Mr Love: Dream Date Chap 8 The Other Him

After scaling 8 levels to unlock chapter 7, I had mastered the discipline and patience to slowly grind my way through the 5 levels required to unlock each subsequent chapter. It has become almost of a routine for me already and I never surprisingly found it boring to do all those daily quests. It still baffles me about the behaviour science behind this. After hitting level 35, chapter 8 unlocks. I was curious to find out who I would learn more about this time round. Spoilers ahead!

The chapter starts the morning after Loveland City suffered a major cyberattack that caused an outage of internet. The key perpetrator was identified as Key, a legendary hacker of all time. Kiki gave the team a lowdown about Key, touting his exploits from 17 years ago when he tried to break into some government database. He had then gone underground and only resurfaced these recent years, though his activities were now centred on more vigilante type attacks. You mused about how much it would benefit the company if you could score an exclusive interview with Key.

As luck would have it, you suddenly received an email from unknown sender inviting a certain BigDaddy123 to the annual hackers symposium. Thinking that the email had been wrongly sent to you, you decided this was a big break and opportunity for you to learn more about the world of hackers and perhaps find out who Key is. I can understand the excitement of coming across something this big from a news angle but surely, you should have had the common sense to think that this was much too big of a coincidence?

You received a call from Victor checking in the company. You were slightly surprised that he would care enough to check in and he said he was only looking out for his investment. He also told you he would be back in a week’s time and whether you wanted anything as a reward for doing a good job on the investment report. You told him you only wanted to eat his pudding again because it reminded you so much of the one you ate when you were young. Victor agreed and you happily looked forward to it.

Anyway you spent the new three days trying to prepare for the infiltration by learning more about hacking but most of the knowledge whizzed past your head. The day finally arrived and you followed the directions to an Internet cafe. This didn’t look like the venue of an annual hacker symposium. Later you learnt the number one rule of hackers is to hide your identity. You were not suitably dressed for the occasion and had to quickly find a disguise at a nearby mall. You were admitted entry to another hall after you came back appropriately dressed and equipped with the password.

In the hall, you found that it was already filling up with other hackers who were deep in conversations with one another discussing latest techniques and victories. You tried to blend into the background but was soon challenged to give your response to a hacking question. Thankfully you were saved from giving yourself away by another hacker by the code name The Sysop. After you settled down in your seat waiting for the conference to begin, The Sysop approached you and sat down next to you. He was pretty amused by your code name BigDaddy123 as well as your ridiculous get-up. You realised that your ruse had been exposed but The Sysop assured you that he wouldn’t give you away. Beneath that hood and mask, you had a strange feeling of familiarity. Like it isn’t obvious enough…

Both of you continued to converse and you shared that you had attended the conference with the hope of learning more about Key and possibly unveiling the intentions behind his actions. Before you can speak further, the lights in the hall suddenly went out. When it came back on, you saw a big red timer counting down on the screen. You quickly realised that everyone was trapped in the room and only minutes away from a certain fiery death if the bomb was not stopped in time. Some of the hackers started to panic while others desperately started typing into their portable devices. The Sysop was no exception as he silently typed away next to you in full concentration.

The minutes ticked away and with each passing second, more and more hackers gave up in desperation. Just when it seemed like all hope is lost, The Sysop punched in a last string of code and stopped the bomb, mere seconds before it detonated. The doors unlocked and everyone hurried to leave the room. The Sysop grabbed your hand and pulled you along. However in the midst of the stampede, you were pushed aside and fell down. By the time The Sysop stopped to pull you up, the floor beneath both of you gave way and you fell into darkness.

You had a dream in the midst of all this chaos. You dreamt of walking around in a room, searching for something and finally coming across a wall panel. You pressed on it and a door slid aside to reveal a bright light. You awoke in pitch darkness. Instead of feeling the brunt of your fall, you found yourself wrapped up in the arms of The Sysop, who had selflessly protected you from any injury with his body. As the lights came on, The Sysop took off his mask and revealed himself to none other than Kiro!

You were surprised to learn that your ever cheerful and playful superstar idol that everyone loves had a dual identity as a master hacker. As the truth sank in, Kiro shared that he was actually Key. The original Key was his mentor from many years ago and he had only recently resurfaced to clear his name. He had attended the conference with the intent of finding out who had blamed Key for the cyberattacks. When he learnt about how were ‘invited’ to the conference, he conjectured that whoever was behind this had lured both of you to attend the conference to trap you. Well at least someone is thinking straight.

