Dimitri and I looked at each other, shurged and decided to shelve that question for another time, and place. We followed Martin through the long halls of lasers, gadgets, nerds and blacked out windows until we at last came to the end of the hallway. Beyond laid another black room, but just as previously happened, the room was illuminated as we stepped foot inside. The only thing I could think of once we entered the room was Cerebro from X-Men, the room had nothing in it but two chairs in the middle, that noticeably enough had metal cuffs attached to their sides which made me unconsciously rub my wrists.

“I guess we’re entering bdsm, action rpg? Well slap my momma!” I said.

“Mr Soluto, let’s see if you’ll be slapping anyone’s momma after today is over.” Martin retorted.

“Someone flicked on the ominous switch, I see.” Dimitri chimed in.

“I’m sorry gentlemen, I’ve been a bit testy. There’s a lot going on to get prepared for this.” Martin said, rubbing his eyes for emphasis.

“It’s alright man, being kept in the dark makes me irritated. Let’s just get this show on the road.” I said.

As we walked closer and closer towards the chairs in the middle of Cerebro as I’m now calling it, I started to get more and more nervous. Martin abruptly stopped in front of us and we followed suit.

“Gentlemen here’s our stop. I know you must think I’m going to throw you in these chairs and you’ll never see the light of day again right?” Martin asked.

“The thought did cross my mind a time or ten.” I nervously answered.

“I would be worried if it didn’t. You’re going to sit in these chairs, however it’s for the presentation and explanation of everything first and foremost. You do want to know what you’re getting yourselves into, correct?” asked Martin.

We both shook our heads vehemently as if we were answering questions in middle school. Could you really blame us? We were in somewhere new, for some damn game we barely know about with some creeper Sherlock Holmes looking dude that had bdsm chairs behind us, yeah call that stressful.

“Instead of increasing your fear, let’s break down why you’re actually here today, shall we?” A voice behind us said.

We turned around quicker then a blond girl in a horror movie meeting Freddy Kruger.

“I’m sorry to scare you, I’m Dr. Karen, I’ll be the one who’ll explain everything, including this place to you guys.” Dr. Karen said sweeping her hand around the center.

I heard everything she had to say, but my brain or lack thereof was checking out the stunning figure she was blessed with. She must of been about 5’6, a good 130 lbs and had a figure I’d shank a man for. I just hoped with the rate she was talking, she didn’t feel me drooling, which by the smile on her she meant she had, great.

“My eyes are up here Mr. Soluto, and your chair is over there, I suggest you take it as we’re about to begin.” Dr. Karen said.

“Yes, ma’am” I stuttered.

“Ma’am? You alright bro? You’ve fallen that fast?” tested Dimitri.

“Shut up asshat, I’m just being respectful is all.” I retorted, not making eye contact.

Being the mature young man I claimed to be, I almost ignored Dimitri’s snort, almost. It’s something in this world that you really can’t help yourself from reflexively responding to, so I did, by sticking my tongue out, real mature I know.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“*cough* Gentlemen, let’s get down to the core of why we’ve thrown both of you to the wolves so to say.” Dr. Karen Interrupted.

We stopped our childish behavior, and our backs straightened up at the mention of why we were actually here.

“The ‘game’ we are developing is called Peaks of Power, or PoP for short. It’s a game that is beyond ‘fully submersive’ in the terms you’re use to. You are use to putting on helmets, throwing yourselves in capsules, and going for a ride right?” Dr Karen asked.

“Well, yeah, that’s usually how the HING works right? It makes sense of our brain patterns, desires, reactions, etc from our brain waves through the helmet and haptic suit. At least that’s how it’s been explained to me.” Dimitri answered.

“It’s been the same to be, since we are connected through the suit and helmet, the lag time is reduced to something insufficient or at least something that our minds can’t really replicate.” I said.

“Exactly, that doesn’t sound ‘advanced’ to me. If you will excuse my language it sounds like some bullshit excuse for reality, overcooked, over thought, and over used if you ask me.” Dr Karen said passionately.

I liked this Dr. Karen character more with every second that went by. You could tell she cared about what she was working on. The question that hasn’t still been answered is exactly ‘what’ she was working on.

“What we are creating here is reality itself, mentally speaking. It’s called the Portable Observation World Engine Receiver, or POWER for short.”

