Chapter 1

—Pulse. Heartbeat. O2.

All of these things were monitored carefully for the patient.

The room was dark, but it was only four o'clock. The machines surrounding the room gave off white noise constantly, and there was no tension in the air. The patient—a woman in her early forties— slept silently in the middle of her bed.

Nurses in the hospital were constantly visiting this room, ensuring the patient was tended to and given the best of care. IVs are embedded into her arms and her hands, with one being on her left wrist. Her other wrist was where the patient's NIE was, which wasn't a viable spot for a needle.

A young teenager approached the doorway of the room. The room was dark, but it was only four o'clock.

He walked up to one of the nurses.

"I'm the special guest visiting today."

"Ok. We'll give you some time alone with her."

The nurse left the room and mentioned the other one present in the back to go as well. It was just the boy and the woman.

The boy had relatively long hair at the front of his face, with long spiky hair on the sides and back of his head. Long hair at the front of his face covered half of his ears and reached from the top middle of his forehead down to his nose in two different parts. His Hazel eyes were focused on the woman as she slept. He was wearing a bright red sports hoodie, black sweatpants, and white tennis shoes.

He slipped off the backpack he had on and started to shuffle through it.

'Please don't be ruined!'

Preparing for the worst, the boy found the flowers tucked away under some other junk in the bag. He pulled them out, and—to his dismay—they had been half-wilted. It was partially his fault since he ran most of the way to the hospital.

The boy took the flowers away from the bag and glances over to the flower vase at the woman's nightstand. He grabs the flowers from last week and tosses them into the trash, replacing them with the new flowers he brought. Although one bundle of flowers was bought today, there wasn't a massive difference in appearance between each batch.

The boy walks over to the wall next to the nightstand. There was a calendar with a red marker next to it. All of the "Sundays" for every past week are crossed out with a bright red "X." Today's date had a bright red circle over it because today was a special day.

The boy grabs the pen and crosses out the following Sunday in line, which was today.

After putting the cap back on the pen and setting it down, the boy sits on the edge of the woman's bed. He looks at her left hand.

—Lifeless. Immobile. Gentle. Just like that day two years ago.

Not trying to get emotional, the boy looks up to the ceiling, away from the woman, but...

The Ceiling wasn't there anymore.

The sky took its place instead, and the overcast above was the same light level as the room. Rain touched the boy's nose and hair, but its noise was what bothered him the most. All of this was unexplainable and felt too real.

Looking in front of him, the boy realizes that he isn't sitting on a bed anymore. He spots this in his peripherals. He was on a road, being pelted with water from all angles. Trees lined up the left and right sides of the roadway.

'My pants are still dry, and so is my hair. What is this?' He thinks.

Thinking of a way to leave whatever vision this was, lightning cracked behind him. Turning around in fright, the boy stared down the road in that direction. There was an orange light, surrounded by black clouds. Ash and other particles floated into the sky. the smell of it corroded his nasal cavity.

"-son!"

A familiar voice rang into his head, and he subconsciously covered his ears. His breathing quickly picked up the pace, and he could feel a single drop of sweat fall from his chin onto the floor. He closed his eyes in muscle memory. The voice got louder and louder, until:

"Jayson!"

The boy opened his eyes and his iris' shuddering back and forth. He was still sitting at the edge of the hospital bed, next to the woman. A nurse had put her hand on his left shoulder, calling his name. Jayson looked to the nurse and took his hands off of his ears.

He was embarrassed and broke eye contact, opting to look at the floor instead.

"I-I'm fine. I'll j-just be another minute." Jayson says.

"Are you sure? If you need anything, we'll be-" The nurse says but is interrupted by the boy.

"I-I said I'm *fine*. R-really."

The nurse nods in understanding, calmly and collectively leaving the room once more afterward.

Jayson knew he didn't have much time left with the patient, so he turned to her. He slowly grabbed her left hand with his right and grasped the limp palm. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't hot. He could feel her pulse like it was her soul's ensemble.

"Happy Birthday, mom!"

It was her 42nd birthday today.

It was also her 2nd birthday in a coma.

After getting all of his things and saying his final goodbyes, Jayson leaves his mother's room and walks down the brightly lit hallways. Doctors and nurses were walking in every direction, probably doing essential things.

"Display Navigations," Jayson says.

This sentence was a command for Jayson's NIE. It would display a path to a destination through his eyesight, giving him a procedurally generated arrow for where to go using AR. Right now, Jayson needed to meet up with his ride here.

Checking his text messages on his phone, he keeps following the arrow in his vision to get to the parking garage.

'Hopefully, I didn't take long!'

—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-

—On the other side of the hospital, in the parking garage, two people patiently wait for Jayson's return. They were inside of a dark blue SUV, with the radio silently playing in the background.

"Odds on her giving signs this time?" One voice said.

"Only time will tell, but it has been two years..." The other objected.

"You think Jayson's flowers were still good?"

"Hell no!! He was running like a track star to the car when we picked him up!!"

