Chapter Start

The shirt was oddly comfortable, it moved like silk with each step, but had the nice texture of comfy cotton. It didn’t make sense to him, but hey he would take it. At least if this all went sideways he could pop the sewed-on badge of the large red X and put in something like “I went to jail and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.

The outside still boggled his mind. The building was massive and one large fluid screen lined the front completely. The view seemed like a portal that provided a hidden peek into the world of the Nexus. Previously the view had been of a king in a throne room. That was now gone, and in its place was a video of a man riding a griffin over an on-going castle battle. He could see men on the top of the walls throwing little orange balls, of what Jason could only imagine was fire. At that moment his traitorous mind actually wished he was there, he would be there soon enough whether he liked it or not.

The line outside of the Nexus had been long before he had arrived, and it hadn’t seemed to have gotten any shorter in the time he, Alan, and Tommy had been arguing in the alley.

The plastic railing created a zig-zag effect making it almost impossible for anyone in the middle to be able to ever get-out. He hated lines like this, it made him feel claustrophobic, like he was trapped in a cage and no one had the key. He could tell his shoulders were sagging again, they always did that when he didn’t feel exceptionally confident about his ability to succeed. It wasn’t time to doubt, he would square his shoulders, slap a smile on his face and act like just another gear in the chaotic machine before him. As casually has his shaky legs allowed him Jason walked up passed the smelly hoard of hopefuls, up to the front.

From what Alan had told him the Nexus would test each person and twelve of what seemed like two hundred people before him would get to join the game. There were over a million-people jacked-in to the Nexus, and 12 was all a city like Reno would get.

The two men standing in the front of the line were short and skinny, thin enough to be able to stand side by side in a line meant to be single file. They seemed to be brothers, the younger one was a couple of inches shorter than the older, but both sported the same disheveled look and black messy hair. The bags under their eyes told him that these two had been camping out for the last few days. The look of impatience on the older brother’s face made it seem like he had been waiting for the last week. From what Alan had told them it didn’t really matter how long they waited, all that mattered was how well they did on the test.

With a deep breath and a clearing of his throat he got the attention of the two men. “if you two don’t mind I kind of need to get in.” The younger took a small step back bumping into the person behind him, which caused a small, yet useful opening for Jason to slide under the rail.

“Why should I let you pass.“ The taller one said

“Read the shirt, I work here.”

“No you don’t, I’ve been sitting out here for the last four days, four days I tell you, and not once have I seen your ugly mug go through that door. Now, a half hour before those doors open all of a sudden you pop up, I’m not buying it.”

“I don’t need you to buy anything, all I need is for you to let me pass.”

“I already told you I’m not going to.” The man said, Jason didn’t know what to do next and silence took its usual space in the awkward moment.

“Come on Mac, he’s got their company shirt on. He must work here.” The younger brother had filled the void of silence giving Jason a moment to collect himself. Why did he always jump into things without thinking? All he had to come up with was one line, one line to unbalance them and he would have been home free, but no he had to just rush in. He was a moron.

“Look I understand you want to get in, everyone wants to get in, heck I want to get in myself, but no one and I mean no one is going to be able to join unless you move away from that door and let me do my job.”

“Just let him pass Mac, I don’t want to get kicked-out of line after waiting here for days. Even if he’s cutting in line, I’m sure there will be more spots then just one”

“Ya, but you don’t know that, no one knows that.” Mac said leaning against the screen.

“Twelve.”

“What”

“There are twelve spots not counting the two that are out of order right now. You both will have a spot, but if you don’t let me through I will personally make sure that your spot will go to someone else.” Jason said crossing his arms in a manner that he hoped seemed like annoyance.

“Ignore my brother please, he’s just a little stir-crazy right now, 6 people have tried to cut us in line in the last two hours. “

“it’s not a problem as long as he moves to the side and lets me do my job.”

The fluid screen opened, distorting the battle raging on the wall. The now open-door smacked into the back of Mac’s head.