“Now that sounds like a major undertaking, but it still doesn’t get to the main topic here. What does your ‘POWER’ have to do with us and this ‘PoP’ game?” I asked, irritated now.

“As impatient as you are, I like your objective and forward way of doing things Mr. Soluto.” Dr. Karen replied.

“PoP, is going to be the game we are testing the top 5% with. You will be our prized test run. However, you won’t be hooked up to any barbaric rigs, or monkey suits or anything of that sort, no, your reactions, feelings, responses, emotions, triggers, etc will be served directly into our mainframes.”

“Wait, if we aren’t wearing suits, helmets and the like, how are we going to be ‘hooked into your mainframe’?” Dimitiri asked, while using air quotes.

Dr. Karen was taking all the time in the world knowing that besides our impatience we were at her mercy. It was quite obvious that the fear had taken a back seat to our gamer instinct. Every second passing felt like years, I could almost see the gears turning in her mind. Those dangerous gears that could spell heaven or hell for me and Dimitri, but honestly I couldn't give a shit. I wanted this more than anything in the world and almost nothing (but that bdsm chair) would have a snowball's chance in hell of stopping me.

“I’ve kept you waiting for quite a while, I’m done being dramatic. The keyword gentlemen is nanites.” Dr. Karen said, after a minute.

“Na-what?” I said, quite intelligently.

“Nanites Ry, nano sized robots, they can be used in an unlimited amount of ways, surgery, automotives, etc. There is really no limit, the only limit is your mind and how you can improve them. “ Dimitri replied.

“Mr. Graves, you would make a great salesman. If you’re bored of gaming, please give us a call.” Dr. Karen replied, semi-serious.

“Nah, I’m cool with gaming, it lets me keep tabs on this guy, without him even knowing.” Dimitri said, pointing at me.

“Yeah, keep talking pal, i'll have you be my sidekick power ranger forever!” I said.

“Well, as Mr. Graves stated, we are talking about nanites. With our research we’ve broken them down almost to the cellular level, and this is what will be used within your experience. We will inject them into your bloodstream and they will replicate until they attach to every cell in your body.” Dr. Karen explained.

“I know my best friend is a great salesman, but you on the other hand, really, really, really, need to work on your pitch, explanation, and well damn everything…” I said, quite sick to my stomach.

“It’s not nearly as dangerous as I’ve made it seem, however I’ve had to ‘dumb it down’ to make it much more explainable.” Dr. Karen replied.

“Yes, because you stating ‘Don’t worry, you'll be turned into the borg’ screams ‘come join us!’.” I said.

“No, they aren’t trying becoming body snatchers, but think about it this way. Experiencing a game with no lag time, no slow down, nothing to hold you to a form of play styles. The nanites would learn anything and everything about your physical forms, and while your brain sends tremendous amounts of data to our servers it will learn everything non-materialistic or Idealistic about you through experiences.” Dr. Karen stated.

“So you’re saying that as we are playing, the game is learning more about us and how we operate? What about if we do something sporadic or random at some time?” Dimitri asked.

“If that happens then well nothing. The game isn’t some simple code that will crash at some random event happening. It isn’t scripted nor liner, the mainframe is almost at a quantum level and is approaching levels we’ve never experienced from an outside perspective.” Dr. Karen said, clearly excited.

“Okay, we are dealing with a ‘skynet’ situation here? The way I see it, the more you explain the worse this is looking.” I said.

“Okay, let me try a different angle. In regular HING games, do you really feel the dirt between your feet?” Dr. Karen asked.

“Well, not really, maybe some vibration here and there.” Dimitri and I answered.

“Exactly! With this it won’t be some stupid tingle or vibration, it will be honest dirt, or whatever you might be stepping on at the time. The realism isn’t just a goal for us, it’s the overall theme.” Dr. Karen said.

“Could you really produce something like that, without making it feel artificial?” I asked.

“I’ll bet my life on it, because I’ve felt it with my mind, body, and soul.” Dr Karen answered seriously.

Now Dimitri and I were the ones who kept the power of suspense. This took some serious thought, letting someone inject us with machines, for a game sounded crazier the more I thought about it. However, that level of realism isn’t something that could be bought for a console or VR rig. It brings out all the possibilities of ‘What if’ stirring inside of me. I looked at Dimitri for some sort of signal, and I got my answer in his stupid grin and raised eyebrow. Looking Dr. Karen in the eyes I only had one question left.

“What’s next?” I said.