Sipping some water, Brandon looked over the doctor's report that the nurse in front of him had given him.
“So his brain is active, but he just won't wake up…. How is this any different from before? This is essentially the same report I was given three months ago.”
Looking to him, the nurse replied, “Yes, but with the new VR-D technology, he's now in a situation where we can get a specialized capsule so he can converse with us even if his real body isn't awake.”
Brandon looked at her questioningly and his eyes grew cold, “He’s been in a coma for months and you haven't done that already because what?”
At this point the nurse grimaced slightly, “Well for one, this technology is still new and it was only recently brought to our attention and two, we needed consent from someone who can make his decisions for him. Usually it’s from family but as I’m sure you know, that wasn’t really an option which is why you’re here. You are the only one that he had listed as an emergency contact.”
Brandon frowned at her words, what the hell was she trying to get at here?
Reigning in his anger, Brandon tapped his fingers on the side of his leg. “Well how much would this cost?”
At his question, Brandon could have sworn he saw a light begin to glow in the nurse's eyes and it only served to annoy him even further.
“Well, for the specialized device we'd have to commision Undertech which, as I'm sure you know created the tech in question.”
Brandon nodded and thought back to what he knew about Undertech. They were, for all intents and purposes, a company that was heavily based around games. Virtual reality games to be exact, and in fact they were the spearhead when it came to new discoveries. But what did this have to do with the cost? Brandon knew the tech was extremely new, in fact it hadn't been released yet. It was still in the marketing phase after all.
From what he knew, a regular model would cost upwards of a couple thousand dollars and for a specialised version? He dreaded to think of the cost. That said though, he was prepared to go the extra mile. Luckily, the nurse soothed his fears of meeting the price.
“It would be entirely free, paid for by Undertech themselves given that everything goes well.”
Brandon sighed in relief, but there was a modicum of hesitation in his mind. Given that everything went well?
“What's the catch?”
Without missing a beat, the nurse explained heartily.
“Well, when they bring him into the virtual world there are some things they have to ask him without any of us being able to know the contents of their meeting….”
“And if negotiations don't go well then he doesn't get help.” Brandon finished her explanation for her.
She quickly waved her hands in the air, “No! He'll be able to keep the capsule but there is a price…. Of fifteen thousand dollars.”
Brandon sucked in his breath at the cost but ultimately didn't hesitate.
“Let's do it."
----------------------------------------
Brandon tapped his foot steadily as he looked at the door to the hospital room worriedly. He looked away momentarily but as he heard the click of the doorknob, he immediately stood up and whipped his head towards the door. A single woman dressed in a suit left the room and he questioned her frantically.
“How did it go? Is he okay?”
The woman laughed and the sound eased his worries slightly.
“Yes, his vitals are fine, his body is responding just fine, and he is awake. Well not ‘awake awake’, but I'm sure you know what I mean. Would you like to speak with him?”
Hearing this, Brandon nodded hurriedly and she gestured him inside. He quickly rushed inside, the woman following behind him.
Brandon looked around the room as soon as he got in expecting to see some kind of monitor or something but to his dismay he didn't, all he saw was the capsule and Jackson's unconscious form within it. He looked over to the woman questioningly and she quickly explained.
“We're still working out the kinks of virtual to real world communication, both visual and auditory so we have to communicate a bit differently.”
Brandon motioned her to hurry up and she opened that laptop that was at her side and, using a cord, plugged into a port on the capsule's side. In his worried state, Brandon never actually noticed she was carrying it.
She clicked a couple things and then sat in chair before motioning Brandon to come sit next to her. He looked at the monitor and saw an open sunny field with Jackson lying down enjoying the virtual sun. Brandon could hear the sounds of the wind coming from the laptop so he figured the audio must work but just in case, he asked the expert.
“Can he hear us?” He probed, relieved at seeing his friend at least there.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“No, allow me to explain. This is what we call the incubator. It is something specific to his pod which acts kind of like his own little world. The only way to access it is through this port here and we've made sure that the only thing you can do from this port is communicate. What you type in here, shows up as big letters in the sky in there.”
“So we can hear him, but he can't hear us.”
The woman nodded, “exactly.”
She handed the laptop over to Brandon and motioned for him to type, and so he did.
‘Jackson?’
“What? Any other rules you want me to follow oh great overlords?”
For the first time in days, Brandon cracked a smile and even laughed hearing Jackson's sarcastic voice. Also hearing Jackson's words, the woman spoke with a hint of amusement.
“He's got quite the character.”
Brandon nodded, “He's always been the ‘tougher than thou’ type of guy to strangers. Sorry if he comes off as a dick.”
The woman chuckled and reassured Brandon, “Don't worry, my brother is the same way.” After this, she stood up and left the room, opting to leave the two alone to their privacy.
‘About damned time you admitted I was superior’
Jackson looked confused and a little angry for a second before it all was melted away by a smile.
“Brandon? That you hoe?”
‘The one and only.’
Jackson laughed loudly but then he abruptly stopped. “Tell me something only the real Brandon would know then.”
Brandon paused for a moment before he grinned and started typing.
‘In highschool, rumor spread that you were sweet on Kamerin.’
“Bah, a lot of people from high school thought that. It doesn't prove shit.”
‘But nobody else besides me and you knows that you were actually going for her mom-’
At this point Jackson, was only half convinced. “Brandon wasn't the only one who knew that so I call bs.”
‘but you didn't know that Kamerin's single mom had a married twin sister so you got your ass beat by her husband after you mistook the two and tried asking her out’
A couple seconds passed and Jackson grinned, “Good to hear from you buddy!”