“If I have to tell you two not to lean on the screen one more time I’m sending you to the back of the line.” A woman’s voice said

Mac was rubbing his head vigorously and hunched down. Yet, both Jason and the woman standing in the doorway had already dismissed the man from their memory. The woman matched the description of the person he had to meet, red hair and all, but the confused look on her face made him second guess his assumption.

“and who are you”

“See Grant I told you that he was trying to cut in line.” Mac chimed in

“be quite before I send you to the back of the line” Jason said

“You can’t do that” Mac protested

“do you really want to test it. Anyway, you must be Stacy, my name is Jason from the Tahoe Nexus, I’m here to replace Tommy and help with integration for today since your shorthanded.” Realization hit her face, and it was in the shape of a scowl.

“Thank you for your offer, but I really think we will do just fine with Tommy’s replacement helping”

“Really, I must insist, you’re not trying to get me fired are you. I can’t really afford to lose this job. I’ll tell you what just let me in, and I’ll see what we’re working with. If were ok I’ll leave, but I’ve got to give my boss something.

He didn’t wait for her to reply and he didn’t listen to her protests as he slid past her in the door. Jason swung the door shut behind him.

The inside looked just like the outside. Along the walls were the giant fluid screens, each encompassing the whole wall, even the floor and ceiling had the screening giving the effect that you were physically standing on a plank floor, on top of a tower that over-looked a barren plain. The battle he had seen before raged on below.

Jason turned to face the red headed woman. It seemed like at any moment she would throw him out of the building on her own.

“You and Tommy had a deal and Tommy had a deal with myself and my friend.”

“What deal, there never was a deal. I’m not getting fired because three creeps want to skip the tests.”

“Look, you can talk this out with Tommy, this thing is between you two, not me.”

“There is no thing!”

“Can you please just point me to the back, I don’t think we have much time before those guys start banging down your door.” Jason sighed “Look Stacy, I’m sure you have a very valid reason to act the way you do and I can assure you that I want to be in this situation just as much as you do, so if you can kindly point me to the back door we can get this whole thing resolved.”

“There’s nothing to resolve, you’re leaving.”

“That sounds like a great plan, can you point me to the back door.”

“You’re not going out the back door. You’re going out just the way you came.”

“I see that I need to find it myself. Are the employees at Nexus always so helpful?”

“When someone is trying to break our company policy this is exactly how they should be acting. Hey! Stop! I’ll call security!”

“This place doesn’t have security” Jason said, he didn’t actually know if this place had security. He also didn’t know where in the world the door was, but he had his best guess and went to the screen with a picture of a door and hoped he wasn’t about to make himself look like an idiot. He suspected he was about too. Technology never knew when to stop. Why couldn’t they keep anything sacred, for example doors.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

He tried pushing and swiping on the screen, but nothing happened, he then tried saying open, please open, open sesame and even tried knocking for good measure, but still nothing. He was about to give up and ask the uptight Nexus employee, but she seemed to have left the room, presumably to get the security she so kindly threatened him with. The tower no longer felt freeing, but like a really big cage. In a last-ditch effort, he tried grabbing the fake door latch and to his surprise the door actually opened up, to his disappointment it led to a broom closet.

He was done for, his fleeting confidence had all but drained during his experimentation and he was very sure at any moment some burly six-foot five man named Bruce would come out and show the line outside how many human bowling pins he could knock down when he physically sent Jason flying through the front door.

He was already sitting down on the ground awaiting his punishment when he noticed an odd pattern on the floor that was under him. While most of the floor was the average old worked wood, the piece he was sitting on was brand new, a small picture had been carved into the wood of a broom and dust pan, which was in his mind the nationally accepted symbol for a broom closet.

None of the other boards however, matched the new pristine board under him. The only two that were somewhat different was one that looked like a diving board off the tower, which Jason was pretty sure was not the right area, the other oddity wasn’t a board, but rather a lack of one, as if the plank was ripped right off the tower. He had been trying that one for the last five minutes with no success. The place didn’t come with an instruction manual and no matter how many times he swiped, poked, and prodded nothing happened.

