Delta

Delta.

This one word has been on Leo's mind for the past year. Last year, news of the upcoming new gaming platform, a virtual reality pod, went viral.

Nobody Leo knew had ever heard of the company behind the product before. They called themselves Delta, the same name they gave their virtual world.

The latter was what most people, including Leo, were more concerned about. Delta, along with the games original announcement, announced that the in-game currency could be exchanged in the real world as a crytocurrency, namely Delta Coins.

While skeptical, Leo was desperate. He had made an absolute mess of his life after graduating high school, became addicted to street drugs, and even ended up homeless. He has since cleaned up, lives with his mother, and has no life.

When Leo saw the news about Delta, the only thing that he could think was, 'There's no way...

will I finally have my chance to shine?"

Leo immediately began grinding to save up for the expensive pod. $4,000 took him an entire year to save for normally, but he managed to do it in half the time. However; after giving it some thought, he continued to grind since all he could do was wait. Leo was 25, but he had a half-brother who would be turning 18 this year and has always shown moderate interest in gaming. Thus, the second pod was delivered just 3 days before the launch.

Leo called his brother to tell him the good news, but no answer. 'Heh... almost forgot. Nico's more of a texter.'

He started typing, "Happy early birthday from the best big bro!" and attached a picture of his new pod. "If you wanna play, you'll have to wait until you're 18 in a couple of months, but it's all yours. Love you."

Nico still had a little over 2 months to go before he was old enough to enter Delta. Knowing him, he's going to use the time to attempt to modify his pod.

'I pray he doesn't break it.' Leo thought, shaking his head.

With that done, he went downstairs to his gaming room and checked the pod's calibrations. To do this, he turned it on a lay inside the casket-like pod as it closed over him. Inside, he pulled the synaptic hood tight over his head and issued the command "Run Diagnostics."

At this, the machine started a soft humming sound as Leo's consciousness faded to black.