Jean trudged into the living room and sat on the couch, her purse and keys hitting the floor beside her. The headache that had started with Mr. Dammland's little “request” hadn't gone away. In fact, between her mother, her guilt, and traffic, it seemed to have gotten worse. She pinched the bridge of her nose, as she said, “Eddi, please close all windows and set lights to red at 40%.” A small beep and a calm, soothing voice greeted her. “Understood. Migraine mode activated.” She groaned. She forgot she had that setting. Eddi continued. “Based on past uses, would you like to order the 'Crazy Carnivore' from The Pizza Wheel?” She mulled it over. The pizza sounded great. She grimaced. “What's my current standing with the budget?”
“With three days left in month, you are $187 below your anticipated budget. You had set that no additional gain be sent to savings.” She stood up and went to her bedroom, asking “And the current value in savings?”
“$12,578. Applying the same budget to next month's anticipated needs, that number should grow by $200.” She smiled. Her AI had been worth every penny.
“Order the pizza and apply any discounts. Go ahead and splurge for drone delivery.” She entered the bedroom and looked for her favorite comfy clothes. She really didn't feel like going anywhere.
“Request sent and acknowledged. Fulfillment estimated in sixteen minutes.”
“Thank you Eddi,” she replied. She gladly changed out of her work clothes and walked to her other bedroom. In this room was her pride and joy, a state-of-the-art Full Immersion Capsule. It looked like a cross between an easy chair and a robin's egg. It had a comfortable cushioned inner lining with a muted blue shell that closed over the occupant. To one side, a screen on an arm lit up. She paced to it and lifted it so she could read it better. It was a listing of all apps, software, and games she had added to her account. She had amassed quite a collection. Switching to the Game Library tab, she scrolled through, looking for her something to spark her interest. As she looked through her favorites, though, nothing seemed to fit her mood. She was still considering when Eddi piped up, letting her know her pizza was there. She went to the front door and opened it a crack, wincing at the harsh sunlight. She pulled the box in and shut the door quickly. “Eddi, send VR Marketplace info to living room TV,” she ordered, setting the pizza on her coffee table and heading to the kitchen. As she came back holding her paper plate and a napkin, the TV flared to life. Various thumbnails and their names populated the screen. She put a few slices of pizza on her plate and picked up the control slate for the TV. She flicked her hand lazily across the slate as she munched on her dinner. The thumbnails moved as she slid her finger across the control, stopping every now and then as one promising picture or title caught her attention but were then discarded. She was starting to give up hope she'd find anything she wanted to play when she accidentally flipped over the “Hot Deals!” category. She was about to flip back when she saw the first game. She selected it and the full description came up:
Survivor Siege
$29.99 $14.99
Humanity has been brought to the brink by a magical virus that cause most of the population to become zombies. As the horde sweeps out, a group of survivors that are immune to the virus cower in one of the remaining strongholds left on Earth. With the wall of flesh descending, the survivors look to you, one of the 1% for whom the virus imparted a wondrous gift. Can you hold back the tide?
Rating ****1/2
Jean set her plate down and scrolled through the pictures. It looked like a defense game, one you use to see on old mobile devices. The difference is the player was at the forefront of the defense and not just an overseer. Some of the pictures even showed the player using magic. She thought about it, tapping her finger against the side of the control slate. In the end, she decided to give it a shot. No other game had caught her eye. It looked relatively simple and it was on sale. She hit the buy button and the command to install it on her Full Immersion Capsule. She finished off the pizza she had on her plate and took the rest into the kitchen. Looking for anything she needed to deal with and finding nothing else, she walked into the room with her capsule. She checked her screen and saw the game had just finished installing. “Eddi,” she called. “Set to Caretaker Mode.”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Caretaker Mode active,” he replied. “Lights to minimum. All doors and windows locked. Please enter capsule so I can monitor vitals.” She sat down on the inner lining and set the contacts to her head, chest, and arms. She pulled the spindly helmet onto her head, making certain it fit snugly. She laid back and the capsule lid closed. She stared at it as a countdown timer started from 10. When it finished, her world went dark.
Light enveloped her. Jean opened her eyes. She was in her Virtual Home. She never decorated it so she was just standing in a completely blank space surrounded by a ring of thumbnails that represented the various software she owned. One had a blinking border indicating it had never been opened. Selecting it, the ring and blank room fell away. She found herself in what looked like Hell on Earth.. The sky was dark and red, like a blood moon was out at night. She was in a parking lot facing a horde of zombies that were frozen mid attack. Overhead, the words “Survivor's Siege” were displayed in cracked yellow letters. Beneath that was “Start”, “Load”, which was grayed out, and “Options”. For now, she touched “Start”. A growl from the zombies sounded as the scene fell away. Figures surrounded her. She looked at them and saw that they were her digital avatar but each one wore different clothes. She stepped to the one in front of her. That one was wearing what looked to be police riot gear and had a golden glow around it. It had a stop sign strapped to its left arm but in its right, a longsword straight from medieval times. The name and stats appeared over its head:
Street Paladin
A holy warrior that balances defense and attack, her magic is pulled from the divine to protect the weak. Heavy armor protects her but lowers her speed.
Attack: ****
Defense: ****
Speed: **
Weapon: Longsword and shield
Armor: Heavy
Select class?
[Y/N]
She selected no to peruse the other figures. The normal fantasy stuff was there. Wizard, fighter, ranger, even what looked like a monk class. She stopped on the last one. This one wore a tank top and jeans. It held twin pistols in its hands that seemed to emit a fiery aura. She looked at its description:
Gun Mage
A survivor who imbues her matched pistols with fire to devastate the undead. She is fast and light on her feet but can only wear light armor.
Attack: ****
Defense: **
Speed: ****
Weapon: Matched Pistols
Armor: Light
Select class?
[Y/N]
She thought for a moment. For most games, she preferred the sneaky rogue type, but this didn't match with that. This seemed more about dashing through the enemy formation rather than simply sneaking. She really didn't like the idea of bogging herself down with heavy armor. She selected “Y” and the figures disappeared. Light enveloped her again. When it dissipated, she looked at herself. She was wearing the same costume the figure had before. She pulled the pistols from side holsters and inspected them. They were old, dirty, and she could see rust on them.
Scavenged Pistols
These pistols were found in the evidence room of a police station. According to the files, they were confiscated thirty years prior as part of a homicide investigation. Since the virus, cases like this have quickly been swept aside.
Attack: *
Jean snorted and put them back. Looking around, she was still in the same nightmare landscape the title screen was in. Behind her, a boarded up football stadium loomed over her. She only had a small time to note the defense when a horn sounded. A voice shouted “WAVE INCOMING” from the stadium. As she turned back, the words “Wave 1” hung in the sky. She cracked her knuckles and drew the pistols again.
“Time to go to work,” she said to herself just as the first zombies shambled into view.