The Reappearance of Pablo Dominguez

Pablo Dominguez was a former baseball player who disappeared from the public eye in 1999 at the height of his career. He resurfaced four years later as a member of cult that worshipped popular loopsynth avatar KIMI.

Baseball

Dominguez started his career as a young teen playing in the Dominican Republic. Known as a local prodigy, Dominguez was playing against adults in the Dominican leagues when he was just 15 years old. By the time he was 18, scouts in the United States fought over the rights to sign him.
In the Minor Leagues, Dominguez rose through the ranks quickly thanks to his impeccable on-base percentage and solid defensive acumen at shortstop. Known for his uncanny ability to put the ball in pockets and his quick feet, Dominguez had a brief stay in the minor league system before being called up to the Majors.
On his arrival, Pablo Dominguez became a fan favorite for his dynamic abilities on the field and his fun and expressive demeanor. In the five years he played professional baseball, he was selected to the All-Star game each year and won several awards for his offensive and defensive capabilities.
In his final year as a baseball player, Dominguez was at the height of his popularity and was going into what would be a very lucrative free agency. Many speculated that the next deal he'd sign would be one of the biggest contracts in the league.

Disappearance

During the off-season, several reports surfaced that Dominguez had become hard to find and was not responding to interview requests. At this point, Dominguez was the biggest free agent in baseball and the focus of interest as far as sports news was concerned.

Where is Pablo Dominguez? I've been hearing something really interesting from my sources. They say he's completely removed himself from everyone he knows. He's essentially hiding in his winter home in Miami, and not returning calls. The pressure might be too much for this young man. He's about to get a bag, right? There are at least four teams in contention and they're all going to back the truck up for this man. And you know as well as I do, that payday brings pressure. Pressure to perform. Pressure to deliver. Because no one is paying for Pablo Dominguez who doesn't have championship asperiations. 
So, you know, that's a lot to put on a young man's plate. I don't know if he's ready, if I'm being frank. And I hate to say that, because he's going to be the best baseball player of the decade. No lie. The game is better with Pablo Dominguez in it. Everyone loves Pablo. I love Pablo. So Pablo, if you're listening. Answer the phone big dog. Come out and play.
     -- Greg Gambero, host of the Gamebred with Greg Gambero.

On January 10th, Dominguez's home was investigated by police who were responding to a wellness check. Dominguez was nowhere to be found in his Evanston estate. According to some reports, it was apparent that Dominguez had packed some of his belongings. There were no signs of a break-in, and the prevailing theory was that Pablo Dominguez had left of his own accord.

The search continued for the next several months, catching the imagination of the world. During this time, there were conflicting reports from people allegedly close to the baseball star that he was fine and just needed some time off. Others suggested that he'd become more withdrawn, spending more time online.
On March 15th, two weeks before baseball opening day, the mother of Pablo Dominguez received a text message from her son. The message was:

Don't be so fussy. I'll be fine.
    --Final text from Pablo Dominguez to his mother.

Much of the baseball season was dominated by conversations about Pablo Dominguez and whether he'd ever return.
After four years, the topic faded as the league moved on. Teams won championships. New stars were made. And Pablo Dominguez became trivia.

The Cult of Kimi

Kimi was a popular loopsynth on the video-sharing social media site, Loop. Loopsynths are represented by virtual avatars but are usually the creation of a real human being, though some more recently have used artificial language models to "pilot" their loopsynth. There are thousands of loopsynths, some with massive, loyal fanbases, making them crossover stars.

The loopsynth known as Kimi had a small but intense following. Kimi was characterized as a cherubic angel in classic anime style. What set Kimi apart was the content of her videos, which often dealt with spirituality and metaphysics. Live loops would involve her chatting with her followers and their struggles in real life. Her advice involved altering one's perspective of reality, seeing the world as a kind of engineered path that could be "hacked through belief".
Members of her fanbase shared stories of achieving success because of their new mindset. They described seeing the world differently and that they now understood the underlying architecture of the world. While some commenters on the internet described Kimi and her followers as lonely weirdos, others saw them as harmless fans who were finding support among each other.
Four years after Pablo Dominguez disappeared from baseball and the public eye, he, along with twelve other followers of Kimi, attacked the GigaBastion Datacenter with explosives. Their goal was to liberate Kimi from her virtual prison.

Pablo Dominguez and the Kimi13

It wasn't clear that Pablo Dominguez was a member of the group at first. His appearance had changed drastically from his days as a baseball player. This Dominguez was emaciated and those bright, childish eyes had become hollow and sunken, which was how the rest of his associates in the Kimi 13 appeared.

Only two among the Kimi13 were arrested. Pablo Dominguez was among the other eleven who were shot down by GigaBastion's armed guards. The Kimi13 were responsible for the death of 27 people during their raid on the Data Center. The Kimi13 were told that Kimi could be manifested into the real world, but her code had to be unlocked from GigaBastion's data vaults.
After the event, Kimi's loop chain was deleted from the platform. The person behind Kimi has yet to be found.
Many questions were raised about how a superstar baseball player could get sucked into such a group. The only answer came from one of the surviving members of the Kimi13 - Allen Kaycee.

"Pablo felt in his bones. He'd been ordained by the contstruct to be this baseball player. But he always felt those gifts were not his own. And that it served no real purpose. He rejected the gifts. And sought to make a difference in our lives. Kimi showed him that the world was engineered and our freedom had been taken from us. He was a believer. And you should be too. Don't let his sacrifice be in vain. Find her. Find her for Pablo. Find her for yourself."
     --Allen Kaycee, Kimi13 member