Valkyrie Smash

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'Where am I?'

When he opened his eyes, the boy found himself lying in absolute darkness. He turned left and right but saw nothing. As fear began to get a hold on him, his gaze fell down. His own hands came to into sight followed with the rest of his body. For some reason that was enough to give him a sense of relief, but it was followed by confusion a second later.

'This is… strange?'

Rollo couldn't understand how it was possible for him to see in the darkness. What's stranger was that he could only see his own body. It was as if there was a light source somewhere, but instead of illuminating his surroundings, it only effected him.

'Custom lighting…' he thought to himself. 'Is this VR?'

That was the first explanation that came to his mind. Dreams were chaotic by nature so things couldn't possibly stay consistent for too long, and if he was lucid dreaming, a single thought would've dispelled the darkness. The strangeness of his body being illuminated while everything else was dark gave him the impression of being in a virtual space with no assets, as if the area had yet to load.

'But… since when…'

Getting up, the boy looked through his surroundings once more. He didn't remember putting on any headsets, not that headsets with such capabilities existed in the first place. He tried searching his memories for the last thing he did before waking up in the dark space. Just then he noticed something in the corner of his eye.

A white dot appeared on the pitch black background. It blinked a couple of times before moving, tracing behind it a long line. The line took a sharp turn, and a second later it did it again. Before long it went back to the start and connected with its other end, creating a long rectangle.

An instant later, the rectangle turned into a wooden door.

'Hm?'

The door floated in the darkness. It had a frame but no wall to hold it. Such a strange door. Whatever the case, doors were meant to be opened, and so the boy walked straight toward it. He didn't even stop to think of the possibility that there might be no floor under his foot the next time he tried to take a step.

Thankfully he made it to the door without a problem. Without giving it much thought, Rollo grabbed the knob and gave it a twist. As his heart danced with anticipation, he pushed the door open and walked inside.

The surroundings changed without him noticing. The darkness was gone, replaced by a room full of vibrant colors. He could see a small bed in the corner and toys littering the carpeted floor, building blocks, massive legos, action figures, and stuffed toys. There were some picture books as well. It was clearly a child's room, one Rollo recognized very well.

'This is my room…'

It was his room, indeed. His room from back when he was three years old. Seeing it for the first time in years should've been heartwarming, but instead, it felt strange. Rollo believed that he had a good memory, but even then he didn't think it was possible for him to remember things from so long ago with such vividness. He could even read the words written on the picture books lying on the floor.

'This is getting freaky…'

Something appeared at that moment as if to show him that the strangeness was only starting. It was a kid. A toddler no older than three. He wore a simple red shirt and blue overalls and was staring down at the screen of a tablet.

'That's… me?'

His thoughts were interrupted by the door, which closed on its own at some point, open again. Rollo turned around and felt his chest tighten. A woman made her way inside the room, a stern look on her face. She seemed to be in her late twenties, with a small frame and dark hair. Rollo recognized her as well, and the longer he looked at her the more painful the feeling in his chest got.

{Again with this thing.} The woman spoke in Russian. {I knew getting you one was a mistake.}

She reached down and grabbed the boy, pulling him away from the device. The kid seemed to be on the verge of throwing a temper tantrum but went silent in an instant.

{Now now. It's time to eat your lunch.}

Rollo watched with a smile as she dragged the kid away. He remembered his mother being strict. Whenever it was time to do something, she would drag him away without asking questions. He learned very early on that defying her would be a very big mistake and so he did everything she said without uttering a single complaint.

'I never was a fan of spanking…'

Rollo followed after the woman, expecting to arrive at the kitchen. As soon as he crossed the door frame, however, the scene changed entirely. He found himself in another room, one clearly different from the last. The lights were off see he was barely able to see around. It wasn't as dark as the emptiness from before, however, and there was a source of light close by.

It was the screen of a laptop, which was on the floor for some reason. Rollo approached it with careful steps, but he was still startled when a kid suddenly appeared out of nowhere. That kid was also him, of course.

Unlike the scene from before, Rollo didn't have trouble remembering this one. That's because this was when he first got into contact with the programming world. A thick book lay on the floor beside the laptop, and his child self sluggishly tapped on the keyboard. It would be very long before he could get to his current typing speed.

'If I remember right, it took me two months to grasp Python…'

His reason for learning the language was so he could remove the restrictions his parents placed on his tablet, which included forceful shutdowns after certain amounts of time and no internet access.

'What the hell does a five-year-old need the internet for?'

He might've been smart for his age back then, but he was still a child. His simple-mindedness led him down a rabbit hole he never climbed out of, and to this day he still wishes he never fell into it.