Chapter 105 - Raising Soldiers (1/2)

Gray looked at the sleeping Yurika and then back at the picture of the little girl, Erika. Gray grabbed Yurika's twin tails and held them down at the base to make them look like they were tied in the same spot.

"Picture Yurika with blonde hair now!" Gray said while holding Yurika's head up by her twin tails.

The little girl, Erika, did indeed look like a child version of Yurika everyone thought. Everyone was also amazed Yurika was still sleeping while Gray was holding her hair like that.

Yurika finally did wake up when Gray turned Yurika to show the rest. "WHAT THE @$%&*! Stop pulling my hair like that butt munch!" Yurika yelled angrily then punched Gray in the chest.

Gray winced in pain, released her hair, and then said, "Oww... sorry, but I think we found a very big clue. Is this you as a child?"

Gray pointed at the little girl he believes is called Erika in the picture and hands Yurika the tablet with the picture.

Yurika stares intently at it, furrows her brows, then her eyes widen, everyone leans in expectantly.

"No idea" Yurika says plainly while shrugging causing everyone to almost fall out of their seats.

"Don't tease us like that!" Gray yelled.

"Hah hah, sorry, I couldn't help myself." Yurika winked and stuck her tongue out at Gray.

"Honestly, I don't remember much as a child, I do remember my mother saying that she misses my cute little pig tails, but I've long since altered my hair to be this color. My parents said I refused to do anything until my hair could match my favorite anime character."

"Spoiled... follicle implants like that aren't cheap!" Stacia said.

"Yes, but if she got it in the virtual world, it wouldn't cost a thing." Caleb added.

"What are you talking about? They treat the virtual world like the real world, it would've cost me half a years salary to get them!" Stacia said. "I mean... not that I considered it or anything..."

"ANYWAYS" Gray interrupted "even if this is Yurika, why the name change?"

"It might be a sibling of Yurika or close relative." Caleb added.

"I don't have any sisters and my close female relatives all have dark hair." Yurika said.

"Do you think we can ask your parents about it?" Gray asked Yurika.

"Hmm... we can try, but I don't know if we'll get anything out of it, or were you just trying to meet my parents?" Yurika said teasingly while prodding Gray with her elbow.

"If your parents are like you, that would be terrifying." Gray said with a grin.

"I know." Yurika said plainly while grinning right back at him, then they both stared and smiled at each other, creating another pink atmosphere where it was just the two of them.

Stacia slapped her palm hard on the table and yelled "Enough of that! How do you even do that... I'm still confused though, why does it matter if Erika is Yurika?"

"It would explain Stephen's reason for picking her, his obsession stuck with him." Caleb said analytically.

"Right, but where does Edward Teach, Terra Research and Development, and Alterra Corporation fit in that? I feel like we're missing something. Oh right, what happened to Terra Research and Development?" Gray asked Caleb

"That's what is confusing... it's like they just disappeared a few years after setting up Alterra Corporation in the virtual world. Edward Teach resigned and became CEO of Alterra Corporation, Dr. Sara Watts had her consciousness transfer to a machine forcing her to remain as an AI forever during an experiment, and most of the staff at Terra Research and Development either disappeared or transferred to Alterra Corporation."

Caleb pulled up another picture of a group of people cutting a giant red ribbon around a new building, the revolving doors and glass walls made it apparent that it was the Alterra Corporation's headquarters in the virtual world.

"This is Alterra Corporation's ribbon cutting ceremony from when they finished building their headquarters. This is Edward Teach then..." Caleb pointed to a man that appeared to be in his late 50s and looked exactly like the Edward Teach from the video earlier.

"This is Drake Walters... and I believe that is his wife next to him." Caleb pointed to a man opposite of Edward Teach in his mid 20s or early 30s that looked exactly like a younger version of Drake Walters everyone was familiar with. The woman next to him was beautiful with short brown hair and a piercing gaze that made her seem untouchable.

"I've... seen her before..." Gray said slowly.

"Really? When and where?" Caleb said.

"I don't remember, but I know I've seen her... send me a copy of that picture and I'll try and remember."

"Well, we're getting closer... my AIs in the virtual world are still working on it, well, the male ones are at least. I was enjoying playing games with the female AIs so they didn't work on this at all." Caleb said with a cheerful look on his face.

"What games did you play with... you know what, I don't want to know" Gray said while shaking his head at Caleb.