Another day in the Underworld of Universe 7, Level 1.
The ground trembled beneath my feet as I stood on a jagged ridge of black volcanic rock. A faint green luminescence bled through the fractured sky above. I gripped my twin blades, poised and ready. Across from me, Anita charged forward with her violet Kali sticks, sweat streaming down her face.
"You're too slow," I warned.
"I'm trying!" she yelled back, swinging hard.
Our weapons collided in a cascade of sparks. She aimed low. I anticipated the strike and leaped clear.
"You still hesitate at your hips," I said, positioning my blade near her neck.
"And you still fight like someone who's never lost," she snapped, breathing hard.
I grinned. "Oh, I've lost. You'll hear about it someday."
After our sparring session, we collapsed onto a stone platform outside our portable bunker. I touched my PQC, and the dome unfolded, revealing plush cushions and a steaming kettle of synth-leaf tea. Packets of chilled strawberry water waited inside.
Anita dropped onto the cushions with a groan. "Okay. You win again."
"I always win," I replied, tossing her a drink.
She caught it and took a long sip. "You owe me a story."
"A story?"
"You know, one of your love stories. Like that Solana hair-pulling duel. Come on. One more."
I leaned against the glowing wall and gazed up at the strange green sky above.
"Well," I began, "there was this girl. Her name was Xia Sparks..."
* * *
Before the OBP Wars, before the multiverse, there was just the Biochain. A single universe. It fused blockchain and hashgraph technology, storing memories and souls in a digital realm. That was Level 2, our home. But on Earth, in Level 3, it was the year 2020. And my husband, Lord Elai Dela Cruz, whom I call My Heart, had been missing for fifteen Earth years.
He hadn't returned to our palace on Lyria in all that time. I understood that time moved differently on Level 3 Earth. Still, I missed him.
When I discovered he'd visited his sister, Bitty Moli, in Level 3, I followed. I went in disguise and brought him fruit, bananas, oranges, and strawberries from a nearby supermarket. My PQC confirmed his health was stable.
Mine was not. "COVID-positive," my scan read. I walked straight into the incineration pod. Blue fire consumed me. My body burned. My consciousness jumped back to Biochain, then transferred into a fresh 3D-printed organic body in Level 3. No cooldown. Over and over again. Each time, I risked True Death, permanent soul loss if I missed reentry. But I did it for him.
My Heart, Elai, was confined to a COVID facility for asymptomatic cases. The place was cold, sterile, and lonely.
"You again?" He smiled when I entered.
"You're losing muscle," I said, setting down the fruit. "And your sarcasm is getting weak."
"You're going to lose your soul if you keep this up."
"Then I'll die loving you, My Heart."
He had no comeback.
One day, I noticed a sick girl in the room next door. Pale, coughing, quiet. Xia Sparks. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Fourteen years old. She held XRP. Her parents had abandoned her during quarantine. Even her relatives refused to help.
The first time I gave her a banana, she blinked. The next day, an orange. A small wave. By the fifth day, we were chatting on a basic messaging app.
Xia: Your blue-haired friend is cute. What's your relationship with her?
Me: He's my husband.
Xia: Lol! You're weird. I'm sorry, please forgive me.
Me: No, it's okay. He's an idiot, by the way, but I love him.
We talked about crypto. She told me she wanted to give her XRP away because she didn't think she'd survive.
"It's not worth much," she said. "But it's all I have."
"It's not the coin that matters," I replied. "It's the heart behind it."
Then came the moment. I burst into My Heart's room.
"I want to mint her," I said.
Elai: "Who?"
Me: "Xia. She's dying. Let me take her to Biochain."
Elai: "That's forbidden. Let nature decide her fate, not you."
Me: "She was already abandoned by her own parents. She has a soul. She has a spirit. She deserves a chance."
Elai: "She might not survive the transfer."
Me: "Then I'll help her."
Elai: "Even if I agreed, how would you do it?"
Me: "The Astral Vacuum. Bitty Moli still has it hidden."
Elai: "That relic? One mistake and she's gone for good. She'll die here anyway."
He hesitated.
Me: "Please, My Heart. Trust me."
Elai: "Fine. I'll be discharged this afternoon. Tonight, scrub suits, window entry. You know the drill."
That night, we made our move. Wearing stolen nurse uniforms, we slipped past the drowsy guards. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead as we crept into Xia's room.
She blinked up at us. "Queen P?"
"Get ready to HODL onto your XRP forever," I said, lifting the Astral Vacuum.
She frowned. "Looks like a sci-fi needle."
"It kind of is. Ready?"
Instead of answering, she handed me a plush bunny hat with floppy, animated ears.
"This is for you. You brought me strawberries. Only a true queen would do that."
I smiled. "Then I'll wear it with pride."
I lifted her hair and gently pressed the device against the back of her neck. A soft hiss escaped as it activated. Her body went rigid, eyes slowly dilating, the transfer had begun.
Shouts erupted in the hallway. Guards rushed toward us. My Heart and I dove through the window onto a waiting speeder bike. The Astral Vacuum pulsed between us, glowing with captured light.
Back in Biochain, at a laboratory in the ZGU domain, the minting process began. Her soul entered a new body, radiant, whole, full of life. She emerged from the lab's body-printing facility and opened her eyes beneath a sky shimmering with cascading data and light.
"So this is heaven?" she whispered.
"No," I said. "It's the beginning."
Weeks passed. She adapted quickly. Changed her hair dye to black. Her logic skills and SCA-building talents made her perfect for ZGU, a Zenith Gear User. She even proposed the concept of the Infinity Grid.
"It'll be endless," she told the ZGU council. "A space where Edition Zero beings can grow, safe and creative. Like a sandbox game, but with real experiences."
She stood tall before them, pigtails and all. I watched her, heart swelling with pride.
"I never thought I'd be on the ZGU council," she said one day, throwing her arms around me.
"You're not," I joked. "You're a legend."
And she truly was.
* * *
Anita wiped her eyes. "You saved her by burning yourself alive? Over and over?"
"Yes."
"That's insane."
"That's love," I corrected. "For My Heart. And for anyone worth fighting for."
She stared at me for a long moment, then smiled. "No wonder you never lose, Queen P. You don't know how to quit."
I laughed and raised my synth-leaf tea. "Now you're learning."