“I don’t mean to interrupt but, I must ask you were shot in the head?” Tom asked. He was very surprised by this declaration. 

“Mm… It is the reason I am in a wheelchair now. It happened when I was trying to save the one I loved. I would do it again if needed.” Yuki replied. “Sometimes in life, you will find things very important to you. Those things will be the things you wish to protect the most. For me, I will do whatever is necessary to protect my loved ones even if it means giving up my life.” 

“Very commendable.” Tom meant it when he said this. He felt Yuki to even have such a mindset was an amazing thing. “Yuki, you have been playing the game for a while now.. Besides making money, how do you feel about the game?” 

“Mmm… I would say it is quite amazing. But if I were to pick one thing out from it all, it would be the A.I. While I think graphics are a must to help immerse a player into the world, the A.I. is what makes the world. The A.I. in this game is amazing, or should I say they are no longer A.I. but digital sentient beings?”  Yuki waved her hand, calling Mary over. Tom was a bit confused as Mary came and stood by Yuki’s side. “This here is one of my family members. Mary, this is Tom from Soul Fusion Online.”

“I heard about him.” Mary frowned. She did not like the people of Soul Fusion Online after what had happened. So she did not greet him.

Yuki nodded. She was glad Mary acted as normal and did not keep her attitude or her facial expressions in check. “Tom, what do you think of Mary?”

Tom blushed. He did not know what Yuki was getting at with bringing over one of her family members. “Ummm, She is beautiful. But she doesn’t seem to like me too much. “

“Would you call Mary an A.I.?” Yuki asked.  Yuki had everything covered up dealing with Mary during the last incident. This was to keep things from being known. It was also to make sure to get a real reaction out of Tom. 

Tom was even more confused now he did not understand what Yuki was getting at. “No. It would be hard to call a human an A.I.”

“What if I were to tell you what is in front of you is an A.I., one that is no different from you or me? One who worries, cares, and is no more human than yourself? Is this no different from the A.I. in your game? You see, when I log into Soul Fusion Online, I no longer think of the NPCs around me as just NPCs. I see them as real, like people living their daily lives in a different world that we just so happen to tap into. 

“I asked my question just now in order to make other players realize that A.I.s are no longer what they used to be. And before people start trying to break down my doorsteps. I have already taken up proper security, and Mary is part of my family and always will be. Her last name is Watts, and she will soon be the first adopted A.I. in history. His majesty Has also given my mother and me his blessing and the legal right to adopt Mary as a member of our family. ” After the incident at the restaurant, Yuki had had a long talk with both Tina and Trisha about it. And although one of them was reluctant, they had a meeting with Melgrave as well. This meeting was to allow an A.I. to become a member of their family, the first of its kind. Not as a  servant but as Yuki’s sister.

“Master…” Mary looked down at Yuki in disbelief. She did not even know how to react. 

“In the future, you should just call me sister,” Yuki said with a smile. Mary lowered her head. She was trying to understand the feelings that were suddenly welling up inside her.  Yuki also knew this would be a risk and that there would be many factions who would not like this, but she did not care. Mary had long been a member of her family. She just wished to make it official.

“You are just full of surprises. And I am happy to see such a thing. As you know, I always push to have people take a closer look at the A.I. in our game, and now I can officially say I am witnessing something I have been wanting to see for a long time.” Tom bowed his head deeply to Yuki. She was already making one of his dreams come true.

“Now then… To my last question, Serenity… The top guild of the game. How did you do it? From the way I see things, you will hold the crown as the strongest guild in the game forever as long as you do not disband it.” Tom asked. This was the juicy stuff a lot of gamers wanted to know about.

“Ummm… I started off as a mercenary then, from there, went on to build a guild. I found that having so many people working towards a single goal was a beautiful thing which made me want to work harder. And as you know, from there, we went from a guild to a clan and are even building the first ever modern magical megacity in the game.” Yuki replied. Her calm demeanor now grew a bit more excited as she began explaining the ins and outs of the city. 

“I have seen the progress myself on the city and am really amazed at the work you have put into it. We have also been notified that businesses can invest into the city as well and rent shops to sell items as well?” 

“Yes, they can. We charge rent and a five percent cut of the monthly revenue. As Serenity is the one creating the city we do not think it is too much to ask for. “