I can’t help but think how lonely I am as I ride the elevator to the next floor. Every relationship in my life I’ve ruined. I’m watching my friends get married and have kids and all I’ve got to show for it is a good job that I hate. I spent so much time trying to grab financial security that I let the exciting moments in life pass me by. I could have had so many more friends, maybe found my future wife, but I didn’t. My life isn’t how I wanted it to go at all. Maybe nobody’s life is. Other people may think about their failures and opportunities they didn’t go after. The difference is I’m the only one trapped in virtual reality and riding an elevator to my death at the moment. It’s really humbling and puts into perspective how much I’ve royally fucked things up over the years. I wish I knew what the others were thinking; just so I would know rather I was alone in my thoughts or not. My funeral will probably be trash.

I exit the elevator to a large open room with a window that takes an entire wall. It has a direct view of Earth. In front of that window stands the back of a mech suit. I know it’s Kay right away. She’s too arrogant. She wants to kill me herself, and I’m okay with that. I can probably kill Kay, but whatever trap she has will take me out; I’ve made peace with it.

“Kay, turn around and stop acting like a movie villain,” I shout.

“You really don’t let anyone know how to have fun,” the ground shakes as her mech suit turns around.

“It’s not too late for you to just end all this,” I make an unenthused plea for peace.

“Oh, we’re going to end it all today. At least for you, and your little friends. For me, it’ll keep going, living a perfect life.”

“Your life isn’t perfect Kay. Your life is just as screwed up as the rest of ours. That’s what life is. We have good moments, but they’re only good because we have bad ones. You know? Sunny days wouldn’t feel so good if it wasn’t for rain.”

“I hate you and your little friends. You people run around like life is all good. You don’t know what it’s like to not have any friends to be left alone by yourself. You think everything is just great.”

“We’re all lonely, but the game you created let’s everyone have a chance to live their best life and make new friends. Even grow friendships they already had. You hate me and my friends, but we let were fully willing to accept you. We could have just treated you as a hostage, but we fed you, housed you in the badlands and treated you as an equal. You just couldn’t get over the fact that I shot you. Not killed you, just shot you because I was trying to get answers. Even after we learned you were the one who trapped us in here we got over when we learned people didn’t really die. Then you started killing people for what? I mean, we’ve probably killed a few people because of you. We have to live with that.”

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“You think I don’t have things I regret too? If I had never tried to save one of my friends I never would have met you assholes.”

“Your friends? Is that why you’re mad? You’re jealous? You think the NPCs are your friends? Okay, I get it, you’re insane. You don’t like the fact that we’re friends You could have been our friend. Instead you’re stuck on AI controlled friends and harems. You’re a nutcase.”

“I’m not crazy. Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In churches, in schools, sidewalks, stores, video games, everywhere. There is no escape from loneliness. I’m God’s lonely woman. The days can go on with regularity over and over, one day indistinguishable from the next. A long continuous chain. Then suddenly, there’s a change. I can build a world where I’ve got all the friends I want,” Kay is shouting now. “God can not make me be alone. I can have as many friends, and as many lovers as I desire. You keep calling it a game, but this is my world. It’s my world. Everything and everyone I love is here and I won’t let you take it from me.”

“Alright then, let’s do this,” I pull out Excalibur for what may be the last time.

“You’re going to shoot me,” Kay laughs.

“Yeah, I’m going to end this.”

“Well you can’t,” Kay holds out a bright red trigger button. “You see, someone has to press this for the code to upload. The problem is, if I die, the button stops working. Kill me and nobody goes home. Let me live, and nobody goes home, but you still die.”

I don’t know if she’s bluffing but I don’t want to take any chances. I could get the button out of her hand and press it myself. I doubt it’s linked to her DNA or anything like that. I drop to the floor as she begins shooting. I quickly get up and run as she continues to fire. There’s no cover in this room, she designed it to kill me. She’s made the choice for me. Fuck it, we’re just not going home. I throw a grenade across the room, which knocks her mech against the glass. It cracks under the weight and she continues to fire. I throw another grenade and start to fire Excalibur as many times as I can.

The glass breaks and air starts to be sucked out of the room. Really glad she stuck with the space is a vacuum thing. Kay’s mech jams it’s hands into the floor, refusing to be sucked into space. My feet are snatched from beneath me at the same moment Excalibur is flung from my hands. That was a good gun. I hang on to the back of Kay’s mech, refusing to go without her as she shouts. I climb towards the pilot seat of the mech, fighting against the vacuum of space and Kay. The elevator doors open as I finally reach her. Daamin, Kai and Kevin all hang on for dear life as I fight Kay. I can’t hear what anyone is saying. There’s just too much sound now. I struggle to eject Kay, but she bites me. Dad always said not to hit girls, but this is a monster. I punch Kay in the face as she bites harder. My hand slips, I know I’m going flying and I can’t take her with me. I make one last for the button, and grab it as I’m sucked out through the window.

I press the button and watch green laser fly from the station to one satellite after another and finally towards Earth. I’m going to die, but everyone else is going to live. Really glad she didn’t program space to have no air. Suffocating is a terrible way to go. What do I do now? Do I pray? I just close my eyes and wait. Not sure if I’ll be zapped out of existence or splatter into a thousand pieces as I hit the ground on Earth.