"I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams."

W.B. Yeats (1865–1939)

Six Months Earlier - August 25, 2104

California - South San Francisco Bay.

"Hey Jelly, got a minute?" A deep male voice asked. The muscled body of said question sat down heavily in the break room chair opposite Liam. He straddled the seat backward, and lazily rested his forearms on the back of the chair. Looking up Liam saw the wide handsome face of Cole Slatko. He searched the other man's expression for any sign of sarcasm, or malice. For years everyone had called Liam by his hated nickname. Many didn't even know his real name; he was just Jelly or Jellyroll. Cole smiled engagingly still waiting for Liam to reply. The former college football player had once been a close friend. It was a relationship that had ended almost a lifetime ago. Back in middle school Liam's weight had ballooned, Cole had put on muscle. Now Liam was an employee in the Slatko family factory. At least the man wasn't Liam's direct supervisor. Not for the first time he wondered why he bothered working at all. It wasn't like he needed the money.

"Cole," Liam said simply; it was enough of a reply for the other to move on.

"Have you heard of Nigmus Online?"

"I have, vaguely, it's that new virtual world MMO," Liam said his words coming out haltingly uncertain.

"That's the one, came out last week. The boys and I have gotten into it recently. Wanted to ask you to join." Cole said his tone still sounding upbeat.

"I don't have the virtual pod," Liam replied his skepticism growing. Nobody invited him out like this— certainly not Cole and his crew. Virtual pods were the older generation virtual reality machines. Once inside you could see, hear, smell, and feel everything as it happened. Unfortunately, the pods were enormous and expensive. The newest versions though had been miniaturized to the size of a rugby helmet.

"That's fine. We go down to the Pod People Arcade on Second Avenue to play for a few hours." Cole said shifting in the seat. His arms moved from the chair back to the table as he leaned forward. The topic apparently excited the man.

"Join us."

"Why?" Liam asked, "You have plenty of other friends."

"There are five of us, but we need one more for a full group. I'll handle everything, you just show up." Cole continued smoothly. Liam searched Cole's face and eyes for the deceit he'd come to expect from people.

"I don't know, I have errands to run," Liam said feeling something inside twist a little.

"Come on! It's amazing, you should try it once," Cole replied still with that smile of his. Liam tried to remember the last time they'd hung out. God that had been ten years ago, in middle school. Cole had become a jock and a dick all during high school. College had only served to cement his personality. Liam though considered the other man for a long moment. He suspected something was up, but maybe Cole had discovered some tiny shred of his old self.

"Fine, I think I have time."

"Great, show up at the Arcade at 5 pm. You know where it's at?" Cole asked.

"I can find it," Liam answered. With that Cole stood and left the break room. Liam briefly wondered if he was going to regret this decision. Wendy sat down nearby and scowled at Cole's retreating form; then glanced skeptically at Liam.

"You can not be serious." She said to him. Wendy did have a valid point. Suddenly having Cole ask him to join him and his friends? It did stink.

"I'm hoping there is something decent left inside," Liam replied glancing out the lunchroom door. Cole annoyed quite a few people at work, not just Liam. He was a lazy braggart on his good days. Liam chewed his lower lip in deliberation. He could just skip out, go home, and watch television. For a few moments he seriously considered the idea, but sadly he had given his word.

Still, he'd heard a lot of good things about the virtual pods. They were supposed to be amazing— in some ways better than real life. You could experience the world in entirely new ways. Recent years had brought a resurgence in interest for virtual reality. It would be a nice distraction at least. The clock on the wall chimed signifying the top of the hour, and Liam stood. He washed the plastic food container and put it in his carry-all. Wendy shrugged in a, ‘what can you do' gesture.

Liam walked back to his desk to finish the inventory report. At three o'clock he punched out and grabbed his jacket. Going out into the parking lot he got into a rusty half petrol, half electric hybrid. The tiny two-cylinder engine coughed before settling into an ear-splitting whine from a slipping alternator cable. He drove to his townhouse which thankfully wasn't far. The beautiful little one story manor nestled in the lower foothills of California. The estate had been in the family for generations. Tossing his keys into the small bowl, he wandered into the kitchen for a drink, and then back to his room.