The two figures in the car laughed as they conversed with each other. One was a teenage girl with bright blonde hair in two ponytails at each side of her head. She was wearing a knitted scarf and a large overcoat. Her skin was pale, but not from being a hermit.

The other was a teenage boy, wearing a light blue polo and a thin sports jacket with a zipper. His NIE on his right wrist contrasted his dark skin. His denim jeans had holes at his knees, and he had a single loop earring on his left ear. His hair was in five dreads that lead to four dangling braids at the back of his head.

As the two kept talking, The door across the parking floor opposite the car swung open. Jayson walked out of the doorway and spotted the vehicle. He waved to his friends as he ran to the passenger side door. He opened it and jumped inside, putting his backpack on his feet when he sat down.

"So, any signs this time?" The girl asks.

"Not today, Isabelle, but maybe next week," Jayson replies.

Isabelle Davis—the teenage girl in the driver's seat—had referred to any signs that Jayson's mom could wake up soon. Usually, those signs would be twitching or reacting to someone's voice or any change in a heartbeat when someone is present. There weren't any signs in the past week.

"Hey, Maguire!! How were the flowers?!"

"Uh-uh, I'd rather not talk about the flowers, Josh..."

Josh Benton-the teenager in the backseat—laughed with Jayson. He likes to call Jayson by his last name to try and get a reaction. Jayson usually ignores it.

"Also, Josh, can you not call me 'Maguire'?"

But not today.

"Everyone ready to go?" Isabelle asks

"Yes!!"

"Yes."

Isabelle starts the car and pulls out of her parking spot. After some maneuvering and close calls with some bad drivers, the three friends make it out of the parking garage. The sky was cloudy, and it was dark, but it was only five o'clock.

"Hey, you think we could pick up some burgers or something on the way back to your place Isabelle?! I'm *starving*!!" Josh asks, acting like he has a stomach ache.

"Only if you're paying! Those burgers are so high in fat!" Isabelle snaps.

"What?! Ok, maybe this one time, but you got next!!" Josh replies.

"There won't be a 'next time!'"

"Cheapskate!!"

"Cheapskate!"

Hearing his friends argue amuses Jayson. It's a change of pace from the depressing feeling of the hospital. He thinks about what burger he wants from wherever they end up stopping to eat but realizes he isn't that hungry.

As Jayson stares out of his window, he contemplates what he saw earlier—The ceiling turning into the sky and the smell of ash—Jayson didn't want to believe it, but he had to accept it.

"Hey, guys..." Jayson mumbles.

As Jayson addresses his friends, they stop bickering and turn towards him.

"You know those weird dreams I've told you about? About the accident, my mom and I were in?"

Isabelle and Josh both immediately understand what he's mentioning. Jayson has described that dream to them several times over.

"...yeah. what about it?" Isabelle asks.

"I... I had that dream when I was awake."

It was probably PTSD of some kind, but it still scared Jayson to the core. It was the first time he was fully aware and awakened for this sort of thing.

"...then a nurth shook you ow of it?" Josh asked with a mouth full.

"Yea..." Jayson sighs, deciphering what Josh tried to say through his stuffed mouth.

"Chew before talking! you sound like a troll.." Isabelle teases Josh.

Even though he said he wasn't hungry, Isabelle ordered two of what she wanted, just in case he changed his mind. She's always thoughtful like this, in whatever situation she's in.

Unlike Josh, she usually thinks before heading into something head-on.

Jayson can see that the two of them seem unphased from being at the hospital, but that's probably because they haven't seen his mom throughout all of the visits they've been there. They usually sit inside of the car to give Jayson some personal time.

'If only they knew...' Jayson thinks.

Recalling his visit today, Jayson feels the car slowly decelerate to a stop. They were finally at Isabelle's house.

As everyone gets their things, Isabelle turns bright red and gasps.

"What's up?" Jayson asks, seeing her sudden change in attitude.

"See a ghost?!" Josh laughs.

Isabelle turns to them shaking her head.

"It's taco night!" She exclaims.

Jayson and Josh both look confused, then look at each other. They look at the fast-food bags, then back to Isabelle, then back at each other. They both laugh in sync with each other.

They had all spoiled their appetite for whatever concoction Mr. Davis had in mind for them.

They all leave the car and walk up to the front door. Isabelle opens it, and everyone walks in. Jayson smells Mexican seasoning and melted cheese immediately. He looks at Josh, who was already looking at him. They both cautiously step towards Isabelle.

"So you weren't kidding..." Josh says.

"We can just say we're not hungry, right?" Jayson asks. He wasn't hungry for real, but so were his friends now.

As the three friends talk amongst each other, Isabelle's dad walks by. He leans towards them all, making them all lean back. He had a large grin across his entire face.

"Are you guys hungry? We're having tacos tonight!"

Everyone tried to play it off and started to smile awkwardly back to Isabelle's dad. Once he started walking away from them and back to the kitchen, everyone ran to Isabelle's room. They weren't hungry and weren't about to have tacos on top of their burgers!

"If he knows I got you guy's food, I won't be able to drive the family car anymore!" Isabelle says.