He gave the other door the same treatment. The last door was themed, so it was only logical that this door would be themed as well, right? That logic seemed sound. After thinking about his options for a couple of seconds, he sprinted and leaped off the fake diving board smacking strait into the wall. Jason was holding his head when he finally noticed Alan, Stacy, and Tommy standing in the room with disgusted, amused and surprised looks on their faces.

“So, your friend’s an idiot?” Stacy said

“Exactly, he’s a complete idiot, an utter moron.” Alan added

“I’m not a moron.”

“Of course you’re not Jason, logical people jump at solid walls all the time. It’s the only rational thing to do.”

“Shut up Alan, I don’t want to hear another word out of your mouth.”

“See that’s why I never tried being your friend Alan, your temper is contagious” Tommy added

“Just open the door Tommy.” Alan snapped back

“Alright, alright, Open middle door” Like magic the door slid open revealing another screen walled hallway. It was so simple. For a moment Jason actually wondered if he was an idiot. Tommy and Stacy both entered the hallway and were halfway down before Alan had the decency to lend him a hand up.

“Why do you tech people always make things so needlessly complicated.”

“I thought you knew?” A look of mock confusion crossed Alan’s face “To mess with people like you.”

“You should all be sent back to the middle ages, deprived of your tools and tech devices.” Jason replied in a half-hearted nature

“We would be considered wizards before the week was out.”

“Nope, actually bad idea, that would just go to your already oversized head.”

“well give me thirty minutes and we’ll be in the closest thing to it”

“You suck, you know that right”

“That may be true, but I do know how to pick a good partner. Decent job getting us in.”

“How did you convince her to let you in.”

“That was her and Tommy’s deal, not mine”

“That’s what I told her, she didn’t seem to believe me”

“well Jason you aren’t really the most convincing person”

“Shut up Alan”

“Whatever you say my friend, whatever you say.”

The hallway, like every other part of the building showed the same battle, this time from the prospective from the ground. The carnage was dizzying. It was as if a small line was made between the armies pressing against each other.

“Where did you guys get this video from, it’s amazing.” Jason couldn’t help it, and he circled as he watched the show in front of him. He was geeking out and he knew it.

“The video is from inside the machine, from about a month ago. About two months from now every TV across the world will be filled with videos of the Nexus.” Stacy said over her shoulder

“That’s neat, so we get to choose if we want to stream.” Jason said

“No, no by being in the Nexus you have already agreed to let them use your stream.” Stacy replied

“They get to sell part of my memory for monetary gain.”

“only the parts that have to deal with the Nexus”

“Hey Alan, did you hear anything about this when you worked here”

“News to me”

“I’m starting to think this isn’t such a good idea”

“You think everything’s a bad idea, you should lighten up.” Alan said

“I don’t particularly like the idea of selling my mind”

“Why, you’re not using it anyway” Alan said

“You’re a jerk” Jason muttered

“So you’ve told me time and time again, you really should start thinking of a new catch phrase.”

The hallway ended in an old wood door, the dust made it look like it hadn’t been opened in centuries. The rusted giant door knocker held the image of the Nexus’s giant X logo. It was very showy, and Jason couldn’t deny his heart started to race at the sight of it. Any gamer knew on the other side of a dusty old door held the best loot, or the worst monsters, Jason still hadn’t decided which this was.

“and this is where the magic happens. It’s time to prepare yourselves for an experience of a lifetime” Stacy’s voice had taken a theatrical tone as if she was about to reveal the best kept secret in the world. In truth, it kind of was and Jason could appreciate the effort she took.

“stop being dramatic we’ve all been here before.” Alan’s flat tone completely ruined the mood. The man was very good at making the extraordinary feel common place.

“Well ya, but he hasn’t been here before.” Stacy retorted

“Save it for the people outside Stacy” Tommy threw in his own two cents. Jason couldn’t tell why these two didn’t get along. Personally, he thought they seemed almost identical. Then again that may be a problem with two conniving hot heads.

“You know, he’s right, your both jerks” Her frustrated smile was cute in the dim lighting

“I’m glad someone agrees with me.”

