Truth Beyond the Veil Chapter 2: Chapter 1: An Eventful Night

Read chapter 2 of Truth Beyond the Veil by DarkCosmos on NovelPedia.

Summer, 23:45 Date: 14th April, 2377 Location: Earth; Summer, a season with long days and short nights — but for teenagers, every day blended together anyway. It was 11:45 p.m., and three teenagers were still playing an online game, a common event when not under their parents’ supervision. We could not blame the parents for that, after all, this was an age when everyone scrambled for money just to sustain their family. These days, many parents work far away and children live alone or near their college. The growth of technology was both a boon and a disaster. As many tasks became automatic and people began to lose their jobs. It wasn't that new jobs weren’t being created, but as usual, change took time. The growth was inevitable; after all, they could not remain stagnant in a world of constant evolution. These days, it’s rare to see both parents and children under the same roof. But this, too, is a part of life, and with survival being the priority, it was simply to be expected. A voice brimming with absolute confidence crackled through the headphones. "With this, the boss is dead!" A mocking voice cut in immediately, “Are you sure, Leo?” "Huh? What do you mean? There is no HP left, so isn’t it dead?" Leo’s voice wavered, filled with uncertainty and confusion. The room was suddenly filled with laughter, "pfft… Hahaha" Another voice followed, "Tsk, Victor, you ruined the mood!" “Theo, you should stop messing with him so much, hahaha," replied Victor. “Well, it’s fun,” Theo replied, and a shrug emoji appeared on the screen. “True,” Victor replied with an innocent smile emoji. "You Bastards... Grr ," Leo replied, sending a cursing emoji. This was just a common conversation when three friends were together, and hours passed effortlessly. "Okay, guys, let’s stop here. I have to write the assignments,” Victor said as he looked at the wall clock. It read 2:00. "Shit, I haven't done mine yet ... " Leo’s anguished cry came immediately. “Well, I have time and I’ve done mine, but okay... Bye.” Theo replied and immediately exited the lobby. Victor saw Leo leaving and closed the game. He took off the VR headset and the headphones. He then searched online for the assignment questions, only to be disappointed. It seemed teachers had become creative, too. After all, it makes sense in this world where chatbots, voicebots, and household robots were becoming the new normal. Even the global market was now totally based on AI. This future was more or less expected, given the movies made since the ’90s, but what the actual future would hold, no one knew. After all, the universe is massive, though they said that there was no living discovered after decades of space exploration, it’s not guaranteed that life won’t be discovered in the near future, and robots won’t come from the future to kill people. Life is unpredictable after all. “ Sigh… now I have to search the topics individually and make the assignment from scratch." Victor glanced at the clock, "Well, it’s a relief that we can submit this one by typing and printing.” ‘I feel so exhausted looking at this... I have to stay awake just to write this ... this is so unhealthy,’ Victor internally thought, “We have dark circles because of this teacher.” It seemed these things were common, as Theo and Leo were both writing their assignments. Theo seemed to be just more relaxed. At night, around 2:45 A.M., Victor stopped typing, he stood up from his chair, went to put the paper in the printer, and then went to the balcony to get some fresh air. He saw the pitch-black night sky, which had no moon, only stars that looked eerie, but weirdly calming. There was no wind blowing, but he could feel a thin breeze brushing against his skin. Most of the neighbours' windows weren’t glowing; either they were asleep or, like him, lovers of darkness. Everything looked frozen, like someone had stopped time, a perfect setting for some ghost stories. He took a deep breath, which somewhat reinvigorated him. He then retur