Drriiing~

Alex flinched at the unexpected noise before slumping down into his chair and pushing his exam paper forwards on his desk. 'Ah - It's over, finally!' He had just finished the last GCSE paper he would ever need to take - Higher Maths, 'And damn if it wasn't difficult! It's fortunate STEM subjects are my forté, or I can kiss goodbye to even a glimpse of a grade 9.' Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he checked to make sure his full name - Alexander Tucker - was in block capitals in the designated area on the front page. Reluctantly standing up, he brought his paper to the front where the examiner was collecting them before heading towards the exit.

"Hey, Alex, pencil case!" Just as he was about to leave, a familiar voice interrupted him. Turning around he saw Mark, a short and skinny figure with straight blonde-brown hair, blue eyes, and blue-rimmed glasses, a striking contrast with Alex, who stood at 190cm tall with messy brown hair, brown-green eyes, and although at first glance he didn't have any eye-catching features other than his height, hidden underneath his loose clothes was a lean and muscular body trained by years of martial arts and rock climbing, making him one of the best athletes in his year.

"Eh?" Alex paused for a second, confused, before looking down at his hands. Seeing them empty, he held up a finger and said "One moment." before going to his desk at a speed that was faster than walking, but not quite running, picking up his blazer draped over the back of his chair and his bag after putting the pencil case his best friend and next-door neighbour had pointed out for him. Quickly returning to Mark, he coughed before saying "What pencil case?", with (what he thought was) an innocent smile on his face.

Mark sighed and shook his head. "Never mind, anyway, how do you think you did?"

"You know I don't like talking about tests before we get the results back… When do we get them back again?"

"Next month."

"Oh, right, but I'll give you this - I'm confident. But enough about that, I heard there's a road closed on your bus route, so you'll have to take a long diversion, so do you want to bet who gets home first? Me on my bicycle vs you by bus?" Alex asked, with a sneaky grin.

"What are the stakes?" Mark asked suspiciously, having recognized his expression.

"If I win, I get some of that swiss chocolate you've been boasting about, but if you win, I'll give you some proper Italian food when my Aunt comes for Christmas since we're not going to Italy this year. Deal?"

"Deal!"

"Okay then, goodbye, I've got a bet to win," Alex said while rushing off.

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30 minutes later

Cycling at full speed down the road, Alex could feel the wind in his face, buildings becoming a blur in his peripheral vision as he passed through a town in his journey home. Thinking of his bet with Mark only motivated him to pedal harder and faster. Fully immersed in the moment, he laughed, forgetting all his unnecessary thoughts and worries of failing his GCSE's, just concentrating on what it felt like to have the wind in his face and the sun's invigorating rays on his back.

Bang!

Forcibly knocked out from his own world by an ear-piercing sound, Alex looked around hurriedly, bike wobbling. Suddenly, he saw a black BMW with tinted windows on the opposite side of the road taking a sharp turn in his direction. Realizing he would never be able to accelerate enough to dodge the incoming car, he pulled his feet up onto the frame of his bicycle and jumped, sending him forwards past the crossbars onto the asphalt, rolling to minimize the impact. Just as he hit the ground, he heard a Crash! He dusted himself off, finding only a few tears in his clothes and minor scratches other than a gash on his arm from landing badly onto a sharp rock. 'Argh, Mum's going kill me for ruining my clothes again! But what the hell was that?' Turning around Alex was surprised to see that although the force of the car was enough to knock a street light into the nearby house, the car had minimal damage. Concluding that it must be reinforced, he turned his mind to other matters, 'What happened to my bike?' Alex wondered, approaching the car, a hand putting pressure on his cut in an attempt to reduce the bleeding, only to find his bicycle, which was a gift from his parents for last year's birthday, lying crushed beneath the vehicle. Suppressing his negative emotions, he told himself "Nevermind, what's done is done.", albeit in a slightly shaky voice.

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"Are you okay?"

Startled by the voice, Alex realized that the driver of the car must have exited while he was brooding. Raising his head, Alex nearly jumped in excitement after recognising the middle-aged man, completely forgetting his previous mood. "Mr Steele! It's an honour to meet you, sir!"

"You know me?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

"Of course! You're the founder and CEO of Midnight, the world's leading company of technological research and development! I really admire you!"

"Is that so? You can call me by my first name, by the way, Christopher, or Chris if you would prefer it. I am terribly sorry for the accident, by the way. I knew I should have payed attention to the noises the car was making... Again, I must apologise! I shall make sure you're properly compensated, but first, let me help you there", Chris said, indicating towards Alex's blood-stained arm, "I am certified for giving first-aid."