“You’re not much better”

“I’ll keep that in mind”

Without any other fanfare Stacy voice-commanded the door to open with the phrase “into the abyss” Jason thought that that may have been a little cheesy, but he let it slide under the circumstances. The door revealed a room filled with evergreens aglow by dim moonlight. Lining the room were 15 pods, the pods were made of a jet-black metal with the glass tops tinted to close out any light from entering the unit during usage.

According to Alan the rest of the 12 pods had been in use for over a year. Apparently, you had to pass some sort of test in order to continue in the system for another year. He wondered how many people actually passed. Other than the pods the room was completely devoid of life and the four of them walked through the sea of black cocoons until they finally reached the back, where two pods were open.

“Let me just get one more open. I didn’t really expect three of you here. Actually, expect isn’t the right word, want, want is the word I’m looking for. I didn’t want any of you here, but that isn’t really an option now is it.” Stacy said moving to a back table that held a tablet

“OK so you two should remember the drill, if either of you ever paid any attention when you worked here, but we have a few waiver forms for you to sign essentially they release the company of any and all liability if the needle they stab into your brain does something horrible. Normally, I would say you all would need to read the document thoroughly before you sign, but we don’t have time for that. So just scribble the tablet.” Stacy said handing the tablet to Tommy who scribbled something unintelligible and handed it back to Stacy. The process continued until the tablet finally landed into Jason’s hand.

“I don’t really feel comfortable signing this unless I read it”

“Tough, I don’t have time for you to start reading a 60-page document, I have to open the doors for the other customers in” Stacy looked at her watch” 15 minutes, and it’ll take us ten minutes just to hook you three up”

“Just sign Jason, I’ve read the thing over fifty times now, there’s nothing in it that’s too alarming” Alan said

“You saying that doesn’t make me anymore reassured. Never trust a man who puts mayo on his pizza”

“That was one time and it was because you told me it was ranch.” Alan shot back

“Semantics.” Jason scribbled the document with something that look nothing like his name and handed the tablet back to Stacy. Hopefully that would provide him with some kind of protection if this whole process went horribly wrong, which was how everything seemed to be going today.

“alright shirts, jewelry and electric items are to be taken off and placed at the box before you enter the machine, Alan we are starting with you, then Jason.”

“I didn’t know It was that kind of party” Jason said

“Shut up that’s the only way to hook you up to the machine. Alan far left machine”

“Alright, Alright, I’ll be right there. Don’t chicken out on me Jason, we’re a team.”

“I know, I’ll be there right behind you I promise, I came this far didn’t I.”

“Ya you did, thanks man”

“that’s what friends are for” Jason said uncomfortably, he was never good with the mushy, feel good stuff. No that sounded wrong. He wasn’t good at showing his appreciation to his friends and family.

The process of hooking Alan in took around 3 minutes. It took a lot less time than he expected considering it was ,you know, literally neural surgery. Jason didn’t hear any screams which was reassuring, just a little.

“Alright Jason, Your next.”

“No Stacy, let the new guy take a moment to get his bearings, look at him his hands are shaking the poor thing.”

“You’re a jerk Tommy” Stacy said

“That may be so, but at least I’m a jerk in the Nexus” Tommy stated settling into the pod

“We should really let Jason go next” Stacy said

“Don’t worry about it, you can hook him up first” Truthfully, he was thankful for the delay. Three minutes had passed again with no screaming.

“Alright into the pod.” Stacy said, Jason moved closer to the opening. He couldn’t see the needle, but he knew it was there and at that moment he wanted nothing more then to walk out that door and never turn back.

“You don’t have to enter if you don’t want to Jason.” Stacy said in a reassuring voice. “If you don’t feel comfortable I’ll take you outback and you can be on your way.”

“No, it’s fine I’ll get in, but if I start screaming shut the machine off ok.” He wanted to take the offer he really wanted to, but his family needed the money and family came first.

“will do Jason, will do” After placing his cloths and phone in the tiny drawer under the pod, he settled himself inside. The cold leather sent a chill up his back.

“Jason you’re going to be fine, I’ll be here while you go in ok.”

“Thanks again Stacy”

The pod closed at the same time the anesthesia needle entered his vain. The world was consumed by black.