Private Programmed Healing

It had been quite a while, since Symlink entered Neon's life. Although day after day the cyber kitsune refuse to let his son leave his sight, being ever watchful and protective... Sometimes there's no protecting your child from some sort of illness. But what afflicts a program? He knew the answer...

One day, shortly after school, Neon noticed his son was getting tired with minimal effort, breathing heavily and seemed to have a fever. Calling off school for himself and Symlink, Neon decided to care for his son himself against all odds, it didn't take long for him to realize it was a computer virus. And for a whole day, he used his digital silk to analyze and treat Symlink.

A whole day passed, he hadn't shut his eye until he could neutralize the virus, and once he set his son's code to recompile, he passed away from exhaustion, the access to his room open, and Symlink slowly awakening from his slumber. "Dad? You okay?", he moved a little on the bed, seeing Neon slouched on his seat and upon the desk, snoring, the projected screen showing a progress bar that was far from completion.

@Pallas

"Ah, Aunt Izumi!", Symlink sounded surprised in seeing her walk into the room. In truth, he lost track of time, having been asleep through the treatment up until now. When having a glitched dream, it felt like days, maybe weeks, went by... When in truth it had been what? A couple days?

He wanted to seat up, but was still tired. He wasn't smiling, nor sad, just plainly confused. "Please, come in. How long did I sleep? Is dad okay?", he didn't move his head much, however he set his eyes on her, giving faint coughs. At least Symlink gained some color, his ears and tail had more glow.

"I feel a little better...", Symlink took a moment to listen and think about what happened. A whole day out cold? At least he knows his slumber hasn't been as long as he thought... "Dad... He was scared. I was scared. But I will be alright, right?", while he was uncertain, the fact Neon wasn't so tense and the fact that something was compiling on the computer were certain hints that things would surely get better.

The kid looked at the tray for a moment, making an effort to turn his head its way. "Yes... I want some tea, Aunt...", little by little he sat himself up, noticing soon that he was still connected to Neon's virtual computer as if it were a digital IV drip. "I had a dream of another world, like that Dragon Quest game. I was one of the heroes, we defeated a monster king...", sure he must have dreamed of games, given Neon played some with him too.

Symlink gave a slow nod at her words. Given how hard Neon pushed himself, and now how peacefully he could rest, it was likely he didn't stop until his son was saved in any way. Accepting the tea, he let a low "Thank you." come out, as if saving effort to continue to talk and remain conscious. That and to breathe slowly at his cup to cool it down before a sip followed by a happy sigh.

"Dragon Quest is a Japanese Role Playing Game that is very famous, set in a fantasy-medieval world. It is a pretty game in many ways, and doesn't take itself too seriously.", he explained, his usual spark of energy showing itself with those words.

But... How did he feel again? "I feel weak, but I can breath now. I don't know what happened, but dad said something about a virus, right?", one of the few things he remembered before he passed out was hearing that word: "virus".

"I want people to see my world too... The world I want to make.", Symlink still dreamt of having his own world, and show people to it. But the closest that he had been to that was through ideas he told his father. A side glance at the screen revealed the compiling was nearing 45%, and an estimated time for completion has finally revealed itself to be in a couple hours or so from now.

"Computer virus... It was scary. Dad will tell me to be more careful, right? Because it was my fault that it got me...", the boy sure felt guilty for having fallen ill like that, scaring Rin, Izumi, Neon... And probably their friends too. Specially since only Neon could treat him.