Thanking Chris for his help, Alex held his arm out while Chris cleaned and disinfected the wound, before tightly bandaging it.

"Done!" Chris exclaimed, "Do you have time to come with me to the company? I have something that I think would make a good apology for all this."

"Okay, yeah, just let me inform my parents first before they get worried about me," Alex said, fishing his phone out of his pocket.

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15 minutes later, Alex found himself staring in awe as a massive tungsten weight was dropped from a 20-meter tall platform onto a thin sheet, maybe less than a centimetre thick, of a metal he did not recognize.

Bang!

Even through the ear protectors, the sound of the impact sent his ears ringing, but that was not what sent him into a daze. It was the sight of the tungsten block bouncing off the mysterious metal, leaving only a small area that was slightly dented. Looking closer, he saw that the white-coloured metal even seemed to be pulling itself back into shape. Pulling his ear protectors off, he looked at Chris, who was next to him, smiling in satisfaction.

"Are you sure that piece of tungsten isn't hollow? At that size, it should weigh at least a ton!" Alex nearly shouted, disbelief evident. Immediately afterwards he blushed, having realized where he was.

"It seems you are quite knowledgeable. It indeed weighs a ton." Chris smiled, clearly enjoying his reactions.

Alex sighed, thinking back to when he entered. Chris had called someone to pick them up, and a few minutes later they had arrived at an ordinary-looking industrial complex. There wasn't even Midnight's logo! To enter, they only had to exit the car and have Chris scan a card. It was only when he asked later about the seemingly lax security he found out. Apparently, many hidden cameras had scanned Alex's iris and facial structure to look him up in various databases without him noticing. he would never have expected something like this.

"What metal is that?" Alex asked, curious, "And how is it repairing itself like that?"

"It is an alloy we have been developing for a while now, but that is not what I brought you here for. Come with me." Chris said, walking off.

Alex took one last look at the strange material, then turned and followed Chris. He led Alex through a maze of doors and corridors until they stopped in front of a door labelled 'FIVR - Alpha'.

"We're here!" Chris said with a mysterious smile on his face.

Curious, Alex grabbed the handle, and pushed the door open, entering a well-lit room, bare of everything but a white… thing.

Alex looked at Chris questioningly, then approached the object, confused. It was 2 meters tall, about the same as that in length, and a meter wide. The only way he could describe it as was an enormous, misshapen ball.

"What is this?"

"Finally, you asked! I thought I would have to tell you. This" he said gesturing towards the ball, " is a Full Immersion Virtual Reality Pod, designed to help coma patients. What you feel in there is as real, or at least it feels, as the world out here. To help fund this project, we have designed a game world 10 times the size of Earth, which, other than some game elements and the magic, is as real as Earth. What I am offering you here, other than a chance to experience something unbelievable, is a job as an Alpha tester."

Alex felt like what he knew of the world had shattered. His substantial knowledge in engineering and computer science only enhanced this, since he knew how difficult, how advanced this was. Suddenly, he felt his thirst for knowledge explode in intensity.

"How on earth did you design this!" Alex didn't even care if he was shouting anymore. "This is way ahead of modern technology! So far ahead it's basically science-fiction!"

"It's good to see young people nowadays know their stuff." Chris teased, purposely not answering his question. Seeing Alex starting to lose his temper, Chris quickly spoke "By a stroke of luck we made what we consider to be a true AI, Felicity, and when she found out about this world and had enough knowledge she felt that although she can't do anything to stop wars, she could help patients in hospitals and support charities - Which by the way is another reason for developing the game, as she insists in at least half the profits going to charity. She developed the FIVR pod for coma patients and raising money, and will also be governing the game, and is currently doing her best to improve hospital treatments and is trying to develop cures for diseases, though she has found that it is rather more difficult than she thought."

"Ah, that explains it. Where did she get the name Felicity?" Alex asked.

"Felicity is a big fan of Italy. She thought it was similar to the Italian word felice, meaning happy." Chris said with a smile. It was obvious he was fond of her. "Anyway, do you want the job?"

"What would I have to do other than play the game? Do I have to make a report or what?"

"Nope! Just play the game, any bugs you find Felicity will fix, and if you have a suggestion, you can tell Felicity in-game."

"I'm in! What do I have to sign?" Alex was thrilled. Getting paid to play a game by Midnight? There's no way he could say no!