Jake looked through his mail before releasing a sigh as yet another day passed without him getting mail from his ailing uncle. It had been nearly a week since his birthday, and his uncle always sent him some sort of card.
He tossed the mail on the counter before taking a seat at his tiny kitchen table to work on homework.
He was really starting to be worried about his uncle’s health. His condition had been deteriorating and he’d recently put an extra strain on his college funds in order to put his uncle in the hospital so that he could make sure that he didn’t die from a sudden heart attack like his grandfather had nine years ago. Unlike his crazy father, his uncle had always cared for him.
Finishing his homework, he checked the clock to see that it was already past ten. Changing into some nightclothes, he hopped into bed, ready to call it a night.
Just as he was dozing off, he was startled awake as the doorbell rang. Looking at the alarm clock, he saw that it was 11 o’clock. Who would be visiting at this hour?
Going to the door, he opened it to see his uncle in a wheelchair, a young nurse pushing him around, and two men carrying a box larger than him.
Moving out of the way, he quickly invited them in.
“Uncle, what are you doing here? You should be resting in the hospital” he said, reaching down to give him a hug.
“I had to be here to give you my gift.” He said, waving his hand at the box, “A Phantastar capsule.”
He gasped, Phantastar was the VR game that had been released four months ago, “But, those cost thousands of dollars apiece.”
“I know, but I felt that it would be something that you would like to have, and it was well within my price range.”
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As we were talking, the two men who were carrying the box went to the main living area and started setting it up.
“What is this for, you should be using your money on treatment, not video games!”
“Treatment only goes so far. This is for when
I can’t continue with treatment. I want you to go in, get the lay of the land, and set something up for me so that when I run out of time, I can simply have my mind transplanted to Phantastar.”
“So you want me to go in and make sure that you won’t start out with nothing?”
“That’s right, I want to have just a little to start with.”
“OK, now that you’ve had it delivered, go back to the hospital so that I don’t have to worry about you dying in front of me.”
“One last thing, before you go, I also have your fathers gift,” he said, handing him a game card.
“Phantastar Random Promo Pack?”
“It gives you one of the hundreds of promo packs out there, which can be anything from extra eye colors to additional race options for your character to giving you a unique starting location which can cost anything from a hundred dollars to ten thousand dollars.”
“Be sure to remember to thank him for me,” he said sarcastically, as his father was never particularly generous with his gifts.
“Be easier on your father, he never really was the kind of person to have children.”
“Then why did he have me?”
“Because he refused to accept that until long after you were born.”
“You’ve distracted me. You need to get back to the hospital now. I’ll get it set up, you just need to stay alive as long as possible since it’ll probably take me some time to get you completely set up in there.”
“Oh, alright since you insist, I’ll be going,” he said as the nurse helped him wheel out the door, “The two men will leave as soon as everything is set up with the capsule.”
“Okay, okay, I will have everything set up, now go.”
Just a couple of minutes later, the men left as well. He picked up his father’s gift and inserted the card into one of the slots on the top before lowering himself in and shutting the lid.