0.2. The advertisement.

The winter had already come to Madrid the day that Victor first heard about "Plus Ultra".

Victor stood in the doorway of his house looking for the keys in his pocket.

A few minutes earlier he had endured the cold wind that blew through the streets and wildly pushed the leaves that had fallen from the trees.

With nothing more than an anorak, walking down the sidewalk, he had tasted the snow in the air, and observed the rain in the sky.

Just after crossing the door his lungs where filled of the moisture laden air and the musty smell from inside.

In the past, this sensation made him ask the landlady if there was something rotten inside, but it has been a long time since he got used to it and now he was almost not aware of it.

He closed the door and approaching the kitchen window, he looked how people accelerated in order to escape from the first drops of rain.

Leaving his momentary trance, he opened the window enough to allow fresh air flow inside, and went to his bedroom.

The attic where Victor lived could actually be called study for its small size. It only had a bedroom with his bed and the desk, a small bathroom and a kitchen big enough to fit a small table in it.

So even if only the kitchen has fresh air, it’s already a big part of the house

He left his backpack on the bed, and with a sigh sat in front the computer.

‘What an empty house, I wonder what are they doing at home.’

He thought as he recalled the time when he was living with his parents and his brothers.

The feeling of loneliness was quickly faded when he heard the sound the fan did as the computer was turned on.

Sometime later, removed the eyes of the glossy screen and he realized that upon entering his room he had not turned on the light, the sun had already set, and if it were not for the screen, the room would have been completely dark.

He turned on the light and looked at his watch on the computer.

ESP    |    21:18

26/01/2026

‘¡¡Three hours!!’

He cried in silence.

‘It is like being swallowed by the time’

Victor stood up and started walking toward the kitchen.

A shiver ran through his entire body just by opening the door.

The frozen breeze coming through the window caused the muscles of his face tense into a grotesque grimace.

He closed the window immediately and opened the fridge to see what could be his dinner.

‘Some cereals would be the easiest and fastest thing, but then there won’t be for tomorrow’s breakfast...’

Not much later, it could be seen how he buttered a pan, and placed it to be heated while preparing two slices of bread, some ham and some cheese.

Once toasted the sandwich, he grabbed a dessert plate and returned to his room.

He sat front of the computer and then placed beside the keyboard the plate with the piece of sandwich that had not been devoured yet.

He closed the main menu of the game he had been playing before dinner, and opened the browser.

Several tabs from last session were still open.

Thinking that he had nothing better to do, he decided to update some of the pages to see if there was something new.

After updating his social networks, various forums about games and the e-mail, he decided to update a page about scientific and technological news.

And there is where he saw it.

“Plus Ultra” opens his website announcing a new world:

Plus Ultra has been presented as the new VR diver. Wrapped in secrecy at midday today several television and radio stations have begun to advertise this new gadget as a new way to live. Read more ->

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

Having read the following paragraph he decided that it was not likely to find much more information in this page.

Spinning the mouse wheel with his finger, he passed both text and photos without paying much attention, at the end of the post, he found what he was looking for.

Experience had taught him that if you want to learn about something, the best way to get the information is to go to the official sources, and in all those posts there is a link to the official website.

After the page loaded, on the screen remained open a simple web page, colored in grayscale.

In the header of the page were the words

[Reservations can be made starting March 2nd.]

"Isn't a month quite a short time? Normally this news come years in advance ... well, not that it matters ... there are always exceptions"

He returned his gaze to the screen and continued reading.

As he finished reading the greeting message, he rose from his chair and reached for his cell phone in the backpack.

He opened his peer group in wha**app, and said:

[Me]: Have you read about "Plus Ultra"?

[Charles]: No

[Dani]: Nope

[Lucky]: Hahaha, are these again with those things about sects?

[Me]: xD no, no, it’s not a sect

[Patrick]: You sure? Cause today I saw an ad on TV about it and it seemed proselytism.

[Patrick]: It even promised a new world…

[Me]: Hahahaha

[Me]: Actually it’s a VR simulator that will start selling on March 2nd.

[Lucky]: Another shit, they promise a lot, but then when you try it it’s crap.

[Me]: Yep, and this time, before its sale, there will be an exhibition for 10€ in IFEMA.

[Charles]: 10 euros is not much, but still, how much will it cost?

[Charles]: Whenever something like this comes out it costs a fortune…

[Petrus]: Well, if it has a low price, people would think it is a fraud, no one would buy it.

[Dani]: Which platforms will work with it?

[Me]: No idea, but looks like it will go on sale with an own game.

[Me]: And about the price, I do not know either, I'll look at it now.

A couple of minutes later Victor picked up the phone again, and with a triumphant expression, skipped the new messages.

[Me]: Already found it. Say a price.

[Charles]: 1000

[Dani]: 1500

[Lucky]: 3000

[Petrus]: 999, 95

[Patrick]: 8500€

[Me]: You bastard…

[Me]: Yes, 8.500€, you've certainly searched it.

[Patrick]: hahahaha

[Lucky]: Are you kidding?

[Charles]: That’s a lot of money.

[Me]: Nop, no kidding, no one will buy it… $_$

[Petrus]: Unless it's proven worth it.

[Patrick]: I have continued looking about it and here it says that the exhibition will last 72h uninterrupted.

[Patrick]: They will give information about the game and if you fulfill some characteristics written here, you will be able to try.

[Patrick]: Carlos, you cannot.

[Charles]: What?

[Patrick]: Max 100kg ;)

[Me]: hahahaha

[Lucky]: Sorry Carlos

[Charles]: You fuckers…, I’m not that fat, I’m 83kg

[Dani]: You have a misprint, you have forgotten the 1 from 183 :)))

[Lucky]: Hahahahaha

[Petrus]: So we go or what?

[Me]: Yep

[Patrick]: Friday the 27th?

[Dani]: Uff… I go out with Clara every Friday...

[Charles]: Hahaha, you have to ask permission to your owner?

Letting them talk among themselves, Victor returned to the computer to see if he could find further information. But half an hour later, seeing the futility of his research he decided it was time to bed.

So he brushed his teeth and with only his trunks remaining he closed his eyes and he recalled the events of the day.