Thanks to his sudden lack of a job, Simon arrived at Gametopia two hours before he'd planned, and a full hour before the 9-5ers would get off work and start swarming the place. At least the ones who, like him, hadn't caved and bought a NeuroJak System just yet. While few companies released physical copies of their games these days, game stores kept afloat selling new and used hardware, and brokering subscription deals with VR companies around the world.

In the past, full immersion VR had involved hooking players into pods that would monitor their vitals and regulate their body's needs during a pre-arranged period of time. As of this last generation, nano technology had taken over and players wore simple devices that tapped into their neural network and regulated everything for them. The whole thing had seemed sketchy as hell, in Simon's opinion, but with the latest Apex game existing exclusively on that platform, he found himself willing to keep an open mind.

"Welcome to Gametopia," the clerk greeted, "can I help you find your next gaming experience?"

Such a hokey company phrase. Of course it wasn't about selling products or services. No, Gametopia was interested in helping players achieve the optimal gaming experience, so they could leave their shitty lives behind and fully immerse themselves in virtual worlds. Simon didn't need any encouragement for that, thank you very much. Beyond the jack itself, and maybe a primer on do's and don'ts.

He wasn't an asshole, though, and so he answered, "I have a pre-order for Apex: Untamed. I need to buy the jack for it, too."

The man's face lit up, making him seem even younger than he probably was. "Man, you are so lucky you pre-ordered. People have been coming in here all day trying to get a copy and I’ve had to turn them away. Last one was spoken for around noon."

"That sucks," he empathized, making his way to the counter. The sooner this transaction was complete, the sooner Simon could lose himself in the world of Estalia.

"Hey, better them than you, right?" Simon offered the kid a small smile. "What's your name? I'll pull up your details."

"Simon Henderson. I have my membership card, if that helps." He pulled out an ID-sized card from his wallet, his picture showing on the front. Gametopia had always been deadly serious about preventing fraud or identity theft in the pods.

The clerk tapped and swiped at his tablet screen, tilting his head and murmuring to himself throughout. Simon waited silently, his attention wandering to the displays in the store. There were demos of hardware all throughout, both virtual reality interfaces and old school consoles for the retro collectors and those looking to regain a piece of their childhood.

Simon, however, had his sights set on the future.

"Okay, got you right here. Standard edition, cool, cool. And you're buying a NeuroJak today, which is awesome, man. Would you like me to pre-load the game so you can just fire it up and get started?"

Simon's brows rose. He'd planned to grab a bite to eat on the way home and look for some class guides while everything downloaded, but this was even better. "Yeah, sure. I appreciate it." The clerk--Anthony, his name tag said--beamed at him. "No problem at all. Happy to help a fellow hunter."

"You play?" Simon asked, his curiosity piqued.

As introverted as he was and as much as he preferred his gaming experiences being solo, there was still a certain feeling that came only from sharing the love of an amazing game series with another person. So few people in his life had ever understood his love for the Apex series. It'd been a source of strife at home, on dates, and at work.

"Oh yeah. Dude, day one crew, all the way back in 2018. Pre-loaded it on my PS4 and spent the whole weekend in game. Best experience I've ever had in a video game."

Simon smiled at that, remembering his own experience. That was over a decade ago now, but he still remembered it like it was yesterday. He'd just turned seventeen the week before, and had saved up enough from a part time job to buy the game for a console he honestly didn't play that much. It seemed like a nice challenge and a way to block out all the shit going on at school. He figured he'd kill twenty or thirty hours before he got bored and moved on. But Apex drew him in from the very first expedition. He felt small and insignificant in that massive, thriving world--until the moment the systems clicked and he'd finally started to master his weapon. Every hour he put in after that was dedicated to honing that mastery, until he'd become powerful enough to take down beasts that would have one-shot him in the past.

That was the thrill of the series for him, and one he was hoping to recreate in a new way through the NeuroJak.

"What class did you main?" the clerk asked, and Simon could see the reflection of a progress bar shining off the man's glasses.

"Striker," he said. "Get in, deal damage, dodge attacks, and repeat. Always liked dual wield classes. You?"

"Juggernaut," he said with a cheeky grin.

Simon couldn't help but laugh. Anthony was tall and gangly and probably couldn't lift fifty pounds in real life, but that was the beauty of a game. He could swing a giant ass mace around like it was nothing, staggering beasts until they just flat out collapsed. He'd tried the playstyle once, but it was way too slow for his tastes. Even if the massive damage had been crazy satisfying.

"Nice. Always admired the Juggernaut players who could get a sub five minute kill without taking a hit."

Anthony grinned. "Yeah, I was never that good, but I held my own." The tablet let out a pleasant chime, and Anthony's face lit up. "You're all set. Everything's loaded and ready to go. I'd still go through the NeuroJak tutorial, just to get familiar with the way things work. It's really intuitive once you're in game, but some of the behind-the-scenes stuff needs explaining, you know?"

Stolen novel; please report.

Behind-the-scenes stuff. Right. Like the fact that the NeuroJak was somehow supposed to sync your real life needs to your in-game status, allowing you to eat, drink, sleep, and even take a piss when you needed to. That part of it weirded him out a little bit, and rather than stumble into it blindly, he decided to ask Anthony.