Kiro then set about trying to escape from the underground labyrinth that you had fallen into. Using some 3D projection, he figured that the basement was made up of 3 rooms which you needed to go through to reach the exit. He quickly set down to unlocking the door to the first room using some Inspector Gadget like tool. In the midst of all the tension, he didn’t fail to crack jokes to keep you calm. Just as he successfully unlocked the door, it set off another trap. The floor you were standing on suddenly gave way and you were saved from a certain death only by the quick reflexes of Kiro who struggled to pull you up to safety, injuring himself in the process.

With a mighty heave, he pulled you up and you fell onto his lap, both of you panting from exertion. After finally catching your breath, you realised what an awkward position you are in and hurriedly tried to recover. In that moment, Kiro embraced you tightly and swore to always protect you. This was actually pretty moving scene. Up to this point of knowing Kiro, I never had the impression that I could depend on him but rather looked at him as a great hang out buddy and playmate only. Ooh, he was beginning to become a serious contender for my heart.

In the second room that you found yourself in, there was no door. Both of you felt along the walls and suddenly you came upon a button on the wall exactly as you have dreamt it. You asked Kiro if he trusted you and he said yes. With the confidence boost, you decided to trust your premonition and pressed the button. The wall instantly slid aside revealing a series of laser beams. Kiro pulled you behind him in an act of protecting you. Awwww…

Later he figured that the photon beams actually hid a secret code using some foreign technology that his mentor had told him about before. He worked hard on his mini laptop and finally deciphered the code, revealing a secret compartment and a microchip in it. You were so impressed with him and promised that you would do your best to clear his name once both of you got out of here.

You continued onto the third room through a dark passageway. The moment you entered the third room, the trap sprung. The walls started to close in, and Kiro had mere minutes to crack the code that would prevent you from becoming tomato puree. Kiro struggled to solve the puzzle. As you pieced the events leading up to this moment, you asked Kiro to think back on something that only Key would know since the attacks were intended to lure him out. This triggered a distant memory and Kiro finally managed to break the code and stop the walls from closing in. I like it that in this plot, both of you worked as equals to solve problems together.

As the last of the traps was disarmed, the walls surrounding which turned out to be giant screen started flashing words on them. The Black Swan Collective, a group of Evolvers from the future had returned to accelerate the evolution of men and that their plans would come to fruition as the Queen awakens. This was followed by images of a dark room with an operating theatre and people dressed in white. These images seemed to unlock hidden memories in your head and you started to feel numb. Kiro hurriedly shielded you from the images. Kiro realised that you were Black Swan’s intended target but he couldn’t fathom what they hoped to achieve triggering these memories. You had already lost all memories by the time he saw you. Kiro swore to protect you from your past, continuing a promise to protect you 17 years ago lying next to you on the operating table.

You awoke in a hospital bed. You must have fell unconscious after all the exertion and triggering of old memories. Kiro then admitted you to hospital for observation. While you were resting, he slipped away to attend to other business, not before leaving you his mask, a bottle of sweets and a promise to give you that exclusive interview. As you were musing over your adventure today, the nurse informed you that you have a visitor. Lucien, whom you have not seen for weeks, appeared by your side. You decided it was time for him to come clean with you.

This was a pretty good chapter. It finally began to piece the picture about your past. I was right that you had been experimented on when you were young, probably to extract your Evol gene or something. Kiro was there with you then as he is with you now, promising to protect you always. I can imagine that he must have carried that duty with him all these years even though you are both grown up now. As a hacker, he must known who you were and ‘stood in darkness as he defended the light’. The new nugget of information was what Black Swan wanted with you. I have a really strong feeling that you are the queen mentioned and would thus somehow be instrumental in their plan to revolutionise mankind.

Kiro’s character development took a surprising twist for me. As if being an idol wasn’t cool enough, it turned out that he was also a whizz hacker who protected the city in his own ways. Almost like a Batman, a superhero he adored. What came through for me was his selfless acts of protecting me. It didn’t feel overbearing like Gavin, giving just the right dose of protection, support and trust. I think any relationship is like a long term partnership, where both parties give and take equally.