"Your fault for ordering!! I just wanted a burger!!" Josh says, "Maguire didn't even eat what you made me order for him…"

"My fault for not being hungry?" Jayson adds.

Looking around Isabelle's room, Jayson notices some posters that hadn't been there yesterday. Isabelle catches him staring.

"You like 'em?" She asks.

Jayson looks at her as she asks him.

"Yeah. Where'd you get «Nexus» posters anyways?"

The posters on the wall were for the popular VRMMORPG «The Nexus», detailing the game's spawn area. It's pretty much like the first level in a video game. It introduces new players to the premise of the game. The starting city pictured on one of the posters is named "Spahn."

What Jayson wanted to know was where Isabelle got them.

"I know more than 80% of towns are 'naked,' so they wouldn't be all for selling products that are pro-NIE."

"Naked" is slang for someone who doesn't own an NIE. When someone has one, they usually get the implant on their wrist, making their birthday suit out of uniform.

Governments worldwide allow certain countries and states to either decline or allow the use of the NIE and its third-party software. The town that Jayson lives in isn't anti-NIE, but it's hard to find any merchandise or anything for it, including the third-party equipment.

"A friend of mine that goes to the school in the next town over brought them to me earlier today. Pretty neat, right?" Isabelle asks Jayson.

"Yeah, well, this one has a tear in it," Josh remarks.

Isabelle looks frustrated and gives Josh a death stare. The poster did have a tear in it, but Isabelle was just angry at everything Josh has been saying today.

Jayson spots a poster of a professional player in the Nexus. His name is "Helmet," and he is a Guildmaster in one of the most prominent guilds in the game in the North American servers.

~The Slayer's Pack~.

On the same poster, you could see the Slayer's Crest at the bottom right. The Guild's logo was made up of a diamond shape that had all of its connecting lines curved inwards. Another geometrical shape, similar to an arrow, was in the middle of the curved diamond.

The crest is a decal that players can get in the game, but only if they become a guild member. It was like proof of identity for an elite club.

"So..." Jayson starts.

Josh and Isabelle look over at him. Jayson starts to fidget his thumbs onto each other.

"You guys wanna go grind out levels today or watch a fight?" He asks.

"Hmm, well, I'm not in the mood for hunting right now, so watching some pros get their fight on would be fun!! Do you guys have enough Coins?!" Josh asks.

—Coins, the primary currency in the game. Players could spend it in the virtual world, or the real one, since COIN (CN) was a cryptocurrency made for the game.

"I'll have to move some coins from my wallet to my avatar. Give me a couple of minutes." Isabelle says as she walks out of the room.

Josh moves over to a cardboard box in the corner of the room. It was labeled "X-MAS," but one would find three circular devices leading to an adapter in the same box upon further investigation.

These devices hidden away in the box were ~LucidCasts~.

The LucidCast's size was about the same size if not more extensive than the NIE, which could fit on anyone's wrist. A light indicated if it was on/off or if someone was playing a game, which acted as a button to login as well. Most of the LucidCast was software that would come up onto your vision once plugging it into your NIE.

There were three LucidCasts for each person present: Jayson, Josh, and Isabelle. Isabelle's parents are 'Naked' and are anti-NIE, so smuggling these into the house isn't the biggest issue. It's keeping them hidden. Everyone who sees the X-MAS box just overlooks what's inside.

Jayson moves over to Josh and looks inside of the box as well. There was an outlet on the wall for an internet connection, which had an adapter plugged into it that allowed all three LucidCasts to have a stable internet connection. Having a solid internet connection was mandatory for the LucidCast to function correctly. If you didn't have a good connection, you would be booted from the online servers immediately.

Rigs—for wireless connection play—exist for those who don't have a wall plug-in. They aren't very effective, though.

"Pass me my LucidCast," Jayson says.

"Coming right up!!"

Josh tosses the Device behind his back to Jay. As Jayson catches it, Isabelle walks back into the room.

"Can you throw mine this far?" She says.

"Shut up!! I can throw this thing past your door frame!!" Josh proclaims.

Josh throws Isabelle's LucidCast to her, and the three friends plug each one into their NIEs. They all get into a comfortable position (usually lying down or sitting with their legs stretched out) and prepare to log in.

"Everyone ready?" Jayson asks.

"Yeah, but who will we watch fight?!" Josh adds.

"We'll figure it out, I'm sure of it," Isabelle says.

Everyone nods their head in agreement. Jayson looks down at his LucidCast and presses down on the green light. It turns blue and flashes in second intervals.

>Ten Seconds to log in!<

A notification appears in Jayson's vision, and he closes his eyes.

>Eight Seconds to log in!<

Jayson thinks back to his visit to the hospital today and how his mom is doing right now. He wonders if she's having a good dream, if she's having one at all.

>Six Seconds to log in!<

He's happy Josh and Isabelle weren't mad at him for being late today. Hopefully, he can pay Josh back for the fast-food he never ate. Too bad he wasn't hungry for tacos either.

>Five<

>Four<

>Three<

>Two<

>One<

>LOGIN SEQUENCE START<