Grabbing a change of clothes he crossed the hallway to the master bath. The water came on tepid before quickly turning hot. Undressing he got in before scrubbing clean. After a while, he just stood under the hot water barrage. He dunked his head beneath the spray before letting it beat on the back of his neck. It helped ease the tense muscles there. Finally, he shut the water off and got out. Liam couldn't help but catch sight of his nude reflection. He usually tried quite hard not to look at himself. Liam was over three hundred pounds, and no amount of scrubbing could wash away the extra weight. Before he could turn away, he noticed the look in the reflection. His blue eyes smoldered sullen like a storm front. Far too many years of being overweight had left a mark on him. He pulled a towel off the rack and dried himself before dressing. Armored now he looked back at the mirror thankful that the storm in his eyes was gone. Filling a palm with some cream, he applied it over his face. He shaved quickly—after replacing the blade on his razor—then checked himself in the mirror. Good, next he splashed a little aftershave on before squeezing a dollop of gel into his palm. With the gel, he managed to form his mousy brown hair into something that wasn't a tangle. He was now fit to be seen in public. Leaving the bathroom, he went back to his room to fetch his keys.

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Out in the garage, he walked past the old rusty Honda hybrid he'd come home in and got into a green Mazda RX-12. The ancient gasoline powered sports coupe was a relic of the past. One he had paid handsomely to restore to its factory condition. Carbon emission laws ensured he only got to drive it thirty days out of the year. As the smart key turned the engine let out a meaty roar. The music system quaked to life blotting out all noise but classic rock and roll. He smiled to himself. In a world where nearly every car was half-electric, it was nice to hear the purr of a V8 engine. When he got to town, he parked two blocks down and walked the rest of the way. The Arcade was an old theater that had been re-purposed. He pulled open the darkened doors and went inside.

The pictures on the website hadn't done the gaming club justice. At 5 pm it was nearing capacity. Liam joined the line of people going inside. The windows were blacked out making the interior artificially dark. The floor and ceiling looked like the interior of a space ship. A fog of wispy white smoke lazily hugged the carpet. Ports and openings leaked out the white fog from dozens of machines. Green and blue neon bulbs artfully provided the ambient light. Hundreds of strange alien characters covered the walls.

One side of the building was sectioned off with frosted glass. Liam could just make out the gaming tables and computers within. Music beat a steady rhythm from the room as the door to that section opened and closed. Liam though became fixated on the rows and rows of virtual pods. There had to be at least three hundred set up to look like cryogenic freezers. Most were full of people, shadowy figures hidden behind opaque white canopies. Liam walked forward until he came to a railed balcony. A second floor below contained even more machines.

"Jelly!" A voice called from the bottom floor. Cole was standing in a small crowd of friends, who waved him down to the lower level. He turned, descending the neon-lit ramp, and passed a dozen people. The gaming cafe was apparently a teenage hangout. Quite a few kids from the local high-school were lounging around excitedly talking about the games.

"You're late," One of the men said. Liam didn't know his name but recognized him as part of the welding crew.

"You said five," Liam said to Cole.

"We set up your account. Doug went ahead and skipped all the boring tutorials." Cole said patting said man on the back. The wiry little welder smiled and raised a fist.

"We're going to kick this dungeon's ass," Doug said enthusiastically before handing Liam a piece of paper. Account - Jellify with a password that literally was ‘Password.'

"Climb into the pod, let's get this started. The place closes in four hours." Cole said pointing to one of the open pods. Six sat next to each other empty and waiting. As the crew passed him, they smiled warmly before a fist punched his arm none too gently. He turned to see the welder grinning at him wolfishly, "We need one more, but this is going to be great." The way Doug said it made the sentence sound like two entirely different topics.

Liam approached the last open pod. The machine was covered in painted alien script with a frosted glass canopy— making the person within appear frozen in sleep. Floating inside was an amply padded white seat. He grabbed one of the handholds and climbed in. Slowly the seat settled as the canopy descended. Liam was grateful he wasn't the claustrophobic type. For a few seconds, nothing happened leaving him boxed into the little white coffin. Something starting up inside the machine, an audible whine made everything slow fade. First it was the music; the song slowed to a crawl before whispering into silence. Next the semi-opaque frosted glass before him blurred. His vision clouded over by a bright, noisy white. Lastly was the feeling of his body as his fingers and toes grew numb. The sensation of nothing raced up his arms and legs to encompass his torso. It was like he was painlessly dying, which was definitely the weirdest thing he'd ever experienced.