The day had finally arrived, grim cloudy and cold.  I had seriously thought about declining to go to the camp but I knew that one of the younger kids would be sent in my place.  I hoped my preparations were going to enable me to succeed and to have some fun in game.  Rebecca knocked on my door, “are you ready, Tor?”   “Yes, guess I am.”  We loaded up and she drove me to the Greyhound terminal.  Once we arrived Rebecca shook my hand and told me to have a great time.  I smiled at her and nodded.  I liked Rebecca, she truly cared for people.  Most of the people who worked in the state orphanages did not.  It was just a job for them.  

I had read some back history, at one time most unwanted kids were put into foster care.  That had come to an end when some “Americans” of Middle Eastern background had opened up a foster home day care.  After three years they had sent out the little Allah ankle biters.  When kids as young as ten go into food courts at malls and blow them all to hell, the government had a fast, closeup look at the foster care system and then promptly privatized it all.  Same company that ran most of the prisons now took care of the kids.  It is a strange world where greed and stupidity meet and have offspring which are called politicians.

The bus slowly trundled out of the city, the smog and dirty streets given way to dry and parched land.  Everywhere you could see the touch of man.   There was garbage and waste, abandoned buildings and broken dreams.  The world I was born into was a bit of a shithole.  Turning on my music player I found the Eagles, Hell freezes over.  As the riffs of Get over it pounded into my ears I closed my eyes and relaxed.  I would never sleep on a bus but no one was sitting near me so I felt safe enough to listen to music. 

I was always paranoid of bus rides after I had done a paper on crimes done on the road.  Turns out some guy who had recently arrived in Canada had boarded a bus and then after riding for a while cut off the head of the kid sitting next to him and ate it.  This happened a long time ago but still I was twelve when I read that and it never left me.  There were monsters in the world and most of them looked just like me was the impression I had received and it had never fully left me.

The bus finally arrived and I was greeted by a young woman.  She looked at me and I looked at her then she painted on the fake smile that had become second place and waved me into the car.  Her name was Stacy and I soon realized her interest in me was surface at best.  I would not call her a gold digger but I would guess if I was the son of a senator or millionaire she would have put a little more wiggle in her walk.  I did not blame her, the world was a tough place and she was smart enough to know her best asset is based on the first three letters of the word asset.   It’s just another day in paradise.  Once we arrived I heard the introductions of the staff and the intro to the game.  I kept a quiet and small profile but I could see some of the other guys there eyeballing me.  Crap.

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These guys would be a problem if I ran into them.  What well be, well be I thought and then left to go to my room.  I asked to be shown the hook-up procedure for the vrp but I already could tell that I probably knew more than the “expert” staff that the camp had hired.   I watched the introductory video and then opened the pod, lying down I felt the warm nano fluid surrounding me.  

The pod lids closed with a click and the pods AI spoke “are you ready to enter the game Tor.”  I replied, “No initiate code tutor mode a1b.”  I waited holding my breath not sure if this would work or not.  Suddenly a small opening appeared and a keyboard extruded out, I let my breath out and grinning like a maniac put on my Google glasses and plugged them into the keyboard.  

I had spent a lot of time helping the other kids with schoolwork and eventually the people who ran the orphanage realized that I was saving them a lot of time so they gave me the tutor code to log in and assist with the schoolwork.  I had quickly discovered that having the glasses on made a huge difference allowing me to access info and pull up school records display tests results and grades.  

I could have changed it all but not seen not heard was my motto so I simply helped the kids with schoolwork.  My hope was that I would have access to my little helper within the game.  It was a gamble but I was willing to take it.  I did not have much choice actually.   Reaching out I hit the big green button and closed my eyes. Everything went black and I thought no more.