The Earth After Rebirth

"They're more clingy than Freckles." He said, having trouble holding all them at once.

Just then the door burst open, Alora came in running. Behind her were Loki and LJ. She couldn't jump into his arms, so she hugged his leg instead.

"I swear, they're taking everyone's attention away from me." She complained, almost in tears.

Kiro, despite their protest, put the babies in each of his friends' arms and picked up Alora. He'd forgotten about how clingy she was, and how devasting the change would have been for her.

She was used to being the youngest, now at just almost six years old, she couldn't be treated like a baby anymore. Especially when their parents had four babies on their hands and a company to run.

"Don't cry, I'm here, I'm here." Kiro said giving her a big kiss on the forehead.

"I'm not..." She said tears welling up.

He didn't know whether to laugh or empathise.

His eyes fell on Loki, who was giving him a knowing smile. He'd seen the news and new immediately that his brother was involved.

Kiro moved his head lower so he could be face to face with him. "Not a word out of you." He commanded.

He was, for the first time in his life, thoroughly proud of his brother. He'd grown much from the days he was still in school and he appreciated that a lot.

He understood immediately what he wanted, "Yes!"

"My baby boys." Freya said walking in. She took a long look at Kiro, "something is different about you." She looked Kiro straight into the eyes, then to Isla, then back to her son and smirked. Explore more at empire

Kiro comprehended the interrogative look right away, he did his best to try and not seem guilty. At that moment, he didn't mind if a harbinger would show itself so he could fight it instead.

Hiro's mum looked better than the last time they'd seen her. She gave the impression of being okay that Jin died. She still had children to take care of, moreso Isao.

"Mum, don't start." He said in the most innocent of voices.

Freya didn't pry any further, she'd already gotten confirmation without her son even uttering a single word.

"Anyway, about the video, just what are those potions for people to come here in great numbers?" Sekani asked, still quite unbelieving that a game caused such a craze.

"Oh, you wouldn't understand unless you played the game..." Saying this struck an idea in his head.

He could get his brother to play Asgard, he knew the rule he put in place but thought it was a stupid rule now that they were facing a universal threat.

'I'll have to come up with a good idea as to why I'm changing that rule.' He sighed, shaking his head.

They were backstage because of a slight delay. Multiple screens were being installed outside, so those outside could be a part of the launch as those inside. It was the only way, they couldn't chase away potential buyers.

When it was finally time to start, they walked into the hall, there were round tables and about four chairs in a single table.

"That's alright, I'll go sit with Mrs. Waynworth and Mrs. Misaki." Felix had a naughty smile as he said when they offered for him to take another chair and sit with them.

"Why's he smug all of a sudden..." Hiro mumbled to himself.

The little kids were left with Vada and Angelina in the previous room they were in. The venue wasn't all that great, but the decorations made up for that.

Multiple screens lit up at the same time outside. The noise quickly died down, they could finally see the inside of it.

While most were here because of the potion, a lot of them were there because Waynworth Enterprise was helpful within the lower district. And since it was the district with many people, they decided to go out and support the man fully.

Some knew him personally since he was once amongst them. They felt immense pride seeing one of their own so successful, they now too believed they could get out of the slums.

Everyone had hope — something so important in the dire times ahead.

"Good afternoon to everyone present today and to those who aren't but wanted to be," Sekani started nervously.

He originally wanted to delegate this to Kiro, but he shot him down so quick he had no rebuttal in him left.

But what surprised him most were the cheers that erupted after that greeting. It helped him collect himself and calm his nerves. It wasn't like he wasn't used to presentations, but this was his company, his baby, so naturally he'd be nervous.

"My gratitude is insurmountable to everyone whom visited our website and crashed it. We really appreciated it guys."

The crowds roared with laughter.

"Now you'll wonder, what's so different about this gaming gear? Why should I upgrade and change the head gear?

"Firstly, it's a pod, where your whole body is rested inside of it while you game. The head gear has its disadvantages and we've luckily managed to capitalise and eliminate them.

"The body will no longer be strained because the slight lag is fixed, you will now command your avatar in real time. That delay is slight but you'll see for yourself the difference it makes.

"You could also play endlessly for years if your body didn't need nourishment but rest assured, it has been created so that it kicks you out when your vitals are low."

He received a loud applause, he swiped in front of himself and a small screen appeared. He made it larger and got it to hover above his head.

On the screen was the pod he was talking about, along with many of the advantages he didn't mention.

"What better way to know whether you love a product than to test it? That's right you will be given that chance. The time limit will be ten minutes for each individual."

The hall erupted in chatter. Everyone wanted to try one, old and young.

"To those who ordered online, they will arrive in your homes right before you do." He lied as they were already delivered.

He didn't want this launch to lose its momentum because people decided they didn't want to wait 10 minutes to try out a pod.