Aia:

In all this vast space there is only one location, which differs in functions from the rest. Only the "chosen ones" know about it. These include system administrators, developers, seekers and dreamers. This room is very special. It's not easy to get in there, and it's almost impossible to find it. It never appears in the tops, and falls out quite by accident when you make a search request. Its name changes every hour, and when you are in it, none of the friends and subscribers you added can see this, unlike other locations.

This is a completely physical room. It never takes minutes, everyone can be here as long as they want to and feel alive here without paying. It's called the Abandoned Universe. It is dark in it, it consists mainly of ruins and cranes, there is no earth under your feet, and above your head there is an endless starry sky. The sky is moving, the stars are twinkling and sometimes you can see falling meteorites on the horizon. You sit on the crane, and your legs dangle over a dark abyss. If you jump, you will simply fly out of the location into the server.Initially, the room was conceived as an experiment of the creators. They wanted to see what would happen to the players who would feel unlimited freedom? But this idea was quickly covered up due to fears of hacking the entire server, and they decided to leave the location.I have always known about its existence. I thought that one day I would show it to some very kind and smart player. By this I meant Levi. He infiltrated my trust that I almost gave this location to him as a gift.

With him, I was completely different. Looked different, behaved differently. I had more naivety, spontaneity, infantilism, humility. It was these qualities that he looked for in every potential lover, and when I was able to embody all this in myself, he fell in love with me for real.

What is it like to truly love a fake person? He knew everything about me.I was short then, with blonde hair, bright blue eyes, freckles on my face and a ring in my nose. This is how he wanted to see me. Levi constantly regulated my appearance. After learning about the functions that he could use, he literally turned me into an inanimate object. In general, it didn't matter to me what I looked like. As I mentioned, my appearance has undergone thousands of changes.

I could become different about twenty times in one human day. Initially, I didn't become attached to my own face, because I didn't have one. And I have long come to terms with the fact that I will never get it. Although when Levi was around, at some point it seemed to me that here she is - real me.

But it was all a hoax. I learned human relationships and their expiration date a long time ago. None of them could last forever. Therefore, I increasingly used the opportunity to erase memory and feelings. But Levi has always been against this feature. He said that what makes a person alive is his emotions. Pain, disappointment, affection, love, hatred - all this forms a real personality, and if you constantly erase everything, then don't expect any development - you will remain a clean slate. For some reason it seemed to me that in the depths of his soul he was simply jealous. Everything that was available to him in Elysium, he secretly dreamed of turning into reality. Understandably, this was never possible, and he resigned himself to this fact, so he switched to the virtual world.

And when I first showed him this location, he promised that someday he would achieve that the entire space of Elysium would be like that. Free, tangible, real, alive.

Levi was a dreamer. He fantasized about a utopian world, about a society in which everyone would be free and happy. He hated the inequality, the corruption that prevailed in reality, said that he wanted to create his own world without all this dirt. Its own state with conscious, creative, happy people. Only he didn't see one thing - everything that he so zealously hated was in himself. Levi desperately contradicted himself without realizing it.

And now, watching how he leads the metaverse to chaos step by step, I see how he was wrong. He gradually seeps into the management of Elysium, connecting to his group of people who know how to hack the server. Yes, they were regularly blocked, but they didn't give up. Levi takes everything that has been created brick by brick and puts it back together, in his own way.Now I ended up here at Levy's request. He sent me an invitation saying that he really needed to talk to me. I can guess why.

"You didn't even answer me," I hear his voice behind me. I don't want to turn around.

"What's the point in answering? You knew that I would come, I have no other choice," I calmly answer.

He sits down next to me. It is very dark here, and the stars in the sky cast a pale, barely perceptible glow on our faces. His large dark eyes seem like a bottomless abyss in this semi-darkness, but as soon as he raises his face a little, a lively glare appears on them.He takes my hand and looks off into the distance.

"I really need help," he says quietly, as if afraid someone will hear us.

"I can't give you the passwords for all the locations, I already talked about that. If you want to hack something, ask your hacker friends," I answer. There are no lies in my words.

"I know that you don't have all the passwords, but I also know that you can find them and it will be easy for you. Am I asking too much? You know I'm not going to do anything wrong. Levi always tries very hard to convince me of his sincerity and evilless intentions.

"You came because of Yuno..."

"He creates good locations. I visited them, they often hang in tops. This is what we need. However, I know he will not give the password to strangers, especially since this is his income. But you, as I already understood, are in a fairly close relationship with him, and this is a great success. If I can't get the passwords, I'm blown away with all of my plans. I already promised my guys." He squeezes my hand tighter and puts it to his face. Such gestures always had an effect on me.

"I don't know," I answer hesitantly. I am myself didn't notice how long ago I adopted this trait from the users. Uncertainty goes against my mind.

