The room was sparsely furnished, much of the furniture having been removed to make room for the sleep black pod that sat squarely in the center of the room. The only thing of note aside from the pod were the medical equipment monitors, a plush black couch with pink flowers stitched into the cushions and wooden feet which sat next to a worn plush chair. Wilted leaves lay forgotten in a corner where the depression from a potted plant previously sat, a stark white valley in the thick cream colored carpet. Dave fought to keep a pleasantly neutral expression as the tester walked in, followed by a gaggle of staff members. He plastered a large grin across his face and stepped forwards to greet him.

“I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to test out this new equipment on such short notice John. It means a lot to me. Today is the last day were going to get to test this new model before the board makes us scrap it so we need to get a win on the books.” Dave said as he clapped the former pro player turned beta tester on the shoulder. “If you get us the data we need in this unit and I’ll get Marissa to work her P.R. magic to get your reputation back up and beyond what it was before. Then we'll make you the face of Alluring Realms Games.” He said leaning in to whisper the last conspiratorially.

Marissa rolled her eyes as she sat in the plush armchair in the corner watching as Dave waved a plump blond nurse over.

“If you don’t mind pulling your shirt up, I just need to attach these electrodes so that we can monitor any stress levels.” She said looking up at him with a small weak smile, her voice soft and steeped deep in a Minnesotan accent.

John gave a throaty chuckle, slowly lifting his shirt. “You sure thats a necessity and you’re not just asking that because you just want to see me shirtless? What’s your name again?” he asks wiggling his eyebrows.

“Holly Loveridge.” She said flatly, face becoming cold and stony as she focused on attaching the electrodes quickly then verifying their bluetooth readouts on her tablet. “He’s hooked up and ready to go when you are.” Holly said dismissively walking over to the monitors.

Dave stepped over to the glistening black pod and pushed an unseen button, releasing the door latch and allowing the hydraulic arms to slide the door upward like an old suicide door rather than a car trunk. “We just installed a new type of gel for the cushioning and haptic feedback, let me know how it feels.” He said as he gestured to the rich red fabric. “Not that it should matter too much, if it works as we hope it will you’ll only need to use it once before you’re able to log in anywhere, anytime even without a pod or VR helmet.”

“Oh? But wouldn’t that cut the profits on the pod units?” John asked dave as he looked at the pod.

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“Perhaps. There are some that will still prefer to use a pod, just as there are some that still prefer the VR helmets or the old analog or keyboard style games. Beyond that were more interested in offering easier accessibility to more people. You know how there are cafes and other such locations where you can rent time in a pod unit if you don’t own one? Well now you only have to pay once to use a pod then you have access to the game but not just that the internet and entertainment streaming services too. To top it all off, its emp proof. The frequency of energy it runs off of is entirely unaffected by even the most powerful emp blast. The only thing preventing you from playing at that point is time, you have the time you can play. Need to work a 12 hour shift but only have a ten minute break and want to dip into a server event for a bit before it ends? Well now you don’t have to worry about missing it or calling into work, just log in where you stand and do your thing.” Dave held his arms wide with a grin.

“Epic, let’s do this” John said with a smug smile, the monitors beeping as they took note of the slightly elevated heart rates. He slid himself inside then looked around. “Wheres the helmet?”

“There isn’t one, just lay back and relax. We’ll start up the boot sequence.”

John took a deep breath then nodded with a thumbs up. Dave pressed the hidden button again, then took a step back as he watched the door sliding silently back into place. Harsh red light slowly began to trace previously invisible lines along the pod and radiate from where the door met the body of the pod. The red light began to pulse rhythmically and a progress bar popped up on one of the medical display screens. Dave clenched his fist as he drew in a slow breath. This is where things began to get complicated on all of the previous tests. He kept his eyes fixed on the pod a moment before glancing at the upload progress bar.

Text raced by so fast it couldn’t be read as it list all of the information being uploaded but the bar still hovered at 0% for a moment then ticked up to 2% where it held steady for an agonizingly long time. Finally it jumped to first 28% then 42%. Daves heart skipped a beat, no other test had risen above a 2% synchronicity that fast. He let the barest trickle of hope fill him, his breath slowly slipping from him in a quiet sigh. That was when the EKG and other medical instruments began to wail. Dave felt his stomach bottom out and a string of curses slid from his lips as he turned back to the pod and began to jam the release button for the door. The bar picked up pace then rapidly rising to 99% where it stopped, an error message popping up in a new window as the pod door slid open.

John lay inside, occasional tremors and shudders wracking his body. His ashen face was traced with lines of saliva, snot and tears that reflected that hard red light emanating from inside the pod. Medical technicians rushed forward and pulled him from the pod onto a narrow gurney, their frenzied voices becoming distant to his ears even before they ushered him from the room. So close, they had been so close.

Dave slammed a fist into the body of the pod and cursed again, all sound fell from around him as his heart beat began to roar in his ears thrumming with enough force to send shock waves through his whole body each time it beat. “Leave me, now.” he growled not turning to look at the eyes he knew were on him.