"Yeah, about that." Simon took his membership card back from the clerk. "Everything I've read about the NeuroJak says it regulates your out-of-game needs based on what you do in-game. How does that work, exactly?"

"Oh, man. It's really cool. A little freaky to think about, but you'll never wanna game another way. Trust me." Anthony hurried out from behind the counter and beckoned Simon over to the display where the NeuroJak was held, tapping the information terminal to bring up the section on vitals.

Ridiculous animations appeared on the screen of a man sitting in his apartment with the jack hooked up while sound waves vibrated out of his stomach. Hunger, apparently? Simon snorted.

"So the way it works is your brain gets sent signals when you're hungry or thirsty or tired or whatever, right? Well the neural jack kinda intercepts those signals and converts them to whatever game you're playing, making you seek out whatever it is you need in real life. So in Apex if you're hungry, your character won't be able to regen stamina, and you'll actually feel that hunger until you get enough to eat."

That... was kind of insane. But it only explained half of the equation.

"Okay... how does that actually do anything for you in the real world?"

Anthony was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as he explained. “Okay, so all those things are basic needs, right? Everybody instinctively knows what they need, and you learn how to get it over years of conditioning. When you need something, the jack interfaces with your brain and tells it to go get it. So you need water, you automatically go to the tap and fill up a glass, or drink from a bottle you’ve got nearby. Need food? Pop open the fridge, get some leftovers, heat ‘em up in the microwave and you’re done. You’ll even sleep if you need it, and whatever game the jack’s running will suspend until you wake up.”

“Isn’t that… dangerous? I could set my house on fire trying to sleep-cook or whatever, and I’d just die.”

“First off, the NeuroJack’s got lots of built in safety measures. If anything’s going wrong, you’ll know about it instantly and it’ll kick you out of the game. Second, it’s all like executing a program. Your brain’s done this stuff a thousand times. It just runs the program again, and voila. You’re taken care of.” Anthony fished out a pamphlet from beneath the counter and handed it over. “All you have to do is have enough food and water available for however long you plan to play. There’s some tables in here that crunch all the numbers.”

Simon considered this wealth of information, his brain having some trouble processing it all. He knew about all those advancements. They'd been used in the military first, then in medical fields to sustain patients in long-term care. But the idea that the same science could be applied to gaming was a bit... unnerving.

And really, really cool.

He felt the way some of his friends had felt when virtual reality first became a mainstream thing. They'd been so convinced their gaming experiences would be a million times better, and Simon had watched as every one of them eventually admitted to disappointment. He felt that excitement now--that kid on Christmas morning, bouncing up and down, eager to get the jack home excitement--but he was also aware that it could end up being a huge let down.

There was only one way to find out.

"I appreciate the info. I think I'll head home and give it a whirl."

He had an infinite amount of free time now, after all. Even if the game regulated his playtime--and Simon supposed he should start looking for a new job on Monday, even if he could survive on his savings for a while yet--he intended to fully lose himself in the world; to get back the experience he'd had as a kid of firing up the game, then glancing at the window to see it was somehow the next morning already.

"Best way to learn," Anthony agreed. "Just remember: Five days. You have to cancel the link manually; the jack won't do it for you."

Simon looked down at the box in his hands, nodding. "Five days. Got it."

"Give it a full day to recharge and backup all your info, then you're good to go."

Equipped with everything he needed, Simon thanked the clerk again and started to leave the store, a spring in his step as he hurried toward the door. Before he could leave, though, the clerk called out to him one last time.

"Oh hey, you already have an expedition group lined up? I'd be happy to have you in mine."

An awkward feeling passed over Simon. It was the same feeling he'd had when randoms sent him unsolicited group invites in other games, or people he barely knew in the real world wanted to game with him. It wasn't that he hated grouping, but he preferred to play his games solo. The sense of accomplishment was greater, and he could really immerse himself in the world and the lore behind it, whereas most people he'd partied with were eager to blow past NPC dialogue and quest text and just follow the waypoint to the next objective.

"Thanks, but I think I'll stick with running solo for awhile. Just to get a feel for how things work," he lied.

"Aw, man. You're missing out. Seriously, grouping up is the best part of Apex."

Simon definitely didn't agree, but he smiled politely. "Maybe I'll try it out later on. What's your tag?"

The clerk scrambled over to the counter and pulled one of the business cards from its holder, scribbling something on the back of it. He handed it to Simon, whose eyes briefly scanned it, not bothering to commit it to memory. All he knew was it started with an H and was a crazy long string of letters. That was all he cared to know.

"Cool. Thanks, Anthony. Maybe I'll see you in game sometime."

The clerk smiled at him, seeming really excited about the prospect of grouping with Simon in particular. A bit of guilt tugged at him, knowing he'd never make good on that maybe. He quickly chased it away, though, and left the store before Anthony could rope him into an in depth conversation about the benefits of multiplayer. He was done feeling guilty for being himself. All the Brads of the world could fuck off for a while. Simon Henderson was going to confront the world of Apex, and he was going to do it solo.