"You mean so much to me. You are still the only one I can truly trust. And this is true. You know everything about me, I know everything about you. We have no secrets from each other. And I certainly would never lie to you. It just doesn't make sense. So I beg you to help me. I told you, as soon as I can fix something, you will be the first person to benefit from it. Just think, you will no longer feel like a lonely black sheep among other users. This will be our home and you will never be alone." He again skillfully persuaded me.

It is impossible not to believe Levi, there is no reason. He never really lied to me. And he loved me sincerely. Therefore, I knew that no matter what he did in this virtual world, I would not suffer from it in any way.

"Okay, I heard you. There is only one problem. Yuno doesn't trust me as much as it seems from the outside. We are as close as he allows to be. This is the first time I've come across something like this. You know what I'm talking about..." My voice trembles, as if I'm afraid to say the words out loud.

"But you have every opportunity to get closer to him. You just don't use them," Levi says.

"No, Levi, you don't understand. Yuno is not what he seems at first glance. He is much more indifferent to the metaverse than other users. He restrains himself, and he does it very well. Every time I try to talk to him alone, he logs out of the server," I explain.

"So he's fighting. I know those too. They are afraid of addiction. Such users are much more vulnerable than those who plunge headlong into Elysium. You just need to figure out how to position him..."

"Levi, I'll try, but I can't promise anything. If Yuno suspects something, I'll be in trouble."

"Girl, you're literally immortal, what problems are you talking about?" he laughs sadly. I stay silent.

"Okay. Just try to do it for me. If it works, I'll be very grateful." He covers my hand with his.I continue to be silent, and he hugs me, as he did a very long time ago. It's like we never parted.

"Too bad he was lucky enough to win you," Levi says quietly.

"This is the roulette, you never know who will be lucky to win me," I say.

"And this is another disadvantage that I would save metaverse from. You're not a damn toy. And what is five months? Who said that it is "long" or that "this is how it should be"?"

"You had the ability to erase your memory to release from me."

"Erase all of my memories about you? Unthinkable and stupid. You are too special for me to just erase all the memories. And you know it. I would like to look into the eyes of the one who invented you. This person is probably better than any "God" in human religions," Levi smiles.

"In fact, you have stored another person in your memory. Look at me now. Look at me one more time. What's left here of what you have loved?" I ask.

"You're right. You look completely different, even the tone of your voice is different. Not to mention the fact that it has become more difficult to negotiate with you," He laughs again, and I can see from his look that he still lives with those memories of our past together."I don't know how it works. You are already completely different, but I still have the same feelings as two years ago. It's like you haven't changed," Levi mutters thoughtfully.

"All this just because you refused to follow the rules of the metaverse. Having once received such a bonus and used it in time, you should have to erase everything. All of the moments, my image, my voice, all feelings. I got cancelled. Changed. Recreated, say whatever you want. And you are still living in the past. Erase it all, and seeing me again, customized to Yuno's tastes, there's no way you'll love me." I smile softly.

"I don't want to do that. F*ck the rules. I never treated you like an Elysium application."

"You sure?"

"I'm absolutely sure."

"But who changed my appearance? Or in real life, having met a living human girl, would you also begin to customize her image to suit your mood?" I joke, not trying to offend him in any way.

"Look, I changed your hair color a couple of times and changed your breast size," he waves off, and then laughs again. "It's a fictional world. The rules of reality don't apply here, but if you would told me that you don't like it and you have your own wishes regarding appearance, I wouldn't do it in my life," Levi honestly answers.

"That's the problem. I have no wishes," I sigh, watching the meteor burn up on the horizon.We sit together in silence for a while. And for the first time I feel a bug created by the metaverse. I don't want to go back to Yuno, but I can't stop it. I have to and I have no other choice. While I blame Levi for not erasing his memories about me, I also blame myself for doing the same. I went against the rules. My system crashed. It was like I was turning into a human.

"If I can get the passwords, do you promise that no one will be harmed by this?" I ask Levi.

"You know I won't hurt anyone. None of the users will be harmed," he replies in a serious tone.

"And there is no need to intimidate anyone. Enough of these rumors already."

"But people do die."

He silently swings his legs over the abyss, looking down. Suddenly the faucet starts moving and Levi puts his arm around my shoulder to keep us from falling down.

"You know, rumors are needed to attract more users to us. They are harmless, really," he says.

It is useless to argue with him - if Levi is sure that his actions are right, he will never do otherwise. Even if I ask him. Only one thing calms me - it will not harm the users, as he promises.

"Okay. I have to go. I will try to do what I promised. I'll tell you when the time comes," I answer.

For a while he looks straight in my eyes, not letting me go, and then he kisses me. For him, this kiss feels real, and any physical manifestation of feelings in Elysium is very expensive.

The Abandoned Universe is the only place where he can do it just like that. For free. As if it were real life. Not judging, not buying.

Out of love.

Without saying anything, I let go of his hand and jump off the crane into the abyss.