man never reset the server. 
"Who was the Support?" He shifted his avatar into his non-combat attire.

"That would be me!" The two turned to see a green-skinned girl appear in a 
swirl of green vapor. Her overlay made clear she was an actual kid, not 
just someone playing around with an avatar. "Chloe Chlorine, pleased to 
meet ya!"

Alex smiled "ArchangelSeven here, and this is my friend Dr_Devast8." No 
one used real names online, too risky. "That was just in the nick of time, 
thank you."

"It wasn't easy. but I am just glad I can play on a real server with good 
players." The Old Man let little kids into his VR domain and even let them 
run Support. She must have been good to get on this raid.

"Warriors of Light!" It was one of the AI programs running on the server, 
using the avatar of a man of glowing light. "His Majesty the King would 
honor your triumph in person." Next to him, a small airship descended to 
the ground. Chloe eagerly climbed aboard, while the weary knights followed 
somewhat slower. Chloe turned to them with a quizzical expression as the 
airship lifted off. "Have you ever met the King?"

"No, I never met the Old Man. He's the guy who owns the entire server 
IRL." RJ looked out the window at the blasted remains of their 
battlefield. It would remain that way until someone fixed it . nothing got 
reset here. "He mostly sends out Operator Knights to deal with problems." 
The airship glided over verdant hills and snow-capped mountains, a digital 
panorama that rivaled any in the real world.

Finally, they approached the towering Royal Castle, towering majestically 
in the landscape. Alex turned to Chloe, who was looking out in wonder, and 
pointed out a few features. "I've heard he built all this himself. Years 
of work, especially the stained glass windows."

"What's that?" Chloe pointed out a huge, walled section of the palace 
grounds. "It has all kinds of warnings when I look at it."

"That's the forbidden gardens. No one goes there . even walking in will 
get you booted, possibly banned." Alex shrugged. "Maybe that's where he 
keeps admin-only stuff?" The airship gracefully landed on a pad outside 
the castle, where royal guards were waiting to lead them onward. As they 
walked under the vast arching ceiling, Alex was gaping with as much wonder 
as Chloe. A few of the Operators showed up to offer their congratulations 
in person before teleporting back to their work. AtomicMike actually stuck 
around to follow them into the throne room. The throne room was so huge 
that it would probably be impossible to build in real life. It was a long 
walk on velvet carpet up marble steps, and then they saw the King.

The Old Man's nickname was well-earned. He was in flowing regal robes, but 
he made no attempt to hide his age. His scepter doubled as a cane. "Ah, 
yes, my brave knights and our audacious prodigy. You need not kneel . it 
is bad for the knees" He gave a wry smile. "Now, for your triumph where 
others failed, I grant you a boon."

Alex and RJ looked at each other. This was too good to be true. "We'd like 
to be considered for Operator status."

"Very well." He nodded to AtomicMike, who was hanging back. "Mike, start 
the process and get their status elevated once they check out." As Alex 
and RJ stammered their thanks, the Old Man turned to Chloe. "What would 
you have, my dear?"

"What's in the Forbidden Gardens? I'd like to see them." She paused as the 
room grew silent. "And why are they forbidden, anyway?"

The Old Man closed his eyes and sighed. "I will show you." With a wave of 
his hand, they vanished from the throne room, appearing in a swirl of 
light outside of the Gardens. "Follow me." He strode into the wall, which 
rippled like a pond as he stepped through. Chloe and the guys followed, 
finding themselves in a gorgeous pastoral landscape, with a beautiful farm 
and manor house. He walked in silently, the door opening with scarcely a 
sound. As they came inside, they walked to the living room where a young 
woman was asleep in an armchair. She was a player avatar, but there were 
all kinds of odd messages and overlays appearing when looking at her. The 
Old Man gestured to the couch as he took the opposite chair. "This is my 
daughter, and the Forbidden Gardens is her home."

The players looked on wide-eyed as the King continued. "When I was 
younger, I had invited my daughter to join me on my server. It was a way 
to share the passion we had for the virtual world, and a way to see her 
despite the distance. She lived in the Southern California megalopolis. 
She was on the server relaxing on a sunny day in August when." He choked 
up.

Suddenly it hit him. Last modified: 8-14. Oh my God. "I-I'm sorry."

"They did not just kill my little girl, those damned terrorists 
obliterated everything she had with a nuclear bomb!" His voice roiled with 
years of rage. "Even if I could visit her old home, it is a radioactive 
wasteland. This is all I have of her. an avatar and her online home, kept 
just as she left it." Chloe got up and gave him a hug, tears streaming 
down her cheeks. He gratefully patted her on the back and returned the 
gesture.

"Now I understand why you never reset the server." RJ spoke quietly "That 
way, the memories never fade." The Old Man nodded solemnly.

"I just don't get why it is forbidden? Why not let other people pay their 
respects?" Alex looked around at the excellent work. "You could keep it 
protected like the castle."

"Some memories are best kept among friends." the Old Man replied. "This 
place meant so much to us. We spent so much time here together." With 
another wave of his hand, the three players were teleported to the front 
of the castle. A tear ran down his face as he looked long at his 
daughter's avatar, asleep with a smile on her face.

In the real world, Maria helped the Old Man out of his VR rig into the 
halls of the retirement home. The nurse's aide shook her head with 
disbelief as she held his walker steady. "I don't know why you spend so 
much time in there with the young people."

"Oh, I don't know." He smiled as he began to walk down the hallway. "I 
guess I'm lost in the memories."