Brandon grinned in turn and typed in his response, ‘Same here Jacky’.
“So what you been up to while I've been… out? You nail the waitress yet?”
‘No but I think I might be going steady soon.’
Jackson was dumbfounded for a little bit but he quickly regained his composure.
“Someone's going to tame the animal?! Fill me in on who. Do I know her?”
‘Sorta. You know that person that you were talking to before me?’
Realisation dawned upon Jackson immediately. “Well shit, I assumed I was talking to a guy. She must be quite a looker for her to already convince you of being in a relationship.”
Brandon thought about the woman for a second. She was tall, only a couple inches shorter than he. Long brown hair, green eyes, the cutest nose, and well rounded assets. In his haste, he didn't notice at first but after he saw Jackson chilling in a field, he started to notice. Speaking of noticing things, Brandon just realised that he didn't even know her name. Within the next second of that thought, he was immediately broken out of it at the sound of Jackson's voice.
“Did you ask her out already?”
‘No. I’ll do it when I’m finished here.’
“Alright alright, that’s cool. You better score then brotha.”
Wanting to get the topic away from him, Brandon decisively switched it.
‘Well, how’s it feel to just wake up and know that months have passed? I’d usually try to figure this out myself, but it’s a little dangerous.’
At this point, Brandon could see the tension build up in Jackson. He saw that his eyes glazed over for a second before he shook his head.
‘You okay buddy?’
Feeling conflicted, Jackson looked up to the blue sky and sighed. “I don’t want to lie to you Brandon but I was conscious for I don’t know how long.”
Brandon furrowed his brow in confusion before typing in another message, ‘What do you mean?’
“Well I wasn’t awake but I was just alone in my own mind. I actually couldn’t count the time and it was just me there. I was… alone. Couldn’t move, hear, feel. All I could do was think and to be honest, it nearly drove me insane.”
Brandon’s fingers froze over the keyboard.
“It wasn’t too bad at first but after a while, I couldn’t tell if I had been up for a couple hours or years. But now, I know this is virtual but damn it feels real. I can hear the wind, feel it blow through my hair even.” Jackson chuckled a little. “I can smell the grass and trees, hell when I was… transported here I even ate one of the plants just so I could taste something.”
A dark look came over Brandon’s face and he felt like shit. Knowing this, things were a little different. Sure he had waited months drowning in worry, but Jackson had spent what felt like years to him and he couldn’t even…. couldn’t even be human.
‘I’m sorry’
Brandon could see that tears began to well up in his friends eyes, he could see that Jackson had fought them back, and he could see that half forced-half genuine smile on his face.
“Don’t worry about it. I know this might make you feel like shit, but there was literally nothing you could’ve done. Neither of us are rolling in bank and it's not like you’re a world renowned brain surgeon. Listen, if it makes you feel better, I’m probably going to be having a hell of a lot more fun than you are pretty soon.”
Brandon sighed and if anyone looked at him now, it would seem like he was a defeated man. Like years of fatigue had built up and this was the moment it all came crashing down. However, he stood the storm and weathered on through.
‘What do you mean?’
Jackson too, had recovered and went back to his normal state. Shit, what was a little bit of insanity? As long as he had his bro at his side he was willing to go to war with the world.
“Well, judging from your question I’m assuming they or she didn’t tell you anything so I’ll just give you the short answer. They hired me. In my current state, I am a prime candidate to sort of uh… test their game after it comes out? Basically I’ll just be gaming nearly all the time. The details are a little iffy but essentially I’ll be a player like everyone else but also not a player at the same time. It’s weird.”
Brandon shared his sentiments and he too thought it would be weird.
‘Well, at least I can talk to you here yeah? Guess I need to work overtime so I can start saving up on gas money so I can drive here everyday.’
At this, Jackson laughed and grinned widely. “About that, I may have the solution to your predicament here bud.”
Intrigued, Brandon told Jackson to explain.
“Well first of all, they’re moving me… or my body to their own top secret base so they can monitor me at all times.”
Brandon frowned, how would that make the situation better? That just meant they wouldn’t be able to meet.
“I added a small part in the contract though. Since it’s not like I need money, what I had them do is to transfer it over to you.”
Brandon’s frown deepened.
‘You should save it for when you wake up.’
“Of course bud, but this job pays well. Like REALLY well. So just be my sugar daddy when I do wake up. Second, I had it so when it comes out, you will get a free capsule and a free copy of the game that I’ll be in.”
At this, Brandon’s eyebrows propped up.
‘So we can meet in-game whenever.’
“Pretty much. Also you should quit your job.”
‘Why? The more money we have when you wake up, the better.’
Jackson looked a little sheepish, “Well I may have gotten some insider information and I may or may not be under a code of silence and I’m not supposed to tell you that this game has some opportunities for you to make some really nice cash with the trading system which is why i won’t tell you all of that. Instead, I’ll just tell you to trust me, so do you trust me? Also you’ll be getting my first paycheck in a week and just that much is enough to cover your rent and groceries.”
Brandon looked a little pensive as he thought about it. On one hand, striking it rich was something of a foreign notion to him and he had a feeling that it would capsize. On the other hand, he did trust Jackson…
“Come on bro.”
Sighing, Brandon typed in his response.
‘Alright, I’ll trust you.’
Jackson smiled and spoke again.
“Great. And now that that’s out of the way, what do you want to talk about?”
Hours passed as the two conversed and passed over a multitude of topics. Everything from the past, to what happened while Jackson was in a coma, and eventually to the future was touched upon by the two. Somewhere along the conversation, both of them started to feel that maybe, just maybe, things would finally be somewhat alright.